guitard(7354) | Vince G.: I guess we’ll find out next Monday. 
Check closely to see if your camera has a manual exposure option while in video mode. If it does, you’ll probably want to knock it down a few notches. In my experience, the video shooting option for a point-and-shoot camera is kind of thought of as an add-on or unimportant second function, thus not a lot of verbiage is provided in the manual regarding options for shooting video. So sometimes it can be hard to determine if you can manipulate the exposure in video shooting mode (the manuals says little or nothing about it – and camera reviews rarely delve down that far into the weeds). Furthermore, for point-and-shoot cameras that do have manual exposure in video shooting mode, it’s not unusual for it to reset back to the default settings when you turn it off (which for exposure is always auto-exposure – which is not good for shooting concerts). And you can’t avoid turning off the camera at some point because you’ll have to do a battery change or two during the show. In the heat of the moment while trying to quickly change batteries and get back to shooting the show – it’s easy to forget that you first have to reset it back to manual exposure and set it to the desired level of exposure. A key point here is that point-and-shoot cameras don’t let you adjust the exposure while you’re filming, so if you find yourself in this situation, your two options are to continue filming and shoot over-exposed video, or you can stop filming, reset the exposure, and then restart the filming. Obviously, neither of those are good options. Lastly, you’ll need at least two batteries – three to be safe. Most of what I’ve said in this post I learned the hard way!
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zr1fevr(155) | Just be careful with turning down the exposure. When I switched batteries at the LA Staples show in 2012, I adjusted it too low, & the second half of the show is really dark, too dark. It’s hard to really see how the end result is going to look watching through the viewfinder. I watched my 7-11-15 show on my 80″ tv, turned down the brightness & contrast a bit, thought it was a better watch than my Staples 2012 video. Can’t wait for another shot at this in September. Guitard, can you adjust the exposure when you put together multi cams?
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guitard(7354) | zr1fevr: Just be careful with turning down the exposure.When I switched batteries at the LA Staples show in 2012, I adjusted it too low, & the second half of the show is really dark, too dark. It’s hard to really see how the end result is going to look watching through the viewfinder.
It’s not something you want to try and do on the fly. You want to know your camera’s exposure levels before the show, which you can do while playing around with the camera at home. And once you got it down – you’ should be all set. Of course, some shows are brighter than others, but I pretty know going in that I’m going to turn my exposure down two notches from zero. Every now and then I’ll adjust during a battery change, but two notches seems to do the trick for my camera.
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guitard(7354) | zr1fevr: Guitard, can you adjust the exposure when you put together multi cams?
Sort of. But you’re really only darkening or brightening the picture. And if video is over-exposed, there isn’t any properly exposed video hiding underneath the over-exposed that a setting in a non-linear video editor (like Vegas Video) will be able to bring out. And in the case of video that’s too dark – it can really be hard brightening it up without introducing artifacts. It can be done, but it’s tricky business, to be sure.
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rvp4806(38) | So what is the policy for semi pro audio rigs? I have a Tascam DR60D recorder…  I would really like to just get a great audio recording, do you think a small recorder with 2 mics would be too much? What about a compact mic stand? Ive seen plenty of jam band shows that allow taping with full audio rigs similar to mine, just wondering if anyone has tried a setup like this.
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guitard(7354) | The strange thing last tour was that they said OK to video, but never said anything about audio. But I would definitely NOT try to openly record with a rig like that. I am fairly sure that the venue security would shut you down.
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rvp4806(38) | You’d think that they would want the best audio on these bootleg recordings, all the recordings from I phones and such have such crappy audio. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad these people are posting whatever they have but I would really like to have some good audio recordings, even if they are audience recordings and not soundboard. Wouldn’t it be great if they did something like Pearl Jam and Primus did and sell recordings of each show on the way out of the venue, or online. Eddie said that they record all their shows on Pro Tools, just to offer us a stereo soundboard from some of these shows, that would be great. They really seem to be pulling it together for this tour, hopefully there is an official release to come…
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guitard(7354) | I have it on pretty good authority that as far as the band is concerned, the recording policy for 2015 is the same as was for 2012. Presumably, however, no one from the Van Halen camp has put the word out to the venues.
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rockphantom(188) | guitard: I have it on pretty good authority that as far as the band is concerned, the recording policy for 2015 is the same as was for 2012.Presumably, however, no one from the Van Halen camp has put the word out to the venues.
This is good to know. I hope the message will be relayed to venue staff soon.
Van Halen’s “anything goes” taping policy will not negatively effect the band.
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ron(11802) | The later into the tour we get, the better chances for video probably are. Currently the shows are starting while it’s still light outside, and I think that works to the security staffs advantage.
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guitard(7354) | If I know for a fact that the venue knows that Van Halen allows video – I might be willing to either purchase or borrow a high-end 4K video camera.
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guitard(7354) | I sent an email to Jeff Hausman to see if he could inquire about the videotaping policy getting made official by the band. He responded and said he forwarded my email to a contact within the VH camp. Hopefully they act upon it and we get to start openly videotaping the band like we were able to in 2012.
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rockphantom(188) | guitard: I sent an email to Jeff Hausman to see if he could inquire about the videotaping policy getting made official by the band.He responded and said he forwarded my email to a contact within the VH camp.Hopefully they act upon it and we get to start openly videotaping the band like we were able to in 2012.
Don’t overlook audio taping. It’s better than nothing! 
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mjk2112(337) | rockphantom: Don’t overlook audio taping. It’s better than nothing!
as i plan on doing so in camden…but there has been little chatter about the security getting in with such gear or do i assume that it’s still frowned upon and it needs to be stealth?
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guitard(7354) | mjk2112: as i plan on doing so in camden…but there has been little chatter about the security getting in with such gear or do i assume that it’s still frowned upon and it needs to be stealth?
I would absolutely plan on going stealth. Sometimes it’s even better than audio taping openly.
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