Video makers - What kit do you use?

[Rudy4]

To be quite honest, I'm really happy with the 1080 HD that my Moto G6 phone shoots. The Open Camera app is free and has a lot of nice features, like the ability to lock the focus and white balance once you have them where you want them.

Nothing worse than hitting record on your tripod mounted phone and then having it continually auto-focus or adjust the white balance as the lighting in the room changes.

My next step might be a second camera, but I'm kinda digging the simplicity of what I'm doing at present.

I purchased a IK Multimedia iKlip phone ount and it really works out well in a standard camera tripod or mic stand.

[Daniel Grenier]

As you may already have an iPhone (or Android), FiLMIC Pro app may well be all you'd need. Combined to the newer smartphones, it is very powerful and it is actually used to make feature films nowadays. Combine that with a gimbal, anamorphic lens, and a few led lights (along with your existing eqpt for sound), and you have a low-budget setup that can give you stunning results. All that for a few hundred pounds/$$. The learning curve is pretty mild too.

Here is a good video explaining all the features of FiLMIC Pro, if you're unfamiliar with it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fovpxCJiSUE

Anyway, good luck with your search.

[anton]

Eric, I bought the Cinematic Effect LUTs from Tropic Colour after you mentioned them here. Man, what fun, they add a whole new dimension to the video. I'm looking forward to learning how to use them. I didnt know such a thing existed.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by anton

Eric, I bought the Cinematic Effect LUTs from Tropic Colour after you mentioned them here.

Pretty much the only reason I'm going to ditch iMovie for FCPX is so I can use LUTs. There are a bunch in iMovie that are useful, and they're just presets derived from the tweaks that iMovie already has available, but the aftermarket LUTs seem better.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by anton

Eric, I bought the Cinematic Effect LUTs from Tropic Colour .

I went to the Tropic Colour website but could not find a "Cinematic Effect" package do you perhaps mean "Cinematic Looks" ??

[anton]

Kev, whoops yea its "Cinematic Looks". I figured for $30 I might as well try it out.

[min7b5]

Originally Posted by anton

Kev, whoops yea its "Cinematic Looks". I figured for $30 I might as well try it out.

I mostly use the "Subtle Moods" collection, and the "Teal And Orange" one. They're nice quick looks that are very easy to use. Just like with Logic, the market place for third party plugins for Final Cut is pretty huge, and there a lot more than just color grading.. But that's as deep as I've gone so far.

[anton]

Oops, guess I bought a different LUT pack than the one you use. Ah well, more to check out later. 😀

[Gdjjr]

I use my iPhone 7, 2020 model- I tried a mini iPad and a lap top but the phone beats them both hands down in video quality and sound- I prop the phone against the lap top screen and that captures all the sound better than being on a stand- I tried a stand alone video and sound camera, IDR the make, but it was too difficult to use- I adhere to the K.I.S.S philosophy- the iPhone I have is the epitome of that- I tried a shure MV88 and was not impressed at all-

[Rick Shepherd]

Originally Posted by MJ Slaughter

I'm pretty frugal most the time so when we made a demo of some songs the only out of pocket was for a Zoom H6 audio record with 4 XLR ins. My son just happens to be a photographer and offered to help so he recorded the moving and closeup parts with his camera but for the stationary shots we just use one of my 4 year old LG G6 phones and I'm satisfied with the results. For mics we used a Shure Beta 58 and Sennheiser e945, guitar with Anthem PU direct to the zoom. I have a couple cheap light boxes but we decided to use the natural light this time.

Video camera-no cost
Zoom H6-$340
Video editor-$0 using Blackmagic's Davinci Resolve
DAW for mixing audio-$0 using the free Bandcamp's Cakewalk

Here's one of the songs.

Hi MJ,

Using your YT video as a reference, your overall sound quality could benefit greatly by micing your guitar,’which would blend better with vocals.

Best Regards!

Rick