Video Recording our Memories

Jellybaby1

Just came across a business online that provide a service making videos of family members talking about their memories and lives. The business charges a hefty price for this service. Its a good idea for families to do it themselves, after all everyone has some piece of technology that can make recordings. We should all do it. Whatcha think?

looksee

Its a nice idea, though I would think that an amateur version would be more fun to do. I wonder what aspects of life people would find most odd or interesting in 50 or 100 years time?

Would the medium still be available? I have a couple of tapes of my dad talking, and my granny, on 4 track tape and I keep intending to get it changed to digital but haven't got on with it.

Another reason for doing it is, sometimes in conversation one of my (adult) children will say something about me or my family and they have it wrong, they have picked up incorrect details somewhere along the way, or have mis-remembered. One of my daughters sat with her nana - my mother - one time and made notes of all sorts of ramblings, turned out to be a few things I didn't know, nothing important, but interesting.

Jellybaby1

Yes, I think a more personal recording by family is a much better idea as they know where to go with the questions. I'm already getting information from people in their 70's who are telling me things I didn't know and its so precious to record it. Should I suggest it on AH, or not? That's where the young'uns hang out.

looksee

I am not sure that the Boards demographic is as young as it was. Maybe suggesting that children be encouraged by their (Boardsie) parents to talk to their grandparents might hit the right note.

Jellybaby1

In AH?

dr.fuzzenstein

One thinks that this is a great idea...from 1983. Videoequipment was expensive and rare back then.
Anyone can do that these days with a smartphone, inexpensive camcorder or webcam. There are a million free (or cheap or bundled with the computer) video editing programmes one could download and edit everything themselves. Linux seems to have a lot of them, but I haven't tried any so far.
Now from my own times of some video editing work I can attest that the biggest obstacle is people's ineptitude with computers.
I found that it's an initial steep learning curve, having started video editing and doing VHS and camcorder tape transfers to DVD a long time ago , but using something like Nero, even the biggest tech blonde should be able to cobble something together.
But there will always be those who could never in a million years manage to operate the equipment to such a degree as to break into video editing.
But for a lot of people, all that stands in their way is their own fear of technology. I always though it can never hurt to just go ahead and do it anyway, what's the worst that can happen?

Jellybaby1

I have never edited any of my home videos although himself likes to nip and tweak away to his heart's content. I usually point the camera, or phone, at my 'target' and press the button, then upload it to my computer later to be transferred to a dvd eventually. I don't mess about with it myself, I never look for anything too professional, as long as its a good clear sequence I'm happy. It has to be audible though, unlike a lot of TV series these days.:rolleyes:

dr.fuzzenstein

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I have never edited any of my home videos although himself likes to nip and tweak away to his heart's content. I usually point the camera, or phone, at my 'target' and press the button, then upload it to my computer later to be transferred to a dvd eventually. I don't mess about with it myself, I never look for anything too professional, as long as its a good clear sequence I'm happy. It has to be audible though, unlike a lot of TV series these days.:rolleyes:

That used to kill me.
I would tell people that I can edit this as any video file they liked and they could keep it on a harddrive. Plus HD video files will be bounced down to 720x576 when burnt onto DVD, very much not HD. Unless you're just using them as data storage instead of video disc, but that would be just pointless.
DVD is by far and away the very worst solution to keep your own home movies. The resolution is terrible and it's heavily compressed, meaning that also the picture quality is terrible. It allows for no later editing or easy copying. I wouldn't even use DVD for movies I transferred from VHS.
If your camera is still one of the old non-HD camcorder types, you can shoot better video on almost any phone.
I have an old OnePlus One, I can shoot 4K on that thing.
But if your camera is "modren" enough to transfer video files to a computer, I'd say it should higher resolution than standard PAL, which is 720x576, PAL DVD resolution, which by today's standard is quite poor.



The blue square is DVD resolutiuon, the red 4K.
DVD has a resolution of 414720 pixels, HD 2073600 pixels and 4K 8294400 pixels.
That is 20 times the resolution! :eek:

Jellybaby1

Oooh, what a lot of tech words you are using grandma!! :eek: What I did get is that DVD is a no no. So in plainspeak are you saying I just keep it on the computer! I need to give this to elderly people who may not even have a computer or a mobile phone! So a DVD player might be all they have.

dr.fuzzenstein

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Oooh, what a lot of tech words you are using grandma!! :eek: What I did get is that DVD is a no no. So in plainspeak are you saying I just keep it on the computer! I need to give this to elderly people who may not even have a computer or a mobile phone! So a DVD player might be all they have.

Do keep the original video files, a DVD is a poor copy, but as you said, handy to give it to people with no access to technology.
Out of interest, what camcorder do you record this with?