Friday, December 30, 2005

ABC News - Making Movies: Newbie Tips, New Year Predictions (Excerpts)

Here are a few tips for getting the most from your new camcorder. Plus, predictions for 2006.

If you were very, very good this year, Santa might have brought you a digital camcorder for Christmas. He might have even brought you one if you weren't so good: In November, I saw a survey that found that 6 percent of those polled were considering giving a video camera as a gift. If you're one of the lucky recipients, read on: Here are my tips for getting the most out of your shiny new camcorder.

Make a short video. You've just gotten a fancy new toy, so make the most of it: Don't just point it at people and yell at them to do something interesting. Instead, sit down and think about what short videos you can make with your new camcorder. Why not, for instance, replace thank-you letters with a thank-you video? Film the kids saying thanks and playing with the gifts, then edit it, post it on an online video hosting service such as Ourmedia or Youtube, and send the link to friends and family. The video you shoot doesn't have to be an epic: Creating a short movie is the best way to get familiar with your camcorder and video editing.

With the new year just a few days away, it's time to think about what 2006 holds for camcorders and video. Here are my predictions for four big trends that we will see this year.

4. Video blogging goes mainstream. Video blogging is one of the big success stories of 2005: More and more people are starting to document their lives using online video blogs. This trend is going to continue as online blogging services add video options: Typepad already offers a free video blog service through Videoegg, and more sites will be doing the same soon. I'll bet that we'll see the same mainstream adoption we've seen with podcasts: Before you know it, celebrities will have their own video blogs. And that'll probably also be a sign that this particular bandwagon has been well and truly jumped on, and that the really cool kids have moved onto something different. (more)

By Richard Baguley, special to PC World

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home