Background noise can be a dampener and wreck the nerves of the most spirited of us. Most consumer camcorders offer great video clarity and even kindergartners discuss about pixel count, but sadly audio clarity doesn’t seem to be the most important priority. Till you end up with that beautifully shot sunrise video that strangely enough has a buzzing sound in it.

There are clean up and audio editing softwares but like they say prevention is better than cure. To get a better sounding video you need to work on it before, during, and despite your best efforts, after filming as well.

Before you hit record

• Check you microphone. Most camcorders offer external mic input. Choose a shotgun mic for highly directional audio. An omni directional mike can be used for picking up sound from all directions. Shop according to your requirement.

• Controlling background noise when shooting indoors is easy. Carpet your room, switch of any appliance that makes noise, block doors and windows with drapes and send out noisy kids, pets, or adults.

• When shooting outdoors try to find a quiet spot and pray to god, that your audio, doesn’t turn up to be a noisy mess. Because sadly enough, there is little else you can do!

When you start recording

• First off record some atmospheric or room noise. When you hit a particularly loud portion you could edit it out and use this as filler.

• While filming outdoors, talk closely into the microphone, cover the mike with your hand if it is windy. If you spot a technical error stop recording and fix it immediately instead of banking on software’s.

• Instead of screaming with all your might when a truck passes by, pause and take a quick break and resume recording, whenever there is unusual or unbearable noise.

Don’t take the backseat yet

• Use decent audio editing software. You can boost up sound while post production, Sound booth can help increase audio levels and correct inaudible portions.

• Magix audio cleaning lab can clean up your audio and fix up the flaws.

You can now put up your feet

You’ve done your best, so relax with a cup of coffee. Continuous and dedicated effort is much better than sloughing it out at the last minute. Have a transcript of the video, or subtitle it, so people still get to know what your audio content is when all else fails.

Video editing can be unimaginably tough! Every video is shaped at the editor’s desk, and it takes a lot of creativity, diligence, late nights, and a good video editing software to produce a perfectly edited video. There are dozens of video editing softwares out there, but if you dislike or don’t have the time for cherry picking, we could be of some help to you.

We list out the three major softwares around and what makes them tick. There are some very useful features in all of them and to make an informed choice you have to know what they are!

Avid; the most obvious choice

Any discussion about video editing has to include a line or two about avid. It is the one software that everybody’s used, has heard of, or read about, sometime or the other. It is the software of the pros.

The greatest advantage of Avid express pro is that it offers better media management than most other softwares. If you work with a multi cam set up, avid’s got a smart feature that can help you chose the best clip by letting you see each video as it progresses. It can easily synch in the clipping you want without a dozen clicks.

Apple of the eye!

Final cut pro is working its way to become the final word on video editing. The latest version of fcp offers multi cam support of up to 64 cameras with different frame rates and codecs. And it can also enable users to work on multi layered PSDs. And working with the timeline is a whole lot easy than many other professional; editing suites. And with a sql database, it is gaining ground and could well shake Avid of its high horse.

Premier pro and the super cool CS6

Ever created a great effect but couldn’t remember just what you did, while working on the next frame? The adjustment layers in cs6 can apply the same video effect across various video clips. The global application of effects has users smiling in relief as they don’t have to nest video sequences anymore. And copying clips is also easy with the new alt-drag feature.

Whatever the software you opt for one easy tip that never fails to work is to transcribe your video footage. It can help locate clips quicker and work more efficiently.

It can be maddening to try and be on top of the heap when there are so many podcasters around. After all that initial excitement dies down and you hit a rough spot, these little tips can help you get back on track.

Be on the shelves people look at

Talk about your podcast, how you messed it up or how things fell in place, on every platform available. Share your thoughts on social networking sites. Ask for tips, share links, create a buzz and you are sure to get more people interested in your podcast. Being seen everywhere is the best promotional strategy, so be ready to get into hard line marketing.

And its only words are all you have…..

The words on your tags can be your magic bait to get more listeners. Use keywords, this will help drive targeted traffic towards your podcast. Find out who your target audience are and use keywords they are most likely to use to search stuff. A descriptive title tag can not only draw in listeners but also help you in getting the love of search engines.

Get listed on directories

You must most definitely be on iTunes, if not get there fast as it is one of the directories most people use to search podcasts. But it doesn’t begin and end with iTunes there are a lot many free online directories available. The paid ones can rarely get you the traffic you need.

A spoonful of sunshine

There is nothing like good natured humor that can attract people and keep them tuned in. It could be a funny conversation with your grandma or a chat with your neighborhood stand up comedian, but a few laughs can turn into a loyal listener base overtime.  Have lots of lighthearted content in your podcast, there is nothing that can work quite so effectively with people.

Have a blog for support

It is a search engine presence that matters most. A blog can help you help you generate and sustain the interest of search engines. Place samples of your audio podcast and subscription links in your blog. If you do not have the time to blog, or finding writing about your blog cumbersome, a smart idea would be to post the text transcript of your podcast. It can add a distinct flavor not just to your podcast but to your blogs as well!

What makes an interview an interview, an interaction that communicates more than just words? There are a lot of factors that have an influence on how good and how engaging your interview is. It takes a lot more than just well practiced lines to conduct an interview that is not clichéd and grabs attention.

Break the ice

You are not going to get interesting anecdotes or confidential information from someone who suspects you! Try to be warm and genuinely interested in what your interviewee says. Start of by sharing a little information about yourself and make it look like a conversation and not a recorded interview. Discuss about some of your other interviews and the bloopers you committed earlier.

This is an ice breaker that works for most people and also stops the person you are interviewing from being over conscious about the way they speak or look. We all love to hear about other peoples goof ups.

Don’t ask closed questions

Unless, you want a straight yes or no for an answer! Questions hanging in the air have better chances of getting interesting replies. Lean forward when your interviewee answers to show that you are hanging on to every word they say. And never ever attend a call when your interviewee is speaking even it is a call from your fiancée.

Tiptoe around the tough questions

There maybe some delicate questions and topics to be broached. To avoid your subject from clamming up, ask the questions in an offhand way and don’t sound too over eager or desperate-to-know. Reserve the worst for the last so you don’t end up with diplomatic answers and a stilted conversation right from the start.

Wait even if you need to wrap up soonsear

Looking like you might leave anytime can stress your interviewee and stop you from having a freewheeling chat. Wait patiently and be ready for long pauses in the conversation and give enough time for your interviewee, reflect on, or recollect incidents.

Always send a copy of the interview

Don’t just disappear into thin air once the interview is over. Send across a copy of the interview or if you are not sure of the publication date send a transcript with a thank you note. There are interview transcription firms who can give you a perfect transcript so all you have to do is work on that thank you note!

It is a given that we’d lap up everything rolled out by Apple and the ipad is on exception. There is so much you can do with it that the first few days can pass by in a daze just looking at the options it is loaded with. Some smart ways to make your ipad more fun and useful! These features and apps of the ipad can make you fall in love with apple all over again!

The most stylish jukebox ever

Locating songs, buying it through wi-fi or singing along with the lyrics on, makes it an audio player that can be easily mounted anywhere in your house. If you want more musical sunshine into your room buy wireless speakers or a smart docking system.

Indulge in retail therapy or curl up with a book

And, a lot more without moving from your favorite couch! Browsing through shopping catalogs can be the next best thing to checking out the latest mall in town. If you’re not in the mood for online shopping or your credit card is maxed out, subscribe to e books. The large screen will ensure that you don’t squint at the screen. As it has remarkable battery life (almost 10 hours) you can read pages without worrying about the battery running dry.

Store your slides

The ipad can be a great device to store your power point slides and work on it as well. Graphic artists feel that the ipad can offer a lot for the creative mind and can be used for making sketches and designs. The Keynote app can help to make presentations that are absolutely professional and is compatible with Powerpoint.

Mobile office

The ipad is almost a mobile office and you could communicate more effortlessly with your colleagues. There are many law firms that are now using the ipad to deliver courtroom presentations and exhibits. The Penultimate app helps a great deal in saving, maintaining and sharing notes. You can finally say goodbye to the notepad that you always seem to misplace just before a meeting. The Evernote is a virtual library of all the information you need and you can store and save notes, to-do lists, photos and books in one place.

There is a lot for everyone

The ipad can be used to make work a lot more fun and easy, can occupy the moody toddler and help to shop when it is snowing outside. It is a great family friend you’d love to have at home.

Having a successful podcast can make you an overnight celebrity, make people walk up to you at parties and help you connect with different people. But what does it take to make a podcast wildly popular? Thankfully not much! Follow these basic ground rules and there is very little else you need to do or remember.

Launch with a bang

There are a lot many passionate podcasters out there! To stay ahead of the race, have a few interesting podcast episodes ready before you launch the first one. It can be your ticket to get into more podcast directories and being featured in itunes. Short series of podcasts on current topics can attract more subscribers and help you gain ground, in the fiercely competitive podcast landscape.

Design a cover that can grab eyeballs!

Podcast cover art acts as a visiting card to your podcast. Make sure that your visiting card doesn’t mix unobtrusively with the others in the wallet. It should stand out and hiring a firm who do cover art can be your step in the door for podcasts that are widely listed and subscribed to.

Feedburner for rss feeds is a smart choice

Your rss feed is where your listener traffic comes from. It is a crucial point of contact between your podcast and its audience. Gain control over your rss feed and its Feedburner or Powerpress that should be your natural choices. Feedburner is a poll topper as it offers easy and complete control over your feeds.

It is words that count!

A brief lowdown of your podcast content will make Google like your podcast more as it is words that search engine spiders’ crawl and index. The more text in your podcast, the better your chances of being search engine friendly! And while on the topic of text every word you put in there can make an impact.

Use a title that is descriptive and gives an idea on what your podcast is about.

If it’s 20 minutes its 20 minutes everyday

Your podcast episodes are not unlike television shows and there is a specific timeframe you need to adhere to. And finally it is not a crime to wind up early but certainly hara-kiri if you keep rambling on and on long after you’ve run out of things to say. Don’t push way too hard as it can turn off listeners more than a shorter-than-usual episode.

“I hate the fact he spends most of his time watching cartoons and looks like he lives inside the television set” is a rant that we’ve heard from most exasperated moms. The debate as top whether cartoons can in anyway contribute to the mental growth of a child has been going on for decades, and mega budget animated films rolled out from the bigwigs of the film industry has made animated characters, film stars in their own right.

How do you get a child to read and learn in the world of Winnie the Pooh’s, Noddy’s and the wildly popular Telletubbies? There is always a solution and like adding chocolate to cereal it could go down well with your toddler.

No more flickering lights at eight in the night!

We all hate it when our children stay up when we are dying to call it a day. But switching of cartoons could mean major tantrums, howling, screaming and a few broken toys here and there. The best solution would be to videotape the cartoon episodes and let your kid watch it at a time you are comfortable with.

Subtitle them to finally get your kid to read

If you are sighing that it is too much of work remind yourself that letting your watch cartoons for the next five years without cultivating the reading habit is a far worse choice. Pick up your kids favorite television shows and subtitle them so they can read what their favorite characters speak.

Most of the times the accents are just plain weird and your child may not be able to understand much of it anyway. For the first time since you became a parent you can be on even footing with your child and maybe earn a few brownie points.

Quick fix

If you cannot begin to understand how you could add text to a bunch of recorded videos, you don’t have to Google it and end up being more confused than you stared out with. If you cannot do it yourself you could always let somebody else do it for you! There are subtitling and captioning firms all over the place and the ones in developing countries offer work at low costs.

If you want to end those tantrums and make your kid to read without being looked at as a hard as nails dictator, this could well be your only answer. And for once you wouldn’t mind those cute characters, with funny accents inhabit the magical land of your child.

There can be few things more gratifying on earth than watching a DIY video with accurate subtitles. Information seekers prefer viewing a video than going through tedious PDF files. To get a clear audio is the wistful and expensive dream of most video producers, but despite the best microphone in the market, well intentioned friends who speak in whispers, and padded doors, atmospheric noise still manages to creep in.

If poor audio can make a video look tacky, something as simple as adding subtitles can make it more global and professional.

A wide platter

Every service offers options, and mostly a mind numbing array of them. Subtitling is no longer just adding text to a video but a full fledged professional service, with diverse end users. To avoid ending up with painfully complicated and slow, conversion or compatibility issues, check with your web team. Subtitles that can play on an Mp4 player may not be able to play on a JW player. If you opt to outsource your subtitling work to professionals do a bit of homework so you can explain what you’re looking for in your subtitles.

Not just compatibility!

Gone are the days of monotonous subtitles that can look like you are reading a book while watching a movie. There are several styles available and you can have custom designed captions. Choose the color, the font, drop shadow effects and every other visual detail that can make a subtitle look attractive and stand out from the run of the mill ones.
 

Create a style and stick to it

Once you’ve realized that a subtitle is as much a part of your video as the other components, you’d do well to create subtitles that follow a consistent style. Trying to create an individual style by following a specific font style, color and visual effects is like having a watermark on your images. They’re yours and you are not the only who’s aware of it. It can be a cool way to build on brand recall!

Now, whoever thought that there is so much to the humble subtitle! Well, there is a lot more, and like they say there is more to it than meets the eye. Custom designed subtitles have hit the market, and join the queue early to get the most benefit from subtitles that can make your videos immensely watchable.

How do you make an interesting documentary? You could choose a controversial subject, give sound bytes that will ensure you hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons and appear on daytime television on a show that nobody watches. The other option is to make a tightly edited documentary with interesting narrative elements.

Here we list down a few easy ways to make a successful documentary without expending too much of effort or time.

Plan ahead

This is perhaps more important than anything else. Before you hit the floor you need to have a clear agenda to avoid costly mistakes while filming. Plan your narrative structure and work and edit accordingly. Ensure that the first shot of your documentary is captivating enough and draws your audience in.

Have crisp and informative interviews

Documentary interviews and vox pops can add a lot of color to a documentary. But some people have the tendency to drone hours on end when the spot a camera rolling. Either request for snappy answers or edit out and retain just the main points that are relevant to your documentary.

Focus on your audio

Unlike potboiler movies you have no gimmick or inanity to fall back on. The audio of your documentary needs to be clear and without atmospheric disturbances. Some documentary makers go overboard to look and sound natural and come up with audio that is downright unprofessional. Invest in decent mikes, if it is a sit down interview use a bidirectional mike and use a lapel mike if your subject needs to move around. Vox pops can be noisy affairs; if your audio recordings are unclear and sound more like a cacophony of blaring horns, do way with it altogether. Clean up the audio and focus on it as much as you focus on your video.

Add interesting visual and narrative elements

It could be a sudden pop on caption or an animated character speaking instead of a faceless voice over. Design pleasing subtitles and use editing techniques such as jump cuts and shot transitions like fade ins and fade outs, wipes, and cutaway shots.

You don’t need to have a sky high budget or invest on expensive equipments. All you need to do is keep these simple tips in mind before you hit record.

10 tips for conducting effective video interviews

Conducting an interview can involve a lot of groundwork and video interviews are a whole lot more challenging. Here are ten tips for a video interview that is engaging, fun and looks professional. And all this at a fraction of the cost production houses shell out on!

The golden rules of a well shot video interview!

• A white background looks fine as it doesn’t distract the viewers and gives the general idea of spaciousness,

• Do a preliminary lighting test, with the help of a long suffering friend before your interviewee arrives.

• Jot down important questions and use it for reference but never read out from a piece paper during a video interview.

• Maintain eye contact throughout the interview it can make your subject not be nervous about the camera rolling and also avoid shots of your interviewee looking directly into the camera and make your video interview look like an infomercial.

• Try to shoot with at least a two camera set up. And, no, it isn’t half as expensive as you think. A simple handy cam or your smartphone would do. Or else just borrow another video camera or handy cam from well meaning friends.

• Fix one camera (the more professional one of the two) to a tripod in the most optimal position and angle where both you and interviewee are covered. A mid close up works just fine and let it film constantly. Use the other camera to zoom in or out or even change the angle occasionally. This way incase the video footage looks shaky you still have the other camera to fall back on.

• While editing use shots from the both the cameras. You have a happy mix of standard and non fussy shots, and also lively and visually interesting ones.

• If you are using a lap mike, the sound of rustling fabric is the last thing you’d want to listen to. Never adjust the mike or your clothing for that matter and check the audio before the shoot.

• Do a mock shoot if you have the time.

And also make sure that you hit the record button first. You wouldn’t believe the number of times nervous interview hosts forget to press record! Don’t experiment with the settings of your camera just before the shoot and always have a plan B in place in case everything goes wrong at the last minute.