Topic: Looking for some Advice for Video recording at the Ultra Music Festival

[x_caliber50]

Hello. I am interested is getting some advice on the best way for me to do some recording at the up coming Ultra Music Festival.

Some background. I went last year and had a blast. While I was there I used my iPhone to record some of the shows. I am not interested in recording hours of footage. I just want to get 1 song or maybe 5 minutes of each artist I see as a way of remembering the event. When I got home I found the recording I made on the iPhone just didn't do what I wanted. The video was almost decent but the sound just sucked. Nothing but static. I learned later that is because the iPhone has no way to lower the sound input.

What I am interested in learning is a way to do the recordings I want from the show this year. Here are some of the constraint I think I need to follow.

1. I need something that is on a limited budget. I don't see many concerts so this is probably the only time I will use the device for this purpose. But if it doubles as my camera then I can use it as a personal one. I would like to keep the budget under $300.

2. Ultra is three days long this year. I need something that is small and discrete. Something I can get past security 3 times. Also something that is easy to carry. Friday is 8 hours long, Saturday and Sunday are 12 hours each.

3. Something that can handle recording in low light settings with bright flashing lights and lasers.

4. Something with as long a battery life as possible.

5. HD would be nice if it can be fit under the $300 budget. But it is not required.

Again my purpose is not to record everything. I only want to capture some of the moments I am in during the very long event. I except to make recordings only about 2 hours out of the total 32 hours I am there.

Any help that can be given to me would be vary appreciated.

Thanks all.

[greatape]

A small point and shoot still camera like the Panasonic Lumix ZS7 (or the soon to come ZS10) be may be good enough for what you want.  Audio still won't be great but probably better than the iPhone.  I doubt you'd have to worry about security like you would with a dedicated video camera.
This guy has a lot of examples from the older ZS3:  http://www.youtube.com/user/Disturbed350z

[x_caliber50]

A small point and shoot still camera like the Panasonic Lumix ZS7 (or the soon to come ZS10) be may be good enough for what you want.  Audio still won't be great but probably better than the iPhone.  I doubt you'd have to worry about security like you would with a dedicated video camera.
This guy has a lot of examples from the older ZS3:  http://www.youtube.com/user/Disturbed350z

Thanks for the reply. The Video from that camera looks great and is exactly what I am looking for. The only question I have is whether this camera has the ability to adjust the sound levels on the fly. What I learned from last year is that electronic dance festivals pump up the bass an order of magnitude higher than what you would get at a rock show. It simply over-powered the mic of my iPhone and I got nothing but thumping static for audio. Ideally I would like to EQ the bass down but I know that feature wouldn't' be available at the price point I am looking at. So something that I can adjust the sound levels while I am recording is a feature I am really interested in.

[x_caliber50]

Hah, never mind. I paged down into that guys recordings and saw he got a bunch of Deadmau5. It does sound pretty good. But when the songs kick and bass starts even this camera's mic gets over powered. Do you think the mic levels were still set too high and he didn't adjust them down far enough? Or does this camera simply not have that feature?

Is there special trick to getting the picture and sound to come out nice?

[beatkilla]

The special trick to get clean sound is to use a seperate audio  recorder with external mics and synch them in post production.although i have seen numerous Flip HD vids that can handle very loud concerts with modest audio reproduction.

[stantheman1976]

Hah, never mind. I paged down into that guys recordings and saw he got a bunch of Deadmau5. It does sound pretty good. But when the songs kick and bass starts even this camera's mic gets over powered. Do you think the mic levels were still set too high and he didn't adjust them down far enough? Or does this camera simply not have that feature?

Is there special trick to getting the picture and sound to come out nice?

I don't think any of those point and shoot cameras have the ability to change the audio levels.  It's all automatic.  When they encounter very loud sound it's going to overload.  The only thing you can do to improve is record separate audio and sync it in post, which is not that hard to do but can be intimidating if you haven't done it before.

[x_caliber50]

Hah, never mind. I paged down into that guys recordings and saw he got a bunch of Deadmau5. It does sound pretty good. But when the songs kick and bass starts even this camera's mic gets over powered. Do you think the mic levels were still set too high and he didn't adjust them down far enough? Or does this camera simply not have that feature?

Is there special trick to getting the picture and sound to come out nice?

I don't think any of those point and shoot cameras have the ability to change the audio levels.  It's all automatic.  When they encounter very loud sound it's going to overload.  The only thing you can do to improve is record separate audio and sync it in post, which is not that hard to do but can be intimidating if you haven't done it before.

OK so in you opinion, are the video's that were suggested in the post above made with separate audio and video equipment? If so it probably wont work for my purpose.

Before I posted this I was looking at the Zoom Q3HD (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=2062) does anyone have any experience with this device? Do you think it might be able to do the all in one recording I am looking for? Are there any competing devices I should also consider?

Thanks

[Gutbucket]

^^^
The Zoom is what I was going to suggest.  I've not used one personally, but have seen them in use by friends for live music gigs and they seem to do a great job. Good quality mics and the ability to adjust recording level and low-cut if required.

[x_caliber50]

Hey all. I've done some more checking and have also gotten some advice. It seem the Voom probably won't be able to handle the sound level I am thinking of either. This leads me the consider the ZS7 and a separate audio recorder. I don't think the audio has to be all that great. I don't even think it really has to be stereo. mono would probably suffice. The sounds quality at this festival will most likely be so bad that stereo recording wouldn't matter. All I really need from the audio is it not to all static.

How do you sync the separate recordings? It would be great to able to time stamp each one to allow easy syncing even if the recording are started at diferent times.

Can the audio recorders be campact enough to allow me to carry it around for 12 hours a day and for three days? Will the batteries last that long?


::Edit::
Just looking around the net this morning I saw the Zoom Handy Recorder H2 that can be had for a little less than $150. Is that a direction i need to be going? It does have a port for a external mic. Would I need to get oneor would the build in mics be good enough?

[beatkilla]

If you check samples on you tube you will see that what i suggested (flip ultra hd)will fill your requirements.

[carbine000]

I have the panasonic ZS3 and I've taped several electronic music shows with no problems. Now some people will tell you that the audio from the camera "isn't the best" but I can tell you it does better than pretty much any other camera out there. You don't seem like an audio snob so I  think it will be completely acceptable for you.

Take a look at some of my videos. Especially the Chemical Brothers, the sound was SUPER LOUD there. These are just the regular files from the camera in 720P.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Wr3O89O9M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sulxRm7n01g

I also taped the show with a dedicated audio recording rig and I feel the sound came out better on the camera than it did on my rig. Also, you don't have to mess with any post production syncing up the audio and video which is not only time consuming but pretty expensive if you don't have the right software. I can't stress enough how awesome the mics are on the camera. I've never had an distortions or anything and  the sound has always come out crystal clear. Most audiophiles don't like it because it is only 192 kbps mp3 but, who cares? It sounds awesome. It's pretty idiot proof and sounds great imo.

You won't have a problem getting the camera past security since it is a "regular ol camera" and not some professional camera.

I don't recommend the ZOOM because it is not HD and frankly the video files are pretty inferior to the panasonic. If you go with the ZOOM HD you will get a good blend of audio and video quality but the zoom records with a fisheye lens and I prefer  the wide angle lends of the panasonic.

For your budget and your audio/visual needs you definitely want to go with the Panasonic. I got mine off a guy on craigslist for $200. Then you should get a 16GB Class III SD card = $100 on amazon, and a backup battery = $10 on BPCamera.

Out of the shows I have taped, I can get up to 70 minutes with minimal zooming.

Also, I think you should really try to tape complete sets. I have shows  to trade.

Who are you excited about seeing at ULTRA?

[x_caliber50]

^^^Ah man. Electronic music is one of my favorite genres. Ultra is like my Mecca. I hear what you are saying that I should try to tape whole performances. The problem is that Ultra is such a huge event. I went last year and in '10 they had 16 stages, 5 big stages with the main stage being about a football field across. That and the fact that I don't want to spend the entire weekend standing like a statue recording. I am hoping getting about 10-15 minutes of each performer is good enough.

This year I sprang for the VIP tickets and I am glad I did. This will give me "up-close" access the the main stage, Carl Cox tent, and the ASoT 500 arena Sunday night.

Some of the acts I hope to capture is;

The Chemical Brothers
Armin van Buuren is broadcasting the 500th episode of "A State of Trance" live at Ultra
Carl Cox
Empire of the Sun
Duran Duran
Erasure
Underworld
Moby
Royksopp
Trentemoller
Pendulum
Crystal Castles

The list just goes on and on and on...They haven't even announced the full line-up yet. More artists will be announced around 3/1. There will be more than 350 DJs and bands playing this year.

I also hope to capture some of what is Ultra. This year a bit special. For example; This is going to be the last year the event is held in Downtown Miami. It's simply gotten to big for the venue. It sold out and now tickets are being auctioned on eBay for $800 and up. The cool thing about where they hold it now is that it is right on the water and you are surrounded by the skyscrapers. Over the years they've made a habit of doing laser light shows off the skyscraper walls. They won't be able to do that next year. It things like that I hope to also capture.
*******************************

This videos you got the The Chemical brothers are great. It does show that video and sound to the quality I am looking for can be had with that Panasonic you've been describing. I also considered the Flip, but I think I decided the Panny is the way to go. I think I have a line on a used ZS7. I will call the guy tomorrow and see about getting it.

Once I get the camera I hope I can get some more advice on making sure I can use it right. One thing about the event I am going to. Since it is three days long I have plenty of time to get it right.

[carbine000]

One thing I learned pretty quickly was that the manual focus is much better than the auto focus. And don't zoom with the digital zoom. Otherwise, just point and shoot haha.