Don’t get me wrong, I love drooling over the latest DSLR features or bloviating about the superiority of Final Cut Pro. But the equipment doesn’t make the journalist, and the people with the best story to tell usually aren’t the ones with the most money to invest in equipment.
For example, when we started the Common Language Project back in 2006, we reported our way across Asia, building a multimedia website from scratch as we went, and the only gear we had was an ancient Canon DSLR, a minidisc recorder and cheap laptop with free software.
In that spirit, here’s hope for storytellers and journalists on a budget: you can get everything you need for mobile multimedia production for under $1000. With this basic toolkit you’ll be ready to record, edit and distribute both video and photo slideshows with audio.
(Note: MCDM students can get their hands on a lot of this equipment and software for free. Try it out before you buy it for yourself.)
Camera/Video:
Sony Cybershot DSC HX5V or Panasonic Lumix DSC zs7 (plus extra battery and 2 8GB SD cards) $350
No need for separate video and still cameras anymore, get used to having it all in the same place. These cameras go wide, react quickly, and shoot HD video – which is a must these days. If you really want a separate rig to shoot video, pick up a flip video camera (they’re the namesake of Flip the Media, so they must be pretty great)
Tripod $35
It’s not a $2000 video camera that separates professional video from home movies. It’s that the professionals use a tripod. At this price, you’re not getting a tripod that will deliver smooth camera moves — your best bet is to keep the camera still and let the action happen in front of it. I know, your tiny camera looks funny on that big tripod. You weren’t doing this to look cool, were you?
Audio:
Zoom H4n Kit with headphones SD card and tripod $350
Wait, this isn’t right. My audio recorder costs as much as my camera??? Yep. You’ll use this guy to record ambient sounds and interviews and then put still photos over the top. You’ll use it to record sync sound for videos, to cover up the bad quality audio you get from your camera. And you’ll use it to record interviews so you can quote the person later without having to take perfect notes.
The quality of audio will make or break your work, so it’s worth the money to go pro now.
Plus the little tripod and SD card that comes in this kit works with your camera too, and it comes with headphones – wear em!
These are great for mic-ing video interviews—you’ll get good sound running into your audio recorder, but you won’t have the recorder in your shot. Make sure the cord is long enough.
Software: Now its time to edit your material. Luckily software companies like to sell starter versions of their fancy programs for cheap (or older versions that are still perfectly good), and kind-hearted programmers like to give away great freeware programs for, well…free.
Photoshop and Premier Elements $150 ($120 for students at U bookstore)
These are starter versions of what the pros use for photo and video editing. They’re cross-platform, provide almost all the functionality you’ll ever need, and if you do decide to upgrade to the pro versions, (or to other video editors like Final Cut Pro) the transition will be easy.
You could also try Pixlr or Picnik, for free online photo editing with most of the same functions as Photoshop.
Audacity Free
You can always edit your audio in video editing software, but this program is made just for audio editing (though it can be a little glitchy – save your work often!)
Soundslides (Plus) $70 (or $40 for regular)
Easy Flash-based slideshows – the Plus version lets you and add motion to your pictures (like Ken Burns!) and do slideshows without sound, too. Warning: the finished product isn’t a single file, it’s an entire folder, so you’ll need access to a server to host it.
Vimeo Free (or $50/year for pro version)
Like a classy, high-powered version of Youtube. Hosting your videos on Vimeo will make you look like a pro, and you’ll be hooked into a community of people who are passionate about video. Flickr now hosts both photos and video, too, so its a great alternative.
Total: $980
Look at that, a few bucks to spare! Put it in your piggy bank and start saving for a Canon Rebel T2i ($850 with lens). It will make a great addition to this kit once you have the money, and your point and shoot camera will still come in handy as a backup.
In the meantime, happy shooting!
(Post any technical questions to the comments section and I’ll reply. And if you want a second opinion, check out a couple of other multimedia toolkit suggestions from Adam Westbrook and Rory Moulton)
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Great review, and very useful. Here you are a couple of things I would like to add:
For the camera I would consider something in between point-and-shoot and the T2i. The Sony NEX-3—http://www.digital-photography-school.com/sony-nex-3-review—or the Olympus Pen epl-1 —http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympusepl1/—. Both are small enough to bring in your pocket, but the sensor is 6 times bigger than a point-and-shoot, and you can use different lenses. Price is round $600.
And if the camera is going to be a small one and you need flexibility, I would rather go for a monopod than for a tripod.
For editing, those who have a mac should check out carefully iMovie. Is far more powerful than what it looks like. You can pile several layers of sound, and even use green screen!! This is a very nice tutorial: http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/imovie_09_stone.html
Thank you for a great workshop and this useful information.
I agree with you that the best storytelling depends on its content, and not often that the excellent equipments related with the capability to create a great piece.
It’s good for us to have affordable devices, start produce the works, and gain some experiences and confidents before going to more professional stuffs.
In addition to Xurxo, Sony NEX3 is a great and useful camera but it cannot shot in HD. However, you can pay about 100$ more to get Sony NEX5 with HD function.
Great post. As always, I’m a big fan of the Kodak Zi8 for a cheap flash video camera (has an external mic jack too). I’ve yet to try Premiere Elements, though I may swap it for my usual Windows standby — Sony Vegas Movie Studio. I am NOT a fan of iMovie (at least since 2008), but recommend paying for Final Cut Express.
Don’t forget, cellphone cameras are getting better and better.
And check out the Flip The Media “Resources” page for more ideas on audio and video production: http://flipthemedia.com/index.php/resources/
Thank you for posting this! I think a good story must come first to make a great piece. I have not taken any storytelling classes yet, but seriously plan to. I heard a lot about HD, but I thought my camera Canon S800 cannot shoot in HD….I always wonder why some SLR cameras cannot take videos, my Nikon D80 can’t, but acctually I know Nikon D90 can. So, I am sad, I got two cameras but neither of them can shoot in HD…does it mean I should buy one more? Hopefully not.
Another thing, what tool do you usually use for video editing? I am really into Sony Vegas Pro, but I heard people say you are using Premiere or Final Cut a lot. So which one is best, any advice?
Ting: You’re right about story coming first — you don’t need an HD camera to tell a good digital story! Personally, I use Final Cut Pro for video editing, and it works great for me. But I’ve heard good things about Vegas as well and have been perfectly happy with Premiere in the past. If Vegas is working for you, I’d say stick with it.
Your comment… “It’s not a $2000 video camera that separates professional video from home movies. It’s that the professionals use a tripod.”… made me giggle, cringe, giggle, and so on.
Oh the Humanity.
http://www.alexlogic.com
Thanks for taking the time to assemble this very helpful shopping list. I am in the market for a new digital camera and your recommendation is quite helpful.
I can second the use of Audacity. Last week one of my daughters was distraught. She had recorded a lot of audio for a presentation and needed to break it up into individual paragraphs. Even though it was late at night (I had just returned from Hanson’s class) I was able to boot up Audacity, snip the audio into segments, and to be a small-time hero in her eyes.
Do you happen to know if Premier Elements can do video compositing? I have a green-screen background and want to do something interesting and fun with it.
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Just an FYI – Soundslides now offers a capability to covert to video. For a while it was a plug-in in the actual software program (which came with some glitches) but now it looks like it is an online converter – I haven’t used it yet.
http://video.soundslides.net/converter/
This is helpful if you’re interested in posting “slideshows” online to youtube or vimeo. It is also nice if you want to distribute the video, but are worried about people understanding the html folder and server situation.
Not to sound like a marketer for Soundslides, but whenever I’ve had technical issues or questions, they are quick to respond and follow up.
Thanks for a great post! Glad to see you recommend a higher quality sound recorder, agreed, it will make or break the story.
This is a great article and a great list. You’re so right that equipment doesn’t make the story. But having such affordable solutions sure does help. I think it allows people to focus on the their story instead of raising money for tons of equipment. I work at Adobe so I love that you features Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements. I’m biased but I think they are great. And here are a couple of other Adobe products to try. I’m not selling, really. I just think that everyone might be interested – because these are free. I work on Adobe Story. And I would love to hear what people think of it. Try Adobe Story for writing and collaborating on a script. You can use it offline or online. And you can produce preproduction reports like a shot list: https://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/cslive/story/?promoid=GHUMT
And new today is an the Rome Project: http://rome.adobe.com/
I haven’t tried it yet but it looks really good.It is marketed as an all-in-one creationg too to inject graphics, photos, text, video, audio and animation into everyday projects
As a new student to the MCDM, I found this post extremely helpful. And with the holidays around the corner, I know what I’m going to be adding to my wish list!
As a former, TV producer I will echo Alex’s advice about spending money for audio. Good audio is an essential element to storytelling. You could have the most gorgeous video playing, yet if you can’t hear what is being said over that video, then any point you are trying to make will be lost. Sometimes, the story IS the audio – an interesting sound can pique the interest of a viewer to see what it is all about.
I have a flip camera and a decent digital still camera, but I haven’t had the resources to invest in a multi-function camera yet. I’m looking forward to using MCDM’s equipment to test drive a few of your recommended options.
Oh my goodness you need a lot of stuff to produce a good multi-media story! I haven’t taken Storytelling yet, but it’s good to know that my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 will serve me well in class. In regards to shooting in HD, how well does the footage off a supped-up HD camera meld with the HD footage off a mobile phone with an HD video feature like the iPhone 4? I suppose it mostly has to do with how effective your editing software and skills are. It was funny to see a mention of the minidisc recorder, which was launched around the same time as the first MP3 players. I remember being convinced that the minidisc would outlive its counterpart, obviously I was very wrong.
I really, really want to get to the point where I can use some of these tools to produce interesting and technically adequate content. That’s one of my goals for my time in the MCDM program. I have ideas and stories; the gaping holes are in the skills and equipment departments.
Hanson, I tried out Sony Vegas Movie Studio. Given that it took my once adequate yet now somewhat aged desktop PC 11 hours to import a 10 minute video clip, I will either have to upgrade (it is about time to do so) or try another video editing tool.
I didn’t have an interesting story, but I did have some nice traffic to the three bird feeders hanging outside of my window and wanted to see what I could create. I don’t think I have the patience to do that with this application.
This is an outstanding list! I have been looking into creating a very cheap, but high quality video package. For around $270 you can get some fairly decent gear. If you are on a tighter budget you may want to consider the following:
Creative Labs Vado HD 3rd Generation Camcorder $135
Vista by Davis & Sanford Trailblazer Monopod $18
Bescor LED-40 40W LED Shoe Mount Adapter Kit $60
Azden ECZ-990 Supercardioid Shotgun Mic $54
Ting: I would recommend using Adobe Premier over Final Cut Pro. I have had issues with Final Cut crashing and basically none with Premier. Adobe has also been putting a lot of resources into its production suite lately, in comparison with Apple who has let their support lag.
Just referenced your audio recording suggestions as we’re debating how to spend budget money for the new year. Thanks, Alex!