The DV Show - Digital Video Podcast, Video Editing, Camcorder Reviews, Videography

How to Make a Video for Non-Profits

admin — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:14:05 +0000

Arty asks: we’re a small non profit who is realizing the importance of video to spread our message. How do we get started? What are some tips you can offer?

Answer: With YouTube pumping out 2 billion video streams a day, one thing is clear: Video matters. Although it may seem intimidating, using video as part of your nonprofit’s online presence has become surprisingly cheap and easy. If your nonprofit is getting ready to use the power of video, this video offers 34 tips and examples for creating short films about non-profit organizations and international projects. It is focused on 3 primary areas: directing and producing, shooting in the field, and editing.

Getting Video into Avid Studio for iPad

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:18:59 +0000

Andrew asks: I just purchased Avid Studio for the iPad. Loving it but I feel it is limited to video recorded from the iPad itself – from the camera roll. I have a video camera that has an output plus a memory card. Is there a way to get this video into the iPad so I can start editing?

Premium Subscribers get immediate answers to video questions, access to the show archives of over 250 podcasts with show notes spanning over 3 years, dozens of videos and articles filled with tips and tricks to enhance any production, free books, software downloads plus more! find out the details here

How to Import an iPad iMovie project to FCPX

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:28:28 +0000

Rick asks: How can I import an iPad iMovie project into FCPX?

Here is a quick tutorial video and step by step step instructions to get the job done:

Hiring Freelancers for the Extra Work

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:40:34 +0000

Joseph asks: My video business is booked every weekend until August. I am now starting to get offers to cover events on weekends that I am already booked for. My business is sales of individual videos.

Should I just hire someone and pay them a base rate, or base it on a percentage of the sales?

The DV Show Podcast for February 27, 2012

admin — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:38:24 +0000

Running time: 34:25

Download MP3 file

Should you invest in high end equipment when pocket cameras are just as good? Which multi camera video switcher should you purchase? Controlling camera shake caused by loud music. Where to find quality, affordable voice over talent for free and wedding video music choices that will quickly land you in jail.

Show notes:

- Webcasting studio equipment suggestions – all out super studio
- Vibration suppression pads
- Buy your own neoprene
- Decisions, Decisions: Flip HD vs Playsport vs Kodak Zi8
- Software based video switchers
- Using multiple microphones on a camera
- Tons of Voiceover Talent for Your Video Productions
- Extract date/time stamp
- Extract date/time stamp
- Elite Videographer
- Become a Premium Subscriber

15+ FCPX Color Correction Tutorials

admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:25:07 +0000

Will asks: I’m thinking of purchasing FCPx but not clear on it’s color correction abilities. Does it have the color correction tools of Apple Color? Are they faster and more powerful than those of earlier versions? Can we see video tutorials?

Answer: There’s a tremendous amount of color correcting and grading power hidden inside the new interface, and by the time you’re finished watching these videos, you’ll have it unlocked.

See for yourself:

Side by Side Comparison: FCP7 vs FCPX

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:45:26 +0000

Alan asks: I’ve learned to use and love FCP7 and thinking of upgrading over to FCPX… or is it an upgrade? Does it have all of the same features? is it faster? effects are all there? I would like to see a side by side comparison. Thanks!

Answer: Two guys from Clearhead Media took the time to do a non-scientific comparison of the two and came up with some very interesting results:

Click here to view the embedded video.

3 Ways To Trick FCPX into MultiCam Editing

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:45:28 +0000

Don asks: I film live musical performances using a three-camera setup. Using Final Cut Express, I typically bring the clips into a multi-track timeline and sync the clips to the master audio. Then to create the edit of the performance, I go through the performance and essentially select a camera angle by cutting it out of it’s track and dragging it up to a fourth video track. Is this approach to a synchronized multi-camera edit possible/practical in FCPX? Or is there a different approach/workflow that FCPX encourages that will get the same effect?

Answer: Pretty much the same technique.

Previous versions of FCP actually had a dedicated multicam feature. The ability to synchronize your raw footage in real-time was priceless.

When it comes to multi-cam editing for FCPX, Apple intends to restore this feature in an update, calling it “a top priority.”

Until it does, here are three workarounds to make it happen:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

Indiana State Fair: How to Sell News Footage

admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:08:15 +0000

Jason asks: I just watched the Indiana State Fair stage collapse. After first being shocked, and after a few views, I couldn’t help but wonder why the videographer didn’t keep that unique footage he shot and sell it to major news outlets? It’s all over the web and on national and international news. I’m sure he could have made a bundle if he knew how. If I get into a situation like this how could I sell the footage I have? it would be nice to know.

Answer: First off, just like you, our immediate thoughts were not that of the quality of the video or how much money the videographer could have made if he/she sold the footage, but on prayers and condolences for the families and friends of all 5 people who perished. This was a tragedy that no one saw coming.

Could the videographer make a little cash on what was shot? Absolutely. Is it a bad thing to put your hand out after shooting such a tragic event? Being the only one having a broadcast quality money shot – should you exchange it for cash? Some say yes. Some say no.

To focus on the answer to your question on how to sell news footage, whatever it may be, we found a great post from Bruce Wilkinson at www.engftp.com detailing what he has learned:

Main Affiliate/Co-ops Groups:

Fox News Edge (Only FOX Stations)
ABC News One (Only ABC Stations)
NBC News Channel (Only NBC Stations)
CBS News Path (Only CBS Stations)
CNN News Source (Anyone that is will to pay the monthly fee to belong)
NNS (Made up of CBS, FOX, and ABC Stations)
APTN (By contract)
Reuters (By contract)

Item 1: A large number of network stations also get CNN footage. If you sell your footage to CNN first the other co-ops may not be as inclined to buy it since they will not get as much affiliate demand since their affiliates are already getting it from CNN. (This logic applies to NNS as well I assume)

Item 2: You can sell video on a show by show basis. Good Morning America, Today, and World News or whatever. You do not have to sell footage on a network wide basis. For the really right stuff $5,000.00 per show or network is not a crazy number.

Item 3: When selling to a local maket be REAL clear that they do not own the video you are selling to them. They are only buying the right to air it locally. They can only contribute to their affiliate services what they own and they do not own what you gave them. You sold them only a right to use it on their newscast only.

Item 4: A station can never offer something to an affiliate service that they do not own. ie getting it from another news service. Example. You sell footage to NBC News Channel and an NBC station in Maine uses it because the event happened near their market. That same Maine Station is also a CNN News Source subscriber but they can not then offer that material to CNN. Moral: This policy may allow footage to be sold to four or five co-ops before demand dries up.

Item 5: You should embargo by station call letters not areas. Areas and regions are too vague. ie Is Bakersfield part of the LA market?

Item 6: Local stations will not pay more for exclusive national use versus exclusive local use. Local stations do not get paid for contributions to their respective services. Moral: Use the little guys to tease the big guys. Do try and use them to cash out since they only care about their local competition.

Item 7: Know exactly where your video is going when you sell. CNN USA, Headline News, CNN International, CNN NewsSource? You could say the same with NBC and MSNBC and NBC News Channel. All of them. You can even break it down futher by WEB use, photo, and if you have sound by radio. Some networks have relationships with networks overseas which could be a market to sell to as well. Moral: Know exactly where you video is going to see the light of day before you sell it so you do not unknowingly exclude other potential buyers. (Getting the above in writting from the buyers Rights and Restrictions person is ideal)

Item 8: Reuters use to and still may have rights to everything NBC News Channel has for international rebroadcast. So for example if you sell something to NBC News Channel be sure they are not going to give it to Reuters or you can forget about selling it to NHK Japan, BBC, or anyone in South America. APTN may have a similar deal with ABC ect and never assume what is minor news here is not crazy big news in London, Tokyo, or Rio.

Item 9: For the most part everything above gets honored. When a mistake is made and caught the offender usually pays what the market rate would have been for the footage. Mistakes are also pretty hard to follow for most stringers. Moral: Get DSS with lots local stations though out the country and maybe even a few stations overseas.

Item 10: When you sell something of national interest to a local station it would be good for them to actually contribute that footage, WITH RESTRICTIONS, to their affiliate service versus just sitting on it for their own use. Its free advertising to the bigs and depending on the restrictions you would still need to be called before its used. The peril here is if your local does not include the restriction correctly and they contribute it you have let your video out to the world and you may never get it back again.

Final: Money shots do not happen every day or even every year so its easy not to have to think about all this. When it does happen the people you will be dealing with will have the upper hand because they do this EVERYDAY. As a group we can help prepare ourselves. Its simple, National News has made it clear that they are now “for profit” organizations. Why would anyone blame the content providers for having the same philosophy.

Video Business Website Review #2

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:43:57 +0000

This video is a supplement to our webinar called Principals of Effective Website Design for Video Business – which was recorded live in our studio.

In the webinar, we mentioned taking a look at more videographer websites and giving advice on ways to improve. Dozens were submitted to us for review – we’re just catching up on most of them now.

By the way, the high quality video recording, project files, digital handouts and the MP3 audio version of that webinar are all available for immediate download for Premium subscribers.

Today we visit: http://www.theturningleaf.net who mentioned participating in the webinar and applying the principles to their new design…let’s see what they got.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

20+ Rogue Plugins and Tools for Final Cut Pro X

admin — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 03:20:11 +0000

Tony asks: With previous versions of Final Cut Pro there were tons of plugins and tools to enhance the software. Where did they all go? With Final Cut Pro X it seems like you just purchase and download with no plugin support. What gives? Any resources or a tool that can make the transition to what I payed thousands of dollars for?

Answer: Amidst the excitement for the dramatic FCPX release, it’s still ‘not ready for professional use’ which keeps Apple tight lipped about any 3rd party plugins or enhancements.

Graeme Nattress, one of the best known NLE software developers, has not heard a peep from Apple – complete silence. Nada, zilch, zippo. And developers are always the first to know. It’s therefore highly unlikely that any old plugins will work in FCPX on the day of – or after this first release until Apple gets things in order and gives the official green light.

If you depend on third party plugins, we recommend that you keep a copy of FCP7 on your system for serious work and use the time to get to grips with the new UI of FCPX.

In the meantime, some die-hard Final Cut Pro users like Alexandre Gollner, Leo Hans, sight-creations.com, and fcpeffects.com (to name a few) just couldn’t wait and took the time to create some really cool plugins and tools that you may find useful.

Here are some of the best ones we scoured around the web for and collected thanks to tons of our viewers and listeners, Creative Cow, Youtube, Vimeo and fcp.co:

And this is not it…there will be more to come.

1. 8 Point Mask

8 Point Mask is a filter that lets you create a garbage matte with up to 8 points. Create curves between the points instead of straight lines. This allows you to easily create a mask to extract almost any element you need.

Each point can be turned on and off independently, so you only have to position the points you need, and the points can be animated using keyframes, allowing you to extract a moving object for instance.

If the Motion Templates, Effects and Keying sub-folders aren’t in your Movies folder, create them before first. You don’t need to have Motion installed on your Mac to use this effect.

2. And don’t forget the 7 Point Mask with On screen controls (B Spline)

Much more flexible than the Mask that comes with FCPX

Watch this demo video the plugin in action

3. 12 Classic Generators for Final Cut Pro X

Are you missing some of the classic generators from FCP7 when you moved over to FCPX?

Introducing 12 classic Final Cut Pro Generators that have been published for use in Final Cut Pro X. If you’ve used legacy versions of Final Cut Pro, you’ll immediately recognized these generators. Because of FCP X’s new architecture, these generators are blazingly responsive, and include some new interface enhancements courtesy of Motion 5′s new publishing and rigging features. The best part is, they are FREE and we’ve even included a movie explaining how to install and use them.

4. Dimensions effect: Helpful for making videos with non-standard frame dimensions

Alex4D Dimensions is a Title Generator effect that mattes the edges of a project so the visible area has exactly the pixel dimensions you specify. It helps you make videos with frame dimensions that aren’t available as standard in Final Cut Pro X.

View a demo tutorial of this plugin in action

5. Face Blur & Pixelate face

Effect preset enabling you to obscure or highlight faces quickly.

Built in presets:

Blur Face
Pixellate Face
Face Outline
Face Highlight

Keyframe the mask position using the on screen control in the viewer.

5a. Disguise is another face blur effect

This effect has an onscreen control and is easily keyframed.

Watch this demo video of the plugin in action

6. Multi Gradient Blur Effect

This blur effect can be used to mimic selective circular and/or linear focus.

It is a Title Effect (without text) so you can edit it as a connected clip on top of the video you want to apply it to and adjust the length as needed.

In the effect controls (which you will find when you click the “title” button in the inspector) there is a pop-up where you can choose between the following Blur Types:

a circular gradient blur
a single linear gradient blur
a double gradient blur
a combination of the circular gradient blur and the double linear gradient blur

There are on screen controls for the start end end points for both the linear blurs and the centre of the circular blur. These parameters can also be altered numerically in the inspector and keyframed if needed.

7. Liquid screen effect

You can use this effect on Titles (including the caustics – if the Title is JUST text then the caustics will just “play” on the text) — just click on the Video tab (to the right of Title and Text at the top of the inspector to get to the parameters.

Watch this demo video of the plugin in action

8. Camera aperture effect

This is NOT a transition. This is a fully customizable effect – you make your own animation by keyframing the generator.

Some features:

Position the aperture anywhere; scale (more of a 3D zoom); set/animate aperture opening; *lens flare* effect with several customizing parameters.
Generator can be used as a lens/light flare effect only.

To install: unzip the file and drag the Multi Gradient Blur folder to your User/Movies/Motion Templates/Titles folder.

Watch this demo video the plugin in action

9. Timecode reader

The “timecode” effect in FCPX only generates, but if you use the “timecode” effect from this plugin and publish it to FCPX, it will read the original timecode and you can make a timecode burn-in movie.

10. Sound only transition

Experienced editors know that many jump cuts can be made less jarring if you add an audio cross fade.

Here is a very simple transition that doesn’t modify video edits, but as Final Cut Pro X adds a cross fade by default, the transition is ‘Sound only.’

You can also choose to have the audio cross fade to happen before, at the same time as, or after the video edit.

11. Colorist Toy Box

Essentially equivalent to SC Sharpen Tools, without the sharpening aspects. Extra color blending modes added, Aura effect enhancements and an “Intensity” mix added (was missing from the sharpen tools.)

Watch this demo video the plugin in action

12. iPhone video recording simulation effect

Drag this FCPX effect onto a clip in your timeline and watch as your footage is magically transformed to simulate a video being recorded on an iPhone. In the inspector you can choose between varying levels of hand shakiness and background blur/bokeh.

Watch this demo video the plugin in action

13. 3D lighting plugin

3D lights parameters from motion. But quite nice for creating lighting effect for grading etc.

14. FCPX Transition Effects x 4

A pack of 4 FCPX transition effects, including Flash Frame, Wind Blur, Swish Pan and Organic Transition. (Unzip the attachment and drag each individual effect into your Motion Templates/Transitions folder – preferably make a new folder inside there.)

Flicker Flash and Blur dip to color

Essentially what you’ve got is a transition that “randomly” changes the opacity of the transition layers as they mix between each other, with an added “random” luminance flicker and an optional color overlay flicker for which the default is black.

View a demo tutorial of this plugin in action

15. Photo Album Effect

This effect is built by Robbert-Jan van der – the same guy who made the Classic SLR Viewfinder template that is included in this collection. This great looking photo album template is complete with translucent flysheets.

Wedding videographers pay attention to this!

View a demo tutorial of this plugin in action

16. “Camera” Effects – Super 8 Look, Tilt Shift

Two camera style effects:

a Super 8 look with correct aspect ration frame and film damage, colour filters, etc.
a tilt shift filter to simulate popular in-camera miniature photography effect

Not perfected yet by any means so any suggestions for improvements gratefully received – the principles of the template are all there, so it’s just finding the right controls to give you what you want.

It’s kind of a “lens/film plane perspective effect with very shallow depth of field, much like selective focus but it can run horizontally or vertically through the frame. The Focus area gets narrow or wider depending on the silt and shift.

17. Classic SLR Viewfinder effect

This effect simulates a classic SLR viewfinder.

You can keyframe the focus and exposure sliders, give the needle some random fluctuation and when you activate the build out checkbox you get a flipping mirror at the end.

View a demo video of this plugin in action

18. Retro, levels and letterbox filters from Andy Yoong

Apple’s Motion 5 makes it easy to create filters for FCPX so the author of this plugin decided to do it himself. He made three so far. Find them in the download:

Alpha channels, giving a retro look as default
Letterbox with offset and opacity control
Simple levels adjustment

19. 3D Transform

Once you apply this effect, you can set the position of a clip in 3D space, and angle of rotation in X, Y and Z directions. More importantly, you can keyframe these values and more to create 3D animation.

20. Picture-In-Picture w/Drop Shadow & Borders

CONTROLS:

Image position, size, rotation.
Border on/off, width, color, type (regular/bevel) angle, opacity.
Drop Shadow on/off, blur, angle, color, distance, opacity.

21. Animated traveling star field generator

22. Starburst transition

23. The Ultimate Versatile Adjustable Frame Effect

This is pretty much everything you should need to create any kind of picture-in-picture, split screen or other effect. Three variants of the theme – choose which one you like best.

Controls include:

Box position, scale and rotation;
Source image position and scale;
Mask Scale;
Drop Shadow Opacity, Color, Blur, Distance, angle and fixed source option;
Corner roundness;
Feather and fall-off;
Border On/Off, width and color;
Fade in and fade out option.

Also available with onscreen control of box position.

and last but not least…

24. Waving flag template

More to come…

7 Sources of Free Music for Video

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 20:44:32 +0000

Will asks: I want to stay safe by using royalty-free music in my videos. Any resources you can point to where I don’t have to pay a small fee and use it forever without worrying?

Answer: Below is a list of generous Free Royalty-free Music Download Sites for Videos that allow you to do just that. All they ask for is a credit at the end of your videos:

http://stockmusicboutique.com/free/ – A small selection of tracks you can use free for personal or commercial use. Just credit somewhere in the description box (Example: Music provided by: http://stockmusicboutique.com)
http://music4yourvids.co.uk/royalty-free-music.html - Music personally created by Rickvanman. Available for other people to use safely in thier YouTube / amateur film projects AND COMMERCIAL PROJECTS etc. without the fear of royalty breaches and lawsuits, as long as you clearly accredit / attribute the work.
http://www.jewelbeat.com/free/free-background-music.htm – Use these free background music tracks for YouTube videos, advertising, education, videos, photos…etc. You only need to link to our website from yours: “Music by JewelBeat. Download your free music and free sound effects at www.jewelbeat.com.”
http://pacdv.com/sounds/free-music.html – You may use these tracks free of charge in your video, film, audio and multimedia productions. All you need to do is mention “Music by www.pacdv.com/sounds/” in your credits.
http://sonnyboo.com/music/music.htm - For each and every single song, all you have to do is credit the songwriter – Peter John Ross (sonnyboo.com) and the music is yours to use for free.
http://taylorhayward.org/freemusic.htm – The music on this site is free to download and play, free to rebroadcast in any form for any purpose, free to play in public, free to publish for profit, and free to sample. There is no copyright on this music.
http://www.musopen.com/ – Musopen is focused on improving access and exposure to music by creating free resources and educational materials. They provide recordings, sheet music, and textbooks to the public for free, without copyright restrictions.

Big List of Supported Cameras: Final Cut Pro X

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:29:41 +0000

Shawn asks: I have a Panasonic HD camera that records in AVCHD. The files have an “.MTS” extension on them. I’m using Final Cut Pro X and trying to get the files to import using the “Import” function under “File.” No luck. Do I have to convert these files using another program. If so, what’s the best way to do the import without losing any quality?

Answer: Earlier versions of FCP support more cameras than FCPX does – this is partly because Apple techs are still testing and qualifying new cameras. Also, some camera manufacturers will need to update their import plug-ins to work with the new 64-bit architecture of Final Cut Pro.

These updates are happening as quickly as possible with you’re camera brand mostly out of the way. Meaning Panasonic is pretty much up to speed with most of their cameras. If you only have the mts – m2ts files, without the structure, you can use this program to recreate the structure and then import from the camera.

Sony is up to speed as well – they offer an XDCAM Transfer application that allows you to convert XDCAM video without transcoding so it can be imported into Final Cut Pro X.

If you are working with RED cameras, you can use the free RED software REDCINE-X, designed to transcode RED RAW video to ProRes for use in Final Cut Pro X.

Check to see if you’re camera is all caught up with this handy little camera compatibility guide.

Just click, tell it your camera and get the info…way to easy:

Forget Zacuto Rigs: 4 Clever Uses for a Tripod

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:19:04 +0000

Ryan asks: I’m on a budget and can’t afford the much wanted Zacuto rig for my DSLR camera. What alternatives would you recommend to do a half decent job where the viewer will have a different experience and I would have more comfort shooting?

Answer: An alternative to Zacuto: Your tripod. Alex Sican produced a great video series entitled “Clever uses of a tripod”. The tutorials’ aim is to show you how to utilize your tripod in clever, unorthodox ways. The methods promoted in these videos work excellently with video DSLRs because the cameras are light and easy to maneuver and carry when on a tripod. For the first week, Alex prepared a tutorial showing how to use your tripod like a Zacuto rig the following weeks he shows even more techniques.

Just click the links below to start watching. Enjoy!

A free alternative to Zacuto: Your tripod

Body mount camera rig

Ground level shots

30+ Useful FCPX Tips & Tricks

admin — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:01:00 +0000

Anthony asks: I just purchased FCPX and like what I see but it seems like I’m going to spend some time getting used to the new interface and new way of editing. Do you have any training videos available where I can get up to speed quickly in the most important areas?

Answer:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

The Right Way to do Video Storytelling

admin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:37:42 +0000

Sal asks: I meet interesting characters during my travels on a daily basis. Some of these people would be great to interview on video and already have a basic setup to get it done but would need some simple tips to how to make it look great. Any advice?

Answer: This is a video tutorial we found on Vimeo that covers the basics of planning and conducting a single-camera interview for human interest and feature stories – we’re sure you will find it very helpful as it covers all of the bases to get you up and running with a quality video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Produced by Bob Phelps – Video Instructor – Porter County Career Center – Valparaiso Indiana

Filming Dental Implants

admin — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 16:28:16 +0000

Question: Any recommendations for video equipment of dental implant procedures? The focal range would be narrow for intraoral shots. I just do not know where to go for this information. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer from sterileeye.com: As I do not have any experience with dental photography or video, I’ve forwarded your question to a dental photographer I know.

She recommends fixing a camera to the dental light or the dentists head to film intraorally, and (if possible) have a small DV camera to capture the parts of the procedure done outside the mouth. Based on my own experience I would probably prefer a light-mounted camera to a head-mounted, as the latter tends to shake more.

There are two Sony camera models available that can be used both on the light and the head. The DXC-C33 is a medically approved 3CCD standard definition camera. The camera head can be fitted with lenses with a C-mount lens mount. In this case, a telephoto lens would be recommended, as the camera will be mounted at a distance and with a narrow target (the mouth). The camera has bot Y/C and firewire outputs, but is not supplied with its own recording unit.

Another option is the HXR-MC1. This is not medically approved, and does not have an interchangeable lens. It is, however, a high definition (HD) camera that records on Memory Sticks.

The camera is splash-proof and is fitted with a 10x optical zoom lens. Sony HXR-MC1 (HD video, no medical approval). Photo: Sony.

Thanks to Sterile Eye for this post

Macro Videography: A Whole New World

admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:19:05 +0000

Arlanna asks: I’m a Entomologist (one who studies insects) wanting to get into macro videography. Where do I start? what equipment would I need?

Answer: Macro video is basically an extension of macro-photography with only a few differences. The main difference is in light aquisition. You need a lot of light to take a macro photograph, with big strobes. It’s extremely difficult to get the same amount of light constantly on a small subject. You also have to be very steady. A photograph can be handheld, a video can’t.

Shooting macro video also requires a specific set of equipment. Here is a video with all of the details:

Embed Youtube Videos Without the Logo

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 01:37:08 +0000

So I get this crazy, hyped up marketing email. You know the ones that lead to those very long, one page explanations of why you should buy their product. The ones with fake photos of “customers” giving testimonials? Don’t tell me you fall for these?!?:

Anyway, here is the email:

Hi Brian,

If you use YouTube videos on your homepage or sales page then the downside is you get the YouTube Logo, title and control bar appearing. These can distract from your video and encourage people to click off the video and go to YouTube.

What you really want is for them to stay on YOUR site! I’ve just tested out a new Player called ‘Traffic Player’ that you can add to your website instantly and lose the YouTube controls or add a slick skin.

You can literally control the look and feel!

So I naturally clicked on the link to the site and was amazed to see a genuine Youtube video without their logo visible in the lower right hand corner like you would normally see it. It was magically gone. How can this be?

Admittedly, I was very interested to see how this was done and wanted to see more but this stopped me in my tracks:

$47.00? $77.00!

Yeah right. No way am I paying that special price for your knowledge, Jack. I could likely crack the code and find out how to do it myself…

And I did.

The guy made a big mistake and left himself wide open. After 6 hours of digging, the mystery was solved. What we found we want to share with you…it’s so simple. Let us save you the time and energy and just spit it out…

Web Video: No Longer An Option. It’s Required.

admin — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:18:54 +0000

Please upgrade your browser

No related posts were found, so here's a consolation prize: Host and Play Video From Amazon S3.

8 Flip Camera Alternatives You’re Gonna Love

admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 01:34:05 +0000

Camille asks: Since Cisco officially announced that Flip cameras would no longer be produced our phone is ringing off the hook. We use Flip cameras for creating our videos, so we weren’t surprised to receive a few alarmed calls from our customers and investors this week. They were asking, “What do we do now?” So I push that same questions on you guys: What DO we do now?

Answer: You fold up your business and walk away with your head down. Game over. Time to close shop and go back to college to pursue another career. The world will never be the same again without the Flip camera.

Hey. We’re kidding.

Come on people get over it! You flipped out – really. It’s not the end of the world. Sure it was a great camera but there are better ones out there to replace it quickly. Technology moves on and so should you.

If you currently own a Flip or are fishing around to get your hands on one cheap, tech support for the product continues until 12/31/2013 along with a 1 year warranty. So look on the bright side you still have 2 more years to find a new camera to call your own – and guess what they will likely not last forever either.

Possible replacements: (for now)

Kodak is one of several companies that produce great replacements to Flips. Its waterproof Playsport Zx3 is worth considering as we rapidly approach summer.

Kodak Zx1 is also great for outdoors and has well-protected USB and SD Card slots along with AV-out and HDMI output features, and it runs off AA batteries. On the downside, though, it is not Mac compatible.

Playsport Zx5 adds shock-proofing among other things.

Its chief rival, the Sony Bloggie Touch, makes great use of its large screen that allows for a landscape view to capture all the action. This compact cam offers excellent quality video capture.

Another alternative is the Samsung HMX-U20 and U-15, which features both autofocus and optical zoom – a step above the normal fixed focus options.

Also take a look at the Coby SNAPP™ line of pocket camcorders. The Toshiba Camileo BW10 and Samsung’s W200 made their debut recently as well.

What To Do When Talent Freezes in Front of the Camera

admin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:21:59 +0000

Tony asks: How do you get talent to be comfortable in front of the camera? I’m tempted to hold up a toy and talk like a baby to get them to at least smile. Is there something I’m doing wrong? I turn the camera off they’re at ease – it gets turned back on they get stiff and nervous like a deer caught in headlights. Some even start mumbling inaudible comments. Help!

Answer: One trick of the trade is not to reveal when the camera is on. Even hide your camera’s tally light – which is the #1 reason why anyone in front of a camera freezes up. Tally lights can can scare off quite a few people from acting naturally.

The tally light is a bit of a misnomer. People relate it to live broadcast television. When the red light is on, you’re on the air. Remember “The Brady Bunch” episode where little Cindy Brady was on Game show and just before the show went on air in the studio the host said “When the red light goes on, (pointing at the television camera) we’re live”. Then the countdown 3… 2… 1… Blink, goes the red tally light on the studio camera and poor little Cindy just glares into the red light like a deer in the headlights. And stayed that way the entire game. Well your tally light can have an effect on people very much like that. I’d have to say little Cindy’s reaction is a bit exaggerated but it can make many people uncomfortable. So much so that they just can’t behave like themselves. A true anxiety can set in. It’s called being camera shy.

There’s many levels to camera shyness and it’s something you should keep an eye out for. And that tally light can be the switch that turns on, or should I say, “turns off your subject.

So if you think your tally light is causing problems or notice some people are acting differently because of it you can usually turn it of. Higher end camcorders will have a simple switch to turn it off. While others might have it in a menu setting. If you have a camcorder that doesn’t have a way to turn off the tally light then simply put a piece of electrical tape or better yet a piece of gaffers tape over the light. Gaffer tape is less likely to leave any gluey residue like duct tape or electrical tape.

Some don’t have to even worry about this because a lot of low end camcorders don’t have a tally light.

Thanks to Masteringvideography.com for a great answer

4 Tools to Start and Run a Video Business Right Now

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:25:55 +0000

What does a website, Kodak Zi8, an iPhone and the yellow pages have in common?

They are the 4 essential tools used to start and run a video production business.

This is crazy you say?

Lets take you back to February 2010 when we first introduced a 5 day webinar series called Elite Videographer. It challenged 220+ faithful viewers to become a web video production powerhouse by using simple tools and techniques to get there. The webinar was so popular it branched out into a site all it’s own – built to continue the training and to recruit new, wannabe entrepreneurs who dream of getting into the business on their own.

Before, during and after that webinar many of you had doubts it was ever possible to make $2,500 to $5,000 month from the principals taught. “What kind of videos are you producing?” NO way are you making $800+ dollars for videos of that caliber.” The comments continued…

Well, starting today we’re going to confront the doubts and make it all possible right before your eyes. We’re going to start a brand new video business from the bottom up like we never did it before – and you get to watch and learn in a whole new way.

See how we make our dummy, non functional demo website (used for a past webinar) into a real video business clients can trust. Watch how we take steps to make it more ready to pull in the sales. See us create a business plan, open shop for the first time, push branding, find and secure new customers and finally make our first $800 video.

You get to follow along and watch it all unfold in a series of live webinars and video tutorials designed to make you feel like you’re a new employee being trained on a new job.

Watch us do what you can do – it will be fun and profitable in many ways.

How to participate:

Watch our live calendar for upcoming webinar dates and times
Follow us on Twitter for specific links to tutorial videos
Sign up for a trial membership to stay in the loop
Become our friend on Facebook

The Power of Looking into the Camera

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 03:44:12 +0000

Bill asks: Just read your tweet to Kodak regarding the video of their VP of marketing not looking into the camera. What is the big deal? When should talent look into the camera? When should they look left or right? are there rules?

Answer: The big deal is that the video is annoying. We know the VP is talking to us directly but he’s not looking at us.

Is it normal to have a conversation with someone and they’re looking over to the right of you instead of at you?

I’m right in front of you! What the hell are you looking at?

It’s distracting. See what we mean and view it yourself:

See?

Instead of ranting over this video let’s get all professional with some down and dirty rules of thumb on where your talent really should be looking:

When on television

If the purpose of your person on camera is to speak directly to your viewing audience then they should look directly into the camera. If the person on camera is demonstrating something or being interviewed by a 3rd party then they should be looking off camera or at the person they are interacting with.

Examples:

If you are producing something like a news program where a on camera talent is speaking to the viewing audience as of they were in the room, then they would be looking directly into the camera lens. It would not be as effective to have them speaking off camera because instead of feeling like we are being spoken to directly we would feel more like a bystander listening in on a conversation. This formula also goes for lots of programs like “This Old House” or Mike Roes “Dirty Jobs”.

If your projects is something more of a documentary or a narrative piece then the viewing audience is more of a observer collecting information by watching interactions between other people. If you have a client who is giving a testimonial about your business, then most likely you will have them looking away from the camera, looking towards a interviewing person of some sort. We are gathering information about what they are talking about by listening to a conversation they are having with a interviewer (whether we ever see the interviewer or not.) It would be awkward to have the client replying to questions that seem to be asked by a interviewer but all the while looking into the camera.

Another example might be a documentary where we are involved with a situation but none of the talent ever look at the camera. This way we feel that we are not interfering with the situation but just a fly on the wall.

The last example would be a combination of the two. Take a show like Extreme Home Make Over sometimes they are looking into the camera and other times they are interacting with the people around them like the cameras aren’t even there. Once again it all comes down to what the purpose of each person is. It’s ok for an on camera host to turn and speak directly to the camera if they want their audience to pay special attention to something, or to introduce a guest to the show. Then it’s equally fine for them to then turn and pretend the cameras are not there and just interact with the people around him. A host is kind of like a go between for your viewing audience and the world that is being shown through the camera.

When online

Online video is a much more intimate experience. After all, it’s really just the viewer and the talent. They should never look away from the camera -- never.

Talent that looks at any point outside of the center of the frame will make your viewer feel left out. They will always be curious about what’s catching your talent’s interest. Not making eye contact with the camera is not making eye contact with your viewer -- it’s rude.

So the subject should always look at the camera. After all, that’s who you’re making the video for, right?

Conclusion:

So really at the end of the day it comes down to the purpose of the person in front of the camera. Who are they talking to, what kind of relationship are they supposed to have with the viewing audience. Do what feels right. The last thing I will say is that if you have decided on one (looking at the camera vs not looking at the camera) then stick with it. There is nothing more distracting in a interview where the person on camera is flicking their eyes from the camera back to the interviewer.

Final Cut Pro X: 7 Unanswered Questions

admin — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:55:03 +0000

Neil asks: With the new Final Cut Pro X I have so many questions that go unanswered like will it work with my current computer? What about the plugins I spent so much on- will they be compatible? Where is the rest of the suite? Is this just a dumb down version or is there more?Apple left these wide open and I want to know more.

Answer: Gary Bettan from Videoguys.com just posted an excellent breakdown of the Final Cut Pro action in his NAB2011 Report. He tops off some great coverage with a few of the questions left unanswered for many of us.

Here are those questions and his personal speculation on what the answers may be:

So what is the verdict on FCPX? There is none. Apple has not given us all of the information yet, especially for professional editors who depend on Final Cut to make a living and feed their families.

Will FCPX support my existing 3rd party hardware for I/O? I think it will, but not out of the gate. I don’t think Apple has given the hardware guys enough time to make their gear work for a June launch. Plus we have another wrinkle – FCPX will run on Snow Leopard, but Lion is around the corner. My gut says the hardware guys skip Snow Leopard and go straight to Lion for FCPX support. I also heard a rumor that FCPX would only support 3rd party hardware via Thunderbolt. I don’t buy this one, but I could see it happening. Just another way for Apple to make us buy new Apple hardware.

What about all my plug-ins – will they work on FCPX? Once again, I think the answer is that they eventually will. But probably not right out of the gate. I’m betting you’ll have to purchase them again as apps, which means Apple will get a piece of the revenue. I also think we’ll find that many of the features brought to FCP via plug-ins are now integrated into FCPX, eliminating the need for many of our favorites. Some plug-in vendors will thrive in this new FCPX ecosystem, while unfortunately many others will not. Time will tell.

Will I be able to import my existing FCP timelines into FCPX? This is a BIG question, especially for shops looking to migrate over. My guess is that you will be able to import your old timelines, but the import may be less then perfect initially. That said I’ll bet the gang over at Automatic Duck will be able to give us a more reliable and accurate tool for the job.

What about the rest of the Suite? I can’t imagine Apple would have introduced FCPX to the world during the NAB show if they didn’t have a roadmap for the rest of the Pro apps. But they may take months or even a year to roll them all out as 64 bit apps. Or they may not even be stand alone apps, but Plug-ins to the main FCPX application. Some may already be integrated into FCPX, but Apple just didn’t let us see it. I’m not sure how they will be delivered, but I’m confident that eventually we’ll get them and a whole lot more!!

What about QuickTime and ProRes? I have read several posts from people far more knowledgeable then me that FCPX is not based on Quicktime, but on a more advanced 64 bit video architecture Apple already has in Snow Leopard. This makes perfectly good sense to me, but it doesn’t really matter to me either. All I care about is that it works as good or better than QuickTime.

ProRes started as an intermediary CODEC for editing HD footage but has now evolved into an acquisition format!! The NAB floor was loaded with ProRes field recorders like the AJA KiPro and KiPro mini, Atomos Ninja, and Fast Forward Video sideKick HD, just to name a few. So while FCPX can handle all the various HD formats natively, many of us will be choosing ProRes as our acquisition format and I expect full support in FCPX.

Is this the future of professional video editing, or is FCPX just the advanced video editor for the masses?

As I was walking out of the SuperMeet I had a bit of an “Ah Ha” moment. While the new features and especially the magnetic timeline are cool today, I was thinking about how important it would be in the future. In a 3D stereoscopic workflow every clip now has two video tracks – one for each eye – that must be kept in perfect sync. Imagine a 3D timeline with several layers of video, as well as multiple audio tracks. Can you imagine how much easier it will be to manage and work in 3D using the magnetic timeline vs. today’s traditional timeline? Now let’s take this even further, what if we could use a multi-touch surface like an iPad or an iMac with a touch sensitive screen and FCPX’s magnetic timeline? Re-arranging and moving your clips around with your fingers; shortening them by simply dragging your finger on the end of a clip; using two fingers to lengthen the clip; using our fingers to manipulate the size, shape and motion of PIP video layers; flicking though clips like we go though our messages on an iPhone. It’s not quite “Minority Report”, but it’s a big first step in that direction. Which once again goes to my point that this isn’t Final Cut Pro ver 10 – it’s FCPX ver 1.0!

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