Weaponeer Forums: Xs-Products Drum Magazine Challenge Entry

I didn't know if I would be able to get a submission in, because some health issues prevented an early entry, and then weather conditions nearly prevented no entry at all.

Due to the aforementioned health problems combined with my JVC-GZ-HD6 HD video camera having 2 out of 3 of it's CCD sensors slowly dying and effecting the image quality of my videos, I have not produced many videos this year.

It was not uncommon to produce several videos a week, which is why the weaponeer channel has over 500 videos to it's credit.

For this video we only used our High Speed Camera (Casio EX-F1 Pro) which can shoot SD and HD video in 1080i, but it's rarely used for that purpose due to the terrible interlacing as well as the rolling shutter issues common with a DSLR camera (and the sound could be better), so we normally use this camera for it's 300, 600, and 1200 frame per second (FPS) high speed video (the frame rate used in the movies is 24 frames per second).

The HD Video that I used, was very short, due to the time constraints because that video needs to be converted to another format, edited in another software program, to remove the interlacing (interlacing removes every other line in the image), and then render the video which takes time, and then open our main video editing software and edit the video for time, color correct it and if the footage looks good, I need to render it again.

The rest of the video was shot in High speed video, so I would pull in a video sequence that was approx 2 minutes long, but containing approx 72,000 frames of video. and in high speed video I'm typically dealing with several frames at a time for editing, then this is cut down to a few seconds before the action is needed, and after the last action sequence is needed (this is so I can blend the transition from one clip to the next with a fade to black).

It's a very long process because in the course for just a few seconds, such as a few frames before I pull the trigger, I have had to speed up the video 1,000 times faster, and the frame prior to pulling the trigger, I slow down the video 970 times slower for around 3 seconds, than at the end of the fireball I speed up the video around 130 times faster until the empty case exits the screen then a couple seconds later boost the frame rate 200 times faster, would another couple seconds and boost it another 200 times faster, then a couple seconds boost it another 200 times faster, and then wait another couple seconds and boost it another 200 times faster, and then a few more seconds and boost it around 200 times faster, so the original 600 frame per second speed as captured by the camera is digitally raised to normal speed, until just a couple seconds before the next pull of the trigger, and in the course of one video shot I may pull the trigger 2 to 6 times.

The video consists of two bumpers, 1:19 seconds of title sequence, the 1080P (the original HD live video sequence we converted from 1080i i-interlaced to 1080p p=progressive) and the edited again, and then 28 separate video shot's described above which contains 2 to 6 pulls of the trigger and then each of the 28 shots are rendered and then at that time we build the final video, by plugging all the individual shots together in an order that I like with the bumpers on the ends, ad fades in between each shot, and then spend an hour or two listening to music finding specific compositions I like, and then I have to listen to each one over an over with the music choices to find the one that best matches the slow motion pace (I never use top ten music, or rap music for my videos, I tend to select music that's at a fairly slow pace, that speeds up and slows down, or which ever music that tends to fit the best for the whole video, and then I will save and render the whole video (and hope the PC does not crash at this point).

When the video has rendered (rendering takes the most time, and in the course of the whole video I have spent many hours waiting and waiting for renders to complete) and then I will check the video size, and in this case the file size of the video was 1.22GB, which takes FAR too long to upload, so then I need to convert the finished video to a smaller HD format, that YouTube will like and will take less time re-rendering it again, so in my case I use a special HD version of Flash (.flv) and this conversion takes yet another hour, and when finished it will be approx 600 MB (much smaller for uploading), and I think the upload takes around another hour.

So the video the I produce is highly edited, and highly time consuming. The only thing I thing I left out was, that I was the camera man for each of the sequences as well as the shooter, so for all the video that you see, about 50% of the total video I took ended up being deleted because it was not usable due to angle, and especially me not being close to being centered in the frame (I could not see the viewfinder, so i had to guess while standing in front of the camera, which really can throw off the focus) I normally like to have assistance, so I can be behind the camera controlling the action either by a script in hand or one in my head listing the shots I want to get. A good example, is for this video I wanted to shoot off the berm, because I know the concussion of the HK51 is intense due to the 9 inch barrel, and I figured the dirt flying into the air mixed with the fireball would be a cool looking slow motion video sequence that I would love to see. This was decided before I touched the camera.

So unlike most people who normally just shot the video, and upload it, I have an incredible amount of time involved in editing my videos.

Now when you watch the video again, and watch closely you will see the little speed ups and slow downs that make up the whole video, and they are done to not only speed up the slow parts, but also to slow down the interesting parts. one other comment, and trick you will see in the video, is the fireball will last a few seconds. how that is done is just when the video hits the spot where the flash is at it's biggest, I cut the video, and take a screen shot, and insert that still image into the video, and set it to last a second or so, and then let the video to continue. yet another trick I use in the videos I shoot. (I have received no schooling in the video or photo trade. everything I know I learned by 500 videos worth of trial and error, and research into lighting and audio, which brings up the fact that I get setup at the range during the week on Tuesday and notice that my Zoom H1 digital recorder's batteries are dead. so I had to use the audio in the camera, rather than the high quality of the H1 audio. oh well... next time I'll remember to check my camera gear before I leave to shot video.. lol).

There you go, a quick look into the production and editing side of the video I entered, with some tips on just how I did it.

Any questions on the editing process, the wonderful Xs Products drums, or my Custom L1A1 LMG and my HK51 which is basically an MP5 that instead of shooting 9mm, shoots 7.62x51mm/308 Win can be posted below, and I will try to post a reply.

Best Regards

Gary Graham

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