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Eric Rechlin · (This post was last modified: 10-22-2024 07:39 PM by Eric Rechlin.)

(10-22-2024 06:16 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote: I have a camera (or rather cameras) that can record video (either my Panasonic Micro Four Thirds Camera or my Canon DSLR). I also have a tripod and probably the right lenses for the distance required. But since I rarely take more than a few seconds of video I have no idea how much storage 5 to 10 hours of video will need. If necessary I can go and get some SD cards, but how large?

Regards
Max

That would be fantastic! Since I've been video recording the HHC conferences for some years I can provide some tips:

Storage space is dependent on many factors, including resolution and compression factor. My camera needs about 40 GB per hour for 4K and about 10 GB per hour for 1080p, with default settings, but those numbers can be higher or lower depending on what settings I configure. To test yours, just record a 5 minute clip with representative subject matter, look at the size, and multiply by 12 to get the hourly data usage. It does vary based on what you record, however, so round up to be safe. I brought 3 TB of SD cards (twelve 256 GB cards) to HHC to make sure I would have enough, but that's because I was recording to two cards simultaneously on each camera so if I had a card failure nothing would be lost. In the end I had about 1 TB of data recorded from 2-3 cameras (two 4K, and a third one 1080p but rarely used) and my 4-track audio recorder (24 bit 96 kHz) for about 13 hours. Bigger cards will result in fewer card swappings but will also increase how much you lose if you have a card failure (admittedly extremely unlikely). Also not all equipment can use all card sizes.
Most "still" cameras like DSLRs/MILCs (including all my cameras except my newest Canon R7) limit individual videos to 29:59, so for longer presentations, every half hour you have to start the camera recording again. This results in a few seconds lost, so it's good to have another camera recording during that time that you can splice into the gap.
Audio quality will be much better with an external mic than when using the mic built into the camera. You can use a directional mic attached to the hot shoe to point at the presenter (as I did for HHC 2021 and HHC 2022), or even better, use a separate mic (wired or wireless) held by the presenter (as I did for HHC 2023 and HHC 2024, with a wireless mic clipped to their shirts).
Audio can also be recorded separately (like a mic plugged into a laptop) and then merged when post-processing. I did this with HHC 2024, where I recorded all audio onto a 4-track audio recorder/mixer and the merged it with the video after I got home.
Two cameras would let you record the projected screen with one camera and the presenter with a second camera. This is especially useful when the room is dark, or when you need very different exposure settings for the screen and presenter. You can also somewhat achieve this with a single camera, and then do a picture-in-picture view of the same video recording but cropped differently and with the exposure adjusted separately in post-processing, though this will result in reduced image quality, especially if your camera can't record in log (basically HDR) format. This single-camera dual-view was done for HPCC 2023. A third camera can be used to record the audience, but that might result in a lot of camera juggling!
AC adapters for the cameras are far better than trying to keep batteries charged. I started using an AC adapter a few years ago and that greatly reduced my stress when recording. It's hard enough making sure the camera is pointing at the presenter, since some people like to walk all over the room while talking!
Have a tripod that can be easily turned, since some presenters walk around a lot and you'll need to follow them to keep them in frame. Good luck telling them to stay in one place. At Allschwil 2022, there was one person who constantly walked back and forth across the entire front of the room, rarely staying in one place for more than a few seconds, so I was constantly panning left and right.
Have spare memory cards handy and ready to swap, and check before each presentation to make sure you have enough recording time left so you don't run out in the middle of a talk. I've made that mistake more than once (including on one of my cameras during one HHC 2024 presentation!). Running out can lead to a 30-second gap while replacing cards.
Perspective to the display screen can mean the view of the presentation slides is at a funny angle, but you can correct for that in post-processing. I use DaVinci Resolve Studio to reshape the projected image to be rectangular.
If you are going to record audio output from a laptop (like for sound effects), you will want to put a ground loop isolator (about $10) in between so you don't get a 50 Hz hum in the recording.
Make sure to do a test run with all your equipment beforehand to make sure you understand how things will turn out. This is especially important with things like audio recording levels (at HHC 2023 I had my recording level set too high for my new mic and didn't notice until after a few presentations, so the first few presentations had distorted audio).

All that said, any recording is better than no recording. The HPCC videos from 2023 were just recorded on a laptop webcam and were still usable! But the more work you put into it, the better the result.