Video Noobie: Where to start?

Hey guys,

I've been into photography for years now and I've been wanting to do some simple videos of my model shoots. I need to learn from the very beginning. I have ZERO knowledge on video.

I currently own:
Canon 5D Mark III
Lenses: 35, 85, 135 primes. 24-105 and 70-200
Audio: RodeMic
Computer: Pretty strong PC (i7 processor, 32gb RAM, RAID hard drive setup, etc)

I'm looking at getting Adobe Premier Pro cloud.

With photography, I learned a ton of my knowledge from watching a specific youtube user's videos (which there were tons, explaining everything in tons of videos).

Do you guys recommend any certain websites, youtube channels, etc for a complete beginner to learn from?

Also, can you guys recommend certain topics I should start off by learning? For example, if someone was getting into photography, I'd tell them to google Exposure Triangle and learn about each of those 3 things first.

Plan ahead. shoot more footage than you think you will need, make sure the audio is good, poor sound can kill what otherwise would be an excellent video.

Everything artyman said. Mic must be close to the subject, the camera position is only good for environmental sound (ambience).

Go out there and make some mistakes! Learn from them and move on to new ones...

Consider an overview course; maybe at a community org or college community education.

If you're looking for traction, YT and other free clips may be a bit too far down into the details. More wheat and less chaff at Vimeo, but still the clips are down in the details.

Shoot an action sequence. 5 or more shots. Wide, medium, closeup, ecu, subject and object, reverse angles, at least a 30-degree change in angle on each. Tell a story. Google 5-shot action sequence, or 7-shot.

Interview someone about something they do that you can shoot. Shoot them doing that something. Cut the interview. lllustrate it with what you shot.

fashionrider wrote in post #18118568
Hey guys,

I've been into photography for years now and I've been wanting to do some simple videos of my model shoots. I need to learn from the very beginning. I have ZERO knowledge on video.

I currently own:
Canon 5D Mark III
Lenses: 35, 85, 135 primes. 24-105 and 70-200
Audio: RodeMic
Computer: Pretty strong PC (i7 processor, 32gb RAM, RAID hard drive setup, etc)

I'm looking at getting Adobe Premier Pro cloud.

With photography, I learned a ton of my knowledge from watching a specific youtube user's videos (which there were tons, explaining everything in tons of videos).

Do you guys recommend any certain websites, youtube channels, etc for a complete beginner to learn from?

Also, can you guys recommend certain topics I should start off by learning? For example, if someone was getting into photography, I'd tell them to google Exposure Triangle and learn about each of those 3 things first.

If you really want to learn video, go here. His book is all about making videos, not about equipment. Think of it as a two year course in making video.

http://www.stevestockm​an.com

Next, go read this and then read his book, "Nobody wants to read your stuff" (substitute as appropriate). When you've read that, there's another of his books, "The War of Art". If you get that far, you'll find other gems. ("Save The Cat!" comes to mind, from a different author.)

http://www.stevenpress​field.com …g-lession-i-ever-learned/

Video is tough and isn't the same as still photography. Once you know a few things however, it's not hard.

In closing, here's a family vacation video I've seen many times. It isn't mine. I've watched it multiple times because it is that good. Hope this helps. Enjoy!

fashionrider wrote in post #18118568
Hey guys,

I've been into photography for years now and I've been wanting to do some simple videos of my model shoots.

You said "simple videos of your model shoots."

Who will see them and on what devices? Other photographers? Models? Potential clients? If you can determine that your videos will be seen on cell phones or consumer laptops and the audio will be heard over earbuds or laptop speakers, then you know you're not shooting for the big screen in Dolby sound.

Keep that in mind. Always keep that in mind.

It's important to remember that, because as you read and learn and ask questions, a lot of what you get will be from people who dream of shooting the next "Avatar." Watch out for that. What this basically means is that you won't need top-end equipment, although you may need specific types. You're not shooting "Avatar," but you're still an artist and still serious about whatever you do.

So the difference is that you don't need the highest end equipment, but you may need specific types.

You may not need the top editor, but there are certain minimum things you will want to do, so the free editors may not suit you, but the relatively inexpensive ones (like Premiere Elements) probably will.

For instance, I guarantee you that you'll at some point want to get your own voice clear and clean onto your videos, which will mean a wireless lavaliere mic for you with the receiver piped into the camera. Yeah, everyone will tell you the camera's pre-amps are horrible, but you're not shooting "Avatar" and you're not recording Celine Dion. An inexpensive wireless lavaliere piped into your camera will do fine for what you want.

On YouTube, spend some time with Curtis Judd for audio (and audio will be your biggest hurdle, even though your needs are simple, because audio is a trip).

Be wary of what you read about lighting from video/cinema sources. Their entire concept starts from a different premise. You can stick with lighting as you know it, think in terms of continuous sources.

Also, even for your use you may want multiple cameras, but you'll find video more forgiving in many ways than still--for your purposes--so you may even find cellphone video sufficient for second camera angles.

Save a few bucks. Consider checking out "Blender" first. Amoung other things, it has a very robust video editing module. Lots of how to videos on YouTube. Blender is free, Open Source software and runs on Windows, Mac, or Linux.

https://www.blender.or​g/

Here's a screen shot of the video editing module.

https://www.blender.or​g …des_edit_final.​jpg?c5b6e6

Thanks guys.

There are multiple reasons to why I chose Premiere Pro.
- Adobe. As a photographer, I use Adobe lightroom, and photoshop. I just have this gut feeling that using Adobe also for video will make it easier on me.
- Potential. I know I said I'd only do basic editing, but I don't want to get software that's easier to use but very limited on features. Eventually, I would assume I'll try to do more advanced stuff.
- Cost. I'm using Adobe's creative cloud with a student discount. $20/month for ALL their software. That's tiny compared to the thousands I have spent on lighting, lenses, cameras, etc.

I truly appreciate all the feedback. My current goal is to be able to make 1 minute videos primarily for Instagram. Not planning on making long films/movies. As for audio, I already own a RodeMic Pro which I use to record videos of my daughter, but I believe my modeling videos will have music over it.

You mentioned music here. It's so hard to find music that you really like and really works with your video in the way you want without it being copyright protected. I know this sounds obvious but I have spent hours editing down video to find that a track I obtained in good faith as being 'copyright free' has since been changed and has been flagged. Just a consideration.

Can't believe you get Adobe for $20! You're extremely lucky on that one.

TDCat wrote in post #18150171
You mentioned music here. It's so hard to find music that you really like and really works with your video in the way you want without it being copyright protected. I know this sounds obvious but I have spent hours editing down video to find that a track I obtained in good faith as being 'copyright free' has since been changed and has been flagged. Just a consideration.

Can't believe you get Adobe for $20! You're extremely lucky on that one.

Nothing is "copyright free" until its original copyright expires. Not even your own work. You can assign it "creative commons" to allow others to use it freely, but among the signatories of the Berns Convention, all creative work is copyrighted to someone.

There are some decent sources of inexpensive music, like Pond5.com, where you can purchase an inexpensive permanent-use/all-use royalty.

The best source of "royalty free" music for me is Kevin McLeod's Incompetech.com McLeod is a professional film score writer who has a huge library of music (and a neat search engine that searches his library by mood, or nationlity, or style, or by beat). There is no money to be paid--he just wants credit given when his music is used.

Thanks for the additional info on this. Yep, copyright free is misleading. However, as far as I am concerned, if I compose a piece, I can be sure I can use it in my videos without issue. ... at least I hope I can.