Memory Card Failure Tips

So these days I think I would be pretty hard pressed trying to find someone that visits this site that is recording their videos to anything other than Memory cards.

Maybe there are a few old die-hards out there clinging to DVD recorders or Hard Drive recorders or perhaps even some DV Tapes… but I doubt it.

So the deal with all types of storage devices or methods has been the same since I started this site years ago.

What no-one EVER mentions is the failure rate.

It is as if it doesn’t exist!

Cards can fail for a number of reasons and in the video below there are some great tips on how to minimize the chances of you losing data.

One thing that is not really covered well in the video is the advantage of scanning your cards occasionally with error detection software.

Unlike say a Hard Drive the acceptable number of Bad Sectors on a memory card is ZERO!

As soon as you detect bad sectors it is time to grab any data on that card and pull it off immediately.

You can do a check for bad sectors very easily by inserting the card into to your computer or connecting to it.

Navigating to the drive in question and Right Clicking on it.

From there the simple Windows checking tools are more than enough to do the job.

If I do have a card that has become corrupted I generally use Isobuster to recover any data that may still be on it.

How to Hide Jump Cuts In Camera & When Editing

Before I get into any kind of blurb on the video below I think I should introduce Gerald Undone first.

He is the guy that made this video and he is also responsible for a lot of other videos that I have rarely used on this site in the Friday Roundup.

The reason for that is that Gerald can be a tad nerdy in his presentation…. OK truth be told, he can be mega nerdy!

That’s why although I often check out his videos myself I only rarely share them or refer to them.

Think of it this way.

When the really nerdy camera, video and software guys are looking for some extra nerdiness, they go to Gerald!

So to the video below!

It is a very complete and thorough run through of how to strike that magical balance between being forced to use jumpcuts and using them or manipulating them in such a way as to make them seem perfectly fine.

Watch the video, you will get the idea.

Don’t Make this Lazy Editing Mistake

You know there is nothing quite like a bunch of professionals in a field getting together and developing the most confusing and excluding terminology they can think of.

The world of video and movies is just full of it.

So with my little rant out of the way let’s talk about the video below.

In that video they are talking about adding interest to a video by getting rid of parallel cuts.

So let’s first address those.

A parallel cut is where both the audio and the visuals cut at the same time which by nature gives a kind of abrupt or jolting feel to the viewer.

The reason for that is that it is completely unnatural and not the way we as humans operate within and perceive the world around us.

We don’t usually suddenly turn around then see and hear an ambulance at the same time!

In reality we hear the ambulance then turn and see it.

So bottom line is that parallel cuts can get pretty grating pretty fast because of that unnatural effect.

So to counter that in editing we have what we call J-cuts and L-cuts.

These are edits made where either the audio switches to the next scene first or the scene switches then the audio follows just a little later.

This works because it more closely mimics how we see and hear life itself.

All pretty straightforward so far wouldn’t you agree?

So here’s the silly part.

If you are an editor you would use the terms J-cut and L-cut to describe what you are doing BUT!

If you are a screenwriter you use the terms pre-lap and post-lap to describe the exact same thing. Why?

Because invented technical terminology is a time honored method by which a group can exclude others!

Oops! Just realized I got a bit ranty again!

OK, so regardless of that the video has some great tips and examples of the use of J-cuts, L-cuts, pre-laps, post-laps or whatever you want to call them.

5 Ways To Make Travel Video More Epic

If you are into making travel videos and want to step them way up in the “epic” stakes then really a drone is where you need to go.

The key to that is that a drone is going to give you elevation as well as the ability to capture long, wide and dramatic shots.

Before the world of drones your only chance at getting stuff like that would be three days of mountain climbing or to hire a helicopter for the day!

Check out the video below for a bit more on getting those big travel video shots.

3 Quick Film Lighting Techniques

If there is one word that would describe the circumstances under which the average amateur video maker’s life differs from the pro’s it would be, “control.”

Of course I don’t mean all aspects of life but at least those times when you are shooting footage!

Most of us live in a world of run and gun shooting where we are basically just trying to grab some decent footage of events as they unfold.

There are some of us however who operate in situations where we can at least exercise a little control and at those times we really should do what we can to lift the quality of the footage we are getting.

There are two circumstance that immediately come to mind on this and they are the interview scenario and the talking head scenario.

In the video below there are just three little tips that just about anyone can get done to dramatically improve those shots and get some great looking footage.

Anamorphics: A Beginner’s Guide

If you are like most people wading through the morass of information on the internet pertinent to video editing or shooting videos, there comes a time when you hit the word anamorphic.

Usually it goes something like this.

You start down the rabbit hole of research into that nebulous term, cinematic, and pretty soon someone is telling you about the anamorphics without telling you what the anamorphics really are!

So you kind of stumble forward in a bit of a daze and frankly it all starts to go a bit blank after that.

So in the interests of clarity let’s all just take a moment here to find out what anamorphic means, where it came from and how it fits in to the creation of videos these days.

PowerDirector – Animating a Signature on the Screen

This is a short tutorial in PowerDirector 18 on how to use the Drawing Tools in conjunction with animations to have a signature reveal on the screen.

The downside of this method is that the signature itself is drawn onscreen using the mouse which is a pretty unwieldy approach.

The results depend fairly heavily on your ability to write the signature smoothly and evenly rather than any actual effects you end up applying.

How to Color Correct Multiple Videos Clips – CyberLink PowerDirector 18

This is just a simple run through of creating preset color corrections or adjustments in ColorDirector using a particular clip you are using.

It shows how you can then use that same preset from within PowerDirector to apply to other clips in that project or even other projects.

3 Tutorial Tips: Make Videos Look and Sound Great

These are some simple and very doable tips for polishing up screen captures to improve the viewing experience for anyone watching them.

Original post The Friday Roundup – Memory Card Tips, Jump-cuts and Lighting