I have had many request to do a photo video for graduates or weddings.  It is a pretty easy gig, so I always accept.  A client provides the photos, we scan them and produce a beautiful photo video that makes them smile, cry and laugh.  It really is a wonderful thing.  The thing about photo video’s is that they are tremendously easy to do if you have the right equipment.

iPhoto has all the tools you need to create the perfect photo video.  They call them slideshows, but they are photo videos.  So for all those with a Mac who want to have a photo video for your graduation or for that special event, here is how you do it.

The days of big bulky television sets are gone.  We now have thin LCD and Plasma screens that allow us to watch our favorite programs or video’s in High Definition.  So why not shoot all our video’s in high definition?  When you are in the market for your next video camera, don’t consider any format that is not High Defintion.

High Definition video is defined as video with atleast 720 horizontal pixels.  It currently comes in two varieties, 720 or 1080.  The 720 variety has 720 lines of horizonatl pixels while the 1080 has 1,080 lines of horizontal pixels.  They are both use the 16:9 aspect ratio, which means they are widescreen formats and not “square” like old televisions.  The high definitions picture looks better because it has more pixels to view.

HD versus SD images

Another factor that is important to consider when looking at high definition is whether the image is interlaced or progressively scanned.  Traditional television is interlaced, two images are interlaced together using alternate scan lines from each image.  This gives you blurred edges when motion is occuring and only shows half of any one image.  Progressive high definition is much crisper and sharp because each image on the screen is not interlaced and in full resolution.

Standard Definition televisions are always interlaced.  Your hand held video camera is shooting video interlaced.  High Definition can also be interlaced.  High definition that is shot at 720 is going to always be progressive, 720p.  High definition shot at 1080 is going to be either interlaced or progressive, 1080i or 1080p.  Most of your high definition sports programming is shot in 720p and most of your high defintion programming is shot 1080i.

In the previous post of this series we have talked about computer hardware, hard drive storage, and camera basics.  Today we will look at recommended cameras for your organization to consider.  Because we are looking for a budget system, we will stay away from the Professional grade camera packages.  If you are looking to produce video for television, you will want to consider a different setup than being discussed here.

A few factors that you will want to discuss before making a camera purchase include, but are not limited to, tape versus HDD storage.  Do you want to shoot HD or stay SD?  Do you want to record to tape or do you want to record to a solid state media?  There are pros and cons for each.  Do want ease of use automatic or do you want control of the camera with manual control?  There are several other factors to consider and we do not have time to go into them at this time.

The consumer grade camera that I would recommend is the Canon HV20/HV30.  It is a HDV camera that shoots to miniDV.  It has received high ratings and recommendations from various websites and magazines.  It is one of the first consumer grade, hand held camera’s to offer a 1080i shooting format.  Either model will give you great picture quality at a sub $1,000.00 price tag.  I have actually seen this camera used on nationally televised programming because of the quality of picture and the “disposability” because of its price.

As for prosumer grade camera’s, I would recommend either the Canon XH-A1 or G1, Panasonic HVX200A P2, or the Sony Z1U or Sony EX1.  All of these cameras produce a quality picture and have very easy to use features.  They can be operated in full automatic mode or switched to run in full manual.  You can capture some stunning images with either of these cameras.  They all have their pro’s and con’s and you would want to research each model before making a purchase.  They range in price from $3,500 to $7,00, so you want to make sure you select the one that meets your needs.

The final piece in the budget system is accessories.  We need to discuss audio, lights, and tripods.  We will cover accessories in the next piece and try to give you some recommendations.  So far we have a computer, Storage and a camera for somewhere between $3,500 and $9,500.  It is quite a range but we will focus more intently on our budget system as we finish up this discussion.  Stay tuned as we look at accessories.

The purpose of this website is to help you with your video production.  Whether it be through tips, discussion, or tutorials, Media317 wants to help you become better at producing videos for your organization.  If we can help produce a quality video and effectively communicate your message to your audience, we feel we have accomplished our mission.

So, today I would like to hear your request.  What are you have issues with?  What tips would you like to see?  What tutorials would you like to have access to?  Let us know what you would like to see on this site that would make it most useful for you?  Let us hear from you.

In the first post of this series, we talked about the right kind of computer system for basic video editing for your church, school, or organization.  The second post discussed the need to have plenty of hard drive space to digitize, edit, and store your video.  In this post we will look at video camera basics and lay a foundation for selecting the right camera for your needs.

Video camera’s come in three basic classifications, consumer, prosumer and professional.  The differences between these classifications is significant in both features and price.  The budget video editor has to weigh these two in order to determine which camera best fits his/her needs.  If you are going to use it to take on mission trips and let the youth gather the video you may have a different set of criteria than if you are planning on starting a television ministry.  Considering exactly what you are intending to do with your editing system and video equipment plays heavily in what camera to purchase.

The consumer grade camera is what you might find at your local department store or big box store.  They are hand-held, palm size cameras that record to tape, disc, or hard drive.  They rarely have many manual features, although higher end consumer cameras will allow you to manually focus and adjust iris, for example.  They generally range in price from $300 to $1,200.

The prosumer grade camera is not found at your local department store and generally have to ordered from specialty stores.  They range in size from handheld to shoulder mounted and record to tape, disc, or hard drive.  They have a wide range of manual and automatic features that allow a camera operator to have significant control over image quality.  They range in price from $1,500 to $10,000.  The price range is quite large but the higher in price you go the closer to a professional camera you get.  The old saying “you get what you pay for” can hold true in this class of camera.

The Professional grad camera is a truly specialty item.  These can only be purchased from specialty stores.  These cameras are large, heavy shoulder mounted cameras that capture the best possible picture.  They offer a full array of manual features, allowing the camera operator full control over the image.  Their price usually begins around $15,000 to $20,000 and go up to over $100,000 per camera.  These pieces of equipment are designed for high-end productions and are generally used for television or theatrical productions.

For most church, school or non-profit organizations, a good quality consumer or prosumer grade camera will be sufficient.  They allow you to capture quality images at an affordable price.  It is the consumer/prosumer grade camera that fits in the low/mid budget. 

In the next post, we will look at few cameras that you should seriously consider.  They will range from high end consumer cameras to mid range prosumer cameras.  Stay tuned for more on the budget video editing system.