This is my first post in this forum, I play around with video editing for my team and I'm not a pro by any means. I would like to know what you guys think about my video though. Don't be too harsh about the title "best softball video" its not saying I'm the best editor, but there really isn't much for softball videos on youtube. One thing to pay attention to is the music lining up with the plays in the second half of the video.

YouTube - Best Amateur Softball / Baseball Highlight Reel on YouTube

Does anyone actually use this board? Does anyone know of a better board than this one?

First thing you should know is that its rude, very rude, go to a forum and asked for a better forum. Second thing, I don't know where you from but this board is located in the U.K so people or on here at diffrent times the most people in the U.S. As for your video not bad, I've seen better and I've seen worst. The titling could be a bit more flashy. In the future please don't post back to back, if you have something to add, just edit it. Thats what the funtion is for. So welcome to the forum and try to be a bit more patient in the future.

__________________
Wil Chapman Jr.
Oly, Washington
DP, Producer, Editor

Feel free to visit ( UPDATED!!! )
http://www.myspace.com/chapmanphotography
http://www.myspace.com/sport_specific (personal and training site)

If I post something and it isn't replied to once in almost 24 hours I don't consider it a good board. I suppose it is rude to the moderators to ask for a better board, but the solution is to improve the board if you're a moderator. The titles are very basic, I wasn't focusing on them very much. I'm more concerned about the action scenes. If you know of any amateur highlight reels that are better than this one please let me know. I'm not trying to compete with ESPN but would like to see how I stack up against other amateurs.

If you want to compete with ESPN I highly recommend watching this DVD

Amazon.com: ESPN: ESPNU Honor Roll - The Best of College Football, Vol. 1: DVD: Rece Davis

(it was the first link I found)

Granted, it's football, but it is still a very well put together highlight reels.

edit: your video is basic one camera shots with no special effects. What they do on the dvd is far more advanced but it looks awesome. Multiple cameras, great transitions, different color effects, commentators, etc...

Just my opinions, of course.

Like a lot of sport vids, clips of action to music get repetitive pretty quickly.

There was not much wrong with the footage, but it was all pretty samey, a lot of the angles were the same, the pans in the same direction and the sort of focal lengths similar, and I have to confess that I only got 2 minutes in before I gave up on it.

Not that I am any kind of expert but, maybe think about things like low wide angle shots from behind the pitcher, cut-aways to spectator reactions, etc. Mix up your shots, use interesting angles and make them shorter and punchier.

Also you might want to story-board something, or at least script something that has a narrative. Try to tell a story. Who won? Was it an underdog triumph? Who were the stars? What were their reactions to the game?

I didn't really learn anything about the people in this vid, I didn't learn anything about the sport, or the teams.

Sorry you feel that way, I'm sure you can find other fourms by doing a google search, but I dout you'll find a better, more helpful forum then this. If you want people to boost your ego rather then be honest then you might not want to post your videos, Saying don't look at the titles is like showing a music video and saying "just listen to the music" Titling, camara work, editing, music, all contribute to the video, If ones bad, it lowers the piece!!

__________________
Wil Chapman Jr.
Oly, Washington
DP, Producer, Editor

Feel free to visit ( UPDATED!!! )
http://www.myspace.com/chapmanphotography
http://www.myspace.com/sport_specific (personal and training site)

Chapman Photography-
Understood titling is part of the video but its more like saying don't look at the artist info in the bottom left corner when a music video starts. Its just there to tell you what is about to happen, like the artist info says their band name, album, video title and recording company.

MarkOneMusic-
Thanks for the input on varying angles and cutaways. I don't have many angles to choose from as we can only tape through the dug out entrance or through chain link fence (not recommended). I'm not able to do too much fancy stuff with the camera since I am playing and my girlfriend is recording. If you only made it 2 minutes through then you missed all the reaction shots and alot of the different scenes.

Sparky McJones-
Thanks for the link but I am really only looking to compare to other amateurs. ESPN is out of my league.

I liked it. I especially liked the timing to the music, and the black blinking -- that's a good effect.

It may not be the best softball vid on YouTube, but it's darn good!

A couple things though. If this is for your club, subtitle it. Show the player's names in a corner of the action so that you have a permanent record of who these people are 20 years from now. You'll appreciate that when you get old and forgetful. And one other thing -- TUCK IN YOUR SHIRTS! You guys look like slobs!

Well done! You got some good shooting going on, and some excellent editing too. But don't forget the historical value of your vids, and get more info on 'em. Put the player's names on the clips, so that later you can identify them. But overall, this is a good video in every respect.

Thanks for checking the video out and thanks for the reply Lengo. The full version actually does have a "credits" at the end that lists everyone in the order of appearance but I cut it out so it out with some other things so it would fit on youtube (the 100 mb limit). Putting the names on the actual clips is a good idea too though, it wouldn't add any length and would identify them better.

I can't get our guys to wear common color pants/shorts, tucking in their shirts is gonna be hard enforce, too many young guys. If you do find another amateur softball video on youtube you think is better let me know. I like to know how I stack up, I've done alot of searching but don't come up with very much. Thanks again for the tips, I may have to go back and ad some titles.