The bright side of video…
… is a reflection of you personal goals and aspirations. It can be a narrow focus on one item, or a mix of different projects for different purposes.
- Just goofing off and having fun with your new gadget
- Animation
- Scrap-booking
- Recording Family history
- Kids’ adventures
- Sporting event
- Travel
- Documentary
- Learning to video more seriously, like with a monopod or tripod
- Scripting…. writing the plot on napkins
- Acting
- Producing
- Selling your works
- Achieving fame by getting accolades from a zillion viewers on YouTube during the first week after uploading
The list goes on and on.
To achieve them you’ll gather content
using various inputs. Your personal library will grow over time as you collect digital things for future projects.
- Still pictures from cameras, scanners, or downloads
- Video clips or footage… from cameras or downloads, or ripping from DVDs
- Music… record your own, rip CDs or video sound tracks, or downloads
- Narration, using your voice or others
- Sound effects
Setup and use hardware
- Digicams that shoot still pix, video clips, and record audio
- Camcorders that shoot video clips on tape, hard drives, mini-DVDs or memory cards
- Capture devices to connect to your computer
- Desktop and laptop computers where you’ll do your editing
Select and install software
- Movie Maker on Windows systems and iMovie on Macs to get you started. There’s no excuse you can’t afford the software.
- Adobe Premiere Elements
- Ulead Video Studio
- Pinnacle Studio
Move up to high end software when ready. Collect a toolbox of special video effects such as Hollywood FX
Make videos or movies using software you’ve installed and learned.
Burn DVDs… it’s much easier to simply upload your finished videos to an online host, but many still want to burn a disc and watch it on a stand-alone DVD player. Do either or both.
Upload to online hosts such as YouTube and vimeo, and the free space that your ISP includes in your monthly subscription.