Use twitter? leave me a re-tweet!
One of the guys I follow is David Frey. He’s always got good advice and this week I thought I’d slightly re-write and bullet point a recent article he did about creating great online video.
Here are the tools he suggested along with my (and his) thoughts.
o Kodak Zi8 camera
The Kodak Zi8 is one of those tiny video cameras with the added benefit of an external mic jack that creates great audio. I recently won a couple of these and I can say they are fantastic. My kids are taking great video and posting it to youtube (my 10 year old has it DOWN).
o Sony Vegas Software
According to David this software is the standard for video editing. I’ve not used it, but plan to pick up a copy based on his suggestion. I’ve not done a lot of video editing. Typically I just shoot until I get it right, but there’s a lot to be said for getting a 2 or 3 camera set up and cutting from one angle to the other. Your videos will look far more professional. Find a teenager to do the editing for you…they know this stuff.
o Youtube, Viddler, Amazon & Easy Video Player
The sites YouTube, Viddler, and Vimeo are all options for hosting and playing your videos.
For larger videos many marketers (including me) are starting to use Amazon’s S3 service. Use their “Easy Video Player” to put nice borders and play buttons on your videos and host them on any of your sites. This is the service I used for my ListBuildingClass.com content.
o Camtasia / OppenOffice / Gmail
Most of the screen capture video that I make and upload is done with camtasia. The MAC version of Camtasia is aweful, but on a PC I love it. The ONLY reason I keep a PC in my office is to make my Camtasia screen capture videos. My YouTube.com account is full of them. (check out ‘silentjimdotcom’ on youtube to see them).
If you want to make a slide show to do videos the way many of the big marketers are doing David suggests Powerpoint, but I love to zero cost options instead. Check out OppenOffice.org (the presentation software) or Google documents (free with a Gmail account). Both do a great job for me.
o Xshot
David calls this his “$25 little secret” and I can see why.
Check out xshot.com – it’s self explanatory.
With xshot you can look like you have a professional camera man doing that “slowly shifting camera” thing, WITHOUT anyone else in the room. Great for camera self portrait shots too.
o Want to get your confidence up about online video? How about creating a super cool slide show of digital images in about 5 minutes flat. If you can use email you can handle animoto.com.
Have a comment, question, or video tip for everyone? Post a comment using the link at the top of this article.
I’m not taking advantage of my video views on youtube. I have a ton of car show videos with 5000-11000 views. How can I monetize them? (Only one so far has been invited into Youtube Partnership program.)
[reply from Jim]: GROW YOUR MAILING LIST. You really should take this course: ListBuildingClass.com
Great short article about online video.
I have never heard of xshot.com and this is just the tool we need for pictures and online video!!!
Thanks Jim!
Doug
Hi Jim
I too use Camtasia and love it!
The price is a little prohibitive if you are just starting out so a really good alternative is Jing.
There is a basic version for free but you can upgrade to Jing Pro for just $14.95 per year!
You can shoot up to 5 minutes of screen shot video and upload straight to YouTube.
A really cost effective way to shoot product reviews (and pop your affiliate link in the YouTube description!)
Stuart
Jim,
Thanks for these helpful tips. I also use Vegas for editing, but lately I favor using iMovie on my MacBook because it’s so easy to add professional text overlays and transition effects. But I am only running Vegas 6.0; maybe the latest version of Vegas is a lot better with those things.
I like the Kodak Zi8. I have a Sony DCR-HC28 camcorder that records to mini tapes. I can say that is a big hassle. I find it hard to get everything captured and then it’s a pain to find all your footage. I would suggest a camera with an SD card slot.
I am using BitsontheRun.com for a video player. It is easy to use Amazon’s S3 and Cloudfront service with BOTR. You get a professional flash player and it’s a very reasonable price.
Hey Jim,
Great information! I love my Kodak Zi8. I just bought a Audio Technica ATR-3350 mic (clips to your shirt)on Amazon to get better sound. Sony Vegas is the software I use on my PC. But like most full featured technical software, there is a learning curve to get decent results. So your suggestion to get a teen to edit videos is a great idea. Then, plan for time to learn Sony Vegas bit by bit.
Cheers,
CK Wilde
Hi Jim,
I like this article you wrote about the
Kodak Zi8 camera, I’ve been looking for something like for a while now.
So thanks for this post as I’m off now to go check it out.
Eamon.
Hi Jim
You mention Vimeo but just a heads up for others – you can’t use there service for making money (i.e. sales videos to sell anything). I found this out AFTER taking a yearly subscription 🙁
I use Sony Vegas but also use ProShow Producer. ProShow is fantastic but they both have a bit of a steep learning curve in my opinion.
Dean
Great info. Another great tool for making video is Cam Studio Pro put out by Dave Guidion. It is a great piece of software with a simple learning curve.
My youngest son is a computer whiz. At 15 he is looking for ways to make extra money for a car. The information you give out is very valuable, and has sparked his interest in online business. Looks like you may have inspired a father and son business. Thanks for providing so much helpful information. Getting ready to join Mysilentteam.
[reply from Jim]: This type of feedback is why I do what I do…I’m thrilled for you two! ;0)
I’m a Zi8 owner. I love it. I would just like to comment that the new version of Windows Movie Maker that comes free with Windows7 is pretty darn good for a free video editing software. This software was recently in beta release but now its out of beta and more stable. It can work with the .mov files that our Zi8 cams record natively. If you have a decent PC it works pretty fast too. It seems that it might even be multi-threaded to take advantage of multiple processor cores. It’s not too shabby!
Movie Maker has been user for me, but I recently used JayCut.com because Movie Maker didn’t know what to do with my MP4.