If you are trying to produce videos for the web, you need a good source of raw footage.   It is difficult, if not impossible, to create all the raw materials for your video production yourself, so people usually turn to stock photo agencies.

A stock agency will sell you video clips or still images which you can then edit into your own video production.   You pay a one-time fee and then you can use the clip as much as you want.  Not all uses are permitted though.  Generally, you can only use the clips in videos you make for educational or self-promotional use.  You can not turn the clips into a video product and then sell that product.

iStock photo is one of the largest sources of stock images, but there are many more.  Some of them have big advantages over iStock.

I ran across anistock.com the other day and was very impressed with it.  Anistock.com specializes in animated clips and they have thousands to choose from.

The animations were all very nicely done and most of them ran about 10 to 15 seconds.  You can download them in several different file formats depending on how you are going to use them.  Since I wanted to edit them into a longer video production using Final Cut editing software, I downloaded them in QuickTime format.  (That's indicated by a .mov extension.)

Other formats offered are used for mobile devices or if you are going to keep the clip as a singular entity.   They also have HD format.

One of the biggest advantages Anistock has over a larger service like iStock is price.  Depending on which package you choose, you can get a clip off anistock for one or two bucks instead of the twenty or thirty dollars it will cost on iStock.   That's a HUGE cost difference and the quality is essentially the same.   Anistock animations tend to be a little more cartoonish, but I think they look great.

With every animated clip I downloaded, I got a free matching jpeg.

The selection at Anistock is huge and they are continually adding hundreds of new images.

For the price, you can not beat anistock. Before computers became so common, animations like this would have cost you about $1,000.  Seriously.  The standard fee back in the 80's was $100 a finished second.  The fact that you can get them today for just a few bucks is unbelievable.

Too bad the price of bread and clothes haven't done the same thing!

So if you are in need of quality raw footage for your video productions, check out anistock.com. You will find cute, professional animated clips of all kinds.

Thanks for being a subscriber,

Lorraine Grula

Technorati Tags: anistock, stock footage, Video Editing, video production

Here’s another easy video I did of my sweet and magnificent daughter, Ondrea. The 30-second video shows her going from a newborn to today, a junior in college. Time flies when you’re a mommy! It was so easy it took about ten minutes. (All the pictures were already on my hard drive so that saved time.)

Imagine sending something like this of your kids to all your friends and relatives. How fun is that?

As I stated yesterday; "The animoto software that does this magic was invented by a bunch of professional video and film producers who managed to infuse lots of creativity into their automated system."

So the TRUTH has to come out!!! forgive me?

I am now officially addicted to Animoto! I can’t stop making videos. After I did the one of my pets, I did one for my friend and her pets. I did several versions just because it was so fun and easy. I was able to highlight a few specific pictures and delete one picture I didn’t like. I could have changed the music but I didn’t bother. I wonder if there is an Animoto anonymous!

Here is another version of the horse animoto video.

PLEASE be very careful becuase it is very easy to become addicted to animoto!

For more great tips brought to you by, Lorraine Grula the Internet Video Gal… become a subscriber, here is another great Video Production Tip…. when your ready to upload your new videos use this service.

and you have been WARNED!!! but if you still want to try out this fantastic tool… get it FREE here!

Technorati Tags: fantastic tool, Internet Video Gal, Lorraine Grula, video production

Now that your video masterpiece is completed, how do you get it on the web?

Distributing your video to multiple video sharing sites on the Internet can be incredibly time consuming if you do it one upload at a time. In fact, that method will leave you nothing but frustrated and is so inefficient as to be impractical.

Discover a better way. Traffic Geyser is a paid distribution service that zaps your video out to lots of sites at once. It can literally save you hours and hours of tedious uploading work.

It saves so much time that the $97 fee is an incredible bargain. Learn more about Traffic Geyser in this free video tutorial from video production tips. Click Here: To Start a
FREE 30-Day Trial of Traffic Geyser

Technorati Tags: Internet Video Distributution, Traffic Geyser, USD

In the world of online video, You Tube still rules by virtue of its size. Of course new video sharing sites pop up every day hoping to overcome the Goliath.

One site I found recently that I'd like to tell you about is www.Viddler.com. Viddler is quickly become very popular and is the video hosting site of choice for many popular bloggers such as wine afficianado Gary Vaynerchuk's http://tv.winelibrary.com/.

Viddler dot com is free to use, their revenue comes from advertising.
One of the biggest advantages viddler has over You Tube is video file size. You Tube limits you to ten minute videos no bigger than 100mb. Viddler has no time limits and a hefty 500 mb size limit.

Another cool feature on viddler is that you can add your own logo to the lower right corner of the video. A logo placed in that position is known as a "bug" and became popular because cable TV channels needed to differentiate themselves from the slew of competition. If you do not have a logo, you can keep the viddler one in place.

Viddler uses a system of video streaming that allows viewers to jump to any portion of the video they want instead of having to patiently wait for the video to download. That's mighty convenient but certainly not exclusive to viddler.

Another convenient and time saving feature is their batch upload. Not only can you upload more than one file at a time, but you can type in the details of the video while it is uploading instead of having to do it before the upload starts.

One drawback of viddler is that it requires viewers to have Flash 9.0 and on YouTube viewers can get by with Flash 7.0. Now, given that Flash 9.0 is free and viddler supplies a link to the adobe download page might make that seem like no big deal. But, anything that is going to make it more difficult for people to watch is going to have a certain limiting effect.

One review I read had a very convincing demonstration that the video resolution quality on You Tube is superior to viddler due to some real complex compression issues. But according to viddler's own promotional writings, their viewing experience is superior. I think both circumstances can be true; it depends on the quality of your original video and what compression format you choose.

The resolution of the videos I watched on viddler looked great and many of them were in the 16 x 9 format ratio, so there was plenty of screen space for the video to deteriorate.

Viddler claims one million unique visitors a month so they have a sizable audience.

So if you are looking for a free video site to host your videos, check out www.viddler.com, especially if your videos are longer than ten minutes.

Thanks for being a subscriber
Lorraine Grula

Technorati Tags: Cable TV, free video site, Gary Vaynerchuk, Lorraine Grula, online video, video hosting site, YouTube

I am totally blown away and impressed with animoto.com, a new site that makes internet video production so easy my dog could do it.

Lorraine’s dog, Sweetheart, a rescued pound puppy who truly deserves her name.

With animoto.com, all it takes to produce a professional-looking video on animoto.com is a computer and a finger.

You upload some still pictures and music, then click one button and animoto edits everything together using their magic software and BINGO! You have a fancy, flashy, video full of digital and motion effects you can instantly download, email, or post to any website.

Here’s the one I made in about fifteen minutes using pictures of my daughter.

OK, aside from the fact that I goofed and accidentally uploaded her senior picture PROOFS instead of the real pictures (yeah, I paid for them) I think this is just amazing.

As a long-time professional video producer and editor, I can guarantee you it would have taken 1-2 HOURS to edit this video in the traditional way. With animoto, it took about 15 minutes.
Holy jump cut Batman!

Animoto Productions describe themselves as a “bunch of techies and film/tv producers who decided to lock themselves in a room together and nerd out.”

Luckily for us, their nerd-fest created a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos using high-end motion design and digital effects.

The heart of Animoto is its newly developed Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills & techniques that are used in television and film.

In other words, their software analyzes the rhythm and beat of your music and edits the images to match in spectacular style.

A 30-second video is free. I paid nothing for that masterpiece of my daughter. I already had all the pictures and music. Uploading them took about ten minutes and I did two edit mixes in less than three minutes.

If you want to do a longer video, it will cost you a bit, but not much. Whatever length you choose, you can get a high resolution download for about twenty dollars.

If you want to make a video with the least amount of trouble, animoto.com is the way to go. If it gets any easier than this, even Sweetheart will shake her head in amazement.

You Stream, I stream, we all scream for U-stream.

Ok, so that's kind of clumsy, but I swear, when you learn about Ustream, you will love it as much, or more than ice cream.   And you WILL be screaming for your own account.

But you don't have to scream loudly,  just go to http://www.ustream.tv/ and sign up for a free account!

What is Ustream?

U-stream is an incredible new technology/service that lets YOU have a live, streaming video program on the world wide web.  For FREE.  Right now, uStream is not charging.  All you have to do is sign up for a free account, set up your channel by following the simple on-screen instructions, and you can be broadcasting live in a matter of minutes.  All you need is some kind of video and audio; a simple web cam will do just fine.   uStream does the rest.

Internet video technology is the greatest invention since fire.  I did my first video live shot by bending a coat hanger, attaching it to a tuna can and electrifying it with lightning as Ben Franklin.

Just kidding.

But back in the day, I never would have imagined it could be this easy.  U-Stream gives you the ability to broadcast yourself and your message to the entire world for free.

U-Stream calls itself a interactive video broadcast platform…  What that means is that you, the STAR OF THE SHOW, can actually interact live with your viewers through chat boxes and supplemental video or audio feeds.  You are live, they are live, and you are communicating live instantaneously via the web.

Wow.

For FREE.

Excuse me while I go have a cow!

I have been having a ball the past few nights tuning into a ustream show produced by Rick Butts.  Rick is a really nice guy I met in Las Vegas at the Authority Site Center Summit last September.

Rick is one of those rarities in Internet Marketing, a guy who actually knows what he is doing, has been successful personally, has helped lots of others be successful, yet he isn't charging thousands of mega-bucks just to catch a whisper of his wise wisdom on that special "must-have" recording revealing all his secrets.

Hello!  If he's really revealing secrets, I wanna know something JUICY!  Telling me that the money is in the list ain't going to cut it.

Rick's show is a lot of fun and I invite you to join the crowd!

Or, join Rick Butts at 10p.m. EST for his live show, the Internet Marketing After Party.  It's fun and educational at the same time.

See you there.  Here's the link!

http://www.rickbutts.com/live

Go check out uStream for yourself.  Sign up for your very own show! http://www.ustream.tv/

Other Posts From Around The Web:

Join me Live on Ustream TONIGHT! - Show will begin at 7:00pm ET. Pre show will begin at 6:30pm ET. Login to your Ustream account and join the chat [here] Ustream And Quickcam Pro For Notebooks 9000 - I've just recently purchased the 99$ Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 for Notebooks and have discovered that on Ustream, only the audio from the built in microphone can be streamed. The video camera itself doesn't appear in the flash popup … Ustream: now with overlay ad banner - Ustream. the biggest video Lifecasting provider will now "try" (more like adopt from the top) Overlay advertisements with some of the most notorious or popular users in the service. pretty much the same that YouTube has been doing and … Ustream to Begin Testing Overlay Ads in Live Video Streams - Attention all lifecasters: Ustream is set to start displaying advertisements in the streams. The popular live video chat service has partnered up with YuMe and Yahoo to show advertising in the form of text overlays. …

greatest invention, star of the show, ustream tv, video broadcast

Technorati Tags: Internet Marketing, Las Vegas, Rick Butts, U-stream, web cam

Peeking in on the Embarrassing Lives of Others

Internet video’s version of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is an embarrassing display of dirty laundry by Tricia Walsh-Smith a blond bimbo who’s angry at her rich hubby.

Smith said she felt “powerless,” so she invites a video crew over, whines into their camera lens and microphone, and then posts her rant on You Tube.  A few days later, she has nearly 300,000 views.  Wow.  Most of us You Tube video producers can only dream about those kinds of numbers!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hx_WKxqQF2o

I guess she was hoping for sympathy, but instead, she got a bunch of other You Tubers calling her names too vulgar to mention here.  Well, some of the names weren’t too bad….gold digger….bimbo….nut job….those were some of the nicer ones.  One video reply by a guy named Obsidian shattered my vulgar meter all to pieces.  Wow, he was vicious!

http://youtube.com/user/obsidian468

My question is why?  Why would someone show their ass like that in a You Tube video?

I guess it’s because they are stupid.  They think everyone will side with them and pat them on the head and say poor baby.   What they get instead is a bunch of strangers calling them nasty names!

The joys of Internet video!

Other Posts From Around The Web:

Governor Signs Law Which Strengthens Penalties for Video Voyeurism - read more. Video Voyeurism and Surveillance Laws in the Workplace - Every state in the US now has some legal prohibition of video voyeurism or invasion of privacy, except Iowa and Washington DC About half of these statutes actually make this kind of video recording a felony. Many have an even harsher … Love Thy Neighbor ……. Especially When They Forget To Close … - In Massachusetts, which isn't one of those states, police said this kind of video voyeurism is illegal even when flimed from one's own room. Boston police have charged Cunha and Siemiesz with videotaping a person nude or partially nude … Brown hockey player pleads guilty to video voyeurism - The "video voyeurism" charges are new in Canada, according to the newspaper story, and there is a lack of sentencing precedent. Prosecutor Gordon Baines told the newspaper that the sentence for Zolniercyzk could be "anywhere from …