The BETA version of my site WebMaxedU just launched; my big DIY project the past couple of weeks has been finishing the home page introduction video for it. The Saturday morning before last I dressed up like a used car salesman (or at least what I think one might dress like…LOL! What do you think?) and set a green screen up in my living room to get the final few shots.

Just days before, however, the external microphone that connects to my camcorder broke. It was my fault – I stepped on the (looooooong) cord that connects to the camera and broke it right off (hey, I can’t afford wireless mics yet…I’m working on a DIY budget guys!). Instead of waiting for the replacement mic to come in the mail (the earliest I could get it was the following Tuesday, even with $30 express shipping. The mic itself is only $30 bucks, by the way!), I decided to move ahead and finish my filming over the weekend with the lower-quality built in camcorder mic instead.

DIY Tip: Spend a few extra bucks and get an external mic if you’re using an inexpensive camcorder – good audio makes a huge difference to the overall production quality of your video!  

After I got my shots in the ridiculous used car salesman outfit, that same afternoon I edited all of my footage, including everything I filmed earlier in the week – the result was a very rough version of my final format. On Sunday I took a break from all things digital (I try to do that every Sunday!) and on Monday I got back to it, cleaned up my rough cut, trimmed down the ends of each shot (I do that to keep the pace of the video moving right along…I don’t want you guys to get bored!) and started adding the images and titles. On Tuesday I finished adding all of the images and titles, worked on adding some extra “fancy transitions and effects” and tried out some new editing techniques (Final Cut Pro is awesome by the way…and not too expensive either, when you consider everything you get for your buck. Hey, it’s good enough for Hollywood, so it’s good enough for me!). Wednesday morning I added all the music and sound effects. That afternoon I exported and uploaded the finished product to the web and added it the the WebMaxedU home page.

It’s a little rough, but I’m happy with it as is for the time being. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be done…that’s my attitude about a lot of things these days. That’s the way it has to be when you’re a DIY entrepreneur like me and want to make things happen. I’m learning that perfection is subjective and is, quite frankly, totally overrated. No one likes an obsessively nit-picky person anyway! I like to get things done and make improvements if needed…so I say this video is good enough for now! What do you think about the WebMaxedU home page video? Let me know in the comments!

{ 0 comments }