Need Advice/Feedback on Sled Video's

[skeedoo]

I got a new Video Editting program for Christmas and started to play with it yesterday to try and learn how to edit the hours of sled video's I have shot between last year and one trip out west so far this year. Its called Sony Vegas Pro 10 and is for editting HD video which is what I record in with my Vholdr Contour HD 1080p Helmet Cam. There's a few things I'm wondering about that maybe you can help me with. Here's a link to one video that is in question, I recorded the footage a few weeks ago in the Snowies... We had killer "early season" conditions to shoot some good video clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie009m8vZH0

Question #1, This video is just over 9 minutes long...is that to long for a sled video, will most people sit there and watch a video that long? I don't plan on my vid's being that long again but this was my first attempt at editting and I was trying to put together a "highlights" video and also learn the various features of the program. But is it too long?
Question #2, What about music? Do you like the sound of a sled at full throttle or do you like music mixed in as a background filler? This editting software allows for audio, text and still photo's to be mixed in with the video and you can have the sled sound come thru over the music.
Question #3, Doesn't Youtube limit the music that you can use? Or can you pick any song and put it in with your video. I would hate to have taken the time to edit in an audio track and have youtube not play it and it mess up the whole thing.
Question #4, This is directed to the folks that have used this same editting program or have had this same problem while using HD editting software from other companies. Somehow I shot the video in HD 720p mode, editted it in HD (I think), can watch the playback on my computer of what was editted in HD, but when I dumped it to Youtube I lost the HD playback. It could have been done in the "Rendering" process thats takes the editted video, saves it and makes it "watchable" in normal form (I guess thats what it does). Its probably something I did or didn't do properly because I am still learning the editting software. You can still watch it in 480p on Youtube but not 720p HD. Any video editting tech's out there that can help me out with this one.
Question #5, What should I use as "Key Words" for a Youtube search? Is the search based on the Title of your video, the Description of your video or in the "Tags" for the video. Or all/none of the above?

I'll admit this computer stuff still overwhelms me a bit. Thanks in advance for any replies!!

 

[peterdb]

i can answer question #1 - NO! 9 minutes is way to long! there is an old 'saying' that refers to giving speeches which can just as easily be applied to videos. it goes-

"it should be like a woman's dress, long enough to cover the subject, yet short enough to keep you interested" -

you tube has a wonderful feature where you can see a graph that shows exactly how interesting 'the public' finds your video, second by second. it shows right where people keep rewinding a part, or skipping a part, or just stop watching, etc. it's an awesome tool. click on the 'insight' button under your video (only the account user can view this) - then look to the left and click on 'hot spot'

 

[thebreeze]

#1 Depends on the video and if it is monotonous or not. In most cases people will not stick around for all 9 minutes. I am starting to think 2 1/2 to 3 minutes is the sweet spot for youtube sledding videos. Tons of continuous helmet cam footage can get that way. I tent to take the "best" 2-10 second clip from each shot and use that. Slow Motion is your friend. It makes stuff that looks "kinda cool" in real time and makes it look killer in slow motion. Just like Dave Chappelle said "everything looks cooler in slow motion"
#2 This one will surely start a debate. Some like Music, some like sled noise, I perfer both. There is no one song that everyone likes and you will likely get comments both praising the music, and hating the music so that is up to you.
#3 They do limit music, but lately have been linking your video music to i tunes, instead of just blocking the audio.

Other suggestions:
Title page
I like to pick the music before starting the video. I like it when the end of the video corresponds with the end of the song, and this is easy to accomplish with the music already there when editing.

The footage in this video was not that great in real time, but looks pretty good once edited. (slow motion)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZqJ6D4Z2QU

Nice video! Some good powder for sure!!

X2 on the "insight" its interesting seeing the hot spots in the video. I have also noticed on some of the longer ones I made that it drops off quickly after 2-3 minutes.

 

[frnash]

One difference between amateur and professional photography, and presumably making/editing videos: Surgically precise (some would even say ruthless) editing! That and try very hard to restrain your "ego involvement" in the product!

The "sound of music", the "sound of sleds" or the "sound of silence"? I vote for SILENCE, but of course I do have a mute button that does the job!

 

[mjkaliszak]

thebreeze, I like your video. I think 9 minutes is too long also. I hope to do some editing of my footage in the future and I also think the " short clips & slow motion " is more interesting. I did read on-line that filming in 1080 is the way to go and to get software that can zoom in. On my footage everything seems far away.

 

[thebreeze]

the problem with 1080 files is that they are HUGE but it does look great! Sucks up HD space fast and requires some serious processor power to compress the files in a reasonable amount of time. But i guess if you are all out editing, the computing power is not an issue.

 

[timo]

9 minutes is a little long but I stayed thru the whole thing, I got nothing else to do tonite. Close call at 7:35 with the tree hey? Cool video. Is that a free ride or back country doo?

 

[kirk600]

I agree three minutes is the sweet spot as far as length of video goes, and I usually keep my volume turned all the way down so make it however you wish!