Archives
9:40:00 AM PDT
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing nothing... but I'm going to see The Police soon.
Knowing is Half the Battle - Part Deux
Back by popular (or at least Betty’s) demand…
“Knowing is Half the Battle: Part Deux”
In the first installment we
covered some important user
tips. In Part Deux, we’re gonna cover shooting and
editing.
Shooting Tips:
Ø Pre-Plan… before you start filming ask yourself, how does my shot look? Is it framed well? How’s the lighting? Oh wait, this is a viral video and none of that junk really matters.
Or maybe it does? Point being, your video doesn’t have to look perfect as long as it’s interesting and can hold people’s attention. If you want it to look nice, great! Users may start to like you even more, but the bottom line is, if you want it to be popular, it’s all about the content.
Ø Things to Avoid:
o Limit Camera Effects – some cameras have in-camera effects. Be sure to avoid the following: image stabilization, digital zoom, digital effects, etc.
Again, you don’t have to, but after you upload the video, it will playback in “flash”, and sometimes those effects can look pretty ugly in flash.
o Zooming In and Out – same as above. It’ll look ugly in flash, but more importantly, the 70s are over! Unless of course, you’re trying to capture that Hawaii 5-0 look.
o Quick/Jumpy Camera Movements - avoid quick camera movements, pans or tilts.. WARNING: Jumpy camera work will cause nausea (like when I got sick watching the Blair Witch Project).
Editing Tips:
Ø “Star wipe and we’re out!” - Did you ever see the episode of the Simpson’s where Homer thinks he’s a filmmaker? He’s having Lisa edit his masterpiece and keeps asking for the star wipe transition. In other words, if you are an advance user, playing around with video editing software (iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere, Final Cut, etc.), don’t over do it with transitions or effects. Keep it simple & stick to the basics.
Ø Thumbnail… it’s the image at the 4th second! See Part I for more details on how to “select” your thumbnail.
Ø The Bigger the Better - Our standard uploader doesn’t have a file size limitation, only a time limit restriction of 10 minutes. So, the bigger the file, the better the playback experience. Again, this only is relevant to our more advance users who are using editing software. When you’re about to “output” your file, be sure to do so with as little compression as possible. The less compression, the better the playback after the file has been uploaded.
Ø Supported File Format’s – For a list of supported file formats. Or you can read our full FAQ.
In our next installment, you can look forward to more uploading tips, as well as some promotional tips on how to get the most mileage out of your videos.
-The AOL Video Team
Read our previous entry for other helpful tips.Written by uncutvideoblog Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
The Police were amazing! I've waited 20+ years to see them. When I was a kid... my older sister snaked my ticket... solely based on the fact that she was older & had never been to a concert before... and not on the fact that she was a fan.
My mom gave into the pressure... so off she went w/ our older brother (who was 18) & my ticket.
The opening act was a little unknown band from Athens, GA.
I've never let either of them live it down until last Monday night @ the Verizon Center... all is forgiven.
New post coming shortly.... -
Hey AOL Video Team! Missin' you again :( How rockin' were The Police? (You were talking about the band, right?) So what's in store for Halloween on AOL Video? Trick? Or treat? Cheers, Betty
-
this is my kind of guy!!
-
Hey AOL Video Team! Great info, and I love the title ;) Thanks for sharing these great tips direct from the Team! The star wipe transition is tempting... the phrase "more cowbell" will soon be replaced with "more star wipe." I'm feeling it. Cheers, Betty
2/7/08 4:54 PM