by Mark Burch

Created on: February 06, 2009   Last Updated: March 02, 2009

Making a video is simple. Making a video that people want to watch is the hard part. With the following tips in mind, you will be making a video production that you can enjoy for years. By far the easiest way today is using a hard drive based, or flash based video camera. After videotaping an event, you simply import your digital video directly into the computer for editing.

I use a Macbook with Imovie 8, or Final Cut Pro if I really want extra control over the clips and content.But First, you need to have some interesting video. A birthday party, kids in the pool, a trip to the zoo, you get the idea. If you do not want to watch it after taping it, then there is no point in making a video. I am assuming here that you know how to videotape and event and import it into your computer editing software, so lets begin there.

Once the video is imported into your video editing software you need to trim it down drastically. No one, not even grandma wants to watch an hour tour of the zoo. I can take a 2 hour birthday party and edit it down to 10 or 15 minutes. And after watching that 15 minute video, I usually trim it down some more. Delete the shaky shots, and edit the good stuff down to very short clips. Any clip that lasts longer than 20 seconds better be Oscar worthy. Remember, less is more with video.

OK, so you have edited and trimmed all your clips down to a easily viewable 10 or 15 minutes. Time to add transitions. Pick 1 or 2 transitions and stick to them all the way through. If every transition is different, it distracts from the video and the message gets blurred.My personal favorites are the dissolve and cube rotations. Add a title for the opening with subject and date. I add my title over the video and it fades in and out in 4 seconds.

Once again, keep it simple. OK, we are in the home stretch. We have edited, added transitions, and a title for the beginning. Time to add sound bites, and review. Most editing software suites today have sound libraries, so use them. For Birthday parties, I usually add cheering kids and clapping into the video where appropriate.

This is it, your video is finished, right? Time to sit down in front of your computerand watch it, and then watch it again. Now, where there any moments that bored you? Delete it. Any shaky camera moments, or dead spots that didn't make sense? Delete it. Congratulations, it's time to burn your treasure on DVD and share with friends, or better yet, just post it youtube and email all your friends.

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