An Entry Level Guide to Video Blogging
In Step 1, we take a look at some basic equipment, and how you create your video clips:
Later…editing!
Author
Jordan Behan Jordan Behan is Owner and Founder of Tell Ten Friends and specializes in social media, website content, blogging and web marketing. His advice and tips have appeared in the Vancouver Sun, on CityTV, G4Tech TV’s The Lab with Leo Laporte, in “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” by David Meerman Scott and he also co-authored “The Age of Conversation,” in collaboration with 103 other authors. Jordan’s first media job was at the tender age of 16, when he started as reporter for the local newspaper. His first assignment? A front page scoop and photo when teachers walked off the job on strike at his high school. He now has well over a decade of experience and education in media; working in television, newspaper, radio and online marketing. The latter half of those years were in print and television marketing and advertising. After a short stint in PR, he founded Tell Ten Friends, using his spectrum of media know-how, combined with the many effective and affordable marketing tools available on the web to help companies communicate directly with their customers.
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11 Comments
Very nice tutorial Jordan! Have you looked into some free screen recorder (capture) software too? It would make software tutorials so easy to understand!
I found one that looks alright for free, no sound though.
I’m sure there are some better ones out there.
Thanks for the tip, Jeremy.
I did a search for something that was web based, free and did everything that I needed, but the search came up fruitless. Even my advanced editing software doesn’t have the ease of use and reliability of Windows Movie Maker (for capturing video and audio at least), so I use it and then edit with Sony Vegas. (Although WMM will handle basic edits too)
In truth, I long for iLife. So go ahead Mac users, thumb your noses at me.
In the editing section though, I might point to web apps like http://www.jumpcut.com, where you can do editing and video sharing all in one.
Perhaps the most helpful post I’ve read in months — c’mon though when you tried to learn this yourself – weren’t you pulling your hair out reading pg. 93 of soem XP manual on why something wasn’t working…realistically, how many hours to get a basic amateur up to speed with video blogging – I’ll be curious –if it’s as simple as you say, I am going to have to correct Shel Holtz’s words from last week when he mentioned that podcasting will never go away…thanks for the tips
Sean, all great questions. In truth, as a former tv producer, this stuff does come quite a bit more naturally to me. I wanted to create a beginners guide, but I didn’t want to start at the very beginning, as in “how to install your new webcam,” etc.
As long as one has a webcam and mic installed, Windows Movie Maker will recognize it as a hardware device, and capturing clips should be every bit as easy as I’ve indicated. The complexities really are in editing, compression and publishing, as I’ll cover soon. Although I have no interest in using Windows Movie Maker as my editing software all the time, I will be using it for the sake of the demo (for the first time, I might add) and that should offer enough of a tutorial for a “power user” of the web like yourself to make a podcast happen pretty easily. Editing becomes pretty instinctual, and quite fun really, and uploading to the video sharing sites is a snap.
Honestly, the most difficult part of video blogging is content; not just whether the content is worth talking about, but more importantly whether I can make it seem remotely compelling while staring into a small lens (not a skill I was born with, my wife has all the talent there).
By the way, for you to say that this is the most helpful post you’ve read in months is a massive compliment Sean. And I am grateful.
Really helpful post Jordan!
I’m feeling the pull to video blogging.
Thanks for putting this together.
Keep creating,
Mike
I cannot view the video … it doesnt appear on my screen. It might be that I have to upgrade my flashplayer but I usually dont have this issue.
Hey Jeremy, ok, I did it. Took my first video footage and brought it into windows movie maker. I’m ready to do some editing. Where’s your next tip?;)
Lisa, please accept my apologies. I usually get some time to make an episode on the weekends, but my dance card has been full of late.
I promise I will have the next two episodes out by Christmas, and I will email you instructions as to how to start editing right away.
Cheers,
Jordan.