How do you download your video from your camera to your computer? What is the best way to edit your footage to create a video segment that is both useful and compelling to your prospective customers? I will share the answers to these and more questions as we now work to take the video footage you have shot and turn it into a video segment that we will use for video search engine optimization (video SEO) later.
Depending on the digital video camcorder you purchased, there might be some different steps in how to download your video footage to your computer. However, most require the same steps. First, power up your digital camcorder (you typically need to have it plugged into an AC outlet for this process). Attach your USB cord to the camera, and then to the computer. If your digital camcorder is turned on, the computer should recognize it, and then queue you to download the video segments. I would encourage you to keep your video segments organized on your computer by selecting a folder that you have created earlier to download the video segments to (e.g. "Honda"). You will learn quickly that the raw video footage takes up a lot of memory on your computer. Good news! Memory is now priced quite cheaply for computers, and you can buy an external hard drive with plenty of memory for $150 or less. If you are planning on shooting a lot of video, this would be a wise investment.
Your next step is to open your video editing software, and to assemble your clips. In my previous article, I encouraged you to plan before you shot your video, and gave you some direction on what to shoot and in what order. You will understand why in your next step. While video editing software is created by many companies, the setup and features are quite similar. All will use a "timeline" where you can place your video clips in the order you desire. At this point, select each of your video clips and place in on the timeline in the same order that you shot them. You now have a rough video segment of the piece you are shooting.
When we originally planned our video shoot, we asked ourselves "what would a consumer want to know about this vehicle?" (or other product/service). If we shot our video clips with the answers to these questions featured, we should have informative clips. Take some time at this point to review your clips and edit them to flow smoothly. Your editing software should give you options on how to trim clips and how to include transitions to give a smooth segue from one segment to the next. Useful tip: remember that the editing software uses almost 100% of your computer processing power. Each time you add a transition, or make a change to your video clip, patiently wait for the computer to process the change. Make sure to "save" your project often. It is not uncommon for your computer to lock-up or crash when using these software packages, so you want to back-up your work as often as you can.
Now that you have edited your clips and given them a smooth transition to each other, take some time to add an introduction and closing to your video. This can be a standard opening where you introduce yourself and your dealership (or other business), and what your video segment is about. The closing is your opportunity to make a brief pitch about yourself. This is where you might ask your prospective customer to visit your website or dealership to learn more. If you did a good job providing information and value to your viewer in your video, then the ending is the perfect place to then ask them for their business.
How do we make our video segment entertaining and compelling? We can add some background music to your video on one of the audio tracks (make sure to only include music that is trademark free or that you have created yourself - if you do not have any, search online, there is plenty available!). Make sure to adjust the volume of your background music to play quietly in the background while the narration of your video clips is playing at the same time. The other way to make your segment entertaining and compelling goes back to when you originally shot your video clips. Be creative and have fun when making your video - if you are bored, your viewer will be as well. Don't be afraid to do things differently, and really focus on providing the answers your viewers are looking for. Finally - keep it short and simple. Long videos do not get many views online, while short, concise videos that are informative do.
Your last step is to render your video in a format that we can upload online for video SEO. I am going to recommend that you render your video in MPEG4 format, with a 2000 data bit rate. This is a common format that can be uploaded to Youtube, Facebook, as well as most all online sites that accept video. When you save your final video, the title is also important, as the online sites you upload to will typically look at the title and queue that up as the title of the uploaded video. For vehicles, using the year/make/model/location as the title is a good approach (e.g. 2009 Ford Ranger Chicago). The next and final part of this series will share how to upload your finished video and how to use video SEO techniques to allow it to search optimally in the major search engines, giving you great online exposure for your prospective customers.
Laura have been writing articles for nearly 2 years. Come visit his blogs more often for tips and advice that helps people with the interest for Car Videos and great passion and knowledge for Muscle Car Videos and all the different options & providers available in the market today. Find out for more info also here CarVideoSpot.com
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