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My first attempt at video editing

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I have no experience in photography or using editing software so I just used Windows Movie Maker. Took me about an hour of poking around and this is what i decided to finish with. Hope to get better over time and learn as much as i can about the process as i did enjoy working on this. Welcoming any tips and constructive criticism so i can apply it to my next video. The castle sits pretty high up on a mountain and combined with being about half a mile away I lost connection to the H a couple times which interrupted the path of orbit.

Castle Rock
Castle Rock Final.mp4
 
Good area to film. Like it. A few comments.

#1 Video seems to be a little overexposed. Not sure if Windows Movie Maker(WMM) will let you change that.

#2 Slow it down some. The yawing (turns) were kinda of fast.

What was your Video Resolution and FPS set at?

Good start. Keep moving forward, review what other people have posted and you will pick up alot. Later after you feel comfortable with things I suggest you upgrade to a better Video Editor that will allow you more flexibility. WMM is a good start but don't rack your brain with it to much. You will advance quickly beyond it's capabilities and be looking for something better. Alot of people on here like PowerDirector. But there are others. Here is a link to read about it.

Best Video Editing Software |CyberLink PowerDirector 15 Ultra
 
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For a first "go round" ya done good.

I've still got a long way to go in editing skills as well but one thing I've learned, having a powerful graphics card, lots of memory, and a fast computer are imperatives if we want to take advantage of the better video editing software. If you intend to shoot 4k video you also need to have 4k screen resolution to play it back on. You really can't "grade" 4k with a screen having lower resolution. Bear in mind most streaming services don't stream 4k very well anyway, and the end user needs to have a lot of bandwidth and a 4k screen to take advantage of it.

Obtain a set of Polar Pro filters to assist lighting and sun flare control. Also obtain a multi terabyte external drive to store your work on. Videos eat up a lot of memory and you'll want to have everything backed up in the event your computer eventually crashes. An alternate is to have lots and lots of SD cards to keep the originals on but that's a hard way to keep things organized. I've worn out a few laptops and it's a royal PITA to recover a drive after a computer dies. Spend a lot of time experimenting with your camera controls and the effects they can deliver.

After all that it's all time, practice, research, and more practice to get where you want to go. Photography is a "craft" where experience is what eventually generates the best results. Learning what you have as well as it can be learned and using it to the fullest capability beats out having the latest and greatest every time. Oh, always "cut" on action. I learned that the hard way after editing a lot of videos that started at aircraft take off or ended with a landing. I don't do that any more.
 
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A very good start. Basically each shot should be a different angle and then you can cut to each shot rather than use random transition effects to get between similar shots. CaptainDrone videos will give you more info on camera set up.
 
I have no experience in photography or using editing software so I just used Windows Movie Maker. Took me about an hour of poking around and this is what i decided to finish with. Hope to get better over time and learn as much as i can about the process as i did enjoy working on this. Welcoming any tips and constructive criticism so i can apply it to my next video. The castle sits pretty high up on a mountain and combined with being about half a mile away I lost connection to the H a couple times which interrupted the path of orbit.

Castle Rock
Castle Rock Final.mp4
Very nice for your first time keep it up
 
Good area to film. Like it. A few comments.

#1 Video seems to be a little overexposed. Not sure if Windows Movie Maker(WMM) will let you change that.

#2 Slow it down some. The yawing (turns) were kinda of fast.

What was your Video Resolution and FPS set at?

Good start. Keep moving forward, review what other people have posted and you will pick up alot. Later after you feel comfortable with things I suggest you upgrade to a better Video Editor that will allow you more flexibility. WMM is a good start but don't rack your brain with it to much. You will advance quickly beyond it's capabilities and be looking for something better. Alot of people on here like PowerDirector. But there are others. Here is a link to read about it.

Best Video Editing Software |CyberLink PowerDirector 15 Ultra
Thanks for your feedback Wingshooter. Def agree with your suggestions especially #1 & #2. WMM didn't have many color editing options and trimming out sections of video was also challenging as there was no simple way to do it. Recording resolution was set at 4k however not sure what fps were set to but once i get my cgo3+ replacement i should be able to find out. Thanks again, i appreciate your reply & your help.
 
For a first "go round" ya done good.

I've still got a long way to go in editing skills as well but one thing I've learned, having a powerful graphics card, lots of memory, and a fast computer are imperatives if we want to take advantage of the better video editing software. If you intend to shoot 4k video you also need to have 4k screen resolution to play it back on. You really can't "grade" 4k with a screen having lower resolution. Bear in mind most streaming services don't stream 4k very well anyway, and the end user needs to have a lot of bandwidth and a 4k screen to take advantage of it.

Obtain a set of Polar Pro filters to assist lighting and sun flare control. Also obtain a multi terabyte external drive to store your work on. Videos eat up a lot of memory and you'll want to have everything backed up in the event your computer eventually crashes. An alternate is to have lots and lots of SD cards to keep the originals on but that's a hard way to keep things organized. I've worn out a few laptops and it's a royal PITA to recover a drive after a computer dies. Spend a lot of time experimenting with your camera controls and the effects they can deliver.

After all that it's all time, practice, research, and more practice to get where you want to go. Photography is a "craft" where experience is what eventually generates the best results. Learning what you have as well as it can be learned and using it to the fullest capability beats out having the latest and greatest every time. Oh, always "cut" on action. I learned that the hard way after editing a lot of videos that started at aircraft take off or ended with a landing. I don't do that any more.
I'm realizing real quick that my Windows Surface Pro is not the ideal machine for editing lol. I've always been OCD, even when it comes to arranging digital media so one thing been good at doing is transferring all my video files to my 4TB External HD and keeping my machine free of storage space. Cut on action is not a term I'm familiar with. Will be asking google for an explanation :) but this sounds like it's probably something very important. Thanks for sharing your experience this is very helpful.
 
A very good start. Basically each shot should be a different angle and then you can cut to each shot rather than use random transition effects to get between similar shots. CaptainDrone videos will give you more info on camera set up.
This makes a lot of sense, thanks for explaining that. I see where i could've applied this to my video also.
 
Cut on action: unless the scene requires it be absolutely still for that portion to "flow" properly, have the video in motion when ending or starting a new scene. Being perfectly still works great for photographs but it kills a video unless it is ending one. I'm sure you've seen videos where the aircraft was hovering while the operator was getting their act together, and then it starts moving through the subject matter, then cuts to another scene that is again motionless while the operator plans the shot. Chop the boring stuff, hold the viewers interest.
 
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Trick of the trade - if cutting two shots together that have movement then make the cut where the second shot moves in the same direction. This will make the cut invisible. More applicable to hand held shooting but still a rule of thumb.
 
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When things aren't moving in the same direction a slow crossfade may be a better solution and gives the sense that the "flow" isn't interrupted by the change in direction. Here's an example:
 
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I have no experience in photography or using editing software so I just used Windows Movie Maker. Took me about an hour of poking around and this is what i decided to finish with. Hope to get better over time and learn as much as i can about the process as i did enjoy working on this. Welcoming any tips and constructive criticism so i can apply it to my next video. The castle sits pretty high up on a mountain and combined with being about half a mile away I lost connection to the H a couple times which interrupted the path of orbit.

Castle Rock
Castle Rock Final.mp4

I agree that the video is overexposed, however, it is really difficult to find the right exposure with just the ST16. It is best practice to set the camera to manual exposure, and lock the white balance (when shooting video) in order to maintain continuity and depth between frames. Once again, it may be difficult to get the exposure perfect on the ground station alone, but the histogram is there to help. I'm often one or two settings off and have to adjust in post, but if you're too far off then the post adjustments will drop a lot of data.

As for the shooting, you're looking for smooth, consistent speed or acceleration. That means take LOTS of video (at least early on) of the same scene and clip the best one. Also, I'd consider keeping the duration of each clip down to a few seconds at most with the longest clips already having a lot of motion and change of direction and altitude.

If you sketch a little story board on paper before you go to shoot, it will help you when you're in the sky so that you're going up for a particular shot and not trying to create a scener mid air.

That's all I have for now, but I'd really like to see your next video... Don't worry so much about perfecting the editing per say. Just focus on getting better quality scenes and shots with the advice above and even the most basic edits will bring your final product a long way!

Good luck!

Oh and PS, before investing in expensive video software, buy a couple of extra batteries and record more video.... this will help you dial in your camera and have less trips to shooting locations.
 
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.........

As for the shooting, you're looking for smooth, consistent speed or acceleration. That means take LOTS of video (at least early on) of the same scene and clip the best one. Also, I'd consider keeping the duration of each clip down to a few seconds at most with the longest clips already having a lot of motion and change of direction and altitude.

Could not agree more. I find that if you are hovering with nothing moving in the scene that 5-10 seconds is long enough to show the scene. Unless you are trying to capture moving subjects that take longer.
 

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