Video nasties?

Most digital cameras now come with video capability as standard which helps to open the door to shoot movies for your web site.

But before going into Steven Spielberg mode, let’s focus on some of the thinking behind web video.

First of all, why are you putting video on your site?

Because you’ve got a flash new camera or want to keep up with thejoneses.com are both bad reasons for going multimedia. Putting video on your site has to serve a purpose. Does it add to the overall understanding of your products or services?

Pointless video is counter-productive and irritating to users; the very people you are trying to win over. Any video should therefore add to the informational content of your site. For instance, a good example would be a short video that briefly explains a process or service that would be otherwise too long winded to describe in words.

Once you have captured your video masterpiece, the next step is to download it onto a PC. The necessary cable will have come supplied with the camera and fits into a USB port.

Snip, snip

Next you will wish to review and edit your footage. Windowshas simple to use cut-and-paste movie software pre-installed imaginatively entitled Windows Movie Maker. It doesn’t take long to get to grips with. Check via Windows Update to make sure you have the most recent version as this provides a suite of video effects to give your production a more professional look.

In order to afford yourself the maximum scope for manoeuvre during the editing process, shoot more video footage that you will actually use online. It’s far easier to edit later than to attempt to shoot the final article through the view finder in one take.

Aim during editing to end up with a slick movie that’s concise and to the point. Users have a short attention space, and, as your directorial efforts don’t carry any weight at the box office, keep your video short. Brevity is important also for keeping file sizes down too. Your users won’t wait five minutes while your epic downloads.

Don’t forget the sound. Keep volumes down. Your movie is, like as not, being viewed on a workplace PC so avoid those big orchestral numbers or sudden crashes, bangs or wallops. If the soundtrack is vital to your movie, flag this up to users on your site. They may not have their speakers switched on.

Movie epic

Having polished up your cinematic tour de force, you need to decide on the video settings and file format. These decisions will depend on who will be viewing your movie and over what type of connection. Windows Media Video, MPEG or QuickTime should cover the needs of the vast majority of user requirements.

Ultimately give the user choice in the matter. A web site visitor on a standard 56k dial up modem will appreciate a lower resolution version that doesn’t take an ice age to arrive on screen. Similarly, broadband users, of whom there are increasing numbers, will be able to utilise their bandwidth with a high quality version.
(This last, of course, supposes access to a broadband connection to upload the high res. version to your site in the first place.)

Next, give some thought as to how the movie should be presented. Not everyone will applaud an auto-running movie when they navigate to a page. A better option is to place a still image from the video on the page along with instructions to click the image to view the movie. Repeat the instruction in the Alt tag for the image.

If you wish to give users more choice in the matter have them navigate to a separate page where they can select which version or format of the movie they wish to view. If the cutting room floor is looking particularly tidy due to the lack of edits in your magnum opus, an option here would be to divide it up into bite-size chunks and supply a description for each. This lets the user navigate to the most relevant parts and helps ensure the video is well-received.

Before going live, be sure to test your creation by viewing it across the net to obtain the same experience as users. You can do this by uploading the movie file to your site and taking a note of its location. In your browser, type in the address of the file, e.g. exampleco.co.uk/movie1.mpeg, and the movie will play automatically.

Some experimentation and editing, then, will ensure that when your movie is exposed to a potential worldwide audience, it will be a work to be proud of and not a video horror.