a bunch of odd questions... :D

[pissdrunx]

Hi, I`m new to editing video and I would like to know some stuff. I shoot/will be shooting mostly skateboarding activities. All of the videos will be uploaded either to youtube or vimeo, but neither of those supports 60fps and yet theres a noticable diference if I shoot video in 30fps or 60fps before I upload it, 60 fps is way smoother. This got me thinking... I render all my videos at 720p because thats how I use my contour HD (720p, 60fps). Would there be a difference in quality if I would shoot my videos at 1080p and then render it as 720p or just shoot and render at 720p?
I hope all this makes sence to at least some of you.
Best regards.

[Bpotter908]

My personal opinion:

1) When it leaves the editor, the size will be 720p, so why bother working with a larger size that will tax the system greater if you will not use 1024p?
2) Whilst you may see a difference between 1024p and 720p footage, if your output render will always be 720p, this defeats the purpose.

[Midnight Blue]

Firstly I understand why you asked this question but from my experience it is not a black and white issue. It is up to you to experiment with different formats take some 1080-60p footage and take some 720-30p footage of the same thing. Put them in your editor then render them out in different formats you might see one is better than the other or you might not. It may be that keeping 720-30p footage at 720-30p footage looks better than having 1080-60p footage reduced to 720p or not. You have to go through this your self. There are some basic rules which apply to shooting but a lot depends on your cameras compression and then your editing software's compression and the kind of and amount of colour correction you do etc.......

The general rule of thumb is the less you alter the original footage the better it will turn out. If you are shooting fast moving objects then a faster shutter speed/fps is better unless you are going for a particular look. This is especially true if you intend slowing down the footage in post. BUT if you want light streaks then shoot at a slow shutter speed/fps but if the light is low and the iris is fully open you will have to slow down the shutter speed to capture the image unless you want a silhouette look. BUT shooting aginst the sun might be fine in this instance where as generally shooting with the sun is better. Oh my god can I waffle or what.

Do you see where this is going it's not a yes or no thing, there are too many variables.

[pissdrunx]

thank you both for replys, I guess I will have some figureouting to do T whole video world is new to me and it is way more complicated than photo-at least in general. Not to mention that I will need a new computer because of it :/
I guess I will ned to get really familiar with my gear...a task for the winter