Things have really changed in video production over the years. Once it was a world that only big companies and professionals could get into. The equipment was big, expensive, and it was hard to learn how to use. Now just about anyone can do it, with simple steps at home on their PC using software that makes it easy.
When I was in college, to get into video was fairly cheap I thought. You could purchase a camcorder for around $400.00 and a VCR with editing capabilities for around $300.00. Maybe not pro equipment, but I could make it work. I learned by trail and error how to time the preroll, and make quality edits on the wedding videos I made. I discovered how to dub in music and make my own music videos. I purchased an cheap $300.00 special effects board that switched between live cameras and added cool wipes and stop motion effects. Back then the steps to making a video were the same as today, just more expensive.
1. Get a good camera and record the footage you want. Always keeping in mind what you want your final product to be. The better the video you start with, the better the final product will be, and the less editing you will need to get the final product. Don’t get too caught up in having it perfect on the original tape/file, you can always edit out the mistakes, but try to get as much straight film without mistakes as possible.
Then the Amiga computer came out and started a change in the environment of video production. The Amiga computer made me drool with it’s advanced video production and special effect capabilities. It was way out of my price range and I never got it. About the time it finally was in my price range, everything was going to the PC. I purchased Adobe Premiere, which did everything I wanted to do in a video editing environment. It was still a very hard to learn program that mostly pros used. The software was expensive, so the average user wouldn’t buy it. Why would anyone pay several hundred dollars to edit their home movies? But it cut my editing time way down. I could edit videos quickly and make very nice looking effects that made the final product look professional.
2. Ok, editing isn’t that hard. Not like it use to be. You still have to mark all of your in and out tags. On tape you would have a time code that you could watch and write down. You would take notice of the time the good footage started and ended. Then when you actually made the final tape, you would start playing the original at those marks and recording on the final tape at the same time. A good system would start both player and recorder at the same time for you. Now, on computers, you just mark the in and out tags, then click and drag the footage over to the time line of the final product. Back when I was doing it you could just rerecord it if it didn’t look right. But if you were a little ways into the video, you had to re record everything from that point on. Drag and drop software is a miracle. You can play back and make changes to your hearts delight. Both the old way and the new way leaves the original in tact. If you want to talk about REALLY old, they use to actually cut the original and splice/tape it together in the order they wanted. Scary.
Now they have not only programs like Adobe Premire, but several others, and Microsoft had to jump in and include Movie Maker in their system. Now everyone is making videos. It is easier than ever to produce a quality video right from your PC. I have some experience with video as I have said, and my daughter just the other day asked if she could have a you tube account so she could upload some of her videos for her friends to see. I looked, and was surprised to see very good quality work, with no training. All of my experience using special effects equipment squeezed into a few clicks of a mouse.
3. In the old days, you just had a VHS tape, and you made copies of it to give out. Now, we have DVD/Blueray, YouTube, email, AVI files, WMV files, MP4 files, Ipod, etc. Lots of ways to get your video out to the world. Many of the new software editing programs actually have the formats and the upload to YouTube built right in. Once you are sure the final product looks the way you wanted, my advise it leave it alone. Stop editing. You will always see things you could have done better, but it is always best to leave that info for the next video you make. Always improve upon the work you are doing by doing the next one better. Once your work is done, it is done. You will never have a next one if you don’t move on. Besides, it is always fun to look back on your older videos and say to yourself, “well, I was just beginning back then.”
So, you want to make some videos? Go ahead. Chances are, you already have all of the software already on your PC. Look for Microsoft Movie Maker. If you want to get better video production, with more control over what your video can do, I would recommend Adobe Premier Elements. It is cheaper than the full blown program, but just as powerful and easier to use. Now, anyone can make a professional looking video.
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