I recorded everything with audio for a long time. That included jam sessions, gigs, band practice and so on. The thing about it was that it was easy to split the recording into MP3s and post the good ones to SoundCloud. I used a Tascam DR-07 at first and then replaced it with a Tascam DR-05. I used Audacity to normalize the recording and then split it. I could do this very quickly!! An aside: my wife teased me about my recording habits and I stopped for a bit. Then I took my one lesson from Wayne Krantz. He advised me to start recording everything which I did!!
A few years ago my music marketing contact told me to start with video. I tried but it was such a pain. I had a Sony Handycam 101PNV01 which I bought for family use. I would record and then spend hours and hours working on the video with Microsoft Movie Maker. In 2017, I worked towards being able to video. Here are my choices.
Video Camera: I started Sony Handycam. I also had a Polaroid Cube which I liked the convenience. Note that like a lot of video cameras it splits the recording into small files. I checked out high-end video cameras like the Sony cx625b and Sony vx450. These have great video/audio but all video cameras have the same problem: battery life is about 1 to 1.5 HR. The high-end cameras are also bulky, expensive, and fragile. I settled on the GoPro Session 4 which is affordable, easy to use, and easy to carry. I just throw it into my gig bag along with a power bank and my Tascam recorder.
Audio Quality: The GoPro audio quality is good enough for me. If I need better audio quality I can use the video from the GoPro and the audio from the Tascam.
Battery Life: I solved the battery issue by using a power pack. Of course, if you can plug in the camera this is not an issue. With the power bank I have more than enough battery life for a 2 - 3 hour gig.
Video software: I reviewed a lot of video software. I tried paid video editing software: Filmora, CyberLink Power, Magix Movie Edit Pro, Corel Video Studio Pro (would not install), and some free video editing software: Hitfilm 4 Express, DaVinci Resolve 12.5 (crashed a lot), Shotcut Video Editor. The best one of the bunch was HitFilm (current version is 5). With HitFilm it is easy join, cut, and produce an MP4. It is available for Windows and Mac. Bottom line is that I do this quickly like I did with MP3s.
https://hitfilm.com/express
Here is a video made with my Sony Handycam (2017).
Another video made with my Polaroid Cube (2017).
A video made with my GoPro Session (2018) with my band.
A video made with my GoPro Session (2018) for a sing-along. Nothing beats the grab-n-go of the GoPro.
Here is my video recording rig.
