Mountain Bike Video - Sony Cybershot TX5

[Photo-John]

Here's a little mountain bike footage I've shot while testing the new Sony Cybershot TX5 waterproof point-and-shoot camera. It's been my main point-and-shoot for a couple of months now and I accumulated a few nice mountain bike clips I thought I should edit together and share. The TX5 can capture 720p video and I'm pretty impressed with the quality, considering it's a little pocket camera.

Salt Lake City Mountain Biking from Photo-John on Vimeo.

Oh yeah - I also edited this on my new computer - a custom-built Windows i5 machine with 4 GB of RAM. I'm using Adobe Premiere Elements for editing and I was having a lot of trouble with my old computer. Not this one. It's much faster and the software runs very smoothly. I'm really pleased

[Skyman]

Great Vid PJ,
having a good edit suit makes the actually editing quit rewarding as opposed to battling the computer all the way!.

I liked your edits, but I would have cut some of your shots a little faster as this adds interest for those who weren't there / don't know the riders. Still great editing!

[Photo-John]

I liked your edits, but I would have cut some of your shots a little faster as this adds interest for those who weren't there / don't know the riders. Still great editing!

Thanks for the advice, Skyman. I can see what you mean. I did cut these down a lot as I edited. But when I try to look at it from the eyes of someone who doesn't know the riders - or worse - isn't a mountain biker, I really understand. One thing I'm discovering as a muddle my way through the video learning curve is how much footage is actually needed to make something decent. As I edit I find myself thinking of all the stuff I *didn't* film that I should of

But I do think I am learning and improving. And the new computer doesn't hurt

[Wolfy]

That's nice looking footage. I'll check out the hd version on vimeo.

I learned a lot working with good videographers and editors. They shoot a LOT and cut everything way down. Also, get good at shooting B-Roll. Bike closeups when you're standing around. Rack focus on faces, use some of the bad shots as lead ins to good ones. Stuff like that.

I've been neglecting video on rides lately. But I'll break it out when you and Jenni are here.

-M

[Photo-John]

That's nice looking footage. I'll check out the hd version on vimeo.

I think the footage is pretty good as long as you consider that it's a point-and-shoot camera. Your 7D is way better - but it doesn't fit in your pocket. I'm also really impressed with the image stabilization in the TX5. It makes handheld video look really good as long as you make a little effort to be smooth and steady.

The B-roll advice is great - thanks for that. I'm still primarily a photographer and think like a photographer. Video is usually an afterthought. And by after I mean, after I'm home or editing. For this I used a still photo for the title. That worked well. But I definitely need to shoot more clips and more "lifestyle / B-roll for filler and transitions.

For what it's worth, I am enjoying being a beginner with a steep learning curve. Video is making photography more exciting again

[Skyman]

interestingly enough your footage is very similiar to a sequence adobe uses as part of its classroom in a book training footage!

[francois]

Sweet! Nice natural color and awesome sound!!

fc

[Photo-John]

I also have a sample video with a little demo of the TX5, here: http://reviews.photographyreview.com...-sample-video/

A full pro review of the Sony TX5 is one of my main projects at the moment. I'm gonna have a hard time giving this one back.

[Photo-John]

I learned a lot working with good videographers and editors. They shoot a LOT and cut everything way down. Also, get good at shooting B-Roll. Bike closeups when you're standing around. Rack focus on faces, use some of the bad shots as lead ins to good ones. Stuff like that.

Thanks again for this advice. I took it to heart and went out on a big ride this weekend with the intention of collecting a whole bunch more video clips. I made it a point to shoot all kinds of crap I would usually ignore. Now I'm going to take all of that stuff and redo this video for more variety and some details.

I might even try adding a soundtrack. That's a whole other can of works for me. Like, whct music to use?...

[Skyman]

Like, whct music to use?...

"The Distance" by Cake

[Photo-John]

"The Distance" by Cake

Interesting idea. That seems more like a race / endurance concept, though. The video is supposed to be more about beauty / fun.

Really editing to music and not just slapping some on top of the video is going to be a new challenge for me.

[Skyman]

I was thinking about the personal / inner struggle and the beat to keep the video feeling like it is flowing. I am not a mountainbiker, and a lot of "fringe sports" have their own music culture that is good to tap into - look at surfie vids, they all seem to use indie rock / punk.

There are no rules when it comes to adding music to a video.

A lot of editors will cut to the music (i often use the waveform to look for beats and cut on the beat, or utilise one of my more musically gifted colleagues to count the beats for me.

Other editors cut the film first and lay / compose music later. typically this is done on projects with a larger budget where they have a sound editor as well. I do this some of the time but I usually go back and tweak my edits if I do it that way, although when I am using production music (music specifically created for films) this is a lot easier as it is designed to be cut up and looped easily, and generally a lot cheaper than paying for commercial music rights.

Sound editors tend to dislike video editors trying to cut sound as we typically make a hash of it. That said obviously for home stuff you can't get a sound editor, and with most decent editing programs learning how to correctly add sound can be as complex as learning to edit, especially when juggling multiple sound sources and things like dynamics and headroom.

One thing to recognise is that you don't need to have music all the way. It can come and go as suits. Another is to realise there are typically four types of sound:

Music - obviously
Dialogue - just as obvious
Atmos - this is ambient sound from the location. No location is silent, wether it be wind in the leaves, birds in the trees, airconditioner hum or even the echo of a room are all types of atmos sounds. Often sound engineers will record a couple of minutes of atmos to use even when there is going to be music over the top. Atmos provides a sense of location and space and makes the audioscape feel "realistic"
Diagetic sounds - these are like atmos sounds except that we can typically see them on camera (although not always) and are "doing" type sounds. floorboards. Doors opening and closing. the sound of coffee being poured are all diagetic sounds. again a film without these is less believable.

Obviously for many people they don't really need to record these sounds, their cameras mics do a good enough job picking them up anyway, and its not like you are going to get sound engineer to record them. One thing you can do though is play with your sounds creatively.

Identify a sound source you might want to use, get the camera nice and close to it and hit record. If it helps put the lens cap on so you know only to use the sound, or leave it off as you might want to overlay that close up. Most good editing programs will allow you to separate the sound from the video clip once they are imported (usually from the timeline as it keeps them joined in the bin) so you can put that sound wherever you want. taking it to the next level you can control the relative volume of the sound, the attack and decay (how fast it appears and dissapear from the soundscape), position that sound to the left or right in your stereo space and / or position it very precisely in editing applications that support 5.1 It is a lot of work, but the end result will feel so much the better for it.

Back to your song selection though.

The hills are alive with the sound of mountain biking!

[Skyman]

back on topic the tx5 produces suprisingly good sound for a compact! How does the touchscreen go when it is wet though? also you said you were body surfing with it. is it pressure tested. I am wondering how safe it would be in moderate surf especially if you got dumped.

[Photo-John]

More great advice. I think I'm somewhere in-between wanting to edit to the music and adding the music after. So I expect I'll do like you do - add the music and then tweak the clips a bit. Right now I'm thinking of something ambient with a beat. I keep coming back to Thievery Corporation. I think I'm gonna give that a shot.

Thanks for mentioning "diagetic" sounds." That's not something I'd condsidered. I'm sure drivetrain sounds are cliche for mountain bike videos, but I'm a beginner so I'm allowed to use all cliches. So I'm going to record some pedal, gear and freewheel sounds to add in. There's already some ambient water, which is very nice.

Thanks for the ideas and encouragement!

[Photo-John]

back on topic the tx5 produces suprisingly good sound for a compact! How does the touchscreen go when it is wet though? also you said you were body surfing with it. is it pressure tested. I am wondering how safe it would be in moderate surf especially if you got dumped.

I think the touchscreen is great for the water - inspired, even. I'm working on the pro review text right now and I was just writing about that. It's a lot easier to use than tiny little buttons. I also think it probably makes for a more secure waterproof design.

The camera is only rated for 10 feet / 3 meters underwater. I was in some decent-sized surf and got rolled and pounded a couple of times and the camera still works. I doubt I was ever more than about 4 or 5 feet deep, though. This camera has been in the water a lot, though. I honestly expected it to fail, the way I treated it (sshhhh - don't tell Sony). But it's taken all the sandy, salt water abuse I exposed it to.

[Skyman]

when it comes to sound cliches are stuff like creaking floorboards for supsense and canned laughter etc a drivetrain wouldn't be cliche as long as there is a bike in shot or only just out of shot (but theoretically close to the camera) if they are off in the distance the sound of the drivtrain would be expected to be quiet so adding it in would sound wrong. Actually I think the bit where they say "pedal pedal pedal" is could work really well with some drivetrain sounds and some freewheeling sounds when the riders are coasting or going downhill would work as well. If you want to try it maybe some brakes squeaking?

have I created a monster?