I'm really hesitant about doing this, but what the heck. I took my VX2000 to Las Vegas in July and shot a bunch of tape which I've edited into a 2 minute and 20 second video. Some of the folks in the Las Vegas Usenet group liked it, so I hijacked a domain that my wife wasn't using, put up a website, and posted the video. Don't worry -- I won't quit my day job. ;)

www.ruyitang.com

nice! :)

amkes me want to go back to vegas jsut to do the same :)

Hi I think there is a problem with the link to your video, or your server... since the only way for me to open it was to copy the link paste it on WMV, and delete a "%20" thing that appears to substitute the space Between "Las" and "Vegas"... ?¿?

Anyway... I liked the music... I like the shots... I like the editing... I think is simple yet very effective to keep things moving, and Vegas has the "pretty colors and lights" so It gets the eye attention and keeps it. It worked for me..

Best of all I like the idea of sharing it. Of doing something with that other than show it to your family.

When I get some free time I think I´ll make something with a half dozen tapes I have laying around.

must... not... gamble... need... more... gear.

Are you allowed to film in private casino's without having Vinnie break your fingers?

Thanks for posting the video.

-Nori

Are you allowed to film in private casino's without having Vinnie break your fingers?
Some casinos allow it, some don't. In the past, I've tucked my camera under my arm and just let it run. This time, we were at the Flamingo Hilton. I asked a pitboss if it was okay to shoot, and he said, "Sure."

Huh.

learn something new everyday.

Not bad for a home video. I paticularly liked the way you sped up the footage. What was it edited with?

Two more questions- Did you obtain license to use that music? And I thought it was so nice, I'm going to put it on my website as my vacation video... That little (C) thingy means it's copasetic, right?

Nice job Paul.

Not bad for a home video. I paticularly liked the way you sped up the footage. What was it edited with?
Thanks. The video dramatically demonstrates my need for a good pair of sticks (the steadier stuff was shot with a mini-tripod). I used Premiere 6.5 (with Pinnacle's ProOne real time card) for the edit, and the opening "credit" animation was created in Cool 3d Edit and composited in (believe it or not) Studio 7.

Two more questions- Did you obtain license to use that music?The music is a SmartSound track which, as I understand it, is royalty free (SmartSound comes with Premiere). BTW, SmartSound is pretty good -- the opening "fanfare" over the "He & Xi" credit is also SmartSound. For what it's worth, I'm very careful about not infringing rights for anything which has any distribution beyond my immediate circle of friends and family. The India video on the website has a lot of music, but all of it is Indian folk music performed by itinerant musicans and recorded live by me.

And I thought it was so nice, I'm going to put it on my website as my vacation video... That little (C) thingy means it's copasetic, right?

;)

That last answer has to be the shortest one you have ever given Paul! hehehe

<<<-- Originally posted by Paul Tauger : Some casinos allow it, some don't. In the past, I've tucked my camera under my arm and just let it run. This time, we were at the Flamingo Hilton. I asked a pitboss if it was okay to shoot, and he said, "Sure." -->>>

hrm

it's kind of hard tucking an XL1 underneath my arm ;)

i guess ill sjut ahve to ask before i shoot then.

it's kind of hard tucking an XL1 underneath my arm ;)
Only slightly more than doing this with a VX2000. I've found that potential subjects are remarkably naive about video -- they think that, unless you're holding the camera to your face and looking through the eyepiece, then you're not actually taping. I've used this technique to sneak video from all sorts of places where taping isn't permitted, from Las Vegas casinos to Budhist temples to the Sistine Chapel. I only got caught once -- in Westminster Abby. I'd forgotten to turn off the tally light, and it was noticed by a deacon.

There is something wrong with the images you have on that
page. They are over 1.5 mb combined. You might want to
look at format & resolution.

I just looked, and there does seem to be something wrong with reported image size. The website was thrown up in a hurry (and after a couple of glasses of wine :) ) I'll try to fix it tonight.

I liked the movie btw! <g>

I checked again and all those images are 720x480 fullsize
bitmaps at 1.2 mb or something. So it is downloading over 4 mb.

The webpage just displays the images smaller! You actually
need to save as jpegs at the resolution you want them to
be! That should result in files around 50 kb or something.

Thanks, Rob, both for the compliment and the suggestion. I'll fix the stills tonight.

Very nice work Paul. I really liked the Venice at night video. I brought my personal XL1 to Vegas too but didn't tape any interior shots. I did however bring it up to the tallest... um... "tower" in Vegas. A security guard pulled me off to the side and inspected it before I went to the top. He called over another guy to have my camera looked at and after a minute of private deliberation I faintly overheard one guy say "It's a home video camera with a really big lens." They eventually let me go up with my camera in hand. Word of advice/common sense. If you want to take a really nice camera like an XL1 into a place that is tight in security, remove all accessories to make it look as non-professional as possible.

I really enjoyed the Venice clip. Could use some more ambient sound though.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, everybody. I appreciate Emre's suggestion about ambient sound. I don't have good monitor speakers and amp, and the audio mix sounds very different in my editing room then elsewhere (pretty much everywhere else). Both projects are still in my computer, so I'll try to remix.

Brad, oddly enough, I've had less trouble with my VX2000 (which I'll use with either the standard lense hood, or a wide angle attachment, which looks just as big and complicated) than with my old TRV-20 consumer camcorder, at least with respect to travel videography.