Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Behind The Scenes on Creating Videos For This Blog

February 24, 2009 | Blogging, Feature

Videos rock and I recommend you do them for your blog. They allow a level of connection with your audience that you really can’t get through the written word. But, for some, it may be daunting to create a video. So, I thought I’d tell you a little about how I do it.

Picture 14 The big point I want to get across to you is that this isn’t complicated. Don’t overthink doing video for the web. It doesn’t need to look like television (and it likely won’t).

The videos I do for this website are the “Flip Tips”. There are two kinds that I do:

  1. Videos where I am simply talking to the camera.
  2. Videos where I am recording my screen.

Doing Screen Recordings

Most people find that they can do screen recordings much more easily because they don’t get so shy about people seeing them. When I do screen recordings, I use ScreenFlow on my Mac. If you are on Windows, I recommend Camtasia. Once I’ve recorded a video, I will do some preliminary editing with ScreenFlow simply to add zooms and pans where appropriate. I then export to an MOV file. I import the MOV into iMovie 09, throw in the video intro and ending, the title bar with my name, and re-export to M4V.

Have I lost you yet? :) I hope not. iMovie comes with the Mac as part of the iLife suite from Apple. iMovie is fairly limiting when it comes to movie editing, but what it does do it does in a very slick fashion that allows for super fast, basic edits. Exporting to M4V is simply the default option for iMovie when I export for Youtube. I then take that M4V and upload it to the web via TubeMogul.

What About The Video Intro?

For those wondering about my video intro, that is pre-recorded and I had it created by Rich (my main writer for PCMech). Creating a video intro is perhaps the most complicated thing about this process. Our intro is very simplistic, however the complexity of your intro depends on your tastes.

Keep in mind that you can always hire somebody (via Elance or Guru) to create a quick video intro for you. Once you have it, tacking it onto your videos is literally a matter of drag and drop in your video editor.

Doing “Face Time” Videos

When not recording the screen, I obviously am recording myself simply talking into the camera. I use two options here:

  1. The Flip Mino HD
  2. A Firewire-enabled camcorder

When using the Flip Mino, I literally just hold the camera up, point it at myself, and talk. Sometimes I may mount it on a tripod for stability. I can then import the videos directly into iMovie. From that point on, the editing process is the same.

Sometimes I use the camcorder, though. The video quality is better in my office because the lens quality is higher. Plus, it allows me to use an external microphone. So, the camcorder is just an older Panasonic mounted to a tripod. It connects to my Mac via Firewire. I also have a Blue Snowball (a funky looking microphone) connected to the Mac via USB.

IMG_0549 IMG_0550

The picture on the left above is the camcorder I use when connected via Firewire. Pictured to the right is the Blue Snowball microphone.

When I record, I use Quicktime Pro to do a live recording. I set the audio source to the Snowball and the video source to the camcorder, connected via Firewire. I literally just hit the record button, talk, then turn it off. It automatically saves the recording as an MOV which I can then bring into iMovie.

If you don’t have a Firewire camcorder, don’t fret. A Flip Mino HD is a very nice alternative. You could even just use a standard webcam, connected via USB. I don’t believe iMovie can record directly from a USB webcam, however.

Words of Advice

This post was meant to show you how I do things. It won’t necessarily be how you do things. However, here is some general advice for you when doing your own web videos:

  1. Don’t overthink your videos and try to make them look like Hollywood. It is more important to get your videos out there and connect with your audience than to try to look like a Spielberg film.
  2. If you do have a Firewire camcorder, you might try using it to record straight to your computer. Camcorders have superior lens when compared to small cameras like the Flip. This leads to better quality and better handling of lights and darks.
  3. You do not need a fancy video editor for most web videos. If you have a Mac, iMovie is perfectly fine. If you are on Windows, Windows Movie Maker will suffice.
  4. When speaking to a camera, don’t overthink it and try to make it perfect. It is human to make flubs. Don’t over-worry about what you look like. There is no need to dress up unless your audience would expect it. If your blog isn’t formal, then just talking to the camera like you would talk to somebody in person is preferable. Practice that until you can record videos on one take without feeling compelled to re-record it.

Do you make your own videos? What is your process? Do you have any additional words of advice to add to mine? Please comment.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. Making Videos: What Happens After Filming?
  2. Why the “Flip” Tip? [Tip #2]
  3. Busy Blogger on The Go – Blogging From Anywhere
  4. Maximizing Your Online Video Quality [How To]
  5. Creating a Custom Blog Homepage [Wordpress]

Learn The Real Story On Blogging As a Business...

  • Get immediate FREE access to the Six Figure Blogger Blueprint
  • Get exclusive stuff NOT available on this blog.
  • Get the latest updates from the weird Risley man who runs this site.

Enter email:

  • Stan Gore
    I've got a Canon HV30 and was told that there is no way to do a live capture to ANY Mac program using Firewire. The only way to live capture is connecting the Canon with HDMI to a Black Magic Intensity Card (for which a Mac Pro is required)and capturing to After Effects or Final Cut.
    With Firewire, I'm supposed to be limited to recording to tape, then downloading on playback to iMovie or a higher end editing program. Are you saying that Quicktime Pro does a live capture (no recording to tape, but directly to your Mac)?
    That would be wonderful since I've already got the licence.
  • Great post.
    I have been procrastinating doing any video because I type fairly fast and the voice and video thing have me a little intimidated. To the top of my list i will take my Video building.

    Rick
  • Helpful post. I use a Mino, but I usually skip the editing. Eventually I'll upgrade my mic, we've got a pretty nice cam at home.
  • I have just started adding videos to my blogs. I plan on buying a Flip Mino but for now, I'm using a new Logitech QuickCam. I've been happy with the results so far but I'm going to look into using a better video editor than the one which comes with Windows.

    Thanks for the helpful pointers, David!

    Wesley
    The Geek Entrepreneur
  • Recently I read from multiple sources that video is a great ingredient to make your website successful, but whenever I think about it I heard myself saying "oh, it will be very hard to make a good videos", your post help me to reduce the tense, may be I should try too.
  • I'm not sure about USB web cam, but my iMovie on MacBook can record video using the built-in iSight WebCam. With any video, actually the sound matters more than the video quality -- as long as people can hear you clearly, people are willing to watch surprisingly lo-fi video. But even the high res visuals will feel cheapened or intolerable if audio is bad.

    Ari Koinuma
  • Thanks for sharing the inside scoop. I have shot most of my videos with a Canon XH A1 until recently I bought a Kodak Zi6 which is Kodak's version of the Flip. I really love this camera. I bought the Kodak so I could be quick and extremely mobile. I take it everywhere I go just like my cell phone. It records in (.mov) H.264 which is ready for the web. I edit in Final Cut Express. I publish a local community site and I haven't put myself in front of the camera yet, only my voice. There is a time and place for polished professional video work and there is a time and place for down and dirty reporting with a shaky, but high quality video and audio that can be produced quickly. With the Kodak, I can sit in my car at a stoplight and shoot something on the side of the road and turn it into an article all in the amount of time it takes the light to turn green.

    I especially liked your advice "Don’t overthink your videos and try to make them look like Hollywood. It is more important to get your videos out there and connect with your audience than to try to look like a Spielberg film."

    I especially was drawn to your blog initially because of the videos. Everyone who runs a blog should take the advice you've given and watch your videos and then implement a style of their own on their site.
  • Seems like we all tend way too much to overthink these projects, blogs, pet projects, business projects, way too much -- like it's just another means to procrastinate or not to participate, which would mean we might fail. I think just getting out there and doing stuff, not over-thinking anything to the point of paralysis, is great advice.
blog comments powered by Disqus