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Over the past year or so, I’ve become quite enamored of video. I’ve been making lots of short films for my blogging business, for Overcome Everything, and for a special project I’ve been working on for more than a year. If you want to get into a sci-fi video novel, this is my client’s site: http://CugelsCastle.com
Anyway, these are all different types of videos… screen capture, talking head, and Power Point. The first thing I did was buy Camtasia. Why not, right? Everyone uses Camtasia.
OK… Works great for most stuff, but when I started working with the video novel, I bought Sony Vegas Pro 8 Editing Workshop. Wow! I mean it’s so much more powerful! It’s very easy to add rolling credits, a watermark, and to edit. I totally love it. I know I’m only scratching the surface with the software, so I plan to learn tons more about that.
Cameras were a problem, too, believe it or not. We bought a digital camcorder last year and though that would do the best job for the talking head videos. Wrong. When it came time to render them, it was a total hassle. I had to reformat them, and then the sound didn’t always meet the facial expression. I worked that out with Vegas, but there were just a ton of glitchy things that happened.
Well…
Brian Edomondson, our resident video guy at Overcome Everything, told me to get the Mino Flip Video Camera. It’s like $150 less than we paid for the other camera we bought, so I didn’t think too much about it. Then, Brian made some videos with it for The LIst Building Club, and the picture and sound were so clear that I went out the same night that I had seen Brian’s videos and bought one for less than $200.
Wow!
If you’re doing video or contemplating it, the Flip Cam is the easiest way to go. I LOVE that thing! Plus, you can take it anywhere because it’s so slim and small. (Yeah, I was lucky enough to have waited until the slimmer version came out.) It’s just the best.
So, if you’re hesitating about doing video, don’t. It’s becoming more and more important online. And, I have some great advice for you, which can save you tons of aggravation and time:
1) Get a Flip Cam
by Douglas Spotted Eagle
2) Get the free version of Sony Vegas and work with it until you feel you’re ready to upgrade. Then, work with it for a while. Try not to get too frustrated. But if you do, there’s a book you ca buy: Sony Vegas Pro 8
3) If you’re lucky enough to be in Stomper Net, watch the Stomper Vision videos by Mike Stewart. Awesome! If you aren’t in Stomper, buy the course. It’s totally worth it and helped me to understand Vegas a whole lot better.
And then, shoot some video! It’s a blast!
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October 11th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
[...] Point. The first thing I did was buy Camtasia. Why not, right? Everyone uses Camtasia. OK… W Source Blogs about [...]
October 11th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
We got Camtasia at work to turn PowerPoint presentations into web videos. It works well for that, except that while it’s “recording” the presentation, I can’t touch my computer - even to wiggle the mouse or the video suddenly has the pointer flying across the screen.
October 20th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I have never heard of camtasia I will have to look for that. Thanks for the great idea, and ideas, and hardware ideas. I need to get shopping. God Blesses!