Am I handling this project right?

[smb]

I'm going to be filming a musical by my local theater group. It's about 2 to 3 hours long. I'm making sure I have the right things prepared.

First, the actual shooting. I'll be doing this during the dress rehearsal so I can get closer to the stage and move the cameras without disturbing the audience. Since this isn't going to be a professional looking video, I won't be using DSLRs or any incredible camcorders. Instead, I'll be using 2 Sony HDR-SR1 AVCHDs for their manual focus ring, 1080i 60p recording and for their low used price on Amazon. The first shoot, one Sony will be on a DIY moving dolly, the other hand-operated on a DIY steadicam. The second shoot, both will be on tripods. The battery life shouldnt be a problem since I'll be using multiple batteries with each one. Me and my buddy will be shooting this with a budget of about $800 to purchase another Sony and another nice tripod, as well as some profit. We've only done small, two to three minute projects that turned out really good in the end. This project, however, was specified to be "ameteur" and not too professional looking.

Now, for the audio portion. This is an ameteur production, and they aren't looking for anything special, so I hope to use a ZOOM H1 handy recorder. This is a very nice sounding and impressive recorder, especially for under $100 (what I bought it at). I think one of those placed near the edge of the stage would suffice for decent sound. I need to get into the theater's sound system, but I'm unsure on how I'll do that.

Lastly, the editing. This is the part I'm most concerned about. I want to use Adobe Premiere Pro with this project, but I might end up using Sony Vegas. I'm experienced in using both. I'll rework the sound in Adobe Audition. My problem is my computer. I don't think it's fast enough to handle the amount of video (at least 10 gb, I'd guess). With the smaller projects before, it crashed once in editing. I have about $150 to upgrade parts of it. My specs are bad: the lowest-end nVidia graphics card, AMD Radeon II X4, but a decent 8 gigs of ram. What do you think I should do to upgrade? I can't get a nice Intel i7 because I can't switch it out for my current one. I've been eying the FX line though. Processors should increase the speed of these Adobe programs and Vegas but graphics cards dont help with them, right?

How would you handle this much data under my circumstances? And am I doing the right things to shoot the video?

Thanks for reading this entire thing, and for any advice you have! Hope I'm not violating too many rules of IndieTalk as a newbie!

 

[Cracker Funk]

Welcome! There are no newbie rules.

I like your meticulous preparation for the shoot!

One thing I might balk at is your planned use of a dolly. But maybe that's just cuz I don't know how you envision it. Where are you going to place it, and how do you plan to use it?

For the dual tripod shoot, I'd recommend that you find a way to quietly communicate with each other. Skype with headsets maybe?

For editing, if you've only got a little money to spend, I'd recommend doubling your RAM. And as far as the actual edit is concerned, you will make things WAAAAAAYYYYYY easier on your software if you only import the specific footage you intend to use. Don't import four video files that are two-hours-long each. In a separate project, log each video file, and chop it up into pieces. Export smaller clips -- only the good portions that really stand out to you. Then import those smaller clips into your master project.

 

[Alcove Audio]

Now, for the audio portion. This is an ameteur production, and they aren't looking for anything special, so I hope to use a ZOOM H1 handy recorder. This is a very nice sounding and impressive recorder, especially for under $100 (what I bought it at). I think one of those placed near the edge of the stage would suffice for decent sound. I need to get into the theater's sound system, but I'm unsure on how I'll do that.

You go to the theatre and speak to the audio tech. "Can I record off of your mixing board?" If the answer is yes...
"Do you have a spare audio output?"
"What type of output is it (low impedance or high impedance)?"
"Is it mono or stereo?"
"What type of output connector is/are used (XLR, 1/4" TRS, 1/4" unbalanced, TRS unbalanced stereo, RCA, 1/8" mini-pin)?" You'll need to get an adapter (I or another audio guy here help you pick one) that will feed the 3.5mm mini-pin of the H1. Make sure you use the AC adapter since you will be recording continuously for quite a while. Try to record a rehearsal or an earlier performance to test levels.

When you cut the video you will have to cut to the soundtrack like you were cutting a music video, which is essentially what you will be doing.

 

[smb]

Welcome! There are no newbie rules.

I like your meticulous preparation for the shoot!

One thing I might balk at is your planned use of a dolly. But maybe that's just cuz I don't know how you envision it. Where are you going to place it, and how do you plan to use it?

Thanks! I envision the dolly to do occasional pan of the stage or subject from about fifty feet away. Don't worry, it's a steady device (:

For the dual tripod shoot, I'd recommend that you find a way to quietly communicate with each other. Skype with headsets maybe?

Neither of us have smartphones, but I guess we could occasionally call each other if there's a problem?

For editing, if you've only got a little money to spend, I'd recommend doubling your RAM. And as far as the actual edit is concerned, you will make things WAAAAAAYYYYYY easier on your software if you only import the specific footage you intend to use. Don't import four video files that are two-hours-long each. In a separate project, log each video file, and chop it up into pieces. Export smaller clips -- only the good portions that really stand out to you. Then import those smaller clips into your master project.

I'm a bit more interested in enhancing my processor, but would increasing the RAM increase the amount of footage my computer would be able to handle? I thought you had to increase your ram and upgrade your processor to enhance your performance correctly. I'm probably wrong though. I hope I'm not wrong about graphics cards not really effecting video editing performance.

As for the smaller clips thing -- Wouldn't it be a pain to try to stitch all of the pieces of the videos back together once they're in small pieces? Is there a better way of doing that then splitting it into useful pieces then placing them in order, while having to re-synchronize the action every time you drag on a new clip? And which software do you think is better for this job?

 

[Lucky Hardwood]

I would upgrade to 16gb of RAM and get a better video card.

 

[AudioPostExpert]

Lastly, the editing. This is the part I'm most concerned about.

Well yes, that's (in editing) where you'll probably first notice the problem, although the problem will be caused while you are filming. What you will notice is the sound gradually drifting out of sync with the picture. The solution is to lock all the cameras and sound recorders to the same timing signal but that is going to cost a considerable amount in equipment hire and require knowledge of how to operate such a genlocked system. The only other solution will be a great deal of time editing and the end result will almost certainly not be accurately in sync.

If you record sound on the cameras as well as on the Zoom, this *might* give you an accurate reference to get the field recorder audio in sync with the use of something like PluralEyes.

G