Any Ideas on Video Production?????

19 replies
I've seen a lot of great videos by various IM's used to attract leads and it's something I want to start doing as well. What are some of the better products out there that are user friendly but will give me a professional looking product or is hiring another company the better way to pursue this? HELP??
#attracting leads #ideas #production #video
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Meaney
    I use Sony Vegas and Camtasia.. I would like to use Adobe After Effects but the learning curve is.. ugh.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      You need to define your idea of professional looking product.

      Simple videos can be learned in a day or two. Complex programs can take weeks.

      Software can be expensive.

      How many videos will you need? What would you pay to outsource? How much time and money are you ready to invest?
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Baker
      Originally Posted by Mick Meaney View Post

      I use Sony Vegas and Camtasia.. I would like to use Adobe After Effects but the learning curve is.. ugh.
      A little off topic, but After Effects isn't as hard to learn as you may think. I suggest downloading the trial version and getting your hands on as many tutorials as you can and start learning.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
        Originally Posted by mikescos View Post

        A little off topic, but After Effects isn't as hard to learn as you may think. I suggest downloading the trial version and getting your hands on as many tutorials as you can and start learning.
        If you go the After Effects route you'll definitely want to check out Andrew Kramer over at VideoCopilot (.net). He has some of the best free tutorials out there.

        Plus, he flat out rocks...

        ~Bill
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Baker
          Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

          If you go the After Effects route you'll definitely want to check out Andrew Kramer over at VideoCopilot (.net). He has some of the best free tutorials out there.

          Plus, he flat out rocks...

          ~Bill
          I totally agree! He is a very talented man who has worked in the movie business and teaches very well. He is also a very likable guy.
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    • Profile picture of the author oldwarrioruser1
      Originally Posted by Mick Meaney View Post

      I use Sony Vegas and Camtasia.. I would like to use Adobe After Effects but the learning curve is.. ugh.
      You want me to teach you

      But as mentioned above: VIDEO COPILOT | After Effects Tutorials, Plug-ins and Stock Footage for Post Production Professionals

      I teach myself everything from that site

      Awesome guy!
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  • Profile picture of the author RussRuffino
    All you need are Camtasia, PowerPoint, and possibly Animoto Pro. With those three pieces of software, you can crank out as many movies as you want, and then use PixelPipe or Traffic Geyser to submit them all over the internet.

    Camtasia records your screen for informative videos, Animoto can crank out really powerful, emotionally-moving promos in minutes.

    R
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    • Profile picture of the author JNFerree
      Originally Posted by RussRuffino View Post

      All you need are Camtasia, PowerPoint, and possibly Animoto Pro. With those three pieces of software, you can crank out as many movies as you want, and then use PixelPipe or Traffic Geyser to submit them all over the internet.

      Camtasia records your screen for informative videos, Animoto can crank out really powerful, emotionally-moving promos in minutes.

      R
      Russ - have you figured out how to get backlink juice from PixelPipe? I sense Pixel will soon be using the Geyser model before long (once) they add / improve their tracking / linking capabilities - Neil

      PS: to remain on topic on the thread, like other have said, your tool needs to have to horse power to serve your audience. Camtasia covers 90% of the market and add Animoto if you want to kick it up a notch.

      I use a video editing tool that let's me stitch together still photos and creates a video that I can overlay a cool jazz soundtrack with a speech to text engine for "sales" message (or voice over) with a strong call to action that gets syndicated via Pixel, TubeMogul, my social media footprint and a few others for max. exposure albeit, YT is always as the top of the food chain VideoTourCalifornia Channel
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  • Profile picture of the author Vincenzo Oliva
    You don't need to go spend a lot of money. I have Camtasia and Sony Vegas. But many times I find it easier (especially converting and publishing) with a free combination of: Windows Movie Maker: Jing: Screencast (online).
    There is a good video background product out there for a quick start called "Video Studio Expert".
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  • Profile picture of the author julesw
    I'm more a fan of seeing the marketeer on camera telling a story, mix in with some screenshots if necessary.

    The videos that stick in my mind are all with people in.

    Frank Kerns List Control (driving in his car)
    Maria Andros's recent launch (beach, karate school)

    Kodak zi8 or iphone 4 a $25 mic and some basic lighting and composition skills will get you far as a start. Get a Video dslr if you can afford like the canon d60.


    One set of videos that also sticks in my mind (this time without any people) was John Carlton's shots of his napkins with sketches on to explain the process, great improvisation, just need a stills cam and basic editing.

    jules
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  • Profile picture of the author Rick TVG
    It all depends on what you want, why you want it, what you need it to do if anyone watches it, and what you expect to see when the curtain goes up. If you want to emulate something from a Hollywood production or major corporate marketing campaign, you can't buy a week at The Bellagio in Vegas for the price of a Motel 6 in Pacoima.

    As noted earlier, "professional looking product" needs to be defined before you start throwing money at products or outsourcing. But in order to do that, you first need a clear concept of "professional" in terms of your business objectives and needs.

    1/ If you have a specific example of something you simply want copied using the "your name/image/audio here" approach and you can't do it, hire someone on the basis of a low, fixed price payable only on successful delivery. Bunch of freelance resource sites out there with variations of "escrow" systems; you deposit but the contractor isn't paid until you say you like the work. You can get people from 6 of the 7 continents offering to build a full-sized working model of the USS Enterprise for $29.95. (Far as I know, no freelance designers working from Antarctica, but global warming may change that)

    2/ IF you know exactly what you want, how it's done, what technology & skills are required - in other words, you could do it yourself to perfection - you need either a tool that does all that at the push of a button (so far nothing I know of does it, if I develop one I'm retiring to a beach to research how many ways Tequila can be consumed before one winds up comatose) or you provide a skilled technician Ikea-like "idiot instructions", the way you'd instruct a carpenter to perform brain surgery with a Swiss Army knife.

    3/ If you want something original with professional/studio grade production values designed specifically to enhance, showcase or stimulate interest in you/your business, you need a professional who starts by working with you to create "from the inside out". In addition to technical skills, this professional looks to evaluating your ideas & expectations against your business objectives to recommend something that can make a positive contribution. Good professionals will actually suggest things might cost less than your initial idea, if it will better serve your goals, as they consider it their function to be a resource as opposed to a service. These guys aren't cheap but, depending on what you want & need, might be able to deliver something simple that hits the mark for a price you can afford. They're in business to make money, so cutting prices AND delivering A-game material just to accommodate your budget isn't likely. This type of production isn't philanthropy.

    Animoto and other 'Ronco Vid-O-Matic' technology are all template-based. So far, there's no algorithm for "instant Hollywood blockbuster, just add images/video and stir". Not knocking all the tools that do this stuff, wish I'd invented one so I could be somewhere under a palm tree right now. Some of them can pump out stuff that looks pretty damn good, but none of it is "original", and none of them bring any experience, insight, talent or "customer service" to the table.

    99% of the guru's promise you that professional, original, amazing quality should be cheap if you follow the "easy for someone who knows what they're doing" mantra, however real professionals who aren't recycling templates or throwing out copy/paste crap generally avoid that catch-phrase as it's merely a synonym for "your time & talent aren't worth much so I don't won't pay more than $100". Keep in mind, some of the guru's telling you "$5.00 per article is enough to get great results" are charging $25,000 to write a one-page sales letter.

    Best of luck with it all!
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  • I use Camtasia, generally with some PowerPoint slides and a voice over. Obviously, you can make your videos look much more sophisticated than that, and for the big guru launches, it might be appropriate.

    But, also think rationally. Getting some basic (but competent videos) out there is more important than spending hours and days creating flashy videos that no-one might ever watch. There's also so much more to creating videos that just the pure quality of the video itself. How well you SEO it will determine whether anyone actually ever sees the video or not.

    Thom
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  • Profile picture of the author robs132
    I love making my own videos, though they are not super professional they get the results I want
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    • Profile picture of the author ljparkerjr
      Thanks everyone for your responses, I really appreciate it!
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  • Profile picture of the author jonibravo
    Adobe Aftereffect is best for video production. You can use it with other softwares like Flash, 3D Max and Maya...it is effective to use nd edit things on 3D Max and after dat make animations using Adobe After Effect..
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  • Profile picture of the author saeed13
    Get Apple Finale Cut, you can find most of the basic tutorials online on YouTube, including official final cut tutorial on Apple's website as well

    all the best
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    • Profile picture of the author julesw
      I recommend final cut express which can do quite a lot, including some basic motion graphics and isn't too costly if you are on a budget, else get the full version.

      I often use video filters applied to text which makes them fly around with just a few secs of work.

      j
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