In my last forum discussion about the "stubby slide technique", someone commented that my vids would be better if you could see both hands. I shot this tonight after eating a bunch of Easter candy (yum) and backed away from the camera a little bit. The guitar is one of the CBG's I have on eBay.
One thing I can't control is how my fingers wrap around the slide, partially blocking it from view. Many times, I'm riding the flesh of my fingers behind the slide to stop ghost note buzz. Other times, it's just how my hand is normally positioned. I was just trying for a good demo video with a relaxed setting,..but I also wanted to get a better camera angle. I'll be adding this vid to the item description tomorrow.
Is this a better angle?
shane
ps. "Poverty Dobro" CBG on eBay link- someone in the other discussion also told me to put the eBay links!
Replies
Shane, I actually do video for a living and the last 22 years... As I'm watching this I actually think it's just fine.. The picking hand is perfect for seeing where the pick and strings are.. The slide and fingers are also fine.. The frets show where you are and you can see most everything... The only thing I might suggest is to use an HD camera which is 16x9 format.. this will widen the shot up a bit... Don't think you have to go out and buy a 500.00 camera.. I have been using my Panasonic point and shoot which has 720P HD and even entered a few videos into contest with it... BUT Not every camera is built equal with there video codec's so shoot me an e-mail if you are going to buy something. OR just use and I-phone..
Damn I wish I could play..
Hip Bone,
So then you're the guy to ask. Are there masking techniques anyone one could use for video, just to show hands and guitar, and not Shane's limes and coconuts? ;-) Are they built into specialized pro software, or are they available at a reasonable price for a DIYer?
Yep. Most software has something called KEY which is to pick a color and KEY it out.. BUT you also need to replace it with something... Like the weather person.. Green.. so IF you play the guitar with a green cloth over you and the wall around you then key it out.. Pinnacle's Newest software has this and even a small green cloth. Corel has a nice Video Studio and IF you're on a MAC then you're stuck with I-Movie or MAY be Avid makes a small version.. I know they do for the IPAD... NOW with this said many things come into play.. The horse Power of your computer 2 core minimum, What type of video codec are you using...H264, MJPEG, and so on.. then you have to use the program so edit with and re compress... Not to hard.. BUT like playing the guitar a little work.. Maybe today i can post a small video of this.. I have the great Texas Electric that Shane played at work and nothing to do..
Green screening or blue screening. Of course! Duh! That'd be interesting to see, and would be worth it's own Discussion.
Of Course just use a Black Cloth and leave it as it... showing only the Hands and Guitar
Was too wiped out to film last night. I'll see if I can do some tonight. (I'm forcing myself to pack and ship everything sold before I list any more guitars, anyway.) I might use one of the new guitars to show people how I play Purple Rain on CBG.
I just finished four more cbgs for eBay. I'll record vids tonight before I list them. I'll try setting my camera to HD and see if that works.
Shane,
This is something all vid guitarists struggle with. Some have dealt with it by taking a longer shot, with the cam perpendicular to the face of the guitar, so you can see both hands moving at once; others have used two perpendicular cameras, so closeups can be made of individual hands, and then the vids are paired together in side by side frames. Still others have sighted down the neck at some angle, like you have done. Yes, your hand covers the strings and fret markers a bit; I think one way to solve that is to back off just a tad more, so the headstock, or at least the nut, can be seen, too. That way, people can reconstruct what fret you are on. The angle you have for your right hand is pretty good for flatpicking; you'd only maybe need more detail if you were finger picking.
Thanks for posting this.
I don't have dual cams to make the vids. I'd like to eventually make a really good instructional video series with split screen, etc.
I'll keep trying different angles & back the camera off as I post more demo vids for the guitars I build. One of these days, we'll get a good one to go with!
That's a heckuva good angle. Did the sticky candy-fingers help in controlling the slide?
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