Production Resources
This section serves as a notes repository for video students, as well as the New York Underwater Photographic Society's video presentation series.
Enjoy, and let me know if you have any cool tools in your workflow you'd like me to spotlight here!
What do I need?
Equipment:
Honestly; your existing camera or old smartphone (with case) is more than fine to start with and learn! The story, editing, sound, and color-grading work is where most of a video's production value comes from. A nice new camera is the last piece of that puzzle!
Ultracompact: GoPro Hero 9 Black, case, and tray
Medium: Panasonic GH5 or GH5S
Expert Advice: B&H Photo Video - Live Chat - support a local NYC business. They have great selection and customer service.
Editing software:
DaVinci Resolve (Linux, macOS, Windows: Free / Studio: $295 , includes speed controller)
KdenLive (Linux & Windows; free & open-source)
Free training: [Kdenlive for Beginners (2021) ] [Toolbox Tutorials] [Arkengheist Tutorials]
Extra Plugins and transitions: https://store.kde.org/browse/cat/333/order/latest/
iMovie (macOS, Free)
Free training: https://support.apple.com/imovie
LumaFusion: start your editing on the road, and finish at home: can export to Final Cut / XML. ($20, iPad & iPhone)
Virtual Workstation:
Shadow Virtual PC: allows anyone to remotely access a private virtual workstation-grade cloud-hosted editing and gaming system. Perfect for anyone with an older or budget PC who wants to try out video editing and production before committing to a new computer. Also great for photogrammetry and intense 3D modelling. ($12/mo, all platforms)
File Synchronization:
Syncthing - Mac/PC/Linux; peer-to-peer (P2P+E2EE+FLOSS) secure sync. Free. Used for team collab, ingest servers, and cloud gateways. Not for backup.
iOS/iPhone/iPad: use Möbius Sync to connect and sync with Syncthing shares
MEGA - encrypted open-source sync, chat, & videoconferencing. $~12/mo/pp for 2TB, expands to 16TB. Pick this one if you're unsure.
Frame.io - video feedback and collaboration for editors. Allows people to watch dailies and leave feedback for editors and color graders. Free for basic service. For paid users, also a good place to archive/backup assets.
Collaboration:
Parsec - ultra-low latency remote control and screenshare, Windows-only. Free.
iMessage Screen Share - ultra-low latency remote control and screenshare, macOS-only. Free.
RealVNC - low latency remote control and screenshare, Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Free for 5 devices.
CryptPad - Open-source encrypted cloud-documents, scripting, spreadsheets, and whiteboard. Rapidly becoming new industry standard. Free. Can also self-host on your own server if you're technically inclined.
Graphics:
Glimpse - free & open-source photo editing
Free training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMw779t57-k
Darktable - free & open-source photo library and RAW developer
Inkscape - free & open-source vector drawing (logos)
Free training: https://inkscape.org/learn/tutorials/
Krita - free & open-source raster drawing (sketches)
Free training: https://docs.krita.org/en/
Blender - free & open-source 3D Modelling (an entire hobby on its own!)
Free training: https://www.blender.org/support/tutorials/
Utilities and Miscellaneous:
Shutter Encoder - free & open-source video transcoder and transmuxxer. Great for standardizing editing and publishing formats. [FAQ] [Documentation] [Source]
Handbrake Encoder - alternate; fully-signed binary for macOS users, available for Windows, Linux, Mac
Linux Multimedia Applications List - Arch Wiki concatenation of all multimedia utilities compatible with Linux builds
Focalboard - an open-source, self-hosted webapp alternative to collaborative trackers like Trello, Notion, and Asana. [HowTo] [Source]
Nativefier - many any webpage a PWA app for desktop use
Coolers - Color theory and palette inspiration