Monday, 30 March 2026

Getting the Shot – It’s All About Camera Placement

Having a camera with you on a boat is one thing…
Actually capturing the action? That’s a completely different challenge.

Anyone who has ever come back from a sail thinking “that was brilliant!”… only to discover they’ve filmed 2 hours of their own elbow… will understand exactly what I mean.

Why Placement Matters More Than the Camera

It doesn’t matter whether you’re using a GoPro, a Insta360, or even a high-end DSLR — if it’s pointing the wrong way, it’s useless.

On a moving boat, everything changes:

Direction
Heel angle
Wind
Spray
Crew movement

So your camera needs to be:
👉 Secure
👉 Well-positioned
👉 Thought through before you leave the mooring

Popular Camera Positions on a Sailing Boat

1. Mast Mount – The “Classic Sailing Shot”

This is the go-to shot for a reason.

Pros:

Shows the whole boat and crew
Great for analysing sailing technique
Captures sail trim, tacking, gybing

Cons:

Can miss facial expressions
Needs secure mounting (and a backup tether!)

💡 Tip: Angle slightly down and aft — too high and you’ll just film sailcloth.

2. Stern Mount – The “Chase Cam”

Perfect for capturing the crew working and the boat powering forward.

Pros:

Great storytelling shot
Shows helm + crew interaction
Excellent for YouTube content

Cons:

Can get soaked
May miss what’s happening ahead

💡 Tip: Combine with a forward-facing camera for a full story.

3. Bow Mount – The “Into the Action Shot”

This is where things get exciting — spray, speed, and drama.

Pros:

Incredible sense of speed
Captures waves and spray
Great for social clips

Cons:

Risk of water damage
Can be unstable

Tip: Use waterproof kit (this is where the Olympus Tough shines).

4. 360 Camera – The “Set and Forget”

Honestly, this is becoming the game changer.

Pros:

Capture everything
Reframe later in editing
No need to aim perfectly

Cons:

More editing time
Can look less “cinematic” if overused

Tip: Mount centrally (mast or boom) for best results.

The Real Secret: Think Like a Director

Before you even leave shore, ask yourself:

What story am I telling?
Who is the focus — helm, crew, or boat performance?
Do I want drama, instruction, or memories?

Because random camera placement = random footage.

Lessons Learned (the Hard Way…)

From experience (and plenty of unusable footage):

✔ One well-placed camera beats three badly placed ones
✔ Always use a safety tether (gravity always wins)
✔ Check angles before launching
✔ Batteries and memory cards matter more than you think

Final Thought

You can spend thousands on cameras…
…but if it’s pointing at your buoyancy aid for two hours…

You’ve just made the world’s most expensive documentary about fabric.

Sunday, 29 March 2026

Creating 360° VR Videos – Step Inside the Story

There was a time when filming meant pointing a camera at something and hoping the viewer looked in the right place.

Now… we don’t even tell them where to look.

Welcome to the wonderfully disorientating world of 360° VR video, where your audience can look left, right, up, down—and occasionally completely miss the point you were trying to make. Perfect for sailing videos, slightly terrifying for teaching!

What is a 360° VR Video?

A 360° video captures everything around the camera at once. When viewed:

On a phone → you drag the screen
On a computer → you click and pan
In a VR headset → you look around naturally

It’s the closest thing we have to saying:
“Here, you take control of the camera.”

The Gear – Keep It Simple

You don’t need a Hollywood budget. In fact, simplicity is key.

Typical setup:

A 360 camera (like the Insta360 X3 or GoPro MAX)
A small pole or mount (often magically disappears in editing)
Spare batteries (you will need them!)

For sailing, I tend to:

Mount the camera above head height
Keep it central (so the stitch lines behave)
Avoid putting it where ropes, sheets, or enthusiastic crew will knock it off

Why 360° is Brilliant for Sailing

Traditional video shows what you think matters.
360° video shows what actually happens.

That means:

Viewers can watch sail trim AND helm movement
They can see mistakes (including yours… unfortunately)
It’s perfect for teaching manoeuvres like tacking and gybing

And for those learning to sail at 65+…
You can pause, look around, and replay without getting wet.

The Challenges (or “Why is everything wonky?”)

360° video is not just “press record and relax.”

Common problems:

Stitch lines – where the camera joins images
Camera placement – too low = lots of deck, too high = floating drone effect
You can’t hide – the camera sees EVERYTHING (including the biscuit stash)
Viewer distraction – they might look the wrong way at the key moment

And my personal favourite:
Spending hours editing… only to realise you were standing in shot the entire time.

Editing – Where the Magic Happens

Editing 360° footage is different—but not difficult once you get used to it.

Software like DaVinci Resolve allows you to:

Reframe shots (turn 360 into normal video clips)
Add titles that stay “locked” in space
Stabilise footage (very useful on a boat!)
Export for YouTube VR

A useful trick:
Create BOTH versions

A full 360° interactive video
A “director’s cut” normal video for social media

Teaching with 360° Video

This is where it gets really exciting (teacher hat firmly on).

Imagine:

A physics experiment where students can walk around the setup
A chemistry lab where they can “stand” next to the reaction
A sailing lesson where they can choose to watch helm, crew, or sails

It turns passive watching into active exploration.

Final Thoughts

360° VR video is not about replacing normal video.
It’s about adding a new dimension—literally.

It works best when:

The environment matters
There are multiple things happening at once
You want the viewer to feel present

And on a sailing boat?
It’s about as close as you can get without handing them the tiller.

Saturday, 28 March 2026

DaVinci Resolve 20 – Keeping Up With the Editing Arms Race

Every time I sit down to edit a video in DaVinci Resolve, I’m greeted with the same feeling:

“Ah… yes… everything has changed again.”

Not broken. Not worse. Just… more.

And if you blink, you’ve missed three updates, two new panels, and something powered by AI that claims it can edit your entire video while you make a cup of tea ☕ (it can’t… but it’s trying).

🎥 What’s New (and Actually Useful)

1. AI is Everywhere (Whether You Asked for It or Not)

Resolve 20 leans heavily into AI tools:

Object tracking that actually works (most of the time…)
Auto masking that saves hours
Smart reframing for different aspect ratios (useful for your X / Instagram posts)

For sailing videos or lab demos, this is gold:

Track a boat automatically
Highlight a moving experiment
Reframe for vertical video without re-editing everything

2. Editing is Faster (Once You Find the Buttons Again)

They’ve improved:

Timeline responsiveness
Multi-cam editing
Clip organisation

Which is brilliant… once you work out where everything has moved to this time.

3. Colour Grading Still Reigns Supreme

Resolve is still king when it comes to colour:

Node-based grading gives you full control
Better HDR tools
Improved LUT workflows

For those cloudy Thames sailing days (which is… most of them), this is essential.

4. Audio (Fairlight) Gets Even Better

The Fairlight page now feels like a full studio:

Cleaner audio tools
Better noise reduction
Easier mixing

Useful when:

The wind is howling
The outboard is humming
And your “clear explanation” sounds like it was recorded inside a kettle

⚙️ The Reality: Learning Never Stops

Here’s the honest truth:

You never “learn” Resolve.

You just become slightly less confused than last week.

And that’s fine.

Because each new feature:

Saves time
Improves quality
Lets you do things that were impossible a year ago

🚤 From Lab to Boat to Studio

For what we do at Philip M Russell Ltd:

Teaching videos
Sailing footage
Experiment demonstrations

Resolve 20 means:

Faster turnaround
Better visuals
More engaging content

And yes… a few more hours clicking around thinking:

“I’m sure that button used to be over there…”

🎯 Final Thought

If you’re not updating your tools, you’re falling behind.

But if you are updating them…

You’ll spend half your life learning where everything has gone.

Still worth it 👍

Friday, 27 March 2026

Learning Music the Smart Way – Why Bach Still Has It Right

There’s a funny thing about learning music…

Everyone wants to play the piece — the big dramatic number, the one that makes the neighbours think you’re a genius.

But very few people want to do the boring bits that actually make you good.

And that’s where Johann Sebastian Bach quietly smiles from the 1700s and says…

“I solved this problem 300 years ago.”

The Well-Tempered Secret

Bach wrote The Well-Tempered Clavier, which sounds grand (and it is), but at its heart…

…it’s a training manual.

24 keys
Each with a Prelude (technique builder)
And a Fugue (brain workout of the highest order)

Then he thought… “That worked well.”

So he wrote another entire book of it.

So What’s Going On Here?

This isn’t just music.

It’s deliberate practice.

Each piece sneaks in:

Finger independence
Hand coordination
Reading fluency
Musical phrasing
And the terrifying ability to think in multiple voices at once

You don’t notice you’re doing exercises…

…but you’re getting better.

Why It Still Works Today

Modern learners often:

Jump straight to difficult pieces
Skip fundamentals
Wonder why progress stalls

Bach’s approach is the opposite:

Do lots of small, structured challenges
Cover every key and pattern
Build skill without even thinking about it

It’s exactly the same idea as:

Practising past papers in maths
Repeating experiments in science
Doing manoeuvres again and again in sailing

(Yes… even tacking badly 20 times before getting it right )

The Real Lesson (Not Just for Musicians)

The genius of The Well-Tempered Clavier is not just the music.

It’s the method:

Don’t avoid exercises — disguise them as something interesting.

And It’s Not Just Bach…

Others followed similar ideas:

Frédéric Chopin – Études (beautiful but brutal)
Carl Czerny – endless technical drills
Claude Debussy – studies hidden in art

Some are obviously “exercises”…
Bach just hid his better.

Final Thought

If your practice feels too easy… you’re not improving.
If it feels impossible… you won’t stick with it.

Bach found the sweet spot:

Challenging enough to grow
Interesting enough to keep going

Thursday, 26 March 2026

Editing Video in DaVinci Resolve – Adding Stills & Clips Without Losing Your Mind

There comes a moment in every video project where you sit back, look at your footage, and think:

This needs something… but what?”

That “something” is often cutaway clips, still images, or overlays — and this is where DaVinci Resolve really shines.

Why Add Stills and Extra Clips?

If your video is just one long talking head… people switch off.

Adding visuals:

Breaks up the monotony
Reinforces what you’re saying
Keeps attention (especially online learners)
Makes you look far more professional than you actually feel

In teaching videos (especially science), this is gold:

Show the experiment
Zoom into the apparatus
Add diagrams or results
Overlay graphs or equations

Adding a Still Image (The Easy Win)

Steps:

Import your image into the Media Pool
Drag it onto the timeline (above your main video if you want it as an overlay)
Adjust the duration by dragging the edges
Use the Inspector to:
- Resize
- Position
- Add a gentle zoom (Ken Burns effect)

Tip: A slow zoom makes still images feel like video — otherwise it can feel a bit “PowerPointy”.

Adding Cutaway Clips (B-Roll Magic)

This is where the magic happens.

Steps:

Place your main footage on Track 1
Drop your cutaway clip onto Track 2 (above it)
Trim it to cover awkward edits or pauses
Keep your original audio running underneath

Result:
Your mistakes disappear
Your video feels intentional
You look like you planned it all along

(We both know you didn’t — but no one else needs to know that.)

Timing Is Everything

The biggest mistake?

❌ Leaving images on screen too long
❌ Or flashing them too quickly

Rule of thumb:

2–5 seconds for most visuals
Match visuals to what you're saying
Change something every few seconds to keep engagement

Useful DaVinci Resolve Tools

Inspector → resize, crop, zoom
Transform controls → position overlays
Cross Dissolve → smooth transitions
Cut page → fast edits
Edit page → precise control

Teaching Tip (From the Lab)

In your science videos:

Show the real experiment
Cut to a diagram
Then back to you explaining

This creates a loop:
See it → Understand it → Apply it

And that’s where learning actually sticks.

Final Thought

Editing isn’t about cutting clips…

It’s about telling a story visually.

If every image, clip, and overlay answers:
“Will this help someone understand better?”

…you’re doing it right.