Video equipment

[waterman]

Ok, for you gentleman that video your rides, I have a couple of questions.

What type of video camera do you use, the resolution and that type of info?

How do you have it mounted?

What do you use to work it into a video?

Have been thinking about this. Don't really want to put much money into something like this. You know, other needs for the bike.

[rflnomad]

.... and how do you put the audio over the top. Some of it is 'slideshow, then video.
The videos are GREAT and we LOVE them. I want to do some too.

[dantama]

.... and how do you put the audio over the top. Some of it is 'slideshow, then video.
The videos are GREAT and we LOVE them. I want to do some too.

Windows Movie Maker (came with windows xp, and I would imagine vista) Lets you put audio over and trim the length etc.

[bobzinger]

I've used a digital camera that takes movies. Not great resolution, but easy.

[trip]

Waterman,
I use two types of cameras for my videos. One is a Fuji S602Z digital camera that takes digital pics as well as AVI videos that I convert during editing. I don't mount it because the shock would be too much for the camera, so I hand-hold it with my left hand while riding. Took me a while to get used to shooting that way and keep the camera as smooth as possible, but I did it.

I also use a JVC camcorder that I mount in various places on my bike. The mount I use is a custom mount that I made with a RAM mount. I mount the camera on my engine guards, handle bars, saddle bag guards or my sissy bar. I had to exercise some "custom" measures with the video camera like applying duct tape to the battery so it won't fall out during shooting.

Feel free to view some of the videos I've produced from both cameras at http://www.hilliard.ws/kawasaki.htm .

For editing, I use Adobe Premiere and several other small editors to produce the look and feel I want for the video. Adobe Premiere gives me two or three tracks for video and two for audio which comes in handy when you're adding logos or static pics to the video and it has a good array of titles and fonts.

I edit my logo's and stic pics with Photoshop and PhotoImpact.

Trip

[waterman]

Thanks for the input. I am looking at ebay and some of the "cheaper" dvd camcorders. Really don't want to spend a small fortune for a camera I could drop.

I have worked with Windows media and that will work. Just not much with the video portion of it.

Trip, your website and another one I like are kind of inspirations for doing this. Another good site with plenty of video's is
http://michelmarciamotorcycletrips.com/index.html
some pretty nice video's of trips they have taken.

[gshep]

Waterman,
I use a sony DVD camcorder and a small pocket digital camera ( Nikon Cool-pic)
I have used windows movie maker but much prefer Adobe Premier elements. Cost about $100 bucks. It allows you to add just about as many video and audio tracks as you could think of. The full size Adobe Premier is very expensive but " elements" allow us amateurs to have a lot of fun without a lot of expense.
I also search the internet for interesting sound effects, you can find V-Twin engine sounds, all the disney and loony tunes sounds, crashes etc.
Music is kind of tricky as there are copyrights to be considered. You are not supposed to down load I-tunes and then use them on your videos . Many I-Tunes are in a m4p format that most video software can't use, but of course there is a fix for that.
It is a lot of fun but requires a lot of time. The videos that Trip has made are great but I know he spent hours working on them.
Here is one I put on putfile for a Dog we were fostering . He needed open heart surgery and it was going to be expensive. I posted this video and he wound up being adopted from a couple in Florida that had the operation done. He's doing fine now and that makes all the time and money worth while. Sorry about the quality, I had to degrade quality to allow fast downloads. The original is in DVD quality. http://media.putfile.com/tucker-0003
Have fun

Shep

[dogdoc]

I use a sony hard drive HD video cam, not cheap but were worth it.