Newbie wants to video the band

[Chazney]

Hi
I have a one off chance to film a band in the recording studio in a couple of weeks. I've looked into trying to video the 9 (nine) hour session with what I have but it's just too long. We have an option of filming with a mobile phone but means swapping SD cards every so often (when?) and losing some.
This really is a one off event so for posterity we want to catch it.
Looking at some of the cheap 4K GoPro look a-likes it appears as if we might be able to save to an external drive but HDMI to USB? it's just a nightmare for an oldie like me. But the video even in 4K looks blocky and the motion is blurry (could be playback on my laptop though) I suspect the sound wont be great but maybe the studio can record some tracks and I can insert proper audio in bits later.

I'd like to just set it and leave it to record everything if anyone can come up with some ideas which isn't too expensive as the studio use is a gift and none of us are rich enough to hire anything.

Comments (polite ) appreciated as are any ideas.

Cheers and thanks for looking.

Chaz

[smrpix]

Use both. As long as you don't change all the cards at the same time you won't miss one second of that precious 9 hours.

And if this is so important, why are you relying on mobile phones and gopros instead of real cameras?

Of course you use the studio audio.

[Chazney]

Thanks for reply, being honest we don't even know where to start. And we don't have a lot of money for cameras whereas we all have phones.
We are all busy doing our stuff singing and playing hence just wanting to park the camera (?) and forget till later plus once the guys forget it's there. . .

Forgot to mention that social distancing rules "currently" only allow six people in the room at a time so once in we are pretty much in for the day.

[smrpix]

Folks are going to take bathroom breaks and stop to make phone calls and lunch. Don't worry about capturing every second. You'll never watch it all. If you use multiple phones or cameras you can use an non-linear editor (Magix Movie Edit Pro, for example, is good and inexpensive) to stack them, sync them and cut between them . Do use the studio tracks. Best of luck.

[_Al_]

Do not forget about hand held , pocket camcorder options ( I have Sony CX440) that is absolutely superior to any phone in real World. You 'd also need some tripod for sure.

I have it for about 5 years, and it is really funny seeing everyone using their phones, at any events, when zooming becomes nightmare, their footages are not usable at all, it is not stabilized etc. Those handheld camcorders would stabilize, have comfortable recording modes, you might check e-Bay and get used ones for under $200.

-Shoot HD, not 4K
-if not having enough light, it will look really bad, it will be not usable, so you will need lots of light
-get familiar with editing software (like Vegas Studio,etc) before the event and edit some easy clip for yourself to see how it looks before shooting your event

[Chazney]

as soon as you sit down the phone rings for a call out. .

That's great suggestions, thank you. Our drummer has asked whether 1080 or 720? apparently 720 at 60fps is better to view than 1080 at 30fps. . . is that right?

We have looked at our phones and are really bamboozled as they are all different makes, seem to film in different formats and Dave (guitars) has suggested that recording hours of video will take mahousive SD cards. . . I'm reading the instructions on my Nokia 5.3 which is 13Mps (32GB DS divided by 13 Mps = 2.4 x 2 = 4.8 hrs (very ish) recording? I googled)

Although. . . I read elsewhere and it said 5Mb per second@ 720 . . . x 60 equals (300Mb) per minute times 60 again (1.8Gb) for an hour?

Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs. . . that seems a small amount for 9 hours. . we can start cramming it onto 32Gb SD cards. . we've got a couple and could even try different angles!)
Is there a rule of thumb for this as presumably the newer the phone. . the better the lens (bigger Mps) so my 5mb p/s is probably the slowest. . it'll be fun (not) trying to sort this out pre/post gig. .

Any advice always appreciated.

I think my head hurts now

Cheers

[Chazney]

The Sony Cam looks great, thanks for that suggestion. . .can you use an external power supply. . . batteries will be chewed up pretty swiftly whist recording methinks.

Suggestions for editing using Linux would be appreciated too. . . . none of us (shock) use Windows !

Cheers as always

[Clockwork]

Plug in USB webcam into laptop.
Point at band.
Hit RECORD.

[Cornucopia]

I concur that it would be better to use real cameras/camcorders.

Reason: All phones shoot only "best-effort" frames per second. So unless you've got PLENTY of light (from all angles you intend to shoot from), AND you are using a cam app on the phone(s) that allows you to set constrained, strict framerate, the framerates from each of the phones will be VFR (variable framerate) due to exposure shortcuts, and will be all over the map and NOT consistent even with each other (due to differing light based on different perspectives). Thus, your editing of this in multitrack form would be a nightmare of sync and/or re-compression.

Also, phones were not designed to handle the heat of LONG-TERM video recording (as it taxes both the processing and the storage systems). You WILL have issues.

Battery/power & storage capacity issues were already mentioned, but should re-emphasized.


Scott

[johnmeyer]

Do use the studio tracks.

That is more important than what you do for the video. You do NOT want to use audio recorded in the room except perhaps to add some ambience (mix in a little and, if you are doing a 5.1 mix, put the room audio in the rear channels).

[Chazney]

Do use the studio tracks.

That is more important than what you do for the video. You do NOT want to use audio recorded in the room except perhaps to add some ambience (mix in a little and, if you are doing a 5.1 mix, put the room audio in the rear channels).

Would it be easy to strip the sound from the video ? as you suggest, ambient would be great but I suspect the music would be pretty naff.
Is it just the mic in the phone/camera or the method of recording itself?, maybe I could plug in a band mic as there are normally a few around.

[smrpix]

Would it be easy to strip the sound from the video ? as you suggest, ambient would be great but I suspect the music would be pretty naff.
Is it just the mic in the phone/camera or the method of recording itself?, maybe I could plug in a band mic as there are normally a few around.

You don't so much strip the sound from the video as you simply don't use it when you output your edit. It's actually very useful for syncing your video tracks properly -- especially if you end up with a number of camera starts and stops. (Over 9 hours you will.)

As for why you use the studio audio -- because they're usually better microphones and they're optimally positioned. The best photographic angle is usually not the best place to put a mic -- and vice versa.

[aedipuss]

live video with just studio audio looks and sounds like crap. bands never play the song the same twice and everyone notices the tiniest out of sync lips. without the crowd noise it looks too fake. even a pro can't blend the studio with live without mismatched audio.

the best that can be done is to record the audio off the soundboard live separately, and use that as the main audio feed with the cams' audio as background filler.

[johnmeyer]

live video with just studio audio looks and sounds like crap.

I think "studio audio" was intended to mean getting audio from the band's (or DJ's) sound board. It would be entirely pointless to try to mix some previous recording (studio, or otherwise) because it won't match anything at all.

[Chazney]

Wow, OK so sound from the studio mix would be good. I need to speak to the man.
Plus cameras more than phones if poss. . . we'll have to hit ebay and see what we can pickup.
1080 at 60fps or 720 at 30 fps?

Thanks everso peeps.

Hugely appreciated over here.

Cheers

[lingyi]

Look up video camera rentals in your area. A quick check search brings up $60-70 to rent a GoPro for a day. You can also rent a tripod and lights if needed. The studio may have equipment you can rent.

Also ask friends or family if you borrow a camera for the day. Or if you have fans, ask them. They may be happy to help and look forward to seeing you in the studio. Maybe even consider doing a live stream on Youtube or Facebook so there will be backups of your video in case the in studio cameras stop recording. Might be a good idea even if you don't want to share. Stream the feed(s) and everyone record at home as backups.

[Chazney]

Wow, OK so sound from the studio mix would be good. I need to speak to the man.
Plus cameras more than phones if poss. . . we'll have to hit ebay and see what we can pickup.
1080 at 60fps or 720 at 30 fps?

Thanks everso peeps.

Hugely appreciated over here.

Cheers

Someone else has just given the tip to the drummer that filming at 24 or 20 fps is better. Is that right. . ? Apparently it is less jerky??
I have no idea!

Cheers
Camera hire is the UK equivalent of $150 plus tax as it's a weekender. Sadly that is a no go for us.Thanks though and only six people are allowed in the building let alone the studio so mates equally sadly can't attend. We could do with the buddy roadie bit as we are all mid 60's and not a fit un amongst us I've spent the day phoning around but no joy again with a lend or borrow so back we go on here for suggestions.
It's been a welcome break from practising

[lingyi]

If you can't chip in $25 or Euros each for a rental, what is your budget? That will help with suggestions. Cheap camera = low quality video. Garbage In Garbage Out.

And I didn't suggest having anyone else in the studio. I suggested streaming so you can have more people outside the studio doing the recording. I don't know if you can do 9 hours straight, but I believe you can do multiple streams. If you live stream to your Youtube channel, I believe your stream is automatically saved.

I'll let others chime in once you've given a working budget on what to get. Personally, I'd go with one good camera + phones or whatever you have, even webcams versus mutiple cheap knock-off ones Personally, I sometimes enjoy behind the scenes videos more than the actual show, even if it's not the best quality. After nearly 40 years of listening to the five official Cream albums, it was like a ray of sunshine (no pun intended) to finally find their sometimes low quality unofficial recordings that caught them at some of their best moments!

[lingyi]

Re-reading your last post, it sounds like you think I said to hire a camera operator. I meant to rent a camera. Sorry. I don't know anything about the UK, but a quick search: https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&client=safari&rls=en&ei=3p6YX5SfLcqE-gTYyaTQ...4dUDCAw&uact=5 Brought up GoPro rentals for about the same as the U.S.

[Chazney]

Hi again, and thanks. All this is truly appreciated.

I think I am going to have to revert back as originally intended and try to get some film on our phones. If it works fine, if not then. . oh well, we tried. As you suggest and as per my original thinking, anything lo-tech which we can both work and understand on the day will have to suffice. We will be struggling as it is without the worry of this too.

I'll ask around again tomorrow trying to blag a camera, so thanks again for now.

Cheers

[johnmeyer]

Film at 24 fps if you want to have a "once-removed" feeling. Otherwise, film at 50 fps progressive (for your region) or 60 fps progressive if you are going to show it outside the UK.

[Clockwork]

Find some "Use Phone As A USB Webcam" app and hit record, using a laptop as storage.