Investing in Paperworks Videos
By leelefever on July 10, 2007 - 6:42pm.
If someone told me back in March of this year that we'd be making videos as our full time job in July, I would have said it was preposterous. What do we know about making videos? Such is the current state of affairs - we're booked through the summer doing paperworks videos on commissioned basis and feel 100% confident that this is the right direction for us.
Of course, having people paying us to make videos means we have to learn fast and make some investments in our equipment and software.
It was obvious with the RSS video that we 1) had little idea of what we were doing and 2) lacked any real hardware for making videos of reasonable quality. The RSS video was made with 75watt desk lamps, a built-in microphone, Windows Movie Maker and our Sony Handycam - and it shows.
Since that time we've been learning on a need-to-know basis. For instance, in between the Wiki and Social Networking videos, we made the switch to a Mac, Final Cut Express (video editing software) and GarageBand for audio. We also got a professional microphone and preamp. This was all-new territory for us both.
Since then, we've been focused on two important and difficult aspects of video: light and sound. Like most other situations, we tinker until we find something that works.
As a case in point, we became more educated about shadows recently. Creating enough light is easy, but the right kind of light is quite hard and we've declared war on shadows. 2000 watts of lighting makes a lot of shadows. We recently experimented light deflectors made out of posterboard and aluminum foil to help diffuse the light, but the war wages on.
Audio - I never knew it could be so hard. Here's a valuable lesson we learned: If you record something in a sitting and then, a couple of days later, try to re-record a section and add it to the original, it won't sound right. Consistency is the holy grail and until just recently, we had no way of creating a consistent sound. Now, thanks to some creative uses of bedding, we have our very own sound studio. Maybe one day we'll have an uber-studio like Jay.
 It's tiny and stuffy, but it works quite well for us. It reminds me of building forts in the living room when I was a kid. Remember how the forts would get all stuffy? It's same feeling.
Uber studio measures :-)
"Maybe one day we'll have an uber-studio like Jay."
Thanks for the compliment.
Your studio is just one notch below mine, factoring out the musical instruments I record that you don't. There are about 20 notches of uber studio above mine. I mean, have you seen this? Now, that's pretty uber!
I won't try to fit it all in here, but there are audio processors that help with consistency. In particular, you probably need a compressor / limiter / expander.
Also, of course, your proximity to your microphone--and using the same mic each time, are key.
I assume, with your padded space, you're getting less room reflections. Depending on what you need, you could spend more on room treatments. But, you might also be able to benefit from the Refelxion Filter, which essentially makes a tiny, well treated room, around your microphone.
And, there are low tech ways to imitate what the Reflexion does (and that, in fact, inspired the Reflexion in the first place), that might be worth exploring as well.
Lights
Love the videos guys. You have obviously struck a chord for low tech explanations of high tech ideas. Your videos have helped me educate many people in my organization.
Having built a corporate video studio myself this year I can tell you that lights are definitely a key. Sound over the web isn't that great anyway (good mics do wonders) but bad lights will kill you.
Soft boxes and reflectors will help you control the light and shadows. Product kits for photography can also help. Also recommend the tech videos at digital juice for self help on lighting.
Thanks for the useful info
All good stuff - thanks. Actually you've just scared the sh*t out of me!! :-) It seems a lot more complex than I first imagined.
I'm about to embark on a similar road doing WhiteVideos instead of WhitePapers to put across the whole Enterprise Architecture Process we are building.
Thanks again.
Charles
Nail On The Head
"We big believers that our success in the future won't depend on technical perfection, but the quality of the concepts and ideas."
I could not agree with the above more. I assume that you are a geek like me and it is soooo ez to get sucked into the gadgetry and getting it technically perfect. However, in the end game it is the concepts and ideas that you need to ensure you get right. That is what snapped for me with the work you do :-) You make the complex, simple. To be honest I have not noticed any shadows, then again I have not watch your videos hundreds of times like you must have in producing them.
Ghetto Engineering
That was a term we coined at WSUI/KSUI when you do something that works really well, but looks exactly the opposite. :)
What you have for your audio recording is going to work perfect for what you want to do. Alternatively, you can almost get the same quality by putting egg crate foam in the corner of a room, face into it, make adjustments to your gain/input, and get some decent results. You might be able to avoid the living room fort claustrophobia. :p
(I once made a fort like that as a kid and stuck our Vic 20 inside it to play games.)
You're worst enemy will always be ambient noise, and your "fort" might be really good for seeping some of that out. Blankets can only do so much though, and post editing can help to get rid of those certain frequencies that drive you a tad batty if you really get picky.
We've moved our podcasting setup into the corner of our apartment, and there are curtains that cover the windows that surround the setup. Really blocks any reflection off the glass, but it's tough to block out the sounds of downtown Vancouver. Adds some flare to what we do, so it's a different animal all together compared to what you guys are doing.
Love the videos! Really helped some people grasp the idea of things I was trying to present to them, so it's working! :)
Thanks
For our local church youth group, we are going to be dabbling with some video recording etc. I have done some at uni and tafe before but this is helpful indeed and how to do some simple stuff :)
How long does it take?
How long does it take you to create one of those videos? How long does each step (writing, filming, audio, editing) take?
I love your work, and look forward to seeing more of it!
Sweet Sound Studio
It really is interesting and enjoyable to really wrap ones head around a totally new job and make it work. I really applaud you guys. You're really using your brains in new ways, and that builds new neurons. Because of that, you have less of a chance of getting Alzheimer's.
Post new comment