Electric Fishwrap

Of all multimedia skills that a reporter should know, video is my weak point. Sure, I’ve taken classes and read blogs about video, but how many times have I actually shot video for news purposes? It’s so low I’m embarrassed to say.

That will soon change. Friday my Canon HV30 will arrive in the mail (including a UV light filter to protect the lens). I probably spent at least eight hours last weekend researching which camera I should get and which store I should buy it from. I’ve been lurking a lot on the Canon HV20/HV30 user forums, too.

The hardest part is finding an editing program that works for me. I’ve never used video editing programs. Currently my laptop is Linux based, so I installed Cinelerra. But I hear Cinelerra doesn’t process HD video well. I think my best option is to reinstall Vista on the laptop and get a copy of Sony Vegas (at least platinum). Any suggestions for other programs to consider are very welcome.

I have a list of links a mile long on how to shoot video. As for editing it, I’ll probably search YouTube for tutorials on whichever program I end up using.

My plan to learn video is to just do it. Shoot lots of video. Try to edit at least one clip a week. The subject doesn’t matter, as long as I practice at becoming faster and more efficient with each try. The good clips will end up here.

Now to wait until Friday.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 8:03 am and is filed under video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.