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Wedding / Event Videography Techniques
Shooting non-repeatable events: weddings, recitals, plays, performances...

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Old January 16th, 2010, 03:27 PM   #1
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Website Video

Hey! I'm a newbie, so excuse the thread if it's a double post (I tried searching the topic but couldn't find past stuff).

I'm working on creating my website, and have been exploring the options as far as video goes. I know the easiest route is YouTube or Vimeo, but I'd like to have a "clean" look on my site and not necessarily have an embedded Vimeo player.

The info I've seen says converting the video into an Adobe Flash format, and then uploading it using a template to the website is one of the better routes.

(I've also seen sites where they have a few samples on their main site, but also have a "blog" page where they can upload many more videos.)

I'm comfortable around the camera, but pretty behind the curve when it comes to HTML or video uploading/hosting (at least at the moment)...but I would like the flexibility to be able to change video (or add new content) on my site without having to hire a web design guy or continuously upload all my content to Vimeo.

What do most of you guys do?
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Old January 16th, 2010, 04:41 PM   #2
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Hi Jordan,

I admire you for taking on managing your content yourself. There is a confusing learning curve but it will pay off though so hang in there. I've included some instructions I wrote up for another videographer that involves encoding your own movies and embedding code. You probably won't understand all of it but questions are how you'll figure it out. (The instructions use QuickTime Pro on a Mac for the encoding.)

I've attached a PDF guide and the swf file you need to make it happen.
Attached Files
File Type: zip Encode-Upload-Embed.zip (87.2 KB, 89 views)
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Old January 16th, 2010, 07:34 PM   #3
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Thanks Joel. I'll play around with it and see what I come out with. I'll let you know if I'm successful or if I just end up cussing a lot. ;)

On a side note, I've seen your site before and was impressed by it. I had a client a few weeks ago ask about a same-day edit, and so I googled and popped around on about 5 websites looking at rates and what not...and yours was one of them. You do some awesome stuff.
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Old January 16th, 2010, 07:40 PM   #4
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What about the Vimeo Plus? I can take the vimeo tag off and manage what showes up on the screen. Most of the time making it look like its part of the website. Like on CFLBARS.com | Drink Specials, Nightlife, Happy Hours for Bars, Clubs, Lounges and more..

Got to remember, most players will not work on every browser/OS. I had problems with that...
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Old January 18th, 2010, 02:07 PM   #5
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Jordan:

One lesson I have learned is to fully create your own site and update it yourself. It's a steep learning curve and stuff is changing all the time, but if a geezer like me can do it, anyone can.

There are lots of ways to get your site the way you want it. Find a solid site authoring app and stick with it. Are you using Dreamweaver? Don't use any of the host provided authoring tools. They are amatuer hour.

The first thing to do is carefully choose a good host, preferably dedicated server. I have had so many host problems over the years with outages, lack of support and just slow serving, it's very frustrating. But when you create your site yourself, it's not to bad changing hosts as you will inevitably need to do.

After you create your site, I would look at a Gallery application like "Gallery". The Gallery is awesome for making client content (video & photo) available in a password protected area and providing open areas for content to be viewed.
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Old January 19th, 2010, 07:37 AM   #6
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A lot of hosting companies have "Unlimited Storage" plans these days.

I am paying about $75/year for one of these plans with a company called "Startlogic".

So far I have been pretty happy with their service.

They include the Wordpress Blog, which has a nifty Flash video plug in. I am using Premiere CS2 and convert my final videos to flv format and upload them to the server. Typically 400MB or so a piece, and right now I have 4 or 5 full length weddings on my blog video page. The best part is, that's all free... or rather included in the price.

So not only do I get my own domain and site, but I get a blog and forum as well. Not to shabby.

I'm hoping when I upgrade to Premiere CS5, maybe the compression will be more advanced and the files will be somewhat more compact.
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Old January 19th, 2010, 09:04 PM   #7
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Thanks for the tips everyone. It's good to know that there are self-taughts out there, because paying a web developer $200 a year (or whatever) wasn't something I wanted in my annual budget.

I'll work on some of this, and post the site when I come up with something.
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Old January 20th, 2010, 08:52 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan Meserole View Post
because paying a web developer $200 a year
I don't think you'd get by that cheap. We generally charge clients $50-$75 to upload a single video to their site...
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Old January 20th, 2010, 09:08 AM   #9
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I recommend Slideshowpro (slideshowpro.net) with Slideshow pro director backend. It can handle still images and video as well.
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Old January 20th, 2010, 12:31 PM   #10
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Do you charge by run time? Filesize? Quality? Format?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Davis View Post
I don't think you'd get by that cheap. We generally charge clients $50-$75 to upload a single video to their site...
Question for Chris Davis:

What determines if an upload costs $ 50 or $ 75?
I do basically what Jordan seems to be after. I upload lots of very brief clips, (approx. 2,500 over the past 2 yrs), but it's entirely on spec, and the spec work gets me just enough to cover the cost of the web site and gas. (Other jobs pay the bills). I go for volume and have to rely on the value the subject places on the content vs the likelihood of making a sale. My effort at a web site is childishly simplistic, certainly less than an overwhelming majority of forum participants here would publish for themselves. If I could get rates similar to yours, I'd be able to quit my weekend job. While many might group me in the category of the much-despised and always-maligned lowballers, I must be either improving or doing something right; even as an OMB, I get some repeat business at what I consider reasonable rates, and some new business; as a 2nd/3rd cam for others, I get a pretty good rate, often without editing. Maybe someday I'll be able to join a more respected group. (Mid-ballers)? Guess I just have to expand my network. Until then, I'm turning green.
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Last edited by Denis Danatzko; January 20th, 2010 at 12:33 PM. Reason: to correct salutation
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Old January 20th, 2010, 01:08 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Denis Danatzko View Post
Question for Chris Davis:

What determines if an upload costs $ 50 or $ 75?
Time. We charge $75 per hour for web development and web maintenance. Our clientele is primarily small to medium sized businesses. For example, a client will give us a DVD of a presentation they would like put on their website. We'll rip that DVD, encode to FLV, generate the flash player and embed code, upload the files to the web server and modify the necessary web pages. That's about 45 to 60 minutes of time. All the while, QuickBooks timer is running. At the end of the month the timer files are imported and invoices are generated. If I (or one of my employees) spent 42 minutes encoding, uploading and embedding a video, the client will pay $52.50.
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Old January 20th, 2010, 03:42 PM   #12
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Chris, just curious:

so, do you have QB running on a network? Do you upload from the same computer as QB?
I ask because I use QB, but not on my editing machine, and not networked, so I have to remember to jump between machines in order to use the timer. Admittedly, I sometimes get so engrossed in what I'm doing - and so happy when I reach an end-point - that I forget to stop the timer. When I have to estimate because of that, the benefit of any doubt goes to the client. It can be tough working alone. (Cue the violins...boo-hoo, and woe is me).

Actually, I've been thinking about getting one of those timers used in chess matches and keeping it near my keyboard, but I've been putting it off for a long time.
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Old January 20th, 2010, 07:55 PM   #13
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QB is on one of my workstations. Each week (or less often if I forget to remind everyone) my employees export their timer file and email it to me. I then import all the timer files.

We've all been using the QB timer application for years, so we're pretty good at remembering to start/stop/change clients. I still forget to stop it at least 2-3 times a week and have to manually adjust. You're right - at that time the benefit of the doubt goes to the client!

BTW, you don't need QB installed to use the timer. There is a stand alone timer application you can install on any workstation. It's called "QuickBooks Timer" and is included on the QB Pro installation CD.
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Old January 20th, 2010, 11:30 PM   #14
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Chris, thanks for the QB timer tip.

I have QB 2007 Pro, Will check it out.
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Old January 21st, 2010, 03:19 PM   #15
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I am sure there is a Timer app also for the Iphone... I use freshbooks and they have one.. very convenient - out on location and can start/stop timers on my invoices.
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