Getting started in video online. Originally published in "Writing Currents" August 2005, the monthly publication of the Peace River Center for Writers.
Cheap, easy video
It may come as a surprise, but many people already have the equipment for making cheap, easy video at home. How’s that, you say?
If you have a fairly recent digital camera it will probably capture video. How much video depends on the amount of flash memory, but memory cards have become reasonable in price. Besides, you can capture in small amounts, download to computer and capture again. A web cam can be used to capture video.
Any fairly recent computer will probably have a basic movie maker already installed. If not, common formats such as Real, Quicktime, Microsoft Movie Maker and a host of shareware programs are all available for free download for the basic model. The basic models are good enough to get started.
Why video? Why now? Simply because it can be done, and it’s fun. Recently Google offered to host individuals’ videos for free. Even more recently Google released a free video player that will play all the popular formats. Big deal, this. To date every player was tied to a propriety format. You know that because you had to download a free player to go with each of the different formats, Real, Quicktime, Microsoft Movie Maker, for instance.
Now, Google is opening this all up by having a universal player, and hosting video in a format that can be played with most any player. Google is doing this because of their basic open source code philosophy business model. Information has become free, email has become free, storage has become free, pictures have become free with their Picassa, and now video is being offered free. And their stock opened at $80 and is now over $300 a share. Do you think they are on to something?
Whatever your creative expression, be it literature, drama, art, music, you can express it now by video to a worldwide audience for free, yes free. What an exciting idea.
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Here are some examples of video I have done recently.
Hot chocolate. My first little demo, I made a cup of cocoa while recording it with my other hand, then put it up on the internet. Cool.
http://www.authorsden.com/henrybstevens from the blue navigation bar at the top select NEWS then select, “Hot Chocolate.”
A video recital of my 13 most popular poems to day
http://video.google.com in the search box enter “Henry Burt Stevens” then go down to the 6th selection, Top 13Video.
With the new and exciting world of Kindles and Print-on-Demand (POD), Independent Publishing is becoming an enticing choice and a viable alternative to traditional publishing.
With the new and exciting world of Kindles and Print-on-Demand (POD), Independent Publishing is becoming an enticing choice and a viable alternative to traditional publishing.
This book is about Poetry. Many different kinds of fables, short stories about life experiences, laughter, drama, children, humor, love, inspiration and some urban styles of poetry.
