Jaguar Videos - Assembling a Complete Video Production Kit.

Jaguar

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2010
221
17
925
Bellevue, WA
Assembling the gear for a video production kit can be a difficult and confusing proposition. Here's what I ended up with, after about 100hrs of preliminary research. There's a wealth of amazing and ever-more affordable technology out there and particularly if you're not an experienced photographer, a number of key decisions will determine how well you select gear that fits your long term needs.


Camera Body
I chose the Panasonic GH4 body. The GH4 has amazing reviews and is considered a great value for under $2K. This is known as a mirror-less, micro 4/3 camera, which have a more compact sensor than a traditional full frame DSLR, so the body and lenses can be much smaller and lighter. The GH4 was and may still be the only camera that records 4K video directly on the SD card. The only real complaint is its average performance in low light, compared to full frame cameras. One of the best performing cameras I’ve seen.
GH4.jpg
Note: the most amazing camera I’ve encountered for the money is the Sony A6000, for $500. The one drawback of this model is that the body tends to overheat when shooting in 60fps, but with a Sony 35mm, F1.8 lens it produces some of the best color, sound and resolution I’ve seen.

Lens
I’m using the Panasonic 12-35mm zoom lens. Micro 4/3 lens terminology can be confusing. The full-frame equivalent for this lens is double, so this lens produces the same view as a 24-70mm lens. I went with the Panasonic lens, because using another brand would have meant the optical stabilization feature in the camera would not work and this is an important feature for handheld shooting with longer focal length lenses.

Choosing the right focal length is very important to how you want to use the camera. In my indoor space I need to back the lens all the way down back to 24mm to get most shots in the frame; if the lens focal length is too high you have to back the camera way up (sometimes you can’t get far enough) or you can only do close up shots. It can be difficult to gauge if you’re not experienced, so seek out advice from an expert. The zoom range offers some important flexibility for my needs, but you’ll get improved clarity from a fixed/non-zoomable lens. In fact, you can zoom much more smoothly with cropping techniques in editing. With a 4K (and soon 5k and 6k) camera you can crop considerably and still end up with a complete 2k or 4k image.


Tripods & Stabilization
You can’t cheap out on a tripod and still get good results with camera movements. If you’re just leaving the camera in place any old tripod will work, but if you want to pan across the scene or room smoothly, an expensive, high quality tripod is required. I’m using the Sachtler FSB-2, which goes for about $1,500 new and half that used. Choosing the right model depends on the load/weight of your camera, with lens and accessories.

A 2nd inexpensive and very light tripod is nice to have for a lot of situations. I’ve also found this Amazon Basics Monopod to be essential. When you’re shooting any place where you’re moving around quickly and a tripod is too much of a hassle to carry and setup, this little thing weighs about a pound, takes a few seconds to attach and will give your shot much more stability than a handheld shot.
Sachtler1.jpg
Sound
Most on-board sound with pro-summer cameras is good, but not pro quality. The main factor is the noise floor and you also have limited functionality. I have a Rode mini-shotgun mic, which can attach to the camera and plug into the camera mic input. I have this Tascam 4-channel recorder for situations where I need more than one channel, such as an interview, but most of the time it’s more convenient to record the sound on the camera. I also have a wired Sony lav mic for those interview situations; a wireless mic is more convenient, but you need to spend some money to get a wireless mic with immunity to RFI problems.
tascam_dr_70d1.jpg
Lighting
Good lighting is essential for professional-level results when shooting inside, even with today’s cameras and lenses. I went with LED arrays, because incandescent and halogen lights were too heavy and hot. I purchased this 2-light LED kit with stands, costing about $500-700. You won’t need a 3rd light except for accents. Each array has 500 lights and I decided the daylight color temp was a better way to go than the warm or bi-color. LED prices should continue to fall rapidly. These lights are light weight, portable and tremendously flexible with the stands, but the best part is the remote control, which allows you to adjust the intensity of each while standing in the frame.
LED Set.jpg
Storage and Backup
SD cards have become the most common media to record to. 4K files at 30fps, are about 4GB for a 5 minute clip. A 32G card will only give you about 45 minutes of record time; I find a 256G card to be ideal. Make sure the card is rated U3 (such as the SanDisk Extreme Pro), to provide adequate throughput for 4k recording.

Having enough space to offload your recorded files requires some planning and if you don’t back up your files you’re going to eventually lose them. Online backup services, such as Amazon backup don’t offer the upload speeds for the type of files I deal with; 10G takes about 30hrs to upload. I’ve tried RAID enclosures and found them to be a pain to keep running and the PCIe card that came with it created long boot times, plus there’s still the concern of the entire RAID system becoming corrupted. I came to the conclusion that the best solution for me is to just back everything up to separate drives and put them away. A 6TB drive costs about $250 now.


Computer Editing Station
I’m using a Mac and Final Cut for editing. Many pros use Adobe Premier on PC, but it comes with a monthly fee, which can get very expensive over time. Had I known about the Sony Vegas editing software I would have gone with that and stayed on a PC platform.

Hardware performance is important with an editing machine, especially for high-res 4K files. Don’t plan on using your MacBook to edit and transcode 4K files. The most important hardware components are the CPU, memory and graphics card. You want a powerful CPU. A quad core i7 is sufficient (more cores probably won’t be utilized). You can get by with 8G of memory, but 16-32G. Buy 16G sticks, in case you want to add more (it's a good idea not to mix types or models of memory). Your choice of graphics card will largely determine how long you wait for tasks to process. The AMD Radeon/ATI cards perform substantially better than GeForce cards for video editing (make sure your power supply is adequate for the card and CPU and the card will fit in the enclosure). I’m using a $150, Radeon 270X, which is barely adequate for my needs, a little slow, but it works.

Sony Sound Forge software came with my Tascam recorder; you can do some audio editing in the editing programs, but this offers some extra features and flexibility.


Accessories
This backpack from Amazon Basics can hold one or two camera bodies or a few lenses. It holds a lot of stuff and works well for shooting on the go.

If your camera lasts 5+ hours on one battery you really don't need more than two batteries, unless you're shooting in a place where you can't recharge the spare. Beware of the off-brand OEM batteries you find on Amazon, Ebay, etc; I've found that while they're cheap, they typically last only 20-40% as long.
Amazon Bag.JPG
 
Last edited:

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Very useful write up Darin. One of these days I will get around to building a new video workstation. Until then I get vicarious enjoyment out of reading others do that :).
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
BTW, I didn't think Adobe had discontinued outright purchase of Premier. Have they?

I have a create cloud subscription and find it great value. I am always current and can install any Adobe software. In the past it was constant paying for upgrades or living with outdated software.
 

Old Listener

New Member
Jul 18, 2010
371
0
0
SF Bay area
naturelover.smugmug.com
Thanks for the detailed description of things to think about and your choices. I've been working up a video interview project for some time. I may decide to do the recording myself rather than hiring a videographer and if so, I'll need some gear. Your post will be of real value to me.
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
7,006
512
1,740
Snohomish, WA
www.pugetsoundstudios.com
Some great suggestions on gear. There is one piece of gear that I think is imperative when doing any kind of interview or presentation. That is a wireless lavalier mic. I've tried the shotguns and such. Nothing beats a lav...
 

Jaguar

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2010
221
17
925
Bellevue, WA
BTW, I didn't think Adobe had discontinued outright purchase of Premier. Have they?

I have a create cloud subscription and find it great value. I am always current and can install any Adobe software. In the past it was constant paying for upgrades or living with outdated software.

From what I can tell, Adobe has gone to a $20 monthly subscription plan for Premier. It used to be available for purchase for about $2k, but I see no evidence of that now. I would go with Sony Vegas for PC all the way. It's $399 and capable of doing the job of a professional videographer. I don't know the differences in features between the two, but if this isn't your full time line of work (or as you said, you're already a subscriber) you don't need to spend the extra money. Final Cut is $299 and just as capable.
 
Last edited:

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
From what I can tell, Adobe has gone to a $20 monthly subscription plan for Premier. It used to be available for purchase for about $2k, but I see no evidence of that now. I would go with Sony Vegas for PC all the way. It's $399 and capable of doing the job of a professional videographer. I don't know the differences in features between the two, but if this isn't your full time line of work (or as you said, you're already a subscriber) you don't need to spend the extra money. Final Cut is $299 and just as capable.
Vegas for sure is easier to use than Premiere. The last time I tested both though, Vegas could not import some of my older tapes whereas Premiere could so I have stayed with it. But it sure is non-intuitive to use for new users.
 

Jaguar

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2010
221
17
925
Bellevue, WA
Some great suggestions on gear. There is one piece of gear that I think is imperative when doing any kind of interview or presentation. That is a wireless lavalier mic. I've tried the shotguns and such. Nothing beats a lav...

Yes, a wireless Lav is much less cumbersome in public settings than the wired Lav mic like I’m using. Nice wireless Lavs, such as the Sennheiser, cost about $800 each. I was cautioned against going with inexpensive models, due to RFI issues, but I think that’s more of a consideration when you’re working in a lot of different locations. Probably not a problem if you shoot in just a few locations and none of them are close to a radio broadcast.
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
7,006
512
1,740
Snohomish, WA
www.pugetsoundstudios.com
Yes, a wireless Lav is much less cumbersome in public settings than the wired Lav mic like I’m using. Nice wireless Lavs, such as the Sennheiser, cost about $800 each. I was cautioned against going with inexpensive models, due to RFI issues, but I think that’s more of a consideration when you’re working in a lot of different locations. Probably not a problem if you shoot in just a few locations and none of them are close to a radio broadcast.

I'm sorry. I missed where you mentioned that you do have a lavalier mic. Look's like you're all set!
 

Jaguar

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2010
221
17
925
Bellevue, WA
A sample video from the Panasonic GH4 and 12-35 Lens

Here is a video clip shot with the camera gear described in this thread (Panasonic GH4 and 12-35 zoom lens). This is a fun clip. Does anyone in Seattle still remember our amazing summer this year. This was taken at the annual NHRA drag races in August.

The race was between Courtney Force and Alexis DeJoria. Courtney (see below, from the ESPN Bodies photo shoot) is one of three daughters of all-time-winning NHRA champ, John Force; all three of his daughters race NHRA cars. You can see John milling around the track near Courtney's car, in the black track suit and white hat. Alexis is the daughter of billionaire Paul DeJoria, who founded Paul Mitchell hair care and owns Patron Tequila (her sponsor). These cars have a top speed of about 320mph in the quarter mile. Listen for the cool sound when Alexis locks up her brakes in the burnout.

courtney-force-nude-photos1-e1373472460579.jpg

I was concerned that the sound wouldn't come out well, because even at my vantage point, about 60 yards from the starting line, the noise level must have been more than 130dB. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the on-camera sound is very clear and realistic.

Note: For a look at the result from the Sony A6000, with the Sony 35mm, F1.8 lens I mentioned, I will upload a sample to the thread called "The Orphanage Project" on this forum. Just look at how stunning the color and sound is right out of the camera and this package is only $1,100. Now I can correct the color and sound in post production and I could improve the color with a complex calibration process, but I have to say, despite lacking 4K capability, this Sony does better straight out of the camera.



Note: These embedded videos often default to low quality (360p on my laptop), but if you go to the YouTube link you can set the quality to full HD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4VD_kbXwnY
 
Last edited:

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing