June 2024

Understanding the 5c of videography is key to creating quality video productions. In this article we will explore each one and offer some tips on how to apply them.

Familiarity with these concepts can improve the quality of your next video. The 5c of videography are color, contrast, clarity, composition and continuity. Briefly they are;

• Color - plays a huge role in video. Color can set the tone, evoke emotion, define elements and impact perception. Color saturation, hue and dynamic range are aspects of a video that can be controlled.
• Contrast - impacts the visual quality of a production. Defined as the difference between black and white or shadows and highlights.
• Clarity both audio and video clarity contribute to the overall quality of a video composition. Paying attention to both of these can greatly improve quality.
• Composition - is the deliberate arrangements of audio and video elements within a frame. Like a composer conducting an orchestra, video can be orchestrated as well.
• Continuity - is the consistency of video and audio elements from scene to scene and to create a seemless flow throughout the video. Continuity is the glue that holds a video production together.

Continue reading for more in depth discussion and learn how to apply these concepts...

"Where have you been all my life?" Is what a video director said to me one day when I was videotape operating for him. It was a big multi-camera teleconference shoot for Chrysler Corp. I worked for a huge production house and the place was packed. There were 5 edit suites, audio post, 3 stage productions and 2 film to video transfer suites all running at the same time. I was a Sr. Video Engineer at the time.

My job that day was tape operator for the big shoot on A stage. I had (4) recorders and (2) playback videotape machines to operate. I had (3) cameras feeds, the main switched output and 2 playback tapedecks and a backup recorder. And, every other engineer, editor, assistant and technician in the place wanting to take them away from me.

We were doing a world wide satelite distributed 4 hour scripted teleconference. It was mandatory to either attend the event or watch the recording for all company employees. It was like a "State of The Union" address for around 100,000 Chrysler employees.

To say my performance on this production was critical, would be an understatement. While I had 7 machines to operate everyone else had just one or 2 jobs to do. I was constantly doing something with split second timing.

Roll tape, stop tape, cue the next segment, take notes, make labels, playback that last part, communicate professionally and fend off vultures wanting to snatch a tapedeck when I wasn't guarding it. It was a very hectic and rewarding day. In the end I had over 15 hours of freshly recorded videotape, in a 4 hour shoot. All of it labeled, cataloged and with detailed notes.

If I wanted to see any of that today I would have to research an archive somewhere of old videotape. Most likely that would be all but impossible, as all that was long ago. The tapes are probably now destroyed, reused or lost many years ago.

Years later while operating my own home based video production business it occurred to me I should have an archive specifically for video creation. I should have a place to catalog my work and share it with everyone, my website of course. So, I created "Video Creation Tips" a new category on Best Website Tools.

Camtasia 2024 is here. Camtasia has always been one of my favorite website tools. This years version has some new features worth noting. And some drawbacks that need to be fixed.

First up is "Dynamic Captions." A new AI powered caption generator that will save you a lot of time. Simply drag and drop Dynamic Captions onto a timeline track just above your audio track that you want captioned.

Seems too simple, right? Well as with any AI powered app it is not perfect. You will need to review your captions to correct misspellings and misinterpretations. As you will see in this next video. I updated some of the errors, but not all. Check it out...

Rode VideoMicro 2 Test

For this video I used "Dynamic Captions to do the captioning. I probably should have spent more time editing them but I wanted to see what it could do for a video creator in a hurry.

As you can tell the captioning is off in some places and misinterprets words in others. However all the properties to change it are available. That means customization and editing can correct any errors.

Also worth noting about Camtasia Studio 2024 is the lack of 2 features that used to be time savers but are now time wasters, cause they aren't there anymore. I am referring to:

1. "Remove Stitching" a tool that used to allow you to unstich a stiched clip. I looked everywhere I could think of to find this option. But it simply ins't there anymore. A "Stich" allows you to compine 2 clips into 1. This could be advantageous wheb trying to move clips around without having to re-edit them.

   Unstiching a stiched clip allows you to edit each part individually. Without the "Remove Stitching" option makes stiching a waste of time.

2. "Export Selection As..." option no longer seems to work. I wanted to export a section of a video I was working on. So, I selected that portion of the video, then opened up the Export dropdown menu and found "Export Selection As..." greyed out and unselectable. There is a workaround for this but it entails a lot of unnecessary editing.

I am pretty sure these misques will be updated in the next release. But it would have been nice if TechSmith had of spotted them before I did. Still, Camtasia Studio 2024 is still the best screen recording software available. Now with AI powered dynamic captioning. Get yours here...

It's official. I love Dynamic Captions in Camtasia 2024. So easy to use. Just drag and drop an element to your timeline and voila dynamic captions (subtitles) are generated for you. Check out how cool the subtiles in this video are...

Animated Avatar Presenters w/ Dynamic Captions

Website tips for this post are;

I used Camtasia 2024 to add the dynamic captions. I made this video to promote a service I offer. I thought it could benefit from an update, and I wanted to see how well the software did.

It is a fairly large file (6gb) so it took about 5 minutes to process. I was thinking of abandoning the process but it finished up and the captions were there. I noticed it processed every bit of audio underneath the caption track, not just the voice over track I was after.

I am happy to report Camtasia did a great job filtering out music and special effects. However dynamic captions did try to interpret the footsteps and door closing sounds at the end. So, apparently some sounds in nature might be misinterpreted as words. Which means you will definitely want to double check your captions for accuracy and edit where needed.

What really impressed me are all the editable parameters. I was fooled by the seemingly small number of style options until I went to edit them. But everything is adjustable. From font to size to stroke to background to transitions to timing and easing. And, you can create and save custom styles.

One more notable improvement in Camtasia 2024 is the addition of "Stroke." Or for the non-techies outlines of lettering. Long missing from Camtasia is the ability to add an outline to letters. Now it is available.

Interested in getting dynamic captions for your video? Contact me at...

Me and the Bro sitting on the porch an a very windy day. Checking out the new Rode VideoMicro II new shotgun microphone.

Watch how I demonstrate how to reduce wind noise during audio recording. A furry wind shield cuts down on annoying wind while picking up what is in front of it.

Highly directional shotgun style microphone cuts out surrounding sound not directed at the front of the microphone. Makes this microphone ideal for run and gun style video shooting.

Dead cat (furry wind shield) cuts down wind noise.

Available at Amazon and other video equipment outlets. Get your Rode VideoMirco 11 today and improve your audio quality now...

Camtasia Studio 2024 is here. And with cool new features. Making this video editor one of my favorite website tools. In this latest version comes dynamic captions and an updated media library. Many new editing techniques are introduced in the Camtasia Certificate course or 2024.

Camtasia has a user certification program that IMO is very good. They hired one of their top users that creates tutorial style videos professionally. He delivers a well organized lesson plan that indludes these tutorials.

Camtasia Studio 2024 Certificate Modules

1. Certification Introduction
2. Starting a New Project
3. Introduction to the Camtasia Recorder
4. Managing Assets
5. Introduction to the Canvas
6. Editing on the Timeline
7. Edit Audio
8. Add Callouts, Arrows, Blur, and Shapes
9. Animations and Cursor Effects
10. Add Visual Effects
11. Export and Share

I tried all of the techniques offered in this course in a practice type video. If you participate in this program you will be able create a video tlike this one...

Camtasia Studio 2024 Certificate

Looking for help? Try my fiverr service for professional video creation...