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line6bassman
07-02-2011, 02:54 PM
I thought maybe this would be a helpful thread for those of us ( Especially Me ) ( I know selfish but caring ) that are planning to do a video of your playing or progress
in your TMBG lesson now are in the future. I know some have done it already but maybe we can put it here in one place to help those who have plans on doing it now are in the future. I know some like me are others just may not be doing it because you just don't know how are your working on it ( like me ) and need help doing it and getting it done. So this might be a place to help. So let's see what we can do. I'll throw out some questions that I've thought about asking, if you think about other questions that are not here add them in. If you can answer the question with your experience
in doing it feel free to do so. Here's the questions.

1. What type of Camera did you use?
2. How did you overcome your fear before the camera?
3. What type of software did you use?
4. How did you use the software to get your video or sound up on TR? Step by step till finished?
5. Where did you look for help such as youtube etc to be able to get your video and sound up to TR?
6. What is the lest expensive way to go about it and getting the best quality video and sound.
7. If money were no object and you could do it at home only, what would you use for the best quality video and sound?

I guess the point in all this is. WHAT IS THE SIMPLEST AND BEST WAY TO GET OUR VIDEO AND SOUND UP TO TR? FROM BEGINNING TO END.

I'll say somethings and open it up for discussion and help.

For me for some reason I can't just sit in front of a camera and show you my chops or solo maybe I have none ( chop ) my brain locks up like I don't even no how to play bass. Now if I'm playing live with the group and the camera is on me and had to solo etc I don't have a problem in the world with that I'm pretty free don't know why just the way it is.

Here's what I'm working on, just bought a Zoom R24 24trk recorder still learning it.
Working on A Guess Who Song. Got the backing track down need to bounce some trks and then see how to make an upright bass sound good on it and lay it down Jazzy style.
The R24 does video syncing but don't know how to do that yet. But maybe I'll borrow a friends camera if not it will just be sound. One thing for sure if I have a video I won't be able to just sit in front of a camera I'll have to be standing up and acting like a nut!!
OK, I think I may have answered one of the questions, if you have a fear of the camera just stand up and get nuts and get free!! HE WHO THE BASS SETS FREE IS FREE INDEED!!!

Line6bassman

BrianVW
07-02-2011, 04:17 PM
Thanks so much for asking this, Line6bassman; I have wondered the same thing.

Elmeaux
07-02-2011, 08:53 PM
1. What type of Camera did you use?

I have a Panasonic digital camcorder and a Flip camera. I alternate between the two. I just do open-air recording with the amp placed somewhere close enough to make good noise for the camera. Nothing is actually connected to the computer during recording.

2. How did you overcome your fear before the camera?

I trained myself to run the camera all the time as I practice. If you can get used to the idea of practice=camera, you don't even notice it after awhile. Each of my cameras can record for up to two hours at a time.

I just forget the camera and practice. You may be nervous the first few times, and you may freeze up and make a thousand mistakes, but - with me, anyway - repetition very quickly removes the fear. Make a mistake? Start over. Try a different song.

Play to the bass, not the camera.

Here's another trick - set the camera on its tripod and leave it in front of you as you practice. No recording, turned OFF. The camera just sits there in your practice area at all times, facing your chair, or the area where you normally stand.

Then one day, just click the camera ON...you've had it in front of you for so long, that there's nothing new.

When you're done filming your practice, watch the tape. If you think something sounded better than the rest, and you think you might like to post it, save that section of the tape.

If nothing struck you as noteworthy, move on.

The key is to dismiss the significance of the recording. No big deal. Nobody's going to see it unless you think it's worthy. Until then, it's erasable and private.

For me, I don't mind letting people see my playing, but I still have a great deal of embarrassment about the fact that I'm old and fat. I don't make a pretty picture on film and I worry what people will think of me when they see my oldness and fatness for the first time!!

:p

3. What type of software did you use?

No special software. The Flip just plugs into the computer - you can use the built-in Flip program to capture the video. The Panasonic camera is DV so it just plugs in with a cable and you do a video transfer.

4. How did you use the software to get your video or sound up on TR? Step by step till finished?

I upload my recordings to YouTube. I save the piece I want as a WMV file and log into my YouTube account...then I click UPLOAD. Then I name it, describe it, set whether or not I want to allow comments, etc, and save it.

YouTube has a fifteen minute clip limit. As well, if you're playing along with a pre-recorded song, YouTube has sophisticated software that can detect what song it is (it's pretty cool, too...it scans the audio in your upload and "listens" for anything from their HUGE database of copyrighted music).

It won't let you infringe on other people's copyrights and will disable the video unless I submit a form on the YouTube site that affirms I displaying use of the copyrighted material for educational purposes only and that I am using the song under the FAIR USE clause that permits such usage.

99.9% of the time, the usage is approved...but your video still might end up being disabled in certain countries that do not participate in the FAIR USE thing.

I don't know if this is in effect in the US too...these are just the things I have to do.

5. Where did you look for help such as YouTube etc to be able to get your video and sound up to TR?

To get my videos to TR, I just do a video URL link to my YouTube page, and/or the specific video. I learned how to do this by reading the YouTube documents on how to embed videos, etc. And the TR forum has a video embed feature. You just go to the YouTube video you want to show on TR, then copy the link from the address bar. The go to TR and hit the EMBED VIDEO icon in the posting window - it's the one that looks like a reel of film. Make sure your personal SETTINGS are set to let you use the WYSIWYG post editor.

6. What is the lest expensive way to go about it and getting the best quality video and sound.

Dunno. My Flip makes nice videos - the camera was about $200.00. Obviously, the open-air recordings won't be as good as fancy computer gear where you plug right in and get high quality stereo recordings, etc...but it gets the job done.

7. If money were no object and you could do it at home only, what would you use for the best quality video and sound?

Dunno. If I ever had unlimited cash, I'd check the market at that time. Right now, I'm not in the market, so I don't know what's out there.



Next?


:cool:

Bassix
07-04-2011, 01:44 PM
1. What type of Camera did you use?
I used a Kodak Zi10. It has a built-in microphone and a jack for an external microphone if you have one. For "Penny Lane" I used the camera only for video and audio.

2. How did you overcome your fear before the camera?
I think what Elmeaux said captures it nicely.

Being around the camera during practice when not recording and the knowledge that if I don't like the result when I do record both help rachet down the anxiety a few notches. Also I think making sure that the goal isn't "I'll make a video of me performing flawlessly" helps too. Of course, when I practice the goal is perfection but "performing" is a different animal and requires a different approach, imo. When I record I try to make the goal something like "I'll make a video of me playing this song from start to finish and try to FEEL the song" or "I'll play this song and try not to look at my hands too much" or "I'll really pay attention to giving the notes their proper duration". Deep down we all want to do a good job when it's out there for the whole world to see, but for some strange reason these tactics help. Obviously, I'm absolutely giving it my best effort in all aspects of playing when recording but the pressure of perfection gets reduced a little.

3. What type of software did you use?
Pro Tools recording software. There are lots of different software on the market within a wide range of prices. If you're thinking about posting a video at some point, just make sure the software supports importing and exporting video (Importing = getting it from your camera or computer to the software; Exporting = getting it from the software to a different location).

4. How did you use the software to get your video or sound up on TR? Step by step till finished?

Not sure if you wanted this much info, Line6bassman, but maybe someone else could use it if they're thinking about going the software route -
First, the recording part:
My USB interface (which I bought dirt cheap off ebay) has two inputs and I used both to record. One input (used for my music track) was for a microphone (again, from ebay) and the other input (used for my bass track) was for my bass cable plugged into my guitar. A cable from the USB interface plugs into the computer and I ran another cable from the interface to my amp (I'm not crazy about wearing headphones when I play). Alternatively, instead of using a microphone I could have imported the music from itunes or from a location on my computer to a track if I wanted. Again, I used a microphone which I placed right up to a 2" speaker inside the cabinet of my computer monitor. I deliberately chose that size speaker because I wanted the music track to be "bass-lean" w/o doing any EQ'ing to it. Once set up, I hit 'record' on the camera, 'record' on my recording software and then I was ready to roll!

Mixing the recorded audio:
For "Never Can Say Goodbye", I used flatwound strings, already had a foam mute on the bass and had the bass knob set to max on my guitar so I didn't apply any post-recording EQ since the sound was kinda Motown-fat, round and thumpy. I adjusted the bass and music tracks to suitable relative volume levels and used some compression on the bass track. Pro Tools has a default compression setting for bass guitar which I initially selected and then decreased by about 50% because I felt that the default setting compressed the bassline too much and took some life out of it.

Getting the video and audio to be as one:
I transferred the video to my computer and imported my video recording into my audio recording via the recording software and synced them up. Once that was done I saved this merged video/audio to my computer and uploaded to youtube, then attached the youtube video to my thread on TR.

5. Where did you look for help such as youtube etc to be able to get your video and sound up to TR?
I went to music store sites (musiciansfriend.com, sweetwater.com, etc.) for specs/reviews on software (again, making sure importing and exporting video was supported) and youtube, specifically, for tutorials on how you do this or that with a given software.

As far as getting it on youtube, what Elmeaux said. Youtube processed my video and politely told me that it would not be viewable in Germany due to copyright issues and that was that.

6. What is the lest expensive way to go about it and getting the best quality video and sound.
The least expensive route is probably buying a camera with an internal microphone. The Kodak Zi10 that I used is selling for about $149 right now. Also consider buying used equipment when possible since a lot people get into recording and, for various reasons, get out of it and have equipment for sale that's practically brand new.

7. If money were no object and you could do it at home only, what would you use for the best quality video and sound?
I guess for my needs what I have is more than enough for me, but there's some really nice stuff out there for those with the $$$$$!