KC8QVO

All,

I got a ride video put together. You can see the whole thing here:

If you caught my other thread on video technique - this one is entirely helmet cam view so from that aspect it is a bit "boring". However I am curious on any critiques you do have. I tried to hold clips to 10-30 second bits, except for more interesting segments like bridge and tunnel crossings.

It also went quite long. I was hoping for 30min. There is an Amateur Radio aspect of it also so that is where a lot of the time comes in - describing gear and theory in a couple portions of the video.

In any event, comments/critiques welcome

I have some ideas for other camera angles next time. I have a couple of RAM mounts - one you see in the video a few times - and I am thinking about ways I can make use of them for holding the phone to record video instead of for screen visibility as I ride.

axolotl

Frankly, I don't understand this obsession with taking videos of everything, nor with putting everything online. If there were truly something interesting to see, maybe take a photo or two. But I have no desire to watch a 53 minute video of an ordinary ride in an unexceptional landscape. If I truly wanted to see what things looked like on the ground there, I could always go to google maps street view.

Sorry, I'm sure that's not the feedback you were hoping to get, but that's my honest feeling about these videos, and I suspect I'm not the only one who feels this way.

KC8QVO

To each their own, and if you didn't catch my comment on the tail end of the video "Ride your own ride". The other message at the end of the video is encouragement to others to get out and ride and try new things.

I said this in another thread, also, that "noise" is usually generated from differences of context. Like a die hard republican trying to have a conversation about a subject with a die hard democrat. They may not even understand the subject in a similar way, let alone be able to have a conversation about it.

Thanks for the comments, though. Everyone has an opinion.

alan s 

5 minutes is long enough, 10 minutes if really interesting. Also, need to add drone shots and fast forward through the boring parts.

UKFan4Sure

Then why not just move along, then? Why dump on his thread as your post adds nothing of value.

To the original poster, I enjoyed seeing the challenges you faced with the weather temps, and the method to your madness for the trip. Thanks for posting!

axolotl

The OP wrote: "In any event, comments/critiques welcome".

If my post makes folks, including the OP, think twice about the wisdom of spending lots of time creating long videos which few people will sit and watch from beginning to end, my post will have served a useful purpose.

KC8QVO

For the record - you are correct. I expect some "noise" so no harm there.

On another note - what I meant, more specifically, with comments/critiques was more so on the "video production" side.

For example - I had a family member, who does not ride, watch some of the video earlier as I was editing. One major concern I had is the motion of the picture. I had my family member watch it without any hint of what I was wanting them to note until after watching. Their comment was the motion actually made them "feel like they were on the ride". So that was actually a pretty cool comment.

I would imagine the motion is too hard for most people to watch, but after having put the video together with all the various clips I think the motion isn't as big of a deal - especially with the music.

By the way, I did not mention this elsewhere - but I did get a nice surprise with the sunset time-lapse. If you watch that portion of the video closely there are flocks of birds flying past the view in a few places. That was one of those "bonuses" to me after putting the video together that never occurred to me when I was on the trip.

What you don't see, or, rather, "hear", in the sunset time-lapse is a muscle car that went drag racing down the road right next to me then made a turn on the next road south, drag racing yet again. I think the music suits the mood in place of the drag racing!

Mark Hoaglund

Hi Steve, I like 3 second photos and 3-10 second video clip angles so I can pause and take a snapshot. I have a snapshot slideshow example I did and the bike club preferred back when:

Durand WI Bike Trail 2007 – YouTube

JayKay3000

I decided to thumb through the video. I quite liked the editing style and music choice. The sunset was nice, but for me the radio bit was boring. I'm sure some people would find that stuff interesting though.

From a technical aspect your voice is fairly clear and easy to understand which will work a lot better if you can get an external mic or just use voice over / subtitles when the audio is really quiet compared to the rest of the video.

There were hints of other bike related youtubers that I watch.

I think these skills will put themselves to good use if you decide to go somewhere remarkable either hiking or with your bike.

Overall, while I didn't sit and watch the whole video, I quiet enjoyed the style overall.

Hopefully some constructive feedback on your editing was what you were after.

Keep making videos, and remember it's all about the content.

Mark Hoaglund

Alan what do you suggest for a beginner video drone? Any examples you've done? I was watching some in my area and like them.

KC8QVO

Thanks for the comments. I agree with the audio. The two cameras I have are a dash cam (what I had on my helmet in this video) and a cell phone. For the portions where I used the audio from the camera in place of narration or music I had to play the video back and record the audio externally, amplify/compress/filter in software, then synch back to the video in the video editing software while muting the original audio. That is one of the highest uses of time in post-edit is to work with the audio. So yes - I'm looking at ways to improve that. At some point a GoPro camera may be the direction I go, but that is not in the cards at the moment. Ideally what I would want is the ability to have usable audio right in the video recording from the start. Or, perhaps an audio track that is able to be split from the video for external processing without playing back the segments. I am not sure if that is possible, but I am not up to speed on video production yet so this is very much a learning endeavor.

alan s 

No idea. My suggestions are as a viewer, not a producer.

Doug64

Please take these thoughts as they are intended: well meaning comments and critique.

The music used was very good and fit the activity.

IMO a video should tell a story, and answer the " who, what, when, where and why" questions. This works for videos, presentations, and still photo essays.

• Who am I, with a little backround? Who is my audiance,e.g., the Ham Radio club you belong to, a high school class or a bike touring forum. Then use this to steer your story toward the audiance
• What am I doing,e.g. a short bike tour, and testing out some mobile Amateur Radio gear? What is the purpose/objeective of the video?
• Why am I doing this? Why do I have to take my ham radio gear on my bike and what am I trying to accomplish? What is the advantage of this vs. my cell phone?
• When-- Why am I doing it at this time of the year?
• Where am I going, and why did I choose this place? What does the park look like, a little history, etc?

The video could be shorter. I saw a video at a film festival made by a young Canadian couple who rode from Mongolia through China into India; and it only lasted a little over an hour.

Some of the tecnical detail both in the riding statistics and the radio explaination could be tailored towards your identified audiance, helping to reduce the length of the video.

The visual or camera angle variation could be increased during the riding portion. It was about 30-35 minutes of pretty much the same thing. Use a tripod with a remote camera release to get some shots of you actually riding. I disagree with your relative about the movement. I thought it was distracting. Look at some good videos of people riding, and it looks like the bike is moving smoothly (at least on the road) not the earth. IMO it gave a "jumpy" feel to the video.

These comments are just my opinion as a viewer, and are not meant in a negative way. Keep going out there, trying to improve your videos, and stacking up those QSL cards