Better Internet Video

For the past few months, I’ve been uploading videos to YouTube in HD (high definition) using the 720p compression preset in QuickTime. But there’s a problem. After the upload, I play my video in YouTube and the only options are 360p and 480p. How do I get the 720p (or HD) option for my video which was shot and edited at 1280 x 720 resolution? Below is a quick video from a fellow YouTuber who obviously shares my frustration. (more…)

Wisdom for the ages from "Ice, Ice Baby"

This list of multimedia rules to live by blew me away so I wanted to share the love. In short, the author recommends that before starting any video production that we follow the advice of Vanilla Ice and we, “Stop, Collaborate and Listen.”

1. STOP. Before jumping in to a new video project, guns-a-blazin’, ask yourself (more…)

YouTube closed captioning button

Most people know that it’s important to label your video with keywords in the title and tags to help with the search engine optimization, but there’s another thing that can also help google index your videos so it’s easier for people to find them. What is the magic ingredient I’m talking about? Captions. Not only do they help out your hearing-impaired audience, but they also provide even more keywords for google to draw from. Here’s how I added captions for my video, “FCP Muscle Memory.” (more…)

Have you ever wanted to make your entire video black-and-white and just have a single piece of color shown in the frame? An early use of this was in Schindler’s List but this is frequently referred to as the “Pleasantville” effect. Another excellent film that did a great job of using this effect to make a symbolic statement throughout the movie. (Good soundtrack too.) I thought GeniusDV did such a great job explaining the Pleasantville effect (more…)

Are you trying to get the hang of Final Cut Pro? The thing everyone needs to grasp when starting out with FCP is just a little muscle memory. My 7 “muscle tips” are: (more…)