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I'm a complete novice at everything 'video' related but have toyed with Windows Movie Maker a little bit. If I wanted to make video of myself playing either solo acoustic or electric guitar (maybe suitable for posting on a forum or YT), what is the normal process? In the past, I have used my USB camera for video and a USB mic for audio - both are recognized by Movie Maker......but......I'd like to use the same camera but use the USB output from my Mackie ProFX6v3 mixer either plugging electric directly into the mixer or my AT2020 condenser mic for the acoustic and being able to add some slight reverb in the mixer. I would also be able to run a backing track if desired into the mixer from a tablet and record everything at once. I'd like to avoid trying to synch audio and video and video editing in my DAW (Reaper) as I've not had good luck doing that. Any suggestions greatly appreciated - how do ya'll do it? Open to investing a few $$ to do this, but think I have adequate hardware and, maybe, just need some better software (free?) besides Movie Maker. Don't care about fancy backgrounds and such - just a simple video of me playing.
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02-15-2025 12:47 PM
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iPhone propped up by a coffee mug.
I use Shotcut to merge audio recordings with a still photograph. It seems to have more capabilities, but the iPhone and a coffee mug is enough for the videos I make.
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My 2 suggestions are just use the camera app with your usb mic for quick n dirty but pretty good quality sound with video. Or there are apps like OBS Studio that record video and audio simultaneously in a legit fashion and you don't have to go match them later.
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Yes, by all means avoid any gadgets designed for that purpose - Adjustable Cell Phone Stand - Amazon.com
Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Don't have the USB mic anymore so either have to use my interface or mixer which has one built in. Strangely enough, I have OBS on my computer but forgot I had it. I'll give it a try. Originally Posted by Al Haig
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It seems pretty easy. I just use it for Open Studio class. I should try making a video with it.
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Here's my simple no fuss method:
For electric, play your backing tracks live in the room and play live plugged in to your amp.
Sometimes I will point the mic to the back of the phone and put my sound sources behind the phone to avoid having the mic pick up the plinkyness from the non-electric sound of the pick on the guitar.
You can still put the video into Reaper, and since it will be the only track, there will be no issues with trying to sync it to anything. That way you could experiment with EQ/effects. I render my mix to -14 LUFS, which will give it sufficient volume to upload to YouTube.
Hope this helps.
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I’m as Luddite-ish as they come. I dislike recording and have no truck with technology. So everything below is really simple.
I have a PC, so the software mentioned below is all Windows compatible.
What I Use:
I use Sonar X1 LE DAW. As far as I know this is a very cut-down version of Cakewalk. It came free with the microphone below.
Video editing is done in Cyberlink Powerdirector 13. This version is over ten years old so cost next to nothing on Ebay.
I use a Samson G-Track Pro USB mic – it can record audio, or acts as interface if I want to plug a guitar in. Or it can do both simultaneously.
I record visuals on my phone or on a Lumix G9 camera depending on how much time I have.
How I Do It:
My method- assuming it’s just a solo piece - is to record the audio into Sonar at the same time as filming on the phone / camera. I then “master” the audio (basically just add reverb or do some light EQ-ing) and export it as a sound file.
I then import this sound file, along with the video file from phone/camera into Powerdirector. It’s really simple to synch the video with the audio as the video file will itself have an audio track (from the camera or phone’s mic). Once they’re synched I mute the camera audio –leaving just the version recorded into the DAW – and export the video, load into YouTube and away I go.
If I want to play along with a rhythm guitar I simple record this first (and film it if I want to show rhythm and lead in my final video) in the DAW, then record the lead guitar, and mix and master the two together.
If I have a backing track to play to I simply import this into the DAW ,and then carry on as above.
Powerdirector makes it really easy to add backgrounds / frames / fade-ins and to show more than one video file. I reckon I use about 1% of what it can do, same with Sonar.
All of this is very basic compared to what a lot of people do, but it’s enough for me. A couple of examples:
Playing along to a backing track. Black background and a white frame added. Gentle fade in from black:
More or less the same but with multiple takes. Not jazz, I'm afraid!
Regards
Derek
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I don’t like gadgets. Originally Posted by Mick-7
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Don't ignore the lighting. I liked the lighting on Digger's No Pentatonics above, with the shadow on half the face.
On this video, I tried to get good lighting, my grand niece didn't have as good of lighting.
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Ask Mark Kleinhaut the jazz guitar recording master.
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I mean I do this a lot obviously, but I'm not sure if I started talking about my process if it would really help? It's probably way beyond what you need, which is probably a camera phone and a DAW.
Synch'ing audio with a video I've found is not too hard. The way to do it is to clap every time you do a take. You can synch the visual with the audio - or there might be a mic on your camera and then you just line up the waveforms. A click count in to a backing track will do the same thing if captured on the camera/phone mic. (Of course that's what the clapperboard does in movies). Logic takes care of issues with frame rate and synching, no idea about Reaper TBH. In the bad old days of five years ago I had to use software called Handbrake to do this.
Guitar goes straight into Logic X via a Focusrite sound interface. Voice audio is using my trusty Rode NT1A that I got in a pawn shop about 15 years ago. I run basic Logic X plugins on my DI single and people keep asking me what I'm using in my comments (and I have to disappoint them), so it must sound decent.
Video production? How long have you got?
I started taking this more seriously about a year ago.
I use a Logitech Brio Ultra HD (4K) webcam - high depth of field so EASY to set up and use. Mirrorless digital cameras which most YouTubers use obviously look super pro because you have the narrow field of focus and you get the lovely cinematic effect but you have to focus them and that's just one more thing. Also they cost a lot more money, but if you already have one, worth a go.
I use a coloured LED backlight I got off Amazon, an LED desk light and an old school anglepoise lamp. This is how my videos are currently looking:
The lighting is not perfect - my face is a bit washed out - but it's a start. That's the monitor of my computer you can see reflected in my glasses... Really I should have backlight as well. The classic "teal and orange" effect is natural to the set up actually - there's no colour grading. Obviously there's only so much you can do with the doofus sat in front of the lens. But the guitar looks nice, I think.
Anyway this is all entirely surplus to requirements and really for my own pride. Even for YouTube you can film on your camera in flat lighting and if you have something interesting to say or do something cool, people will watch. No, really.
Now I'm running my camera in 4k Ultra HD (so I can render down to 1080) and I run into some limits on performance, so I do short takes, and sometimes have to resynch halfway through the take when it freezes for a few frames. I have a recent (2023) MacBook Pro with a decent graphics card... so my advice would be - don't record in 4K haha. 1080p should be fine. TBH I'd just do it on your phone.Last edited by Christian Miller; 02-15-2025 at 08:05 PM.
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TBH that's all you need ... Originally Posted by alpop
Here's my simple no fuss method:
For electric, play your backing tracks live in the room and play live plugged in to your amp.
Sometimes I will point the mic to the back of the phone and put my sound sources behind the phone to avoid having the mic pick up the plinkyness from the non-electric sound of the pick on the guitar.
You can still put the video into Reaper, and since it will be the only track, there will be no issues with trying to sync it to anything. That way you could experiment with EQ/effects. I render my mix to -14 LUFS, which will give it sufficient volume to upload to YouTube.
Hope this helps.
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Correction - this is all you need Originally Posted by AllanAllen
On a modern smartphone, phone audio is good, the picture is good. Depends what you want to do really.
I would say, make videos on what you have, see what happens.
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Get 2-3 cheap led lights (like Godox 30-50$ ones) and a phone stand, then watch a couple of three point lighting videos. A great video program is Davince resolve, the free edition is all you need, and it can auto sync audio and video in a few seconds: You drop the audio in an audio track, select both video and audio, right click and choose auto align based on waveform, done. So phone for video, daw for audio.
It has great editing and coloring also. You want to learn basic editing, basic titles, and maybe some color grading as well as the videos will look much nicer.
Phone video with natural light:
Canon M50 II with 22mm f2 lens video with lights:
Last edited by Alter; 02-17-2025 at 07:32 PM.
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I thought having to sync audio and visual was old fashioned.
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It doesn't matter if it's inefficient as long as it's their way.
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I have a Zoom camera with a line in and have recorded direct for years. Recording separately lets you perfect the sound, treat the backing part/looper/rhythm guitar separately, play with others in real time doing multitrack recording etc.. it's the best way to have a professional sound. It also lets you record in higher quality, as any camera or phone usually records in lower quality when used as a USB camera.
Also the sound recording part (and gear involved) is a great asset and skill for a musician to have nowadays, the distance between doing demos and recording projects or even albums is smaller than one might think.
Audio or video, you don't need to do all the work each time. Once you like the results you save a project with empty tracks and use it as a template. If you make videos sparingly, take notes of your worksteps and write them down so you don't forget them.
My whole point is that with a very modest learning curve and gear (I did it watching YouTube tutorials), one can easily go from simple to pro looking videos. I personally enjoy learning, I didn't know anything about video work before COVID and now I'm doing music videos for me and other musicians.
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No idea. Perhaps I’m missing a trick. Originally Posted by garybaldy
I want to be able to run a fair bit post production (EQ, amp sims, occasional overdubs) on the audio and you can’t do that on a video editor. So i can only think you’d have to extract the audio and then put it back again anyway. I’d rather record the audio separately for this reason. But maybe there’s a better way to do it?
I’ve also gone back to using my geriatric Zoom audio recorder for live stuff and synching it to my iPhone footage. It still sounds a lot better. iPhone gives good detail but the sound isn’t as warm and full - makes sense the Zoom has proper condenser mics on it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Although the OP says he doesn’t want to sync audio and video in his DAW (e.g. Reaper), that’s exactly how I do it. (Reaper has some basic video editing capability).
I just record video with a compact camera on a small tripod, then drop the video file into a track in Reaper. Guitar is simultaneously recorded into Reaper through a focusrite interface. (If I need a backing track, I put that into Reaper first). My camera (panasonic lumix) came with a handy app which allows me to view the camera screen on my iPad, and control the zoom. Makes positioning the camera much easier.
I do have Powerdirector video editor as well, but I only use that for fancy videos, i.e. split screen, animated titles etc.
Syncing up the waveform from the video with the recorded DAW audio is easy, I’ve never had any difficulty with it.Last edited by grahambop; 02-16-2025 at 06:27 AM.
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Yeah for a phone video and DAW audio it’s a matter of seconds.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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For better or worse.
I use my Rhode NT3 mic plugged into the audio interface and use the computer's web cam to record. I use the Windows 11 Camera software, then edit the beginning and end of the video with free KdenLive software. Simple, inexpensive and takes 5mins to setup. (Black cloth for back ground.)
The Webcam quality isn't great. See below.
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The biggest advantage in doing that, either in a studio or on a gig is that you can choose the optimal position for video and audio separately! Say record audio close to the amp or band, and have the camera further away for a better shot.I’ve also gone back to using my geriatric Zoom audio recorder for live stuff and synching it to my iPhone footage. It still sounds a lot better. iPhone gives good detail but the sound isn’t as warm and full - makes sense the Zoom has proper condenser mics on it.
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My guitar goes direct, I use Reaper, Amplitube and a Razer Kiyo Pro WebCam. I record to OBS and Reaper simultaneously and use Reaper as a video editor. I have a couple of lights on stands that clamp to my desk. Perhaps not the simplest but maybe the easiest to record with because it is always setup and ready to go and is just a few mouse clicks to start recording.
(I should add that this video is a Crazy Assholes song which is Mark Rhodes and me. He wrote the lyrics and I wrote the music).
Last edited by fep; 02-16-2025 at 09:58 PM.
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The main reason I use Reaper as a Video Editor is that Reaper is probably more computer resource friendly that other video editors. The other video editors I've try freeze up when I have three videos running simultaneously. I've done six simultaneous videos in Reaper without freezing up. Of course, this is all dependent on how powerful of a computer you have.
Reaper is pretty simple to use if all you want to do is run one video at a time, line it up with audio, and crop it to length.
It gets tricky though when you try to do more involved video editing tasks. The interface was built as a DAW not a video editor. For example, when you drag video into Reaper, it's not going to default or prompt you to get the correct frame rate or the correct resolution. These settings are under the hood and up to the user to figure out.
Also, I have to experiment a bit to get things to work. I have found that it is best to go to project setting and set the proper resolution and frame rate in the video tab and it's good to go to grid settings, which defaults to 1/4 notes, and change it to Frames and to set snap to grid to the on position. If you don't do that, you might place the edge of your video between frames and get glitches. Also when lining up wave forms, it's more accurate to move it a couple frames to the left than where the wave forms line up (at least with my recordings from a webcam into OBS).
There is a whole additional world to Reaper in that sophisticated users write "scripts", thousands at least, and there are repositories that you can access and then add these scripts to Reaper... functions, plugins, etc. If Reaper doesn't seem to do something you want, it's very likely you can add it from these scripts and this applies to both audio and video functions.
Here's an example of what you might deal with... If you want to change the font of text in a video you go into the script where it says "Arial" and you change it to some other font that is included in the fonts of your operating system. There are things like this that you just have to figure out. Not rocket science and certainly easy for someone who understands programing, but that is not like other video editors (and not like Reaper when using it as a DAW).
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