Newbie Really Needs Help!

[JohnReid]

I am a modeler of miniatures and I have seen some wonderful videos on You Tube complete with text and sound and very smooth camera work.My question is simple,how do they do this stuff? Thank you.Cheers! John.

[SmartWombat]

Carefully
If the camera work is smooth then it's a good bet they have invested in a good support for the camera. They might also be using remote controls for the camera to prevent shake caused by touching the zoom buttons while recording.
If there are good smooth panning shots then their tripod probably has a damped head to stop jerking. If there are smooth tracking shots, then they are likely to have some kind of track to run the camera and its support along - instead of just walking with it - though they might have some kind of steadicam if they have lots of money.
Maybe they are even using a boom, with pan/tilt controls on the end of the boom.

Sound and text can be added in almost any video editing program.
Good sound is usually not from the video recorder's microphone, but from an external microphone.
Sometimes the audio from the camera is not used, but recorded separately on a good audio recorder and then added in the editing program later. Lots more work that way, but better quality, requires a lot of care synchronising the sound to the video.

[JohnReid]

Thank you for your very informative reply.It confirms to me that a lot of expensive equipment may be required to achieve the quality that I want.Cheers! John.

[Skyman]

you don't always need expensive equipment, just the time to do things correctly. sometimes the smooth camera work comes from a steadycam or a tripod and dolly (wheels for the tripod) You can sometimes find second hand tripods and dollys particularly from pro video hire places, and if you are using your camcorder their is the steadycam junior or the manfrotto modo steay, both of which are much more affordable. The text and sound can be done with most decent video editing software. Windows movie maker and apple Imovie are great starting points for basic editing that let you combine video sound and text. Obviously the top of the line editing programs such as Avid, Final Cut, Premier and Vegas are much more expensive, but there are even light versions of these that are affordable.

The thing that sets the men from the boys apart isn't how much money they spend of gear, it is how much time they spend on planning. Writing a script (even if there is no dialogue) treatment, shot list, and story board will really really help with even the most basic video.

[JohnReid]

Thanks Skyman!