So you want to start making web videos for your business but you don’t have a big budget?
All you really need is access to a camcorder and to a computer because there are a lot of FREE resources available to you for creating your Internet and web videos. This includes a wide range free video editing programs and web sites.
Actually, you probably don’t even need a camcorder. You might not even need a camera or a web cam. There are lots of “free” video and images floating around on the Internet for you to borrow and use – as long as you are not trying to make money with your finished project.
However, lets assume you do have a way to capture your own footage and digital images. You can create a very nice web video by simply dissolving and panning across still images. Of course, most of us would prefer to start with real video that we shoot ourselves and then edit that.
The biggest gotcha is that the video files captured by some of the more inexpensive “flash memory” or DVD camcorders can be very difficult to edit. If you have a Flip Camcorder, Sanyo Xacti, Kodak QuickShare, DXG Quickshots or other small camcorder, you need to make sure that the video and audio captured by the camcorder can be easily edited by the software package you choose. You may have to use a video converter software package to convert the camcorder’s unique video format into something more common that your computer will edit.
Most of these compact and affordable camcorders record in some flavor of MPEG4 on an internal or removable memory card. You might need to do some research before you select your editing software. Do a quick web search on editing your camcorder’s software and you should get a good idea on what type of software to use.
The good news is that most mid level and up consumer camcorders record a more generic type of DV video that is easily edited. Most of the newer hard drive and memory card camcorders record a digitized video file that can be easily imported into your computer via a USB cable and then edited.