Notes on First Video

I finally have had time to think about the first sample video I shot. I learned some good lessons from this process that I will put into effect with my second sample. Below is some of the problems and issues, ideas and comments I have.

• Record at the highest quality possible... I recorded at too little quality to save space. Unfortunately, This effects the quality when you reduce the video for the web later in the process. I am going to record future video at DVD quality in future shoots.
• Don't play with cables!!!!... sigh... I played with the audio cable and put loud static bursts in my recording. Cables need to be of high quality and taped down. Don't touch the cables.
• Place the camera at the side of the room... You won't have to pan the camera as much. To keep the cost of video down, you want as few complicated transitions as possible.
• To Insert or Use Titles... Inserting is hard as you convert PowerPoint's into graphics. For somethings its easier to just put text on the video. Creating templates for the text may be even easier. Need to work on this concept more. You may want to just make the PowerPoint available as a second file.
• Don't try to zoom in to close... Close-ups are great, but, they require to much panning of the camera. To keep operations simple use close-ups sparingly.
• Small Chunks... I am feeling that classes should be filmed in small chunks of less than thirty minutes. Make classes out of these chunks and group them together on a web page with supporting material. Trying to put everything in the video is not going to be efficient.
• Video is not forever... No matter the content, video is not forever. I am leaning towards treating video as a 3 year lifespan process. It may be around longer, but, the effectiveness of the product will fade. This will happen with new skills, new products, new productivity. What does this mean for your video? Don't worry about all the blemishes. Make it work, but, it doesn't have to be one hundred percent perfect. Aim for 95% perfect. Think of web-video as a paper-back book, not a reference book.