Video on Your Club Website
Rick Borstein, FAAS Webmaster
Anyone with a broadband connection to the web—that’s close to 50% of all web users now—has the bandwidth to enjoy good quality video. If a picture can tell a thousand words, a video can deliver a novel! There simply isn’t any substitute in some cases.
For example, it is difficult to describe the spawning sequence for some fish. A nice video, well… that makes all the difference!
Video can come from a number of sources. Most digital still cameras can produce a QuickTime (.mov) or AVI file. Digital camcorders are now under $400 US and are increasing in market penetration every year. The net effect is that consumers are now making more videos than ever before and playing them back digitally.
From an ease of use standpoint, video has plusses and minuses. On the plus side, digital video cameras are more light-sensitive than digital still cameras. It is possible to get a good video with only standard tank lighting. Still cameras must rely on a flash to get the proper exposure. Digital video cameras (and digital still cameras that support movies) can capture an entire scene. By contrast, it is difficult to pose fish and get just the shot you want. Fish don’t stay still and say cheese!
Digital video, however, is more challenging to edit than digital images. A number of products to edit digital video for consumers are available—and are not difficult to use—but most people cannot creatively put together a film.
Shameless plug—try Adobe Premiere Elements. It’s very powerful and only $99. It’s easy to capture a video, make cuts, add titles and produce a DVD or web video. For more info, visit the Adobe website at http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/main.html.
Assuming you have some video you want to place on your site, what is issues do you need to be aware of as a webmaster?
- Format:
Windows Media, Quicktime and Real (roughly in order of installed base). You can get good quality results from any of the above. To me, Windows Media format delivers the best quality at the smallest file size. Certain kinds of video—especially slideshows—seem to work better in QuickTime.
- Platform:
Know your audience. Will you have only Windows users, or are there Mac users, too? Will you need to deliver your video in multiple formats with the goal of reaching as many people as possible? That might mean delivering in all the formats listed above so that nobody is left out.
- Bandwidth:
Video files are large. If you download or stream, will you run into extra charges from your web host for the extra bandwidth?
- Video Size:
Larger video takes more time to download or stream, but may yield a superior user experience. Will you need to deliver multiple video sizes to accommodate the bandwidth requirements of your audience?
- Video Quality:
Higher quality video (with better images and higher frame rates) take more bandwidth. Quality is generally a function of the compression applied to the file.
- Audio Quality: CD-quality stereo sound takes up more space in a video file than low quality monaural sound.
- Download vs. Streaming:
Will users have to download the entire file to view it or will it stream after downloading a small portion of the file?
Download vs Streaming
The last item, Download vs. Streaming, deserves some additional discussion. Unless you specifically purchase the capability at extra cost, you will not be able to stream files from your website. Streaming delivers a superior user experience. Files start playing shortly after clicking on them. Many users will give up if they have to download a large file to play it. Streaming a video (optionally) can prevent users from stealing your video product since the entire video is never cached to the user hard drive.
Adding video streaming to your site usually includes a set-up fee and extra bandwidth charges. If you intend to stream video often on your site, however, it may be a cost effective solution.
Streaming Video Service Providers
From the last paragraph, you may have some doubts about the willingness of your society to fund streaming video at an additional cost of $30 to $100 per month. What to do?
If you have a small number of videos to stream, a Streaming Video Service Provider can offer a cost-effective solution. MPEGnation.com offers an attractive service. For only $4.95 per month, you can stream one video up to an hour long to an unlimited number of site visitors for six months. For $19.95 per file, you can stream it for five years.
Working with MPEGnation is relatively simple. Sign up online through their website, then upload your video (up to 1GB). MPEGnation will create a Windows Media version of the file and send you a link to the web-hosted video. For an additional few dollars, you can also create a QuickTime version. MPEGnation hosts the video in a separate window. All you need to do on your site is create a link to the video.
Examples
I have seen on MPEGnation play smoothly. One reason MPEGnation is inexpensive is that they sell advertising surrounding your video. MPEGnation does not sell advertising to adult-themed vendors, fortunately! Still, MPEGnation is a good, cost-effective solution for a society.
Streaming Video Ideas
What kinds of videos make sense for your website?
I encourage you to use video “surgically” to support your club goals. How can telling a story via video improve upon other forms of communication? Here are a few ideas:
- Membership Pitch Video
Produce a short video that sells your site visitors on the benefits of joining your club. This video might include a short history of your club, review what happens at a meeting (speaker, bowl show, auction), discuss members-only benefits such as trips and award programs, and special events such as auctions, swap meets and conventions. I would suggest keeping this video less than 5 minutes in length.
- Meeting Presentation
You could create a members-only area and post videos of monthly speakers. Your members can’t make every meeting. This is a nice benefit.
- Special Events Videos
Produce a short video pitching your society auction. Include sections on how to sign up, how to bag fish, selling tips, etc.