Videoing a recording session
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Setup a few digital cameras with video recording facility… we use 2x Canon DSLRs that shoot 1080p on tripods… one a wide shot and one for a general side view of any action or singer closeup. We may also have Smartphones or iPads clamped on stands that work too. Handy for over the shoulder shot of drums. Phones will be fine. Start them to do one song at a time.
They should all record audio. Also check they are at same frame rate. E,g. 25fps.
They should all record audio. Also check they are at same frame rate. E,g. 25fps.
Depending on your editor, it is fairly trivial and automated to synchronise the assorted videos by audio to your multitrack.. assuming you are largely recording the band live and the sound in the room is similar to the recording.
Another way to synch manually is the old school clapper board trick of a couple of hard hits on the snare which will show as spikes in each clips audio… just slide them till they match.
Once synced, you can switch between the different views. If you use something like Final Cut, search multi cam and synchronising clips.
If you only have one camera from the front, it is much easier to synch final audio to the video.
If you are doing lots of overdubs, it needs a bit more planning and some production notes and comments to keep track of individual take clips.
At the very least find a spot to record it all to an iPad or phone unless you can get any half decent vlogging camera. Just add a big memory card.. 128-256gb.
Another way to synch manually is the old school clapper board trick of a couple of hard hits on the snare which will show as spikes in each clips audio… just slide them till they match.
Once synced, you can switch between the different views. If you use something like Final Cut, search multi cam and synchronising clips.
If you only have one camera from the front, it is much easier to synch final audio to the video.
If you are doing lots of overdubs, it needs a bit more planning and some production notes and comments to keep track of individual take clips.
At the very least find a spot to record it all to an iPad or phone unless you can get any half decent vlogging camera. Just add a big memory card.. 128-256gb.
My band owns a bunch of Go Pro's, which we use to record gigs and recording sessions.
Premiere makes it easy to sync audio- you don't even need a clap at the front now.
Premiere makes it easy to sync audio- you don't even need a clap at the front now.
Thanks folks, some good tips there. I'm using Davinci Resolve for editing which has pretty good sync to audio features, but in this case most of it will just be audio from the cameras.
I'd be using phones because we don't have access to proper cameras, which presents an issue with storage. I'd either have to spend time regularly pulling footage from the phones or maybe setup the phones as webcams, if possible, and record direct to the laptop with additional storage. I'm going to investigate OBS for the laptop solution.
I'd be using phones because we don't have access to proper cameras, which presents an issue with storage. I'd either have to spend time regularly pulling footage from the phones or maybe setup the phones as webcams, if possible, and record direct to the laptop with additional storage. I'm going to investigate OBS for the laptop solution.
Not sure how other recording engineers feel about this but personally I think the session usually suffers when bands want to video everything, or when they constantly take photos to document it for Instagram or whatever. It always winds up being a distraction that makes people's focus evaporate.
That's why I want to set and forget as much as as I can so that it's unobtrusive. Unfortunately, promoting a band is done largely through social media these days and you simply need content. Our producer is cool with it though thankfully as he can use it himself.
Phones are the way forward for quality of footage with minimal effort (without splashing loads on DSLR etc). We've had GoPros (and the equivalent Akaso cheapo type) and the phones always look best.
Not sure what to do about the storage, do any of them have removable microSD cards? Might be worth buying a bunch of those if so...
An extra human is a good investment too, static shots are OK but even a mate with a phone that can point it at what's interesting and get some moving shots is way better.
So, I'm looking for tips from anybody that's done something like this successfully before. It's low budget, so current thoughts are a decent webcam or one of my old phones, linked to a laptop to stream constantly to an external HDD, and cataloguing events/timestamps to aid with editing later.
Any thoughts/advice from people more experienced with filming etc?