In this tutorial I demonstrate how to use background music in your video correctly. In particular, I review a rule of thumb for setting levels, and then demonstrate the effects of using the rule by letting you listen to ‘before and after’ examples.

Additionally I briefly introduce you to the VU meter.

If you have been wanting to include background music in your videos, this tutorial will be very helpful.

This episode is available to members only.

Sometimes when people shoot video, they forget about the audio. In this tutorial, my goal is to help you add a tool to your audio toolbox that can help ease the transition from one clip in your sequence to the next. It’s called wild sound.

Topics I cover in this tutorial:

• What is wild sound?
• What tools do you need to capture it?
• A couple tips for capturing it
• How you can use it in your sequence

The ‘before and after’ example in this video is pretty subtle. My recommendation is that you wear headphones and listen closely so you’ll be able to hear the difference.

Have more tips for the Izzy Video viewers? Please post them in the comments…

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You can download the Quicktime version of the episode here.

I love screencasts because they’re fairly simple to produce, and they’re an excellent way to show something visually. However, sometimes I watch screencasts that have poor levels of quality (usually on YouTube). While I might be intrigued by the content, the production quality is low and the videos are difficult to watch because of this.

If you’re looking for a way to increase the quality of your screencasts, then this installment of Izzy Video will give you a big boost. In it, I reveal four secrets to making a high-quality screencast.

This episode is for members only. If you’d like to learn more about an Izzy Video Membership, please follow this link.

If you want to pump your video full of energy, you have many obvious options. A couple that come to mind: Using high energy music in the background, and using several fast cuts. But in this installment of Izzy Video I review a few less-obvious tips that will help you get the energy you’re looking for.

Have more tips for the Izzy Video viewers? Please post them in the comments…

Become an Izzy Video Member

Want more? Izzy Video Members get access to the complete collection of Izzy Video Tutorials. Please follow this link for more details on becoming an Izzy Video Member.

Want to automatically receive all the free shows as they’re released?

Subscribe to the free version of Izzy Video in iTunes, and have this episode plus future free episodes delivered to your computer by clicking on the following link:

Free Izzy Video Tutorials in iTunes

You can download the Quicktime version of the episode here.

On a personal note…

If you follow me on Twitter, then you likely know about this already. But while I was vacationing in the midwest with my family, someone broke into my house and stole my Mac Pro, two displays, and a printer. The police fingerprinted several places in our home, so who knows? Maybe they’ll catch the thief.

Anyway, the story is getting some attention on the local news because there’s a chance the criminals knew we were gone because I twittered about my family’s trip. The media is very interested in Twitter right now.

Of course, the burglary may also be a random crime — which unfortunately is becoming more common in my neighborhood.

Do I plan on quitting my use of Twitter? No.

Will I be more cautious about what I tweet? Yes, certainly.

I’ll update this post with links to news stories as I discover them.

Here’s one from 3TV: http://bit.ly/RlJ67
Here’s the one from ABC14 (embedded above): http://bit.ly/QdLXj
Here’s the one from 12 News.

Previously I showed you how to use a light meter to set a proper exposure for your subject. In this installment of Izzy Video, I demonstrate how to use a light meter to deliberately create contrast ratios on your lighting. This is one of the most fundamental ways of creating specific ‘looks’ in your video, and this episode will make it easy for you.

Also, I added a section that delves into F-Stops, how they work, what they do, and how one relates to another one. If F-Stops have ever been confusing to you, I believe you’ll find this section helpful.

Become an Izzy Video Member

Want more? Izzy Video Members get access to the complete collection of Izzy Video Tutorials. Please follow this link for more details on becoming an Izzy Video Member.

Want to automatically receive all the free shows as they’re released?

Subscribe to the free version of Izzy Video in iTunes, and have this episode plus future free episodes delivered to your computer by clicking on the following link:

Free Izzy Video Tutorials in iTunes

You can download the Quicktime version of the episode here.

Photography and videography have a lot in common. Many of the tools that photographers use can be useful for video shooters as well. In this installment of Izzy Video, I review the difference between reflected light meters and incident light meters, and I also demonstrate how to use them.

Become an Izzy Video Member

Do you like this tutorial and want more? Izzy Video Members get access to the complete collection of Izzy Video Tutorials. Please follow this link for more details on becoming an Izzy Video Member.

Want to automatically receive all the free shows as they’re released?

Subscribe to the free version of Izzy Video in iTunes, and have this episode plus future free episodes delivered to your computer by clicking on the following link:

Free Izzy Video Tutorials in iTunes

You can download the Quicktime version of the episode here.

For many years, nearly all the videos you’ve seen embedded on my website have been Quicktime videos in file formats such as MP4, MOV, and M4V. I’ve used Quicktime embed code on occasion, but usually I simply link to the video files so you can click on them and watch them in your browser. I did this even when most other websites embedded Flash video files, and clearly Flash was becoming the new standard.

My reason for this has been that I’ve much preferred the quality of Quicktime files over the quality of Flash files. To my eyes, Flash videos were unbearably low quality and difficult to watch. And one of the biggest problems has been the video-sharing services like YouTube. When you upload a video to their service, they control the transcoding process, so you give up your control over quality.

Everything has recently changed. My concerns are gone because Flash now has the ability to play videos encoded with the H.264 codec. This is huge! H.264 gives you the ability to produce high quality videos with a relatively low file size. This codec is the one I use with all of the videos I distribute over the web.

In this week’s installment of Izzy Video, I demonstrate how to create a high quality FLV file (which is a Flash file format that’s excellent for playing on the web). I also demonstrate how to embed it into your website. If you’ve been wanting to embed high quality videos in your website, this episode is a must-see.

Update: I should have mentioned in the video that Don Wigington from www.epikos.net told me about the very useful trick of changing the file extension from MP4 to FLV. Thanks, Don, for the pointer!

This week’s tutorial is available to Izzy Video Members only.

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Izzy Video Members get access to full versions of the show in HD and iPod resolutions. Please follow this link for more details on becoming an Izzy Video Member.

Want to see the trailer and all the other free tutorials?

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You can download the Quicktime version of the trailer here.

We’re returning to some video fundamentals with this episode. This tutorial is all about getting a good exposure. Also, I demonstrate how to to use an 18% gray card.

The specific gray card I’m using is from Lastolite. Here is an Amazon link (where I purchased mine): Lastolite 12-Inch Ezybalance Card Gray Card

You can watch the high quality version of the video here.

Want to see more videos like this one? Check out the membership information page to see how you can get access to all the other videos.

In past episodes of Izzy Video, I’ve spent a lot of time going over the concepts of lighting. What are the best ways to light a face? How do you position the lights? What kinds of lights do you use? That’s great information to know, but there’s something else that shows up in nearly every frame of video, and it certainly deserves some attention.

In this week’s tutorial I show you how to light a background for video. This is just the first part. There will be more to come, but this does a good job of showing you the fundamental information you need to know to light a background — especially if you’re just dealing with a wall, paper, or fabric — in other words, a flat surface that you need to make more visually interesting.

If you have questions or comments about this subject, please feel free to leave them in the Comments of this post.

This week’s video is for Izzy Video Members only. If you’d like to learn more about an Izzy Video Membership, please follow this link.