More Video Equipment
(The Top 10 List Continued)

If you want to get more video equipment beyond the Top 5, consider additional gear.

For Video Editing

6. Computer

A computer is essential for anyone who wants to edit their digital video footage. If you're buying new, get the biggest, fastest machine you can afford. Video is a resource hog, both of CPUs and hard disks. You can never have too much if you're editing video.

Apple is often preferred by the movie-making crowd, but Windows machines can do fine, as long as you have lots of memory, lots of hard disk space, and the fastest CPU you can afford.

If you're using miniDV tapes, you'll get your movie off of the camera and onto the computer through a FireWire cable. (That's Apple's name for it, but it's commonly used everywhere. It's also called IEEE 1394, iLink, and DV.) Nearly all camcorders have a FireWire port for this purpose.

If your camera uses solid-state media (SD cards, etc.), you'll probably have a choice of using FireWire or just reading directly off the cards, which is usualy much faster. In that case, you'll need a compatible card reader, either built into the computer or hooked up through a USB connection.

7. Digital Video Editing Software

I've tried a few of the basic packages over the years (Pinnacle, MovieMaker, iMovie, Final Cut Studio, and others) and my favorite by far is Sony Vegas Movie Studio (or its parent, Sony Vegas Pro).

Movie Studio does almost whatever I want it to, usually in a fairly intuitive way, and it's one of the least expensive packages around. I haven't put every product to the test, but I'm happy with Vegas.

Of course, if you use Windows, you'll have free video editing software: Windows MovieMaker. For Macintosh users, there's the free iMovie. Both of these are fairly good programs, and may be all you need. If you are just starting out, it wouldn't hurt to know one of these programs first. For putting together basic clips, and adding titles and sound, these programs work fine.

With a good digital video editing package, you can transfer (or "capture") your videos to your computer, edit and manipulate your videos, and publish them into a format for the world to see.

Going Beyond the Basics

8. Audio Mixing Software

All of the basic video editing software packages will be able to handle sound and manipulate it in some ways, such as making your soundtrack louder or softer, combining speech with music, etc. However, since good audio is so important to good video, you may want to get some specialized audio mixing software.

I'm a big fan of the freeware Audacity. You can record from a microphone hooked up to your computer, or from the computer itself (mp3 or midi files, or anything that makes sound), and usually your video editing software can save sound from your movie into a format that Audacity can read.

With Audacity (or some other audio mixing software), you can mix it all together, edit it lots of different ways, apply special effects, speed things up or slow them down, boost certain frequencies, and even clean up bad recordings (but only to a point).

I also use Sony Acid looping software from time to time, which can be handy for creating music tracks.

9. Video Lights, including Stands and Reflectors

If all of your shooting is done outdoors in cooperative weather, or if you're just recording events like plays or concerts, you may not need any extra lights. For studio work, interviews or other projects, good lighting really helps make good video.

The cheapest option is to get an external light that attaches to your camcorder. However, the camera needs a "hot shoe" to power the light — and the light quality, coming straght from the front, is not the best.

Special stand-alone lights and stands are available from video supply stores and other internet sources. These will allow you to add lights to the side for a more flattering or realistic look.

For budget shooters, you can go to a home supply store and get halogen work lights (complete with stand), or daylight-balanced compact flourescent bulbs and make your own light holders and reflectors.

10. Extra Stuff

There are some extra things you may want, depending on the type of filming that you plan to do. These may include:

• UV lens filter (to protect the lens)
• Microphone stands
• Extension cords
• Wireless microphones
• A film crew, or helpful friends :)

All of this can lead up to some serious money, depending on your budget and your dreams. You can easily spend $800 just for a boom pole to hold a shotgun microphone. Just start with the basics, and see what more video equipment you need.

With this video equipment, you’re ready to get creative and have fun!

Go back to the first Video Equipment page.

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