Would appreciate critique of 1st video

[htiger]

This is my first u/w video attempt. Used an Intova Sport Pro HD, no lens, no light. The dive was at the Destin, Florida, jetties. Water temp was 87-degrees. I will be getting a red filter for my next attempts and hope that reveals the colors.

Do the images seem sharp enough for HD? Any thoughts on better technique? Any opinions of the Intova HD camera? Thanks for all comments and advice.

You'll notice I am using a double-hose regulator. I love the vintage stuff. It is cool to hear double-hose breathing in the video.

Destin Jetties SCUBA Dive - YouTube

Thanks!

Jim

P.S. I've noticed that the captions behave a bit oddly when viewed on an iPad.

 

[Scuba-dan]

Great Video. Yeah I have the GoPro Hero and the colors are like yours so I would need to see how I can get a red filter in front of that.

 

[Cudabait]

Jim,

I like your video. I have never dove Destin jetties. Maybe someday soon. I was amazed at all the tropical marine life! Yes, you need a red filter. Was it a cloudy day? The viz seemed good enough though. I saw you were at about 20feet. Most cameras will do well at that depth. However, at shallower depths , with a lot of sun, some cameras using red filters will "red out" at shallow depth. I do not know anything about the Intova Sport Pro. Also I liked your double hose reg. I have one myself, somewhere around here.

Some basic pointers: Try to tell a story in pictures. (clips) Hold camera very steady and pan slowly. I generally use no transitions or simple fades or slides.

It all a matter of mastering your camera and techniques. Get close then closer......zoom with your fins, not the lens. Which editing software did you use?? Please let me know..

The following is a video I made of one dive through "Hole In The Wall". Also, some scenes of the reef after doing the swim thru. I was using a wide angle lens and you will notice some vigenetting because I forgot squeeze it down before shooting. Also, I forgot to mention.....it's generally best to keep videos to less than 10 minutes, and for You Tube, around five minutes.

Here: DIVING ROATAN'S HOLE IN THE WALL - YouTube

Hope this is some help........

 

[htiger]

Thanks for the thoughts, guys.

Cuda, yes, I'd say about 1/3 to 1/2 of the video was around 20'. Also videoed down to 55'. It was markedly more colorful at around 20' and shallower. So, red filter is next!

I really enjoyed your video of Roatan. I do like diving videos have sub-titles that tell what kind of fish is in the frame; there are a lot of species down there and it is fun to know what you're seeing. So for general u/w video I am with you on that.

And I'm with you on transitions from one scene to another. Some of the transitions can just get too corny. I like quick and simple (so it's almost not even noticed).

The editing software I used was iMovie on an iMac. Very easy to use and seems to be quite powerful. It does have a feature I plan to start using that allows music to be played (and it can be different music with different scenes or combinations of scenes) in the background and still retain the sound of the video.

I hope to have another video up in a couple of weeks. Sorry for the tardy reply; I have been out of town for work.

- Jim