How To Shoot, Edit, and Embed Video On Your Website or Ebook
www.bookbaby.com
Brian Felsen (CD Baby | BookBaby | HostBaby )
3:30pm Monday, 02/13/2012
Make, Market Duffy-Columbia
Please note: to attend, your registration must include Workshops.
This panel will teach you everything you need to get started with video, so you can create a better ebook experience, engage with your fans on the Internet, and expand your reader base. Brian Felsen will go through recommended equipment purchase, basics of lighting, setup, editing, uploading, and metadata. Attendees will shoot a short video and walk through the process together.
3. Expand your reader base
Distribute your work everywhere
New channel of Youtube
Own search ecosystem
SEO
Ad revenue (www.youtube.com/partners)
You must bring own platform anyway
BriandeFiore – agent’s job is to demonstrate to
publishers that you don’t need them
4. Fan engagement and conversion
Differentiate your product
Many websites are amateurish
Many online communities allow for links
Most authors on Facebook don’t have them
"Open up the process“ -> Conversion
Contests
Fan videos
Interact with fans
Continual messaging
Replies
5.
6.
7. Reasons to self-publish in
addition to traditional publishing
It won’t hurt you – Grisham, Celestine, Elements of
Style, Joy of Cooking, Tom Watson
It’ll speed your time to market
It’ll get you into smaller niches, if that’s right for your
book
Hybrid model – Bob Mayer, James Rollins – short
stories
And…
8. Take advantage of the medium
Internet is immersive
Ebook/tablet features
iPad, Nook, Fire
Improved user experience
Explain
Illustrate
Eye candy
10. Camcorder
~$300: Canon Vixia R20; Panasonic 80S/K
Best form factor, sound possibilities
It helps to have XLR inputs
11. Camera
<$600: Canon Rebel, Nikon 3100
Pros: Multipurpose; amazing pictures
Cons: Steadiness; hot chip; form factor; need
lenses; sound
12. Phone
Pros: You probably have one
Cons: Low-light video; sound; stability
13. Webcam
Pros: very inexpensive, comes with many laptops,
convenience; need computer to edit
Cons: quality of audio/video; eye contact; mobility
14. Tripod
Great for filming others; outdoors; standing;
readings
Should be lightweight, strong, portable,
extendable, and cheap
I love my Davis & Sanford Vista Voyager Lite
3 lbs.
Extends to 63 inches, folds to 21
Ball head
$50 including shipping
17. Microphone - onboard
Best for indoors camcorder (where quality is
good) and webcam/iSight (where you don’t
have much of a choice)
Tips on getting good sound
Know that it matters more than you think
Get close
Get loud without distorting
18. Microphone - lavaliers
Pros:
Great for interviews
You can get good sound close
Cons:
Wired tethers you
Wireless is pricey/interference
Cheap ones may not improve on onboard mic
22. Cardioid microphones - cons
You look like an interviewer
You need accessories
Cable
Windscreen
Toreally capitalize on better sound, you may
need an XLR adapter/preamp if your camcorder
doesn’t have one
23. Other equipment
Battery tester
SD cards, hard drive
Cheap headphones
25. Positioning the shot
What does your setting convey about you,
about your brand?
What’s in the shot without the subject?
Anything ugly, stripy, distracting?
27. Get closer than you think
It should look good small (embedded from
YouTube or on smartphones)
28. Lighting
Available lighting may or may not be helpful
Use as much as possible, but more isn’t
always better
Equipment is becoming more forgiving
Examples:
33. Key light
Shines directly upon the subject and serves as
its principal illuminator
In outdoor daytime shots, the Sun often serves
as the key light.
Usually 15-45 degrees to the side and higher
than subject
34. Cheap key light sources
Goose neck allows for good positioning.
35. Fill light
Balances the key by illuminating shaded
surfaces, such as the shadow cast by a
person's nose upon the rest of the face.
Usually softer and less bright than the key light
(up to half)
Can use a reflector or even a wall as a fill light
instead of an actual lamp
Generally opposite angle than the Key - if the
Key is on the left, the Fill should be on the right
The Fill can be raised to the subject's height,
but should be lower than the Key.
37. Back light (rim light)
Shines on the subject from behind
Separates the subject from the background
Highlights contours.
Can create a rim of light around the top or side
of your subject
78. Options for preserving
formatting
Separate fixed-layout conversion
Requiresa separate conversion for each format
Compatibility with various platforms
Deliver book as image files
May not continue to be supported
May look fuzzy on Kindle
A note on children’s books
Text within the images/pictures will not be
searchable.
Include that same text below the picture as well.
79. Enhanced ebooks
Device compatibility: iPad, Nook, Fire
Costs: could be up to $2/page if combining
with fixed-layout
Benefit: enhanced elements can be embedded
within the text/image elements.
In some cases javascript is used as well.
Maximum filesize: 2GB
80. Value your time as an artist
There’s more to life than technology and marketing:
creating, reading, traveling, family
81. DIY conversion
It’s like changing the oil in your car
Many different formats and flavors of ePUB,
.mobi, .azw
ePUB check, unmanifest file check
Accounting with multiple retailers
Retailers who won’t accept individual authors
Cover design matters
82. Filenames
No spaces in the file name
“myreallycoolillustration.jpg” not “my really cool
illustration.jpg”
83. Audio and video
Video Specs:
H.264 video compression
AAC Compressed audio
.mov or .m4v extension
Bit rate between 800-1000kbps
Audio Specs:
AAC Encoded
.m4a extension (.mp3 is also acceptable)
89. Indicating placement of
enhanced elements
Add simple tags in red within their word
document. Example: [Insert Video
“dogandcat.m4v”]
If using PDF, use the above method or use the
comments tool in Adobe to add notes on what
placement you would like
90. Don’t forget print!
In the real world, people still buy print
It should look good
Rightsize
Not outsourced
Guarantees
Phone support
G7 certified color
Forest Stewardship Council certified paper
91. Follow us for interviews, blogs,
and advice:
Brian Felsen, President, BookBaby
Twitter:
@bookbaby
@brianfelsen
blog.bookbaby.com