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• Microphone or headset
  Most desktops and laptops have microphone inputs and speaker or line outputs for audio. You can record audio using a microphone or telephone headset connected to the microphone input. For better quality audio, buy a handheld or desktop microphone. Many podcast microphones are ideal to record voice, and they plug into any USB port. Use a quiet room to ensure the best audio quality. Never record a speaker from across the room, you will pick up too much air conditioning noise and , rustling of papers, and motor noise (from tape or DVD based camcorders). Instead use a wireless lavalier microphone.

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Once you have captured the video, you need to transfer it to the computer. VHS, Hi8, MiniDV, and Solid State videos may all be transfered to a computer via capture software (e.g. Sony Vegas or a utility provided with the camcorder). Other camcorders allow video transfer via USB or FireWire cable. Solid State memory-based videos can be inserted into a memory reader or USB based memory adapter.

Editing of videos can be done at the original quality levels and resolutions. You then export a version of the video based on where you intend to publish your video.

You must be careful to save to a common file type and video codec. Common file types include AVI, WMV, Flash, and QT. Common codecs include MPEG, AVI, QT, Microsoft Video 1, and MP4. It is best to save to a common format to promote easy editing and uploading to servers.

Also consider your video screen size. For web presentations 320x240 pixels is best. Video sites such as YouTube, Vcasmo, and blip.tv recommend 640x480 for a standard video or 1280x720 for a high definition video. For burning to a DVD, you probably want 720x480. For high def or BluRay content, 1920x1080 is top notch quality.

Most online sites will resample and resize your video to fit their site. It is best to match the recommended sizes and resolutions to minimize resampling. Currently many of the video sites have problems with higher-than-standard video - you need well sampled videos on the server, and the customer needs a good high speed connection to receive a good video stream on the client.

File Similarly, the file length may be a consideration. For the web, you can save download time by using a high compression. One way to save size is use 15 frame per second. Another is to use a more aggressive video compression badnwidth. Most DVD havs a 8 MbS (mega bits per second) video budget. You can compress the video to less than that with lower quality or lower motion.

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• Add fade-in and fade-to-black at the beginning and end of the video.
• Add titles for speaker name or organization or date or venue.
• Enhance audio or video quality.
• Cut out boring parts or mistakes. Silence coughs and other interuptions.
• Add picture-in-picture for multiple videos at once.
• Assemble multiple talking heads videos and desktop videos into one stream.
• Add exciting some lead in and lead out background music.
• Add exciting , explosions , and laser light show effects (only kidding).
• Add video watermark or copyright statements.

Before editing, it is useful to know which method of publishing you will use. Some sites offer features such as speaker notes and multi-language translations. You don't want to edit in titles or subtitles if the hosting site offers these features and the titles look mismatched. Similarly, you don't want to perform some other amalgamation (mashing together slides and video and audio) if the publishing site does this for you. Also be aware that mixing items of different sharpness such as razor-sharp slides and slightly-blurry video might lead to bad looking video for both.

Also remember the target customers for your media. Viewers are notorious for wanting fast and easy videos. A 5 minute video will be more likely to be downloaded than a 10 minute video. Many people will try out a 1 or 2 minute video. Ruthlessly cut the boring parts to get the time limits down.

Example video editing software includes:

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• You Tube
  You Tube allows users to post videos on a publicly hosted website. They support video files only and submitted videos are resampled to fit the two quality levels offered. Unfortunately the quality levels are poor for slide presentations and computer graphics, so it may be difficult to read page or desktop captures. Videos can be tagged by subject, and similarly themed videos are easy to search and find. Users can comment on and rate videos. The videos are hosted indefinitely for free.

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