Video taping Hockey

Hi everyone! Great to find a forum with so much expertise. I just purchased a Sony DV DCR-HC32 to record my son's hockey games. It seems no matter what setting I use (A/E or manual) the tape comes out dark and all the colors are washed out. I tried moving around the rink,going above the glass but it still comes out the same. Does anyone have any idea's on what settings I should use? BTW I am a beginer :confused: Thanks

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Originally Posted by Teddybaby

Hi everyone! Great to find a forum with so much expertise. I just purchased a Sony DV DCR-HC32 to record my son's hockey games. It seems no matter what setting I use (A/E or manual) the tape comes out dark and all the colors are washed out. I tried moving around the rink,going above the glass but it still comes out the same. Does anyone have any idea's on what settings I should use? BTW I am a beginer :confused: Thanks

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being on the wrong side of the world i don't know what the lighting is going to be like at a hockey game but here are some tips that should help:

In manual mode you will need to open the aperture to its widest (this is the smallest number, for example 5.6 or 2.8 your camera probably has a gain control on it which will brighten the image electronically (although it does increase the graininess of the shot) on most cameras the gain kicks in after the aperture is opened to its widest. increase the gain as high as it will go without looking to graining. then change the shutter speed to a level that suits the light (slower will make the image brighter but faster will freeze the action) i am guessing that if the light is ok then 125 or there abouts would be good to freeze the action. but then if the picture is still to dark drop it till you get a well lit result. also i am guessing that the lights overhead will send the exposure of if you get them in the shot, as may the glare off the ice. to that end if in ae mode tell the camera to overexpose by about 2 stops (in manual don't worry) and try not to get the overhead lights in the shot.

i hope this helps.

You are probably taping under sodium vapor lights, they are very nasty as far as providing a consistant color temperature. Look in your maual and see if you can do a custom white balance for the lighting conditions, that might help with the inconsistant colors. Try the camera in sports mode for one period, it will pick the highest shutter speed for the light available. Running camera during any type of hockey game, professional or amateur is one of the hardest things to cover. I prefer to work in the truck when the Florida Panthers need a freelancer.

Good luck.

Thanks for your responses. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

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Originally Posted by MJS

You are probably taping under sodium vapor lights, they are very nasty as far as providing a consistant color temperature. Look in your maual and see if you can do a custom white balance for the lighting conditions, that might help with the inconsistant colors. Try the camera in sports mode for one period, it will pick the highest shutter speed for the light available. Running camera during any type of hockey game, professional or amateur is one of the hardest things to cover. I prefer to work in the truck when the Florida Panthers need a freelancer.

Good luck.

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A quick question if I could.
I am thinking of installing a camera at our local arena ,and would like some input into which product would be best .
It would have to Pan tilt zoom etc and be networked to be able to capture the game remotely.
This venture is to raise funds for a local hospital by selling DVDs of the game to parents coaches and relatives.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Glen

Are we taling a single camera to cover an entire game and both ends of the ice? What age group on the players and how much of a budget to you have. What about control, almost all networked remote control units experience some type of delay and areen't terribly fast, how will you be planning to cover these events?

I know this is an old topic but the board wouldn't allow me to start a new one so here is the only place I could find to post on topic.

I have a Sony HDV Handycam HDR-HC1 2.8 megapixles 120x digital zoom CMOS.
I can't seam to figure out how to get a good quality video that is capable of a quality video displayed on a big screen 53" HDTV.

Can anyone tell me what the best camera settings are to achieve my goals? This Handy Cam has so many settings in the menu that I don't even understand most of them.

I need to set it up for the best possible video capture for an indoor hockey rink.

It is still related, so this thread is a good place to add your questions.

Unfortunately there isn't a magic setting that is going to give you great results all the time. Most cameras have a sports mode and if you don't want to try full manual that is a good place to start.

If you are happy to try manual settings, exposure is the big issue with hockey (as the lights they use aren't always great for video and the action is fast)

To capture the fast action you want to set your shutter speed as high as you can, but this will make your video too dark and possibly dull looking (which I suspect is the issue you are having)

So start with the aperture or iris setting (two names for the same thing) The smallest number you can set will give you the best start. On some cameras you can go past this small number to artifically brighten an image. usually the camera will say gain +5 or something similiar. This is electronically brightening the image but if you do it too much the image also degrades, so have a play and see what settings suit your conditions (they will vary from game to game)

Next set the shutter speed. this will control how smooth or blurry the action is, but it also darkens the image, so set it to where you think it looks good. Most cameras will have some sort of a scale that you can use as a guide to set your iris and shutterspeed. aiming for the middle of the scale is a good start. From there try combinations of iris and shutterspeed until you find one that doesn't make the action blurry and is nice and bright without being so bright that you loose too much detail in the white areas of your video.

Hopefully you will notice some improvements in the quality of the video you record.

Have you done all the suggestions? If yes, has your lighting improved?

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Originally Posted by jorgea

Have you done all the suggestions? If yes, has your lighting improved?

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That post was from April and it's the only one that member has posted so I have a feeling he's not going to reply. Are you shooting hockey or similar indoor action? Do you have a problem we can help you with?