Hey all, We're looking for software that will allow us to: 1. Record a video of us 2. Do some very basic editing, and add a header/closing screen 3. Allow us to post it on our website, YouTube, and other similar sites 4. End result is something that looks professional Can anyone recommend a cheap, easy solution? We would prefer to do this all ourselves.
Hi Cono_Sur, You are actually talking about a few different things here. #1 isn't related to software, but to hardware. If you want to look professional, you need to invest in a good video camera. Don't use a webcam, and don't use the video button on a regular stills camera. You can get decent video cameras for a couple hundred bucks. If all you want is the very basics of editing, you don't actually need to buy software. You can use iMovie (free on macs) or MovieMaker (free on PCs). They are mostly drag and drop, an extremely easy to learn. You can export the video in a format that will allow you to post it on YouTube and other video sites. Really, any video editing software will export your video into a format that can be posted. The level of professionalism depends on several factors: 1) The quality of the recording - the better the recording, the higher the professionalism. This is both the physical holding of the camera, and the quality of the movie (what type of cameras you use) 2) Editing - no frills - don't use all of those random editing techniques between one picture and another. Those are find for wedding videos, but not for professional videos. Simple cuts between pictures - or fades at most - are enough. 3) Lighting - I would record a few tests before I would shoot the video. If a room is too dark, even with the lights on, the quality is compromised 4) Sound - same as above. Record a couple versions in teh place you want to be - make sure there aren't echos and that the sound is high enough. That said, even the most basic software will allow you to adjust the sound if it is too loud or too quiet. Some paid software is Sony Vegas Pro and Adobe Premiere. Those are both great, but they are expensive, and if you're going for a one-time video, you may not want to pay as much. Adobe Premiere actually has Premiere Elements, too, which has all the basic functionalities of the full version. If you don't have much editing experience, I would suggest you stick to the cheaper ones, since they are also much more complicated. If you are planning on creating professional videos on a regular basis, though, it may be worth the financial and time investment to learn them. Good luck!!
Thanks for your response, TaliaKlein! Hardware really isn't a concern for us as we plan on purchasing an HD video camera in the near future. The part we are struggling with is once we have the video file on the computer, how do we go about editing it? For example, we would like to add an opening photo prior to cutting into the actual video of us speaking, as well as adding a closing screen at the end of the video that could feature a photo of something. I am familiar with Windows Movie Maker, but was looking for something a bit more advanced. We've also tried Camtasia, but haven't some difficulty using it (it appears to be complex). I suppose once the video is complete, we could place it on our website by running it from YouTube.
Well, honestly, if all you want to do is add a couple of pictures and titles, why do you want something more advanced? (Maybe if you tell me then I can recommend something.) Camtasia is really great, but it's more of a screen-recording tool than editing tool. I don't like editing in it at all - I use it only to record my screen and then edit in another editor. Regarding the videos, what are the topics? Math for kids (your signature?) The reason I am asking is because (and I'm sorry for the blatant self-promotion, it wasn't intended originally when I answered), the company I work for has a great video player than can also be embedded anywhere, and the focus is on education. Anyway, I won't spam about it, feel free to send me a private message if you want info. Embedding the player can be done from many different sites, not just YouTube. Like I said before, Premiere Elements is really nice, but you also need to have a very strong computer if you're going to edit with it (as with most software). Then again, it depends on the size of your video (10 minutes isn't as heavy as 2 hours).
Sorry if have been misleading. But, in my mind, I thought adding a couple of pictures and titles to the beginning and ending a video was "advanced". =) Let's be blunt. I want a short 3-5 minute video. As soon as the video is loaded, there is a still image. User clicks "play" and image fades to video with us speaking into a camera. At the end of the video, we fade away and bring up a still video. Can we do this with Windows Movie Maker? I believe so. But how do I embed it into a player for the web? And yes - it is math for kids. You may PM me as well, if you don't want to spam the boards.
No worries - if you don't have a background in editing, it's totally OK that you wouldn't knkow if that counted as advanced or not. What you're describing can be fully done on MovieMaker. Both of those actions are real easy. You can actually find tutorials online of how to do it for sure, though if you're good with technology, you can probably figure it out on your own. As for embedding it, you need to upload it to whatever website it is that you want (such as YouTube, Vimeo, Blip, etc.) and any of those websites will generate a code that you can just grab and place on your website.
I think this was the piece of information we didn't quite grasp. Thanks for info! The home page "video" we have on the site listed in my sig was done completely with Camtasia, including the embed tags.
Well, here's the thing. You probably uploaded the video to your own server, meaning it's hosted on your site. Videos from sites like YouTube are hosted on their sites, so you don't have the pay the bandwidth costs. I"m glad I was able to clear it up for you. Good luck!
You may try AVS Video Editor which has many great functions. The features in the official site are below: 1. Direct Transfer to iPod, PSP, Mobiles and Other Portable Players 2. Supports Virtually ALL Video Formats 3. Burn Movie DVDs 4. Capture and Edit Video from External Devices 5. Edit Video and Enhance Your Movies 6. Create Slide Shows 7. Make Perfect Audio for Your Video Editing Tasks 8. Scene Detection 9. Convenient Video Editing Tools and Interfaced So I recommend you this tool,you can see detail and gu ides: Free download link: http://www.avs4you.com/AVS-Video-Editor.aspx Also, you can use Premiere which may be difficult for us: http://www.adobe.com I hope this may help you
I have a video website wizard that will allow you to host your own video without putting it on youtube. If you want me to send you the download link, mail me at myonlinebusinessteacher(at)gmail.com
Well buddy for editing HD footage, you need professional software and professional. Movie maker or any other software will give you sort of result but HDs are a bit sensitive.
If I can jump in on this thread. I just bought a Full HD Video Camcorder for making 45 minute shows for DVD and the Web, and my computer will need replaced because it is a Wal-Mart cheapy. My question is if I have to upgrade to a new computer should I go with a Apple iMac with/ 8GB of RAM and Final Cut Express 4 or a PC and a different version of software. Ultimately, I want the best software for under $300 What software is the best? BTW after I posted I realized the last post was in April. For some reason my mind processed it as June. Just woke up! Sorry
Use a video recorder. You can try Windows Movie Maker, which is very powerful. To post video to your own websites, you need to export your video to FLV format, and make a flash video player for it. To upload YouTube, it is much more convenient, YouTube supports several video formats for uploading.
Cono_Sur: For what you are doing a fairly basic program like Windows Movie Maker should be just fine. After you create an edit you like, export the video to your computer and then upload the video to a site like YouTube, Viddler, or Blip.tv (which may be the best for what you are doing). For the type of video you are doing, the best thing you can do to make it professional is to use a decent microphone. The number one reason people turn off a video is because of bad audio. If you visit .bhphotovideo dot com, there are many great microphones for recording your video. Another suggestion would be to hire a local video pro for the first video to show you how to do it yourself. It wouldn't be too expensive, and it should help you to do it quickly in the future. oregonthunder2 : I would highly recommend the iMac and Final Cut Express combination. As someone who uses both Macs and PCs, Final Cut and Premiere, there is really no question to me which is the better platform. The Macs are more stable, and easier to troubleshoot. The PCs are more of a mystery when trouble arises due to the myriad of video cards, soundcards, motherboards, etc. I know Windows folks would disagree with me, but this has been my experience after using both.
Hi You can try to use VideoCharge Studio. I think, that it software can help you. Tool can convert any video source to FLV or MP4 video, edit video, has batch mode to process lot of files, you can create HTML templates, add watermark to video, and do screenshots!
Here are some Free tools: Jing: http://www.jingproject.com/ CamStudio (Open Source): http://camstudio.org/ If you are planning to do Video Marketing, then you must visit Pat's Smart Passive Income Blog. He just completed a 3 series post on Video Marketing, which also discusses some trips and tricks for Youtube and video marketing: http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/
You can first use Leawo Free YouTube Downloader to download the video to your computer and then use Windows Movie Maker to add the features you like to the video. Both of the two software are free.