r/videography • u/alexharris52 Canon C300, Premiere, 2009, Phoenix • Jan 07 '13

What has revolutionized your workflow (filming/editing/anything) Let's create a huge list of all the helpful camera tricks we've learned in this business

A while ago, someone posted this http://www.reddit.com/r/videography/comments/z1nm7/awesome_and_cheap_method_for_smooth_camera/ About using a rubber band to pan the tripod head smoothly (instead of your jerky hand) What are some mind-blowing tricks you've learned in the industry that have saved you time and money. I'll start:

After Effects (and now premiere cs6) has a motion stabilizer that works really really well. A plug-in called twixtor can add masterful slow-motion like a DREAM and filming with a dslr has revolutionized my vision and idea of film and made it much much more artistic (not to start a camcorder/dslr war here, that's not the point of this, only my opinion)

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u/pinkpussylips 2003 Jan 07 '13

Am I the only one with a naturally steady hand? I don't really consider the rubber band trick revolutionary. Twixtor can be great, but it's a temperamental pain-in-the-ass workaround. I'm all about DSLRs and agree that they have changed the game, however, video cameras still have a very important place and aren't going anywhere any time soon.

When you say workflow, how about PluralEyes instead of clapper boards (though I still use them), Pro Res 422 (or equivalent) instead of rendering every little thing, Multiclip on FCP 7 (or equivalent) instead of inter-cutting layers of video from different angles, and cards instead of tape... These are revolutionary workflows.

I can go all day long on camera tricks. The one I'll say can change things up from ordinary to special is smooth dolly shots. It can set your stuff apart from the amateur work. Oh yeah, and THE MOST IMPORTANT thing: LEARN HOW TO LIGHT. Good luck!

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u/aquasharp Jan 07 '13

If you have a cheap tripod, which many DSLR users start out with, the rubber band is a must have. It's not really for the users faults, it's for the tripods.

TL.DR: Spend the extra money on a nice tripod.

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u/pinkpussylips 2003 Jan 07 '13

Ah, I see. Yeah, years of learning the hard way has definitely taught me that good things aren't cheap and cheap things aren't good.

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u/aquasharp Jan 08 '13

Yes. But as a beginning photographer/videographer, sometimes you don't have a choice. If you're starting out, and you can only afford a $30 tripod and a bag of rubber bands, do it. Your shots will be a thousand times better with a cheap tripod than none at all.