Re-edit of my first wedding at DVinfo.net

Robert Johnston · November 19th, 2006, 07:13 AM

Hi all, hope you all are doing and keeping well. This video was taken with a pd 170 camera and a audio tecnika shootgun mic at the wedding pointed at the speakers, the xlr cable was fed striaght to the pd 170. I knew nothing of taking video when I shoot this so go easy as I know a lot of the mistakes that I made when filming. I now have a miller solo tripod and a 10 ds head which give very smooth pans up, down and diagonally. I used a manfotto tripod and a manfrotto 701rc2 head at the wedding which stuck at the beginning of a pan and at the end and forget about going diagonal with it. The sticks gave a very solid base however, just not the head. I will use this as my second camera tripod for my next wedding. I also now have the steadycam merlin to take away those scenes with shaky hand held footage.

I also hope to mic the groom with the g2 100 ews lapel mic from sennhieser to grap more audio from the bride. I also had bought the (studio in a box) mrs-1608 from zoom to plug the xlr cable into, only to find that I would need to be at the machine to start the recording and that the cable would be dangerous as it had to go all the way to the back of the hall. Me and my dad had built a triangled platform with the wheeled feet that could be removed and a tripod fixed into place for a dolly, only to find it needed really smoth ground to work on and more weight than the pd 170 could muster. If you would like to see this setup I would be pleased to show you and put up pictures on my website. I want the g2 100 ews as I now know that they have a wireless connector to make all xlr mic's wireless with a g2 100 ew receiver.

So what I need from you please is to give me pointers on the editing,(ulead media pro 7) compostion of the shoots and how do you think I should use this equipment for my next wedding. I was also looking to see what second camera I should get and am still confused as to go hd or sd and that there is many cameras in the £2.500 to £3.500 range. I was looking at the cannon and sony specifically.

I have bought many video's from dv estore, (guy Cochran) Randy Stubbs and Elite Videos and was wondering if there are video's on editing that aint specific to one nle system or another.

http://www.v-i-cstudio.com/demos.html

Damian Clarke · November 19th, 2006, 09:02 AM

I get a 404 error when trying to access the file, plus none of your site pics are loading either

Robert Johnston · November 19th, 2006, 09:17 AM

That's strange, I have a pc and checked and find nothing out of place. Are you using a mac by any chance and the file is a wmv file for windows media.

Nick Weeks · November 19th, 2006, 10:18 AM

I get the same 404... look at the URL though,. your slash before the wmv file is wrong, it should be the forward slash "/" not the backslash "\"

"The requested URL /Movies\web 3.wmv was not found on this server."

I'm not on my windows PC now, but on my mac it doesn't work. Also, I used to build web sites before I started video work, and you should avoid using spaces in your file names, it's just not good practice even though it works. Also, for simplicity, I would keep all my filenames and folders all lowercase. This doesn't really matter, but a type with a lowercase letter is sometimes hard to troubleshoot... anyway, I think I took this one way out of context :)

Robert Johnston · November 19th, 2006, 10:29 AM

Ok I done the slash thing and hope it works now. As for taking it out of context, I dont think so as I am still learning and need all the help I can Get. Thanks for the advice nick.

Vince Lucena · November 19th, 2006, 11:50 AM

True for all images on your site, they point like:

/Pictures\Main_Page_Im1.png

Good Luck and keep pressing forward....

Mike F Smith · November 19th, 2006, 11:53 AM

Your web page is messed up.

Mike

Robert Johnston · November 20th, 2006, 03:48 AM

I hope that fixed the web page for you mac users out there. Any advice on the web page would be appreciated as well as the original question please. Thanks all for the back - forward slash thingy.

Nick Weeks · November 20th, 2006, 08:09 AM

Robert, just a note your site looks fine on Windows using Internet Explorer, but the images don't show on Firefox; it won't show the buttons at the top, or the filmstrip image in the BG. I guess IE can interpret the backslashes, but Firefox can't. I'd download a copy of Firefox so you can see where the errors are. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

As far as the site design, it's a nice, clean interface. The text could be setup a little different, and I'd try and avoid using tables. Use < div > tags instead... see http://www.alistapart.com/articles/practicalcss/ . Also, just a personal preference, but I hate the Comic Sans font... stick with Verdana or Tahoma.

I'm at work right now, but I will watch your video tonight.

Robert Johnston · November 20th, 2006, 11:13 AM

thank again nick for that insight. I did'nt think about firefox and will see about fixing that problem at the weekend. Also what did you mean about fixing the Setup of the text? I had a quick look at the fonts too and will look at that at the weekend to see how it looks on the web page. Keep the comments coming I am learning a great amount of info here and insight.

Nick Weeks · November 20th, 2006, 11:24 AM

We're taking this way off topic! :)

Feel free to send me an email and I'll be glad to help you with some tips on designing Web sites, I used to do this as a hobby/small business before I gained interest in video.

The old ways of laying out text was to use HTML tables, but times have changed and < div > is the way to go, mostly because it looks cleaner and you can make huge design/color changes just by editing one file (see that article I posted earlier).

Tables are fine, and a lot of people still use them, but yous need some adjustments. The alignment is weird, and to me it just looks "funny." Sorry, I have no better way to describe it, but I'll be glad to help, just send me an email.

Tom Tomkowiak · November 20th, 2006, 01:28 PM

Okay, back to the topic. Just some notes I took while watching:

Better than a boring scene with the ladies walking in for their hair do's would be an outside establishing shot -- the exterior of the beauty shop -- then show the gals in the chairs getting dolled up.

The fireplace scene is held too long and the scene with the 3 groomsmen is from too far away. In fact, several scenes were held too long. Closeups and static scenes not held for more than a few seconds are almost always more interesting than far shots and lengthy shots of people standing around doing nothing.

The two times you used B&W for that old time movie effect IMO wasn't very effective. Staying in color would've been better.

The closing scene with the B&G dancing doesn't feel romantic at all. Gazing into each other's eyes or looking lovingly at each other is what you want to capture & present. Of course, you can only use what you have to work with. It looks like they're more interested in something other than each other.

The equipment you're planning to buy will definitely help on the technical side.

Robert Johnston · November 20th, 2006, 03:26 PM

Thanks Tom that is what I was looking for. The b&w was to cover my mistake in white balancing the camera. I did'nt get a outside shoot though I could easily get that as I live about 5oo yards away. I did'nt think about distance when filming the grooms men and see what you mean. I was thinking the same thing about the fire place and will shorten and fill the gap with other footage. You where right about them being distracted at the dance, though when I was walking up to do the video the dj asked the rest of the bridal party to join them on the dance floor and they looked to see them coming.

To nick I will send you that email tomorrow.

Michael W. Niece · November 21st, 2006, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Weeks

I would keep all my filenames and folders all lowercase. This doesn't really matter, but a type with a lowercase letter...

If you're hosting a site on a server that uses Apache then the case does matter 99% of the time.

The site design is clean, but I agree that Verdana or Tahoma or Times New Roman font should be used. Spaces aren't a good thing in filenames for websites... use underscores or dashes or something. I'll have to try watching the video tonight.

-Michael

Ian Broadbent · November 22nd, 2006, 07:19 PM

One other comment I would like to add is about the prep scenes in the salon, looking up the girls noses is a little unflattering really. Better to keep the shot at their eye level.

Otherwise not bad :) I always feel uncomfortable commenting on other peoples work heheh. Especially as I am still waiting for the elusive first wedding since I re-started in the business.

Cheers n beers

Ian

www.idbvideo.co.uk

November 19th, 2006, 07:13 AM	#1
Robert Johnston Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: northern ireland Posts: 57	Re-edit of my first wedding Hi all, hope you all are doing and keeping well. This video was taken with a pd 170 camera and a audio tecnika shootgun mic at the wedding pointed at the speakers, the xlr cable was fed striaght to the pd 170. I knew nothing of taking video when I shoot this so go easy as I know a lot of the mistakes that I made when filming. I now have a miller solo tripod and a 10 ds head which give very smooth pans up, down and diagonally. I used a manfotto tripod and a manfrotto 701rc2 head at the wedding which stuck at the beginning of a pan and at the end and forget about going diagonal with it. The sticks gave a very solid base however, just not the head. I will use this as my second camera tripod for my next wedding. I also now have the steadycam merlin to take away those scenes with shaky hand held footage. I also hope to mic the groom with the g2 100 ews lapel mic from sennhieser to grap more audio from the bride. I also had bought the (studio in a box) mrs-1608 from zoom to plug the xlr cable into, only to find that I would need to be at the machine to start the recording and that the cable would be dangerous as it had to go all the way to the back of the hall. Me and my dad had built a triangled platform with the wheeled feet that could be removed and a tripod fixed into place for a dolly, only to find it needed really smoth ground to work on and more weight than the pd 170 could muster. If you would like to see this setup I would be pleased to show you and put up pictures on my website. I want the g2 100 ews as I now know that they have a wireless connector to make all xlr mic's wireless with a g2 100 ew receiver. So what I need from you please is to give me pointers on the editing,(ulead media pro 7) compostion of the shoots and how do you think I should use this equipment for my next wedding. I was also looking to see what second camera I should get and am still confused as to go hd or sd and that there is many cameras in the £2.500 to £3.500 range. I was looking at the cannon and sony specifically. I have bought many video's from dv estore, (guy Cochran) Randy Stubbs and Elite Videos and was wondering if there are video's on editing that aint specific to one nle system or another. http://www.v-i-cstudio.com/demos.html

November 19th, 2006, 11:50 AM	#6
Vince Lucena Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Virginia Beach, Va Posts: 91	True for all images on your site, they point like: /Pictures\Main_Page_Im1.png Good Luck and keep pressing forward.... __________________ ......................... MotionOne Studios http://www.MotionOne.tv

November 20th, 2006, 01:28 PM	#12
Tom Tomkowiak Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: On the NC Crystal Coast Posts: 203	Okay, back to the topic. Just some notes I took while watching: Better than a boring scene with the ladies walking in for their hair do's would be an outside establishing shot -- the exterior of the beauty shop -- then show the gals in the chairs getting dolled up. The fireplace scene is held too long and the scene with the 3 groomsmen is from too far away. In fact, several scenes were held too long. Closeups and static scenes not held for more than a few seconds are almost always more interesting than far shots and lengthy shots of people standing around doing nothing. The two times you used B&W for that old time movie effect IMO wasn't very effective. Staying in color would've been better. The closing scene with the B&G dancing doesn't feel romantic at all. Gazing into each other's eyes or looking lovingly at each other is what you want to capture & present. Of course, you can only use what you have to work with. It looks like they're more interested in something other than each other. The equipment you're planning to buy will definitely help on the technical side. __________________ Tom T Mac Pro, Final Cut Studio 2, CS2, Merlin, DVRigPro, VX2100s, HV30

November 19th, 2006, 09:02 AM	#2
Damian Clarke Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Lincolnshire, United Kingdom Posts: 95	I get a 404 error when trying to access the file, plus none of your site pics are loading either

November 19th, 2006, 09:17 AM	#3
Robert Johnston Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: northern ireland Posts: 57	That's strange, I have a pc and checked and find nothing out of place. Are you using a mac by any chance and the file is a wmv file for windows media.

November 19th, 2006, 10:18 AM	#4
Nick Weeks Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL USA Posts: 722	I get the same 404... look at the URL though,. your slash before the wmv file is wrong, it should be the forward slash "/" not the backslash "\" "The requested URL /Movies\web 3.wmv was not found on this server." I'm not on my windows PC now, but on my mac it doesn't work. Also, I used to build web sites before I started video work, and you should avoid using spaces in your file names, it's just not good practice even though it works. Also, for simplicity, I would keep all my filenames and folders all lowercase. This doesn't really matter, but a type with a lowercase letter is sometimes hard to troubleshoot... anyway, I think I took this one way out of context :)

November 19th, 2006, 10:29 AM	#5
Robert Johnston Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: northern ireland Posts: 57	Ok I done the slash thing and hope it works now. As for taking it out of context, I dont think so as I am still learning and need all the help I can Get. Thanks for the advice nick.

November 19th, 2006, 11:53 AM	#7
Mike F Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 156	Your web page is messed up. Mike

November 20th, 2006, 03:48 AM	#8
Robert Johnston Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: northern ireland Posts: 57	I hope that fixed the web page for you mac users out there. Any advice on the web page would be appreciated as well as the original question please. Thanks all for the back - forward slash thingy.

November 20th, 2006, 08:09 AM	#9
Nick Weeks Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL USA Posts: 722	Robert, just a note your site looks fine on Windows using Internet Explorer, but the images don't show on Firefox; it won't show the buttons at the top, or the filmstrip image in the BG. I guess IE can interpret the backslashes, but Firefox can't. I'd download a copy of Firefox so you can see where the errors are. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ As far as the site design, it's a nice, clean interface. The text could be setup a little different, and I'd try and avoid using tables. Use < div > tags instead... see http://www.alistapart.com/articles/practicalcss/ . Also, just a personal preference, but I hate the Comic Sans font... stick with Verdana or Tahoma. I'm at work right now, but I will watch your video tonight.

November 20th, 2006, 11:13 AM	#10
Robert Johnston Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: northern ireland Posts: 57	thank again nick for that insight. I did'nt think about firefox and will see about fixing that problem at the weekend. Also what did you mean about fixing the Setup of the text? I had a quick look at the fonts too and will look at that at the weekend to see how it looks on the web page. Keep the comments coming I am learning a great amount of info here and insight.

November 20th, 2006, 11:24 AM	#11
Nick Weeks Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL USA Posts: 722	We're taking this way off topic! :) Feel free to send me an email and I'll be glad to help you with some tips on designing Web sites, I used to do this as a hobby/small business before I gained interest in video. The old ways of laying out text was to use HTML tables, but times have changed and < div > is the way to go, mostly because it looks cleaner and you can make huge design/color changes just by editing one file (see that article I posted earlier). Tables are fine, and a lot of people still use them, but yous need some adjustments. The alignment is weird, and to me it just looks "funny." Sorry, I have no better way to describe it, but I'll be glad to help, just send me an email.

November 20th, 2006, 03:26 PM	#13
Robert Johnston Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: northern ireland Posts: 57	Thanks Tom that is what I was looking for. The b&w was to cover my mistake in white balancing the camera. I did'nt get a outside shoot though I could easily get that as I live about 5oo yards away. I did'nt think about distance when filming the grooms men and see what you mean. I was thinking the same thing about the fire place and will shorten and fill the gap with other footage. You where right about them being distracted at the dance, though when I was walking up to do the video the dj asked the rest of the bridal party to join them on the dance floor and they looked to see them coming. To nick I will send you that email tomorrow.

November 22nd, 2006, 07:19 PM	#15
Ian Broadbent Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Fleetwood UK Posts: 69	One other comment I would like to add is about the prep scenes in the salon, looking up the girls noses is a little unflattering really. Better to keep the shot at their eye level. Otherwise not bad :) I always feel uncomfortable commenting on other peoples work heheh. Especially as I am still waiting for the elusive first wedding since I re-started in the business. Cheers n beers Ian www.idbvideo.co.uk