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Doing the Video (Part 1)

Article from Home & Studio Recording, July 1986

Part one of a new series by Alan Hoida setting out what is involved in the making of a promotional pop video.


In the first part of this new series, Alan Hoida discusses equipment.


Over the last few years, we have witnessed a phenomenal increase in the use of promotional videos. Nearly every major release is now accompanied by a video to the extent that many hits are I suspect achieved on the strength of the video alone.

It can only be a matter of time before recording companies expect all audio demos to be accompanied by a demo video. The benefits to both parties are obvious; the record company gets to see the performance, and the performer gets the chance to parade both musical and performing abilities.

So, if you are involved in any sort of recording, you might fancy offering a video service as well.

Unfortunately, to produce the glossy, heavily produced, computer graphic'd, special effected, no expense spared sort of video that top performers demand, you need the financial backing of a record company or a rich father and a lot of expertise.

However, it is possible to produce a low budget video by economising on equipment and by using simple sets.

If you understand the equipment, work within your budget and equipment limitations and apply the same standards of production technique as a professional, the results can be perfectly acceptable for a demonstration tape. At the highest end of the budget scale you could even produce a broadcast quality video. The lower the budget, the greater the limitations, but that's life isn't it?

So, what's the minimum of equipment? First of all, we need a video camera and recorder complete with tripod to shoot the video. We also need lights to light the set. In order to edit the video we need another recorder so that we can electronically transfer the bits we want from the master tape. We will also want a good reel to reel, or cassette deck to replay the number that our band will mime to.

The most expensive items will be the camera, the recorder and the second recorder for editing, so lets have a look at what is available.

Video equipment is split by the salesman into 'domestic' and 'commercial'. Commercial then divides into 'industrial' (or 'non-broadcast') and 'broadcast'.

Domestic Video



Domestic video equipment is getting cheaper by the day, but is it any use? Well, this is where we hit problem number one: quality of image. The quality which you get from your master (ie. the recording you make from your camera) is not too bad nowadays.

Firstly, there are two types available: separate cameras and recorders and combined 'camcorders'. The convenience of a camcorder is an advantage when dodging in and out of a set; you don't have a separate recorder pulling your shoulder down and cables to trip over.

There are three formats available: VHS, Betamax and Video 8. I don't want to go into arguments over the relative merits of VHS versus Betamax. Everyone has their own personal opinions (rather like cars or cameras). For our purposes they are pretty much the same: single tube cameras recording on to ½" tape cassettes. Also the slow tape speed gives a pretty mediocre sound quality though VHS hi-fi is a significant improvement.

Unfortunately though, the second generation recording (ie. the edited version) is usually pretty grotty and subsequent generations get increasingly grottier.

Problem number two: editing is inaccurate. Now this is a big problem with music videos involving miming, as we have to maintain a perfectly synchronous music track.

Domestic video equipment just wasn't designed with this use in mind and the accuracy of an edit can be out by as much as two seconds which is absolutely hopeless for us.

With these two enormous limitations then, let's still see if any domestic systems could be used and what compromises would have to be made.

Video 8 is the newcomer and seems to offer us some improvements. The cameras are the camcorder type and the Sony 8 for example records on to 8mm cassettes and does not use a conventional tube. It has instead a CCD imager chip. The advantage is that 'comet tails' (those squiggly lines you get when moving a tube-type camera past a spotlight) are eliminated. The Sony 8 camera records FM quality sound, which is also an advantage. The actual quality of an edit is also better than VHS or Betamax, both picture and sound editing being clean.

The second generation picture quality however, is still not good. The biggest problem though is that old inaccuracy again; it's almost impossible to edit two pieces of music together without a noticeable jump in the rhythm. We cannot lay a master track down on to the second generation tape and then cut pictures into it, as the machinery will just not hold synchronisation.

However, all is not lost with domestic video. You could script your video so that the only sync shot of the band was the first shot, hold it until it begins to lose sync with the pre-recorded master track, and then cut to shots in which there is no sync at all.

You could even make a video in which there was no sync at all, in fact there are plenty of professional videos being broadcast that are designed just that way. These are the type of productions that present a story or series of images that run alongside the musical production where absolute sync is quite unimportant.

If your budget is going to limit you to working with domestic equipment, I would recommend using a Sony 8. You'll get good clean edits, although picture quality of the second generation tape would look far from professional. If you could afford to use the EVS700 recorder as your second machine, you would have the great advantage of being able dub your soundtrack in stereo PCM digital audio which is a significant step forward in video sound quality!

Prices are as follows: Sony CCD-V8AF Camcorder: £1150. Sony EVS700 PCM digital recorder: £750 plus VAT.

Of course you also stand a good chance of borrowing domestic equipment from your uncle Charlie or other such relation as he probably got bored with it two weeks after purchase and stuck it in the cupboard under the stairs.

Commercial Video — Non-broadcast



This equipment uses the U-matic format, recording on to ¾" tape cassettes. The cameras and recorders offer high quality pictures and two soundtracks. The cameras are either single tube or three tube, the latter using three separate tubes to record the red, green and blue picture components, with a noticeable increase in picture quality.

During editing there's very little loss of picture quality between first and second generations. The other essential feature is the facility to edit the video picture separately from the soundtracks and the facility to edit either soundtrack separately.

The picture edit is accurate to within a few frames and so sync can be maintained during editing.

This all means that we have the ability to produce what we want, and to a high standard. We can lay down a master sound track on one audio track. Pictures can then be edited to this in sync.

Prices: Sony 3 Tube camera (for example): £7000. VO5850 editing recorders: £5000 each approximately.

Broadcast



Broadcast television requires a very high quality of picture and so the U-matic system was developed further to upgrade the equipment. On the surface, the gear looks pretty much the same and offers similar facilities.

Picture quality is improved and editing accuracy is even greater. The non-broadcast equipment uses the control track in order to label each frame of the picture for editing. In other words, when you load a cassette into the machine, the machine starts to count pulses on the control track, from zero upwards. Broadcast machines use SMPTE timecode on the timecode track, each frame of the picture having its own individual number, counting in hours, minutes, seconds and frames. This timecode stays on the cassette and makes for ease of operation, syncing and accurate editing, a big advantage being that you don't have to go back to the start to pick up sync.

Incidentally, broadcast editing equipment is sometimes called 'High-band'.

Prices: BUP 3-tube camera — £15000. BVU800 recording machine — £11000 each, again approximate.

There is however a more recent broadcast system called Betacam. The camera and recorder are combined and use a Betamax cassette running at high speed. The quality is extremely high, but so is the cost.

Equipment Hire



It all looks a bit pricey doesn't it? Well you could save a lot of capital expenditure by hiring equipment on the days you will need it.

Hire prices vary enormously, so phone around. Don't be afraid to ask for cash discounts; there's a lot of gear sitting around in hire company lockers and it's often better for them to let it out for one day at a lower price than not at all.

I've noticed that the hire cost difference between broadcast and non-broadcast is not enormous, so why not go the whole hog and make a broadcast quality demo?

A reasonable hire package would be:

M3A Sony 3-tube camera
BU110 recorder with timecode
Tripod
2 x blonde lights
monitors
Mics

Total cost in the order of £150 per day. High-band.

If you organise your shoot well, you might just do it in one day.

Hire rates for editing facilities vary also. An average would be:

Without an editor — £200-£300 per day. High band.
With an editor — £300-£400 per day. High-band.

Low-band editing rates are considerably lower than high-band.

In the following few issues of H&SR, we will be looking at the production techniques which will enable you to get the most professional look to your demo video.


Series - "Doing the Video"

Read the next part in this series:


All parts in this series:

Part 1 (Viewing) | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6


More with this topic


Browse by Topic:

Video / Film / Picture



Previous Article in this issue

At Home in the Studio

Next article in this issue

Once More Unto the Rack


Publisher: Home & Studio Recording - Music Maker Publications (UK), Future Publishing.

The current copyright owner/s of this content may differ from the originally published copyright notice.
More details on copyright ownership...

 

Home & Studio Recording - Jul 1986

Donated & scanned by: Mike Gorman

Topic:

Video / Film / Picture


Series:

Doing the Video

Part 1 (Viewing) | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6


Feature by Alan Hoida

Previous article in this issue:

> At Home in the Studio

Next article in this issue:

> Once More Unto the Rack


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