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How TO MAKE VIDEOS

by allenjohn
55 replies
Hi,

I've got a team busy building web-sites (all markets). Anyone have any good ideas how to make videos (and mp3s?) cheaply and quickly? Have videos in the marketing strategy but we need to outsource production or do ourselves (without a heap of video making skills). For example, if we wanted to produce a video on a particular model of a digital camera, what's the best way of achieving that? Does not have to fancy, just a few images with a few slides would do I think.

Any ideas? All thoughts gratefully accepted.

Thanks and All the best, Allen
#make #video marketing #videos
  • Profile picture of the author Mark Kaye
    For really simple inexpensive stuff I use my Mac and iMovie. It's great for doing slideshows.

    If you want something a little more professional then you can use something like Sony Vegas.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanman
    camtasia would do the job but if you want to go a bit advanced I would suggest adobe products.
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  • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
    Thanks, good tips. Please keep them coming Warriors... thanks Allen
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  • Profile picture of the author ADAMw3
    I use camtasia 6... it is a bit expensive, but I am extremely pleased with the product.
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  • Profile picture of the author minisite911
    I'm Using Sony Vegas, might took some time to learn the software, but the result is VERY good!
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    • Profile picture of the author PhotoVideoCompany
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      • Profile picture of the author queenv
        Transfer video from your camera to your computer, edit and/or produce the video using Camtasia studio. Camtasia is not the cheapest (there are free alternatives) but it's the most user friendly. Very easy to use without reading instructions on how to use it. If you get confused (which you won't) Techsmith (the company that sells the software) has free training tutorial videos on their site. You can try it out for free for 30 days without giving them your credit card info. Personally I like Camtasia Studio 5 better than 6. I think version 6 is a little buggy, but it's still worth trying out.
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      • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
        Hi - Looks good but over and above what we need I think. If you can come up with something around the $20 per video mark, then we are interested. Thanks, Allen

        Originally Posted by PhotoVideoCompany View Post

        I'm not up to 15 posts yet so I cannot give you the URL address, however, see my username, pop that into your browser with a .com on the end and maybe we can help you out.

        Got a special offer on at the moment too.

        Hope you find what you are looking for.

        All the best!

        Mark
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    • Profile picture of the author absbica
      Originally Posted by minisite911 View Post

      I'm Using Sony Vegas, might took some time to learn the software, but the result is VERY good!
      I have Vegas 5..good stuff though a little old.
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  • Profile picture of the author dail
    Try using JING

    Go to www jingproject . com


    Has tutorials as well, and FREE!!
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  • Profile picture of the author AbdulAzim
    Camstudio perhaps?It's FREE.

    Azim
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  • Profile picture of the author kel
    Try animoto.com or onetruemedia iff you want some real zing in those videos. Im a professional video producer and Im knocked out by what these programs can do, and so quickly.
    cheers
    Kel
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    • Profile picture of the author LonNaylor
      Originally Posted by kel View Post

      Try animoto.com or onetruemedia iff you want some real zing in those videos. Im a professional video producer and Im knocked out by what these programs can do, and so quickly.
      cheers
      Kel
      If you use Animoto, be aware that it is against their TOS to create marketing videos for others even if you have a Commercial account.

      You can use it to create and sell videos for clients containing content you've created FOR them (as in a photographer selling a video of pictures of a client to them) but it's pretty specific that if you are a marketing company, you cannot create a marketing video for a client.

      The Commercial account is for YOU to make marketing videos for YOUR company and marketing efforts...

      Really sucks!

      I'm talking to them about it and we'll see what happens.
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      Lon Naylor
      Learn Camtasia FAST
      Create Killer PowerPoint Videos
      Screencast Profits: Make MORE money with your Camtasia videos.

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      • Profile picture of the author PhotoVideoCompany
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        • Profile picture of the author LonNaylor
          Originally Posted by PhotoVideoCompany View Post

          ^ Are you sure about that, I was only reading through the complete terms and conditions a short while ago and didn't come across that at all? Would you mind sharing where it says that please?

          Got the full commercial business license here, had it for some time now.

          I'll double check that, certainly it's never represented any problem in the past, the only thing that I do know that they absolutely stipulate, is that the logo at the end must Not be removed from any videos or altered / tampered with, under any circumstances.

          They are very strict on that one.
          Not 100% yet. Checking with Animoto. It IS confusing:

          From their Animoto for Business FAQ:

          Q: Can I Resell Animoto Videos?

          A: You most certainly can! Feel free to re-sell burned DVD-Quality downloads or include Animoto videos in any photography package that you sell.

          Sounds good, right?

          Then, from the actual Business TOS doc (last updated on October 17, 2008):
          - Animoto: Commercial Use -

          "A further condition of the Scope of Use is that Commercial Users may, during the Term, distribute or otherwise make available Animoto Videos to third parties if such third parties agree to use the Animoto Videos for personal use only. Thus, for example, Commercial Users may not distribute or make available Animoto Videos to third parties if such third parties intend to use the Animoto Videos directly or indirectly to derive a commercial benefit or pecuniary gain."

          And this from the Business FAQ under the DVD Quality Downloads section:
          http://business.animoto.com/faq.html

          Q: Can I resell videos to clients?

          A. If you are selling to an individual (i.e. photographer selling a video after a photo-session to a client), then feel free to! Some photographers have re-sold videos for upwards of $300. Others use them as a nice "thank you" gift to a client afterward.

          However, we don't allow videos to be re-sold in a B2B context (i.e. a web designer making videos for a business's website and re-selling the video).

          I am contacting Animoto for clarification since I want to create marketing videos for my clients.

          Love to hear if anyone finds out also!
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          Learn Camtasia FAST
          Create Killer PowerPoint Videos
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          • Profile picture of the author zoro
            Originally Posted by LonNaylor View Post

            Not 100% yet. Checking with Animoto. It IS confusing:

            From their Animoto for Business FAQ:

            Q: Can I Resell Animoto Videos?

            A: You most certainly can! Feel free to re-sell burned DVD-Quality downloads or include Animoto videos in any photography package that you sell.

            Sounds good, right?

            Then, from the actual Business TOS doc (last updated on October 17, 2008):


            "A further condition of the Scope of Use is that Commercial Users may, during the Term, distribute or otherwise make available Animoto Videos to third parties if such third parties agree to use the Animoto Videos for personal use only. Thus, for example, Commercial Users may not distribute or make available Animoto Videos to third parties if such third parties intend to use the Animoto Videos directly or indirectly to derive a commercial benefit or pecuniary gain."

            And this from the Business FAQ under the DVD Quality Downloads section:


            Q: Can I resell videos to clients?

            A. If you are selling to an individual (i.e. photographer selling a video after a photo-session to a client), then feel free to! Some photographers have re-sold videos for upwards of $300. Others use them as a nice "thank you" gift to a client afterward.

            However, we don't allow videos to be re-sold in a B2B context (i.e. a web designer making videos for a business's website and re-selling the video).

            I am contacting Animoto for clarification since I want to create marketing videos for my clients.

            Love to hear if anyone finds out also!
            Mate,
            Yes, I agree Animoto's usage terms for B2B are very confusing. I have sent them an email to get clarification. Will let you know when I recieve a reply.

            John
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  • Profile picture of the author Sean Donahoe
    Creating videos is actually pretty simple and there are plenty of tools that do the job nicely depending on the platform and budget you are on:

    MAC: Best bet, ScreenFlow which is our equivalent to Camtasia. I do a lot of my video recording on this platform. I may switch to Camtasia as soon as it becomes available for Mac which may be this year.

    IMovie is pretty good for video production and another good Mac alternative is SnapZ.

    PC: Camtasia is king for screen capturing and has a special addon for recording MS Powerpoint presentations. Camtasia is fairly expensive but a very nice investment that can pay for itself with the time you save in video production and recording. However, Jing is a great free alternative and is actually made by the Camtasia crew.

    I have played with CamStudio a bit and it does produce fairly good results but the compression and quailty left a little to be desired and I had to use other tools to clean up and convert the videos into other formats which kinda defeated the purpose of using it.

    Just my 2c into the discussion and hope it helps.

    Regards

    Sean
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  • Profile picture of the author David Neale
    Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows: make show-n-tell cool again

    Exceptional. Free. I use it for most commercial YouTube stuff. Very Quick. Royalty free music included etc. etc.

    I pay a professional voiceover person to add the narrative (music still left in but lower volume) and away you go.....

    I believe this is THE most underused free tool on the web.

    Originally Posted by allenjohn View Post

    Hi,

    I've got a team busy building web-sites (all markets). Anyone have any good ideas how to make videos (and mp3s?) cheaply and quickly? Have videos in the marketing strategy but we need to outsource production or do ourselves (without a heap of video making skills). For example, if we wanted to produce a video on a particular model of a digital camera, what's the best way of achieving that? Does not have to fancy, just a few images with a few slides would do I think.

    Any ideas? All thoughts gratefully accepted.

    Thanks and All the best, Allen
    Signature

    David Neale

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  • Profile picture of the author imamrktr
    Appears you already have some awesome ideas on creating videos. Camtasia is my first choice because it is easy to do.

    Secondly jing is free and very easy which I believe someone suggested. However, there is also camstudioIM version that is more than sufficient to get the job done.
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  • Profile picture of the author billromer
    From personal experience...

    Jing is AWESOME! Haven't used it nearly as much as I should.

    Camtasia is pretty cool and I'm very comfortable with it. Output can be very tricky, and it can really be slow sometimes.

    I have friends with these little Flip things - Flip Video Camcorder - Digital Camcorder | Flip Video - and they look pretty cool - easily transferred to online video.

    Just my $0.02.

    Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author rsteadm2
    Camtasia is the Cadillac. Have you thought about camstudio pro? I don't if anyone already recommended but it is extremely inexpensive and does a pretty decent job.

    My $.02

    Ray S.
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  • Profile picture of the author write-stuff
    I agree with Loren. It's easy to bumble your way through an unscripted Camtasia video or do a talking head video using your web cam. But if quality matters, don't assume that the cheapest and quickest route will get you what you want.
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Woodside
    Do it yourself type videos are just as unwatchable as a bad movie. You get what you pay for in life, so if you just want to slap something together, then you're really wasting your time. Not trying to be mean here, but if you figure it out now while you're just starting to begin, then you'll save a lot of time and money in the future! Outsourcing your projects is the only way to go!
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Woodside
    Hey I'm producing an audio book on video production! It has great information. Really interesting and informative with all kinds of links and ideas that you could not possible get elsewhere!!!

    I'm not affiliated with Mr. Braunstein. He is a client of mine. If you're interested email him here and I'm sure he can give you a list of the information he has available! He's pretty much a genius and you'll agree once you've read his book or "Listened" to his audio version of the book!

    braunstein.mark@gmail.com
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  • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
    Hey, thanks to all! Best regards Allen
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    • Profile picture of the author warriorcopywriter
      I love all the helpfulinfo on this thread, thanks everyone.
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    The thing that got me started was the "Internet Infomercial Toolkit" -
    which is costly but that prevents a lot of people from getting the
    information so I guess that makes it a competitive advantage.

    I have some strong views about video commercials - learned from
    experience:

    1. people primarily want entertainment
    2. attention spans are short - you need to be peppy
    3. hiding your own face is stupid. People are much more likely
    to buy from a friendly face than a geek hiding behind his computer.
    4. use a script or really work on becoming charistmatic and engaging
    5. Shave
    6. use good lighting. Blue gels can really help but newer video
    cameras still do a good job with skin-tones without gels.
    7. Lighting matters as does everything you do that separates you from
    the dorks who make long, boring, poorly lit, poorly scripted
    video commercials.

    I'm not saying I'm the big cheese with video. I have tons to learn
    about it. All I'm saying is that bad video is bad marketing. When
    you put in a noble effort with everything you put out you increase
    the feeling that you are a quality brand. People will pay premium
    prices for dealing with a quality company.
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Woodside
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    • Profile picture of the author lgibbon
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      Originally Posted by Scott Woodside View Post

      A great way to produce videos and it's sooooo cost effective! Check out the one I just produced!
      Oh not again............
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      • Profile picture of the author biz_online
        Originally Posted by lgibbon View Post

        Oh not again............
        Jesus Christ!

        I took a look at that ridiculous video and almost puked!
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  • Profile picture of the author James Turner
    Scott,

    I saw your first self promotional post and I wasn't suprised to see it get deleted. Reposting the same self promotional crap is just plain insulting to other forum members.

    James
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  • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
    HA HA Les, bombs away... Look ma, no more post

    TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author nursehoney
    I have to cast a vote for Jing, which is great if you don't mind keeping them under 5 minutes AND a vote for animoto, which is my new favorite toy. Makes a complete amateur able to produce great looking videos. 30 second videos are free, and you can buy an All Access Pass for $30 to make unlimited longer videos.

    Best of luck to you!
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    • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
      Originally Posted by nursehoney View Post

      I have to cast a vote for Jing, which is great if you don't mind keeping them under 5 minutes AND a vote for animoto, which is my new favorite toy. Makes a complete amateur able to produce great looking videos. 30 second videos are free, and you can buy an All Access Pass for $30 to make unlimited longer videos.

      Best of luck to you!
      Great! Both look really cool. Thanks, Allen
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  • Profile picture of the author daddyg
    There definitely seems to be an art to making camtasia screencasts that look and sound good.

    From my own experience I think it's a good idea to have an outline script when recording. I also found using the Camtasia Theatre menu option is a good way to break a video down into manageable chunks and it looks professional too.
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  • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
    Hi - Thanks Warriors. Have learned a lot and have found a lot of great answers. Thanks again and all the very best, Allen
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  • Profile picture of the author momwow
    I like Photo Story 3 but the cool effects at animoto are even more fun.

    Wondered which one of these video services would be best to use for sample videos. Have played with animoto.com but you see the animoto ad at the end - haven't tried onetrumedia.com but heard good things about it, would assume the free version of it has some sort of ad too.

    Would just like to put a professional-looking sample video on my site, highlighting a local business, with some text to highlight uses of video.

    So which free service is a) cool and b) easy to use and c) least loaded with advertising?
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  • Profile picture of the author Doug Simons
    Hope Im not to late I can help for free if your one of the first ten to get in on this I am trading the software to do just that in return for testimonials!
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  • Profile picture of the author Doug Simons
    oh yeah pm me
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Dulisse
    The video software you want for editing is Sony Vegas...hands down.

    Camtasia has a basic editing function, but you want Sony Vegas.
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Martin
    I recently started using Photo Story 3, and really enjoy the program. Here's a site I found that has a bunch of free screencast tutorials on how to use it: JakesOnline!-Photostory 3 Tutorials
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  • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
    Hi - Thanks Mark and thanks to all. I now know where to come. Thanks again and all the very best, Allen
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    • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
      Allen,

      Which software you use, the exact content, the format and where you want to show the videos has a big bearing on this topic.

      If you are going to upload to video sharing sites like Youtube or Viddler, the loss of quality means you can't do instructional videos well if you need to show text or a lot of small icons (like a control panel) on the screen. You can use the zoom feature in Camtasia to overcome this but it adds to file size and production time.


      Do you want to get the finished video as AVI files, Flash, Windows Movie Maker . . . ?


      Scripting, background music and voice over all add to the time/cost.


      As you seem to be going for big quantities you need to be clear about your "house style" e.g.


      1. Type of music


      2. Type of voiceover (male/female, normal/hype, excited/friendly)


      3. Length


      4. Special effects (the WMV exploding text is such a cliche now)


      5. Links to be included


      6. Watermarks (for branding and to stop people stealing your videos)
      You are also going to enter a copyright minefield. What if the people who do your videos use copyrighted images or music without permission?
      I would suggest you outline a house style, provide the royalty free images and music and let the freelancers do the rest. It will require quite a bit of work on your part but it will give you two things


      1. Videos consistent with your brand


      2. Peace of mind

      Martin
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  • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
    Thanks to all. Great contributions. All the very best, Allen
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    • Profile picture of the author lgibbon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by allenjohn View Post

      Thanks to all. Great contributions. All the very best, Allen
      Was there any reason you waited 4 days to say thank you,
      other than to bump your post up?
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  • Profile picture of the author BeachCruzer
    My suggestion is Apple's Keynote '08. It's a great program that has manay benefits including PowerPoint compatible, export directly to YouTube, .mov formats and other export options. Highly recommended.

    Best of luck to you,

    Michael
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    • Profile picture of the author wealth2moms
      I love animoto, too. Unfortunately, even the commercial license doesn't allow a marketer to sell to other marketers for profit. The commercial license will allow me to sell to my customer but not another marketer. Bummer.
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    • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
      You can use images and windows moviemaker (already on most modern computers with Windows) to make a passable slideshow type video.

      You use the title tool in windows moviemaker to create titles over your pictures.

      If you want to record your voice you should probably use Audacity to that (also free).

      That's the lowest budget easy access solution to create videos for uploading online that I can think of.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
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  • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
    Hi,

    Thanks for all your invaluable feedback. One of the things we are trying to do is to create videos like this:

    Letter To My Daughter On Her Wedding Day

    We created the program especially but the quality is just not up to it. So, ideally we need video creation software that is capable of handling a lot of text within the video i.e. 4 wordy lines a slide...

    Any recommendations?

    Thanks, Allen
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  • Profile picture of the author Kelly Stone
    If there is anyone who is interested in doing some videos like the demo's seen on Animoto (for example) for me, PM me and let me know the cost. I'm looking to have two or three done to begin with.
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  • Profile picture of the author zoro
    Hi again,

    Re Animoto. Here is their reply to my email.

    "Thanks for writing in! To answer your question, videos actually can't be re-sold in a business to business context. Each business using ANIMOTO commercially, must have their own license. However, you might want to consider getting set-up as an affiliate:
    Promote ANIMOTO to businesses that you think would benefit from using ANIMOTO commercially, and you can do quite well with that program."

    So ther you have it straight from the horses mouth.

    John
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