Master Underwater Video: The RAID Action Camera Course with Jeff Goodman (Part 1 of 9)

Over the coming weeks, Jeff Goodman shares in part some key sections from his RAID Action Camera Video Course. Jeff has selected 9 extracts from the Underwater Video Course which will be published here at Scubaverse.com weekly.

Part 1: Introduction

If you are not completely new to taking videos or photos underwater, perhaps you are frustrated at not being able to produce the quality of images you are trying for. Whatever your reason, if you want to learn how to take good underwater video and extract wonderful photos from your video frames then this course is for you.

This is not an overly technical course as its main aim is to encourage you to learn the basics of underwater videoing and discover the excitement and rewards of creating good underwater sequences. Having said that, we do delve a little into the technical side so as to give a basic understanding of how the settings on your cameras will work.

We also move away from the simple point and shoot style of filming and look deeper into standard video theory and techniques that can apply to any video camera.

Generally, action cameras are seen and used for capturing spectacular moments of extreme sports such as surfing, skiing, skydiving etc. They are often mounted on a person or piece of equipment and left to run continuously in the pursuit of capturing those very special moments.  In the underwater environment action cameras are often mounted on a  BCD or at the end of a camera pole where they are left to run for the entire dive without much creative thought going into what is being filmed. But modern action cameras have so much more to offer. They are compact high quality video and stills cameras with a great deal of diversity, especially with models like the Insta 360.

In this course we will show you how to make far more use of your action camera, concentrating on the video aspect of these cameras but also be looking at the options of taking a perfectly good still image from a video frame.

We will be discussing and working with natural daylight as well as movie lights for illuminating and adding colour to your subjects.

We will also be showing you the basics of video editing so you are able to edit shots together and create a sequence to be proud of. Students will not be expected to edit a sequence for this course, but do need to demonstrate the ability of taking a series of images that will edit together. These will be Wide Angles, Mid Shots and Close Ups of a chosen subject.

Overview

Action cameras such as the Insta Ace Pro2, Insta 360 or GoPro have become very well established in both the amateur and professional market. Their small size combined with very high quality and low cost make these cameras very desirable. They are easy to use even for the most non-technical people but they have more depth to them that one might first imagine.

In this course you will see and learn how versatile these cameras can actually be. We will be concentrating mostly on the video aspect of these cameras but could not possibly ignore the photo capabilities as well.

A great advantage of small action cameras over their larger cousins is the ability to get into tight places for those unique and imaginative shots that would otherwise be impossible.

There are many makes of action camera on the market and this course does not make comparisons or recommendation. This can be left to the discretion of your instructor and to your own web research.

We will touch briefly on editing and presentation but most of all, at this stage, we want you to feel confident with your camera and see how easy it is to take great images. We intentionally will not get over-technical but aim to get you taking good video with very simple settings.

Editing is the other half of videoing. Great video clips can be ruined or wasted with bad editing or not so good video clips can be made to look good with creative editing. As previously mentioned, we will go through some basics of editing just to get you started but we advise you to consider a separate editing course or instruction to develop greater skills.

This Action Camera Course is divided into a theory section with following multiple choice answer exam then practical sessions with confined and open water dives. It is fun and informative and is a great way to learn how to use your camera.

Next Week: Underwater Lights

Find the full course at diveraid.com/action-camera.