Primer on Video Quality
It seems as though everyone, including your uncle and cousin, will make video for you. Here is
what we do to earn what we charge for video creation:
1. Picture Quality
Saying that a camera captures HD (High Definition) video is not nearly enough. Many inexpensive cameras shoot the correct size for HD (1290 by 1080 or 1280 by 720) but still produce low quality and that low quality is apparent even when viewed on the web. A major contributer to this is the bit rate at which a camera can record information. I have worked with clients' videos from pocket video cameras that record 600 times less information than our camera. This leads to their videos not being as sharp, bright, and editable as those we create. The lower source material quality can also reduce quality of titles that are added to your final video.
Second, there are many other considerations for video cameras. These include the number of pixels, the size of the pixels, sensor design, lens quality, and many esoteric factors that mean that a better camera yields better video.
2. Audio Quality
If you cruise through Youtube, you will hear many videos that sound amateurish. Simply put, you can't use the microphone that is built into a video camera and expect decent sound. It's too far from the subject and picks up too much stray sound.
We usually use a clip-on wireless microphone for sound. This is quick and easy and provides quality such that audio is not an issue. We sometimes use a shotgun or a boom microphone in situations where they are needed.
3. Lighting
Lighting is an art. If you just want to quick-capture a 'talking head' you can easily use ambient light. Today's cameras have enough sensitivity to do that.
The challenge of shooting in normal room light, especially on an inexpensive camera that is not gathering much information about the scene, is that in post production you are very limited on what you can do with the video. If the light is good we can correct colors, contrast, brightness, and even resize the video frame if needed. With lower light and inexpensive cameras the quality degrades so fast that there isn't much latitude to get the most our of your filming investment.
So unless you have a wall of windows or are shooting outside on a perfect video day (which does not mean direct sunlight), artificial light or other light management is required. While it's easy to clamp on a couple of floodlights, there is art involved here. We have the equipment and the expertise.
4. Post Processing
Time spent with editing software takes the files that come out of the camera and turns it into a story suitable for your customers. Time invested in editing is a multiple of the time required to shoot the video. It requires an understanding of the arts of size, proportion, pacing, and a sense of moving the viewer through the video.
While content is king, it's too easy to have great content edited in a way that causes the viewer to click-out of the video right after it starts.
5. Video Hosting
Most of our clients want to post video on their channel on YouTube and we provide them with video files to upload that assure the best results possible on YouTube. YouTube can provide high quality when you follow their rules.
Some clients though don't want to put up with the occasional slowdowns that happen on YouTube when they get busy. They also want the higher quality, better security, and better statistical reporting that comes from professional hosting. To provide that, we optionally host our clients video on BrightCove, a national leader in video hosting for business. This price of this hosting depends on the number of times your video is viewed each month, but unless your video 'goes viral' our hosting generally only costs a few dollars a month.
To use our hosting, your web person integrates a small software script into your site. This allows them to get the exact placement and size needed.