The heat of the summer has picked up and for every athlete, summer means getting into training mode. There are a variety of ways to capture the action you need, and we've put together our best tips and products for filming sports, to get the most out of your iOgrapher setup.
Accessories
With your iOgrapher case, the type of lens you would want will depend on what you are filming. We love using our wide angle lens when filming court sports, because it allows you to get the majority of the court in the same shot. For field sports, the 2X telephoto lens comes in handy for when the action is just a bit too far away. If you're filming games from a press box or from any other large distance, our 12X telephoto lens lets you get in even closer to the action.
Next, you may need a sturdy and reliable tripod, and don't be afraid to attach a weight or sand bag to ensure steadiness in windy conditions. To improve the fluidity of your filming we strongly recommend getting a tripod with a fluid head, which is great for panning the field or court.
The next thing you should consider is audio. It's important to understand what quality of audio you are looking to achieve, and what is the environment like in which you are filming?
A shotgun mic is great for capturing a full range of audio, especially if you are right next to the action or perhaps even doing interviews with athletes. Check out all of our audio options here.
You can also use various interfaces to capture the audio from announcer. The iRig Pre allows you to connect to the audio deck in the booth for example, so you can record your action while recording the live commentary. Another option is to have a wireless mic, like the Blink 500 B2, and have that recording in front of the announcer.
One of our favorite partners is Hudl, a sports software that allows entire teams to connect and upload footage. It's a great way for athletes, coaches, and others to upload their games or practice footage, and watch it again. Since everything is online, almost anyone can have access to the footage, with permission, which makes team film watching a breeze. Even further, you can add text or audio commentary, highlights, and so much more. Teams have access to their pages, and athletes can have their personal page and select highlight videos for themselves. Since anyone with a smart device can log on to watch team footage, the program is amazingly cost effective and accessible. If you are a Hudl customer interested in iOgrapher, be sure to message us as we provide a discount to our Hudl customers! You can learn more about Hudl here.
Another video tool for athletes, is Coach's Eye, a video analysis solution that provides instant analysis and feedback. This is a great opportunity to do replay and feedback work right on the field or court. Have the iOgrapher set up with a tripod to record a drill, and replay it instantly, use slow motion, have side by side video comparison to compare a previous attempt, use drawing tools to focus on a play, and much more. You can sign up for individual use, or even a team. Learn more about Coach's Eye here.
Personal Tips and Experience from David Basulto
When I was a teacher, I used apps like Switcher Studio to produce multi-camera or multi iPad shoots for football and many other sports. This app would be placed on an iPad, and would sync with other iPads over Wi-Fi, to bring in those other iPads as additional cameras.
You could also add graphics, scoreboards, and other fun features to personalize your footage. One feature is the ability to attach other videos or photos to your footage, like having a small replay show or feature an athletes photo. We would actually get small headshots of the players, and then insert them as we were showing the game whenever they did something important.
We also connected two of our announcers using a Tascam interface, putting headsets on both the announcers. I was often told by our boosters program that I brought ESPN like video to the sports programs. Oh, and did I forget to tell you we would stream all of this LIVE? We could take the footage from the game, put them on DVDs, and sell them to parents later to raise money for the school program.
Want to learn more about using your iOgrapher for sports? Join our newsletter or checkout our Facebook page for an upcoming Fall Sports Webinar by our CEO, David Basulto.
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