Capturing Proper UFO Footage

I've noticed on this site that often when I see videos or photos of UFOs shot by ATS members or otherwise I notice that the item being captured could be presented more effectively. If UFO footage is presented more effectively it can actually be considered evidence rather than just another post with a video of something we can't identify and half the membership calls a hoax because to be frank there is not enough information for a conclusion to be drawn. So I made this post to sort of throw some ideas out there for when you get a shot to film your very own UFO footage that it is done properly, effectively, and contains detail.

1. Location Location Location

Be sure to always note where you are standing at the time of the ufo sighting. Google earth is there, and print screens / MSpaint are easy to use. Please tell us where you where at the time in question. Mark it with an X or something.

Give us the approximate location of the object in question based on your estimate. When you are there in person, you have a better point of view. Try to estimate how far away the object is and at what location it is directly over.

2. How do we know it's in the sky?

Be sure to provide a point of reference at some point during the shooting of the footage or photographs. Be sure to include an outside object for us to use as a reference point. The edge of a gutter, a tree, a power pole, another building, houses, anything! If you do not include a reference point you might as well throw your evidence in the trash can because it is no use to anyone!

3. More is More!

If you are shooting photographs take as many shots as you can in the shortest amount of time. My digital camera can take 10 photos in 5 seconds! Take more photos. Be sure that after the UFO sighting you take pictures of the points of reference, especially if it is a solid object through a window. There have been many cases (namely a certain airplane window UFO photo taken by an ATS member from an airplane) that the object in question could be something on the glass. Take pictures from different angles of the window, to show there are no anomalies, markings, or solid objects on the window.

4. Move the reference point if you have to!

I've seen a lot of footage where there is a tree in the way or something that a debunker can say the UFO is hanging from something attached to a tree (or pole, overpass, etc..) After you show the UFO in or near your reference point, try to move it out into open sky if you can. All it takes is a short walk and we will know for sure it actually is flying..........

5. Stabilize ur Gizmo!

I'm sure everyone here is tired of shaky crappy video footage. Here are some tricks for keeping that image capture device stable.

Many people do not have tripods, that's fine! Nothing beats a good old fashioned stick! Find a long wooden stick (or a broom handle, mop handle, garden rake, piece of pipe) and jam it into the ground! Now take the top of said object and prop it to the space between your hand and the camera. You should notice the shakes all but go away. (This trick was told to me by a professional videographer)

Or you could always just make a camera on a stick!



Try leaning against something. I know sometimes there are no sticks or poles around for you to use as a stabilizer. Sometimes all you need is a wall to lean on or perhaps sit down at a picnic table and use that!

Sit the F*(& down if you can (or take a knee). You can put your elbows on your knees for stability!

And if all else fails just tuck your elbows into the sides of your abdomen and keep them there. Use your back to aim the camera and keep your elbows tucked and arms / hands still!

6. Be kind please describe!

If your camera has audio capabilities don't waste our time with "oooh look at that", "Wow its alien" , "OMG" etc. Instead do these things.

Identify yourself (if you are an ATS member especially)

Describe everything from the horizon, the surrounding area, how the object looks, any sounds you can hear, any weird smells that appear all of a sudden, what the object is doing in the most detailed way you can. Remember you are shooting footage of something that very well could be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind. Don't F*&^ it up with your ooohs and ahs, just tell us what's going on.

7. U Photoshop U suk

Remember these 3 letters. R A W...... Here just so you don't forget.

RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW RAW

We need the RAW footage or photo directly off of your camera. WE NEED THE RAW FOOTAGE DIRECTLY FROM YOUR DEVICE!

Don't edit it an make it pretty (unless the RAW data is available) don't enhance it or make any changes of any kind. The EXIF data will tell us what has been done to your stuffs.. If you do use photoshop to edit it, make sure the RAW(!!!!!) data is available as well! As for videos, the raw data is good because then there be no cgi.... (unless of course you have a uber advanced video camera that lets you do 3d graphics right there in the camera)

8. Ummmmm but where are all the witnesses?

If you are in a public area, and there are other people around make sure they see it too. A good method would be scream as loud as you can and then point at the sky. People will follow your finger right to the UFO just to see what all the ruckus is about.

If you have no witnesses, always remember this. The object is in the SKY!!!!!! (therefore visible from probably anywhere in your community)! Do us a favor, phone a friend have them snap some shots too from their location. (remember to apply this to tip 1.)

9. How do we know its Alenz?

I understand when you see something in the sky you want to get a closer look. Sure that's cool, but please be mindful of your zoom. If the image turns into a crappy fubar blob of wtf it is no good to us. Try zooming slower so the camera can focus, and stay out far enough where we can still tell the object is actually an object....

I swear to god! If you take that video camera off of the UFO or let it stop filming before the thing leaves I will hurt you! Just keep your eye on the prize until the prize is no longer there. You see the method of exit is a pretty sure sign if the object in question is anything we humanz have the technological capabilities to build. It might also show us some intelligent control rather than a measly ol satellite or some Venus weather ballooned swamp gas that mimics ball lightning....

If anyone has anything to add to this would be great! I hope this helps people that don't know WTF they are doing in hopes that one day they will get some good quality footage.

CHEERS!

[edit on 10-7-2009 by DaMod]

No responses at all to the filming and capture of proper footage?

Wow.....

i ll request a sticky on this.

Great thread, starred and flagged.

These are the most basic of suggestions, yet are something that most people forget to do.

I know it must be exciting when you see something in the sky, but it's great to have tips like this to remember.

A good way of practising this would be for our members to take their cameras outside and film something for say a couple of minites if they can. A bird, a plane, anything thats moving. Practice doing the commentary, include all the details that DaMod has spoken about, and get used to giving accurate and detailed commentary each time you use the camera.

When the time comes to do a real ufo video, the end result should be far better than what we usualy see.

Maybe make up an acronym so you can remember what to cover, something like......ah now as you can see, i need some other letters to make a decent, memorable word lol......at the moment my word is CADSCDWCSM.....

Commentary: Don't forget to speak and highlight details for the viewer.

At: Where are you? Details, not just "my back garden".

Distances: How far are you from the thing. How high is it approx?

Stability: How are you stabilizing the shot? Tripod, wall, stick, led on floor leaning on elbows?

Camera: What are you using to film it? What settings?

Date and Time: Mention this as not everyone has it displayed on their camera.

Witnesses: Are there any bystanders that you can grab and flim?

Conditions: Weather, lighting, day or night, dusk or dawn?

Structures: Pan out to include landmarks/structures.

Movement: How is the object moving?, this may not be apparent in the video.

You get my drift though.

CX.

Here is a link on another thread in the forums dealing with the objects being shot.

A Skeptics Tools: Validating and Confirming UFO's

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I think this is the most important point and my biggest issue.

7. U Photoshop U suk

Remember these 3 letters. R A W...... Here just so you don't forget.

RAW

We need the RAW footage or photo directly off of your camera. WE NEED THE RAW FOOTAGE DIRECTLY FROM YOUR DEVICE!

But I will add: DO NOT USE ANY EDITING SOFTWARE. See this post for some uploading ideas: Suggestions by ARMAP

Once there is ANY tampering done: renaming, resizing, filtering, etc. The image is now flawed and can not be analyzed. Do not do ANY of this.


This goes for VIDEO too. Stop trying to make MTV music type videos. Nobody cares about the fancy scrolling text and your favorite song. They are a major distraction and show one thing: The video you are presenting is not original, it is edited and therefore can not be analyzed or taken seriously.



[edit on July 13th 2009 by greeneyedleo]

Do not use auto focus. Use manual.
Do not use digital zoom. Use optical.

I think this is a good thread because it does educate.

At the same time one has to realize that when a person believes what they are filming is genuinely something unconventional they are understandably going to be excited. Therefore, will be nervous and shaking the camera and may even forget the little rules listed in previous posts.

No matter how great footage can be filmed, there will always be something to pick apart in footage or a photo.

I love this site but man, I've seen some people really bicker and moan over footage and such.

"Oh, there talking too much...Why didn't he/she do this instead...the footage is too shaky, why didn't they bring a tripod..."

Jeeze, lay off a little maybe the person is doing their best. I would put money that some of the very people complaining on here and giving their "expert advice" would have the same issues filming as the rest of us. One can not predict where/when/how a sighting will occur.

Most of us on here have lives and when a sighting happens, the envirnonment around that person may be noisy, dark, full of trees/buildings and such.

Years ago I posted one of my own videos of what I believed was a UFO (to this day I still dunno what it was). Naturally, a child heard crying in the background over small things as children often do and I had people on here coming out of the wood work accusing me of all sorts of things. Like that I was letting the child cry and not attending to him, when this was NOT the case at all.

Unfortunately there are still some people who would rather try to pick apart unimportant parts of footage/photos rather then look and comment on the the footage itself.

Thankfully, many level headed mature people here on ATS came to my rescue and had legitament things to say about the footage rather then try to get in insight into my personal life and make unnecessary disgusting comments.

So the only thing I have to say about this thread is comments on footage/photos should be kept to exactly that and if the commentary in the background is bothering you turn your volume down.



[edit on 13-7-2009 by Abductee Chick

[edit on 13-7-2009 by Abductee Chick]

$14 Steadycam

Why build a cheap steadycam?
Steadycams (or camera stabilizers) are attachments used to capture smooth looking video even when the camera and camera operator are in motion. The camera operator may walk (or even jog), move through tight hallways and doorways, and even climb up and down stairs without shaking the camera. Unfortunately, professional steadycams cost around $1500. Even the cheap 3rd party ones cost $600+. Not exactly a bargain considering many of us use cameras in that price range. So, I decided to make my own version. It turns out, it only costs $14. Not too bad. And I'll show you how to build your own right here (or you can buy a ready-to-use steadycam from me through this website [littlegreatideas.com]). Whether you are an aspiring filmmaker, a videographer, the family documentarian, or just want more utility out of your video camera, you'll appreciate a steadycam.

If you know what you are doing, you can probably build one of these in about 20 minutes. It might take you an hour if you have to read this web page while you do it and aren't very good with tools . This steadycam design works with anything that has a tripod mount and should be fine with cameras that weigh less than 5 pounds. For heavier cameras, I would recommend building a large sled for better support and easier mounting or considering adding a professional tripod head . If you make it out of steel or iron as I recommend, you will have to worry more about the solidity of your camera than the solidity of the steadycam. But before we begin, I should warn you that improper or irresponsible use of a steadycam can quickly result in damage to your equipment and/or injury to yourself and others.

steadycam.org...

All it takes is about $14 in supplies, an hour and you've got yourself a video/photo stabilizer.

very good little tutorial you done damod the effort alone deserves S&F
This should help potential UFO spotters out alot

Originally posted by DaMod

Remember these 3 letters. R A W...... Here just so you don't forget.

We need the RAW footage or photo directly off of your camera. WE NEED THE RAW FOOTAGE DIRECTLY FROM YOUR DEVICE!


[edit on 10-7-2009 by DaMod]

Unfortunately you FAILED terribly DaMod in yoiur looooong but incomplete post by
ignoring or deliberately not mention the MOST IMPORTANT part of the process.
Let's see what you are demanding.

DaMod: We need the RAW footage directly off your camera. Fine but first of all who
are we? Let me guess you mean here in this forum therefore you would need the
original raw footage to be uploaded entirely for everyone's satisfaction in analyzing.
Good BUT do you know what this process will imply? I don't think so OR you know
but don't want to mention because of the technical inconvenient it presents, right?

Let's say I have a spectacular UFO footage videotaped with a standard HI8 camera.
The footage I took is 10 minutes long without editing or cuts And also with original
audio with the requirements you mentioned. Now here comes the hard part.

How will I capture the 10 minute footage from my HI8 handycam to my PC or laptop?

Can you answer this properly DaMod with technical information?

I will help you if you fail. The process to capture the 10 minute raw footage by the
PC or laptop SHOULD BE DONE in NTSC Standard size minimun 720 X 480 at 30 frames
per second 4:3 ratio AND UNCOMPRESSED by any means. Of course the actual
standard is much demanding for quality and the capture should be done at High
Definition, maybe1680 X 1050 pixels widescreen and this capture will be the optimun
required yes for a good analysis.

Now here are the questions I will ask you, not for me but for those you wrote your
tutorial.

1- Do you know how many gigabytes will the capture of the 10 minute footage take
from your PC or laptop in those quality sizes without compression?

2- What kind of PC, laptop or Mac should a person have including processor, RAM
memory, HD capacity, video and audio card etc. to accomplish this required high quality
capture of the 10 minute RAW footage to be analyzed?

3- What kind of video card should a person have powerful enough to capture a RAW
footage uncompressed of these sizes and how much this card cost?

4- Let's suppose this person is lucky to have a powerful computer to do the task and
made a High Quality capture of the RAW footage resulting in many gigabytes. Now
how will he make the transfer or should I say the upload BY INTERNET of the file,
by using what instrument FTP? Yeah could be however several gygas will take some
days depending of the speed of the internet server, Ah aH now we have a new obstacle
here right? The internet server to be used, so before we go on let's check this one.

The internet server to be used to upload your required RAW footage captured from the
videocamera. If it is a dialup just forget it, will take forever. If it is a fast server it will
also take many time almost desesperatley long and for what, just to satisfy you and
others? I don't think so. Think about it.

Another option instead of a FTP direct upload? Email is forbidden for this gigantic size.
Yotube, Googlevideo needless to argue, they resize, compress etc. Other good options?
Just name them.

At this point DaMod you realize that the process of delivering your most required RAW
footage is not that simple but on the countrary pretty difficult BY INTERNET. Then I
think you need to redefine your whole request, start again and MENTION EXACTLY how
you want the delivery to be done, step by step, then we talk ok?

Listen DaMod if you want to write a tutorial of how to make good UFO recordings that's
fine but don't ask in capital letters like shouting what you can't request, that is the RAW
footage to be delivered like you pretend, learn first the technical problem it involves.
And please don't try to be smart by arguing the footage can always be delivered in
a DVD copy from the camcorder, that's a simple way out and you know IT WON'T
HAPPEN. (I follow your example shouting here but I stop now). I would like to see
a person sending many copies of his footage by FedEx or airmail to many unknown
people, C'mon that doesn't happen easily and not mentioning the costs.

So if you have real technical answers to my questionnarie please give them not to me
but to the members reading this thread since it seems you have all figured out, ok?
And please don't swear to God, there's no need to involve God in these matters and
sounds more like a sign of arrogance.

And finally don't get upset with me, this is strictly technical nothing personal.
Have a nice day.

[edit on 13-7-2009 by free_spirit]

reply to post by free_spirit


Lol do you not think your post sounds a bit harsh? It comes across like it's written by someone who knows a lot about the techy side of things, but is almost belittleing someone who is just trying to post a decent thread that will help?

To say he "Failed terribly" is possibly a bit much, and certainly not how some would see it.

As for all the questions you asked, can't you just post the answers after each question as you obviously know them, instead of what appears to be challenging the OP to a test of techy knowledge?

Help the thread instead of making it, and the OP look crap.

CX.

reply to post by DaMod


I think its great that you have posted this advice because obviously everyone is sick of trying to veiw a badly shot vid, or identify a random light source from a blurred and messed up image... BUT !!! Since I got a digital camera not so long back , I realised just what kind of difficulties you can get into when trying to capture a crisp image of an object at distance without a telephoto lens , or other expensive gear.
I have a samsung camera , its a 10.2 megapixel s1070. I recently had the chance to use it to photograph some unidentified objects at a friends garden party. There was limited feild of veiw because although houses here in England tend to be pretty short in height (in the suburbs at least) they also tend to be packed together , which means the clearest shot will be the one you take pointed STRAIGHT up in the air. Thats HELLA hard to do without shaking. And also , I have realised that if I wanted a shot of these things , I should have ignored my friends and asked for a real camera with film and massive huge gargantuan zoom lenses . But thats besides the point. Sometimes ...no ...MOST times, if an event is not expected you cannot truely prepare for it . And since no one EXPECTS ufos (or the inquisition) then its almost idiotic to ask them to try ... however, much respect to all the other info in your post.

reply to post by CX


yea i thought he came across as being a little harsh aswell ( whether intending or not) If you (free_spirit) want to get more technical how about creating a similar thread but in the title write for the advanced user? that way people can look at both.

reply to post by Phage


I will use optical zoom when I retire, untill then I will do what people who dont excrete money do.

Good post!
I have 2 things to expand upon:

Originally posted by DaMod
7. U Photoshop U suk

Remember these 3 letters. R A W......

We need the RAW footage or photo directly off of your camera. WE NEED THE RAW FOOTAGE DIRECTLY FROM YOUR DEVICE!

Don't edit it an make it pretty (unless the RAW data is available) don't enhance it or make any changes of any kind. The EXIF data will tell us what has been done to your stuffs.. If you do use photoshop to edit it, make sure the RAW(!!!!!) data is available as well! As for videos, the raw data is good because then there be no cgi.... (unless of course you have a uber advanced video camera that lets you do 3d graphics right there in the camera)

My camera has an option to take the original pictures in either jpg format (compressed) or bmp format (uncompressed).
Normally I leave the camera in jpg mode because I can fit over 10 times as many pictures on the same memory card that way, and they look pretty good.
If I happen to photograph a UFO in this mode, I could provide the original, unaltered jpg image, but that has already been compressed by the camera.
Just to be more specific about this, what the UFO photographer should really do, is go into the camera settings, and if using the jpg mode (like I do), change that to the uncompressed mode.
From RAW I wasn't clear if you meant raw compressed file or the raw uncompressed file, but clearly the raw uncompressed file would be better. However unless I change my camera settings, no such file will ever exist, so I think it's important to point out the possible need to change the camera settings for to make a raw uncompressed image in the first place. I only hope in the excitement of taking such a wonderful picture, we don't forget to do this!

I would also add to Phage's point about only using manual zoom and manual focus.
For most cameras, if the object is more than roughly 25-50 feet away(depending on the camera), you will probably get a good result by just setting the camera to manual focus, and setting the focus to infinity. Of course you can try to tweak it if you think you can sharpen it more manually, but almost without exception, 99% of the UFO videos I have seen would get good results with the manual focus set to infinity because the object is MUCH FARTHER than 25 feet away. One of the most annoying things in pictures and videos is to see how the camera is struggling to focus on the object and in many cases the picture gets blurry, using manual focus will prevent this and just setting it to infinity will prevent this blurriness, unless you're getting shots closer than 50 feet (in which case you will have some of the best UFO footage ever).

reply to post by free_spirit


You know, if you thought any of my information was incomplete you could have just corrected me instead of attacking me..... Wouldn't that have been more productive? There was no need to be an A-Hole..... This thread is just to give tips.. You really didn't have to act like that, you should have really just provided information and added something that I missed, or perhaps give us some of your own knowledge. Instead, you simply tried to belittle me. Real Mature dude....

[edit on 13-7-2009 by DaMod]

Good idea for a thread, DaMod!

I would like to add some things.

To help stabilise the camera, if the camera has a strap, put it behind your neck and keep it stretched; the force you do to keep the strap stretched makes the camera much more steady than if you just had you harms resting, but it may become tiring for a long session.

If possible, move to a slightly different location, preferably to one side and then (or before, the order does not matter) forward; if the UFO is close enough, the difference in the angle of the camera can help getting an idea of distance (the difference when you move sideways) and altitude (the difference when you move closer).

For what I said in the above paragraph to work you need to get an idea of the angle of the camera, specially if there are no references near the UFO. Unfortunately, I haven't found an easy way of getting the vertical angle in which a camera is pointing, maybe someone has some good idea. If there is someone else filming or taking photos ask them to take a photo of yourself, that would give the angle.

reply to post by free_spirit


Free Spirit, you raise a good point, but the tone of your post is way harsh.

See this Video Capture Cards buyers guide for information on devices you can use to hook up your Hi-8 cam to a PC. Some of them aren't very expensive and include the needed software to do it.

I would say for starters, we could look at a compressed video of the entire sequence if it's a long one. Then if the captured file is too big to share in its entirety, what would make sense to me is to figure out what the largest file we CAN share is, and capture the portion of the raw footage from the cam to digital mode that provides the clearest view of the object, even if that is say 20 seconds out of a 10 minute video. It's possible several smaller such videos could be made to deal with size limitations for any one such video. For ATS the filesize limit is 50MB, but it might be possible to use other filesharing services that have larger limits, we just won't be able to embed them.

Regarding the resolution, the high quality capture should be at least the resolution of the camera or higher.

If you have more details you want to share than share them but please don't be so harsh on the poster for leaving some details out, I think the concept of the OP is a great idea, and we're here to help each other figure out better ways of doing things, not to attack each other.

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
But I will add: DO NOT USE ANY EDITING SOFTWARE. Simply upload directly from camera to MATS.

Unfortunately, I have to say:

DO NOT UPLOAD THE ORIGINAL PHOTOS TO MATS, IT DESTROYS THE EXIF DATA.

As you can see in this photo, the EXIF data was removed by MATS (and it was further compressed).

ImageShack and PhotoBucket keep the EXIF data, as you can see here and here, respectively, but PhotoBucket re-compresses the photo.

For uploading bigger photos (MATS does not allow large photos, even if the file size is 50MB, my 3264x2448 photos cannot be uploaded, for example) or other file types I now use eSnips (up to a total of 5GB storage space) or ADrive (up to a total of 50GB storage space).