Dry fire fun with video camera

kesserman · February 17, 2006, 02:33 PM

Some people stay up at night dreaming up ‘would you shoot’ scenarios. I stay up thinking about stuff like this.

Say I set up a video camera on a dry fire target. I have in hand my soon to be purchased 686 Smith with Crimson Trace laser grip.

I begin to dry fire with my camera running.

Take my footage and digitize it into my computer (The Tech Geeks will know what I’m talking about)

When they film a movie, they capture the Sound and Picture separately. When you see the old timey slate that they clap down before they call action, you’re seeing what the editor uses to line up the picture with the sound. He slides the picture (when the bars of the slate close together) so it lines up with the ‘clap’ sound on the audio track.

So, I line up with the one frame that has the sound of the hammer falling (very easy to do with software) and I should be able to tell by the Crimson Trace where my shot goes on the target.

At the end of the day, I could place all my shots (Via Photoshop, or some other Image edit program, or even string them together to make a video clip of my tags as they hit)

I was thinking this would be a good way to work on my double action.

Think it would work? Has anyone tried such a thing? Is it a good training tool? Am I nuts?

Chris Phelps · February 17, 2006, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Take my footage and digitize it into my computer

what do you have for a camcorder? Beta cam? VHS?

Cause ya know... DV8, MiniDV, HDV, exc... they are already digital so you wont need to "digitize" anything.

you also wont need to line up the sound... not even pro videographers capture seperate very often anymore.

Photoshop is an insanely hard program to edit video with, as you have to do it one frame at a time (at 29.97 frames per second.)

Other than the technical details of how you plan to do this... it seems like a good project.

kesserman · February 17, 2006, 02:55 PM

Chris

The business of lining up the sound was to make the point that it would be very easy to pinpoint the exact time the hammer fell because of it's distinctive audio signature.

The footage would be placed in a video edit application like Final Cut Pro, where I could extract the appropriate stills for use in photoshop or any other application.

This could be fun! Now if I only had a gun!

Trip20 · February 17, 2006, 03:17 PM

Sounds time consuming.

Spend that time at the range!

Be sure to post your finished product should you choose to go through with this. I bet it'd be pretty darned neat.

zeisloft · February 17, 2006, 03:17 PM

Call me old fashioned, but have you considered shooting an actual target with live ammo? This just seems easier unless you have some proclivity for what you describe. I'm an old salt on the idea if dry fire practice and will, on occasion draw and fire on some character on a TV show when they appear, but this is more of a practice of drawing and acquiring the target than anything else. No harm intended by this post, just feel you may be attempting to reinvent the wheel, however, you may be way above my head in your aims.
~z

threefivesevenmag · February 17, 2006, 05:22 PM

I think you should just work on dryfire practice. Learn your trigger and smooth it out. You don't need a video footage to show you where your red dot is shifting nor the distinctive audio clicks of your hammer falling.

Get someone to video you doing a live fire exercise or an IDPA match, then you'll really learn what you could improve upon because that's much more of an indicator of proper technique and handling.

Dryfire...just do it, video yourself doing something that tests more.

sterno · February 18, 2006, 09:53 AM

Why pickup wild sound? Most DV cameras have an internal mic that sould pickup the hammer falls in a moslty quiet room.

I also don't think that'll help your shooting any because the time between dryfire and when you look at the footage will be too long.

Ronny · February 18, 2006, 10:03 AM

Save time and aggravation and order one of these instead.

http://www.hosercam.com/

February 17, 2006, 02:33 PM	#1
kesserman Member Join Date: December 6, 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 75	Dry fire fun with video camera Some people stay up at night dreaming up ‘would you shoot’ scenarios. I stay up thinking about stuff like this. Say I set up a video camera on a dry fire target. I have in hand my soon to be purchased 686 Smith with Crimson Trace laser grip. I begin to dry fire with my camera running. Take my footage and digitize it into my computer (The Tech Geeks will know what I’m talking about) When they film a movie, they capture the Sound and Picture separately. When you see the old timey slate that they clap down before they call action, you’re seeing what the editor uses to line up the picture with the sound. He slides the picture (when the bars of the slate close together) so it lines up with the ‘clap’ sound on the audio track. So, I line up with the one frame that has the sound of the hammer falling (very easy to do with software) and I should be able to tell by the Crimson Trace where my shot goes on the target. At the end of the day, I could place all my shots (Via Photoshop, or some other Image edit program, or even string them together to make a video clip of my tags as they hit) I was thinking this would be a good way to work on my double action. Think it would work? Has anyone tried such a thing? Is it a good training tool? Am I nuts? __________________ 'TFL' is great - But sometimes you just have to go out and throw some lead!

February 17, 2006, 02:55 PM	#3
kesserman Member Join Date: December 6, 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 75	Chris The business of lining up the sound was to make the point that it would be very easy to pinpoint the exact time the hammer fell because of it's distinctive audio signature. The footage would be placed in a video edit application like Final Cut Pro, where I could extract the appropriate stills for use in photoshop or any other application. This could be fun! Now if I only had a gun! __________________ 'TFL' is great - But sometimes you just have to go out and throw some lead!

February 17, 2006, 03:17 PM	#5
zeisloft Senior Member Join Date: June 7, 2005 Location: Amarillo TX Posts: 419	Call me old fashioned, but have you considered shooting an actual target with live ammo? This just seems easier unless you have some proclivity for what you describe. I'm an old salt on the idea if dry fire practice and will, on occasion draw and fire on some character on a TV show when they appear, but this is more of a practice of drawing and acquiring the target than anything else. No harm intended by this post, just feel you may be attempting to reinvent the wheel, however, you may be way above my head in your aims. ~z __________________ A scalpel can be just as effective as a broadsword Obviously, Occam was not a reloader

February 18, 2006, 09:53 AM	#7
sterno Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2005 Location: South Louisiana Posts: 362	Why pickup wild sound? Most DV cameras have an internal mic that sould pickup the hammer falls in a moslty quiet room. I also don't think that'll help your shooting any because the time between dryfire and when you look at the footage will be too long. __________________ .38, .39; whatever it took. Sterno's Myspace - Grayskull Myspace

February 17, 2006, 03:17 PM	#4
Trip20 Senior Member Join Date: March 21, 2005 Posts: 2,181	Sounds time consuming. Spend that time at the range! Be sure to post your finished product should you choose to go through with this. I bet it'd be pretty darned neat.

February 17, 2006, 05:22 PM	#6
threefivesevenmag Senior Member Join Date: May 8, 2005 Posts: 406	I think you should just work on dryfire practice. Learn your trigger and smooth it out. You don't need a video footage to show you where your red dot is shifting nor the distinctive audio clicks of your hammer falling. Get someone to video you doing a live fire exercise or an IDPA match, then you'll really learn what you could improve upon because that's much more of an indicator of proper technique and handling. Dryfire...just do it, video yourself doing something that tests more.

February 18, 2006, 10:03 AM	#8
Ronny Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2005 Posts: 206	Save time and aggravation and order one of these instead. http://www.hosercam.com/