Anyone Producing Video EBooks?

25 replies
Hi Warriors,

I have been looking at creating my own products for a while now and after thinking of a couple of ebooks and working out the design, I just couldn't help but think that they had been done before.

At the moment though I am considering creating the exact same high quality ebooks but with videos in them to help readers along. Does anyone know how to integrate videos with PDFs or other formats to played on the iPhone and the new tablets?

In addition, are there any well known forums or companies that can get videos created on various subjects at an affordable rate?

Any and all advice appreciated.

Thanks,
Antony.
#ebooks #producing #video
  • Profile picture of the author Jarrett
    Banned
    Hey Anthony.

    Here's what I recommend doing. Create a video course for your product. Then simply attach pdf's that compliment it.

    Your other option is to create a webpage in a members area and have all the videos play on it (use a flash video player like Easy Video Player / jw player / flow player)

    And on the webpage you can have text, pictures, diagrams, etc alongside the videos.

    You CAN create a PDF/ebook and inside of it have graphic thumbnail pictures for the videos that go along with it.. then when people click on the thumbnails for the video it is simply a LINK and opens up a webpage with the video in it.. that works too.

    I've done alot of product creation/video training for a few of the top products on clickbank.. and personally I'd probably just go with the method of creating a member's area.. host the videos there then attach pdfs to compliment it.

    As far as prices.. depending on length of videos and how much content you provide for it.. probably looking anywhere from $500 - $2k
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    • Profile picture of the author AHayes183
      Originally Posted by Jarrett View Post

      Hey Anthony.

      Here's what I recommend doing. Create a video course for your product. Then simply attach pdf's that compliment it.

      Your other option is to create a webpage in a members area and have all the videos play on it (use a flash video player like Easy Video Player / jw player / flow player)

      And on the webpage you can have text, pictures, diagrams, etc alongside the videos.

      You CAN create a PDF/ebook and inside of it have graphic thumbnail pictures for the videos that go along with it.. then when people click on the thumbnails for the video it is simply a LINK and opens up a webpage with the video in it.. that works too.

      I've done alot of product creation/video training for a few of the top products on clickbank.. and personally I'd probably just go with the method of creating a member's area.. host the videos there then attach pdfs to compliment it.

      As far as prices.. depending on length of videos and how much content you provide for it.. probably looking anywhere from $500 - $2k
      Hi Jarret,

      Thanks for responding. That definitely makes sense with all of the applications now using the internet - it may simply be impractical to have the whole file downloadable.

      I have been looking at Vook for example and see that they have done a great job of integrating the two. However, my plan is to build a marketplace (videoebooks.net) either with my own products or with others as I think this is a great idea (although by no means a new concept).

      When you say video training, have you assisted people or actually designed the videos?

      Thanks,
      Antony.
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    • Profile picture of the author mygold
      Originally Posted by Jarrett View Post

      Hey Anthony.

      Here's what I recommend doing. Create a video course for your product. Then simply attach pdf's that compliment it.

      Your other option is to create a webpage in a members area and have all the videos play on it (use a flash video player like Easy Video Player / jw player / flow player)

      And on the webpage you can have text, pictures, diagrams, etc alongside the videos.

      You CAN create a PDF/ebook and inside of it have graphic thumbnail pictures for the videos that go along with it.. then when people click on the thumbnails for the video it is simply a LINK and opens up a webpage with the video in it.. that works too.

      I've done alot of product creation/video training for a few of the top products on clickbank.. and personally I'd probably just go with the method of creating a member's area.. host the videos there then attach pdfs to compliment it.

      As far as prices.. depending on length of videos and how much content you provide for it.. probably looking anywhere from $500 - $2k

      what a wounderful idea.
      cheers !
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  • Profile picture of the author CShark
    Great knowledge guys,I appreciate.

    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    Videos can be embedded and played within the pdf. Search the forum.
    Josh Anderson wrote detailed instructions on how to do this a while back.

    Tsnyder
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    If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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  • Profile picture of the author donhx
    I have done it because I think they are the wave of the future. However, it seems most people want PDFs, so it is an exercise in futility. Some people say do both a video and a PDF, but you generally only get one price for both, so why spend all the extra time on video?

    I tested a very fine 9 unit/ 2 + hour course at $197, but it did not fly. It was about 90 meg, a lot for many to download. It was multimedia embedded in PDFs, which is a great way to package it. You need to own Adobe Acrobat Pro Extended, which is expensive, to be able to do it.

    So, I love the idea of multimedia training. If I had a choice, that's all I would do. I have had great success in an educational environment. But my experience says it does not fly as well in the IM environment. Your experience may be different.
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    • Profile picture of the author AHayes183
      Originally Posted by donhx View Post

      I have done it because I think they are the wave of the future. However, it seems most people want PDFs, so it is an exercise in futility. Some people say do both a video and a PDF, but you generally only get one price for both, so why spend all the extra time on video?

      I tested a very fine 9 unit/ 2 + hour course at $197, but it did not fly. It was about 90 meg, a lot for many to download. It was multimedia embedded in PDFs, which is a great way to package it. You need to own Adobe Acrobat Pro Extended, which is expensive, to be able to do it.

      So, I love the idea of multimedia training. If I had a choice, that's all I would do. I have had great success in an educational environment. But my experience says it does not fly as well in the IM environment. Your experience may be different.
      That's interesting actually. I think with all of the current iphones, tablets and kindles about, this should be something that could definitely turn into a standard. It doesn't have to strictly be courses or DIY's either.

      I'm not sure what the average storage space is on these devices but with the internet what it is these days, the file size should not be too much of an issue. Providing a link to the video through the PDF is a way around this but packaging it does seem a lot more "solid".

      Antony.
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      • Profile picture of the author donhx
        Originally Posted by AHayes183 View Post

        That's interesting actually. I think with all of the current iphones, tablets and kindles about, this should be something that could definitely turn into a standard. It doesn't have to strictly be courses or DIY's either.

        I'm not sure what the average storage space is on these devices but with the internet what it is these days, the file size should not be too much of an issue. Providing a link to the video through the PDF is a way around this but packaging it does seem a lot more "solid".

        Antony.

        I agree, it should be great. Streaming is always an option, but then you get in the membership site business, and that is a different business.

        Sadly, Steve Jobs has ruined the device thing. Right now, all the best eLearning tools are Flash based and you can't view them on iPhones and iPads. Of course Flash works on all Windows and Android devices, but not Apple products.

        If you're interested, if you PM me with a email regular address that accepts a 25 meg file, I'll send you one of the modules from the project I tested.
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        • Profile picture of the author AHayes183
          Originally Posted by donhx View Post

          I agree, it should be great. Streaming is always an option, but then you get in the membership site business, and that is a different business.

          Sadly, Steve Jobs has ruined the device thing. Right now, all the best eLearning tools are Flash based and you can't view them on iPhones and iPads. Of course Flash works on all Windows and Android devices, but not Apple products.

          If you're interested, if you PM me with a email regular address that accepts a 25 meg file, I'll send you one of the modules from the project I tested.
          PM sent, thanks.

          Oscarte: Are both of those good with integrating video within them? I see that Flipping Book has the option but I wanted to see if you had experience with this? Ideally I would like to find a standard that is compatible with all devices but maybe that's not an option at the moment. The idea then is to find the best for each and make them all available so that customers can choose.

          Jarret: Thanks for sending through some more information. I think I am definitely looking at something a bit different than using membership websites. I think people like having their own products and ebooks have done great. There has to be a way to seamlessly mix ebooks and videos. As mentioned, Vook seems to have done it quite well but am sure they will be tight lipped about how they did it!
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          • Profile picture of the author oscarte
            Originally Posted by AHayes183 View Post

            Oscarte: Are both of those good with integrating video within them? I see that Flipping Book has the option but I wanted to see if you had experience with this? Ideally I would like to find a standard that is compatible with all devices but maybe that's not an option at the moment. The idea then is to find the best for each and make them all available so that customers can choose.
            I've not used these systems yet; did research for a client that wants to move their magazine from print to online.

            Flipping Book works on iOS, Android, computers, can be saved in a DVD; but after recommending it to you I can't see a mention that it accepts video too.

            Fresh Flash Catalog mentions in the features that it accepts video but the demo has no videos. It doesn't accept iOS.

            Flash Page Flip accepts video but the video it shows in the demo is a very poor quality video. It doesn't accept iOS.

            Take into account that some of these systems have their own app for creating them (ex. Flipping Book), in others you have to work directly on Adobe Flash.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jarrett
    Banned
    Full Courses / Video Training -
    The Niche Bomb...
    Google Bomb


    feel free to send me a private message.

    Cheers,
    Jarrett
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  • Profile picture of the author Aj Wilson
    I was doing videos in PDFs back in 2007.

    I dont recommend trying to embed all your video content
    into one PDF ... as a previous poster mentioned ...

    he had a HUGE download and it didnt take off.

    Plus the PDF can hang and become really laggy,
    for those that have clogged up machines.

    If you were going to embed video directly into the PDF, you'd have to have
    3-5 Short, Sharp Totally Optimized (small) videos embedded MAX ...

    and if you need more, create 'Volumes', i.e. VII, VIII etc.

    That way it wouldn't be too bad.

    The other way;

    You can embed a swf (flash) file, into the PDF or a quicktime video player and stream
    the video straight into the video file via amazon S3 for speed and small PDF sizes.

    The problem with that is that the user requires an internet connection
    to view the videos ... so you might as well create a membership site instead.

    There's pro's and con's, but with adobe tightening up it's PDF security
    over the years ... the PDF is constantly telling the user,

    'This Media Is Trying To Contact Blah, Blah, Blah Site'
    [Allow] [Can It] ... This is great for security purposes ...

    but give a rubbish user experience when the PDF is trying
    to connect to it's media.

    oh,

    and I was also adding WORKING Opt-In Forms directly into PDFs as well ...
    but you end up getting these crappy security messages with the submits, etc.

    not very reliable, compared to sending em to a squeeze page.

    all the best though,

    - aj
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarah Harvey
    A few years ago a guy (can't remember his name) created a video ebook with specific templates, but it wasn't pdf. It was .exe ebook format. Was fantastic. I liked it. I have it somewhere on my hard drive still.
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    • Profile picture of the author AHayes183
      Originally Posted by Sarah Harvey View Post

      A few years ago a guy (can't remember his name) created a video ebook with specific templates, but it wasn't pdf. It was .exe ebook format. Was fantastic. I liked it. I have it somewhere on my hard drive still.
      Sarah: If you find it, please let me know. I think there must be a way to make this more accessible to consumers.


      I have been speaking with a couple of guys on here who agree that this could potentially turn into something. However, everyone seems to agree that the files are either too large to download and if an internet connection is required, it might be better to just have a membership website.

      Personally I think people will download the product (if it is something they are highly interested in) just as they would a movie. However, even then it would be a fraction of the size of a movie. I know with some internet connections in the UK for instance, people can download a 1 GB movie in around 10 minutes which is silly. With this in mind, there really is no reason not to.

      Perhaps it would make sense to provide users with the option to download the full file or have it available for streaming? As Don suggested, its just a matter of finding a platform that we can use on all devices as Apple products don't accept flash.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jarrett
        Banned
        Originally Posted by AHayes183 View Post

        Sarah: If you find it, please let me know. I think there must be a way to make this more accessible to consumers.

        Perhaps it would make sense to provide users with the option to download the full file or have it available for streaming? As Don suggested, its just a matter of finding a platform that we can use on all devices as Apple products don't accept flash.


        Ya man. Give people stuff in the delivery format they expect / are most used to.. and you'll get the best results with the least headache

        If you want to make it downloadable / You've got options.

        You can organize all your files in folders and have HTML files that has the build in video player and PDF's, diagrams, on the webpage..

        Then you can simply ZIP up ALL the files in 1 single .zip.. When they unzip it, it preserves all the folders... and that way they can view all the content when offline too.. and it keeps it simple enough. And since 99% of the web users are familiar with .zip .. this'll be easy enough.



        With things moving towards smartphones, ipad's, tablet pc's, etc.. I can see where having a self-contained single video book could catch on a few years down the line. and if ya want to try to develop the technology, by all means.. go for it.

        But I've seen alot of projects like that go down in smoke over the years and NEVER really catch on.

        I remember years back.. they were pushing this software that lets you easily send videos in your email.. and they were convinced that it was completely going to replace 'email' as we know it .. that instead of typing messages to people... that every single person would just hit record.. send little short video messages to their friends instead and that's that.

        went down in flames. never caught on.. and even though we got the technology to easily add personal videos to our emails right now.. people never do it.

        because it's not the delivery method / format most people expect/ are used to.

        I like e-mail because it's short, fast, and sweet.
        If I had to jump on camera every time I wanted to send an email out.. I wouldn't do it. Half the time I send emails at 2;00am .. I'll be looking a mess and be lounging around in my boxers. which is NOT how I want most of my clients to see me
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  • Profile picture of the author blogging
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    • Profile picture of the author Jarrett
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      Originally Posted by blogging View Post

      HUGE download and it didnt take off.

      PS. Is it just me or does Blogging look like a spambot, trying to get link juice to his siggie link, or someone who is just trying to run up his post count to 50 real quick so he can start spamming people? lol.

      Exhibit - #1 - his signature
      Exhibit - #2 - both extremely generic posts he made in this thread
      Exhibit - #3 - check his history

      just a head's up
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      • Profile picture of the author AHayes183
        Originally Posted by Jarrett View Post

        PS. Is it just me or does Blogging look like a spambot, trying to get link juice to his siggie link, or someone who is just trying to run up his post count to 50 real quick so he can start spamming people? lol.

        Exhibit - #1 - his signature
        Exhibit - #2 - both extremely generic posts he made in this thread
        Exhibit - #3 - check his history

        just a head's up
        Lol, damnit they got this thread too.

        You have some very good points in your last email. I think 95% of people don't want to show their faces when they send a message anyway which is probably the main reason that failed. It isn't really convenient either. However, I guess that's what is is about, trying to guess what will be the next "big" thing.

        Personally I think this is a no brainer but the format and delivery is everything. It seems to be the only conundrum right now, especially for devices like the tablet/smart phone etc. To be continued...
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        • Profile picture of the author Kevin AKA Hubcap
          I add video to free reports that are given away and to paid products. From my experience its best to keep the videos relatively short (no longer than five minutes).

          Use it to illustrate points within your text. If a picture's worth a thousand words whats a video worth??

          Anyway, here's how I add video.


          Kevin
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          • Profile picture of the author AilsaJ
            Another solution for embedding video in PDF ebook, you can also use Kvisoft Flipbook Maker Pro. This digital publishing software can help you convert PDF to flip ebook in different formats, and you can also add videos, links, images, etc. to the pages. But the mobile users such as iPhone/iPad users need to have an internet access and read them online. So you can also publish the ebook online, and let the visitors can read and share the publications online.
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  • Profile picture of the author kellygilton48
    Embedding videos in a digital flipbook has been made easy by ePaperFlip's digital publishing software. It can convert PDFs into interactive digital flipbooks real page turning effect in a few minutes only. I like the features of adding other multimedia items like hyperlinks, links blocks, background, images, audio and even we can add resources tabs.
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  • Profile picture of the author James1212
    Being a photographer myself, I would do the videos in a course with pdf screen shots.
    Make it simple though, as you people tend to over do it on the tech stuff.
    Best.
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    Mike Schlecht

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