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You will find different types of videos on the internet nowadays: Funny videos, viral videos, educational videos, interviews, product and services reviews, happenings and events, and more.
Businesses are also using videos like never before to promote their products and services. So there’s a lot of opportunity in Video Production. You can get into wedding, corporate AV, products video, or shoot portfolios.
Occasions like birthday parties, house-warming, catch-up with old friends, holidays are also now the perfect occasions for capturing videos, and watch it with friends and families.
While every smartphone today can capture videos, how about editing it a bit, making it crisper, adding some captions and sharing it to friends?
And being able to create good videos can also help you in your career (those in the corporate world) and also for students:
- How about making a video resume?
- How abut making a video out of a PowerPoint presentation
- What if you’re at some location where you’re witness to some incident/accident? You can capture it even before the paparazzi covers it
- Students can shoot videos of their projects or crafts (from start to finish) and share it on YouTube
- Students in schools and colleges already have photography and filmmaking courses
With more experience and contacts, you can venture from making personal videos to professional videos as as well.
Here you will learn how to make your own videos, including tips and techniques for creating quality, professional-looking videos.
Video Creation Process
Video Production is basically the act of creating videos/movies/presentations using a video camera and editing software.
Depending on what you are shooting, there may be other factors to consider such as the story, lighting, artists, and so on. But any video creation process consists of a few mandatory steps.
The end-to-end process of creating a video can be broken down into various distinct steps: Buying your equipment, shooting/filming, capturing the footage (on computer), editing the video, and finally sharing the video.
Step 1: Get the right Video Equipment/Software
You will need the right equipment for creating videos (have listed them in another section).
Step 2: Shooting/Recording Your Video
Next is to shoot/record video using the video equipment.
Videos are usually marred by poor techniques such as shaky hand movements, excessive use of zoom-in and zoom-out, poor lighting, etc.
You can easily avoid most of these mistakes and create good videos, by learning basic video shooting skills (lighting, zooming, hand movement, etc.) that will help improve your video quality.
Step 3: Capturing Your Video on Computer
Next step is to take the video onto the computer to edit it.
You need a capture device such as a Firewire card to transfer the video to your computer. Most high end computers have a built-in capture card, else may need to buy it separately. A Firewire cable will then connect your video camera’s DV output port to your computer’s DV input port.
Step 4: Editing Your Video
Once you have the video on your computer, you can edit and polish it further using software. You can trim scenes, remove unwanted frames, add special effects, transitions and titles, add soundtrack, etc.
Once the final edit is done, you can create the final video that is ready to be shared.
These software can also convert the videos into a variety of other video formats.
Step 5: Sharing / Exporting Video
A media player is a software program provided by default on windows and mac platforms. Quicktime is from Apple (works on both Mac as well as windows) and the one for windows is known as the Windows media player. Another medium to watch movies is portable players like iPods/iPhones.
Most of the video editing software programs have built-in features to let you convert video in a format which can be viewed on media players & portable players.
Most of the video editing programs will give you various export options – for the web or in other formats. It is just a matter of choosing the correct options and exporting your video to the format you want.
Video Production Studio Setup (Equipment List)
Whether you are an enthusiast or a serious video producer, having suitable gear is also important. You will also find useful tips on buying (and using) video camera, video capture device, powerful computer, video editing software.
Creating a professional quality studio is less expensive today than ever before. Here’s what you need to create great videos.
- A good video camera
- Lavalier or tie-clip microphone (minimum visibility)
- Good lighting is important
- Camera L bracket: For mounting external flash for better lighting
- Tripod for stability (shakiness often results in bad videos).
- Computer with good configuration to efficiently edit and create your final video.
- Video capture card.
- Video Editing Software
You want the captured audio to be good. The built-in mics (of a camera) are okay but for best results experts use a good external camera microphone. Depending on what you are recording you may require clip-on mics, hand held mic or boom mic, but the important thing is to have good mics.
You could use you cellphone camera as well (if you are on a tight budget), but then it may not capture the audio very well. That is why you need a camera which allows you to connect an external mic.
You could easily setup a 3-Point lighting without investing in expensive gear. It’s possible using natural light and other simple tools available in most homes.
You need good professional lights, such as aluminum scoop lights or halogen lights. For best results, your lighting has to be good and that is where these come in handy. Whatever you shoot, just make sure you have several lights for the video production job.
Computer is the heart of your video production system. It is where you will do things like editing, adding effects, adding soundtrack, etc. and come up with the final video.
It needs to have excellent configuration else it will take ages to do all the processing and rendering.
To be able to capture your video on the computer, you will need a capture card to transfer the video to your computer (Firewire gives you extremely fast transfer speeds than USB).
For editing the videos you may use a free editing software, but I recommend you use a paid version.
Final Cut Pro (Mac) and Adobe Premiere (windows) have high end features and are used extensively by pros. On the other hand, if you are an amateur or intend to make home videos, Pinnacle Studio Plus or Roxio would be more suitable, considering your requirements and budget.
From a long-term perspective and if you plan to create a lot of videos, you should invest in a better video camera and computer.
Best Cameras for Shooting Videos
Videos are becoming increasingly important, be it for marketing, branding, or for teaching, and the quality of cameras has also been becoming better over the years, so the viewers expect to see a high-quality video, be it on youTube or any other site.
So, if you trying to make videos (for whatever reason), your target should be to produce top quality videos. And for that, you will require a good camera, decent lights, and good sound equipment.
There are a wide range of video cameras available.
Consumer / Professional Video Cameras
If you are after high quality video, then you want something that is ergonomically designed so that you can shoot for hours. If you are an amateur / pro video producer, then you may want to go in for the better consumer grade cameras, or better still, the professional video cameras.
Flip Camera
A Flip camera is quite easy to use, and is very portable as well. You can just put it in your pocket and carry it wherever you want to go; some of these can be automatic as well. So in case you come across something interesting, just start recording with the Flip camera.
Smartphone
If you have a smartphone with a good built-in camera, by all means feel free to use it.
Webcam
You can even use the webcam on your laptop computer to capture videos. If you’re looking for a camera just to record yourself giving a demo, or probably giving an interview, or just answering a series of questions, this can be quite useful. And best is that it’s easy to use.
Screen Capture Software
You get software that can capture screen shots (great for recording demos, software reviews) and convert it into videos.
Best Video Capture Cards
Be it for capturing video, or viewing it, or for converting videos from one format to another, end users expect the final video to be of the best view-able quality. For that, you need to use a top-quality capture card on your computer.
Video capture devices let you record video and stereo audio to your computer system. These capture cards come with multiple video inputs (including HDMI, DVI, VGA and component), and can record original content from various sources such as camcorders, cameras, security systems and computers.
Some of these video capture cards can be used even for recording video games.
The Elgato Video Capture Device is the easiest way to capture videos and playback on your computer.
Gopro Camera
An action camera is a consumer camera that can be attached anywhere…almost. That is why cyclists, divers, swimmers, and many more who’re actively involved in fast action sports prefer to use these cameras.
These comes with all the attachments that make it easy to mount them on various surfaces. Action cameras are used for shooting extreme sports, underwater and even for aerial photography!
You can use these on drones, or to capture action while diving & doing extreme sports. These stand apart from traditional cameras in portability, durability and wide-angle shooting lenses.
If you’re an outdoor person, an action camera is definitely going to be a great gadget to have. It will let you capture some amazing videos that you can share with your friends
GoPro has become synonymous with action photography. Today, these cameras are allowing users to explore newer territories. Their small size and rugged build lets you take them places you wouldn’t dream of taking any other camera, while their myriad shooting modes and custom image processor allow you to capture artistic wide angle vistas, ‘live stream’ to social networks, and even record YouTube worthy videos.
A helmet camera is commonly attached to the helmet. However, you can also use some of these to attach to your belt, shirt, hat, or just about anything. These can also be used as a great web camera.
Though the inexpensive helmet cameras are only used for dry sports, you do get waterproof ones as well. Some of the expensive ones are great in low light as well. These can be attached to not just the helmet, but to various other things.
The GoPro range of video cameras are among the most popular gadgets, especially among thrill seekers and for those who want to capture outdoor moments without worrying about the weather.
Be it skier, surfer, motorcyclists, cyclist, sky divers, thousands of hours of action-sports video is generated every day using the GoPro attached to their helmets.
These cameras are perfect for amateur athletes, adventurers and those who love water sports. The 360 degree rotating pole gives you the freedom and flexibility to capture a variety of previous moments when doing outdoor activities, even in wet, muddy or snowy conditions.
Website: Gopro.com
GoPro Editing
Many just hit the ‘record’ button, capture the video but never edit it or share it on on Facebook or YouTube.
And of the reasons for that is many are not willing to edit the several hours footage and make in into a 30-seconder or a minute long interesting video.
Most users buy a GoPro because they see all those awesome GoPro clips, and wish to make such clips of their own. What they don’t realize is that there’s a video editing process that needs to be done on the captured footage so that it turns out into a proper clip (with music and narrative) that you can share on Facebook or Youtube.
Here are some of the things you can do:
- Learn how to edit videos: Its time consuming and worth it if you capture a lot of videos
- Use one of the online editing services, but it can be a challenge to get the large files transferred successfully.
- You can hire the services of a video editor, which can be a bit expensive
- Use online video-editing software/apps: These the free versions may have some limitations
Accessories for GoPro Camera
Here are the popular accessories categories for GoPro:
Poles, Tripods and Handles
Poles are great for getting a picture of yourself at a distance. With the addition of the fish eye lens you will always be able to get a great shot. A tripod is what you are going to need if you want a steady shot with a time lapse, night scene or a landscape with a perfectly straight horizon line. If you want to get a great shot while surfing or snowboarding then you are going to need a short handle like the one on the left. They give you great perspective and allow for a lot more control than any sort of mount.
Mounts, Floaties and Tethers
Having a floatie or a tether is a cheap way of protecting your camera from sinking to the bottom of the ocean or a lake. Mounts allow you to attach your GoPro to cars, boats, motorcycles, helmets, surfboard, kyaks and more.
GoPro Helmet Front Mount
BacPacs and Remotes
There are several BacPacs that can be attached to your camera to make it more versatile. The LCD touch BacPack allows you to playback videos and frame your shots so you know exactly what you are going to get. If you are worried about battery life there is also a battery bacbac. This will just about double your battery life.
Housings and Filters
If you need a different housing then this is where you will find them. There is a standard housing, skeleton housing and dive housing. If you plan on scuba diving there are several filters to choose from to help color correct at depth. The color of the filter you are looking for will depend on the color of the water you are diving in.
Carrying Cases
There are all kinds of different carrying cases out there for your Gopro camera. Here I will highlight a few that I either use or they have caught my eye. Take a look and see if one of these will work for you.
GoPro Fetch Dog Harness Mount for Camera
Capture the world from your dog’s perspective (while running and jumping, sniffing, digging and more). The GoPro Fetch Dog harness mount attaches on the back and chest of your dog.
Video File Extensions, Formats: Simplified Guide
When working on a computer, all your information and data gets stored in files; depending on the application you use, the file extension varies.
Media files can be huge and the original format may not be practical to save, edit, or upload on websites.
That is why you compress these files for different purposes, which produces different video file formats (which also affects the overall quality of your video).
Though there are several types of video file formats and extensions, you can basically categorize those in two buckets: Container Formats & CODECs (Compression Formats).
Container Formats
Examples include: AVI, WMV, QUICKTIME (MOV), etc.
These store and interleave different types of data.
Compression Formats (CODECs)
Examples include: MPEG, MPEG-4, DV, etc.
- These files are much smaller
- Video is compressed using a special software program (known as CODEC)
- Easy to store and transmit
There are several file types out there, the more popular video file types include:
AVI – Audio video Interleave (.avi): Windows focused video format. It however has compatibility and synchronizing problems on other platforms.
Quicktime is popular because top entertainment and news sites use it exclusively on their web pages, and also because it can also be used on either a windows or a Macintosh computer. It is also cheaper to digitize video into the Quicktime format and put it on your website, compared to the mpeg format.
MPEG (Motion Pictures expert Group) files have better quality and are used on video games and other media that require high quality output. The disadvantage being their huge file sizes and you may need sophisticated hardware and software to convert plain videos into mpeg.
Flash Video (.flv)
The flash video format (.flv extension) is the file format used by YouTube for all its videos. This format works with the Adobe Flash Player!
Windows Media video (.wmv)
This is Microsoft’s proprietary video format, playable with Microsoft’s windows media player.
Video Converters: Easily convert from one format to another
Videos nowadays can be viewed on different applications – portable players, DVDS, Internet, VCRs, TVs, etc. Accordingly, depending on your requirement, you will need a video convertor to help you with the conversions. Video Converters help you convert videos from one format to another.
Video converter software can take video as input from varied sources – be it computer hard drives or external sources like TV feeds, cameras, and other removable devices.
Some video convertors also make it possible for you to export videos for use on other programs – for editing, uploading, or sharing.
Filming Techniques
Storyboarding Basics
Once you have the finished script, you go through the step of Storyboarding, where you take the script and visualise it using drawings. Storyboarding helps a lot to better plan the rest of the production.
The drawings depict things like type of camera shot, angle and blocking of characters are decided.
Establishing Shot Technique
Using the establishing shot is a technique used by movie makers to get the viewers from one location to another.
You use it at the beginning of a new sequence or location to give the viewers an instant visual impression of where we are.
So in the storyline, if you need to move to a new location, if you intend to show shots that are based in a new city, say London, It’s a good idea to begin with a shot of the Big Ben that makes this statement.
It is enough to tell the viewer that we have moved from our previous location.
Here are some video shooting tips that you can use to set up your Establishing Shots.
- Major City Landmarks: All the world’s major cities have their iconic images. You can use them as an Establishing Shot.
- Tell-tale Signs: A perfect establisher shot is the ordinary, everyday road sign. Follow that with a shot of a particular building or landmark, and the viewers will immediately know that you have moved to a new location.
- Counting Time: Allow the establishing shot to remain on screen for around 2-3 seconds, enough time for your viewers to know what you are aiming to get across.
How to Chroma Key (Green Backdrop)
A very common technique used in movies is chroma keying, often referred to as green screen. Chroma key involves replacing a certain color in an image with an image that is not actually there. Chroma key and green screen actually use the same principle. The term “green screen” became popular (instead of chroma key) because a lot of studios started using a green backdrop (green is very distinct from the color of human skin, makes it easier to edit the video in post-processing).
The best example is the scene of a TV weather presenter standing in front of a weather map.
Other examples include actors standing with computer generated creatures.
180-Degree Rule in cinematography (media)
180-Degree Rule in cinematography states that two characters in a scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other.
So if you’re shooting two characters talking to one another, and later take a close-up shot or over-the-shoulder shot, the 2 characters should be in the same left/right relationship to one other.
If the 180 degree line is broken, a person who was earlier on the left side is now all of the sudden on the right. This disrupts the scene and disorients the audience, because he think “wait, when did this happen?”
The 180-Degree Rule is among the first concepts that beginners are taught in cinematography.
Its perfectly fine if you move your camera anywhere along that 180 line, but don’t cross over the line to the other side.
But is there ever a “never break something” in arts?
Well, you can break every rule if you are trying to do something intentionally with reason. There are plenty of examples of this in cinema.
Directors do it to communicate different things to the audience, such as creating confusion, mystery, and has a strange connection to multiple personalities and identity.
Stealomatic (Stillomatic) Explained
Stealomatic can be a great idea to pitch in an idea to a prospective client, in order to make a commercial (TVC). Stealomatic uses visual references such as film clips in order to represent the style or feel intended for a commercial.
It is commonly used in presentations to highlight the style of direction.
Stealomatic, also written as Stillomatic (also known as ‘rubamatic’ in Italian) refers to the creative process where scenes and snippets from existing sources are taken and assembled to give an idea of the concept proposed.
How to Create Videos That People Will Love and Share
The new YouTube Creator Playbook for Brands is packed with invaluable information for content creators and marketers. In this weeks Creator’s Tip, we take a look at section two, which guides brands on the fundamentals of content creation and marketing.
Apple is one company that produces great videos for its products. Having videos like that displaying your products or simply just advertising your business can make a big difference for making your videos look more processional. Now even you can create amazing videos with nice white as snow background and crystal clear quality images.
Here’s how to make your videos look more professional using some very simple, and also affordable, equipment. This video shows you how you can start making your own videos at home, and what you need to get a good professional video.
Things to Keep in Mind
Here are certain things to keep in mind, especially if the videos are going to be uploaded online.
- The video needs to be short and to the point, to keep visitor attention
- Needs to be smaller in size, for faster loading
- Video needs to have a good storyline and proper wording
- Need to be well-lit and properly shot
- The audio quality needs to be good
- Depending on the topic & purpose, you may also use a webcam or screen capture software
- You Need to Promote them to get more eyeballs
Here are more tips for Smartphone Filmmaking.
- Good Lighting is important. Shoot in brightly lit areas as smartphone cameras have smaller image sensors and lenses.
- Before you begin recording your videos, make sure you are prepared for the shoot – have all the gear, props, scripts, actors and shooting locations in place.
- You need to ‘stay steady’ – to avoid distortion, blurring, or “rolling shutter” effect
- Give importance to the Audio, as much as the Video
- Get physically closer to your Subject – gives better image quality, less digital noise and better focus
- Avoid holding the smartphone vertically, make it a point to keep it sideways, while recording.
Improve your videos using Mobile Apps
Useful Video Resources: There are many useful links and video Resources online that you can refer to enhance your knowledge of video production.
Video Producer: How To Be One?
Video production involves the creation and editing of videos (television commercials, documentaries, movies). Here are the more popular role that people play in this industry.
Videographers
They are also known as video camera operators, and as the name suggests, they shoot videos/movies. Experienced Videographers are comfortable shooting in a variety of different genres.
As far as employment is concerned, video camera operators are required in TV stations, movie studios, and even news media to record newsworthy events.
Usually employers prefer candidates with both creativity and a strong technical knowledge of the industry (most prefer at least a bachelor’s degree). Extensive travel may be required as part of the job description.
Video Editors
Once the video footage has been captured, it needs to be edited, and that is where Video Editors come into picture. A video editor plays an important role in shaping up the final product, and needs to have a good understanding of the various editing tools available (in addition to film-making).
Most TV stations & movie studios hire video editors with good experience, creativity and preferably a bachelor’s degree.
Producer
A Video Producer can take up several types of assignments such as shooting corporate, wedding or music videos, producing video games, and even movies.
Lot of video producers work as freelancers.
Producers main responsibility is to help in getting a project executed. They help set up shoots in various locations, and in some cases may be required to keep a track of the expenses (to ensure the project finishes within the planned budget).
The producer is usually responsible to liaise with the various actors, arrange funding and manage the costs, and ensure the project is taken from conception to completion.
In some projects, they may also be required to be involved in the marketing and distribution processes.
They could also be referred by various names depending on the size of the project. So if it’s a big-scale movie, you will hear several terms such as executive producers, producers, co-producers, associate producers, writer-producers and so on.
On smaller projects, they may don multiple hats and could direct the assignment as well besides handling the project operations.
In case you want to become a movie producer, you usually have a couple of options:
- First is to produce the project yourself, that is pay from your own pocket
- Second is to find an interesting literary property and get exclusive rights to it, and then look for financiers to fund the project
Working for Media
Some of the biggest media giants serve millions of visitors through their network of broadcast, digital, mobile and publishing properties.
Such media and marketing companies employ experienced Video Producers to create top quality videos.
They create videos for live distribution and for on-demand video content for all their digital properties and platforms.