I have been asked by a chain of Estate Agents, that I do brochure photography for to look into providing video tours of some of their properties. They have interviewed some of the firms that offer this service but would rather that I do it as I have been doing their stills work for over 10 years and would rather stick with someone they know. While I am happy to spend out for equipment, in the first instance I would rather keep the costs down in case there is a change of mind.
In no particular order I have a heavy duty braced Manfrotto tripod which will do for the work required but will need a head for panning and tilt work. I have been looking at the Manfrotto 504HD video head at around £300 mark. Any other suggestions.
Next video camera. I can either go for a HD camcorder or one of my Canon pro bodies is due to be replaced and I could replace it with a DSLR that takes video clips. Any suggestions. My only concern is that it must be able to shoot wide angle, via a wide-angle converter if required. (I have lenses for the DSLR 10-500mm).
Lighting. Having watched quite a few video tours, lighting in general does not seem to be used, certainly no obvious reflections in glass or tiles etc. Also a lot of the tours seem to be quite dark, I presume trying to balance the room lighting for the daylight outside the windows. Another option will be to use a still image and the Ken Burns Effect as the still images for the brochure will be taken at the same time (these are done using twin Bowens flash heads). If so I am looking for a program that allows me to control the movements and create a movie from the image and allows me to integrate it with video clips.
Finally recommendations for an editing program that allows me to add a caption and join the clips together and control the transition between clips and stills and output for viewing on You Tube.
At present they have said that they do not want sound, but no doubt this will change!
Sorry for so many questions at the same time but they have asked for costings ASAP and this will be a steep learning curve.
In no particular order I have a heavy duty braced Manfrotto tripod which will do for the work required but will need a head for panning and tilt work. I have been looking at the Manfrotto 504HD video head at around £300 mark. Any other suggestions.
Next video camera. I can either go for a HD camcorder or one of my Canon pro bodies is due to be replaced and I could replace it with a DSLR that takes video clips. Any suggestions. My only concern is that it must be able to shoot wide angle, via a wide-angle converter if required. (I have lenses for the DSLR 10-500mm).
Lighting. Having watched quite a few video tours, lighting in general does not seem to be used, certainly no obvious reflections in glass or tiles etc. Also a lot of the tours seem to be quite dark, I presume trying to balance the room lighting for the daylight outside the windows. Another option will be to use a still image and the Ken Burns Effect as the still images for the brochure will be taken at the same time (these are done using twin Bowens flash heads). If so I am looking for a program that allows me to control the movements and create a movie from the image and allows me to integrate it with video clips.
Finally recommendations for an editing program that allows me to add a caption and join the clips together and control the transition between clips and stills and output for viewing on You Tube.
At present they have said that they do not want sound, but no doubt this will change!
Sorry for so many questions at the same time but they have asked for costings ASAP and this will be a steep learning curve.