Do you need a video camera, or will a smartphone do?
In ordinary lighting conditions and with focussed sound smartphone video can be really good. Two straightforward tips are to shoot in landscape rather than portrait (when did you last see a cinema film in portrait format?) and to use a tripod. Small tripods are inexpensive. A useful addition would be a better microphone such as the Rode VideoMic GO.
Borrowing a digital video camera
Students can book the new Panasonic HC V-10 video cameras by phoning the TAMU Helpline on 0121 414 3322 between 08.30 and 17.00 Mon-Fri.
Loan equipment should be collected from and returned to LRAT's main stores underneath the Great Hall on the Edgbaston Campus. Access is from the rear of the Aston Webb building - see our contact us page for directions.
The maximum loan period is one week. Damage or loss up to a maximum of £500 is the responsibility of the borrower. All DV camera loans require a letter or email of academic sponsorship from your tutor, as these cameras are for academic purposes only.
The HC V-10 cameras output to SD cards - a 16GB card is supplied with each camera. The easiest way to transfer the video files to our video-editing rooms' Macs is to connect the camera directly to the Mac.
Camera features
- Small size : 55.0 x 64.5 x 109.5mm
- 63x optical zoom
- Optical image stabilisation
- Intelligent auto features including contrast
- 720p HD recording
Video-editing rooms
High-quality Mac-platform video editing rooms are available for student use on the second floor of the New Main Library.
There are now four video-editing rooms featuring a 27in iMac running OS X Yosemite with Final Cut Pro X and iMovie.
Work can be saved locally on HardDisk 1 under the user's specially created folder but you must save all work to an external storage device at the end of your video edit suite session. All hard disk contents will be regularly deleted without any back up made. Content can be laid off straight from various types of cameras or from USB media.