Question for those doing Video Marketing for Offline Clients...

Hi Dexx,

here's an email I sent to a guy who asked some similar questions.
Like you he wanted easy, no-hassle, great sound, lightening-fast
uploading... basically a difficult request. So I told him why I use
tape.

Here it is:

I don't use a Mac but I do use video for marketing.

1. I would stay away from proprietary formats. For web-use you ultimately
want to get to .FLV format because that's the one in widest use for streaming.
The format you capture in is less important than where you end up.

2. My research indicates going to miniDV tape is the better option for capturing
footage because it is actually linear like old audio tape. Even though it's
digital each second has a physical location on the tape so corruption of
data is seldom a problem. If you go with a hard-drive camcorder you
get what goes along with hard-drives.

3. I use a Canon ZR500 camera - out of production because Canon figured
out they could get more money for cameras with a mic-jack - thus they took
the ZR500 off the market and replaced it with a model without one and
reserved the mic jack for pricier models.

4. You can check out the wireless mics sold through Drew Alan Kaplan's
site DAK Industries: Drew Kaplan Greets Past DAKonians at DAK! - he has good testimonials for his inexpensive
wireless mics.... but in my other research AV guys were saying they
suck.

5. I use a sony digital mic that plugs into my camera - it is not a lavalier
model.

6. With a camera mic you need a mic with a battery. A no battery
mic won't send a signal - you need a mic with a pre-amp balanced
to send the right-strength signal to a video camera or mini-CD recorder,
which are now kind of obsolete. These mics send an appropriately
boosted signal. Lavalier mics of this type have a tiny little battery and
no low-battery light on the one I researched - if your battery dies on you
you won't know it until you watch your blathering head with no sound-track.

Just my 2 cents. If you want to dig-in and research this stuff watch
Bill Myers (the direct mail guy) videos on YouTube - his username
is GuerillaBill.

Have you tried the Flip Mino? Or did you read reviews that said the sound quality wasn't good?

The reason I ask is becaus eI just landed on offline client taht opted for video, and I include a camera in my video package... I was going to buy a Flip video cam, but after seeing this I may need to reconsider.

Thanks,

DeShon

The audio on a flip camcorder is not the best from distance.

It is good for quick videos that u will do a voice over for through a program like sony vegas.

Great thread guys. I'm also in the market for a new video camera for a similar reason. I'll be watching this thread to see what camera you decide on.

Do you currently own a camera Eric?

You can get the ZR500 used/new for about $150. I paid more, but it
was on the market as a new model at the time. I'm not obsessed
with having the latest gear - I just want something that works.

Depends on yoru computer. I use a firewire cable. You need a fairly
fast machine and 2 hard drives to do it well. You need a "c" drive to
run your software and a "e" drive to store the media. It just works
better this way. These days a $500 desktop with a couple of drives
and a firewire card is all you need. I use Sony Vegas running on XP.
Not a fancy setup at all.

Capturing video is demanding and will heat-up your computer. It takes
a lot of resources and taxes the processor like nothing else. Shut down
nonessential programs, unplug from the internet so programs cannot access
it, and start with a cool machine. First thing in the morning is best,
but you'll find out from experience what your gear can and cannot do.


No.

It's a ECM-MS907. Great all-round fidelity but you need to get it
fairly close to the source or have the source be loudish.

A wireless mic is good too. The DAK one might be a good choice for you.
I do music too, so I wanted a more hi-fi mic. I have some lavalier
mics too. One requires a mixer and other stuff to work with a computer -
while the other lacks a battery so the signal does not work with
the camera.

My mic I can use for podcasting, I can carry it around and interview
people on camera with it. It has a handle and a windscreen. It works
great for music.

I have several camera's that I use, one is a canon HV30 which is miniDVHD, one is a JVC Everio GZ-HD7, and several Flip's. On the Canon and JVC I do use external mic's and the Canon I have a shotgun mic that is fantastic.

Keep in mind that HD editing is more complicated, at least for me as I do not use a MAC, I use Pinacle software which does handle HD. For the web, it is over kill in my personal opinion. The Flips are the fastest and by far the easiest way. I will try to post one of my video's here ( it is me on 1 of my sites):



First real video from me - Talk About Cancer


Keep in mind that when editing, you can take the flip audio and boost it quite a bit. You can get real creative and then copy it to a second track and have sort-of stereo sound from the flip.

The one thing I will say is stay away from the JVC brand as they create unique files that many editing softwares will not be able to see which means you are screwed when it comes to editing.

No matter what camera you use, if your sound is good and your lighting is good, it can make a so-so video look much better. As a last resort, I have a couple of zoom MP3 recorders and can record a sound track while shooting the video and switch it out if needed....by doing this, you can then have the audio transcribed for content re-purpose even on the same page.

Hope this helps a little.
Enterpryzman

The best inexpensive mic you can get is Audio-Technica ATR-35S Lavalier Microphone, it will cost less than $ 30. and will plug into the camera ( be certain you have a mic jack ). The bad thing about tape is that you have to load it onto the computer in real-time. With a digital camera, you can just grab the file ( stay away from JVC ). I feel that standard miniDV would be a great place for you to start.

You could get an inexpensive cam such as the one talked about above. I think if I was doing it over again, I would watch craigslist and buy a better quality used camera that is more on the pro-sumer side. I spent about $ 1,200. for the Canon and Canon shotgun mic, I spent about $ 1,400 for the JVC, and about $ 140. each for my Flip Ultra's. I have not purchased the mino or mino HD as they require the use of their built in battery and must be recharged and the ultra's can take AA's that can be changed out if needed. Also, the ultra fits in it's own water proof housing that I love and use all the time when kayaking and jetskiing.

You can get a professional Canon that is slightly used ( new at $ 3,200. ) for about $ 800.00 with a case, extra batteries, mic, ect...you can start right away.

One closing thought, I never leave home without my filp in my pocket. I use it to film anything and everything and that is more often most important, more so than the quality. I have hired a student for a couple of shoots at about $ 125. for a couple hours and they use their own equipment and provide me a edited video and I also require they convert it to .flv.




Enterpryzman