Creating Footage

[MatFx]

Hi there....

I've been a member of this forum for almost a half a year now and a vj for not much longer than that.

I try to read all there is on the forum, but still have some questions.

I know that it's hard to start completly with your own footage, and so it is for me.

For now I'm using royalty free stuff from audiovisualizers and more and more my own footage. I'm working to create a show with only my own footage.

But the problem is it isn't the quality I want it to be, to be honest I think it's crap.

I'm using premiere, after efects and vjo to create my footage, but I only know the basics of the progs.

So my question is: Does anyone have some good tips and tricks for these programs or some advise in other programs I could use.

Thanx!

MatFx

[Amukidi]

If its quality you are after (and this is not to everyone's taste) then you are going to find most of the VJ soft slightly lacking unless you have a PC/Mac with awesome power and a dual output graphics card. Most that I've tried are happiest with clips of 320x240, or at best 640x480, and there's no software available that will turn a 320x240 clip into a glorious high quality image once projected - you can't polish a turd!There's something slightly insane about buying an expensive camera and laptop, then feeding your signal thru a cheap scan converter and ending up with disappointing quality at the end. This, of course is fine if that's how you want ti to look - but my theory is that as more and more folks get DVD at home, then the tolerance of grainy/pixelated visuals will recede, it was Holly, I think, that suggested a couple of DVD players and a cheap mixer as a good and cheap solution. I'd look down that route if I were you - I guess it all depends on who your audience is going to be.

[hamageddon]

MatFX are u referring to content quality or resolution?

[robotfunk]

I don't think resolution is the quality bottleneck here.
A quality clip at 320x240 will look much better than a badly shot DV clip at PAL/NTSC res.

Making quality content is harder than most people think. There is a reason so many people work on making a movie. If you are going the DIY way you are going to be the director, art director, camera man, etc etc all at once. So get to know the skills involved in all these fields. Make a story you want to tell, think about the composition and lighting, cast the right people, serve fresh food etc etc.

[MatFx]

Thanx for the reactions, but it's not the resolution quality I was talking about, but the content quality.

I know it's part of just doing and trying as much as you can with the programs but it costs a lot of time and I want to go a bit faster with it, if you catch my drift.....

[hamageddon]

well ain't no general solution for creating ur own visual style
it's all in the mix ;) keep experimenting with AfterFX and it's
Layers, analyse other ppls VJo presets, try to recreate some EFX
u've already seen elsewhere, in the process u usually end somewhere else but sometimes with something extraordinary.

[charlielangridge]

When it comes to making good footage, it's all up to what ou consider good footage. I personaly carry 2 digicams with me at all time. A crap one to take about 2-300 shots a day. These are all for inspiration. The other cam is a high quality digi slr, which i use to catch moments that i wont see again or short (60sec) clips which i can use. I take my DV cam out anytime i feel there will be good footage available but have found that carrying it 24/7 is useless as the chances are, whenever i see something i wanna film by the time everythigs ready to shoot, ive missed it! When i get back to the studio i apply any effects i need/ want to add and produce footage/loops in prem/afx.

I use 3ds and bryce to create 3d stuff at high res for my footage, but also flash and psp/photoshop for otherstuff, i then burn it off and gig!!

I hope this has been some help, but you gotta remeber, it will take a fucking age and a lot of hd space to get a good lot of footage, but it will also (if it's good) put you on a much higher level than the wanna-be bedroom vj's who all have the same clips and all have the same AVS plugins!!

Charlie Langridge

[MoRpH]

WOOOOOOHOOOOOO finally recognition that QUALITY is in the material NOT the resolution. Presuming that ppl are refering to RESOLUTION when saying QUALITY is one eyed.

I have to agree there hama and charlie, firstly try to create content in two themes, one that is more general/multi-purpose mix material, capturing your world and themes/images you find interesting, the other is stuff that is relevant to the theme of the party, a lot of "arty" VJs seem to be ignoring this in favour of the first as its "not THEIR ART", which is sad as @ the same time as creating art in the environment we are also there to enhance the club/theme/night for the benefit of the punters and themeing is a GREAT part of this.

Combining these two themes of content in an ORIGINAL style of LIVE MIXING is also essential, this is why you can see 2 VJs use the same source and NOT come up with the same mix. This is one of the main reasons that I see cutting to the beat off the T-bar as passe (yes it has its place in small doses). In this regard I recommend playing with lots of different FX combos in software and hardware (EXPERIMENT AWAY!!!) and connecting your kit up in as many ways as possible to see what you can make.

Combining these 3 elements into your shows will help to add variety and difference to your shows, after time you will find techniques that work for you and are original enough to set your work apart in your area (not to say someone isn't doing something similar somewhere else ;) ).

[Anyone]

Mat,

you can also categorize your visuals in terms of speed or level of activity.

I use vJo with the key mapper,
and put the fastest and most crazy vids and the right hand side of the keyboard, and the slow and chilled ones on the left.

so for example, if a break comes all of a sudden in the music,
then i just hit one of the left keys and I know i'm ok...

Ne1

[MoRpH]

Originally posted by Anyone
Mat,

you can also categorize your visuals in terms of speed or level of activity.

I use vJo with the key mapper,
and put the fastest and most crazy vids and the right hand side of the keyboard, and the slow and chilled ones on the left.

so for example, if a break comes all of a sudden in the music,
then i just hit one of the left keys and I know i'm ok...

Ne1

Hahahaha thats pretty random (to actual content), but hey I guess with no onscreen UI in VJo its mostly guess work with triggering ;) :p

Back to the program :)

[holly]

Check out a book called "What to Listen for in Music" by Aaron Copland. It's an inspirational read for anyone creating time-based art (music, video, choreography). It talks about compositional structure and layering. Intended for music, but the concepts easily translate to what we do.

"What to Listen for in Music" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451628802/ref=ase_lucidcafeA/002-3697592-2914445)

As a general rule, I feel that less is more. Look at your footage with a critical eye and strip out everything you don't like about it. You may be left with very little, but if it's good it will start you on a path to creating just the stuff you like. Hold informal parties and do background visuals for friends (8 or 10 people is plenty) they will spontainiously give you feedback about what they like, but don't ask "why" or "what about this". People tend to be less honest when they have to think about what they are saying.

As a last resort you could always post links to some of your video. I'm sure there would be plenty of critics here willing to tear your work apart and give their own opinion:D.

There's no shortcut to art. Don't get discouraged. If you are unhappy with your footage now it's a good bet that you are a more discerning than most. Once you begin to be happy with your art you will have a quality product to be proud of!

Holly.

[MatFx]

Thanx for al the respons!

To be honest I'm a big critic if it comes to things I do myself.
I always want to grow bigger in the things I do, not resting till
I've got what I wanted.

I know there isn't a genaral good or bad, it's all about personal
style and flavour. I know what I want, got a lot of ideas but don't
seem to get out of my progs what I want to.

Well just gonna experiment and try and try.....and try.......and try.....and try......:D
Till I have the style and things a like.....maybe I'll post one or two clips in the future....so everyone can break it down with critics;)

[PilotX]

Originally posted by MatFx
Well just gonna experiment and try and try.....and try.......and try.....and try......:D


Remember that pro snappers take lots of shots (hundreds? I don't know) on a shoot and will take maybe one or two of them. A film director has as many takes as money/time will allow to get it right.

It's a bit different for us, as we don't always have the luxury of extra takes, and it's not still images, but even so if you are filming stuff there is no reason to suppose that even the majority will turn out to be stuff you want to use.

I'd go with *****'s points though..

Tom
Syzygy Visuals

[wellREDman]

Originally posted by MoRpH
WOOOOOOHOOOOOO finally recognition that QUALITY is in the material NOT the resolution. Presuming that ppl are refering to RESOLUTION when saying QUALITY is one eyed.

).

i think this is an interesting point because what the tech heads refer to as low resolution is the no. of pixels ie 320x240, but what normal ppl refer to as low resolution is when you can see the pixels, which happens just as often at larger "resolutions" and is more about the compression used than the number of pixels up/accross

we need a new word to describe hi-res tuff thats all blocky/artefacty

[Bluelive]

Bitrate? Grain, something describing the amount of data used to show the image.

[Primebase3]

tutorials and books are perfect starting points I remember a time when I was happy with the knowledge of how to animate a 3d layer , now I'm experimenting with masking and lighting, did do a study of new media design which helped a lot but if that base isn't there : do it from scratch start slow and don't be happy of using the footage after lesson 1 practise practise practise and find inspiration to use with the techniques you know.


inspiration wise I seem to get a lot design books or graffity books (and no I don't vj with graffiti..oh yeah one vid because it was the theme of the party) but sometimes a simple word can trigger massive amounts of ideas


good luck in any case your from alphen so i know you'll represent !!

peace,

[MatFx]

Thanx prime!

Got ideas enough...it's just that I need to learn the progs to make it...so hoped for a few tips and tricks to get started....
I'm doing a course at the moment to learn some good basics in
after effects. And like most of the time I figure most things out just by trying and experiment with things. It's the best way to go for me.....

If any questions will pop up in the future I know where I can find some answers :D

[brunomarinho]

why dont you start by making some easy loops
if you have an image like for ex. a flower blooming make a loop out of it then in after effects just set a hue and saturation value in the first frame and a diferent one in the end of the composition you will have a nice loop this is just an ex. keep working with ae its a great program

[spark]

i'm not saying this is 'right' but this is what i believe:

style is king: as you experiment, find what works for you and develop it so your show has a unique look - and one that doesn't look like anything the punters get at home. i find that the manner you alter raw materials contributes more to this than the choice of what those raw materials are.

less is more: give focus and strength to your content, so strip out the extraneous shit. raw footage from a dv cam is mostly useless, go in there and tweak the levels, get contrast and the colours how you want there at minimum.

black is good: if you are mixing multiple layers, its all too easy to come up with a burnt-out ultra-bright permanent rectangle image. boring. cut stuff out; keep it away from the frame edges... try pushing for clips with as much dark as bright...

motion: recreating the feeling of a driving beat is through the motion of your mix. so strip out the motion you don't want from your clips so you have a chance of controlling it. a pointer - i find it easier to add motion to photos than take it away from video.

so there you are - agree, disagree, doesn't matter... its ideas in the pot, and its to be contested in the mix not in woids here ;)

[MatFx]

Heya!

Well things are working out just fine now!
Finally made a few clips that I like myself :D. Thanx for the reactions again.
Probably needed the push to do it :D.
Just tried out and combined some things in progs layerd things
and it's going in the direction I want it to go.
So for now I'm happy and hope to evolve the things I create at
the moment :D

MatFx

[epoch]

personally, i think that quality is a very subjective thing. not everyone is going to enjoy seeing the same content. nor are they going to interpret it the same way. also, i agree with morph that quality is in the material and not resolution.

personally, when i create my own content i look for things that catch my eye. make yourself aware of how light hits objects. start by walking around your area with a cam. just look at what is around you. look at the way things play with light. learn how to manipulate light. granted i have a photography background, so i think this helps when it comes to creating my own footage. at the same time it also gives my footage a "photography" feel. i have yet to figure out if this is good or bad. one thing i do know, is it gives me a distinct style from what other people are doing my area. look at some of the master photographers, i.e. ansel adams, edward weston, ruth bernhard, Alfred Steiglitz. see how they manipulate light and the effects it has on an image. if you are familiar with photography, there are ways to incorporate the zone system into video. granted you get different results than photo, but it still has the same effect. bret weston perfected the color zone system with his photographs, you can apply the same technics that he uses to video with a little practice and digital manipulation.

film. film. film. i can not stress this enough. everything takes practice, the more you film the more "good" footage you will come up with. granted you might shoot 2 hours of dv footage and only pull 30 - 45 minutes if you are lucky. that is the nature of the beast. with practice you will train your eye to look for certain things in a shot, thus reducing the amount of footage you are shooting.

as for what to shoot, as ***** said live cams work well in a set. promoters love that stuff. look to local landmarks that are in your city. look to places or things that people might overlook in their daily lives a row of apples at the corner store, the reflection of a car in a hubcap. content specific to an event is great! again promoters love it. why, because it is something unique to their event. i almost always shoot a small amount of specific content for the events i do. it always gives you something fresh to work with, even if it is only 5 - 10 clips. it also helps build you personal library. people notice when you play the same stuff over and over again. it just get's sort of dull. hope that helps.

[many2]

It may be a matter of personal tastes but there is one thing I really hate when I see visuals : if it looks like a travel video ! I've seen so many VJs just mixing footage they had filmed when travelling. I really can't take this style anymore : it's just so boring. So here is a hint when you create your footage : ask yourself if it's looking like a VJ set or if it's more of a travel video that no broadcaster would even think about showing on their channel. If you're into that kind of footage, make sure you have the skills to film it properly : if your grandma's video of her travel in Paris is of no interest when playing on her VCR, why would the same style of video be interesting on a large screen in a club ?

Many-2

[VJOZ]

You're working with OPC (other people's content) which can be beneficial. At this point you're ok to just play with the FX.

From the nature of your question, I'll assume that you're exploring, so your output is going to reflect this. Unless you're ready to commit to a particular performance experience, you'll be fine "just playing around."

What make content work best is it's appropriateness. You can use any quality or technique. But how is it appropriate to the moment? You can feel confident that while you're learning, and that there's a generally positive respect and expectation from the audience for visual artists at this level. They can deal. They didn't pay $50 to see you, so you have a lot of freedom. Take full advantage of it!

As you grow, you can begin to focus more on any of the three paths: production, style, and performance. Production is how you get your content (VJ clips vs. Film Maker vs. CG Master). Style reflect how you relate and design to your audience (Heads vs. Tech vs. General vs. Bangers). Performance is how well you present everything (software, projectors, mixers, script, costume).

All this is way beyond where you are. But... it's something to let float in the back of your mind over the next few years and plug in bit by bit.



-Oz


PS: high quality pixelated images: Pixel Art.

[holly]

Heads up on the travel video. I am also sick of the trip to the local oil refinery, chemical plant, or generic steam-producing industrial thingamajig with pipes and catwalks.:zzz:

from VJOZ
Style reflect how you relate and design to your audience (Heads vs. Tech vs. General vs. Bangers)

I'm not sure what this means. Is it something about knowing your audience and adding design elements that seem appropriate?

Trancers and Pillpopperz enjoy spinning pills and swirling tunnels?
Goths want blood-dripping knives and dried flowers?
Rockers want crowd shots and explosions?
Technos prefer 3D logos, gears, and circuitboards?

[kommy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by holly
I am also sick of the trip to the local oil refinery, chemical plant, or generic steam-producing industrial thingamajig with pipes and catwalks.:zzz:

damn.....im guilty of that

also..... ive noticed that you can have the most killer footage in the world but if its not being mixed in time to the music it too can be boring, ive learned the real magic lies in the Mix more than the content, ive made some pretty shit material look damn good because i was matching the beat with the crossfader, but obviously good footage with good mixing is optimal

[MatFx]

Originally posted by kommy
damn.....im guilty of that

also..... ive noticed that you can have the most killer footage in the world but if its not being mixed in time to the music it too can be boring, ive learned the real magic lies in the Mix more than the content, ive made some pretty shit material look damn good because i was matching the beat with the crossfader, but obviously good footage with good mixing is optimal

I'm a dj from origin so mixing on music, shouldn't be a problem I guess :D. You learn to listen to records and analyse them, so most of the time you feel, when a break is coming or when it's building up to a higher level, etc.

[vortex]

Here is like I see the first question

Heavy to find good quality footage do it your self.

Use adobe premiere it is a good choice. Collection plugins for it.

Take your camera and 2 days of empty mind walk to the city were you live an find production places as plastic productions metallurgic production for example, sit down in a cafe and film peoples on a place, take your car and film the street in the day and in the night notice catch all the advertising and lights around.
So in one word, film every thing you can get. At home film a lamp in your kitchen your doc or the aggressive one of the neighbour. After if you have not enough go to the disco and film dancing pepols or friend check out before that there are crazy weared. The most important thing is that the general ambient colour of one film has to have the same on second one. If you use adobe premiere use vektoriel graphics Corel draw or illustrator to change the cotenants. Use some good films from the audiovisualizers to cromakey to your own films. It takes a long time to make 3 minutes of film but if you working regularly your footage will be as you want. And do not forget that flash animation exported in mov can also be imported in premiere or record some game levels of your play station.

The quality will come from your own critics not from others (they are no professionals expect an other VJ) you have to find your stile and not copy from other but get inspirations from others. Your imagination has to be what your expect to produce. Your results will be every time better and better more far you go in the techniques and software knowledge. Please read the fucking manuals of your Premiere software. (RTFM) buy a Bible of this program.

Your own style, you have to find it and work on it. It sounds perhaps stupid what I saying here but my professor say the same shit 15 years ago in school and he was right. Feel you?re heard when you film some thing, film with your emotions, this will be the message you will project on the screen. Think about what other pepols can understand when they see your film if it is the same thing than you, the message come trough. If not so you do not understand the pepols around you and you have to reconsider the objective of the loop or the film. It is the basic knowledge in advertising that a message can not be understand differently from one to an other person.

Some other opinions

You will reach more and more quality (in contents not in resolution) on screen. I am not perfect but I can some times focus all the attention of all the pepols on what I project on screen. It arrive 4 or 5 times in a evening, most of the time I prepare it like this: you definitely just project bat quality noting bright more black colored, in one word some boring things not longer than 3 min (depend on the speed for the music) and waiting until the DJ begin to pouch the music, then I put the best and fastest things on screen. Never put your best footage when the DJ come in nobody look on screens but on the DJ. Let run an Falsh presentation (see the footage at the Resolum website there is a link for flash animations ) like (now playing DJ?.., or the logo of the sponsor) if you do not project all your good stuff in such moments you can project longer good things when you have lees footage before you project the same thing again. Try to play progressive begin slow with less quality for the first DJ?s when the Star DJ comes pouch your work to the max. All the pepols are warmed up and the real party can begin. When the party decline do the same thing with your projection believe me at 6 ? 8 am in the morning nobody check what?s on screen put caledoscos avs winamp ect. So perhaps you will have enough footage of good quality for a period of 3 hours if you have purchased the big package of the audiovisualizers around 100 euros.

One other project is to make thematic projections ( like space night for example only aliens rockets satellites planets ect) but as you not enough quality loops to do it.

Good luck

[Eugen]

So.. i belong to those, who a still looking for and experementing
with their own style. At first i've trying to make loops from AVS plugins( i think everybody come through this), then i've tried
to stylize video (really good video made with Betacam SP) but when i made several loops in good quality and play them in tzt (using 3 layers) i've seen how my 2 ghz PC begin TORMOZIT' (i can't translate it from russian) this were 2 ways i've invented to create content -- they are BAD... now i am experimenting with recording low quality video from discovery channel and creating loops from their content( Discovery channel have really good footage).. i know that this is not legal way but i have no posibility to create loops in another way....

[LEVLHED]

Eugen, sounds like all you really need to do is squash your betacam footage more....crunch them down to 320x240 Cinepak, keyframe every frame, maybe even limit the data rate too...you'll be much more proud (as well as earn more VJ cred) by using original footage....
If I understood you correctly, you were having issues with your computer being able to keep up with the hi-rez beta clips? Maybe you weren't even compressing them and using full uncompressed? yikes.