Veo Camera Guide – Veo Rookie

Description

So your Veo camera finally arrived and you want to record your first game tomorrow. What do you need to do to get ready? We know user manuals can be a drag, who wants to read pages of directions?

We make it easier by giving you lots of example videos and also by walking you through your “firsts”. What should you do your first…

• First Day
• First Week
• First Game
• First Tournament
• First Highlight Video

In fact we know you probably won’t read all the manuals because we’ve helped lots of soccer teams over the last year. We ship out our cameras around the country for teams to use for a weekend. We provide detailed instructions and many times we still get an email, text, or call asking “what do I do now…”

No problem. We know it’s new technology and all you want is to get good footage of the game. Whether it’s for a highlight video, coaching purposes, or college recruiting video you just want clips of your player – minus all the hassle.

As we say in our Veo camera review this really is a “soccer camera for soccer dads and moms”. It’s simple once you’ve used it a few times but that first game, first week, or first tournament you have a lot of questions.

We’ve spent many hours over the last year on the phone and email with soccer family’s and teams around the country. That’s why we created this “Veo Rookie” guide, for teams just like you. In fact, here’s our opening few paragraphs:

Congrats on your new camera! I know you’re excited to unbox it but also a little nervous that it won’t be worth what you paid for it. You’re probably also worried about potential tech issues and whether it will work as promised.

I get it. When I pre-ordered our first Veo it hadn’t shipped to the US yet. I was going out on a limb that this green triangle contraption would do everything that I hoped it would. My wife wasn’t exactly jumping up and down that I’d dropped all this money on a soccer camera and I was nervous that it would crash and burn after I’d promised these cool features to the coaches and asked team parents to help chip in for the camera.

Luckily our Veo story had a happy ending and I’d like to help you get to the same place. My wife didn’t divorce me, we have highlight videos for our kids, our coaches have game video to review, and all is good in the soccer video world.

So take a deep breath, your camera is going to work out fine. In this guide we’ll walk you through what you need…

 

Sound at all familiar? The most stressful is when you get the camera the day before a big showcase and you really need it to work for some footage. If that’s you then get the guide and give us a call. We’ll walk you through what you need to know.

Another question we hear a lot is what happens if my Veo stops working? We’ve been there, done that. We include a section on what to do when your Veo camera isn’t working. How to ship your camera back, get it repaired, and get back to recording games again.

We also know for peace of mind you might want someone you can call or email with a question. Again, no problem. With the “Veo Rookie” guide you’re free to reach out whenever you get stuck or run into a problem.

So if your Veo camera is on the way or has arrived go ahead and order your Veo Rookie Guide, print out the Veo Camera Cheat Sheet on page 2 to keep in your camera case, and if you get stuck shoot us an email, send us a text, or give us a call!

Team Testimonials:

The Veo Rookie Guide was priceless in ensuring my videos ended up flawless. From initial set up of the cameras, setting up our club and teams, inviting players, pregame preparation, filming expectations, download process and film use, the manual was with me every step of the way. You put so much detail into each process it really makes the VEO foolproof. The guide felt like it was written for me, even down to recognizing the trepidation I had of taking center field with a camera system and my need to validate that the camera was actually recording.

Mike Rickman

$49.99 $29.95Add to cart

Here’s a little more about what to expect in your Veo user guide.

First Day

There’s a lot to learn when you first get your camera. Here you focus on the things that you want to do and setup that very first day. You’ll look at your account setup and how to use your tripod and record with the camera.

We walk you through something to do ahead of time that might seem silly but you’ll be glad you did on that first game day. You see how to upload your footage and how to keep tabs on the battery and space for your camera. You’ll also go over a few tripod alternatives and accessories you might need to order depending on how you’ll be using the camera.

First Week

Here you get some tips on things you might not think about regarding venues and what you might need to research ahead of time. Then you go into setting up your team and inviting coaches and players. We share a team case study that walks you through:

• Creating a Team
• Assigning Games
• Inviting Players & Parents
• Creating Highlights

You’ll see sample emails you can send out to teams and coaches to explain how things work and invite them to the system. You also go over different ways you can give access to the games and the pros and cons. Lastly, if you’re a coach we give you some suggestions on recruiting a few parents to help you run the camera for games.

First Game

You’ll get some tips on how to prepare the night before your first game. One that you might be VERY glad you follow at some point.

That’s followed by a Game Day checklist of things to do and consider so that you get good footage your first time out. We start before you leave the house and walk you through the day of recording that first game. You get tips about setting up and positioning the camera, recording the game, and what to do if you can’t stop the recording.

Then you’ll see what to do (and what not to forget) when you get home to upload the footage. We’ll show you how to check on the status and explain the difference between Uploading, Preparing, and Processing. You’ll also see what to do if you have multiple games in one day but want to upload in between them.

Game Video

In this section you’ll learn the options you have for sharing the game and clips with others and what has worked well for us. Then you’ll see how to create highlights either as a coach, as a parent, or as a player. We explain the benefit of a directed highlight over a regular highlight and show cases where it makes sense to use a directed highlight and tips for making them easier to create. You’ll also see how to create a player profile.

Most importantly you’ll see how coaches, parents, and players can all use Veo as a way to learn from the footage. This is one of the most useful features of the Veo system and we look at how all parties can benefit from having a Veo on the field.

Since the Veo isn’t cheap here we share tips (and sample emails) on getting others to help pitch in for the Veo and how you can handle requests to share the game video that you capture.

First Tournament

Taking a Veo on the road to record multiple teams can be a challenge due to battery and upload limitations. This can be frustrating for high level clubs who play most of their games on the road and want to record multiple teams in an event. This section gives you tips and tools for managing battery and upload challenges while you’re travelling

Veo Repair

One of the questions we had before buying a Veo was what would happen if the camera stopped working? I know you probably had the same thought because we get that question quite a bit.

We actually ran into that situation and documented the process of getting it repaired. This section shows you the steps to take to repair a Veo. The biggest downside was being without it for 2 weeks while our camera was repaired. If that does happen to you during a critical weekend where you really need game footage you can email and ask us about renting one of our cameras.

Veo Tips & Tricks

We also include a section on recording in different types of weather and handling the elements. Another section looks at tripod challenges and different ways you can use the Veo when you’re not recording in your normal outdoor soccer field.

Unofficial Veo Camera Guide

The reason we wrote this guide is because we’ve heard from so many teams around the country wanting to know the answer to these some or all of these questions. The Veo camera documentation is good and this isn’t a replacement for what they offer.  What we’ve done is keep track of every question a family or team has asked us over the last year and put it all together for you.  We’ve been adding to it every single weekend, which has made it tricky to “finish” the guide.

Finally one night I was on the phone with a team and every question they asked was actually covered in the guide, only problem was the guide wasn’t available for them yet. After spending almost an hour on the phone I decided it was time to get the guide out there – and here it is!

So if this is you:

• Thinking about ordering a Veo camera
• Have a camera on the way
• Soccer camera arrived & you don’t know where to start
• Want to get better use out of your camera
• Have a specific question described above

Go ahead and order your copy of the Unofficial Veo Camera Guide by clicking the “Add to Cart” button below.  If you get stuck shoot us an email, send us a text, or give us a call – 816-398-8846

$49.99 $29.95Add to cart

Veo Camera Guide Excerpt

Travel Tournament Tips

If you’re in a local tournament where you only have one game a day and you’re recording one team then a tournament isn’t really much different than a regular weekend of games.

Where you run into challenges with a tournament is if you have lots of games in one day (example if you’re recording multiple teams each with 2 games a day) and if you’re staying in a hotel (which makes it harder to upload). Let’s take a look at each of these.

Game Uploads

You don’t have to upload your road games if you’re only recording one team. You should be able to store a tournament worth of four games on the camera without running out of space and then upload them when you get home. However if you are recording multiple teams or if the tournament is a longer one with more games you could run out of space if you don’t upload some of the footage as you go.

Wired Internet

Veo requires you to plug into a hard wired Ethernet port in order to upload so when you make your reservation it’s good to request a room with an Ethernet port. If it’s not possible when you make your reservation then definitely call the hotel directly to request your room have a wired internet connection.

These are less common these days with faster WiFi so the earlier you request a room with Ethernet the better. Even if you have a room with wired Internet you can run into issues if the hotel internet requires you to enter your room number in order to use the network. Since you can’t enter it when you plug the cord right into the Veo you might see the network lights flashing but then when you go to cam.veo.co/recordings it won’t show as uploading.

If that’s the case you can use your laptop as a network bridge if you have windows 10, here is a description – https://www.windowscentral.com/how-set-and-manage-network-bridge-connection-windows-10

Going through the bridge is definitely a slower upload but is a fallback if you can’t plug directly into your Veo and should allow you to get some footage uploaded and clear up some space on your camera. Even if you can only upload 1 game a night that creates some space and it lets Veo process the game so you don’t have to wait for all of them to upload and process once you get home.

Make sure before you go to sleep you check the status of the upload on the camera and see that it’s working . You’ll have to turn off the sleep mode on your laptop and make sure both your laptop and your video are plugged into power so neither dies in the middle of the night.

Wireless Internet

We’ve had good luck with this wi-fi bridge –  Here is a video to show how it works – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xANkuhDtksQ

Basically has just a few steps:

• Plug in device to power
• Use the login info on side of device to access the device via your web browser
• Enter the wi-fi connection information in the browser
• Plug an Ethernet cable from the device into your Veo

We’ve used this device at a soccer complex with public WiFi and on our own home WiFi. We haven’t had a chance to test it yet in a hotel with a challenge page.

The speed of the upload depends on the speed of the WiFi network but we were able to upload Veo footage using this device.

If you brought along the portable charger, which we cover in the next section, and the soccer complex has WiFi you could plug in your camera and the WiFi bridge and be charging and uploading  at the same time in between games at the complex.

Network Bridge

Thanks to Derek from the “Real Texas” out of Rockwall,Texas for sharing this option. We’ve never tried it but he sent detailed instructions on how to make it work.

I am running Windows 10 Pro. Connect to the Hotel Wifi, Open a browser and go through the authentication process. Browse the internet to ensure it is working properly.

Now go to the Control Panel, Network Connections, Right click on your wireless adapter and click on PROPERTIES.

Once open, click on the SHARING Tab at the top. Click the check box for “Allow other network uses to connect through this computer’s internet connection”. Then in the drop down box and select your ethernet interface. Click OK.

Now connect an ethernet cable from your laptop’s Ethernet Port to the VEO ethernet port. Videos will start uploading.

Business Center / Lobby

If you can’t get a wired internet connection in your room the other option is to try the Business Center or the lobby.

This obviously isn’t as convenient as leaving your camera in your room to upload. Since the upload takes several hours you’ll have to leave the camera plugged in at the Business Center. One option is to sit there with it but that’s not always feasible. You might be driving players to other games, grabbing dinner, or whatever craziness you have scheduled in an away tournament weekend.

One thing we’ve done is look in the bottom of the cabinet or cupboard in the business center and find an Ethernet plug and open charging port. If there are doors on the cabinet you can plug in the camera, shut the doors, head out for dinner, and hope no one is poking around. We’ve used this approach and it works with the obvious downside that someone could walk away with your Veo. Another thing to keep in mind is that some business centers lock their door after a certain time. You wouldn’t want to come back later and find your Veo was locked in the business center for the night.

You don’t know what the situation will be like when you arrive at the hotel so it’s not a bad idea to come up with a plan B. You could look for hotels that are close by where you’ll be staying. Call them up and ask which ones have a Business center. That way if you have zero luck uploading at your hotel you can visit the Business center at a hotel close by and try it there.

That brings us to the next challenge which is battery life.

Battery Life

The battery is one of the biggest challenges for the camera if you’re trying to record a lot of games in a day. You can’t currently charge Veo while it’s recording which makes it tricky if you have back to back games.

If you have time in between the games what we recommend is bringing along a portable charger with an AC plug. If your camera dies close to the end of a game you can then plug it in and let it charge for about 20 minutes or however long the warmup for the next games takes.

Another option is to buy a second camera and record with one while the other is charging but that is obviously a much more expensive option. The cheaper option is to purchase an external charger or two such as this Halo portable AC charger . It’s definitely not small enough to fit into the camera case but it’s small enough to be portable so you can carry it to the field.

It’s not cheap so another option is this portable charger that’s about $20 less and sometimes goes on sale on Amazon.

Two battery tips:

1) Be sure you leave the camera plugged in at night while you’re uploading a game
2) Make sure you turn it off as soon as the game is over. Don’t put it back in the case turned on

These two tips sound simple but be sure to follow them. They’ve bit us and also teams who have rented our cameras to record games. The biggest culprit of leaving the camera on or not charging it is usually a head coach. They have a lot on their mind so it’s usually better if an assistant coach or parent is in charge of making sure the camera is packed up & turned off and also getting games uploaded.

Carry Bag

If you’re looking for a bag to carry your tripod in some teams have used this Forza carry bag. It’s not a padded bag so we wouldn’t recommend shipping your tripod in it but if you’re looking for an easier way to haul your tripod to the field from your car this bag can help.

$49.99 $29.95Add to cart