Videographers Out there?

[elbers_e]

Hi Folks,

Just joined up to the scuba board last week and so far I really love the resource. I was looking around to see if there were any fellow videographers on the SB who wanted to exchange tips and tricks etc. Hopefully this is the best Forum to bring this up.

I have been doing Video of my Dives for about Ten years now. It is the best way that I have been able to fullfill my fantasy of being Jaques Costeau from when I was Eight years old and got to ask him a question at the auditorium in the Philidelphia Museum of Natural History. I shoot with a Sony TRV120 in an Ikelite housing. I love the color fidelity and sharpness of the DV, I have thought about moving up to a 3 CCD camera but I like not having an expensive camera in case of flooding and I have been happy with the quality. I Edit with Final Cut Pro and use DVD Studio Pro to produce my DVD's. If anyone else uses these programs I would particularly like to compare notes with you! I enjoy editing but I find it a very time consuming process and woud love suggestions on how to quicken it along.

Right now I am working on the movie that I shot last year in Roatan, hoping to finish it in time to go back down there on the 19th of this month!

If you have a reasonably fast connection you can see my "Teaser" at
http://falcon.rakis.net/dance (let me know if you have any problems as I am still working out the kinks in this web delivery as I mostly do DVD).

 

[justleesa]

Sorry to say, I don't. BUT, I have some friends that video. I'll forward this link to them, hoping that they might be able to help you.

I do have a Sony TRV510e, I'm just missing the housing. Anybody got one flying around that they don't need?

Aloha, Lisa

PS, Cute dance video, the umbrella thing is cute

 

[Barracuda2]

Hi Folks,

I was looking around to see if there were any fellow videographers on the SB who wanted to exchange tips and tricks etc

Welcome to the board. I'm a video producer who does both commercial and consumer work, and of course I carry my video cam just about on every dive. If I ever dive without it, I feel naked!

I use a sony VX1000 in an Amphibico 1000 housing. My editing system is Media 100 ilx. I have produced a few productions for local cable, and just for fun. Sometimes I'm asked to give a talk and a show to various organizations in my area; usually nondivers. I also have a ton of stock UW footage; everything from Great Lakes wrecks to Caribbean reef life, big and small. I love to shoot critter behavior. Maybe we can exchange some programs sometime. I'd like to see your work.

Barracuda2

 

[EricDive]

Hi,

A friend and I do alot of above water video. Everything from industrial work to fun stuff for ourselves. We use Adobe Premiere for editing and I love it. We have been using it for years and keeping up with the upgrades as it develops. I find it very easy to work with and pretty quick as well. We are still experimenting with different DVD authoring programs and have not yet settled on one product (they have all been awkward to use in there own way).

I would love to get a housing for our inexpensive Sony Digital 8mm but am not sure what to get. Do you find it imperative to have access to all of your controls underwater or can you get by with one of those housings where you just turn it on and go?

Eric

 

[JoelW]

I have been doing video underwater for about the last year. I use a Canon Optura 200MC with an Equinox housing.

For editing I use Vegas Video and DVD Architect.

The link below is a little video I hacked out after doing a bit of ice diving last weekend. It's a mix of video and still since I prefer still above water and video underwater.

ice diving

JoelW

 

[Barracuda2]

I do have a Sony TRV510e, I'm just missing the housing. Anybody got one flying around that they don't need?

Aloha, Lisa


No I don't but I do have a TR81 Ocean Images Dolphin series housing. and two TR81 Hi8 cams. Both cams need slight repair.

Barracuda2

 

[Barracuda2]

Hi,

A friend and I do alot of above water video. Everything from industrial work to fun stuff for ourselves. We use Adobe Premiere for editing and I love it. We have been using it for years and keeping up with the upgrades as it develops. I find it very easy to work with and pretty quick as well. We are still experimenting with different DVD authoring programs and have not yet settled on one product (they have all been awkward to use in there own way).

I would love to get a housing for our inexpensive Sony Digital 8mm but am not sure what to get. Do you find it imperative to have access to all of your controls underwater or can you get by with one of those housings where you just turn it on and go?

Eric

If you have a lanc input on your cam, you should be able to get a housing where all operations are controlled electronically by push button controls on the outside. Mechanically operated cams (controls go through the housing to activate various functions) have a much better chance of leaking, and in salt water that's a real bummer. What model of 8mm sony do you have?

Barracuda2

 

[Tortuga Roja]

Dancing was funny. What were the circle edges from? Added effect or your lens?

Of course I saw the icediving one at DDN already - great but cold to watch.

I've been doing digital stills ( http://tortuga-web.com ) for a couple-three years now and thought I'd give video a try. Just got a Sony pc 330 delivered 2 days ago and an Ocean Images house is on the UPS truck now.

The learning curve is steeper or I'm a bit dumber than I thought. I played with the cam yesterday and put it into my 'puter just using windows movie maker. It was easier to use than the Ulead Video 5 that was bundled with the camera. I hope to get the Adobe video suite someday but $$ is short.

Lots of good UW video advice at Digitaldiver.net forum in the moving pixels section.

Hopefully, I'll have some video to share soon.

 

[salimbag]

Hi Folks,

I shoot with a Sony TRV120 in an Ikelite housing. I love the color fidelity and sharpness of the DV, I have thought about moving up to a 3 CCD camera but I like not having an expensive camera in case of flooding and I have been happy with the quality. I Edit with Final Cut Pro and use DVD Studio Pro to produce my DVD's. If anyone else uses these programs I would particularly like to compare notes with you!

Hi. I think there's little point in worrying about not having a three-chip camera for underwater work - the three chips give you better color saturation and a little better sharpness, advantages which are pretty much eliminated by photographing underwater, while a single chip camera gives you better low light performance, more important in my opinion.

Yeah, I grew up idolizing Cousteau (see my thread about the Calypso below) and went into documentary filming professionally, although most of it topside. I use Final Cut Pro and think it's kind of a pain - harder than it needs to be. That said, the editing software is a very small part of the puzzle. Most of my time is spent logging, planning, writing and conceptualizing, and I really haven't found a shortcut there! If your stuff is simple don't be afraid to use iMovie.

Nice Clip!

 

[PnL]

Check out Digital Diver and Wet Pixels for more specific forums. Digital Diver has good traffic in their 'moving pixels' forum for underwater video. You'll find all kinds of info regarding the 3-chip vs single-chip CCD's as well as housings, lights, etc.