What technical tips can you give me about recording a video myself or with colleagues?

We suggest that you keep your video under 10 minutes and not over 512 MB.
Read our Tips for making your video page.
If you are recording yourself with a webcam or with the help of colleagues and a camcorder, make sure that you have a nice clean audio feed. By using a headset to listen to the audio and watching the audio input indicator on your camera you can monitor audio to assure that it is not over 12db. If audio is too “hot” the recording will have pops and cracks in it and sound pretty bad.
If you are the person speaking into the microphone, keep your mouth away from the microphone far enough when speaking into it so that the microphone does not pick up your breathing and/or your “p”, “s” and “t” sounds don’t cause feedback.
Use a lot of light on the person speaking. Video recordings need to be lit up more than what you would expect for the recording to show colors and contrast naturally. Use natural lighting from a window behind the camera pointing toward the person speaking or point lights from behind the camera toward the person speaking. This will light what is in front of the camera better. DV Creators is a great resource for tips on lighting and digital video production in general.
If you are using built in computer software like iMovie or MovieMaker make sure to use the export settings that constrain the file size to under 512 MB. Some built in software allows you to specify the file size you wish to constrain your movie and this automatically configures the bitrate.
If you are using more advanced video software to edit your video like Adobe Primere or Final Cut Pro. Set up your project to use:
If you have an existing video that you would like to upload and need to change the resolution and compression use a tool like: MPEG Streamclip by SQUARED 5

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