Well, it's official. You are going to star in the company marketing video (or commercial) and you will have a part talking to camera. After ringing your mother, to let her know about your newly found fame, reality hits in. How are you going to pull this off?
The good news is a charismatic business leader can add tremendous impact and clout to a marketing video or commercial. The bad news is that few leaders have the right skills to talk to the camera in a natural manner.
But before you get put off, talking to camera is a skill. And any skill can be learned.
Here are some tips to help bring the sparkle into your 'moment of glory'.
1.Wear the right clothes. If you are the CEO, a suit is the right way to go. Opt for conservative colours and stay away from checks, stripes and reds. They do not film very well and serve as a distraction to the viewer.
2.Go for makeup (whether you're male or female). A nice even skin tone, neat hair and a quick brush with powder can help keep the shine away. Once you get under the bright lights of a film set, it will be hard not to perspire (even more so, if you are nervous). A professional make up artist will also make you feel special and more confident in front of the camera.
3.Trust the director. Forget that you are the client and realise that you are now the talent. Let the professionals do their work and let go. While this might be difficult for most people, it can be a refreshing change. Let yourself get bossed around and don't worry about how it's all going to work.
4.Relax. Forget about the pressing amount of work piling up on your desk. Focus on the most important task for the day ? your cameo. If you are relaxed you are more likely to be easy-going and friendly. This will enable the director to elicit the best performance from you.
5.Rehearse. Always have your lines prepared and don't expect that you can wing it on the day. It's amazing how a big camera in your face can make you forget what you wanted to say. Rehearse your lines over and over again in front of a mirror. Make sure you look and sound natural. Practise speaking clearly and with a smile on your face. Rehearse as many times as you can. The more confident you are in giving an appealing speech, the better you will be and the less takes will needed. This will help reduce costs. If you don't feel comfortable with your performance, hire a media trainer beforehand to coach you on talking to camera.
6.Have fun! The shoot will be much slower than you anticipated. Lights and audio equipment can take a while to set up. If you are shooting outside, waiting for the sun to make an appearance on a cloudy day can also be painstakingly slow. Take a book with you and any work you can do in downtime. And just bask in the glory of being part of an exciting film shoot!
(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.
Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide) or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au
Seven Tips on Making a Successful Video Production
Producing a video for your company can be an exciting and potentially stressful experience. There's more to it than simply assigning a video production company to the task and crossing your fingers.
To get the most from your video production dollars, we'll take a look at seven top tips for making your corporate video a success.
1.Start with Results. The first step is to work out exactly what you want your video to achieve. Is it to train staff on a new procedure or is to increase interest at trade shows? Design your video concept around the desired result. Often clients get caught up with showing off their company that the main message gets lost.
2.Write a brief. Once you know what you want to achieve, work out what you want to show and explain in your video. Formulate a brief that specifies your objectives, target audience, the countries your video will be viewed in and any required languages. A list of all the shots that you need is also helpful. Will the bulk of the shots be at your premises and do you need your CEO to talk to camera? Video production companies will try to calculate how many days filming are required to work out the cost, so it's important to know how much needs to be filmed at the outset.
3.Know your image. What sort of image do you want to present to your customers? While watching your corporate video, your customers will be left with an impression of what type of business you are and what to expect when doing business with you. If your television program happens to be radically down-market than your up-market product suggests, then you create cognitive dissonance in your prospects. This will mean that your viewers will be left with an uneasy feeling that something isn't quite right with your company and will automatically distrust your message. To avoid this, make sure the quality of production reflects the quality of your product/service. This can involve using a professional camera operator with broadcast quality gear to having a graphic artist design maps and titles.
4.Messages. One of the key areas to work out is what communication messages you need to get across. Work out the 4-6 key messages and develop the video around these. If you have too many messages people will tune out. Essentially, make sure you give information that your audience wants to know (not what you think they ought to know).
5.Script. The script provides the backbone to any video project. It's always worthwhile spending extra time refining the script. As a rule of thumb, it needs to be completed before any filming begins. The best kind of script is short and sharp and revolves around your main messages. The quicker you can get your message across, the better the result. Avoid putting everything into the script, as wall to wall voiceover is quite tiring (and boring) to watch.
6.Assign a contact person. A designated person from your firm will need to be available to work with the video production company. The production house will need script information and approval, help in organising shoots, copies of your logo and other relevant materials and someone to view a draft of the video and then finalise. This person will also need to make sure that the look and feel of the video best represents your company.
7.Get expert advice. A good production company will be able to advise you on the best format for your needs such as the music, the filming, editing style and how the schedule will run. They will also be able to take your brief and come back with a range of suitable suggestions. Don't stress about the technical issues. That's the job of your producer.
(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.
Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au
To get the most from your video production dollars, we'll take a look at seven top tips for making your corporate video a success.
1.Start with Results. The first step is to work out exactly what you want your video to achieve. Is it to train staff on a new procedure or is to increase interest at trade shows? Design your video concept around the desired result. Often clients get caught up with showing off their company that the main message gets lost.
2.Write a brief. Once you know what you want to achieve, work out what you want to show and explain in your video. Formulate a brief that specifies your objectives, target audience, the countries your video will be viewed in and any required languages. A list of all the shots that you need is also helpful. Will the bulk of the shots be at your premises and do you need your CEO to talk to camera? Video production companies will try to calculate how many days filming are required to work out the cost, so it's important to know how much needs to be filmed at the outset.
3.Know your image. What sort of image do you want to present to your customers? While watching your corporate video, your customers will be left with an impression of what type of business you are and what to expect when doing business with you. If your television program happens to be radically down-market than your up-market product suggests, then you create cognitive dissonance in your prospects. This will mean that your viewers will be left with an uneasy feeling that something isn't quite right with your company and will automatically distrust your message. To avoid this, make sure the quality of production reflects the quality of your product/service. This can involve using a professional camera operator with broadcast quality gear to having a graphic artist design maps and titles.
4.Messages. One of the key areas to work out is what communication messages you need to get across. Work out the 4-6 key messages and develop the video around these. If you have too many messages people will tune out. Essentially, make sure you give information that your audience wants to know (not what you think they ought to know).
5.Script. The script provides the backbone to any video project. It's always worthwhile spending extra time refining the script. As a rule of thumb, it needs to be completed before any filming begins. The best kind of script is short and sharp and revolves around your main messages. The quicker you can get your message across, the better the result. Avoid putting everything into the script, as wall to wall voiceover is quite tiring (and boring) to watch.
6.Assign a contact person. A designated person from your firm will need to be available to work with the video production company. The production house will need script information and approval, help in organising shoots, copies of your logo and other relevant materials and someone to view a draft of the video and then finalise. This person will also need to make sure that the look and feel of the video best represents your company.
7.Get expert advice. A good production company will be able to advise you on the best format for your needs such as the music, the filming, editing style and how the schedule will run. They will also be able to take your brief and come back with a range of suitable suggestions. Don't stress about the technical issues. That's the job of your producer.
(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.
Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at http://www.digicast.com.au
When Does a Corporate Video Add Value?
A professionally made corporate video production can greatly enhance your company profile and can be used in a variety of applications. Listed below are a number of the most common uses for corporate video.
Promotional Video Production
A promotional video is a dynamic, fast moving commercial, often with a musical accompaniment, and can be used to promote any of the services or products that your company has to offer.
Promotional videos are used for a variety of purposes. They can be used to engage the audience at the introduction to a multimedia sales presentation, conference, or training seminar and are also very often used running on a loop on exhibition stands and in company reception areas. These promotional videos can also be incorporated into CD ROMs and DVDs as an introductory piece.
Promotional videos can be highly effective and powerful at communicating your company's strengths in a dynamic and exciting way. The same video promo can also be used for a variety of applications, thus reducing filming expenses.
Executive Broadcast Video Production
One of the biggest problems facing directors of large multi-national companies or plc's is attempting to communicate on a personal level with their immense and geographically diverse audiences. Executive broadcast corporate videos enable the senior member, or members, of a company to dedicate a couple of hours of their time to being interviewed, and tackling any major questions or issues which may have come to light. By using a corporate video, they save themselves the huge cost, and time, of travelling from place to place attending conferences in order to achieve the same result.
An Executive Broadcast can be used for a multitude of corporate and training video applications, from welcoming new employees to a company, to communicating new management strategies or simply sharing your vision of the companies' future with your staff. Corporate video production can provide the ideal means of explaining your businesses core values to the customers, and can even be the perfect medium for communicating price sensitive announcements to city institutions and the press etc. There are many other uses for executive broadcasts and video production companies will work with your business to create tailor made executive broadcasts to suit your company.
Customer Testimonial Video Production
Customer testimonial videos are recorded interviews where a customer is asked to give their feelings on a product or on a company's service. Customer testimonial video production is becoming increasingly essential in the current business climate. Customers often like to hear the opinions of their fellow consumers, and customer testimonial corporate videos can be the ideal way to communicate this information.
Customer testimonial corporate video can be in the form of short clips of customers describing their reaction to a product or company, or maybe longer interviews of customers dealing with specific or more in depth viewpoints.
Customer testimonial video production can be used for a variety of purposes, from forming part of a video promotion, as an endorsement on exhibition stands, as part of a general sales presentation, or even to be used on an e-business card, and then given out at events, exhibitions, meetings etc. Customer testimonial videos can even be useful when assessing one's own business, as they can be used to create video case studies of customers, and thereby assess the product from the customer's side.
Conference and exhibition Video Production
Conference and exhibition video production can take the form of entire programmes of their own, or just as short clips to be incorporated into another, longer corporate videos that report on conferences or exhibitions that companies have held.
When a company has a large event, or exhibition, it is not always possible for all the people who need to attend to be there, but with so many issues being discussed and products being demonstrated, with conference and exhibition videos, these events can reach a much broader audience. The relaxed environment at these type of events, enable a much more laid back attitude to come across from the people being interviewed, and it is easier to get an honest opinion, something which can never be undervalued in any business.
Once filmed, conference and exhibition videos can either be put onto DVD for video presentations, or distributed on CD-ROM, through the internet or via your company's intranet.
Once an event has been filmed, it can be put to a variety of applications, from the obvious use of providing a record of the event for all who were unable to attend, to taking simple sound bites of interviews for incorporation into sales and marketing presentations. Conference and exhibition corporate videos also provide a great opportunity to capture presentations from guest speakers that the people who couldn't make it to the event would miss out on. A good corporate video production will reflect the atmosphere at the event, and can be an excellent way to encourage staff and/or customers to come to these events in the future.
Video Production for Tourism
The medium of video is unequalled in promoting the full tourist experience to potential visitors, with video production being an ideal way of marketing the amenities, attractions, and individuality of a city or tourist destination on an individual, local or even international level.
In the form of a CD ROM or DVD, the potential scope for video production for tourism is immense. A video will allow viewers to interactively explore a given destination, take a virtual tour around a hotel or enjoy a guided trip around a city with a well known presenter.
Most reputable video production companies will offer to create a tourism video, DVD or CD ROM as part of a larger marketing package, creating eye-catching packaging and inserts to complement the promotional programme.
I-MOTUS is one of the UK's leading corporate and training video production companies. Our team uniquely combines proven business savvy with some of the television industry's brightest creative talent to provide a fresh approach to the most challenging of marketing and communication briefs. http://www.i-motus.com/ - IM01EZ
Promotional Video Production
A promotional video is a dynamic, fast moving commercial, often with a musical accompaniment, and can be used to promote any of the services or products that your company has to offer.
Promotional videos are used for a variety of purposes. They can be used to engage the audience at the introduction to a multimedia sales presentation, conference, or training seminar and are also very often used running on a loop on exhibition stands and in company reception areas. These promotional videos can also be incorporated into CD ROMs and DVDs as an introductory piece.
Promotional videos can be highly effective and powerful at communicating your company's strengths in a dynamic and exciting way. The same video promo can also be used for a variety of applications, thus reducing filming expenses.
Executive Broadcast Video Production
One of the biggest problems facing directors of large multi-national companies or plc's is attempting to communicate on a personal level with their immense and geographically diverse audiences. Executive broadcast corporate videos enable the senior member, or members, of a company to dedicate a couple of hours of their time to being interviewed, and tackling any major questions or issues which may have come to light. By using a corporate video, they save themselves the huge cost, and time, of travelling from place to place attending conferences in order to achieve the same result.
An Executive Broadcast can be used for a multitude of corporate and training video applications, from welcoming new employees to a company, to communicating new management strategies or simply sharing your vision of the companies' future with your staff. Corporate video production can provide the ideal means of explaining your businesses core values to the customers, and can even be the perfect medium for communicating price sensitive announcements to city institutions and the press etc. There are many other uses for executive broadcasts and video production companies will work with your business to create tailor made executive broadcasts to suit your company.
Customer Testimonial Video Production
Customer testimonial videos are recorded interviews where a customer is asked to give their feelings on a product or on a company's service. Customer testimonial video production is becoming increasingly essential in the current business climate. Customers often like to hear the opinions of their fellow consumers, and customer testimonial corporate videos can be the ideal way to communicate this information.
Customer testimonial corporate video can be in the form of short clips of customers describing their reaction to a product or company, or maybe longer interviews of customers dealing with specific or more in depth viewpoints.
Customer testimonial video production can be used for a variety of purposes, from forming part of a video promotion, as an endorsement on exhibition stands, as part of a general sales presentation, or even to be used on an e-business card, and then given out at events, exhibitions, meetings etc. Customer testimonial videos can even be useful when assessing one's own business, as they can be used to create video case studies of customers, and thereby assess the product from the customer's side.
Conference and exhibition Video Production
Conference and exhibition video production can take the form of entire programmes of their own, or just as short clips to be incorporated into another, longer corporate videos that report on conferences or exhibitions that companies have held.
When a company has a large event, or exhibition, it is not always possible for all the people who need to attend to be there, but with so many issues being discussed and products being demonstrated, with conference and exhibition videos, these events can reach a much broader audience. The relaxed environment at these type of events, enable a much more laid back attitude to come across from the people being interviewed, and it is easier to get an honest opinion, something which can never be undervalued in any business.
Once filmed, conference and exhibition videos can either be put onto DVD for video presentations, or distributed on CD-ROM, through the internet or via your company's intranet.
Once an event has been filmed, it can be put to a variety of applications, from the obvious use of providing a record of the event for all who were unable to attend, to taking simple sound bites of interviews for incorporation into sales and marketing presentations. Conference and exhibition corporate videos also provide a great opportunity to capture presentations from guest speakers that the people who couldn't make it to the event would miss out on. A good corporate video production will reflect the atmosphere at the event, and can be an excellent way to encourage staff and/or customers to come to these events in the future.
Video Production for Tourism
The medium of video is unequalled in promoting the full tourist experience to potential visitors, with video production being an ideal way of marketing the amenities, attractions, and individuality of a city or tourist destination on an individual, local or even international level.
In the form of a CD ROM or DVD, the potential scope for video production for tourism is immense. A video will allow viewers to interactively explore a given destination, take a virtual tour around a hotel or enjoy a guided trip around a city with a well known presenter.
Most reputable video production companies will offer to create a tourism video, DVD or CD ROM as part of a larger marketing package, creating eye-catching packaging and inserts to complement the promotional programme.
I-MOTUS is one of the UK's leading corporate and training video production companies. Our team uniquely combines proven business savvy with some of the television industry's brightest creative talent to provide a fresh approach to the most challenging of marketing and communication briefs. http://www.i-motus.com/ - IM01EZ
Benefits of Training Videos
A major problem with the running of a large corporation or PLC, is the increasing expense of staff training programmes. Training videos are exactly what the title says - videos made for the purpose of staff training.
When a company has a large and geographically diverse audience, it can be extremely expensive to either send experienced trainers to all of them, or pay for each individual to attend training courses. A training video can dramatically reduce these costs, and make the training information immediately available to all members of staff.
Training video production can be presented in many ways - from a series of specifically filmed programmes, to the filming of training seminars and important presentations that have taken place at these events and conferences, which can then be edited into video form so that the benefits of these seminars are massively increased.
Once they have been filmed, training videos can either be delivered on CD-ROM for computer based presentations, or VHS and DVD for television presentations. Training videos are often incorporated into part of an overall training programme depending on the needs of the company.
Training videos are very often used for induction purposes for new staff and most people will see at least one of them in their working life. However they can also be used for a multitude of other applications. For example, if a new piece of technology is introduced into your company, then a training video is the ideal way to get the information on how to use it across your entire workforce as quickly as the technology needs to be incorporated. It could take weeks to train the staff in individual or group sessions, so costs can be saved on both training, and time. Training videos can also be used to train staff on new policies, health and safety issues, customer service standards, or simply the latest sales features on a new product. When you have to train a wide and geographically diverse audience, training videos can be the ideal means of getting the information through your company in the fastest and most cost effective way.
Every company must offer their employees training from the initial training at orientation to ongoing development. "The way you train your new employees is important in not only enabling them to do a good job, but also with their retention. Recent studies have shown that when a new hire is adequately trained in the beginning, they feel more confident in their job and therefore will stay with you longer." - Peggy Morrow, 'Training for Success'.
Video has long been recognized as a valuable teaching medium because it can effectively convey to students an instructor's visual clues, for example, gestures, posture and facial expressions that aid communication and comprehension. Decades of research show body language is the single most important element in verbal communication. MediaPoint Technology Boosts Streaming Video as Training Tool. In good times as well as bad, one of the biggest hidden expenses for many businesses is the cost of bringing new workers up to speed or training existing employees for new job duties.
A detailed training video is one of the most direct routes to lower employee training costs. Not to confuse an 'occupational procedures video' with a job description is another valuable tool for any organization. Job descriptions outline the duties to be performed by employees. A training video demonstrates exactly how to do those jobs.
Such a video can be extremely useful in recruiting and interviewing job applicants. But more importantly, it can streamline employee training and all new people to become more productive more quickly. The out-of-pocket payroll savings alone can be substantial. Suppose it takes eight weeks to bring a new employee up to speed in a particular job, and the person's supervisor must devote 25% of his or her time to training during that break-in period. A good training video should reduce the necessary training time by at least 20%.
Aside from these training cost savings, there are other reasons to develop procedures videos for your organization. Indeed, the very process of preparing such a video will provide invaluable insight into the operations of your business.
I-MOTUS is one of the UK's leading corporate and training video production companies. Our team uniquely combines proven business savvy with some of the television industry's brightest creative talent to provide a fresh approach to the most challenging of marketing and communication briefs. http://www.i-motus.com/ - IM02EZ
When a company has a large and geographically diverse audience, it can be extremely expensive to either send experienced trainers to all of them, or pay for each individual to attend training courses. A training video can dramatically reduce these costs, and make the training information immediately available to all members of staff.
Training video production can be presented in many ways - from a series of specifically filmed programmes, to the filming of training seminars and important presentations that have taken place at these events and conferences, which can then be edited into video form so that the benefits of these seminars are massively increased.
Once they have been filmed, training videos can either be delivered on CD-ROM for computer based presentations, or VHS and DVD for television presentations. Training videos are often incorporated into part of an overall training programme depending on the needs of the company.
Training videos are very often used for induction purposes for new staff and most people will see at least one of them in their working life. However they can also be used for a multitude of other applications. For example, if a new piece of technology is introduced into your company, then a training video is the ideal way to get the information on how to use it across your entire workforce as quickly as the technology needs to be incorporated. It could take weeks to train the staff in individual or group sessions, so costs can be saved on both training, and time. Training videos can also be used to train staff on new policies, health and safety issues, customer service standards, or simply the latest sales features on a new product. When you have to train a wide and geographically diverse audience, training videos can be the ideal means of getting the information through your company in the fastest and most cost effective way.
Every company must offer their employees training from the initial training at orientation to ongoing development. "The way you train your new employees is important in not only enabling them to do a good job, but also with their retention. Recent studies have shown that when a new hire is adequately trained in the beginning, they feel more confident in their job and therefore will stay with you longer." - Peggy Morrow, 'Training for Success'.
Video has long been recognized as a valuable teaching medium because it can effectively convey to students an instructor's visual clues, for example, gestures, posture and facial expressions that aid communication and comprehension. Decades of research show body language is the single most important element in verbal communication. MediaPoint Technology Boosts Streaming Video as Training Tool. In good times as well as bad, one of the biggest hidden expenses for many businesses is the cost of bringing new workers up to speed or training existing employees for new job duties.
A detailed training video is one of the most direct routes to lower employee training costs. Not to confuse an 'occupational procedures video' with a job description is another valuable tool for any organization. Job descriptions outline the duties to be performed by employees. A training video demonstrates exactly how to do those jobs.
Such a video can be extremely useful in recruiting and interviewing job applicants. But more importantly, it can streamline employee training and all new people to become more productive more quickly. The out-of-pocket payroll savings alone can be substantial. Suppose it takes eight weeks to bring a new employee up to speed in a particular job, and the person's supervisor must devote 25% of his or her time to training during that break-in period. A good training video should reduce the necessary training time by at least 20%.
Aside from these training cost savings, there are other reasons to develop procedures videos for your organization. Indeed, the very process of preparing such a video will provide invaluable insight into the operations of your business.
I-MOTUS is one of the UK's leading corporate and training video production companies. Our team uniquely combines proven business savvy with some of the television industry's brightest creative talent to provide a fresh approach to the most challenging of marketing and communication briefs. http://www.i-motus.com/ - IM02EZ
Beginning in Videography
If you're looking to get into videography and video editing as a hobby, the options can be daunting. Here is a small question and response that may help you get started in this fun and rewarding hobby.
What type of camera do you recommend?
Response: For a beginner, a Canon single CCD camera will suit you well. It has a cost range of $500 to $700. Canon is well respected at all levels of video camera quality and has probably the best quality for the price at the low end.
If you want to start out with something more professional, you may want to look into the Canon GL2 which is a low end 3 CCD (1/4" each) camera running about $1500. This camera is great for an enthusiastic hobbyist or a beginning special events videographer.
If you're looking to make some money on the side (or as a career) with your camera doing special events such as wedding videography, you may want to look into the Sony VX2100, a high-end consumer 3 CCD (1/3" each) camcorder, running at a price between $2100 and $3000, check out prices here. The high definition capable version of the same camera is called the Sony HDR / Fx1 and goes for $3700 at all major retailers.
What is CCD?
CCDs are imaging chips. CCD stands for charge-coupled device and is a light sensative circuit which stores an electrical charge representing each tiny part of an image. The difference between low and high end video cameras is usually determined by the number of CCDs (one or three), and the size of the CCD. In video cameras the number of CCDs determines the clarity of the picture in low lighting (most indoor) situations. The size of the CCD is directly linked to the amount of "color bleeding" present in the video.
It is also interesting to note that for video cameras, unlike photography cameras, the size of the pixels is far more important than the number of pixels. Fewer pixels that are larger make a better video camera. It is also interesting to note that as you go from low-end to high-end cameras, you will be getting fewer "extras" on your camera such as the ability to take "still photography".
Next question: What video editing software would you recommend?
Response: Pinnacle Studio 9 has many great features for beginning in photoediting. It runs between $70 and $90 at major retail stores. It gives many options and is very user friendly. If you're looking for some more advanced options in lighting, transitions, and sound editing, you may want to consider the more professional editing software Pinacle Liquid Editions for around $600.
This article may also be found at http://www.researchtechs.com/videoediting.htm
About The Author
Jim Wagner
Contributor to www.ResearchTechs.com
Enjoys anything Tech.
Majoring in Computer Science.
jim@researchtechs.com
What type of camera do you recommend?
Response: For a beginner, a Canon single CCD camera will suit you well. It has a cost range of $500 to $700. Canon is well respected at all levels of video camera quality and has probably the best quality for the price at the low end.
If you want to start out with something more professional, you may want to look into the Canon GL2 which is a low end 3 CCD (1/4" each) camera running about $1500. This camera is great for an enthusiastic hobbyist or a beginning special events videographer.
If you're looking to make some money on the side (or as a career) with your camera doing special events such as wedding videography, you may want to look into the Sony VX2100, a high-end consumer 3 CCD (1/3" each) camcorder, running at a price between $2100 and $3000, check out prices here. The high definition capable version of the same camera is called the Sony HDR / Fx1 and goes for $3700 at all major retailers.
What is CCD?
CCDs are imaging chips. CCD stands for charge-coupled device and is a light sensative circuit which stores an electrical charge representing each tiny part of an image. The difference between low and high end video cameras is usually determined by the number of CCDs (one or three), and the size of the CCD. In video cameras the number of CCDs determines the clarity of the picture in low lighting (most indoor) situations. The size of the CCD is directly linked to the amount of "color bleeding" present in the video.
It is also interesting to note that for video cameras, unlike photography cameras, the size of the pixels is far more important than the number of pixels. Fewer pixels that are larger make a better video camera. It is also interesting to note that as you go from low-end to high-end cameras, you will be getting fewer "extras" on your camera such as the ability to take "still photography".
Next question: What video editing software would you recommend?
Response: Pinnacle Studio 9 has many great features for beginning in photoediting. It runs between $70 and $90 at major retail stores. It gives many options and is very user friendly. If you're looking for some more advanced options in lighting, transitions, and sound editing, you may want to consider the more professional editing software Pinacle Liquid Editions for around $600.
This article may also be found at http://www.researchtechs.com/videoediting.htm
About The Author
Jim Wagner
Contributor to www.ResearchTechs.com
Enjoys anything Tech.
Majoring in Computer Science.
jim@researchtechs.com
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