What equipment would I need for recording piano videos?

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xCayk

Member
Hello! I recently made a piano video with a cheap camera and it didn't turn out so great, so I thought I'd look around and post here in hope of getting some insight to make improvements.

I don't have much of a budget for a decent camcorder, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated - but then there's also lighting to worry about - the room I'll be recording in is quite dark and I'm not really sure what to do about it, any tips and tricks or possibly something cheapish I could buy to make the video look a bit more professional?

I'm planning to record audio with auxiliary line-in, I already have the cables and software for recording, I'll just need a way to record visuals and then I can easily sync the video and audio in Sony Vegas - colour correction might be needed but I assume that's hard to advise without seeing a sample of the output video.

And then finally, there's the camera angle - unfortunately I can only afford one angle unless I rerecord a few times from different angles but use the same consistent audio track (would you recommend this or is it a bad idea?) - either way if I was limited to a single angle for the video I would prefer something from the side rather than birds eye view so I think I would need a tripod or some kind of mount?

Thanks so much for any insight, I'm really new to this area but it's definitely something I'm willing to learn and it always has interested me greatly.

Jake
 
I'd recommend saving up for a DSLR camera because those can make better recordings than most of the camcorders in the same price range (even with kit lens). In my opinion you should take a look at the Canon T2i or T3i. Just saying because I made a mistake of getting a cheaper little Canon camera saying that it'd do the job but after a couple of videos I realised that it doesn't look very professional so I ended up selling it and getting a Canon T5i - it was totally worth it. ;)

As for re-recording the video from multiple camera angles, it's totally the right way to go! I do the same thing in most of my videos (especially if I'm filming outside), it definitely adds to the video. :)
 
SInce you are doing music and you've already got audio down, that's the most important. As for camera quality, you can pick up cheap china balls and other kinds of lights for real cheap, good enough lighting can make even a crappy camera look good.
What camera do you already have? How much is your budget?
 
Thanks guys for the feedback, I would really love to go for for a DSLR camera but honestly my budget is really low, probably something like $150 tops so I thought it would be more realistic to aim for a camcorder that's at least a bit better than the camera i bought a few years ago that I used for a few videos, but it had a lot of problems and kept turning itself off when idle (even when recording).

I really appreciate the comment about re-recording, I've been considering it for a while now whether it was a good idea or not and now I'll definitely go for it and see how it goes, so thank you for clearing that up for me!

The camera I already have cost about $100 it's a Nikon Coolpix S3100, it is quite bad for pictures let alone video but decent of course considering the price. Would it be worth buying a $150~ camcorder to replace it? I don't have much experience with video recording so I wouldn't really know what to expect-
As for the lights is there anything in particular you'd recommend, it's another area I know nothing about unfortunately but I'm open to try any suggestions.

Also sorry for the slow response I misplaced the camera and had to find it :)

Thanks again guys
 
In my experience with photography and videos, the most important thing is having a good lighting. Even if you have a crappy camera, with good lighting condition you can sometimes make a good video. This is because when there is no light, the camera tends to go to a faster ISO (ISO higher), which usually means more grainy videos. So buy lights, if you can't invest in professional light (I can't either), just buy the highest wattage lights you can find. For example I use a 23 W light (the new eco-friendly one) which is equivalent to 100W. I also bought the daylight one (5000 K) instead of the warm one you find in most stores, so that you don't get a yellowish hue. You can find these at home depot/hardware store, and they aren't that expensive. Light up your room, the brighter the better (beware of shadows though). Make it so bright it's uncomfortable for you.

Invest in a tripod. Even a cheap one (you're in a room, you're not outside with the wind blowing and the ground rumbling, so a cheap tripod is good).
 
Thanks very much for your insight, I will have a look at some lights - would it have to be anything specific, is it as simple as changing a light bulb - I have an energy saving one in my room which is very dull and yellowish as you mentioned, would I have to go for something with a bit more power, and should I buy other lights like flood lights or something to brighten up the area I'm recording in?
 
Yes, it is the energy savings light bulb. Most of the lights that you buy in target/walmart or whatever are usually 'warm lights'. They have the yellowish hue. The lights that I use is the daylight ones. They're the same light bulb, you can put them in any light fixture, but they're marked 'daylight' lights. Usually on the side of the package, you can see the light temperature. For example the warm lights are marked as 2000-2500 K. You want ones where it is marked at around 5000 or more K. You may need more than one light and you may need to experiment with different light locations and whether to use flood lights or not
 
Alright fantastic, thank you Jolly Cube I really appreciate your insight - I'll go have a look for some brighter light bulbs and see how it looks! Thanks so much.[DOUBLEPOST=1388408855,1388349985][/DOUBLEPOST]In fact, I did want to ask - is there any piece of equipment that allows you to record from a birds eye view, maybe something that mounts to the wall? I've tried a few different things but they never turn out very well.
 
I ended up taking a nice bright bulb from the attic/loft and using that with the old camera on a tri-pod - here's the result:

/watch?v=FwynFInYfVc

(Not sure why I couldn't embed)

I'd just like to say thank you all for your helpful advice and tips, I appreciate it so much.
 
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