Making Music Videos on the Cheap?

I've been considering breaking into new territory here and creating some music videos for some of our songs. We have a show coming up later this summer at a fairly large venue in which the girls that sing on our dance songs will be performing a live set, singing along with the backing tracks. They've got some dancers lined up and it should be a good opportunity to get some live footage for use in music vids. My plan is to record the show using multiple (probably 2-3) video cameras. We'll use the live audio footage as part of the video for the original track - in other words, we won't be using the audio from the live show, just video clips from the show that will be synch'ed to the studio version of the songs that we decide to make videos for. We'll also shoot other footage recorded separate from the live show (still to be determined). Hopefully, that makes sense.

So, I'm looking for advice regarding the minimum equipment/software requirements for such a task. Here's what I have now:

- Panasonic (not HD) digital camcorder
- Canon (not HD) digital camcorder
- several tripods (including a good Bogen-Manfrotto video head on one)
- Adobe Premier Elements
- Sony Sound Forge 9
- Sonar 8PE

I also have friends with HD camcorders, who may be available to help out.

Let me be clear - I'm not about to drop several thousands of dollars on a high-end prosumer HD camcorder, nor am I willing to buy and learn the full version of something like Sony Vegas Pro for what is essentially just an experiment at this time. In addition to being a long-time musician, I'm also a long-time photographer and I'm quite certain that, like both of these hobbies, the results are more dependent on knowledge of your gear and proper planning than they are on the cost of the equipment. That said, I'd be willing to buy a reasonable HD handheld camcorder (e.g., in the $600-800 range) because I'd use it for everyday use (shooting vids of the family, vacations, etc.) and possibly even try another video software editor if it was cheap and better than Adobe PE. I'm definitely willing and eager to put in the time to learn more about this and, if it all works out, maybe I'll upgrade everything someday. So, here's what I'm looking for:

- advice on the MINIMUM equipment and software needs to try making a few decent videos (primarily for my website and youtube)

- advice specifically on a decent handheld HD camcorder ~$800 (note: I'm a long-time Canon shooter and will definitely give preference that brand, but I can be convinced to choose another brand)

- advice on other resources for learning more about making videos on the cheap, getting good shots, arranging the video, planning shoots, etc. (e.g., other websites, forums, books)

- examples of quality videos that others have made

Thanks and sorry for the length - I just really want to make sure that I made it clear what I'm looking for so as to avoid people advising me to empty my retirement account.

Geez, Frank - that's a lot of great and useful info! Thanks a bunch!

ORIGINAL: zippsinc

Hope this helps a little.

That helps more than a little! Thanks a lot zippsinc - I really appreciate the info and the link for the lights.

Hi all,

Excellent advice so far, it appears.

The only thing I would add, based primarily on the advice of others, but somewhat on my own limited, amateur experience:

Your first video will almost certainly be best described as "Horrible."

Therefore, do a *full video* of something else *before* you try doing anything you really care about getting right. Do everything.

Good luck!

Regards,
Dave Clark

SONY Vegas Movie Studio Platinum software is great for editing and it's pretty cheap!

Thanks for all the advice AT and Daves.

I'll definitely get the extra 'behind the scenes' shots during the gig, but what I didn't explain very clearly is that my plan is to shoot other various scenes (e.g., walking down the street, at the ocean, etc.) in different locations in the days/weeks prior to and/or following the show and combine those with the live footage.

ORIGINAL: AT

Rethink Vegas - it is a very good, complete and simple program.

ORIGINAL: Dave King

SONY Vegas Movie Studio Platinum software is great for editing and it's pretty cheap!

I've been looking at that very version and, since I can pick it up for ~$55 or less, I just may do that. BTW, Is the Pro Pack version worth the extra $20? I just don't want to run out and spend $600 on the full version at this point, but at least I could always take the upgrade route. I love SF9, so I suspect that the Vegas versions are equally powerful and intuitive. And, TBH, I'm not crazy about Adobe PE and I've had some stability problems with it. OK, I think we've talked me into it!

ORIGINAL: DaveClark

The only thing I would add, based primarily on the advice of others, but somewhat on my own limited, amateur experience:

Your first video will almost certainly be best described as "Horrible."

Therefore, do a *full video* of something else *before* you try doing anything you really care about getting right. Do everything.

Excellent advice! I'll definitely do that. BTW, do you happen to have any music videos online that we could check out, Dave?

ORIGINAL: Dave King

If possible, all cameras used for shooting should be of the same make and model. Different cameras will have different "looks" to the video that they record and it can look funny when cutting between shots from the different cameras if they don't match.

Good point, but I'm pretty much stuck with what I have at this point, plus whichever HD camera I decide to buy.

ORIGINAL: Dave King

Is the Pro Pack version worth the extra $20?

I don't think so. But it is worthwhile to get the Platinum version because it includes DVD Architect which is a separate program for authoring DVD's of your video(s).

There's a great tutorial DVD that you can rent cheaply from SmartFlix. This was all I needed to get up and running with Vegas: http://smartflix.com/store/video/2287/The-Vegas-6-Companion

Wow, they raised their prices, but it still may be worth it.

I'd use this web site and see what the latest version has...

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/vegasfamily.asp

By the way Vegas is a great program for Sonar users. The look and feel is like other Windows programs. You will find the other big names are very strange and hard to understand. In Vegas it's standard Windows controls and some of the Sonar keys work like S to split clips.