Learning Video Photography

I would be the first to acknowledge I'm not particularly good at photography.  My excuse is I simply don't have the natural ability to see or compose a scene.  Any "good" photos I've taken are flukes.  However that hasn't stopped me trying.

Recently my brother produced a family video at his 70th birthday party and I thought I should also try my hand.  To that end, I mentioned several days ago I'd bought an Insta360 x3 video camera.  It has this amazing ability to video record everything around it.  Front, Back, Left, Right, Up, and Down.  The captured video is then edited to create interesting content.  Obviously that means the user must have an eye for content.  This will be my first weakness.

Learning how to use the camera has proved to be frustrating.  There is no 'paper' manual.  Everything is explained in online videos and I'm not the type of person who easily learns from video.  I prefer to read.  It's probably and age thing.

This is what I've learned about the camera to date.

• It gets hot
• The battery last about 80 minutes
• Recording and re-charging can be achieved simultaneously
• Image stabilization is very good.
• The phone editing application has more functionality than the desktop computer version.
• The software is limited to manipulating the video.  A separate video editing and production program is required.

I've also bought a selfie stick and handlebar mounting bracket

This has resulted in me discovering several issues with the stick and mounting bracket. 

When installing or removing the selfie stick two bolts must be loosened using a Hex wrench (Allen Key)  Additionally, if the horizontal angle of the stick is to be adjusted then the Hex wrench is required.  Carrying a wrench when riding is cumbersome and frustrating.  I am looking for a solution.

The second issue is with the thread on the end of the stick onto which the camera mounts.  When the camera is mounted onto the thread invariably the camera ends up at the wrong angle. 

To get the required angle the bolts securing the selfie stick in the bracket need to be loosened; the stick rotated and then the bolts tightened.  It's a pain!

My initial thought is the thread should be longer and have a 'locking ring' similar to the one in the next photo.  The would enable the camera to be secured on the stick at the desired angle.

 

I've taken the bike for a ride and discovered if the selfie stick is fully extended it tended to collapse in length when riding fast over bumps.  Perhaps I should consider riding more slowly when on rough paths!  This isn't an issue when riding on the smooth cycleways.

After recording some video I trimmed it using the camera application before converting it to mp4 format.  The camera records data in a propriety format which then needs to be converted to mp4 format in order to view it on other devices.  I've discovered it takes the program a very long time to convert the data. 

Once the data has been converted to mp4 format it will need to be imported into a video editing program to cut out undesired portions before adding things like; scene transitions, text, narrative and music.  I have much to learn.

Which brings me back to my first point.  All this effort will be wasted if I don't develop the ability to "see the scene" when recording the raw footage!