3/25/13

Getting the most from your "POV" (point of view) video camera

I've been using the JVC Adixxion POV camera now for a few months and have experimented quite a bit with it. I've taken some terrible videos, made the terrible mixes and some pretty good ones. I've found a few key details can make all the difference between good and better...

1. Use multiple points of view

Just shooting 5 minutes of video from the top of your head can be incredibly boring - even nauseating for some ski shots. So what can you do - given that your POV camera is screwed onto the top of your helment? The answer is simple - fake it! Use Google image search and pull up some stills showing your ski run from a distance- then mix these stills into your final video. The other alternative is to ski the same run more than once and shoot some video from your POV and then give the cam to a friend and have them shoot from a distance. The final mixed product can then incorporate both POV's into a more interesting video.

Example:


2. Mix in stills, multiple video clips to create 'video postcards'.


Rather than just have a running video - create freeze frames during the video and use them to call attention to specific events of details.


3. Create "mixes" not just runing videos

The best way I've found to do this is to use an iPad + iMovie app + iPad CD card reader. This of course assumes you already have the iPad! This combination lets you travel light and view your day's video on an iPad  - then mix in stills taken from your camera or video camera.

4. Shoot in high resolution

I set my camera to high res (Full HD) and then uploaded to youTube as high res. The tricky part is that youTube by default serves up the video in medium quality - so you have to edit the video settings to be HD... Try playing back either of the two videos above and choose the settings icon to see how HD improves the quality of the video.

5. Practice before you go out...

Nothing is more frustrating than having the perfect run, perfect shot and then pushing the wrong button or ending up with a still instead of a video. Take the time to practice with your camera - and be sure all your friends who will be shooting with you do the same!

Have fun - and let us know how your own videos come out!

1 comment:

  1. When planning a single digicam capture of this kind, the first thing that I need to do is to describe to the manager or keynote presenter the significance of getting the viewers photos. I describe that to do this, I will need to change the video camera place from the back to the top side of the room, without losing any of the information in the demonstration.

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