I just discovered another way to add clickable objects to video, which will make your online videos clickable and interactive.

Adding clickable objects is the latest trend in online video. They let you share a link, or other information, with your viewers without putting it in the narration.  (Or any other traditional way of adding info to your video.)  You can think of clickable objects as icing on the cake.

Clickable objects can be used in many different ways.  They add a whole new dimension to online video production.

Lots of online video sites are now offering this technology.  Naturally, the clickable objects are called something different on every site, just to make it confusing!

On You tube this technology is called annotations. You Tube is actually a bit behind the curve here and their annotations can not take you off the You Tube site.  Better services allow you to add a link to any site on the web.

Another popular provider of this service is Veeple.   I have written quite a lot about veeple and you can read those posts here. Veeple calls the clickable objects spots.  With veeple, you can make the spot a downloadable document or a link.    You can also just make them visual additions, like thought bubbles.

The new site I am going to talk about today is Kick Light. They call the clickable objects Kicks.

WHAT IS KICK LIGHT?

Kick Light lets you join for free.  In addition to the clickable object technology, they also function like a standard video sharing site, so they have lots of videos on the site to watch.  I saw a news show on solar power in Israel and a promo for the TV show Lost.  The kicks on the solar energy show went to wikipaedia articles.  The Lost promo kicks clicked through to actor profile pages and other sites of interest to Lost fans.

To test out the site, I added three kicks to one of my comedy videos I already had finished.     The kicks click through to my You Tube comedy channel .  I also used text with the kicks to add editorial comments.

Technically, the clickable objects are Flash overlays, so adding one is a bit like a video within a video.

On kick light, the kicks go below the video. They look a lot like a banner ad below the video.    The kicks I made in the video above are very basic. I could have added a picture, but I didn’t.  I think they look much better when you add a picture but I didn’t have one the correct size so I didn’t bother since this was really only a test.

I spent about 30 minutes on the site this morning and in that amount of time, I was able to grab a video I already had on You Tube, add the three kicks and call it done. I had never been on the site before so I was unfamiliar with their process, but it was easy enough to figure out. I didn’t even bother to read the directions but I probably should have.

Kick Light is having a contest which I entered right away! You can win up to $2,500. I am not holding my breath but it is always fun to enter these things. Personally, I think this video with Fannie Mae Fastbuck has something worthwhile to say! (The video is a satire of a pay day lending commercial that drove me nuts.  I skewer everybody who is part of the banking crisis for being crooks!)

So go ahead and watch the video so you can laugh (instead of cry) at the financial mess we’re in.  At the same time, go vote for my video on Kick Light! I could use the cash! I didn’t get my million dollar bonus this year. Oh wait, I have NEVER gotten a million dollar bonus. Have you? The TV station I worked for gave us a turkey for a bonus.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal