#1
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Zoom H4N w/ Camcorder, play & sing
First, a note of thanks. You AV Tech guys here on AGF are amazing... I can't even begin to understand most of what you are talking about. I am learning that AV is a BIG subject, a world unto itself. You have shown me a good place to start.
I always see Tekkies respond to Forum questions with questions of your own, so here is a bit about me: I am an intermediate guitar player and singer, 53 years old, variety of fingerstyles, "flesh" only, no nails or picks. I play only acoustic nylon strings, currently unamplified but I will get an amplified setup when I feel I am "ready". I play by myself or with a few freinds, and will occasionally play for a small group of people I know, especially simple fun songs where people can join (alcohol always gets people singing). I love being able to play at parties and such, no desire to play professionally. I am a raw beginner in regard to AV, but I want to learn. I am a Civil/Structural Engineer, comfortable with using technology but not expert in any way. I will record both in private (I have a nice acoustic studio setup), and in small group settings, for: 1) Learning Musicianship by recording my practice, to see and hear myself play and sing 2) Track Progress by keeping some tracks as I go, as a measure of my progress in coming months and years. 3) "Gift Cards" by learning a specific song for a friend or relative, and sending to them as a "card", or for recording at a party to send to those who were there Currently just using my crappy laptop integrated webcam and microphone... results not too bad for myself, but I would not send to anyone else. After about 40 hours of quick-study, I have decided to upgrade to a Zoom H4N for recording audio, video not sure. OK, given my self description, a few noob questions:
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#2
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Replying to my own post, for those interested just found this resource and spent about an hour browsing... exact perfect resource for singer-songwriter audio-video using H4N. http://2090.org/zoom/bbs/index.php
As to my other questions, still searching. |
#3
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Emailing video is not a very good strategy currently. Video files are much larger than audio files of similar length and quality, so the usual technique is to upload the video file to a hosting site and emailing a link. You can host your own video if you have a web site, or you can use a public hosting service like YouTube or Vimeo. Quote:
I'm glad you asked about lighting - that's the _real_ key to video quality. If you spend a bit of money and time on lighting you can save a lot of money on your camera. Similarly, time and money spent on tweaking the acoustics of your recording space is one of the best ways to improve your audio recordings. Fran
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E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi Slack Key in California - www.kaleponi.com My YouTube clips The Homebrewed Music Blog |
#4
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Hey Fran,
Thanks very much for the excellent info, especially your advice to start with XY ZOOM mics only. I saw some of your posts at the ZOOM forum, so I know you are an avid user. As you are a dedicated slack key player (I have listened to only a few of your UT videos so far... I am humbled... beautiful music) you must run into exactly the kinds of AV decisions facing me, playing folk/classical/acoustic blues/my own interpretations of everything from Green Day to Farouk Mezzah. Regarding music selections for learning, this is my biggest challenge... I love it all. So much to learn, so little time... sigh. BD |
#5
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When I started hunting for info on video lighting I learned (with a vigorous self-head-slap) that video is just moving still photography, and the basics of lighting are the same for both. The conventional approach to "interview" lighting is called 3 point lighting. It's a good way to organize lighting for a solo guitar shot, even if you don't use real pro lights. Here's a tutorial: http://www.videomaker.com/video/watc...oint-lighting/ I do something similar with my collection of old clamp lights. Color temperature is good to know about, I buy high output CFLs with a color temp close to tungsten filament, so I can mix them with incandescents. Fran
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E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi Slack Key in California - www.kaleponi.com My YouTube clips The Homebrewed Music Blog |