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VOICE OVER VIDEOS / Part 2
Video Tools For Your Smartphone
And Computer Help You Promote
March 4, 2014
See Part 1: Video Demos - Five Tips, by Marc Scott

By Dave Courvoisier
Voice Actor & TV News Anchor

What video tools are you using?

Yes, I said Video … and don’t give me that lame: "Well, I’m a voice-actor, and I don’t USE video” argument.

Video is the new air, food, and water. It’s the hottest content going anywhere online, and you can’t afford NOT to be using it.

Basic video shooting and editing skills should be part of your toolkit -.and you already have a smartphone (or tablet), right? So you don’t need much more than that to get going. 

Sure, spend some bucks on a real video, webcam or digital cam if you want very crisp pics, but YouTube has changed all that.

HD is nice, but YouTube has proven that people are quite accepting of video that’s shaky, grainy, unprofessional, and poorly-framed. You won’t allow that, of course, because you believe in a quality product, no matter the medium, right?

PROGRAMS FOR EDITING


OK, so you have the camera, now you need an editor. 

There are AMAZING apps for editing on smartphone or tablet. Apple’s iMovie, ReelDirector, or Splice for iOS.  I don’t know about Android phones, but for Android tablet, there’s Magisto Video Editor.

But really, you’re gonna want a full-featured video editor for your computer, because they have all the bells and whistles. I have no idea what to use for Apple/Mac ’cause I’m a Windows guy, but there are about a-million different 3rd-party programs for ANY OS. 

A biggie, of course, is Windows Movie Maker.

Yet my favorites are Serif’s MoviePlus, and Adobe Premiere Elements.  Both are amazingly rich in features, and Serif’s MoviePlus is ridiculously inexpensive for what you get.

POSTING, STORING, SHARING

Now comes the fun part. How to post, store and share videos. 

YouTube. Hands-down. Google-friendly, easy as pie, and everyone uses it. 

Vimeo is a wonderful alternative; also very popular, and in my mind, ScreenCast probably comes in third.

FOR SCREEN CAPTURE

Mentioning ScreenCast (by TechSmith) gives me the opportunity to also mention the value of screen-capture software. In my estimation, no other program comes close to CamTasia.  Not cheap, but Holy Buckets, it just does everything in screen capture video editing.  Unbelievable what it can do, really.

TechSmith also is just now debuting a new video service that does it all, from start to finish.

Yet from TechSmith, two other products are probably more suited to voice over:
  • Jing (free pop-up screen capture)
  • SnagIt (rich-featured screen capture for a decent price)
Screen captures from both Jing and SnagIt can be shared to ScreenCast. I adore SnagIt and use it every day. A warehouse of add-on widgets and sharing apps make this so useful in a myriad of ways. Well worth the price!

IT’S THE BOMB

Finally, in the video realm, I just have to mention BombBomb

BombBomb is a video email service that has developed a full set of marketing tools. So, think MailChimp for video. You can make your own templates, mail to lists, and keep track of metrics, all built around your video message.

You can also hire a videographer, rent a studio, and have an editor do a professional job.  Obviously, that’s tops, but certainly more pricey.

So think video - for marketing, for promotions, for telling your story, or just for bringing attention to your voice acting. Consider even putting your commercial demo to video as a way to post your wares on Pinterest, FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube.

Have you created a voice over video demo?
Share your link in COMMENTS below!


See Part 3:
Mike Broderick details how to use Windows Movie Maker


--------------------
ABOUT DAVE
Dave Courvoisier is an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, writer, producer, voice actor, and the main weeknight news anchor on KLAS-TV, Channel 8, the Las Vegas CBS affiliate. He also writes Voice-Acting in Vegas, a daily blog of voice over adventures, observations and technology.

Email: CourVO@CourVO.com
Web: http://www.courvo.com
Blog: http://www.courvo.biz
Twitter: http://twitter.com/courvo


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Comments (4)
Ted Morrison
3/17/2014 at 2:15 PM
Hi Dave,

This is great information thank you!

Ted Morrison
www.TedMorrisonVO.com
Ed Waldorph
3/5/2014 at 7:28 PM
Cutting edge as usual, Dave. Yes, I use video, but only because I do voice acting for computer games. I have a YouTube channel just for that. I have not yet cut together a Video Demo Reel.
Lucia
3/4/2014 at 1:04 PM
It's not clear what is to be videotaped for promoting - VO sessions? Or other? And please tell more on how this works to book, or at least be called in for, more VO work.
Yvonne Lynch
3/4/2014 at 5:37 AM
Great article - thanks! Looking forward to #3

Cheers, Yvonne
wwwyvonne-lynch.com
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