Is just days away. Seriously!

I had originally set out to give instructions as to how to use Windows Movie Maker to show all the ‘PCers’ the easiest way to get video online. That is, I was going to do this even though I usually use Sony Vegas to edit and render my vids.

And then Lisa informed me via email that she isn’t able to render her video small enough (<100 MB) to be uploaded to YouTube. So, before I try to figure out the magic formula in Windows Movie Maker (I can hear you all laughing by the way), perhaps someone would like to recommend a web-based app that I can demo for all of the folks?

Has anyone tried Jumpcut? They have a cool little demo, here. If no one has a better suggestion, and the Windows app can’t make it happen, then maybe this is our tool. By the way, all we’re looking for is a suitable, easy-to-use editing/compression program.

Apologies again to Sean, who is also waiting patiently for my the rest of my series.

In Step 1, we take a look at some basic equipment, and how you create your video clips:

Later…editing!

Before we launch ours, I thought I’d show you some of my favourite video podcasts, so you’ll know exactly where I’m borrowing most of my ideas from.

So today I present you with two great episodes from two different shows, that actually go oddly well together. Both address the question, “What is a podcast?” Both are funny and informative, and a bit cheeky, too.

First, I point you to an episode of The New Wrinkle, hosted and produced by Traviss and Amir, right here in Vancouver:

And…Welcome back! The second video in this installment is from Ze Frank’s ‘the show,’ where he explains “video blogging,” and introduces a new word; Rocketbooming! (No affiliation to the site)

Now that we’ve been suitably ridiculed by these fellars, we return to video mode next week with exactly what Ze said we should; we’re going to talk about video blogging!

I finally took the plunge and put a video podcast together. What you’re about to watch is Episode One of what could continue to be a podcast series from us here at Tell Ten Friends. Apologies in advance for the hilariously amateur antics of yours truly. It gets better, I assure you.

This is the true essence of a podcast experiment, in many forms. For starters, I’m simultaneously hosting it on Revver (seen below) Youtube, MySpace and I might even test Google Video as well. (itunes in the future?) More explanation following the video:

I’m measuring several metrics here. First, the amount of response I get in the form of comments, both here on the blog, (for my ego, I assure you) and on the various sites where it’s being shared. Also, I’m monitoring the number of views at each, to see which “channel” is the most popular for this kind of message.

**Update: YouTube has problems with lip sync, not sure why when the others don’t.

Lastly, I’m watching what this does for my site statistics and subscriptions. Are the video sites referring traffic to my site?
Are people linking to it and causing a rise in subscriptions? Okay, might be a bit early for that on this first crack at it

So you can see how important it is that I hear your opinion. It’s not too difficult to put the podcast together, but it takes a bit of time, and I will be encouraged to continue if the feedback is plentiful, let alone good or bad. I’m no Ze Frank, afterall. (More jokes on how I’m ripping him off in the editing, later)

As I mention in the video, if the feedback is what I’m hoping it will be, (hint) then I’ll continue the series with episodes that teach you “How to Build Your Own Video Podcast,” where I’ll go step-by step explaining how I create mine.

Let’s hear from you!