Genesis 1:1 Or Making Of A Motovlog.

Tash

Tash

Neophyte
Welcome.

Culmination of all the 'what ifs, 'i wishes', 'maybes' and all other words which denote uncertainty, has led me to making my mark on this forum, whether it be huge or small.

Consider this thread to be the definitive ' - Start to Finish - diary/report/blog/memoir/journal/logbook of the creation of a motovlog as seen, presented and created by Moi, Me, Myself and I. zero to sixty in less than 3 seconds. - Nothing to Something. Still working on a title.

I'm quite a methodical man, very forgetful and easily distracted, but nevertheless methodical.

I sat down today, and stared at a blank piece of paper, which viciously stared back at me. Pen clutched between my fingers, and cold sweat dripping down my forehead I told myself: 'Just write, man. Just make things!'. So I did.

Over the next few weeks, I will be recording all steps, thoughts and research that I will be putting in into making my motovlog.

To think that these vlogging lunatics just pick up a camera, attach it to their helmet, add a mic and off they go...
It can't be that easy, can it?

On the outside, yes.. yes it is. However on closer examination we (if I can already call myself part of this community) as motovloggers have quite a few things to consider in order to make a strong, quality video.

After spending some time with the piece of paper, I was able to initially divide the term MotoVlog into the parts of it's sum (is that even a phrase?).

So (List in this case is easiest) -

Considerations undertaken when considering the creation of a personal motoring video blog a.k.a MotoVlog (in no particular order):

1. Equipment
- Motorbike
- Riding Gear
- Video Recording
- Sound Recording
- Computer Hardware

2. Capturing
- File Size considerations
- Camera placement
- Length of captured video
- Audio
- Time and location
- Voice control

3. Editing
- Software
- File types
- Workflow
- Import/export compression and rendering
- Uploading

4. Identity
- Name
- Logo
- Intro/Outro
- Online and social media presence

5. Content
- Gimmick
- Interaction
- Music/Sounds
- Niche

In the next step, we will be looking at equipment, possible choices, and why I have made the ones that I did.

Please feel free to add categories, topics of focus, tips and tricks or general advice. Hate is also welcome. As time goes on I will be adding, improving, deleting or changing how this develops, but I'm sure as such a huge community, we can create something together.

P.S. To celebrate my 20th post, here is me pasting an ordinary link of a video that says the world:
 
Sometimes, all the preparation in the world won't mean that your first try will be legendarily full of epic-ness. Sometimes, you just have to stop thinking about all that preparation, and just do it. Sure, it may not be 10/10 perfection, but it's a start. With a start, you'll know where you need to make changes, adjustments, improvements, the good stuff. That itself is something that having all the preparation cannot get you.

I am not here to undermine your process or methods, just another point of view, that sometimes it's much easier to just take a step without being 101% prepared.

Why do people watch motovlogs?

Most likely it's not because it's produced or having the professional quality of a full on TV show that you watch on TV (although some motovlogger do make high quality videos).

It has a more personal touch, made by the motovlogger, and each motovlogger in turn has their own style and take on things, which makes them somewhat unique.

"Same-same, but different" - The Interview.
 
@SighBored hey man, thanks for the reply. I'm by no means using this to be a plan for the next triple AAA movie. There won't be explosions and a full soundtrack anywhere. What I'm trying to do is have a logbook/project book of where I am going with this.

I think it's cool for new people/outsiders to see what goes into it.
Sure, I can just jump into it, and I've done so before, but I wanna see what happens if all my decisions are made consciously and via reason.

>it has a more personal touch
who else do you know that's this pedantic and autistic with their approach to motovlogging? haha :cool:

I already take photos, make little videos and all that stuff, this is just a step by step logbook/diary.

I like seeing thought processes, and this is a sure way of seeing the progression.

@Reize no, no... a chore would be doing something you have to, and not necesserily want to.
This is also a good way to kill time whilst I wait for my bike to be repaired and all the goods for recording to arrive. Gives me time to practice and lets me really get to know what I like and what I dislike in motovlogs. I'm sure that as it all starts taking shape it will make sense.
 
Cool intro and thoughts. Obviously you've thought about this a lot and done the research. I had a lot of the same thoughts, and I only have 5 videos up. But like Sigh Bored said, sometimes you just have to take the first step. I think that there's no perfect time to start motovlogging, you just have to start and perfect it as it goes. I doubt that all the big time motovloggers had it perfect from the first video, and when they first started their channel. I think most discovered what they needed to do as they went along.

Having said that though, your list looks good and similar to what I had on mine. Just pick the most important ones and start and work your way through.
 
Just jump straight in and learn as you go. Except for monetisation, you need to be extremely careful with that.
 
The most time consuming parts for me are always getting audio to have a decent raw sound I can work with and getting the camera angles that I want. There's a lot of experimenting with cam location and mic location as well as recording volume, wind screen material etc. Whenever you get a new helmet you hav eto make more tweaks because what works for one helmet may not necessarily work for another.

The fewer things you have to mess with at one time, the better, so you might want to ride around and mess with camera position and once that's done, ride around and mess with the audio.

My first vid was a disaster to edit because I just went out and did a long complicated video without doing smaller rides to test things first.

The rest of the process came fairly easy. One thing I learned in the last year or so, though, is if you think you have 15 minutes of really great footage, you probably really only have about 5 so you need to trim the fat more.
 
Are you ready for a wall of text? Good.

My Bandit is currently out of action, as I am in the process of repairing it.
This gives me an opportunity to spend this dry, warm and sunny day on research, writing and just generally not doing anything that involves me riding.
It sucks.


I guess it means we move this forward though.
Today, I'll be looking at the following:
1. Equipment
- Motorbike
- Riding Gear
- Video Recording
- Sound Recording
- Computer Hardware

As a disclaimer, please remember I'm by no means anyone with much experience or knowledge and this is not a how to guide, but more a logbook of thoughts and considerations.

So let's get this rolling.

// Motorbike //
DSCF7750.jpg

The beautiful thing with motovlogging is that there is no guides, limitation or recommendations of what it is that we, you or they need to ride.
All that we need is a motorcycle. One could always argue that all we need to make a motovlog is a mode of transport, but for the sake of this, let's agree that we will be exclusively talking about motovloging in terms of motorcycles.

Whether you're a fan of dirtbikes and offroad adventures, sportsbikes and their insane and precise performance, small engined commuters and city riding, touring around the world on adv bikes or the stylish cruiser ride... as long as you're willing to record and share it... you're a motovlogger.

Well done.

It's really as simple as that, and we really don't need to discuss this more.

My bike history as of now in chronological order:
Gilera DNA 50
Lifan LF125gy (I still own this, and i'm doing a top end rebuild on it)
Sinnis Cruisestar 125
Yamaha YBR125
Suzuki GSF600s Bandit (What I am currently riding)
My dad owns a Honda Shadow 125, which I'm currently using whilst the 600 is off the road.



// Riding Gear //
I'm a firm believer that you ride best when you feel most comfortable on the bike.
I have no issues with people riding in sandals or the best racing suit. It's really up to them.

-Helmet-
The only legal requirenment here for riding a motorcycle is a helmet that has the ECE22.05 approval.
These can range from £30 to £1000.
This is a good government run helmet safery organisation:
http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/

I believe americans have something called DOT. I'm not really sure about how that works, and I never looked into it, nor do I feel the need to, considering it's completely irrelevant to me.
If one of you american friends would like to mention how the helmet laws work where you are, it would be cool.

In terms of helmets for motovlogging...
I will never, ever have anything but the chinmount. I have already decided this before I even started thinking about using the camera as a means of recording video for the purpose of sharing (before it was about mutual liability in case of a crash.)

A chin mount is superior for many reasons.

-No part of the picture is covered by a static blob of a helmet.
-You can see exactly which way the camera is pointing
-aerodynamics - less wind buffer when riding at speed.
-the most authentic and closest to the real thing POV. (I know you all know what POV stands for you perverts!)
-no stupid moments where you snap your neck because the gopro hit the door frame and twisted your head on your neck 360 degrees.
-aesthetically better (I still don't understand how people can ride around with a big square sticking out the side or top of their head)

NOISE! God damnit, my current helmet is noisy! Like... ridiculously noisy. You know those moments when you're on the phone, and it's super windy wherever the other person is. It's that sound. Constantly.
It's this:
http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/100539

I always feel some cold air up on the area between my brows and cheeks. If I'm not wearing a neck warmer, air gets up throught the bottom and I can say goodbye to a warm anything on my head.
I hate being cold on a bike.
I find that it might be a little small for me too - my chin actually touches the chin-bar.
Imagine a microphone in there. I'd be chewing on it before I can even speak.
The sena mic is also really irritating with my facial hair.

I really need to consider an upgrade.
This is what I'm looking at:
http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/223343

Schubert is the only manufacturer that even bothers to share the information about sound on their helmets.
Apparently the C3 pro and basic are ridiculously quiet. The pro is way out of budget, but I'm willing to look at anything up to £250.
Look at all those smooth surfaces for putting mounting pads on as well as stickers!
Flip front too, which actually makes me sceptical as to the noise cancellation.


-Gloves-
I never ever want to ride without gloves. Riding at anything other that 30mph will leave you feeling like you no longer have any fingers. It is so painful and unpleasant to have cold hands. Not to menton dangerous, as you start to loose feeling in fingertips you're more likely to have slower reaction times, as well as less precise control over pressure on the front brake. (or both if you are riding an automatic machine).
I wear all weather, waterproof thinsulate lined gloves. They keep me very warm during colder days, they are nice and waterproof, but I find that sometimes they get hot during warmer days.
Would it be silly to think that I care about what they look like, considering it's one of the few things that the viewers of my videos see?
I like the stuff that urbanriders.co.uk has on their website.
I definitely choose things on the basis of how they look too, which you will learn about me as I write more and more. :cool::cool::cool:

Come to think of this... all the other gear aspects really don't change the way my blogs will come out, so I will spare you and me the time.

// Video Recording //

I use a GoPro Hero 3+ Black on my chin, with an ND filter.
I have a blackout case, because black is best. All black everything and once you go black you never go back.

You already know where it is mounted.

The ND filter is the greatest thing anyone has ever recommended for me to use.

Check out what the image looks like when you have one on:
xxx.jpg

The ND filter essentially darkens the world for the gopro. This causes it to make longer exposures for each frame and blending movement nicely into a much smoother transition, than something like this:
xxx.jpg

(this is the first time using these, so I hope these thumbnails are clickable!)

The more cameras you have, the more complicated the diting process will be, as well as audio sync. At the moment, I will keep only the single gopro, and maybe think about making multiple mounting places, so I can give the impression of multiple camera angles with a single camera.
That is recording the commentary with the chin mount and then make a few short clips from different mounts.
A lot of work, but much cheaper than getting 3 different gopros, right?

- Sound Recording -
I want to record voice on the gopro, rather than use an external device.
I already tried editing two as seperates and its a pain in the ass.
So that's a given. Audio goes with the video.

The plan is to have my Sena work with the GoPro.
GP10 backpack with the Sena 20S is like the perfect, easiest combination for this. No cables, turn on and go.
HOWEVER
it's expensive, cumbersome (weight on the helmet can get uncomfortable at higher speeds and longer rides) and drains battery life.
Now, I already have the Sena, so I would like to make use of it.
Over the next few days I will look into maybe wiring the sena to the gopro via cable. Does anyone here know if that's possible? Or maybe a splitter for having a mic go to the sena as well as the gopro?

If this isn't possible, I'll be running a wired mic into the helmet whilst I wait to see if I actually am willing to drop 100 squids on a bluetooth backpack.

I was hoping to look into EN187s rear mount though, and the backpack is incompatible with that.

// Computer Hardware //
This is something I will cover on a separate basis.

I'm currently on an MSI GP70 laptop, and it chokes with premiere and gopro footage. I have to change the native gopro footage to .avi before I can even edit in a program other than gopro studio. It only works with Vegas too. Which I don't mind... but I would like to work with native footage and at one point transition to ProTune.

I'm currently looking at hardware opinions, guides and general research, so I'm still not there to write up what my thoughts are.

I think this is enough for now.

Here's hoping that my vlogs aren't as long as my writing can get....
Thoughts VERY appreciated, so please don't hesitate.

Here's a link to a Blue in Green song:
 
Clint Love said:
The most time consuming parts for me are always getting audio to have a decent raw sound I can work with and getting the camera angles that I want. There's a lot of experimenting with cam location and mic location as well as recording volume, wind screen material etc. Whenever you get a new helmet you hav eto make more tweaks because what works for one helmet may not necessarily work for another.

The fewer things you have to mess with at one time, the better, so you might want to ride around and mess with camera position and once that's done, ride around and mess with the audio.

My first vid was a disaster to edit because I just went out and did a long complicated video without doing smaller rides to test things first.

The rest of the process came fairly easy. One thing I learned in the last year or so, though, is if you think you have 15 minutes of really great footage, you probably really only have about 5 so you need to trim the fat more.
Click to expand...

Amen to everything you have said.
Thank you for your comments.
They're all things which have been running around in my head.

SwissMotard said:
Just jump straight in and learn as you go. Except for monetisation, you need to be extremely careful with that.
Click to expand...

I have done already and didn't like the results.
So I'm back to the drawing board with an extreme level of pedanticism.

Monetising is something that at the moment is way too far. I did however read some of your comments in the youtube scam spam thread and found you to be quite informed so don't be surprised when you get a message from me asking for help :)
 
It's interesting to read your process on the whole thing.

For me the vlog part has always been about start recording and see what happens. It's the "marketing" of the videos I'm more analytical in.

Hope you do some vlogs about your process as well as just the text.
 
lupin said:
It's interesting to read your process on the whole thing.

For me the vlog part has always been about start recording and see what happens. It's the "marketing" of the videos I'm more analytical in.

Hope you do some vlogs about your process as well as just the text.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about this whilst I realise that I wrote 200000000 words on this already.

Why the hell am I not just recording myself talk?

Then I realised I'm a retard.
We will see, writing for now is comfortable. But having all these thoughts would be good talk prompts for blogs.
 
Quick update.

Sena Bluetooth mic adapter arrived yesterday.

I'm all good to go, been practising speaking etc.

I'll probably blog what I would be writing here instead
 
So, today was the day where I tested the microphone and camera setup.
I'm gonna post the video but please remember a few things when watching this.

1. This is not a vlog episode
2. No editing was done - dragged straight from SD card into youtube upload box.
3. Holy shit, the Sena setup is amazing clear and easy to use. I did not expect that at all.


I'm pretty much ready to move this whole writing malarkey into the next level and discuss stuff via the videos instead. Like @Meifesto said: more enjoyable for you, harder for me. I guess that's the name of the game, though.

A second video, which I am posting is from a ride where I managed to go past a Sportster 883 and I go hard for those, so like a creep I followed the guy. He was a bro and asked if I will be making a video of it all, I wasn't planning to at first, but as he asked I thought i'm up for the challenge. Video is totally new to me but here it is.

I'd like to make a more planned out video with him:

Media deleted, videos go in the video section. Sena backpack test permitted but only just


Please, don't hesitate to share what you think, it helps a lot and the interaction is great for motivating me to move this stuff along.
Thanks.
~PG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, if you dragged straight from SD card into youtube upload box it won't be much harder for us ;)
 
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