Delivering Video

How are they going to view it?

by Dirk Fischer, Educational Technology Consultant

Once your video project is complete, you have to get it to your audience. This is probably the second most frustrating part of the video making process. One good thing is, since you are working with digital video from start to finish, your finished video can be exported in the correct format for delivery: by videotape, by CD, by streaming over the Internet or even delivery via e-mail!

Video editing programs, such as iMovie and VideoStudio, now include different export settings for your project. I strongly suggest that before you export your project for media other than videotape, you make a copy back to digital tape. Then you have a clean copy in case something goes wrong.

If you plan to make VHS tapes, all you need to do now is copy the digital master you just exported. Be aware that using your camera to make many, many copies is very hard on the mechanical parts of your camera. If you must make many copies and cannot afford a MiniDV playback VCR, you should make as good a VHS copy as you can (S-video if you have it) and then use that VHS as your master. The quality will drop a little, but it will save wear and tear on your expensive camera.

Your editor should have other settings -- variously described as "for email," "for the Web," "stream on the Net" or some similar wording -- and it is a good idea to use the default settings for these formats until you learn what all the choices actually do to your video.

There are so many different variables that I cannot describe them all in this column, but do not hesitate to just try them and see the results.