YouTube video studio equipment?

[flashbazbo]

Does anyone have experience, or knowledge?

I'm looking to make videos with 2 or 3 cameras on a set, and maybe edit later.

How much computing power do I need? I've got a laptop. I want to get a private server probably and be able to host. Unless that's just not needed. I think I'm getting a Scarlett 2i4 interface.

What are some good cameras, mics for acoustic guitar and vocal performance?

Anyone ever buy lights for this kind of purpose?

[Zukan]

Flash, I run two cameras in my humble studio. My PC is specc'd for music and not much else and it still copes admirably thanks to people like Peter Kaine of Scan.

I use a MS LifeCam with a GoPro Fave kindly loaned to me and Camtasia. Works fine.

Streaming, of course, is another issue. I had to ditch that concept thanks to an 8 day latency issue.

[Forum Admin]

I want to get a private server probably and be able to host. Unless that's just not needed.

Why do you need a private server? Surely you are hosting your YT videos on YouTube? That's one of the major benefits of the platform - it does the donkey work for you.

As for lights... Rotolight offer some of the best in the business. See https://www.rotolight.com/

[flashbazbo]

I want to get a private server probably and be able to host. Unless that's just not needed.

Why do you need a private server? Surely you are hosting your YT videos on YouTube? That's one of the major benefits of the platform - it does the donkey work for you.

As for lights... Rotolight offer some of the best in the business. See https://www.rotolight.com/

i was thinking of going indie without youtube. I can do that right? Just have a site and my cine? I don't want the comments for one thing. What is the best reason for doing youtube?

I was thinking of growing a business around it. i do want to have great privacy and control of my business is all. Maybe I don't need a server.

[flashbazbo]

Flash, I run two cameras in my humble studio. My PC is specc'd for music and not much else and it still copes admirably thanks to people like Peter Kaine of Scan.

I use a MS LifeCam with a GoPro Fave kindly loaned to me and Camtasia. Works fine.

Streaming, of course, is another issue. I had to ditch that concept thanks to an 8 day latency issue.

How much RAM and memory does it need in a computer?

Could you use 3 cameras if you wanted to?

[Drew Stephenson]

i was thinking of going indie without youtube. I can do that right? Just have a site and my cine? I don't want the comments for one thing. What is the best reason for doing youtube?

So how are you going to share your content? How are people going to find it? If people are looking for video their starting point (99% of the time) is youtube - what's your compelling argument for them to start somewhere else?

i do want to have great privacy and control of my business is all.

Ok, here's the thing. I have no idea what kind of business model you have in mind, but as soon as you release something to the web you have effectively lost control of it. You will need to accept that you can either have a wide distribution or you can retain total control. You can't do both.

How much RAM and memory does it need in a computer?

This is going to depend a lot on what programme you're using to edit your videos. Final Cut Pro, for example, is very, very memory heavy when it's working. Premiere is a bit less so. You'll probably want a big, quick external drive.

Could you use 3 cameras if you wanted to?

You can use as many as you want, it just makes the editing more time consuming
As with most things, there are benefits to keeping it as simple as you can.

[Zukan]

Flash, I run two cameras in my humble studio. My PC is specc'd for music and not much else and it still copes admirably thanks to people like Peter Kaine of Scan.

I use a MS LifeCam with a GoPro Fave kindly loaned to me and Camtasia. Works fine.

Streaming, of course, is another issue. I had to ditch that concept thanks to an 8 day latency issue.

How much RAM and memory does it need in a computer?

Could you use 3 cameras if you wanted to?

My pc is i5 3.5GHz with 16 gig ram.

Yes, I can run 3 cameras.

I suggest you contact Peter Kaine at Scan and he will sort you out a bespoke system.

[jamedia.uk]

i was thinking of going indie without youtube. I can do that right? Just have a site and my cine? I don't want the comments for one thing. What is the best reason for doing youtube?

I was thinking of growing a business around it. i do want to have great privacy and control of my business is all. Maybe I don't need a server.

On YouTube you can disable comments. Also set the vide to unlisted or private. Having your own server is going to cost money and a lot of admin time.

BTW YouTube is not the only hosting system. There are others, Vimeo for example. This costs money but less than the costs of your own server. The hosting services like Vimeo et al that you pay for will give you the things you require, such as privacy and other controls but you won't have to pay out for hardware. I would suggest you walk before you run.

[Forum Admin]

Vimeo is an option, but it's worth checking their rates and terms here:
https://vimeo.com/upgrade

If you're running a business, then strictly speaking they want you to use their Business or Pro service, but there's no harm testing things with their free service.

The major advantage over YT accounts is that your video playbacks will be ad-free (though some people can earn a useful revenue stream from ads YouTube show on your YT videos, provided your content is popular of course).

[Mike Stranks]

Excellent post blinddrew bringing out all the salient points - well, all the things I would have said!

And the amount of processing involved in finalising/rendering videos shouldn't be minimised. When I worked for a major charity in Oxford (no; not that one!) I looked after the audio side of things and a colleague looked after video. He had the most powerful machine in the place by far in terms of memory, processing power etc. But it was common practice for him to start his finalising just before he left work so that it might be finished by the time he got in the next day...

[CS70]

Does anyone have experience, or knowledge?

I'm looking to make videos with 2 or 3 cameras on a set, and maybe edit later.

If you want to edit later, makes little sense to use a computer. Simply run the cameras simultaneously and get the files (later )from their memory cards.

Unless you think of web cameras.. which does not sound that a great idea. haven't checked lately the quality but you could as well use your phone camera.

[Forum Admin]

This blog might give you some ideas? Though their idea of low-cost might not match yours...

http://blog.newtek.com/blog/2015/02/27/the-low-cost-3-camera-production-recipe/

It'd help us advise if you can tell us roughly how long your YT episodes will be... what exactly you will be shooting... what equipment you already have, etc.

[flashbazbo]

Thanks for the responses all. Great ideas.

I'm going to post songs, acoustic guitar and vocal performances.

If youtube is saving me time I will use it.

I just want to do one man 3 camera videos. Then I decide what angles to use.

I have no equipment yet. I'm probably going to look at the bespoke idea above.

The reason I was thinking about a server of my own was to keep all my unfinished work totally secure.

[Forum Admin]

The reason I was thinking about a server of my own was to keep all my unfinished work totally secure.

Ah, OK, so you're not talking about a 'server' which stores your finished videos for the public to watch (for this role, it's better to use YT or Vimeo), you are referring to a local computer network 'in-house' where you could have NAS (network addressable storage) drives to house your work-in-progress backups.

Ideally, some form of RAID drives (with built-in redundancy) would help, once you get serious about things. This web page will give a good basic explanation of RAID and which type to use: http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/RAID

In terms of gear, have a look on Scan Computers' web site under the Pro Video section and at their video workstation PCs.

It really depends how much money you wish to invest and how serious you want to be. You can start 'small' and accept the lengthier times it'll take to do video rendering, copying files, backing up, etc on less expensive kit. You might be happy with a couple of GoPro HD fixed position cameras for cameras 2 and 3, and use a decent DSLR in video mode for the main camera 1? All down to budget... This round-up of best 10 DSLRs for video is useful reading.

[I've assumed you don't already have a Mac and are likely to opt for the PC route.]

[Bob Bickerton]

I use two to four cameras for video work and generally record audio to a Zoom F8 or similar. Cameras are two Canon X25s which have XLR inputs, and two domestic Canon cameras running at the same resolution.

I happen to be a Mac user and find Final Cut Pro to be excellent, especially its ability to create multi-cam files merged by syncronising audio content. I use a bog standard Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM and edit the video files on an extrenal SSD drive.

I really like Vimeo as a platform for sharing content.

Bob

[flashbazbo]

I use two to four cameras for video work and generally record audio to a Zoom F8 or similar. Cameras are two Canon X25s which have XLR inputs, and two domestic Canon cameras running at the same resolution.

I happen to be a Mac user and find Final Cut Pro to be excellent, especially its ability to create multi-cam files merged by syncronising audio content. I use a bog standard Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM and edit the video files on an extrenal SSD drive.

I really like Vimeo as a platform for sharing content.

Bob

How do you sync up your movie? Just claps?

What about Vimeo makes it superior?

[Bob Bickerton]

Final Cut Pro syncronises cameras by analysing the audio of each camera, so provided you are recording audio to picture on all cameras (pretty much regardless of quality) FCP will line everything up into one multi-camera clip, including a high quality audio only clip. You then play back the multi and select which video and audio you want at any point in time. Easy. I've done this with half hour takes, it really is very good.

I just happen to prefer Vimeo as I like the privacy and password options.

Bob

[flashbazbo]

Flash, I run two cameras in my humble studio. My PC is specc'd for music and not much else and it still copes admirably thanks to people like Peter Kaine of Scan.

I use a MS LifeCam with a GoPro Fave kindly loaned to me and Camtasia. Works fine.

Streaming, of course, is another issue. I had to ditch that concept thanks to an 8 day latency issue.

How much RAM and memory does it need in a computer?

Could you use 3 cameras if you wanted to?

My pc is i5 3.5GHz with 16 gig ram.

Yes, I can run 3 cameras.

I suggest you contact Peter Kaine at Scan and he will sort you out a bespoke system.

In UK? I don't know if that works. I just need a modest set up. I'm going to go local if I can.

[Ryan R.]

Flash,

I would check out this youtube channel called Frugal Filmmaker: https://www.youtube.com/user/thefrugalfilmmaker

I was making some music videos at one point and found the diy lighting and camera tips very helpful. For small setups, often times clamp lights can do the trick!