There’s a first time for everything, and shooting video with a camcorder is no exception. When you first handle the camera, it can be intimidating, especially if you have no idea what the multiple knobs and switches are for. When shooting important events, it’s important to have a solid understanding of the underlying mechanics of shooting video. Don’t expect Hollywood quality shots, but over time, you’ll realize how to properly shoot video. This guide will serve as a starting point so that your videos aren’t completely unwatchable.

If you plan to shoot while remaining stationary, you should consider using a tripod, or other method of keeping the camera still during the recording process. The lack of a tripod will often result in shaky video that can often give viewers headaches or even motion sickness.

Go easy on the zoom. If one thing is common with amateur video, it’s the fact that everyone loves the zoom button. Overuse of the zoom feature will usually leave your user dizzy or disoriented. Zoom does have it’s placed when used properly, and can add a great effect to your video. Try to never zoom when you don’t need to. Instead, try to move closer to the object your attempting to film. If you physically cannot move any closer, use the zoom button lightly and slowly to prevent fast-jerking motions with the camcorder. Also if your camcorder features “digital zoom”, try to avoid that as much as possible, as it isn’t a true zoom. The camera tries to fake pixels, which end up making the image distorted and unpleasant to look at. Remember that some day you might want to transfer the tape to DVD to hand out to family and friends!

Try to take it easy on the wide shots. While wide-shots are great for the introduction of the setting you’re in, consistant wide, long shots can be distracting, and it’s often better to focus in on the details around you to give the viewer a better grasp of what’s going on.

Another trick to make your shooting more appealing is to move around when you are recording. This is great for sports games as you can move to different parts of the field periodically to give the viewer multiple angles of the playing field. Use the bleachers and surrounding terrain to your advantage for high and low shots.

Camcorders often have built-in special effects such as night vision or sepia tone filters. Try to avoid using these features unless absolutely necessary. Watching a sequence with several different effects blasted through it can be strange, and even frustrating to watch. Make sure the nightvision is turned off during the daytime shots! Special effects are often best added during post-production with the use of video editing software.

Record the most important moments. If you’re using a camera with limited capacity of memory or tape, you should focus on capturing the most important moments of the event your recording. The last thing you want to happen is running out of tape or hard drive space at the grand finale! Always bring a backup memory card or tape just in case this does happen. If you’re camcorder is battery operated, invest in a second battery just in case you forget to charge it, or it runs out of juice in the middle of the shot.

Use widescreen shooting to your advantage. If you’re an owner of a widescreen or HDTV, be sure you’re shooting your footage in the widescreen format. Most newish models of camcorders offer to record at 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio to provide the best viewing experience.

Using these tips will help to alleviate some of the common woes of first-time camcorder use. Through experience you’ll start to realize what works and looks the best. Over time, you may even want to edit and transfer your video to DVD. We’re experienced in handling all kinds of video transfer services including Camcorder to DVD in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County.

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Technorati Tags: camcorder, camcorder tapes, video editing, video tapes, video to dvd

Create a Photo Montage Slideshow From Scanned Images

Bring life to your next family party or event by creating the perfect custom slideshow presentation for your guests! If you’ve taken advantage of our photo, slide, or negative scanning services, you are one step ahead of the game. The only part left to do is assemble your images in the order you specify, and then start building your slideshow! Our experienced in-house editors will create the perfect slideshow for your occasion or give you their expert advice as to how to create one yourself! Think of all the times you’ve been to big parties, or nicely organized events with a custom video slideshow presentation. Maybe you wondered how to create such a beautiful video using your own personal photos, slides and negatives.

With our custom video production services, we can combine and incorporate any or all of your media into your custom video. Just imagine creating the perfect Family DVD slideshow that can be passed down for generations! Custom slideshows are perfect for nearly anything, from birthday parties, corporate events and even online greeting cards, such as for the holidays. If you choose to sit with our in-house editor, we can even add professional quality voice-overs to any part of your video. We’ll even send you a preview video to make sure everything is perfect before the final rendering. Contact your local DVD Your Memories editor for an appointment to create your next slideshow masterpiece!

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10. Ease
With the advancement of technology at the consumer-level, it’s now cheaper and easier than ever to get your old video tapes converted to DVD, photos scanned, and film digitized. Nearly all work is now captured directly into a computer’s hard drive, which allows for relatively easy manipulation of your video, images and audio with no quality loss from the original. You can now think about adding chapter markers and interactive menu screens for your kid’s birthday parties instead of sifting through 2 hours of raw footage.

9. Production and Editing
With advancements in technology propelling us to the ‘digital era’, producing quality media from the comfort of your own home or office is now a reality. Once your media is digitized, nearly anything is possible from putting together a new scrapbook, creating a graduation slideshow for your children, or even a new commercial for your business. People no longer have to pay outrageous production fees in order to create a viable video for them.

8. Celebrating a Special Event
Do you have a special event planned in the near future? Would you like to create a San Diego custom slideshow or video montage to incorporate into an event? For the next party or get-together, instead of dusting off the old slide projector, you can show off your fully-edited custom slideshow movie for everyone to enjoy. This is a great way to show off you latest product or idea, while getting everyone in attendance involved.

7. Portability
The newer they are, the smaller they get. This can apply to most media throughout history. Just think about how much easier it would be to do a little bit of 35mm slide scanning, and condense your 35 carousels of slides into a single disc. With video, for instance, VHS tapes were the standard for several years until laser discs and DVDs hit the market. As many people know, the more VHS tapes you owned, the more storage space you needed to allocate to them. When digitized however, you can save a remarkable amount of space. Instead of holding onto hundreds of old VHS tapes, you transfer them to some easy to maintain DVDs or even to hard drive to save more space.

6. Entertainment
Reflecting on past events can be entertaining as well! It’s always a treat to catch a glimpse of your vacation from years ago, and re-live the time you spent there. This is also great for family get-togethers or parties especially if multiple people attending are featured on the video! If you decide to go with a video transfer to hard drive, you can do some simple or advanced editing to create a new video for everyone to enjoy.

5. Reconnecting With Lost Friends
15 Years ago, you and your friend may have taken a video camera on that awesome trip to Europe. As time goes on, people change locations, and connections are missed or often lost. Without watching that video today, you may never ask yourself, what happened to this person? Where can I find them? Not only is it much easier these days to transfer your media, it’s also become much easier to find and locate people! Sometimes a little reminder is all you need.

4. Family Time
Everyone has busy schedules with school, work, football practice, church, etc. and often, time spent with your own family is overlooked. Once your media is digitized, it provides a great opportunity to spend and share time with family or close friends. People can relate to what they’re watching and can spark up some interesting discussions of the past, and connect with new friends.

3. Technology Changing
Technology is constantly evolving into “smaller” and better things. A closet full of old videos can now be placed onto a plastic drive the size of your thumb and your desk drawer full of photos can now be replaced with archival-grade DVDs. Now that most of the older formats are obsolete and often difficult to see or watch, it’s best to get them digitized sooner than later. As time drags on, it will only start to get more difficult to obtain the equipment needed to perform the video transfer, or image scanning that is right for you.

2. Degradation and Deterioration
During the 80′s and 90′s, most of us were under the assumption that our precious memories stored onto magnetic tape would be safe forever. Recently, however, more and more people are realizing that this is simply not the case. Magnetic tape is great for short term play back of our fondest memories, or to relive a historic event. Video tapes deteriorate every year even if you don’t view them. Your precious memories painstakingly caught on tape WILL someday be unplayable. Most VHS tapes, with proper care, can last up to 20 years with only minor degradation issues. However, since VHS tapes have been obsolete for nearly 10 years now, the timeline is running thin! If you want these images to last, it’s best to get the VHS transfer to DVD done now, before it’s too late. DVDs can last you hundreds of years with absolutely no degradation, as the laser never makes direct contact with the disc itself. I’ve seen where people have, unfortunately, waited a bit too long to get their tapes transferred, and as a result they’re left with a fraction of what they once had.

1. Archiving/Preservation
Archiving your family’s media should always be in the back of your mind. Older media types, such as slides and video tapes, were never designed or meant to last forever. It has now become much easier to archive your tapes and images by simply capturing them to a hard drive or DVD. While most consumer DVDs typically last anywhere from 5-10 years, there are a few high-grade brands that will last you 100 or more years with proper care. Virtually all recordings from the last 40 years are in jeopardy, whether it be unique mastered audio recordings or news broadcasts. No tape is safe from the multiple threats that range from physical loss due to disaster, accidental erasure, or the increasing disappearance of equipment needed to play them back. Realistically, most of the inventory of tapes are duplicates of other materials, but many others are originals, masters, or unique content that cannot be easily duplicated. The amount of tapes needed to be restored is so huge, that it would take decades, even if facilities, techniques, and funding were readily available.

If you have any questions regarding the media transfer service, give us an email: info@dvdyourmemories.com

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Technorati Tags: audio, film to dvd, Film Transfer, Photo Scanning, scanning, Slide Scanning, vhs to dvd, video, video editing, video transfer