Question Video Camera Advice for YouTube (Cooking Videos)

PixelChef

Novice Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
42
Reaction score
2
Points
34
Age
35
Location
UK
Hi there,

I recently got into making gaming videos for YouTube but I also want to start making cooking videos as well. But, for that I'm going to need a video camera!

I've done a bit of research but I don't really know much about cameras in general (sorry!). I was originally looking into DSLR's as I heard they are good for video as well, however when I started looking at camcorders they seemed to be the better option as I'm not really bothered about taking photos, just video.

My requirements for a video camera are:

- 1080p /60fps video
- external mic support
- very good quality stationary recording
- and... that's about it.

My budget is around £300, may stretch to more if it's worth it. The only camcorder I have found which does 1080p @ 60fps and supports an external mic within my budget is a Canon VIXIA HF R600.

I would also appreciate advice on microphones to use with it. :)

Would this be a good option? Are there any alternatives to consider? Thanks for reading!
 
Should be OK, as long as you are shooting in good light. In common with nearly all camcorders within this price range the sensor will be very small, and that is not good for low lighting conditions.
You maybe OK if your kitchen is very well lit, otherwise you will need to budget for some extra lights.
A DSLR will normally have a larger sensor, so may well perform better in indoor lighting conditions.
Many of the problems with DSLR video relate to things like auto focus, so may well not be a problem with a static tripod mounted setup like the situation you are are proposing.
Some DSLRs will have external mic inputs, but most do not a have good reputation for high quality audio recording. Should be OK for mono dialogue (speech only) recordings though...

When it comes to an external mic, I'm guessing you're thinking of using a tie clip ('lav') mic?
To get good speech recordings you need to make sure the mic is near the source (you) and not any distance away (you'll then pick up room 'echo' which will spoil your recording).
Don't forget to make sure your chosen mic comes with a long enough lead to allow you to plug in to camera while you are sited at some distance. THIS MIC represents good value, and comes with a 2.5 Metre lead...
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
Years ago I saw a kitchen in a personal home that was adapted to be used for cooking videos. Some points:

1. I think you'll need supplementary lighting to avoid shadows.

2. A lot of cooking videos include top-down shots. These are usually fixed-zoom. So you may need to consider a 2-camera shoot: 1 camera on tripod at front; 1 camera permanently fixed above the cooking area - I presume to stop condensation on the lens of the top-down camera during cooking you'd need an out-of-shot fan blowing from the side or from the front - you wouldn't want to be be ruffling the presenter's hair. Or even a 3-camera shoot: camera on tripod at front sometimes left unattended while camera operator moves in with a stabilised hand-held camera for side-on and over-the-shoulder shots. If so, the editing would become more complex.

3. Fixed zoom from the front may be boring after a while. But zooming in and out a lot looks amateurish. (Also some camera models have very sensitive zoom controls, and it's hard to get smooth gradual zooms.) This is where switching to a 2nd frontal camera, set on a different angle and zoom-level, can improve the viewing experience.

4. I think you could also have a plain pull-down screen for use as a background for some types of shots.

5. Also, do you have enough space in your kitchen to get far enough back to get good coverage of the cooking area and the upper torso of the presenter? (Sometimes, you may have a guest or assistant cook, and that requirement will make the scene even wider.) You may not get a wide enough Field-of-View with standard consumer camcorders. (Due to the small sensor, the Wide-Angle end of their zoom range isn't very wide.)

6. A DSLR, with its larger sensor and a wider range of lenses available, should be able to go WA enough, but only a few models have AF in video. With many DSLRs you can only either set the focus before starting to shoot, or do clumsy zooming while shooting.

7. If using multiple cameras, each of these can record the colours slightly differently and with different levels of brightness. So, for the best results, some form of colour/brightness grading/balancing should be performed in editing. Going around with a grey-card or white-card, during setup, and performing manual White Balances on each of the cameras under fixed-lighting may help. Just relying on each camera's AWB & AE probably woudn't be satisfactory.

8. You're not going to get that quality from a 300-quid setup. Have you looked at other cooking videos on YouTube that where obviously shot with a single camera? Can you accept their limitations?

Dan.
 
Last edited:
Watch James Martin "Home Comforts" currently showing on BBC1. No hanging cameras there and mostly hand held.
As rogs said, lighting is most important. I suggest a couple of the LED type floods, there are some very decent ones on Amazon etc. You will need more than one to reduce the chance of shadows.

Electret condenser mics work well. I use a YOGA Tie Clip with its own battery pack PLUS a well screened extension lead to the camera. (mine is 10mtr long from Cables4all)
 
Last edited:
Should be OK, as long as you are shooting in good light. In common with nearly all camcorders within this price range the sensor will be very small, and that is not good for low lighting conditions.
You maybe OK if your kitchen is very well lit, otherwise you will need to budget for some extra lights.
A DSLR will normally have a larger sensor, so may well perform better in indoor lighting conditions.
Many of the problems with DSLR video relate to things like auto focus, so may well not be a problem with a static tripod mounted setup like the situation you are are proposing.
Some DSLRs will have external mic inputs, but most do not a have good reputation for high quality audio recording. Should be OK for mono dialogue (speech only) recordings though...

When it comes to an external mic, I'm guessing you're thinking of using a tie clip ('lav') mic?
To get good speech recordings you need to make sure the mic is near the source (you) and not any distance away (you'll then pick up room 'echo' which will spoil your recording).
Don't forget to make sure your chosen mic comes with a long enough lead to allow you to plug in to camera while you are sited at some distance. THIS MIC represents good value, and comes with a 2.5 Metre lead...

Thanks for your advice :) I was planning to get some lights as well as the lighting isn't great in the kitchen. Something like 2 LED lights on tripods placed behind the camera (which will also be on a tripod).

I was looking at a 'shotgun' mic but I don't really know much about different types of mics. I was looking in particular at this: Takstar Stereo Shotgun Microphone for CANON NIKON: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

The reason being I saw it used in a good setup for the particular camcorder I was going to go for. I saw it in this video:

Which mic do you think would be better for my use? Only reason I'd prefer the shotgun mic is to avoid the cable of the other one, but I'm not sure which would work better.

Years ago I saw a kitchen in a personal home that was adapted to be used for cooking videos. Some points:

1. I think you'll need supplementary lighting to avoid shadows.

2. A lot of cooking videos include top-down shots. These are usually fixed-zoom. So you may need to consider a 2-camera shoot: 1 camera on tripod at front; 1 camera permanently fixed above the cooking area - I presume to stop condensation on the lens of the top-down camera during cooking you'd need an out-of-shot fan blowing from the side or from the front - you wouldn't want to be be ruffling the presenter's hair. Or even a 3-camera shoot: camera on tripod at front sometimes left unattended while camera operator moves in with a stabilised hand-held camera for side-on and over-the-shoulder shots. If so, the editing would become more complex.

3. Fixed zoom from the front may be boring after a while. But zooming in and out a lot looks amateurish. (Also some camera models have very sensitive zoom controls, and it's hard to get smooth gradual zooms.) This is where switching to a 2nd frontal camera, set on a different angle and zoom-level, can improve the viewing experience.

4. I think you could also have a plain pull-down screen for use as a background for some types of shots.

5. Also, do you have enough space in your kitchen to get far enough back to get good coverage of the cooking area and the upper torso of the presenter? (Sometimes, you may have a guest or assistant cook, and that requirement will make the scene even wider.) You may not get a wide enough Field-of-View with standard consumer camcorders. (Due to the small sensor, the Wide-Angle end of their zoom range isn't very wide.)

6. A DSLR, with its larger sensor and a wider range of lenses available, should be able to go WA enough, but only a few models have AF in video. With many DSLRs you can only either set the focus before starting to shoot, or do clumsy zooming while shooting.

7. If using multiple cameras, each of these can record the colours slightly differently and with different levels of brightness. So, for the best results, some form of colour/brightness grading/balancing should be performed in editing. Going around with a grey-card or white-card, during setup, and performing manual White Balances on each of the cameras under fixed-lighting may help. Just relying on each camera's AWB & AE probably woudn't be satisfactory.

8. You're not going to get that quality from a 300-quid setup. Have you looked at other cooking videos on YouTube that where obviously shot with a single camera? Can you accept their limitations?

Dan.

Thanks for your advice and good ideas Dan.

I was planning to get some lights, mentioned some details above. :)

I think for now I will be happy with just 1 camera and a tripod, I plan to change the angle and position of the tripod and camera for different shots. If I become more serious I'm sure I'll get multiple cameras at some point to make things more interesting!

Not sure about zooming, I know that the Canon VIXIA HF R600 has good optical zoom so I can play around with that.

Pull-down screen sounds interesting, perhaps for introductions or the ending, will think about it.

The kitchen is pretty big, I hope there will be enough space! I just tested with my phone and there appears to be enough, I can see everything I need to. Just need to make sure I get a big enough tripod and perhaps angle the camera down slightly. Worst comes to worst I'll get my girlfriend to be the camera lady ;)

Watch James Martin "Home Comforts" currently showing on BBC1. No hanging cameras there and mostly hand held.
As rogs said, lighting is most important. I suggest a couple of the LED type floods, there are some very decent ones on Amazon etc. You will need more than one to reduce the chance of shadows.

Electret condenser mics work well. I use a YOGA Tie Clip with its own battery pack PLUS a well screened extension lead to the camera. (mine is 10mtr long from Cables4all)

I will check out that show I'm sure I can get some insparation, thanks :)

Definately going to get some lights, will have a look on Amazon.

As mentioned in reply to rogs, I was going to get a shotgun mic but I will look into that mic you mentioned also :)
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
When it comes to an external mic, I'm guessing you're thinking of using a tie clip ('lav') mic?
To get good speech recordings you need to make sure the mic is near the source (you) and not any distance away (you'll then pick up room 'echo' which will spoil your recording).
Note rogs comment about echo. Much will depend on your kitchen, if it has hard surfaces and walls, but a clip on mic would be so much better. The cable can be taped out of the way and should give you adequate movement. I presume that your set up is based on an island worksurface with the stove near to hand.
James Martin probably uses a wireless clip on mic. If you go this way, you will need a quality setup to avoid the interference heard in cheaper units.
 
Last edited:
I was looking at a 'shotgun' mic but I don't really know much about different types of mics. I was looking in particular at this: Takstar Stereo Shotgun Microphone for CANON NIKON: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
Which mic do you think would be better for my use? Only reason I'd prefer the shotgun mic is to avoid the cable of the other one, but I'm not sure which would work better.

I think you'll most likely be disappointed with results from a shotgun mic for this project. Although shotgun mics can provide a useful alternative in some situations - especially the professional ones used by broadcasters either outdoors or in large studios - models like the one you suggested are not generally very effective in your situation.
Kitchens usually have lots of hard 'acoustically reflective' surfaces, which will create pretty 'echoey' recordings if the mics are not really close to the 'source' (your mouth). Much better to use a tie clip mic.
One alternative to having cables running to the camera is to record your tie clip mic to a portable audio recorder which you can put in your pocket. These range from the cheap (but very good) Sony ICD PX333 type machine at about £35, up through the cheaper PCM recorders (Zoom H1, Tascam DR5 etc) at a bit less than £100.
The downside of using these is the need to 'sync' your separately recorded audio afterwards in your video editor. Not difficult to do, but an extra procedure that some people are not keen on undertaking.

Depends how 'professional' you need your results to be.....a lot of otherwise quite good You Tube videos are ruined by poor audio....
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
Note rogs comment about echo. Much will depend on your kitchen, if it has hard surfaces and walls, but a clip on mic would be so much better. The cable can be taped out of the way and should give you adequate movement. I presume that your set up is based on an island worksurface with the stove near to hand.
James Martin probably uses a wireless clip on mic. If you go this way, you will need a quality setup to avoid the interference heard in cheaper units.

I think you'll most likely be disappointed with results from a shotgun mic for this project. Although shotgun mics can provide a useful alternative in some situations - especially the professional ones used by broadcasters either outdoors or in large studios - models like the one you suggested are not generally very effective in your situation.
Kitchens usually have lots of hard 'acoustically reflective' surfaces, which will create pretty 'echoey' recordings if the mics are not really close to the 'source' (your mouth). Much better to use a tie clip mic.
One alternative to having cables running to the camera is to record your tie clip mic to a portable audio recorder which you can put in your pocket. These range from the cheap (but very good) Sony ICD PX333 type machine at about £35, up through the cheaper PCM recorders (Zoom H1, Tascam DR5 etc) at a bit less than £100.
The downside of using these is the need to 'sync' your separately recorded audio afterwards in your video editor. Not difficult to do, but an extra procedure that some people are not keen on undertaking.

Depends how 'professional' you need your results to be.....a lot of otherwise quite good You Tube videos are ruined by poor audio....

The kitchen is mostly hard surfaces yeah, so that means a lot of echo? It's not an Island worksurface (unfortunately).

By the sounds of it, shotgun mics are more designed for outdoor use.

I think in that case I will go with a clip on mic and attempt to conceal the cable, if I can't then I may get an audio recorder and sync the audio with the video. I already do this with my gaming videos, so it doesn't bother me.

Liking the look of the Hama LM-09 that you linked rogs.

In terms of how professional I want it to be, I don't plan on having the best possible quality, but I do want the audio to be VERY good quality, even if the video isn't the best. I don't expect the video to be amazing because I know virtually nothing about video cameras. But that's something to work on in the future.
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
At least the Hama LM-09 is powered which will help in overcoming outside interference. As one reviewer noted, 6mtr of connecting cable is a long antennae for interference. Buy and Try is my suggestion. As I noted above, I bought a well screened extension for my lav mic.
Things like powered mixers, fans, spark ignition can cause interference so you need to test it out.
 
As Terfyn suggests, some extension cables can allow interference to do introduced if they are not well screened. Avoid buying headphone extension cables, for example, as they are often not screened at all.
If you are already familiar with syncing external audio, then a remote audio recorder is a better option:

- You can plug the tie clip mic straight into the recorder - most (if not all) recorders will have 'plug in power' as part of their mic socket functions to power the tie clip mic, so no need to worry about powering them separately

- You don't need to bother with any extension leads

-The recording will be as good - and probably better- quality than the camera external mic socket can produce.
 
Regarding a camera-mounted mic for your project, generally closer is better than using a more directional further away. First off, here are some listening tests of directional mics:

Microphone Pickup Patterns

The sound cancellation is better in these examples than you will achieve in a kitchen because:

1. The mic is fairly close to the loudspeaker.
2. This test was done in a studio where sound reflections off the walls/ceilings/floor are greatly reduced.

But in a kitchen you have a lot of reflective surfaces: benchtop, tiled floor, ceiling, hard smooth walls.

You have direct sound (from subject to mic), early reflections (bench-top, rear wall/refrigerator/wall oven) and later reflections (ceiling/floor/walls - these can be multiple reflections e.g. side wall-to-rear wall-to-mic). The ear/brain discriminates based on the arrival time, the mic doesn't. The ear will hear the voice in the kitchen with a certain brightness/liveliness/character due to the timing, frequency response (hard smooth objects reflect more high frequencies) and amplitude of mainly the early reflections, with the later reflections/reverberation giving a impression of the room size. The output from the mic, when played back, however will not be discriminated anywhere near as well, and the voice will sound boxy/roomy/muddled. The amount of this "colouration" will depend on subject distance and mic directivity (aka distance factor, the ratio of the pickup of direct sound to the pickup of indirect sound). The distance factor of a super-cardioid with a short interference tube, like you get in small consumer videocams, compared to an omnidirectional mic, will be about 2.5-3:1. (Longer shotguns can be more effective, particularly are lower frequencies, but the off-axis response tends to be more coloured, they are expensive and their length makes them unwieldy.) So you can be 2.5-3 times further away with this type of mic, than with an omni, and still pick up the same ratio of direct to indirect sound. However, in practice the directional pattern varies with frequency and the shotgun further back will sound a bit more coloured than than a closer omni. With voice this slight colouration may not be an issue, but it might change the character of the clangs of cutlery & bowls.

What is the distance factor of a microphone? | Shure Technical FAQ

The ratio of direct-to-indirect sound will be much higher on a lavalier mic (an omni mounted on the chest or lapel, near the mouth) than on a super-cardioid/shotgun mounted much further away on a camera. So, in a domestic situation, where the "kitchen" is not just a construction on a large acoustically treated sound-stage, the sound of a voice picked up by a body-mounted mic will soundly much less roomy.

Lavalier Microphones

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/audio/buying-guide/shotgun-microphones

What Works for You? A Guide to DSLR Audio

Audio for DSLR, Part 3: Dual Systems

Dan.
 
Last edited:
At least the Hama LM-09 is powered which will help in overcoming outside interference. As one reviewer noted, 6mtr of connecting cable is a long antennae for interference. Buy and Try is my suggestion. As I noted above, I bought a well screened extension for my lav mic.
Things like powered mixers, fans, spark ignition can cause interference so you need to test it out.

Yeah I think the only way would be to try it and see how it goes!

As Terfyn suggests, some extension cables can allow interference to do introduced if they are not well screened. Avoid buying headphone extension cables, for example, as they are often not screened at all.
If you are already familiar with syncing external audio, then a remote audio recorder is a better option:

- You can plug the tie clip mic straight into the recorder - most (if not all) recorders will have 'plug in power' as part of their mic socket functions to power the tie clip mic, so no need to worry about powering them separately

- You don't need to bother with any extension leads

-The recording will be as good - and probably better- quality than the camera external mic socket can produce.

I think I'll try a screened cable firstly and see how the quality is, as it'll be the cheaper option, but I'll invest in a separate recorder later on if needed.

Regarding a camera-mounted mic for your project, generally closer is better than using a more directional further away. First off, here are some listening tests of directional mics:

Microphone Pickup Patterns

The sound cancellation is better in these examples than you will achieve in a kitchen because:

1. The mic is fairly close to the loudspeaker.
2. This test was done in a studio where sound reflections off the walls/ceilings/floor are greatly reduced.

But in a kitchen you have a lot of reflective surfaces: benchtop, tiled floor, ceiling, hard smooth walls.

You have direct sound (from subject to mic), early reflections (bench-top, rear wall/refrigerator/wall oven) and later reflections (ceiling/floor/walls - these can be multiple reflections e.g. side wall-to-rear wall-to-mic). The ear/brain discriminates based on the arrival time, the mic doesn't. The ear will hear the voice in the kitchen with a certain brightness/liveliness/character due to the timing, frequency response (hard smooth objects reflect more high frequencies) and amplitude of mainly the early reflections, with the later reflections/reverberation giving a impression of the room size. The output from the mic, when played back, however will not be discriminated anywhere near as well, and the voice will sound boxy/roomy/muddled. The amount of this "colouration" will depend on subject distance and mic directivity (aka distance factor, the ratio of the pickup of direct sound to the pickup of indirect sound). The distance factor of a super-cardioid with a short interference tube, like you get in small consumer videocams, compared to an omnidirectional mic, will be about 2.5-3:1. (Longer shotguns can be more effective, particularly are lower frequencies, but the off-axis response tends to be more coloured, they are expensive and their length makes them unwieldy.) So you can be 2.5-3 times further away with this type of mic, than with an omni, and still pick up the same ratio of direct to indirect sound. However, in practice the directional pattern varies with frequency and the shotgun further back will sound a bit more coloured than than a closer omni. With voice this slight colouration may not be an issue, but it might change the character of the clangs of cutlery & bowls.

What is the distance factor of a microphone? | Shure Technical FAQ

The ratio of direct-to-indirect sound will be much higher on a lavalier mic (an omni mounted on the chest or lapel, near the mouth) than on a super-cardioid/shotgun mounted much further away on a camera. So, in a domestic situation, where the "kitchen" is not just a construction on a large acoustically treated sound-stage, the sound of a voice picked up by a body-mounted mic will soundly much less roomy.

Lavalier Microphones

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/audio/buying-guide/shotgun-microphones

What Works for You? A Guide to DSLR Audio

Audio for DSLR, Part 3: Dual Systems

Dan.

Okay I think you've convinced me that a clip on mic would be better for me. :) Thanks appreciate it!
 
Hi- Lots to think about . . . . I wonder if you are a chef, or an experimenter?

There is nothing like trying first and then looking at buying the necessary kit. I doubt that £300 ( was it? ) you'll get a camcorder with mic/monitoring features - and if you are Solo, it may not help anyway. A tie-clip mic will work fine but the cable is the curse.... hence the suggestion you record the Audio onto a solid-state recorder ( Others have suggested )..... but watch out that moving-about often records "noise" which can be difficult to remove if you are talking at the same time.

Do you plan to Edit this material? ( That's the time to cut/fix mistakes and Tech woes) - so you may find you need to practice several times to get it right enough, to minimise the Edit Time. You said you don't need Stills....but these can be very useful - ( and can be tweaked to make yr point ), then inserted in the Edit. . . . very useful to show "stages" if that helps to get the message over... but you only need 2Mpx for movies, so almost any Stills setting will allow some zooming-in ( giving movement to the frame ).

I noticed yr Budget is in £, but you quote 60fps - - - this implies using NTSC which is not a UK standard. Your should look for 50i or 50p. if in the UK.

Lighting is another nightmare-area IMHO. Far better to have it from the ceiling, so the exposure remains a constant - but any stainless steel pans may need to be "bruised" to dull their surface reflections, which can affect the visuals. Pros don't have these issues with a Studio set and lighting engineers. FWIW I think a centre-based prep+cooking area is the business......
For Example:-
If your kitchen isn't a studio-set it may cause other issues - like you will be back-to-camera and then the viewers can't see what you are doing.... ( even if the separated audio is OK.)
Others have suggested Kitchens echo - they will be very "bright" acoustically and mixers, pans, knives will sound excessively. Switch off freezers as the constant Buzz will be annoying.



Try joining a Film-making club - where folks will have experience and Kit, so you can practice before you buy.
+ Spending your money is the last thing you should do.
If none is local, then try a budget camera, or one that takes Stills (and movies too ).....You probably need Manual mode controls and . . . . stuff that £300 just won't start to cover.... sadly.

Good luck.
 
A video club is a good idea as there will be a range of equipment to look at and, as in my case, four (ex BBC) experts to bounce ideas off. One BBC man was a retired sound man!
I got my screened cable from Cables4all (not advertising - jus know they stock them) Mine is 10mtrs long. One advantage of a battery powering the electret mic is that the transmitted signal is strong enough to overcome some of the local interference.
I noticed on the James Martin cookery shows that most of the camera work is in close up and at chest level, so the camera is looking down at the working surface and, probably mounted on a tripod. There are two cameras used (at least) to give continuity. i.e. a covering shot followed by a close up of the same action. Also there is a mixture of live audio and voice over, this will be achieved in your video editor. What is done is, as suggested above, use a portable recorder and then use the same audio recorded on your camera to sync up the quality sound from the recorder with the camera audio track.
This brings us to Video Editors. You will need one:facepalm: plus a decent up to date PC to run it.
You will find it virtually impossible to complete a whole programme in one shot and without retakes plus you will need cut-aways and transitions to cover things like cooking time. You will also find it difficult to carry on a conversation while neatly slicing an onion!
Many of the recent VEs now have multi camera editing where you can sync the video with a sound track using two or more cameras. The VE I use, Corel VideoStudio Pro X8, has voice over and a direct link to YouTube and other on line sites. I hope the next version, out in the Spring sometime, will have multi camera available as Corel now own Pinnacle Studio which has!
 
Hi- Lots to think about . . . . I wonder if you are a chef, or an experimenter?

There is nothing like trying first and then looking at buying the necessary kit. I doubt that £300 ( was it? ) you'll get a camcorder with mic/monitoring features - and if you are Solo, it may not help anyway. A tie-clip mic will work fine but the cable is the curse.... hence the suggestion you record the Audio onto a solid-state recorder ( Others have suggested )..... but watch out that moving-about often records "noise" which can be difficult to remove if you are talking at the same time.

Do you plan to Edit this material? ( That's the time to cut/fix mistakes and Tech woes) - so you may find you need to practice several times to get it right enough, to minimise the Edit Time. You said you don't need Stills....but these can be very useful - ( and can be tweaked to make yr point ), then inserted in the Edit. . . . very useful to show "stages" if that helps to get the message over... but you only need 2Mpx for movies, so almost any Stills setting will allow some zooming-in ( giving movement to the frame ).

I noticed yr Budget is in £, but you quote 60fps - - - this implies using NTSC which is not a UK standard. Your should look for 50i or 50p. if in the UK.

Lighting is another nightmare-area IMHO. Far better to have it from the ceiling, so the exposure remains a constant - but any stainless steel pans may need to be "bruised" to dull their surface reflections, which can affect the visuals. Pros don't have these issues with a Studio set and lighting engineers. FWIW I think a centre-based prep+cooking area is the business......
For Example:-
If your kitchen isn't a studio-set it may cause other issues - like you will be back-to-camera and then the viewers can't see what you are doing.... ( even if the separated audio is OK.)
Others have suggested Kitchens echo - they will be very "bright" acoustically and mixers, pans, knives will sound excessively. Switch off freezers as the constant Buzz will be annoying.



Try joining a Film-making club - where folks will have experience and Kit, so you can practice before you buy.
+ Spending your money is the last thing you should do.
If none is local, then try a budget camera, or one that takes Stills (and movies too ).....You probably need Manual mode controls and . . . . stuff that £300 just won't start to cover.... sadly.

Good luck.

Sorry for the delay in replying, been busy!

Thanks for your input :) A lot to think about ;)

I have worked as a chef for just over a year now, but I've always enjoyed cooking at home.

I'm planning on doing it solo and/or with my girlfriend. I plan to edit the footage yeah, I already use Premiere Pro CS6 to edit my gaming YouTube videos, I also did a bit of video editing at university. Didn't really think about using still images but they could be useful at times as you said.

The only reason I'm aiming for 60fps is because the videos are going to be on youtube which supports 60fps, also I can use it for slow motion. Not really necessary but nice to have.

For lighting I have just ordered some of these: RPGT® Continuous Dual Lighting Kit with 80W 5500K Photo: Amazon.co.uk: Camera & Photo

Hopefully they will be a good start. Not the end of the world if it doesn't work out as I can use them for my gaming videos also. Also, similarly, I am willing to spend a bit of money even if it doesn't work out as I will use the video camera for other things also. And a lot of the things I buy can be used for both gaming and cooking videos, so it's worth the investment.

Film clubs is a good idea I will look into that :)

At the end of the day I don't expect my videos to be very professional in the beginning, I'll just do my best, but if it works out, that's something I can improve on over time.

A video club is a good idea as there will be a range of equipment to look at and, as in my case, four (ex BBC) experts to bounce ideas off. One BBC man was a retired sound man!
I got my screened cable from Cables4all (not advertising - jus know they stock them) Mine is 10mtrs long. One advantage of a battery powering the electret mic is that the transmitted signal is strong enough to overcome some of the local interference.
I noticed on the James Martin cookery shows that most of the camera work is in close up and at chest level, so the camera is looking down at the working surface and, probably mounted on a tripod. There are two cameras used (at least) to give continuity. i.e. a covering shot followed by a close up of the same action. Also there is a mixture of live audio and voice over, this will be achieved in your video editor. What is done is, as suggested above, use a portable recorder and then use the same audio recorded on your camera to sync up the quality sound from the recorder with the camera audio track.
This brings us to Video Editors. You will need one:facepalm: plus a decent up to date PC to run it.
You will find it virtually impossible to complete a whole programme in one shot and without retakes plus you will need cut-aways and transitions to cover things like cooking time. You will also find it difficult to carry on a conversation while neatly slicing an onion!
Many of the recent VEs now have multi camera editing where you can sync the video with a sound track using two or more cameras. The VE I use, Corel VideoStudio Pro X8, has voice over and a direct link to YouTube and other on line sites. I hope the next version, out in the Spring sometime, will have multi camera available as Corel now own Pinnacle Studio which has!

Thanks for the advice! Lots of stuff to consider, hard to make decisions haha. I think I just need to try out some stuff and see how it goes :)

As said above I'm familiar with video editing and was planning on doing it :)

For example I often edit down 1-2 hours of gaming footage into 5-10 mins and add effects and things. I do expect the cooking ones to be a little more complex though.
 
Last edited:
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom