yeah, take a look at my videos… and you’ll see the same,
thats why I said, its tricky if you have more gear.
so the ‘ideal’ way, is you would re-frame and focus on what you are using at any particular time.
this is where hi-resolution cameras are useful, since you can crop in post to re-frame…
but this only works to some extent…
a ‘pro’ would use multiple cameras, and so be able to re-frame using angles, or you’d move your cameras.
this is where another important point crops up…
how much effort do you want to spend? sometimes its more important to just capture the content!
I’ve fallen for this , if you make it too hard on yourself, e.g. spending hours recording, then hours editing… you may lose enthusiasm for doing it at all…
so its a trade off…
simply mounting cameras will not give you the best results… but at least its easy n’ fun.
then at the other end its a full time job.
frankly, alot of people think the big YouTuber’s life is easy, but its not they will spend days making some videos (15-20mins long) , but they can do that , as its their job.
That is what I think I would want to do. Just hit record, mess around, improvise, and then cut something together from a longer video. To many times I improvised something that then I instantly forgot and could never replicate.
It’s more about playing music at this time, and capturing a video that is practical in the sense that if I only have the video and the sound recording, I can still replicate what was recorded.
It’s a good question to set straight.
Edit: one more thing that is important is that the layout of my synths would most likely not change for the sake of a video recording. If one of them happens to be unused then they would just sit there in the video with their screen off.
if that’s your goal…
Id say, the angle you show above is pretty perfect IF you can get the camera mounted there, without knocking it all the time.
search for “overhead camera mount”, you might find something useful.
just be careful, one thing with tripods, unfortunately, you tend to get what you pay for…
cheaper ones are often not very secure… which is the one job you need a tripod to do
that said… its not so much of an issue if you use your phone, since it is very light.
(which is why people can get by with mic stands etc)
(if you’re ok with DIY, you can also quite easily make an overhead rig, then buys some cheap camera mounts … just make sure you focus on rigidity of the rig)
also look for some cheap lights (unless you have really good lighting - e.g. daylight)
but yeah , Id focus on making sure , its quick to setup (or better still permanently setup), and also its not in your way…
I find nothing more annoying than trying to play a musical instrument whilst dodging mic/lighting/video gear
note: as I mentioned in previous post , you have to be careful with placing anything on the desk you are playing on. as soon as you touch your keys, you will get vibration thru to the camera… and it looks dreadful (as you’ll see in some of my earlier videos )
that’s kind of the compromise… floor mounted tripods = no vibration, but always get in the **** way.
Yea money can be a real thing with photography, it’s worse than bloody music!
Just the mount for my tripod is £150 …
Reeloy’s suggestion sounds better and better tbh - if you can have an inoffensive, lightweight mount attached to your ceiling directly for a phone (or even a cheap video camera which are also lightweight) it would save you needing any tripods or rigging. Cheap video camera could be perminant as suggested by @thetechnobear - as long as you can access the memory card or USB port easily enough then that’s a decent plan.
Stick a coathanger on the ceiling and let that puppy spin - instant Top of the Pops
so gonna have to think what I want to do now…
I think I’ll likely suspend something from beams, likely a pole, so it can be rigid, I can then attach my (manfrotto) magic arm to it for top down shots. but I think I’ll have to use floor tripods for lights, other camera… but not really worked that side out yet.
(fortunately, I do have a lot more room, so tripods are not so problematic as in my loft space setup)
I tried pretty much every angle I just use what seems to be good for the video. Sometimes you use one device, sometimes you have good natural light and sometimes its pitch dark and you need to work with many devices. I think slightly from the top is the best option but you need to be able to fit all the gear… I like these angles quite a bit:
If you can’t get so close and don’t really care about that, I think this is one option to place yourself in the room while the gear is still visible.
I already have a Sony FDR-AX53 that I want to use for this, the quality seems to be good and I can record in 4K until my card fills up. It can also stream via HDMI.
I will look into a ceiling mount if nothing else works. I am renting this apartment and I just moved in. I don’t feel good about drilling holes. The feeling of having to patch a lot of holes that I made in my previous apartment is still too fresh.
Originally it was the DIgitone but I recently (like 2 weeks ago) I got a Digitone Keys to work as the main keyboard for everything, replacing a Nord Lead A1 and a Keystep 37.
A list of mistakes that I find really annoying when watching dawless jams videos:
All the gear must be in the foreground (the closer, the better), even the light must be taken into consideration: before starting with the jam, it is better to record some tests and then watch them on a large TV screen
please, no musician face (no one is interested in it)
please, no puppets, exotic plants, and useless gadgets: I find them really childish
please, no shooting from the back side of the gear, there is no reason to do it.
Audio quality is crucial: please, no recording with the smartphone mic
Also: The video must have a script, i.e. a beginning, a progression and an end: watching 10mins of an infinite 4bar loop makes no sense.
I was able to make the overhead angle work by Frankensteining a rig from a tripod and a microphone table base.
The screw on the microphone base and the screw of the feet of the tripod were the same, so I was able to use the base as a counterweight.
Down below is a link to a short video that I recorded. It is not a direct recording of the camera, but the recording of the HDMI output via an Elgato CamLink 4K.
Edit: here is a link to another video. This one is a bit darker and maybe the white balance is off.
Down below are some pictures of the rig. I think I will try to align things so that the legs are not in frame, or if they are, then they are symmetric at least. I also need to get rid of some screen reflections but I think I can do that if I tweak the angle of my camera.
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I just use what seems to be good for the video. Sometimes you use one device, sometimes you have good natural light and sometimes its pitch dark and you need to work with many devices. I think slightly from the top is the best option but you need to be able to fit all the gear… I like these angles quite a bit:
