Making short videos

[Aruffell]

I run a hardware review site and will be making video reviews - similar to 3dGameMan.com.

I have a few questions that i hope someone can help me with.

I'm using a JVC GR-D50 Mini-DV Camcorder and admittedly, the sound quality is rubbish and the videos are going to be narrated so i was going to use a seperate microphone plugged into my Asus Xonar D2X sound card.

I will be using Adobe Premiere CS3 and transferring via firewire.

So my questions are -

1 - What microphone should i get to record the narration so it is clear? Don't want to spend the earth.
2 - I will have my logo at the beginning of the video and then bits of text throughout the video, what size do i make my logo? same size as the video resolution? 728x560 or whatever it is.
3 - I will be uploading the videos to youtube, whats the best quality to export the video to go on youtube?

I think that's it for now.

Many thanks,

Andy

[Aruffell]

Bought a £9.99 microphone from maplins and what a load of rubbish, that amount of background noise.

Can anyone help me ?

Andy

[senu]

Originally Posted by Aruffell

I run a hardware review site and will be making video reviews - similar to 3dGameMan.com.
I have a few questions that i hope someone can help me with.
I'm using a JVC GR-D50 Mini-DV Camcorder and admittedly, the sound quality is rubbish and the videos are going to be narrated so i was going to use a seperate microphone plugged into my Asus Xonar D2X sound card.
I will be using Adobe Premiere CS3 and transferring via firewire.
So my questions are -
1 - What microphone should i get to record the narration so it is clear? Don't want to spend the earth.

Not a £10 jobbie from Maplins for sure . How much can you afford?

2 - I will have my logo at the beginning of the video and then bits of text throughout the video, what size do i make my logo? same size as the video resolution? 728x560 or whatever it is.

Your editng software should resize the graphic. However the size for PAL is 720x 576 if you want to DIY

3 - I will be uploading the videos to you tube, whats the best quality to export the video to go on youtube?

There are variuos format none of which is "best" . The filesize limitatiions tend to determin which you use as you a 3 min mpeg2 may be the same size as a 10min mpeg4 ect

[Aruffell]

Not massive amounts, upto £20-£30 i guess.

Thanks,

Andy

[senu]

Anything in that region wold get you even better but the Sennhieser/ Rode type Mics cost a bit more.
There may be some affordable Shure or Audio- technica models within the £35-50 range

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Aruffell

1 - What microphone should i get to record the narration so it is clear? Don't want to spend the earth.

I have a Sony ECM-MS907 which you can find for around £50-£60 and is pretty impressive for the price.

2 - I will have my logo at the beginning of the video and then bits of text throughout the video, what size do i make my logo? same size as the video resolution? 728x560 or whatever it is.

Always make graphics larger than needed. Better to scale down than to scale up or stay the same. Bear in mind that it is the size of the graphic (in pixels), not the dots-per-inch, that solely determines resolution when used in video.

3 - I will be uploading the videos to youtube, whats the best quality to export the video to go on youtube?

YouTube Encoding: Locked & Reloaded
Encoding for YouTube Part 3...HD Strikes Back

[Aruffell]

Sony ECM-DS70P Electret Condenser Stereo Microphone - £25

Any good?

I basically want a microphone that isn't going to have any background noise for when i narrate my videos.

Andy

EDIT: Sennheiser Dynamic Microphone e815S for £39.99?

Andy

[senu]

I guess they will both be better than the Maplins initial purchase but the higher cost does go into giving clear audio with less background noise so you do get what you pay for in a sense
Certainly worth trying especially if you can return them