In this day and age of all-in-one video cards, MPEG boards, live TV in a window malarkey, it's good to know that you only need a video grabber. Nothing else. If you fancy one of those SPEA 4-in-1 jobs then go ahead, treat yourself. For the purposes of this article we're going to be using the Creative Labs Video Spigot.
Now the Spigot isn't the newest piece of hardware around, it isn't even the best, but it is good, it works and it's also amazingly cheap. I saw one advertised last month for a measly £120+VAT. Even better, PC Home are giving away three as prizes in a competition this month, along with the first prize of a camcorder! So the faithful Spigot it is, especially since it comes with the full set of Video for Windows software, which is what we'll be using.
Lights and extras
If your bank balance has been unduly worried by now then call it a day at getting video tapes and see if other people want to cough up some cash. On the other hand, maybe you already had that camcorder and you've still got lolly to spend. In that case get some lights. Cheap lights for camcorder use are available and there are some remarkably good quality ones too. If you intend to film outside in the open then there isn't much call for them, but inside filming is a different matter since the picture invariably turns out yellow.
A tripod is a real necessity, unless you deliberately want to film on the move. Take the two examples on this month's CD. McLachlan's Pond and Favourite Places 1: Castleton - which was my effort. Neither used a tripod, so I'm told. The Castleton film didn't really need one, whereas the Pond one would have benefitted.
When filming outdoors there are two other requirements. The first is the use of microphones - and I'd recommend this whether inside or out because the camcorder will pick up the sound of it's tape going round and record that as well as what it should be recording - and the second is an umbrella. Yes, the good old British weather can cause havoc with the best planned - and worst planned - production. Run the Castleton film and you'll see what I mean. The weather was fine right up to shooting the last section of the film, at which point the heaven's opened. Sticking your hand out to try and stop the rain falling on the lens is a last resort, so don't do what I did - take an umbrella.
On the audio side there's something else to consider - do you really need the sound track to be recorded on-site. Yes if you have people stood in front of the camcorder - you don't want to get into dubbing voices believe me, it's very hard to do on simple editing equipment and it will look terrible.
However, the Castleton film's audio track was recorded later - on the day itself it was very windy. Doing it later gives you the chance to have as many attempts at the soundtrack until you are happy, and with some decent Wave editors that you get with most soundcards you can merge music in and add various effects.
