Travel Videos I've made

[camperkilgore]

I posted this under the rv parks, campgrounds, and attractions, but I'll put it here also.

I've made some travel videos which some might find entertaining. They cover many of our rv travels to national parks in the U.S. Maybe some of you that are planning to go to some of these parks might enjoy what you might see when you go. My wife and I are retired now, and finally got to visit some of the places on our bucket list.

This link will take you to my album on vimeo where you can watch the videos, but they are pretty long videos so you can fast forward if you want. My wife and I really enjoy watching them and reliving our adventures: Best watched with headphones plugged in for the music, and you might have to take it off HD if the video does not play without stopping.
http://vimeo.com/album/2818274

[camperkilgore]

CloudDriver wrote:
Thanks for the heads up on Freeplay Music. I took a quick look at their site and read their Terms of Service and it looks like a getting as license from them for personal use and YouTube would be the way to go.

Yes, so far so good for my experience with their website. The selection is very large, and I've been able to get very suitable music to go along with most of my video clips. Music is however, a very subjective thing, and I do find that the choices I make don't always suit the younger set. They sometimes like that head banging, electronic sound that you hear on a lot of Youtube videos(especially sports videos). But, to each his own. Lately I am trying to reach a middle ground, and my video of the Smoky Mountains(the kayak one) actually pleased my youngest son who is 30 years old. He actually complained about some of the other videos because of the music, but complimented that one.

Tom

[camperkilgore]

nancyjerry wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to respond. It seems that everything these days is so technical/ or specific, I feel like I need a degree to buy something these days 🙂
Thank you again,
Nancy

I understand, Nancy.
Mine has been a progression from the cheapest thing I could get, and discovering the shortfalls of those things. I still don't have very professional stuff, but I make do with what I have.
If you have a passion for photography and/or video making, then it becomes a 'labor of love' in getting the items that help you achieve whatever goal you have. I know I will never become a professional, or win any prizes for what I do, but I just try to please myself.

Tom

[CloudDriver]

Thanks for the heads up on Freeplay Music. I took a quick look at their site and read their Terms of Service and it looks like a getting as license from them for personal use and YouTube would be the way to go.

[nancyjerry]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. It seems that everything these days is so technical/ or specific, I feel like I need a degree to buy something these days 🙂
Thank you again,
Nancy

[camperkilgore]

nancyjerry wrote:
Thank you for that music information. I thought it sounded like a 'sweeping western' type of sound and 'Lonesome Dove' would make sense. I never saw 'Cider Hr' but I will have to listen to it, was very pretty.

Yes, you had some tricky terrain there in the stream , but you shot it pretty steady!!
Sounds like tripod almost became monopod but with extra 'support' ...
What tripod and head are you using . I am actively looking for a good one, hoping to stay @ $400-500 including head, but ...

Carbon fiber would be nice, a fluid head for panning, wildlife, and some video. I did a quick check on sliders a few months back, seem to recall $300 ish? I would love to do that with star trails, and others.

I am mostly still photography now, but with the places we go, I do have video that Imwant to start documenting like you are with a full video.

Thank you again,
Nancy

I have several tripods, but for travel I primarily use the lightest one I have:
STX PRO 656 (chinese make that I bought in West Yellowstone
after destroying my previous tripod)
Acratech 26007 leveling base
Velbon PH-368 video head on top of the Acratech leveling base

I also use a heavier tripod sometimes with Jib or slider:
Davis and Sanford Provista 7518B
Fm18 fluid head on the Provista

I also like to use a monopod:
Manfrotto 560-B1
Manfrotto 700RC small video head on top
This is what I use when the tripod is not practical.

None of these items are very special, and not really pro grade equipment, so they can be purchased without getting a bank loan. Lol.

[nancyjerry]

Thank you for that music information. I thought it sounded like a 'sweeping western' type of sound and 'Lonesome Dove' would make sense. I never saw 'Cider Hr' but I will have to listen to it, was very pretty.

Yes, you had some tricky terrain there in the stream , but you shot it pretty steady!!
Sounds like tripod almost became monopod but with extra 'support' ...
What tripod and head are you using . I am actively looking for a good one, hoping to stay @ $400-500 including head, but ...

Carbon fiber would be nice, a fluid head for panning, wildlife, and some video. I did a quick check on sliders a few months back, seem to recall $300 ish? I would love to do that with star trails, and others.

I am mostly still photography now, but with the places we go, I do have video that Imwant to start documenting like you are with a full video.

Thank you again,
Nancy

[camperkilgore]

nancyjerry wrote:
Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing your travels and memories with us.
I have to ask in the Glacier/Yellowstone, what music was that after 'Montana time' ? It was around your wife on the little bridge @ 10 min in, and then @ 22 min into movie, what was music with the goats?

And where do you get your music?

And, there are parts (Zion stream hike) that you are walking, but camera is pretty steady. Do you use some kind of chest harness or something?
Nancy

Thank you so much Nancy,

I think the "bridge" you're referring to is actually a pullout on the Going to the Sun Road which goes through Glacier National Park. We love that place. The music at that point is part of the soundtrack of the movie "Cider House Rules".

The music at the 10 min and 22 min marks, is part of the soundtrack to "Lonesome Dove".

Most of the music in that Glacier/Yellowstone video is stuff I've downloaded from Itunes, and that's the reason that I can't put these videos on Youtube, because of the copyright problem. Of course I don't make any money from these videos. They are just for personal use, but Youtube is pretty particular regarding copyrights. Mostly now I use a website called Freeplay Music, which can be used for videos, and no license is required, unless it is for commercial purposes.

The steady cam effect in the other video is simple. I have a tripod with which I can adjust the legs independently and so I just angle the camera and extend two legs out behind me and tied together. Then I just hold the third leg which is perpendicular to the others. This allows the legs to balance the weight of the camera and so makes a smooth way to carry and video. It was a little risky in that circumstance because the camera is not waterproof. Lol. And it was pretty stumbly walking in that river.

Thanks for you interest,
Keep on Rving
Tom

[camperkilgore]

CloudDriver wrote:
Another user of Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum here. Recently upgraded to version 13. Agree with your comment that Vegas has a pretty steep learning curve, but the results are worth it. I found the book by Steve Grisetti on Vegas to be very helpful in learning the program. It's available on Amazon.

DW and I recently put together a video with the pictures we took on a hike among the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon. We used the pan/crop function to add motion to the pictures (aka the Ken Burns effect). I find that I get much smoother pan and zoom effects with still pictures in Vegas than I can get with a video camera on a tripod. Works great for landscapes, but not so much for shots of people and animals, which would be expected to be moving around.

We added music to the video, but I can't post it online as the music is still in copyright.

Almost forget to mention - loved your videos. You have a good eye for the camera, as well as a good job putting them together.

Thanks for the kind remarks,

Yes, the copyright thing does pose a problem. I now use a music for videos site called Freeplay Music, and there is a lot of music available which is listed in several ways to search(genre, feeling, artist, etc.). All that is needed is to declare that it will be used on youtube, or in my case Vimeo, and will not be used commercially. Of course you can also buy a license if your use is going to be commercial.

Yes, I use pan and crop to move across many of my clips, and when I do timelapse clips, I sometimes use pan and crop to move across the scene since I can't afford one of those motorized sliders. A motorized slider sure would be nice though. It would show foreground objects moving at a faster rate than the background, and therefore, have more of a 3d effect. Maybe later after I win the lottery. Lol.

[CloudDriver]

Another user of Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum here. Recently upgraded to version 13. Agree with your comment that Vegas has a pretty steep learning curve, but the results are worth it. I found the book by Steve Grisetti on Vegas to be very helpful in learning the program. It's available on Amazon.

DW and I recently put together a video with the pictures we took on a hike among the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon. We used the pan/crop function to add motion to the pictures (aka the Ken Burns effect). I find that I get much smoother pan and zoom effects with still pictures in Vegas than I can get with a video camera on a tripod. Works great for landscapes, but not so much for shots of people and animals, which would be expected to be moving around.

We added music to the video, but I can't post it online as the music is still in copyright.

Almost forget to mention - loved your videos. You have a good eye for the camera, as well as a good job putting them together.

[nancyjerry]

Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing your travels and memories with us.
I have to ask in the Glacier/Yellowstone, what music was that after 'Montana time' ? It was around your wife on the little bridge @ 10 min in, and then @ 22 min into movie, what was music with the goats?

And where do you get your music?

And, there are parts (Zion stream hike) that you are walking, but camera is pretty steady. Do you use some kind of chest harness or something?
Nancy

[camperkilgore]

Thank you very much, Charlie, Cross Country, and John S.,

Charlie, That little thunderstorm was a bit of a concern to us, and many of the folks in the campground were ready to seek shelter in the bathhouse if a funnel appeared, but all ended well, and it added something different to the video. It seemed to echo the urgency that must have been felt by the 7th Cavalry on that fateful day.

Cross Country, I am definitely not a professional in video making. I just chimp what I have seen done before, and I just try to please myself. I am so glad that others are enjoying them. I had posted on a camera forum, but maybe had an average of 5 views per day. After posting here, the videos had 250 views on the first day, so I think this is definitely the right audience.

I feel good that many are interested in doing videos of their own, and are asking questions about how to go about it. If more people do this, it would add a lot to the forum. If you consider how many RVers are visiting interesting places all over the country, and if they could post videos of those visits, it would add so much to the forum.

John, Yes, I have been impressed by Ken Burns productions, and I think maybe I'll try to do more of that type of stuff. We hopefully will be able to travel to Gettysburg in the future, if we stay healthy.

Keep on RVing
Tom

[John_S_]

Well done. I am a still guy and use the Ken Burns type of effect but I have started with video now. Great job.

[cross_country]

Usually bored in a couple of minutes....those are spell-binding. I thought I wasn't there before, but I was. Truly, the view finder is in the eye of the beholder. Yours is a talent.

Thanks for finding a place to post.

[Caveman_Charlie]

Very, Very , nicely done. Thank you for posting. I love that you used the right music and didn't overpower the video with some obnoxious song. I've only had the chance to watch the one so far called Custer State Park and I had to laugh out loud when you added "Hurry, Hurry, Shut up and come on" in block letters to the video. I laughed out loud and it felt like I was there following your wife down the trail. Do you do this professionally? You could do it as side income for parks to use on there websites.