Video+Blogging

=Video Blogging in Cambodia= = =



Photo by Romana Chapman in Flickr, Used with Permission Photo Credit: [|www.asianinsights.net]

=Why Include Video?=


 * Sometimes pictures and people's voices are a better way to tell a story than text alone
 * You need to add Cambodia's voice to the global conversation happening on video blogs

=Outline=


 * How To Use The Camera
 * How To Shoot Good Video Clips
 * How To Copy File from Camera to Computer
 * How To Make Edits offline in MovieMaker
 * How To Compress File
 * How To Upload To Blip.TV (if editing offline) and Post To Your Blog
 * How To Upload to YouTube and Make Edits Online in YouTube Remixer and Post To Your Blog
 * How To Upload and Make Edits on Jumpcut and Post To Your Blog


 * The Video Blogging Kits**

You can use any camera phone, webcam, or digital camera with a video setting to create a video that can be posted on a video host or including a blog post. Some bloggers who use video in their blog are called "Video Bloggers." This workshop demonstrates how to do video blogging using the vcam, an [|inexpensive] video camera.

media type="custom" key="166603"

The purchase of these [|Video Blogging Kits] was made possible by the readers of [|Beth's Blog] who contributed to the campaign.


 * Using the Camera**

media type="custom" key="166601"

[| VcamNow2.0 Manual]

=**Six Tips To Shoot Good Video Clips**=

SHORT AND STILL AND SIMPLE
==1. Keep it Short! Less than 1 minute, faster to upload on a slow connection. Less camera movement will create a video that compresses into a smaller file. Simple shots versus detailed shots compress better too.==

6. Avoid shooting into sun or backlighting or your subject will be too dark. Shoot in natural light, not inside if possible
= =

How To Copy File from Camera To Computer
Screencast: [|How To Copy Files]

You have two choices for editing your movie - either online or offline.

How To Edit Your Video: MovieMaker - Offline
If you are using a computer with Windows, there is a software program called "Windows Movie Maker." You can find on your start bar or in the "Accessories Folder."

Screencast: [|How To Edit Your Movie in Windows Movie Maker] -Save your project -Import your camera video clip -Create a title at the beginning of the movie -Drag and drop your video clip into the storyboard -Create a title for the end of the movie

How To Compress Your Movie
If you use the file directly from the camera, it will be a bigger file because of the compression and file format. If you are editing offline in windows, you can "compress" your movie (make it a smaller file). This way it will upload faster and people who are watching it on a slower Internet connection won't have to wait as long. The more compressed your file, the quality of the sound and pictures starts to degrade.

Screencast: [|How to Compress and Render Your Movie in Windows Movie Maker]

I experimented with compressing the movie in three different settings and the original camera clip. I did this because I wasn't exactly how slow the Internet access would be in Cambodia. You can see the trade off between size of the file and quality here.

Video for Broadband (340 KPS) -- File Size - 3.3 MB
 * Option 1: Medium**

Video for Broadband (512 KPS) - File Size - 4.8 MB
 * Option 2: Larger**

Video for Broadband (150 KPS) - File Size - 1.4 MB
 * Option 3: Small**

No compression or editing - File Size - File Size - 5.6 MB
 * Option 4: Raw Camera Clip**

How to compress PC: [|http://www.freevlog.org/index .php/2007/03/19/4-compress-for -the-web-windows-movie-maker/] Mac: [|http://www.freevlog.org/index .php/2007/03/19/41-compress -for-the-web-imovie/]

Some compression comparisons from [|Andy Carvin] (also [|here])

A Video Host
There are many free video hosting sites to host your video. Many offer free accounts, although the you may limited in the file size to 100MB which is plenty enough for video blogging from Cambodia! If you are editing offline, many video bloggers choose [|Blip.TV] because you can put a creative commons license on your work, they have show player, it is easy to use, and it offers useful tools for automatically publishing you video to your blog.

Some people also post their videos on YouTube because it has a larger audience, but posting to your blog isn't automatic and they do not offer creative commons licensing. With that said, there is a fairly active Cambodian-American community on YouTube and they have launched a "[|remixer]" that lets you edit online. However, you do need to set up an account on YouTube and you may want to compress your camera file before uploading. With that said, the remixer is still being tested and it takes a long time before the video shows up on your YouTube account.

The third and final video host that provides editing onilne is [|Jumpcut] from Yahoo. It is free, You can do editing online. It is still in "beta" and the interface is a little confusing.

How To Upload To Video and Post To Your Blog Using Blip.TV
Screencast: [|Account Set Up] Screencast: [|How To Upload and Publish]

How To Edit Your Video Online: Using YouTube Remixer
Screencast: [|Why Use YouTube and How To Set Account] Screencast: [|Upload Your Video] Screencast: [|How To Edit Your Video on YouTube Remixer] Screencast: [|Share Your Video on Your Blog]

[|How to change the size of your video player viewer instructions]

Note: I tested the YouTube Mixer several times and sometimes it might take longer than a few minutes before your video shows up.

media type="custom" key="159507"

How To Edit Your Video Online: Using Jumpcut
Screencast: [|How To Set Up Account] (you need a Yahoo account) Screencast: [|How to Upload, Edit, and Post Video to Your Blog] Screencast: [|How to Upload and Publish Video without editing it]

Video Blogging - Techniques from Beth's Blog

 * [|Common Video Shooting Mistakes As Told Me By Robert Scoble at Blogher]**: Robert Scoble gave me a lesson at blogher after the vlogging workshop and I turned it into an instructional video.


 * [|Advice from Jonny Goldstein on Video Shooting Techniques]**: Jonny's excellent advice for shooting interviews in an efficient way.


 * [|How Steve Garfield Does Moment Capturing]**: I was totally inspired after attending [|Garfield]'s session at [|podcamp] that I did a moment capture at podcamp.


 * [|Advice from Nick Booth on Shooting Interviews In More Than One Take]**: Very useful if you want to do more than one-clip interviews.


 * [|Boston MediaMakers: Do Production Values Matter?:]** A discussion about which production values contribute to quality work.

Other Resources

[|How To VLog Meeting Or Presentation]

[|dot.sub] - will add sub-titles in other languages to your video.

[|FreeVlog]

[|Steve Garfield's List of Video Blogging Resources]

[|Nonprofits and Technology Video Blogging]

[|Examples of Nonprofits Using Video Blogging from Beth's Blog]

[|Study Khmer]

Andy Carvin's [|notes from vlogging in Bangeldesh]