Free Video Streaming (multimedia,video-on-demand,etc.)

Video Converters 101

2008-03-13T23:24:00.000-04:00

Your PC may contain hundreds of video files, all encoded differently - AVI, MPEG, RM, WMV, DVD, VCD, MOV, etc. If you are looking for video conveter tools, here are some suggestions.

WinAVI Video Converter

WinAVI Video Converter is a nice tool for converting video clips to an assortment of formats. The attractive, modern interface features large, clearly labeled icons, so you won't have to dig through the menus very often. You can convert a variety of file types to WMV, AVI, MPEG, and RM. Other notable pluses include a built-in DVD-burning utility, a batch-conversion tool, and a preview pane.WinAVI Video Converter is easy to use and powerful enough for experts. Burning VCD/SVCD/DVD is supported. WinAVI Video Converter supports almost all video file formats, including AVI, MPEG1/2/4, VCD/SVCD/DVD, DivX, XVid, ASF, WMV, RM, QuickTime MOV, Flash SWF.The program also has a powerful video decompress/compress engine that convert whole AVI movie to DVD in 1 less than an hour.

More Information: http://www.deprice.com/winavivc.htm

Aare AVI to VCD DVD SVCD Converter

This tool is very basic, but also very inexpensive - less than eighteen dollars. This program is capable of converting an avi file or Merge some avi files to a VCD DVD SVCD format MPEG file.Plus it Supports avi to vcd dvd svcd conversion with NTSC/PAL setting option, processes avi with DivX/XviD avi format and works with MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4 video files and MPEG layer1, layer2, layer3 audio files. In addition to that there is the "Split feature" that splits big mpeg files into several smaller segment, so that it can be fit onto a CD. Other features include:

* Input/Output preview.

* Fill in / Customize options for cropping output video.

* Support output effect.

* Support Input/Output list and other options saving automatically, finishing it anytime.

The program is brainlessly simple to use:

Additional information:http://www.deprice.com/aareavitovcddvdsvcdconverter.htm

John Deprice is a multimedia professional. He shares his tips and tricks on working with video at http://www.deprice.com/multimedia.htm

Shooting High Definition Video Footage in Italy

2008-03-13T00:52:00.000-04:00

Italy is without question the place to shoot high definition video. Nearly everything in this sun-drenched part of the world cries out for a photo or video capture. My feelings about the country have never wavered from this opinion.

Having said that, I must also admit that Italy - particularly in metropolitan areas - is a problematic country for videographers. Rome, among other Italian cities, has some of the toughest regulations and laws limiting commercial photography.

My husband, Wayne, and I formed our company - VITA Digital Productions - 5 years ago to shoot European video footage - both for our own specialty-market treadmill virtual walks ( www.treadmillwalks.com ) and to sell as stock footage to TV networks around the world ( www.hdeuropeanstockfootage.com ). We made the decision last year to switch over to HD (High Definition) footage after getting our first request for HD footage.

Our biggest concerns, in planning our recent three-week shoot in May 2005, were 1. the safe transport of our video equipment (all in carry-on bags, for obvious reasons!), 2. the ability to shoot in and around tourist-laden locations, and 3. finding ways to get video footage in spite of the stringent regulations enforced in Rome.

Wayne and I have done this several times over the past five years - researching a picture-worthy destination in Europe, making our own travel plans, and packing up like two serendipitous vagabonds to go forth and shoot (you'd just have to know me to appreciate how foreign this is - no pun intended - to my accustomed, orderly way of life). When I look back to the first part of 2001 (pre 9-11) and our two trips to Italy in spring and summer of that year, I realize now how easy it was to get through customs with unusual looking video equipment.

When the two of us travel on a video shoot, we have slowly learned to take the bare minimum of clothing so that we can accommodate the camera, tripods, SteadiCam apparatus, batteries, filters, wide-angle lens, fluid heads, and tape in addition to spare parts for repairs.

This trip, anticipating problems with airport security, we took pictures of Wayne wearing the SteadiCam vest and showing the camera mounted on the articulated arm. We then tucked the pictures inside the luggage for quick and easy retrieval. When the security agents x-rayed our bags, they never failed to have us open our luggage and inspect the equipment contained. It expedited the process when we were able to produce pictures showing how every piece of equipment fit together. Wayne also mailed a small and inexpensive packet of tools (a screwdriver, a pair of pliers and an Allen wrench) to each of our two hotels so that we would not have those little forbidden items confiscated in the airports. And for some reason, an Allen wrench is an absolute no-no with security agents! I suppose that all of the items could have been purchased in Italy, but time is money on a shoot and we didn't want to waste time searching for a source in a strange city.

Safely arriving with all of our equipment in Italy, we were ready to begin shooting. We had an itinerary and a shooting agenda for each day, but we knew we would have to build in some flexibility to allow for both the weather and the unexpected. We have been extremely lucky in this regard, even on our two previous shooting trips to England.

So how does a videographer shoot around the tourists? If too many people are between the camera and subject or site being shot, the whole effort can be an utter waste of time. And also, unfortunately, the Italian polizia and carabinieri are quick to tell a videographer or still photographer to fold up that tripod and move on!! They do NOT have any patience with a foreign professional photographer, so common sense and a little stealth are requirements.

For tourist-filled sites, we have found that shooting in the very early morning works well for us. For one thing, Italy is a late-night country, so there are few people (and that includes police) out on the streets at first light. Typically, we would get to a site by 7 AM each morning, shoot for a few hours and then return to the hotel for breakfast: then back out into the streets for more shooting.

The first part of our trip focused on the Amalfi Coast where we filmed, in addition to some incredibly beautiful stock footage, a virtual walk through the Valle di Mulino (the Valley of the Mills) above Amalfi, another through Pompeii, a third on the Isle of Capri, from Anacapri to Torre Damecuta, and yet another from Ravello to Atrani into the Piazza Umberto.

The last two weeks of this trip took us back to Rome, where our focus was HD stock footage and Renaissance art - Bernini sculptures and Raphael paintings claimed the lion's share of our time and attention. We spent much of our time filming the Pantheon (Raphael's Tomb and the occulus); the Church of Santa Maria de Popolo and its Chigi Chapel; Santa Maria della Vittoria with Bernini's "Ecstasy of St. Teresa"; the Fountain of the Four Rivers in the Piazza Navona; St. Peter's Basilica and Square; and those delightful Breezy Maniacs of Bernini's along the bridge to the Castel Sant'Angelo.

We devoted a day filming a virtual walk in the medieval town of Viterbo (just 1.5 hours by train from Rome). An historical note about Viterbo - had John Paul II or Benedict XVI been elected Pope in the 13th century, it would have happened here rather than in Rome. Now a well-preserved provincial village, but in its heyday, Viterbo was Rome's greatest rival!

Rome was more crowded with tourists during this trip than we've ever encountered. Much of that could be attributed to pilgrimsflocking to the Vatican in the month following the death of Pope John Paul II and the subsequent election of Pope Benedict XVI. We've also heard that more Americans are traveling to Europe this summer than ever before. Whatever the reason, there were visitors everywhere.

At the end of the trip, we were exhausted but satisfied with the 20 plus hours of High Definition footage we shot along the Amalfi Coast and in Rome. There was an unfortunate incident with a French gendarme in the Charles deGaulle airport, but that will remain a story told within the family!

Is a foreign shoot worth the time, expense, and aggravation? I'll give you a resounding yes on that one - but with a caveat: pack an extra dose of patience and a big heart, and both will be rewarded many times over!

My husband, Wayne, and I own a video production company that focuses on European travel. In addition to our Virtual Walks Series, we also shoot stock footage of Venice, Rome, the Amalfi Coast, London, and English villages. We have sold our footage to numerous television networks and production houses around the world.

Google Video Viewer tweaked for Non-Google content

2008-03-10T11:09:00.000-04:00

'DVD Jon', a Norwegian programmer, has tweaked Google video to make it play clips that are not on Google's servers.

Google Video ( http://video.google.com ) is a web-based video search service that lets people use keywords to search for videos from numerous suppliers.

To watch videos on Google Video, a browser plugin is necessary. Google Video Viewer can be downloaded here: http://video.google.com/video_download.html.

Google has restricted his Video Viewer to only play back files that are stored on video.google.com. The Google Video Viewer is based on the open-source VLC player ( http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ ) which is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

When you download and run the patch of Jon Lech Johansen ( http://nanocrew.net/?p=114 ) to remove this restriction, you can also watch with the Google Video Viewer non-Google hosted videos! Running the patch requires a .NET runtime.

People are advised NOT to install this Video Viewer patch, according Google, as "It could result in security vulnerabilities on their computer and may disrupt their computer's ability to access Google Video". But why should we believe Google? Google is protecting his Video Viewer, but when you can use it for other content, why shouldn't you do it? Give it a try and post your feedback on the wallies.info blog.

Url: http://nanocrew.net/?p=114

For feedback on this article, please visit http://www.wallies.info/blog/item/170/index.html

Walter V. is a self-employed internet entrepreneur and founder-webmaster of several websites, includingwallies.info :: A snappy blog about snappy blue things :: blog | wiki | forum | links - http://wallies.infomblo.gs :: A snappy moblog community - http://mblo.gs

Beginners Guide to PC Video Editing

2008-03-09T11:01:00.000-04:00

If you're new to PC video editing then knowing where to start can be a bit daunting, so hopefully this guide will point you in the right direction.

To start with you will need a few items of equipment

Camcorders/Video Decks

Depending on your requirements or aims there are number of different solutions to discuss, so i will split these up into separate sections.

1. If you are starting from new then i recommend buying a new digital camcorder, this will give you superior video and sound quality as well as making getting started in video editing very simple, so ideal for the beginner. There are thousands to choose from catering for various types of budgets.

2. You may already have an old video deck or camcorder which uses the old analogue outputs such as composite or s-video (be sure to check first what outputs you have). For this kind of setup you would need a capture card/analogue to digital converter, this is discussed in more detail further on in the article.

A PC for Video Editing

It is now possible to easily capture footage from your Digital Camcorder directly to your PC and edit it.If you looking at buying a new PC or building a new one then the currents spec's are more then powerful enough, a typical spec PC these days is a P4, 512Mb Ram, 80Gb HDD, Windows XP or something along those lines. You could always use your existing PC if you have one, but i wouldn't recommend using anything below a PIII 600.

Additional Hardware

When transferring video from your camcorder to your PC there are a number of additional things to consider depending on the type of camcorder your using.

If you're using a digital camcorder then all your need is a firewire card (also known as an IEE1394 card), a lot of current PC's have these as standard now, otherwise you will need to purchase the card separately. Some of these will come bundled with editing software such as Adobe Premiere but this really depends on which card you buy and how much you spend, once your camcorder is connected to your firewire port windows will automatically recognise your Digital Camcorder.

If your using the old analogue camcorder then you will also need an analogue to digital converter, see the section on video editing cards below.

Speed?

Its worth considering your Pc's Processor speed, the speed will effect the rate your video will encode, encoding is where your DV video clips are converted into a more compressed format, for example DVD's are encoded to MPEG2. So the faster the better really. Also consider the amount of RAM in your PC, 256Mb would be the minimum.

Extra Hard Drive Storage

Its worth considering having an extra dedicated drive for your video footage, remember that five minutes of DV footage uses 1GB of hard drive space so consider a large capacity hard drive such as an 80Gb or 120Gb, also consider the disk drive RPM, at least 7200RPM would be recommended.If your PC supports it (most new ones do now), then a Serial ATA (SATA) drive will offer increased date transfer rates of up to 150MB/sec compared to 100 or 133 offered by the IDE drives, you may also consider a SCSI drive if you're PC has an SCSI adapter as standard.

DVD/CD Burners

If your planning on putting your film onto CD-ROM (VCD), or DVD then a CDRW or DVDRW is an essential piece of kit, most new pc's may have a CDRW or DVDRW as standard, to burn your DVD, you'll need DVD authoring software.

Video Editing Cards

If you have and older analogue video camera/deck then an analogue USB or PCI capture cards will suffice.

These dedicated analogue to digital converters take process of conversion away from the CPU and therefore speeds up transfer.

If worth getting a quality capture card as the cheaper cards can produce mixed results,

The Video Editing Software

This is where all your creative work starts and the creative work starts, you can capture video from your camera, edit the captured clips, arrange them into a sequence, add transitions, credits and a soundtrack, titles and when your ready export your movie back to the camera or a suitable encoded file format (DVD, VCD etc).

Founder of http://www.avmechanic.co.uk, offering a free friendly helpful community for anybody that needs computer help or help with PC editing products

Video Biographies; Why Hire a Professional?

2008-03-08T00:28:00.001-05:00

There are lots of reasons to create a video biography. Some people have a desire to share and pass down stories from one generation to another while others would like to leave behind a family or personal legacy. Whatever your reason is, while creating a video biography can an incredibly enriching and rewarding experience, it can also be a very daunting task.

There are many things to consider before you start your project. Here are just a few:

The Story

It is my opinion that if your stories require a lot of details such as time, date, place, clothing worn, and other historically factual data, then just pick one or two stories to tell. Many people bite off more than they can chew and get discouraged when they start to understand the effort truly involved in just putting together their storyline. If you would like to tell several stories that tell of a person's character or lessons learned than it is probably not necessary to go into a considerable amount of detail.

Who Will be Involved?

Are you working alone on this project or with a group of people such as other family members or friends? The more input you receive from other people the more time it can take to put together your story and content. This is not a bad thing, just something to be aware of.

Content

What kinds of content do you want to incorporate into your production? Photos, slides, video from different sources such as VHS tape, 8 or 16mm home movies, documents, quotes, personal interviews, narration? The list goes on and on.

You're Audience

Who is the desired audience for your project? Is it close friends or relatives, will your Piece de Resistance be passed down to future generations for their viewing pleasure? Sometimes these questions must be answered before any other considerations because they may determine what kinds of stories and how much detail you will add.

The Delivery Method

For many years VHS tape was the standard for viewing video at home. However DVD is now the medium of choice for many reasons. On screen menus and chapters that allow for much easier navigation, superior audio and video quality, and longevity are just a few reasons DVD has become so very popular. However the internet has also become a viable means of delivering video. If you have a personal website then family and friends around the globe can access your video as soon as it is posted.

All of the points above require serious consideration and expertise. A professional video biographer can help you answer these questions and more. They can keep you on task; help you stay focused, craft your project into a meaningful video biography that will be cherished by family and friends now as well as future generations to come.

Jay Corrao is the founder and president of Memory Archivers, a video production company based in Apple Valley Minnesota. His company specializes in wedding and event videograpy, video biographies, and consumer digital archiving.

http://www.memoryarchivers.com
jay@memoryarchivers.com

How to Interview on Video

2008-03-06T11:28:00.001-05:00

When doing an interview there need to be at least three people involved. The person being interviewed, you, the interviewer and someone to work the camcorder. It could be argued - I would so argue - that an extra person to handle the sound is a great benefit but this is a policy of perfection.

Interviewing for video is a skill that can be acquired with practice. The key to successful interviewing is research, research and yet more research.

Before you interview a subject you need to know as much as possible about the person you are interviewing.

And you need to read everything that anyone has ever written about the subject.

This is what the Internet is for. Typically it contains everything written in recent times.

The more information you can get, the more research you do, the smoother the interview will go.

Having said that it is vital that you, the interviewer, both asks questions and knows when to shut up.

The problem is that often you will find yourself knowing more about a subject than the person you are interviewing, and the temptation then is to show off your knowledge.

This is fatal.

The viewer is not interested in your views. It is the person being interviewed ? the interviewee ? who should be the center of attention. And before you ask, yes, this is a major problem for me. I cannot keep my big mouth shut.

Be prepared for interviews that go smoothly and those that get a bit ragged. Three examples.

I had an hour interview with Bill Gates in Sydney for Australian television. My questions were well prepared. He would listen to the question, stay quiet for a moment and then give a cogent, grammatical answer. Amazing. As an interview it went like a dream.On the other hand, I got one very wrong. The interview with the late Tony Hancock, perhaps the greatest British comedian of his day, took place in the Sebel Town House in Sydney. It started as a shambles for I had not done enough homework. It evened out after a while and in the end worked reasonably well. As it happens it was the last interview given by Tony Hancock.

Then I did a series of interviews with members of my family. I stayed out of shot and just let them ramble on what they thought about their siblings. It was electrifying stuff. If you were a member of that family.

Write all of your questions down and create supplementary questions in case an answer, a good answer, is not forthcoming. Avoid questions that invite the single word answer 'yes' or 'no'.

If you ask 'Are you in favor of premarital sex?' you will probably get a single word reply, which is not the idea at all.

Phrase your questions so that they lead the person being interviewed into expanding their views. 'Your book suggests that you are against premarital intercourse. What are your views on this?' is much more likely to elicit a full and frank comment than the first question.

To avoid a 'yes' or 'no' answer use the tried and true journalist technique of asking who, what, why, how and when questions. None of these can be answered with a straight 'yes' or 'no'.

Before the interview starts, you, the interviewer, must meet the subject and establish some sort of rapport. There are interviewers, a few, who can go in cold and get a good result. But they are few and far between.

The preliminary chat is, as it were, part of your research. With it you will establish the ability of the person being interviewed to talk, to express themselves, to answer questions. It is possible that this preliminary talk will end in you modifying some of your questions.

In your preliminary chat avoid asking the specific questions you will be asking in the interview.

Instead, indicate general areas of interest. If you ask the specific questions the filmed interview will give an impression that it has been rehearsed.

Before you start your interview have your key questions laid out and ready. You need a certain amount of flexibility but most of the time you will find that your first and logical thoughts or question order is much better than one you compile while winging it.

There are two main way of handling an interview.

The first is where the question is not heard and the questioner not seen. Instead, you get answers that are obviously directed at someone who is out of shot.

A series of answers like this can be edited together from either one person or several, to provide the effect of a continuous interview.

In this sort of interview you ask the question and then you keep your big mouth shut. If some sort of reaction is needed nod or shake your head vigorously or smile encouragement. If you speak you will have to be edited out afterwards. Which is not always easy.

This technique can be seen being used to magnificent effect in the movie 'When Harry Met Sally' which contains a series of such interviews with married couples describing their lives together. Magic.

The other type of interview is where you are both on screen in the manner of a normal conversation. This sort of interview can easily be covered with one camera.

Shoot the interviewee's answers first and then shoot the interviewer from where the interviewee has been sitting, asking exactly the same questions. At the end you do a series of 'noddies' that can be used for cutaways.

The key to making such an interview work is to get the person relaxed. Try to film them in a familiar surrounding so that they do not feel threatened. Keep the camera work and the lighting as unobtrusive as possible.

The first question should be a sound level check and should be totally innocuous.

Start the interview very gently in a chat mode and always move from soft to hard questions imperceptibly. Do not start like gangbusters or the interviewee will clam up or, in the worst case, walk off. It happens.

At the end of the interview I always ask 'Is there some question you would like me to have asked that I have missed out on?'

This allows the subject to expand on a point or deal with an area they feel has been skipped. It is quite remarkable how often you will get an excellent and usable response after that last question.

Start off with a long shot of the person being interviewed facing the interviewer. The interviewer's back appears, which gives a three-dimensional aspect to the shot and gets the scene in context for the viewer. Change the shot sizes in rhythm with the questions. New question, new framing.

Another form of interviewing on video is vox pop ? from vox populi, Latin for the voice of the people ? are quick interviews with people in the street to demonstrate public opinion on a subject.

What you want to end up with is a series of statements that can be cut rapidly together and, in the end, give a clear indication of the current attitude on a subject.

To make the interview more interesting change the shot size as a new question is asked. That is, switch off, zoom in from, say, mid shot to close-up, and then resume filming again.

Use different backgrounds and different eyelines.

Work out how many interviews you want and then shoot to that number with perhaps a 50 per cent safety margin. Do not go on shooting after that point. You could be getting useful footage for another scene rather than wasting your time. In vox pop moderation is the key.

Note carefully that subjects can move backwards and forwards when making a point and may even wave arms around in the air and you need to be prepared for this so they are always in shot. That the camera does not cut off parts of their bodies. Armless interviewees may be harmless interviewees but that is not the point of the excercise.

Gareth Powell has done many interviews for newspapers, magazines and television. He writes about making videos on his site, Digital images, http://www.pixelates.com

What You Need To Know if Your Company Wants To Produce A Video

2008-03-04T09:09:00.000-05:00

Studies show that people remember merely 20% of what they hear, and only 30% of what they see, and an incredible 70% what they hear and see. * With this in mind, it's no wonder why video is such a powerful communications tool.

So your company has decided they need a video. Where do you start? What questions do you ask? How can you make sure the final product is what you are expecting? This article will give you the tools you'll need to have a professional video project you can be proud of.

First, let's talk about money. As with most things, you get what you pay for. Especially with video production, if you make a decision to hire a production company solely by picking the lowest quoted bid, you will probably end up with a video that is much less than what you expected. Remember, this video represents your company. Do you want your video to look like a high school A/V project? On the other hand, there is no reason to go crazy and spend ungodly amounts of money. It's important to find a company that gives a fair bid for the type of video you need and can produce your project in a professional manner.

Two Decisions

To start your video project, there are two decisions that you will need to make. First, do you want to hire an independent producer or a production company? Second, you will need to decide if you wish to receive your bid for production as a "Package Price" or "Piece Meal".

Independent Producer or Production Company?

Independent producers usually work for themselves and do not own any equipment. They generally rely on outside production companies to supply their equipment and crew needs. This means that if you have an immediate need, the producer is dependent on someone else to help service you. However, unless the independent producer is very busy, you should get good personal attention.

By hiring a production company, you can get a producer who is part of the production company that has the equipment and crew resources in-house. They can generally respond immediately to your needs. Depending on the scope of your project, a production company will either use an in-house producer or hire a freelance producer to coordinate your project.

Either way you decide, be sure you have an experienced producer to manage your project.

Two Ways to Hire

There are two ways of hiring a producer or production company to create your video: "Package Price" and "Piece Meal".

"Package Price"

A package price for the entire project is the way many videos are negotiated. For most situations it is the most logical. The client knows exactly how much to budget for, and the production company knows how much money they will have to work with.

If you choose this route, be sure to have a very clear bid with exactly what each side will be responsible for. The advantage for this is if the company requires to do more work than initially planned to finish what is described in the bid, they are obligated to do whatever it takes to complete the project. However, it is very important to understand that if you, as the client, request more than what is described in the bid, you would be expected to pay extra for your request.

"Piece Meal"

The other way to produce your video is "piece meal". Hire your production company by the day, or by the hour. This way, whenever someone is working on your project, you are paying for their time and only the time they are working on your project. Your producer should be able to give you hourly and daily rates and to estimate the total cost for the project according to your needs.

Your Producer

Whether you hire an independent producer or a production company, you should have an experienced video producer coordinate your entire project. Your producer should be available to you at any time to answer questions and to consult with you about any part of the production. Don't scrimp on your producer; they could make or break the entire project, and they should not be learning on your nickel.

Your producer's job is to manage the project from beginning to end. They are responsible for coordinating the scriptwriting, pre-production, shooting, and editing. Depending on where you live and his or her experience, you can expect to pay your producer between $350 to $1000 a day.

Scriptwriting

Scriptwriting is usually charged by a finished minute rate. For example, if your script is 10 minutes long and you are charged $200 per finished minute, your cost for a complete script should be $2000. A complete script should include all voice tracks and equally important, the video shot descriptions that match the voice track.

Shooting

Shooting is usually charged by the day. Depending on your needs, your shoot may be as small as hiring one cameraman with gear, all the way to having a complete crew that may include a cameraman, lighting director, audio technician, production assistant, teleprompter operator, make-up artist etc. Rates vary depending on your location, but it is standard to hire a strong two-person news style crew for $1,000 - $1500 per day, including professional camera gear, audio and a lighting package. On smaller projects, the shooter can also act as the producer.

Editing

Editing is almost always charged by the hour. For most all projects, a high-end digital (non-linear) editing system will handle your project beautifully. Depending on the system, you should pay between $100 - $200 an hour for editing, including an experienced editor that can make suggestions on how to make your project even better. Finding a Production Company

Looking under "Video Production" in the Yellow page directories is generally a good way to find a local production company. Remember: just because the size of an ad is bigger for one company than another, it doesn't mean the production company is better.

Personal referrals sometimes are your best bet. But remember that this video will represent your company, so be sure you are referred to a professional video producer with experience and not cousin Billy who has a consumer camera and wants to get into the video business.

You can also search the Internet. One of the best sources for lists of production companies on the web is at www.mandy.com. There are many others sites with lists, but this one seems to be the best. Using search engines like Google to find production companies that have a presence on the web is also a very good source.

Awards

Has the production company won any awards for the videos they have produced? There are regional and national awards that producers can enter their projects. If your production company has won some critical acclaim, it's a good chance that they would be a good company to produce your video.

Quality and Format

Other than the producer's expertise, the quality of the final product depends largely on the equipment used to shoot, light and edit the video. For most corporate video projects (marketing, training, communications, etc.), commercials and television programs, the Betacam SP or DVCAM formats are the smartest choices because of their widespread compatibility. There are a number of new excellent broadcast digital video formats, like DVCAM, that are just now emerging on the market. From a client's point of view, Betacam SP or DVCAM or one of the new professional digital video formats (DVCPRO, Betacam SX, Digital Beta) will give you broadcast quality images. Even though Mini DV is quite an incredible format for the prosumer market, it doesn't have quite the quality of the professional formats.

Meeting the Producer

When you initially talk with your producer, be sure to ask some questions. But more importantly, the producer should ask you most of the questions and listen to what you want. This is your company's video and it's up to the producer to try to get in your head to give you a product that you want, not what the producer wants. Be aware if the producer tells you what you need without listening to what you are saying. At the same time, ask the producer for recommendations that would enhance the project beyond your video knowledge.

Set up a time to meet with the prospective producer. Meeting at your location is usually most beneficial. If you want a marketing or training video for your widget, it would be important for the producer to see the widget. Bring copies of videos you would like to emulate and tell your producer what you like and don't like about these videos. Be sure the producer brings sample tapes similar to the project you want to do. Look at past projects your producer has completed. You should also call the producer's past clients to get feedback on their professionalism, work quality, and personality to understand what is was like to work with them.

Q and A

Your producer should listen to what your company's goals are regarding the video, ask a lot of questions, then give suggestions for the best way to produce your video within your budget. Often, your production company won't know anything about your business and vice-versa.

Questions to Ask Your Producer

What can I do to keep my costs down?

A good producer will help you keep the project within your budget. Some of the more common ways to save money are:

?shorten the length of the program,
?use fewer professional actors, and
?keep the shoot days to a minimum.

Holding a pre-production meeting to coordinate the project could save hundreds of dollars. If the shoot is scheduled at your company's location, try to do everything possible to facilitate the videotaping process. For example, if you are creating a marketing or training video for your widget, let your manufacturing line take direction from the video producers and allow disruption of their work.

What kind of experience does the producer have?

The experience of the producer relates directly to the quality of the finished product. Be sure to see examples of video work that the producer has personally produced.

Are there any extra charges?

Ask up front if there will be any extra charges. Some common extra charges: taxes, tape costs, mileage, travel expenses and duplications. It's important to understand that if you, as a client, make changes to the project that require additional work from the production company not originally agreed upon in the proposal, expect extra charges to apply. What will you need from me?

You, or a representative from your company, will need to be an accessible contact person to help coordinate approvals, schedule shoots, and answer questions to help make the production process as smooth as possible.

Questions Your Producer Should Ask You

What do you like and dislike about other videos?

What do you want to achieve with this video?

Who is the target audience?

What do you want the audience to do after watching the video?

How will the tape be shown?

How many shoot locations are there?

Will we be shooting during business hours?

If we are shooting during business hours, are there any logistical concerns?

How long does the video need to be?

Will a company executive need to be on camera?

Do you need a professional on-camera talent or voice-over?

Who will write the script?

Will you need extra graphics or animations in the video?

Are there any other materials that need to be included in the video, such as photographs?

Final Points to Remember

An important point to remember, especially if you are a rookie at using video, is that communications is key to the success of your video. Your production company should be available at any time to answer any questions you may have. Your producer should be kept informed of the project's status and what the next steps are.

Television is a huge part of our lives and we are very accustomed to top quality programming. Today's audiences are sophisticated and expect broadcast quality video productions. If your video is anything less, your message and image will suffer greatly.

Remember to ask questions, be sure you are asked a lot of questions, and go with your gut feeling. Chances are you will end up with a great product and have a fun time in the process.

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions. Greg Coon

Eyecon Video Productions
Dallas, Texas
214-368-3932
Toll Free (877) 704-1517
greg@eyeconvideo.com
http://www.eyeconvideo.com
*Source: Harvard Business Review

Greg Coon is the President of Eyecon Video Productions, a professional video production company based in Dallas, Texas.

Streaming Video on Your Website - Convert Visitors into Customers

2008-03-03T09:55:00.001-05:00

Streaming video is a sequence of "moving images" that are sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. Streaming media is streaming video with sound. With streaming video or streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a large file before seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream and is played as it arrives. The user needs a player, which is a special program that uncompresses and sends video data to the display and audio data to speakers. A player can be either an integral part of a browser or downloaded from the software maker's Web site.

Major streaming video and streaming media technologies include RealSystem G2 from RealNetwork, Microsoft Windows Media Technologies (including its NetShow Services and Theater Server), and VDO. Microsoft's approach uses the standard MPEG compression algorithm for video. The other approaches use proprietary algorithms. (The program that does the compression and decompression is sometimes called the codec.) Microsoft's technology offers streaming audio at up to 96 Kbps and streaming video at up to 8 Mbps (for the NetShow Theater Server). However, for most Web users, the streaming video will be limited to the data rates of the connection (for example, up to 128 Kbps with an ISDN connection). Microsoft's streaming media files are in its Advanced Streaming Format (ASF).

Streaming video is usually sent from prerecorded video files, but can be distributed as part of a live broadcast "feed." In a live broadcast, the video signal is converted into a compressed digital signal and transmitted from a special Web server that is able to do multicast, sending the same file to multiple users at the same time.

Streaming media is audio and video that are transmitted on the Internet in a streaming or continuous fashion, using data packets. The most effective reception of streaming media requires some form of broadband technology such as cable modem or DSL. A packet is the unit of data that is routed between an origin and a destination on the Internet or any other packet-switched network. When any file (e-mail message, HTML file, Graphics Interchange Format file, URL - Uniform Recourse Locater request, and so forth) is sent from one place to another on the Internet, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer of TCP/IP divides the file into "chunks" of an efficient size for routing. Each of these packets is separately numbered and includes the Internet address of the destination. The individual packets for a given file may travel different routes through the Internet. When they have all arrived, they are reassembled into the original file (by the TCP layer at the receiving end).

A packet-switching scheme is an efficient way to handle transmissions on a connectionless network such as the Internet. An alternative scheme, circuit-switched, is used for networks allocated for voice connections. In circuit-switching, lines in the network are shared among many users as with packet-switching, but each connection requires the dedication of a particular path for the duration of the connection. "Packet" and "datagram" are similar in meaning. A protocol similar to TCP, the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) uses the term datagram.

MPEG, the Moving Picture Experts Group, develops standards for digital video and digital audio compression. It operates under the auspices of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The MPEG standards are an evolving series, each designed for a different purpose. To use MPEG video files, you need a personal computer with sufficient processor speed, internal memory, and hard disk space to handle and play the typically large MPEG file (which has a file name suffix of .mpg). You also need an MPEG viewer or client software that plays MPEG files. (Note that .mp3 file suffixes indicate MP3 (MPEG-1 audio layer-3) files, not MPEG-3 standard files.) You can download shareware or commercial MPEG players from a number of sites on the Web.

The term codec is an acronym that stands for "compression/decompression." A codec is an algorithm, or specialized computer program, that reduces the number of bytes consumed by large files and programs. In order to minimize the amount of storage space required for a complicated file, such as a video, compression is used. Compression works by eliminating redundancies in data. Compression can be done for any kind of file, including text, programs, images, audio, video, and virtual reality (VR). Compression can reduce the size of a file by a factor of 100 or more in some cases. For example, a 15-megabyte video might be reduced to 150 kilobytes. The uncompressed file would be far too large to download from the Web in a reasonable length of time, but the compressed file could usually be downloaded in a few seconds. For viewing, a decompression algorithm, which "undoes" the compression, would have to be used.

There are numerous standard codec schemes. Some are used mainly to minimize file transfer time, and are employed on the Internet. Others are intended to maximize the data that can be stored in a given amount of disk space, or on a CD-ROM. Codec's are used in many popular Internet products, including QuickTime, Netmeeting, Cu-Seeme, and VDOphone.

Flash, is a popular authoring software developed by Macromedia, and is used to create vector graphics-based animation programs with full-screen navigation interfaces, graphic illustrations, and simple interactivity in an antialiased, resizable file format that is small enough to stream across a normal modem connection. The software is ubiquitous on the Web, both because of its speed (vector-based animations, which can adapt to different display sizes and resolutions, play as they download) and for the smooth way it renders graphics. Flash files, unlike animated but rasterized GIF and JPEG, are compact, efficient, and designed for optimized delivery. Known as a do-it-yourself animation package, Flash 4 gives Web designers the ability to import artwork using whatever bitmap or illustration tool they prefer, and to create animation and special effects, and add sound and interactivity. The content is then saved as file with a .SWF file name extension.

Web users with Intel Pentium or Power Macintosh processors can download Flash Player to view Flash content, which performs across multiple browsers and platforms. Flash is lauded for being one of the Web's most accessible plug-in. According to an independent study cited by Macromedia, over 90 percent of Web users already have Flash Player installed. Macromedia was recently acquired by Adobe in a 3.4 billion dollar deal.

About the Author: Ole Arndt is President of Global Media LLC, in Branchburg NJ.

Correspondence to: oarndt@streamingmediabiz.com

Streaming Video on Your Website - Convert Visitors into Customers

2008-03-03T09:55:00.000-05:00

Video Email - The New Way to Communicate

2008-03-01T22:21:00.001-05:00

he Internet is now a thriving means of communication and for everyone around the globe to receive the most up to date information at the click of a mouse button. Sending an email is now accepted as the quickest and easiest way to converse with your friends and family or business acquaintances and everyday millions of emails are sent worldwide.However, as in all aspects of life today even this form of communication is fast becoming the "old hat" system and the new kid on the block is now high streaming video email.

Basically video emailing gives you the opportunity to still email at lightning speed to your friends, family and business acquaintances but now also allows you to include a high quality video message. Although this concept has been available for a short time this form of communicating usually involved high cost software and the need to include large file attachments within your email thus making it generally prohibitive to the mass audiences.

Thankfully even this has now been improved by considerable measures and a leader in this field is Myvideotalk who have solved this problem and have made the software available to all at remarkably low cost. Even more impressive and of great importance, Myvideotalk have developed a system that allows you to send high quality streaming videos without the need for large file attachments or complicated operating software.

Also in a quest to keep at the sharp end of innovation the company has now also made available the group video conferencing software which allows multiple users to communicate with each other by video connection and thus enable people from all around the world to now not only talk to each other but see each other in a group environment.

As a means of Internet marketing this now really does give the individual online businessperson a real advantage to convey their business to the mass audience around the world and never has there been such a fantastic opportunity to build a business by talking face to face with prospects and established business associates.

This truly does mean that the phrase "isn't it a small world" is becoming more and more of a reality for us all.

Terry Till

http://www.myemailvideo.co.uk

How to Star in Your Own Promotional Video

2008-02-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official. You are going to star in the company marketing video (or commercial) and you will have a part talking to camera. After ringing your mother, to let her know about your newly found fame, reality hits in. How are you going to pull this off?

The good news is a charismatic business leader can add tremendous impact and clout to a marketing video or commercial. The bad news is that few leaders have the right skills to talk to the camera in a natural manner.

But before you get put off, talking to camera is a skill. And any skill can be learned.

Here are some tips to help bring the sparkle into your 'moment of glory'.

1.Wear the right clothes. If you are the CEO, a suit is the right way to go. Opt for conservative colours and stay away from checks, stripes and reds. They do not film very well and serve as a distraction to the viewer.

2.Go for makeup (whether you're male or female). A nice even skin tone, neat hair and a quick brush with powder can help keep the shine away. Once you get under the bright lights of a film set, it will be hard not to perspire (even more so, if you are nervous). A professional make up artist will also make you feel special and more confident in front of the camera.

3.Trust the director. Forget that you are the client and realise that you are now the talent. Let the professionals do their work and let go. While this might be difficult for most people, it can be a refreshing change. Let yourself get bossed around and don't worry about how it's all going to work.

4.Relax. Forget about the pressing amount of work piling up on your desk. Focus on the most important task for the day ? your cameo. If you are relaxed you are more likely to be easy-going and friendly. This will enable the director to elicit the best performance from you.

5.Rehearse. Always have your lines prepared and don't expect that you can wing it on the day. It's amazing how a big camera in your face can make you forget what you wanted to say. Rehearse your lines over and over again in front of a mirror. Make sure you look and sound natural. Practise speaking clearly and with a smile on your face. Rehearse as many times as you can. The more confident you are in giving an appealing speech, the better you will be and the less takes will needed. This will help reduce costs. If you don't feel comfortable with your performance, hire a media trainer beforehand to coach you on talking to camera.

6.Have fun! The shoot will be much slower than you anticipated. Lights and audio equipment can take a while to set up. If you are shooting outside, waiting for the sun to make an appearance on a cloudy day can also be painstakingly slow. Take a book with you and any work you can do in downtime. And just bask in the glory of being part of an exciting film shoot!

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide) or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au

Seven Tips on Making a Successful Video Production

2008-02-27T11:38:00.001-05:00

Producing a video for your company can be an exciting and potentially stressful experience. There's more to it than simply assigning a video production company to the task and crossing your fingers.

To get the most from your video production dollars, we'll take a look at seven top tips for making your corporate video a success.

1.Start with Results. The first step is to work out exactly what you want your video to achieve. Is it to train staff on a new procedure or is to increase interest at trade shows? Design your video concept around the desired result. Often clients get caught up with showing off their company that the main message gets lost.

2.Write a brief. Once you know what you want to achieve, work out what you want to show and explain in your video. Formulate a brief that specifies your objectives, target audience, the countries your video will be viewed in and any required languages. A list of all the shots that you need is also helpful. Will the bulk of the shots be at your premises and do you need your CEO to talk to camera? Video production companies will try to calculate how many days filming are required to work out the cost, so it's important to know how much needs to be filmed at the outset.

3.Know your image. What sort of image do you want to present to your customers? While watching your corporate video, your customers will be left with an impression of what type of business you are and what to expect when doing business with you. If your television program happens to be radically down-market than your up-market product suggests, then you create cognitive dissonance in your prospects. This will mean that your viewers will be left with an uneasy feeling that something isn't quite right with your company and will automatically distrust your message. To avoid this, make sure the quality of production reflects the quality of your product/service. This can involve using a professional camera operator with broadcast quality gear to having a graphic artist design maps and titles.

4.Messages. One of the key areas to work out is what communication messages you need to get across. Work out the 4-6 key messages and develop the video around these. If you have too many messages people will tune out. Essentially, make sure you give information that your audience wants to know (not what you think they ought to know).

5.Script. The script provides the backbone to any video project. It's always worthwhile spending extra time refining the script. As a rule of thumb, it needs to be completed before any filming begins. The best kind of script is short and sharp and revolves around your main messages. The quicker you can get your message across, the better the result. Avoid putting everything into the script, as wall to wall voiceover is quite tiring (and boring) to watch.

6.Assign a contact person. A designated person from your firm will need to be available to work with the video production company. The production house will need script information and approval, help in organising shoots, copies of your logo and other relevant materials and someone to view a draft of the video and then finalise. This person will also need to make sure that the look and feel of the video best represents your company.

7.Get expert advice. A good production company will be able to advise you on the best format for your needs such as the music, the filming, editing style and how the schedule will run. They will also be able to take your brief and come back with a range of suitable suggestions. Don't stress about the technical issues. That's the job of your producer.

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au

When Does a Corporate Video Add Value?

2008-02-26T09:57:00.000-05:00

A professionally made corporate video production can greatly enhance your company profile and can be used in a variety of applications. Listed below are a number of the most common uses for corporate video.

Promotional Video Production

A promotional video is a dynamic, fast moving commercial, often with a musical accompaniment, and can be used to promote any of the services or products that your company has to offer.

Promotional videos are used for a variety of purposes. They can be used to engage the audience at the introduction to a multimedia sales presentation, conference, or training seminar and are also very often used running on a loop on exhibition stands and in company reception areas. These promotional videos can also be incorporated into CD ROMs and DVDs as an introductory piece.

Promotional videos can be highly effective and powerful at communicating your company's strengths in a dynamic and exciting way. The same video promo can also be used for a variety of applications, thus reducing filming expenses.

Executive Broadcast Video Production

One of the biggest problems facing directors of large multi-national companies or plc's is attempting to communicate on a personal level with their immense and geographically diverse audiences. Executive broadcast corporate videos enable the senior member, or members, of a company to dedicate a couple of hours of their time to being interviewed, and tackling any major questions or issues which may have come to light. By using a corporate video, they save themselves the huge cost, and time, of travelling from place to place attending conferences in order to achieve the same result.

An Executive Broadcast can be used for a multitude of corporate and training video applications, from welcoming new employees to a company, to communicating new management strategies or simply sharing your vision of the companies' future with your staff. Corporate video production can provide the ideal means of explaining your businesses core values to the customers, and can even be the perfect medium for communicating price sensitive announcements to city institutions and the press etc. There are many other uses for executive broadcasts and video production companies will work with your business to create tailor made executive broadcasts to suit your company.

Customer Testimonial Video Production

Customer testimonial videos are recorded interviews where a customer is asked to give their feelings on a product or on a company's service. Customer testimonial video production is becoming increasingly essential in the current business climate. Customers often like to hear the opinions of their fellow consumers, and customer testimonial corporate videos can be the ideal way to communicate this information.

Customer testimonial corporate video can be in the form of short clips of customers describing their reaction to a product or company, or maybe longer interviews of customers dealing with specific or more in depth viewpoints.

Customer testimonial video production can be used for a variety of purposes, from forming part of a video promotion, as an endorsement on exhibition stands, as part of a general sales presentation, or even to be used on an e-business card, and then given out at events, exhibitions, meetings etc. Customer testimonial videos can even be useful when assessing one's own business, as they can be used to create video case studies of customers, and thereby assess the product from the customer's side.

Conference and exhibition Video Production

Conference and exhibition video production can take the form of entire programmes of their own, or just as short clips to be incorporated into another, longer corporate videos that report on conferences or exhibitions that companies have held.

When a company has a large event, or exhibition, it is not always possible for all the people who need to attend to be there, but with so many issues being discussed and products being demonstrated, with conference and exhibition videos, these events can reach a much broader audience. The relaxed environment at these type of events, enable a much more laid back attitude to come across from the people being interviewed, and it is easier to get an honest opinion, something which can never be undervalued in any business.

Once filmed, conference and exhibition videos can either be put onto DVD for video presentations, or distributed on CD-ROM, through the internet or via your company's intranet.

Once an event has been filmed, it can be put to a variety of applications, from the obvious use of providing a record of the event for all who were unable to attend, to taking simple sound bites of interviews for incorporation into sales and marketing presentations. Conference and exhibition corporate videos also provide a great opportunity to capture presentations from guest speakers that the people who couldn't make it to the event would miss out on. A good corporate video production will reflect the atmosphere at the event, and can be an excellent way to encourage staff and/or customers to come to these events in the future.

Video Production for Tourism

The medium of video is unequalled in promoting the full tourist experience to potential visitors, with video production being an ideal way of marketing the amenities, attractions, and individuality of a city or tourist destination on an individual, local or even international level.

In the form of a CD ROM or DVD, the potential scope for video production for tourism is immense. A video will allow viewers to interactively explore a given destination, take a virtual tour around a hotel or enjoy a guided trip around a city with a well known presenter.

Most reputable video production companies will offer to create a tourism video, DVD or CD ROM as part of a larger marketing package, creating eye-catching packaging and inserts to complement the promotional programme.

I-MOTUS is one of the UK's leading corporate and training video production companies. Our team uniquely combines proven business savvy with some of the television industry's brightest creative talent to provide a fresh approach to the most challenging of marketing and communication briefs. http://www.i-motus.com/ - IM01EZ

Benefits of Training Videos

2008-02-25T08:43:00.001-05:00

A major problem with the running of a large corporation or PLC, is the increasing expense of staff training programmes. Training videos are exactly what the title says - videos made for the purpose of staff training.

When a company has a large and geographically diverse audience, it can be extremely expensive to either send experienced trainers to all of them, or pay for each individual to attend training courses. A training video can dramatically reduce these costs, and make the training information immediately available to all members of staff.

Training video production can be presented in many ways - from a series of specifically filmed programmes, to the filming of training seminars and important presentations that have taken place at these events and conferences, which can then be edited into video form so that the benefits of these seminars are massively increased.

Once they have been filmed, training videos can either be delivered on CD-ROM for computer based presentations, or VHS and DVD for television presentations. Training videos are often incorporated into part of an overall training programme depending on the needs of the company.

Training videos are very often used for induction purposes for new staff and most people will see at least one of them in their working life. However they can also be used for a multitude of other applications. For example, if a new piece of technology is introduced into your company, then a training video is the ideal way to get the information on how to use it across your entire workforce as quickly as the technology needs to be incorporated. It could take weeks to train the staff in individual or group sessions, so costs can be saved on both training, and time. Training videos can also be used to train staff on new policies, health and safety issues, customer service standards, or simply the latest sales features on a new product. When you have to train a wide and geographically diverse audience, training videos can be the ideal means of getting the information through your company in the fastest and most cost effective way.

Every company must offer their employees training from the initial training at orientation to ongoing development. "The way you train your new employees is important in not only enabling them to do a good job, but also with their retention. Recent studies have shown that when a new hire is adequately trained in the beginning, they feel more confident in their job and therefore will stay with you longer." - Peggy Morrow, 'Training for Success'.

Video has long been recognized as a valuable teaching medium because it can effectively convey to students an instructor's visual clues, for example, gestures, posture and facial expressions that aid communication and comprehension. Decades of research show body language is the single most important element in verbal communication. MediaPoint Technology Boosts Streaming Video as Training Tool. In good times as well as bad, one of the biggest hidden expenses for many businesses is the cost of bringing new workers up to speed or training existing employees for new job duties.

A detailed training video is one of the most direct routes to lower employee training costs. Not to confuse an 'occupational procedures video' with a job description is another valuable tool for any organization. Job descriptions outline the duties to be performed by employees. A training video demonstrates exactly how to do those jobs.

Such a video can be extremely useful in recruiting and interviewing job applicants. But more importantly, it can streamline employee training and all new people to become more productive more quickly. The out-of-pocket payroll savings alone can be substantial. Suppose it takes eight weeks to bring a new employee up to speed in a particular job, and the person's supervisor must devote 25% of his or her time to training during that break-in period. A good training video should reduce the necessary training time by at least 20%.

Aside from these training cost savings, there are other reasons to develop procedures videos for your organization. Indeed, the very process of preparing such a video will provide invaluable insight into the operations of your business.

I-MOTUS is one of the UK's leading corporate and training video production companies. Our team uniquely combines proven business savvy with some of the television industry's brightest creative talent to provide a fresh approach to the most challenging of marketing and communication briefs. http://www.i-motus.com/ - IM02EZ

Beginning in Videography

2008-02-23T08:28:00.001-05:00

If you're looking to get into videography and video editing as a hobby, the options can be daunting. Here is a small question and response that may help you get started in this fun and rewarding hobby.

What type of camera do you recommend?

Response: For a beginner, a Canon single CCD camera will suit you well. It has a cost range of $500 to $700. Canon is well respected at all levels of video camera quality and has probably the best quality for the price at the low end.

If you want to start out with something more professional, you may want to look into the Canon GL2 which is a low end 3 CCD (1/4" each) camera running about $1500. This camera is great for an enthusiastic hobbyist or a beginning special events videographer.

If you're looking to make some money on the side (or as a career) with your camera doing special events such as wedding videography, you may want to look into the Sony VX2100, a high-end consumer 3 CCD (1/3" each) camcorder, running at a price between $2100 and $3000, check out prices here. The high definition capable version of the same camera is called the Sony HDR / Fx1 and goes for $3700 at all major retailers.

What is CCD?

CCDs are imaging chips. CCD stands for charge-coupled device and is a light sensative circuit which stores an electrical charge representing each tiny part of an image. The difference between low and high end video cameras is usually determined by the number of CCDs (one or three), and the size of the CCD. In video cameras the number of CCDs determines the clarity of the picture in low lighting (most indoor) situations. The size of the CCD is directly linked to the amount of "color bleeding" present in the video.

It is also interesting to note that for video cameras, unlike photography cameras, the size of the pixels is far more important than the number of pixels. Fewer pixels that are larger make a better video camera. It is also interesting to note that as you go from low-end to high-end cameras, you will be getting fewer "extras" on your camera such as the ability to take "still photography".

Next question: What video editing software would you recommend?

Response: Pinnacle Studio 9 has many great features for beginning in photoediting. It runs between $70 and $90 at major retail stores. It gives many options and is very user friendly. If you're looking for some more advanced options in lighting, transitions, and sound editing, you may want to consider the more professional editing software Pinacle Liquid Editions for around $600.

This article may also be found at http://www.researchtechs.com/videoediting.htm

About The Author

Jim Wagner

Contributor to www.ResearchTechs.com

Enjoys anything Tech.

Majoring in Computer Science.

jim@researchtechs.com

Five Ways to Profit from Using Video Online

2007-08-07T09:04:00.002-04:00

The newest media wave to hit the online shore is video. Individual emails abound with links to "the funniest video ever," or blurry clips of new babies or birthday parties.

Businesses, on the other hand, have largely been left standing on the shore, scratching their heads and wondering if there's any real value to be earned from diving into making their own live video broadcasts, video emails or video on demand infommercials. Here are just five of the many ways video adds to the bottom line of any company.

1. People remember more of your message.
While people generally remember 10% of what they read and 20% of what they hear. But, they'll remember as much as 50% of what they see and hear together. Before anyone can act on your message, they need to process and remember it.

2. Increase responses by up to 30%.
A call to action is much easier to follow if it is actively delivered. Sound and motion are powerful action drivers, especially when they are delivered by your sincere enthusiasm and passion for your topic. Companies who have made the switch to video email and on- demand broadcasts have reported response rates jump as much as 30% following a broadcast.

3. Build your credibility.
People do business with people they know, like and trust. When you cut through the technological barriers of the Internet and put yourself online, you put "your self on the line" as far as viewers are concerned. The time it would normally take you to build a relationship with a potential customer can be dramatically shortened as a result.

4. The cost savings are obvious.
Anytime you can avoid the high costs of sending someone on the road to meet with clients or attend a meeting, the bottom line savings are immediate and obvious. In addition to any costs associated with attending a meeting, you need to factor in travel costs covering airfares to taxis and tolls, hotel costs, meal expenses, and even your internal costs to process the expense paperwork.

5. Soft cost savings multiply returns.
Spare yourself the productivity drain and the physical and mental tolls travel takes on your company's road warriors and you could enjoy "soft" cost savings that dwarf your hard dollar travel costs. Want an example? Look at your own calendar for the past month and count up just the hours you spent traveling to and from meetings. Multiply that by your hourly wage, and then by the number of employees in your firm.

If reasons like these don't help you convince the reluctant decision makers in your company to add video to your communications mix, please be patient with them. Historically they are in good company.

There were many who claimed the smeary images on hard to handle rolls of paper called "faxes" could never function in place of an original document. And who, they asked, would ever want to spend more time typing an email message when they could so easily pick up a telephone and place a call?

Liz Micik has spent 25 years helping companies use the right market, right message, and right media to get the results they want. She turns your video learning curve into a fast and easy profit curve in her newest book, "Cue the Director: 10 Simple Steps to Online Video Success." Visit http://www.powerpresenters.com to learn more and have free weekly video tips emailed to you.

E-Commerce & Streaming Media: A Marriage that Works

2007-08-07T09:04:00.001-04:00

In the heavily populated world of E-Commerce, what determines whose site will be successful and whose won't?

Is it the layout and design of the basic site? No. We all know of sites where no expense was spared on design and the company still failed to produce a commercial success.

Is it the product offering? No. We all know of sites where the product offering was more than adequate, the pricing competitive, and service was acceptable, yet success was elusive.

Is it a traffic problem? No. We read letters everyday in forums and discussion groups from those whose sites generate a lot of traffic, but sales volume is only marginal.

What determines success is the ability to stand out in a crowded field! What determines success is making your site different from your competitors. What determines success is the way in which you present your offering so visitors will want to stay at your site and buy from you.

Purchasing decisions are not simple ones. It doesn't matter if you're targeting consumers or business buyers. People seek ways to make their buying decisions easier. It is up to you to:

・Learn what your customer wants

・Highlight the features and benefits that appeal to the customer.

・Present your product in a way that differentiates you from your competition and utilizes your product knowledge.

How do you accomplish this in a meaningful way that doesn't drain your marketing budget? Utilize streaming media to capture your audience's attention and to focus on the aspects of your product that will generate a sale.

Let's use an Internet store that specializes in southwestern pottery as a hypothetical example. We'll go on the assumption that the store has an attractive website with good navigation and a secure shopping cart system. The return policy is clearly stated, and there is specific contact information. On the site is a nicely laid out catalogue with good product descriptions, small, fast loading graphics (which can be enlarged for a closer inspection) and a well-designed price list. The products are grouped by type (urns, bowls, vases etc.) so that a visitor can browse easily. A perfect Internet shopping experience, right?

The answer is only a qualified "yes" because this store is no different than several hundred others selling the same merchandise.

What can this store owner do to make shopping at his site exciting, fun, and memorable?

・Use a short audio to introduce southwestern pottery to the visitor. What are its' special characteristics? Why is it different than pottery produced in other regions?

・Show visitors where the pottery originates with a slide show. Use pictures of the artisan's studio and the area that surrounds it. Coordinate the slides with a script that describes the geography and how it contributed to the style of pottery shown.

・Interview several of the artisans on videotape. Let them tell your visitors about themselves and their work.

・Have a pottery collector talk about the use of color as it relates to southwestern pottery.

・Do a video as a cross promotion with a local interior designer. Describe and show how to best use southwestern pottery as part of a complete decorating scheme.

・Use video to show the actual creation of some of your better pieces. Take your visitors inside the artist's studio for an "up close" look.

You might even be able to generate revenue with some of your original programming. Sell commercial spots within the presentation to other merchants who offer products that are complementary to yours. (This can be as simple as inserting a graphic.) Work with these same merchants to promote local events that highlight the products of your area. Your local Chamber of Commerce might even want to purchase a spot in one of your streaming presentations.

For an E-commerce site with affiliates, use streaming media to help your member sites. Put together a slide show that gives participating members a chance to briefly highlight their own sites for a small fee. Use two to three graphics from each member and have relevant text from each member scroll by as their store appears in the show. Not only do you recoup some of your production costs from the advertising, but you also get your sales commission when member sales increase!

Streaming media should not be used arbitrarily, however. Unless your material is relevant to your visitors and adds perceived value to their purchase, don't waste your time or theirs. When designing your streaming media presentation, ask yourself what it will accomplish that your current content doesn't. Will it complement your existing material? Will it be utilized to enhance your offering? Will it provide additional incentive to make your visitor buy?

If you can answer yes to those questions, streaming media should be a strong candidate for your marketing dollars. Use streaming media technology wisely, and it will go a long way to making your E-commerce site stand out in a very crowded field.

Ronni Rhodes is the owner of WBC Imaging, an Internet company that specializes in web site enhancement utilizing streaming media technology. With her husband, Don, a digital media engineer, they work with companies to incorporate streaming as part of successful and meaningful sales and marketing programs.

Please direct all questions and comments to:
Ronni@wbcimaging.com
520-742-5780
http://www.wbcimaging.com

Interview with a Video Virgin

2007-08-07T09:03:00.000-04:00

Shani Alexander is the founder of Relocations Made Easy (www.relocations-made-easy.com) which produces an interactive website and CDROM tool that advises people on how to make a stress free relocation to a new city.

To create her interactive product, Shani needed camera vision of herself explaining to viewers how the product worked in front of a cityscape backdrop.

We interviewed her to find out her experience of using a video production company for the first time.

1.Why did you decide that you needed a video component in your website tool?

I am selling a virtual personal service product and the video component was needed to introduce a real person from which my virtual product could springboard.

The video component showed a real person, a company owner. It gave the personal touch and introduced what the customer was going to receive from their purchase.

2.What were you looking for in a video production company?

I really needed a company that could understand what I was trying to achieve. I really needed them to get inside my head and make real what I was imagining, what I was dreaming up.

It had to be cost effective with no cost blowouts. It also needed to be applied to the media I was using - the internet and CDROM. I needed clear picture quality that could be viewed across those mediums without any picture quality loss.

3.How difficult was it to compare proposals between the four providers?

Everyone told me how it is difficult to compare. All the production houses said they could do the same thing, but the prices were extremely different.

When I spoke to Digicast they went to great lengths to explain the type of camera that they used. Whilst I would have liked to think that everyone could produce the same job, I realised that the big differences in prices reflected the different types of camera quality being used.

Digicast also took me on board as if I was a client already. They gave me suggestions about how to do the shoot the best way and started treating me like a client before I even made the decision to go with them. From there, we were able to develop a relationship and work together on the project.

4.As someone new to being filmed, how did you find your shoot?

I found it really long, really tiring and boring! I was really surprised at how dependent you are on the weather to be right ? you have to keep waiting for the right light and the sky. It can add hours to the shoot.

Andrew Ross from Digicast who filmed me was incredibly professional. He's passionate, technical and knows what he is doing and has to keep the poor person on the other end of the camera still interested. He did a good job managing that. I really thought he worked well with me as the presenter. Andrew got me to look at the vision on the shoot and gave me options as to how we could re-shoot it to make it better. He controlled everything but I didn't feel like a pawn. His suggestions were worthwhile.

5.What did you learn about the television production process?

I really learnt something from it and I can now look at all the different shows on television and see how good, and bad, those presenters are. I have a healthy respect for an industry I took for granted before. It was a fantastic experience at the end of it all.

6.What advice would you give to anyone looking at starring in their own video?

I advise anyone who wants to take this on to do lots of preparation.

Digicast gave me some suggestions before the shoot about how I could get myself ready and get the most out of the day. I took those to heart and I did put a lot of preparation into the script. I re-edited the script, timed it, practised it and rehearsed it in front of a lot of people beforehand.

I even hired a professional to give me a training session on hand gestures and facial expressions. My preparation even extended to my personal grooming and I had my hair coloured beforehand and bought a new suit.

I also went to a lot of trouble to get the right location. We had to let the City of Melbourne know beforehand about the shoot. The liaising with the council was a much bigger component than I imagined. I checked out the site with a council employee and took some digital shots which I then emailed to Digicast. It was a real team effort to work out the right place to shoot.

7.Would you do it again?

You bet. I'm hoping I don't need to, as I should get a few years of mileage out of it. After all, it was made to be timeless and dateless. But I'd do it again because I achieved what I set out to achieve. I'm very happy about the experience and I would do it again if I needed to.

About The Author

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2004. All rights reserved.

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide) or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at www.digicast.com.au.

Look Into My Eyes - New Webcam Technology

2007-08-06T21:14:00.002-04:00

If a new webcam technology from Microsoft get the go-ahead, then instant messaging could get a whole lot more interesting.

Currently under development at the Microsoft research labs in Cambridge, England, the new webcam, i2i consists of two lenses, which carefully follows an individual's movement. Using an exclusively developed algorithm to cleverly blend what each lens is seeing, resulting in the creation of an accurate stereo "cylopean" image.

All very technical, but for the 18.5 million people (source Microsoft) who regularly use webcams while they are using instant messengers, i2i means that it will appear as if users are looking into each others eyes.

Antonio Criminisi, lead researcher of Microsoft's Machine Learning and Perception Group, said.

"We were able to come up with an algorithm that was able to take two images and capture a corresponding map in 3D. Using this powerful technology, we can now synthetically create an image as if the person is looking straight into your eyes."

According to Dr Criminisi, the biggest challenge for the backroom boys at Microsoft was in calculating how the visual brain works. In particular, how it sees and sorts out colors, shapes and distances.

"Essentially, what we have done is replace human eyes with cameras and the human brain with a computer."

The real magic behind this technology is the newly developed stereo algorithm, which makes it possible to accurately reconstruct a 3D, geometric image in real time and on a standard computer. Fundamentally, this is the same technology which was used to recreate the stunning 3D images of the Martian surface, which were beamed back by the NASA rover.

With the ability to generate realistic looking background images in order that users can pretend they are somewhere other than where they really are! Commenting, Dr Criminisi said.

"This is important for privacy, as I may not want you to see how untidy my bedroom is."

A feature likely to capture the teens market is that of Smart Icons. Instead of typing in the usual pictorial emotion e.g. :) i2i can superimpose free floating, 3D ones which can then be instructed to float freely around a person's head or anywhere else for that matter.

While Dr Criminisi admits there are still issues to iron out before the project is passed on to Microsoft Development, he is pleased with what has been achieved in under two years. Dr Criminisi's team is already experimenting with code which enables users to create their own wrap-around avatar, 3D face and then have it move as if it were their own.

About The Author

Robert Palmer is CEO of deskNET Communications (www.desknet.co.uk) providers of the first, viable alternative to opt-in email marketing and newsletter publishing. eMail: info@desknet.co.uk

Copyright c 2004 deskNET Communications - UK

How Video can be used Effectively Online

2007-08-06T21:14:00.001-04:00

A powerful way to convey your communication messages to your audience is to be able to have your promotional video available on your website.

Yet, we have probably all experienced visiting a website and clicking on a video only to have to been irritated that the content is not viewable or that the sound is inaudible. The result is we leave the website in frustration.

So how do you make sure the video content on your website can be watched by your audience? It all boils down to how you want your viewers to access your video file and the level of video quality you want your movie to be played at.

There are two different ways of sharing your video file on the web:

1. Streamable Video

This is where the viewer is able to download sections of your video (otherwise known as "streaming"), while the video is playing. The main benefit of this method is that the user does not have to spend time downloading the complete video before viewing.

There are three major streaming video formats ? RealVideo (RM), QuickTime (MOV) and Windows Media (WMV). These are playable on Real Player, QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player respectively. Windows Media Player is widely available on most PC's, as it is part of Windows Operating System. The other players need to be installed.

The only negative with streamable video is that the quality of the video is dependent upon Internet connection. In addition, it has the annoying habit of dropping video frames because the streaming software has to adjust the data rate based on the speed of your Internet connection, in order to keep playing the video.

2. Download and Play

This is where the viewer needs to download the entire video first, then play it on their video player application. The main advantage is that the video quality is not affected by Internet connection speed.

However, it can take some time for the video to download if the file is large.

So which format do you choose?

In a world where first impressions always count, it is extremely important for companies to appear professional and trustworthy at all times. Marketing videos with poor picture quality are likely to reflect a poor quality company in the mind of the viewer. Consequently, we always recommend the download and play option. This is because it allows for high quality video content to be viewed.

However, as you don't want viewers to give up on downloading your video, we only recommend that short video clips are inserted onto your website.

This means your website users will be able to download a short video at a high quality picture resolution that will portray your company in the best possible way.

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2004. All rights reserved.

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide) or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au.

Creating Value With Streaming Video Content

2007-08-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

Having a corporate or promotional video for your company is often viewed as something of an expensive luxury ? useful, but rarely considered to be an essential marketing tool. Whilst many businesses can understand the benefits of having a corporate video, all too often they are put off by the perceived cost and subsequently find it hard to justify commercially. Furthermore, the process of making a video can at times, appear complex and intimidating, with an array of technical terms and processes.

Streaming video provides a number of useful opportunities for maximising the potential of an existing corporate video. And compared to other distribution media such as DVD or CD-ROMs it also offers a cost-effective solution for broadcasting a new corporate presentation to a wider audience.

Although streaming video is certainly not a new concept and has been around for some time, it's now easier than ever to add streaming video content to your website. The technology required to enable video streaming is widely available, it's relatively inexpensive and with the dramatic growth in high speed, broadband internet connections, a growing number of internet users can now view high quality, streaming video on their computers.

In this article, leading corporate video & business television producer, John Howarth, explains some of the ways in which streaming video content can be made to work effectively for your business and produce tangible results.

Provide Compelling Content

Try to provide content that creates a real interest for the viewer. Instead of simply informing them of your key corporate values ? the typical narrative being 'how successful we are, the great products & services we offer, our featured clients' - why not turn the message into something that is actually useful and engaging to watch.

Take for example a company that manufactures kitchen products. Whilst you could produce a video to establish company values by highlighting such areas as quality of craftsmanship and original design of the product, this information is almost certainly available more easily on the web pages. It could be far more interesting for the viewer to provide them with a series of recipes, which feature the products being used in context.

Another technique is to provide content that is not centrally focused to your company's core products & services. For example, your company sponsors a sports event or art exhibition. How about showing some clips from the event, with company branding around it? By using more recognisable and popular content, you are creating a wider 'reach' for the video, with the added possibility of gaining increased website traffic.

Re-Package Content

Lets say you already have a corporate video, it's around ten minutes long and you currently distribute it on a video tape format or DVD. The most obvious solution would be to have it transferred to a streaming format in it's entirety and loaded up onto your website. Whilst a ten minute corporate video sequence may be useful as a backdrop display in a trade exhibition or screened to a captive audience in a conference, it's often far too long to use as a streaming video clip on your website. Who really has the time to sit and watch a corporate video clip for this length of time? It's often far more useful to break the sequence down into a series of individual clips or re-edit into a shorter, condensed version that has greater impact.

Following on from this, you might also want to distribute streaming video clips around different areas on your website. This way, the clips featured can be targeted to match ? and complement - the page content. For example, on a page detailing company clients and case studies, the video clip could feature customer testimonials; situated on a contact details page, the video sequence could feature some generic shots of company locations and building exterior shots.

Brand The Video

Whatever streaming video clips you use, try to ensure they are branded with your corporate identity. This could be a small logo in the top corner of the screen or a 'picture frame' wrapped around the moving images. Taking it a step further, you may want to add an introduction sequence with animated corporate logos at the beginning and end of every sequence. Another option is to create an HTML or Flash 'player' customised with your corporate identity. The video clip would then play within this frame and could be complemented by some animated product or service information around it.

When reviewing website statistics, it is frequently pages featuring streaming video content that are the most 'sticky' and have the longest viewing times by site visitors. Use this factor to your advantage - it's an ideal opportunity to get your core brand values, products and services across to the site visitor.

About The Author

John Howarth is creative director of Blue Tuna Limited, a leading UK-based corporate communications & multi-media production agency. Past projects include live streaming for leading online bookmaker, Blue Square and the launch of the UK's of the first club soccer channel, Boro TV for NTL.

www.bluetuna.tv

Put Audio & Video on Your Web Site

2007-08-05T21:34:00.001-04:00

As a company that sells streaming media services for a living, we get questions everyday about what needs to be done to make an audio or video presentation that will stream well over the Internet. Most of these inquiries come from small businesses with limited budgets for marketing and advertising. They are always pleasantly surprised when we tell them that they can do it themselves!

Let's start with an audio only presentation:

Write out your script first! Focus on two to three points that you feel are essential to explain your products or services. Keep the script simple. If your site offers a wide variety of goods or services, you might consider several different messages with each one keying in on one or two important areas.

Have someone who is not familiar with your business review the script and your site. Be sure that they understand your message. If they don't, rewrite it!

Practice reading the script until you feel completely familiar and comfortable with it. (You can hire professional voice talent for reasonable rates if you'd prefer not recording the audio yourself.)

Use the best quality tape recorder available to you. A cassette recorder is fine.

Use a high quality brand name audiotape.

An external microphone that plugs into your recorder is preferable to the one that comes built-in. They are very inexpensive and produce a better recording.

Do your recording in a quiet place with as little background noise as possible. (That one seems pretty obvious, doesn't it?)

Speak naturally! It can help to have a friend or colleague act as an audience to give you focus.

Record your presentation several times. Select the one that will sound the most natural and inviting to your site visitors.

Send the tape to the encoding (streaming) vendor. They'll take it from there!

A video presentation takes a little more time and effort, but you really can do it yourself. Your home video camera will work just fine! All of the same rules you used to make your audiotape apply here including the use of an external microphone. Good quality videotape is essential. The following suggestions will help you prepare a video presentation for your site that should stream very well:

Keep the camera steady! Put the camera on a tripod or brace it against something solid like a table or a wall. If you must pan or zoom, do it very slowly. (Too much motion can cause a "blurry" stream.)

Simplify your frame. Think about where everything is going to be. People coming in and out of the frame can create movement that may cause confusion.

Stay focused. A lot of auto-focus cameras can't focus properly if you are too close to your subject. Five or six feet away is a good distance. Don't try to shoot through a window; the camera will focus on the glass.

Good lighting is essential. Try to light your scene from the front. Don't stand in front of a window; the backlighting will cause you to be in silhouette. Try shooting outside if possible.

Use the fastest record speed. This will insure the best video quality.

Record in a quiet place. Hold the mike close to your mouth to cut down on external noises.

RELAX AND ENJOY YOURSELF! It really shows. Practice until you feel comfortable.

If you have additional questions or concerns, your streaming vendor should be ready and able to assist you.

Early adopters of Rich Media techniques, streaming being one of them, have already started to reap the rewards of higher click-through rates and increased conversion rates. If your message is meaningful and relevant to your site visitors, your streaming presentation will add to their enjoyment of visiting your site and encourage them not only to buy but also to return and buy again!

Ronni Rhodes is the owner of WBC Imaging, an Internet company that specializes in web site enhancement utilizing streaming media technology. With her husband, Don, a digital media engineer, they work with companies to incorporate streaming as part of successful and meaningful sales and marketing programs.

Please direct all questions and comments to:Ronni@wbcimaging.com520-742-5780http://www.wbcimaging.com

DVD Authoring: An Introduction

2007-08-05T21:34:00.000-04:00

DVD Authoring is the process of collecting various content assets such as video, audio, photographs, subtitles, and menus, connecting them together and burning them to a master dvd disc.

The assets themselves are generated in a variety of applications such as video editing, post-production, image editing and subtitling. They are then compiled in a DVD authoring application such as Ulead DVD Movie Factory on the PC or DVD Studio Pro on the Mac. The process of authoring is very much like building a website. The menu screen on a DVD is analgous to the homepage of a website in that it contains links to all the content on the DVD.

Menu screens usually link to the main feature, chapters within the feature, additional scenes not contained in the feature, photographic slideshows, and additional audio content. The main menu screen can also contain links to sub-menus, which helps avoid cluttering the main menu with too many options.

In addition to setting up menu selections on the main menu, the DVD authoring application allows the producer to set-up additional features such as subtitles. Within the authoring application, each item is given the metaphor of a container. A container can hold any type of supported content and is linked to a menu selection, either on the main menu or a sub-menu.

DVD authoring applications also usually support the creation of multi-angle content (where viewers can decide to watch a different passage of video with the same soundtrack and subtitles) and Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound

Using this method it is very easy for even a comparitive novice to create a fairly sophisticated DVD disc with most of the features found on a commercial disc. Indeed the biggest challenge for the prospective DVD author is the aesthetic design itself. Getting all the bits to work properly is one thing, but making it look good and intuitive to use is another.

Once the content of the disc has been laid out in the authoring application, it is then previewed to make sure everything works properly. It is then 'multiplexed' (the content is linked together) and the master disc can be burned.

It's worth noting that the affordable DVD writers and authoring applications only support writing to DVD for General media which doesn't have the necessary lead-in tracks required by mass duplicators. Therefore this type os solution is not really suitable for producing DVDs which need to be mass-duplicated.

Robert Armstrong is a contributor to The HDTV Tuner - a guide to the kit, the content and the issues related to HDTV.

Network Marketing and Video Email

2007-08-05T21:33:00.000-04:00

I received another e-mail today from someone telling me that Video e-Mail is the wave of the future. According to the e-mail, (which contained no video!), the world will soon be embracing and more importantly paying for this service. The jury is still out and I don't want to make any judgmental comment that I have to eat later.

What I do want to comment on is the horrible use of this product by Network Marketers. There is nothing engaging about watching some dude sitting in front of a web-cam talking about his business. Most of the video e-mails I have seen remind me of a Kung Fu movie, except they remove all of the reason why anyone would want to watch a Kung Fu movie...the action.

Smart companies are committed to utilizing today's technology and some of that technology is certainly cool, but they don't use technology simply because people think it's cool. There must be purpose behind the sizzle of something cool.

Here is a video that makes good use of the technology:

Heidi Klum Launches Product Runway

If the video e-mail Network Marketers wanted to produce something effective, they would talk a little bit about the product and then interview some folks that are using it.

If you're scoring at home, super models never hurt your cause either.

Ty Tribble, is President of Passport, LLC. and author of the MLM Blog, a collection of thoughts and opinions on Network Marketing.

Working with Royalty Free Music

2007-08-04T21:35:00.000-04:00

When creating Multi-Media Content, Flash or Video Clips for a client's web site or CD Rom Project, the last thing you want is to get him in trouble with the law. If there's a need for music in a project, using royalty free music is essential.

Here are some general music tips that you may find useful:

1) Finding the right kind of music

There are hundreds of choices when it comes to royalty free music and making the right decision can be hard. After all, most TV production companies have music supervisors on staff whose only job it is to select appropriate music for projects. Selecting music is an art in itself. In general, you will find that your clients would prefer to use something they heard on the radio, something from their favorite album etc. Unfortunately, that's copyrighted stuff and licensing an N Sync song for your next 'how to' video or CD-Rom may cost you a fortune. What you want to do is find buyout music that sounds similar to today's popular music. It's a little harder to find than your typical 'canned' music. A lot royalty free music may sound like music from a 70's sitcom or worse, a cheap porno flick.

A good place to check out is http://www.buyoutmusictracks.com All their tracks are created by established record producers with grammy and gold record credits so you get music that sounds as up-to-date as what you may hear on the radio.

Our tip: Always use music that sounds just a little more energetic than you think you may need. You may listen to the music over and over while you're putting together your project while the end user may only hear it a few times.

2) Less is not more in production music

When you are looking for background music for a project, choose music with some impact. I know it is supposed to be background music but if you choose high energy tracks, your whole project will leave more of an impression. Listen to a sampling of today's TV commercials and you'll find that most of them use very powerful music. You want your work to create an impact and keep viewer's attention and a strong, powerful soundtrack can do that.

3) When 'legal' music is not legal

The usage license on your buyout music CD may be very liberal but it is not a license to steal. You can use royalty free music on all of your projects and as you have the legal right to use the music, your customers can be assured not to get into legal troubles.

However, that license is only extended to you, the purchaser. You cannot transfer that license by copying your CD and giving it to somebody else or by selling the CD. This may be news to you but there's no such thing as a 'used buyout music CD' If you don't purchase the music from the producers of the music, it won't be legal still. So, next time you browse Ebay for royalty free music, make sure you are buying a new CD, not a used one or it will be useless to you.

4) You get what you pay for

While we're on the topic of Ebay: You may find offers for entire 4 or 6 CD libraries for $75 or other ridiculously low prices on Ebay. The truth is, these CDs may not even be worth that low price.

One good quality royalty free music CD will cost you between $29 and $69 (some even more) If it's less than that, here's what you are likely to get:

Discontinued titles that have been around for 10, 20 or more and not only sound dated but may also have already found its way unto hundreds or thousands of other projects during the years to make your own project sound dated.

Homegrown CDs that are created in somebody's bedroom studio. You can easily recognize these CDs as they usually don't have any 'real' instruments on it, only synthesized stuff. You can clearly hear the difference between those CDs and something produced in a real studio with real musicians. Our tip: Check out http://www.buyoutmusictracks.com for music. Each of their CDs is only $29.95 and each title contains between 30 and 48 real studio recorded tracks.

5) CD or Download?

With the event of high speed internet, you don't really have to wait anymore to receive your Royalty Free Music CD in the mail. If you need tracks fast, you can now download buyout music from the net. You can choose only the tracks you need and get to use them within minutes. Single downloadable tracks usually cost a little more money per track than buying a whole CD. On the other hand, you don't have to buy a whole CD if you only need one or two tracks.

My advice, if you are buying music to 'keep on the shelf' for future projects and for your customers to choose from, buy physical CDs. If you need just one or two 'perfect' tracks or if you are on a deadline, downloadable purchases may be perfect for you. I don't know if I have to mention it, but purchasing a Mariah Carey track from Itunes or Napster for a buck does not entitle you to use the music. You have to download your music from a buyout music company so the track is licensed to you.

6) Make your own

You may think, 'are you crazy? I'm not a musician' You don't have to be a music genius anymore these days. Programs like Acid and Apple's Garageband allow you to create original music by using 'loops' Loops are pre-made musical chunks of drums, bass, guitar, strings, whatever, that you can put together like a mosaic to create your own music soundtrack.

The advantage is clear. By creating your own music with a loops program you can make absolutely sure that nobody else is using the exact same music on their project. This will give you 'original' music at Buyout Music Prices. All you need is a good musical ear and a couple of loops CDs to get you started. You can find lots of loops CDs and more info at http://www.acidmusicloops.com Their Groove Construction Kits are a great way to get started with music loops. And here's the best news, you can download the Acid program for free. Just visit http://www.musicleads.net/articles/freestuff.html for free (and legal) downloads of Acid, Protools and many other great music and sound tools.

I hope that these tips were useful to you. You are free to use or re-print this article in your newsletter, ezine, or on your web site.

About The Author

Alan Steward - www.musicleads.net

Alan Steward is a producer and engineer with many credits in the Music, Video and Television production world.