Avoiding the Thousand-And-One Video Pitfalls That Everyone Worries About
Does the idea of video recording yourself seem too intimidating? Has this ever kept you from getting a simple sales message out on YouTube?
If so, don’t worry, you’re not alone. I have the same problem. Consider the following video creation issues I discovered after a quick look through Google.
Right off the bat, I was told to buy the most expensive camera I could afford, since the quality of the video will suffer unless the camcorder is first rate.
The next thing I learned is that you have to have a tripod that costs at least $100 – $200 to insure it’ll be solid and firm enough not to wobble. I also learned you need a portable microphone and a “Lavaliere Microphone” (though I didn’t even know what that was).
Next, I was given TONS of advice on panning, zooming, editing, narration, composition, lighting – and even extensive information on how to sort and pack your equipment.
Wait. There’s more. You also have to consider cue cards vs. memorization – voice inflection – facial expression – noise minimization – and STAGE FRIGHT (my personal favorite)
All of this would make a lot of sense if you were re-making “Gone With The Wind”, but it’s way over the top if you’re just trying to explain or sell something.
You and I both understand that video sites like YouTube have incredible power, and that video accounts for more and more internet traffic (52% so far). We know that to get our message in front of the most pairs of eyes, we need to go video – but how do we avoid all of that other nonsense?
Great question. You might consider buying one of those expensive video editing programs. You know, the kind where you can create flashy messages that fade in, fade out, leap in, leap out, dance and prance in a circle – all to synchronized music. Of course, that’s a lot of work and a steep learning curve to overcome.
But if you just want to get across a simple sales message, you might conclude that all of the above is overkill. So why not look into “text to video” software?
Never heard of it? Until recently, I hadn’t heard of it either. Actually, it’s been around for a little while. The idea is that you type or paste in some text and the software converts the text into audio speech. Nowadays, they’ve gotten pretty good at making it sound less robotic.
This type of program makes creating a video as simple as writing an email. When you consider that more and more people prefer watching and listening to a message, rather than reading words on a screen, you can see the value in this.
The one major issue to bear in mind though, is how the program handles video. My advice would be that when looking for a good text to video program, you should get one that produces a computerized image, rather than just flashing the words on the screen as they are being spoken. Viewers are more comfortable watching someone talk, then being forced to read along with the script.
Looking to find the best deal on a new text to video program? Go to Jennifer Gordon’s site VIDEOGOROUND.COM to find the best advice on NEW TEXT TO VIDEO SOFTWARE.
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