Microphones

I will write down here some notes about my experience with several microphones I have and I want to leave here some considerations about what microphone should be used depending on situation and location.

I end up buying really cheap and affordable microphones, than I checked what it works and what it doesn’t for me and I tried to get the best audio possible from them. It seemed more fun than just buying the most expensive mic available and just make a video about it and tell how good it is.

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FOTGA A50TLS – Affordable Field Monitor

I was looking for a good quality field monitor that it didn’t cost too much, so on AliExpress I found this little nice monitor by FOTGA, the A50TLS at around $210 US Dollar.

You find the monitor on AliExpress and you can visit the official page if you are looking for firmware update and more information about the monitor (but there is not much actually on the website).

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Premiere Pro – From Import to Export (Simple Workflow)

1. Prepare the workspace

During this simple workflow I will use some panels that might not be visible if you are using the default workspace, so I am going to customize it a little bit, I prefer to have all the panels I use in one workspace, since every time I switch between them the application hang for a few seconds and just slow me down. The panels you will use are, Project, Source Monitor, Program Monitor, Audio Meters, Timeline, Tools, and Media Browser.

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Convert a CUBE file into a PNG file, using FREE software!

I like Premiere Pro CC, the application is for video editing and it has an intuitive tool, Lumetri Color, for post processing, I like the fact that I can create a standard LUT profile from the Lumetri Color effect, you might not know that but you can actually export all your changes into a LUT profile (.CUBE extension), just right click at the top of Lumetri Color tab and you will see the export option. After you have the LUT profile you can use it in other applications but some of them only support PNG file, is possible to save your LUT as PNG file but I don’t want to buy Photoshop CC to do that! Even Lightroom CC doesn’t have support for LUT (I don’t know about Lightroom CC Classic).

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Disco Film Logo

This is the logo I made for what I think represents what I am and what I want to do, it is about film making, photography, streaming, astronomy, all of it, and it reminds me my hobby, that I loved for so long but that I lost along the way, Windsurfing.

The black and white version, my wife like it more than the colored one
The colored version

GVM Video Light 560AS

This is my first light, I bought it on Amazon, from GVM, is the 560AS Video Light. It is small, light, it comes with a nice handbag where you can put the light with the power and accessories. Inside the box you find the light of course, the power, cables and soft light panel, and manual on how to use it and link it with your device.

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Prime lens or zoom lens?

What are the characteristics of a zoom lens?

A zoom lens has a wide range of focal lengths to choose from, is quite expensive, but is like having many lenses in your bag without the need of changing them every time you need a different focal length. The focal ratio usually is higher than a prime lens, for example the Canon 16-35mm USM has a focal ratio of 2.8 and is really expensive, but you can find prime lenses with focal ration of 1.2. A zoom lens is usually bigger than a prime lens.

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What is color correction and color grading?

Color correction

Color correction is the technique of changing a color into another color, and color grading is actually the same things.

From what I learned, color correction is mostly referred to white balancing, the technique of correcting the white in your video with the real white we saw in real life, when light go inside the camera’s lens it gets easily blended with all the artificial lights around it, so for example if you record in some interior with yellow lights, the main tone will be yellowish in the final video, not only artificial lights but also the sun light can change the white color perceived by the camera sensor. The white tint can be fixed during recording at some degrees, using the white balance function integrated in your camera but if you keep the white balance at a fixed preset, it should be corrected later in post with an application that have color grading tools.

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What do you need to start making videos

Whatever film style you want to make, vlog, music video, wedding, documentary, or just a family video, the gear you need to get started is pretty much the same. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to start shooting, even an entry level camera will do a pretty good job, you just need the right gear and some skills. Also as part of making videos you might need to learn about editing, even though is not the most critical part of film making you still need to process what you record, making an amateur video is not different from producing a professional film, you still need to go through a series of tasks to make your video looks good.

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