would like to learn to produce and edit video

<p>I would like to produce and edit a video. I have been a photographer for 20+ years but have no experience in video production. I need to create this video by late April.</p>

<p>I understand some of the basics:</p>

<ul>

<li>can use a camera to shoot video or a camcorder,</li>

<li>need a separate microphone to get good quality audio (isolate any mechanical sounds from the camera)</li>

<li>if I use a large-sensor camera (e.g. DSLR), need to be careful with focusing</li>

<li>need to light it carefully, but cannot use flash (video requires constant light) -- fortunately I have one softbox (18" octagon) that can handle heat</li>

<li>need to edit in some kind of software (e.g. Adobe Premiere Pro)</li>

</ul>

<p>but I've got a lot to learn. Any tips on how I can learn this quickly? Books? websites? Youtube videos?</p>

<p>I will need to add text over some of the video clips. I will need to do some photoshop-like things.</p>

<p>Some of this I will have to shoot on location and cannot bring much equipment. It will be indoors with low to moderate light (easily shootable with a D3 but a bit dim for other equipment) and overeseas. I understand lighting pretty well but cannot bring lighting equipment and prefer not to buy expensive flood lights</p>

<p>For equipment, I have a Nikon D90 and a Canon G10. My Nikon D3 does not have video. I am considering buying a Sony RX 100 II. What are the advantages of camcorders?</p>

<p>If I want to sample You-Tube videos for use in the video, what are the technical issues in doing this? Can I suck this into Premiere Pro or other editing software? There are some public-domain videos that are appropriate to my subject matter and story line.</p>

<p>You really didn't annotate what sort of project you are doing. You can rent lights. I'd suggest that you check out some videos on Lynda.com ( I think you pay/month) or take a course at local community college. While at it, you can get Vegas Suite (or Premiere) and learn editing as you go. As to sampling videos, I'd urge you to figure out how to put your own stamp (by being creative) on the video otherwise you'll be dealing with permissions, research, copyrights, etc....and you can't just "borrow" someone's footage without appropriate permission.</p>

<p>So far you mentioned mechanics of the shoot. I hate to break it to you, but very large percentage (like 80+) is preproduction. Having a solid idea, putting it on the paper (script) and figure out how this will play out in dramatic terms and visually, as well. If you do your homework correctly and tie all the elements during the production....your edit will be relatively easy. Have you ever dealt with actors, their tempo/rythm within the story....and and on and on ? It's not about lights, camera or microphone.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Les</p>

<p>I agree with Les. It is much more about planning . . . and of course execution. Camcorders allow you to follow the action hand-held much better than DSLR video cameras, though you can still do it with a good VR lens on your D90 (a D5300 would be MUCH better). I suggest the new 18-140mm VR, but the 18-105 VR is probably just fine too. You will probably NEED a VR lens. Camera shake makes videos look like crap. There is a lot you need to know. Try making a 1 minute video of something around your house, that incorporates a few different types of shots that are similar to what you expect to have in the video you want to make. That will give you some experience with the shooting, but with editing too. Then make another video, planning out all the shots and everything in advance. Make it about 1 minute long too. Try to account for all the time you put into each stage of making each video, so you see the differences.<br>

<br />I have heard that Sony Vegas is awesome. I use a Mac, so I like to use iMovie. It's very easy to use. Creating good quality exports is something you will need to learn about, but don't worry too much about that. Even just a standard 720x480 video is fine.</p>

<p>You don't say whether you are using a PC or Mac. Sony Vegas is solely for the PC. Used it for years. Loved it. Not so much any more. Premiere Pro CC can be used on both platforms. Final Cut Pro X is Mac only, but iMovie may be all you need. Depends on what you're trying to accomplish.The difference between Premiere, Vegas and Final Cut/iMovie is huge. There is a different mindset to using each one. There are lessons everywhere for each. Premiere has it's classroom in a book. I learned Vegas mostly from its very good help files. I learned Final Cut using Apple's certification book. And got tips for all from the web. <br>

<br />Differences:<br>

Premiere: Very fast renders. Familiar layout. Lousy audio tools, but works well with Audition and other Adobe products. Heck, you can drop Photoshop files on the timeline. Outputs can be rigid in some cases when using custom width/height, but you can batch sequences to be rendered. Very good for long form video editing. Not a lot of effects/tools with base install.</p>

<p>Sony Vegas: Versatile. Renders aren't as quick, but output choices are really good. Lousy color picker (they removed RGB 0-255 values for a 0.0 to 1.0 system. Stupid.) Good track tools. Automatic transitions just by overlapping two clips. (wish the others did this), crop and FX tools accessible on every clip. Awesome audio tools (does surround sound too) and excellent mixer. Very fast to edit with. I can edit faster with Vegas than any other program.</p>

<p>Final Cut Pro X: Completely different train of thought, but once you get it, you get it. Best thing about Final Cut is editing with Pro Res codec. It's really quick, but other formats play nice too. Timeline is not normal which is why you will need a tutorial for it. It's a different beast, but I find I like it. Renders are average. Great for short form videos. I use it for my promos (1-5 minutes) Works well with Apple Motion (another tutorial needed for that as well). Lousy audio tools. You'll need something like Logic or Adobe's Audition to do the real audio work.</p>

<p>Why the D5300? Bit rate and 1080p60 video. Higher bit rate recordings means they will be bigger, but but that means the quality is better. 60p instead of 60i video frame rates means the frame refreshes completely every 1/60 second instead of 1/30 second, which means you will get better video quality in scenes where the camera is moving (or where your subject is moving), even if you will eventually export to 30p. Pretty much all the new Sony cameras shoot 60p now for a reason.</p>

<p>Here is a link to a video on YouTube (a good place to find "how to" videos for almost anything):<br>

<br />Here is another:<br>

. . . and here is a video intro. to Sony Vegas:<br>

<p>Another video editing program I really liked, when I used it, was Pinnacle Studio. I used version 9, but they are up to version 17 now. You can put 3 video tracks together with this software, and DVD burning is included inside the program, making creating a DVD to play on your TV a breeze. You can even make Blu-Ray discs with the $129 version of Pinnacle Studio. (Apple's iMovie does not allow multiple video tracks, but is easy to make DVD discs too, but you can NOT make a Blu-Ray with a stock Mac. Sony Vegas does not make it as easy to make a DVD as you can with Pinnacle or with a Mac, but you CAN make Blu-Ray discs with the more expensive versions of Sony Vegas.) Pinnacle Studio 17 is the cheapest good video editing program (only $59) and it's easy to use. It also lets you drag and drop various video formats into your project, which is really great. (Most editing software, including iMovie on a Mac, require that you import/convert the video in order to use it in a video project.) Check out the basic version of Pinnacle Studio 17 here: <br>

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/studio/standard/</p>

<p>To make Blu-Ray discs with Pinnacle Studio 17 you need to get the more expensive Ultimate version, which also includes more transitions and affects, allows to you have more than 3 video tracks, and gives you other extras too (like support for 4k video . . . supposedly . . . but you will probably need a very powerful system to edit 4k video, not that you can shoot such video with anything but a new Samsung Note 3 smart phone or a very expensive video camera):<br>

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/studio/ultimate/</p>

<p>Sorry, but I could not find a good video on YouTube that introduces Pinnacle Studio 17 (surprisingly). Here is one with a guy who I do not like:<br>

<p>Good luck!</p>