video editing, digital cameras, laptop, blah!

I am embarking on a few months journey through southeast asia and I'd like to do some serious vlogging. I don't really have a camcorder but I have digital cameras that should be able to take large amounts of video. I'M wondering if anyone has any advice on this, whether i should bring my laptop which i'd rather not do, whether there is a video editing program I can use on the run, anything anything ANYTHING would help. Thanks everyone.

is it an option to load the videos onto youtube or some file sharing thing as you go, then nedit then when you get back?

I was kind of hoping to do it as I went along...

(...) anything anything ANYTHING

really anything? what i sometimes do is what copperfingers already suggested. make the video or the photographs, load them on youtube or flickr or facebook in your personal account, fix & put together everything later when you are back.

(...) is a video editing program I can use on the run

on the run? you mean while running (haha, joke!) what i would do is store them for a week and just ask locally for a shop or store that does professional editing/cutting/development. any photo studio in hamburg or elswhere would be able to give you advice about those places. last but not least: when you are in a town with an university/college just try to sneak in or ask someone to help you with a local computer machine. many students or fellow travellers have equipment you should be able to borrow for some hours. no need to carry around an own laptop. except my dig. camera and audio equipment i always borrow things "beeing on the run" from others. programms i cannot help you with. apple final cut is a good and easy to handle thing but rather expensive. also, you should bring (means you have tu buy it before) minimum the/a programm to set in on the computer/s you will use.

- go without machinery but a decent easy to use programm
- use local machines

edit/cut

- upload, store & be happy

this is how i would be doing it. foreign uni will always be of help while travelling. this is how it works best for me.

grüße/regards

'super

I used iMovie, Final Cut Express, and Final Cut Pro on a powerbook laptop (mac). If your editing requirements are VERY basic, then go with the free iMovie. There isn't much versatility in iMovie and the options for input/output are more restricted. The features are very basic. FCE is a limited version of the full FCP and is cheaper. I'm not positive, but might be able to upgrade to FCP later for less money than the full price of FCP. FCP also has a feature (offlineRT) where you can import footage from a camera/tape at 1/9th the size/quality. After you finish the editing the footage FCP can re-capture the footage at the full quality resolution. This process is good as you can fit a lot of footage on your harddrive. For example, I shot about 40 hours of footage in Japan and was able to load it on to my 250GB external LaCie harddrive (with lots of room leftover!), and when I get my final edit (i.e. about 1 hour), FCP can re-capture only the clips that I used in my final edit at fulll quality.

You might want to buy a small tripod for your camera if you want to take pictures/video of yourself. If you have a small digital still camera - the tripod can be pretty small. There are travel tripods or other ways of stabalising your camera. If you want a video camera, the tripod should be a bit larger. If you want to move the camera (pans, tilts), make sure that the head can move in this manner. Some tripod heads for film/video have a stick on the side that you can use for smoother pans. The cheaper the tripod, the more difficult it will be to get smooth movements. Certain tripod heads for still cameras are also more difficult to move. You can also look at a photo/video store for a collapsable fabric reflector to give a little fill light to fill in shadows. There are various sizes, but a good size is about 1m (open) and 25-30cm (closed). There are ones that have gold/silver/white surfaces for nice warming.

Many cities in Canada have film and video cooperatives where you can rent cameras, production, and editing equipment. I'm not sure if any of the countries you're going to have these groups, but it's worth researching or asking people in the film/TV industry when you arrive. LIFT is the largest Canadian coop (in Toronto) and has lots of links. Most coops charge a membership fee to get the great discount prices on their services. Most countries/large cities have film offices that can be contacted by foriegn projects who want to film in the country/city. You might do some web research about cites you're going to. They could give you assistance with local industy contacts - usually for free, and in English.
http://www.lift.on.ca/<BR><BR>There's lots of info on this site:
http://www.dvshop.ca/dvcafe.html<BR><BR>There's also lots of info on this digital video forum. "Open DV Discussion" (general questions) and the sections on editing "Post Production" (there's even one for internet projects). You can search old posts or ask for help. There are members from all over the world and you might find someone in SE Asia that can help you. There are also forums for equipment.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/<BR><BR>Having your own laptop and camera would make sure that you avoid compatibility issues. Not all countries have the same format for video/TV/computers and if you're using different computers in different countries in SE Asia, the formats (NTSC or PAL) might not be the same from country to country - or when you return to your home country.
Good luck!