Tips and Tricks for Easily Loading a Video onto AC Yahoo!

When I first started writing for Associated Content I was pretty much satisfied that the text articles I was producing were more than enough to keep me interested in this publishing opportunity. However as time went by I became curious as to how hard could it really be to submit a video or an audio and what if I went wild and did a slide show? I had been viewing other videos which had been published on AC and was quite impressed with the breadth of different topics that have been recorded by contributors!

So I decided to try and submit some videos which in turn caused me to research that entire process. First thing before even shopping for a digital camera I had to do a lot of research. Armed with the specifications that AC wants you to adhere to when submitting videos I embarked on a camera finding mission which took me all over the county and to a lot of scary places on the Internet as well!

I learned early on that I needed a camera which would let me do decent photos for my text articles, and also would be sufficient for making entry level videos for submission onto AC. My first and most important thing to consider was which video format to use? The camera you buy will most likely drive that particular decision. If you find a camera that you like but it does not record in one of the AC approved formats then you will have to convert them using software which can be a real pain in the lens because you can get errors, and it may reduce the finished quality of your video.

So I decided that my highest priority was to make sure the camera I selected could record in a format that would directly download to AC with no editing or converting. I chose a model that saves in MOV format. Studying this part of the process really paid off for me because having the knowledge about video formats kept me from buying another camera that I liked. The acceptable format list is: WMV, MPEG, MOV, ASF, or AVI. Also you need to adhere to the submission size guidelines. lastly you should realize that the download of larger files can take more time, and unless you are on a high speed connection then you may have problems downloading files larger than about 15 or 20 MB.

You may need to check with your Internet provider to see how big a file can be before your server gives you trouble. Mine seems okay up to about 30 MB, and checking with Time Warner Cable, that is about the size of the largest file they intend me to send. There are methods you can use to edit and shrink your file, but again some level of quality may be lost in the process.

I ended up getting a great deal on a camera bundle that had a charger plus four rechargeable batteries included. It had a small tripod which I have used quite a lot. This model was a DXG-567V HD. Along with the primary High Definition recording mode this camera has two lesser video modes and it takes still photos at 5.0 Mega Pixel, and Video at 720p All that plus it has a close up switch for really tight shots. And it takes SD cards, and has a USB connector built in so transferring files was always very easy. Finally it can be connected directly to your television set with the cables that came with it.

While I am currently researching a newer camera that will give me more control over the final product, but I am having a hard time finding a similar camera with these features for less than $200 So for the time that I have been using this camera I have been very satisfied that the camera I chose was a good fit. This camera has served me well, and I am reluctant to retire it, but time marches on, and so should we! Therefore I need to get a little better hardware in order to step up the quality of my video submissions to the next level.

So now we are at the part where a step by step is in order. Making a good video is about shooting good subjects, and having an eye for good topics and scenes. Like a lot of things stick with what you know! If you are an avid gardener then make videos of that, if you love to play the guitar then by all means strike a chord!

1) Record a good video with audio and save it to your hard drive or leave it on the memory card and note the location so that you are not searching around when trying to enter the video.

2) Create a title and video caption for when you are downloading these gems. Also create some search terms that may attract an audience to your content, this works just like a text article so it is important to create good search terms.

3) Open your AC control panel page and after logging in click on the "Publish" button.

4) Click on "Video" box and in the new screen where is shows "Video Template" click the "Select" button.

5) Select the Rights you want to use then the Payment option and the box if it is a review of a product.

6) Click the "CHOOSE" button to the right end of the "Your Video File" box.

7) Locate the file you want to download and click directly on it then click the "Open" button in this box.

8) Enter the appropriate data into the boxes marked Title, Subtitle, Credit, Copyright, and finally "Video Caption" this box is very important as it can grab a viewers attention or it can send them away without looking at your video.

9) Next select the category that your material belongs in. Make it as close as possible to not confuse the viewer.

10) Now create two to five search tags that describe your video in a way that makes people know at a glance what you have submitted. "Pictures on the beach" does not say much to the audience but "Photo of waves at sunset" may get you a lot more views!

11) Now you can upload a screen shot. If you don't know what this is or how to do it you are better off skipping it until you can test the software that can do this. I use "Print Screen" button while video is playing, and then paste that into "Windows Paint" and save it as a JPEG. then I attach that file when this box comes up.

12) Finally click the "Submit Video" button and wait for your masterpiece to download to the server. This may take 20 or more minutes depending on connection speed and file size.

Once it is downloaded you will see a screen saying that it has been posted to AC and will be published soon. You can go back into the item and edit your text boxes, and you can also reload a new video if you decide that the original one is not original enough!

Please let me know if you have any problems or questions about this process.

Thank you for reading my articles and watching my videos on AC-Yahoo!