Can of worms..

[swifty]

Sooo.. I may have opened a can of worms with regards to something I may not be fully prepared to go down the path of.

Allow me to explain. My kids are reaching the age where there are now at least a few annual stage performances and being away from family, it's something nice we'd like to share with them.

My interest remains in photography and in events such as sports, I still think that is my preferred medium to record.
However, stage performances is a different story IMO.
Last year at my daughter's ballet performance I shot stills and relied mainly on the purchased professional DVD for the video. My wife also had a smartphone video but the trouble is the purchased video included pans and selective edits so footage of your own child is very limited and of course smartphone videos are poor at the distances we're at.
This year, I shot a video. I think it's the first time I've actually used the function for anything I wanted to keep
And of course the video quality as well as centre of focus was far more desired.

Come editing time, I realised I only had the included iMovies software and it did a reasonable job at outputting a final product I could post to the family, which they really enjoyed.

Here comes the worm bit. The RAW photographer in me wasn't really satisfied with the limited processing and final results. I know the final audience of the videos won't really notice but the curse is, I do and I care about these things.

The good news is my camera is very video capable so no additional expenses are required on that part. The bad news is whilst my (very old by electronics age) computer does fine for stills, it was woefully inadequate for video editing.

So I need some advice on basic video needs to see whether to go down this path. My camera is the Panasonic G9 and the intent is to exploit the maximum the camera is capable of, which after the recent firmware upgrade is quite substantial. So I'll be recording in 4k 60P but editing down to a manageable file size.

Computer: Unfortunately I'm limited to Macs because of the whole ecosystem thing. I have an inkling it's video card and GPU RAM that I need. Anything else I should be paying attention to?
Software: So, again must be Mac compatible. I only know of Final Cut Pro but what else should I be looking at?
External recorders: I like the idea of recording to a separate recorder so my internal cards are for stills only. It also has the advantage of higher quality output I believe. I'm totally new to this so any brand recommendations as well as maximum compatibility as I will likely have future, non-Panasonic cameras with video capabilities.
Sound: Do I need anything other than on-board. We're talking stage performances here so I can't get any closer anyways.
Misc: Anything else I've missed?

[Toddyh]

I don't do Macs so can't help you there.
For the audio though you can get directional microphones that will help pick up the sound from a distance.

[Hawthy]

You can edit videos using Adobe Photoshop but it is a bit clunky. They also offer a specialist video editing software called Premiere Pro, which can be used on Macs and PCs. Maybe compare the minimum system requirements here: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-...uirements.html against your home computer.

The subscription is a bit steep at $29.99 a month and I think that you need to commit to a year subscription at a time.

Adobe also have a product aimed at YouTubers, etc. called Premiere Rush, which is $14.29 per month. Here are the minimum system requirements: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-...3KGBV&mv=other

I am not specifically recommending Adobe products. Just pointing you in the general direction to make more enquiries.

I bought a directional microphone and have used it once with underwhelming results. That was for a beach wedding so a school production with loudspeakers should be much better. I can't help with external recorders because I know nothing about those.

- - - Updated - - -

And, I just noticed that this is in the Constructive Critique section. Maybe asking a moderator to shift the thread to Video Help under the Photographic Help and Advice forum might generate some advice from people with more experience in video.

[swifty]

You can edit videos using Adobe Photoshop but it is a bit clunky. They also offer a specialist video editing software called Premiere Pro, which can be used on Macs and PCs. Maybe compare the minimum system requirements here: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-...uirements.html against your home computer.

The subscription is a bit steep at $29.99 a month and I think that you need to commit to a year subscription at a time.

Adobe also have a product aimed at YouTubers, etc. called Premiere Rush, which is $14.29 per month. Here are the minimum system requirements: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-...3KGBV&mv=other

I am not specifically recommending Adobe products. Just pointing you in the general direction to make more enquiries.

I bought a directional microphone and have used it once with underwhelming results. That was for a beach wedding so a school production with loudspeakers should be much better. I can't help with external recorders because I know nothing about those.

- - - Updated - - -

And, I just noticed that this is in the Constructive Critique section. Maybe asking a moderator to shift the thread to Video Help under the Photographic Help and Advice forum might generate some advice from people with more experience in video.

Thanks Hawthy, I don't know why I posted in the CC section. Thanks for the heads up. Thanks Am for the move to the right forum.

I looked at Premiere Pro and the subscription put me off even though I subscribe to their CC Photography plan. My reasoning being I use photography stills products all year round and am happy with the regular updates plus it's cheaper.

I had a quick look at external recorders and they're a bit too hardcore for my needs I think.

Will check to see if the directional mics are worthwhile investing in. The productions are pretty professional, mostly held at University theatres so both sound and lighting are pretty good. To be honest, the sound was probably the least of my concerns in the recent recording I made.

Cheers

[Hawthy]

Have a look at Rush. I looked at a review and it seemed pretty simple to use. The review compared the differences between Premiere Pro and Rush as being similar to those between Photoshop and Lightroom.

That said, I hate using Lightroom.


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[farmmax]

I use Adobe Premiere Pro, but have an older version, so no subscription needed. They still make Adobe Premiere elements, which is a more basic version, but gets the job done. No subscription, but paid software. Probably a bit over $100.

Corel make Videostudio https://www.videostudiopro.com/en/pr...deostudio/pro/, but don't seem to have it available for Mac, which is a shame because it is half the price of Adobe Premiere Elements.

Here is a link to some Mac free video editors https://www.wondershare.com/video-ed...tware-mac.html, which may be of interest to read.

[swifty]

Probably going to be biting off more than I can chew if I delve too much into the video side of things so I think I'm going to abandon this pursuit, at least for now.
Thanks for the advice given.

[ameerat42]

Start small: Swifty's Shed Shoots

...some evolution later...

Swift Studios

[swifty]

Start small: Swifty's Shed Shoots

...some evolution later...

Swift Studios
Lol.. don’t get me started! No.. really. I have an addictive personality

[landyvlad]

swifty did you ever get back on board with the video thing?