Jerry's 101 Camera Tips
Jerry's CTT 101 stands for "Jerry's Camera Tech Tips 101," click below to visit the starting/main page for this series. Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll be glad to answer!
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Editing Videos
For reference, I edit on Adobe Premiere Pro.
First, what setting should I record in? Although this isn’t technically an editing thing, I thought it would best fit into this section, as you'll end up editing the footage, and the setting you record in will affect your editing workflow.
1080 vs 4k
Advantages of 1080
Less storage
Less overheat on camera
Less computer power is needed
Advantages of 4k
Higher quality
More room to downscale for higher quality or crop’ins
For example, if you want to zoom in or reframe the shot, you'll have more flexibility.
24 fps vs 30 fps vs 60 fps
Advantages 24 fps
"Traditional" (movies are in 24 fps)
Nice motion blur, which can often be seen in movies (assuming using proper shutter speed)
Less computer processing power is needed (assuming the aspect ratio is the same)
Advantages 30 fps
Standard for YouTube and other "creator" websites.
Can slow down to 24 fps to get smoother shots
Advantages 60 fps
60 fps seems to be trending now-a-days on sites like YouTube
Great for sports, capturing fast action
Can slow down more before it looks choppy
So after this short list of perks, what setting should you record in? Well, it’s best to record in what setting you expect to output in. For example, if you want to export in 1080p 24fps, that’s what you should film in. For a gig such as a wedding however, you may want to film in 60 fps so you can slow down the footage for a "dreamy effect." If you don't plan on remapping time though, it's best to record in what you'll export in.
For sports, using 60 isn't a bad idea, as fast-moving objects will appear smoother.
Having 30 or 60 fps video downscaled to 24 fps may cause some frame interlacing or shutter-flickering issues if no slowdown is used. Because of this, try sticking to recording in 24 fps if you are going to output in 24fps. Same for 60fps vs 30fps, but since the math is just divided by two, there is much less of an issue.
First time editing?
For Premiere Pro, the defaults should be V and C; pointer tool and razor respectively. These are the two most used keys that I use in daily editing. Learn the equivalent for your editing software (key to cut clips and change back to the select key). Some people prefer to trim clips by dragging the end of the clip but I’ve found using the razor is quicker for me, especially with frame by frame videos. Learning these two keys will make your editing go by so much faster. You’ll also feel pretty cool.
Edited a few videos?
Get into a good habit of organizing footage. It’s much better to get in a good habit early on then have to change your old ways (guess which side of the fence I was on). Use an external hard drive or organize your computer extremely well. Even one lazy placement of footage will act like karma and bite you in the back.
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