Connector Studio creates ‘How To’ digital videos for HP Snapfish

by Connector on August 30th, 2010

Below is a video Connector recently produced for HP Snapfish.  Although this video is for the UK market and used in a large marketing campaign with the Daily Mail, we had a happy client for this ‘How To’ video produced here in Dublin.

The lovely voice you hear is from the excellent voice-over artist Nicola Lyndsay sourced from Piehole.ie

Connector Review: Movie Maker, iMovie and Camtasia Studio

by Dave Dungan on May 31st, 2010

Video is taking over the Internet. After Google, You Tube is the second largest search engine in the world ahead of Bing and Yahoo. Last year they hit 6.6 billion streams and currently have over 73% of the online market. With this in mind, anyone who wants to seriously market themselves online needs to be doing video.

You’ve probably heard already how video is great to add to your website, how it can be great for SEO and how users love to share good  video with their friends. The reason many people are not doing video is because they think that it is either too expensive to produce or requires technical skills they don’t possess. Luckily there are a number of tools available that make it possible to edit your own video.

Microsoft Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is the one that most people are familar with. It comes freely available with Windows software or can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft website. It has basic video editing features that allow you to make your own videos without any great technical knowledge.

Microsoft Movie Maker Review Screengrab

It allows you to import various clips, sequence them, clip them and apply basic transitions and effects. In addition to this it allows you to record voice narration and produce and share your video on YouTube or your blog. The drag and drop interface is really easy to use and the functionality is perfect for making basic promo videos for events or customer testimonial videos. There are limitations however.

If you want to use more advanced video techniques like screen record, Movie Maker does not offer this. Nor does it offer features such as callouts, zoom and pan or cursor effects. Overall it is a great package for most of your needs and it’s ease of use makes it ideal for beginners.

Apple iMovie

If you are using a MAC then Apple iMovie pretty much gives you the same deal as Microsoft Movie Maker. It is freely available with any new MAC but unlike Movie Maker it is not freely available to download.

It offers pretty much the same functionality and ease of use as it’s Microsoft equivalent and is ideal for anyone looking to do basic promo videos without having to spend a fortune or learn how to operate complicated software.

Camtasia Studio

Camtasia offers all that the others do plus loads of nifty features, plus it is available for PC and MAC. Like Movie Maker and iMovie the interface is intuitive and easy to use although the additional features add a little extra clutter if you’re not planning on using them.

Camtasia Studio Interface

Some of the extra features include Record Screen and Record Powerpoint functionality which are great for doing video tutorials. In addition to this it offers more advanced effects such as Zoom and Pan, Callouts which allow you to write over your video or images, Cursor Effects that allow you to highlight mouse clicks, and more advanced audio editing features.

Camtasia will cost you around $300 to buy so if you’re not planning on using the extra features it’s probably not worth your while. They offer a 30 day free trail that will allow you to test the product before putting your hand in your pocket so it’s definetely worth a look in.

Conclusion

Basically if all you need to do is pop up a few video interviews or make a very basic promo, the first two options are ideal. If you would like to feature video tutorials or use more advanced editing techniques then Camtasia is the way to go. We’ll be posting some live tutorials ourselves really soon to help you get to grips with each of these products so keep in touch!

New Connector Training Video

by Dave Dungan on April 21st, 2010

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve  added a new Connector Training Video to the training page of our website. The video introduces Connector Training in digital & social media.

Produced by Progressive Productions, the short video features some nice effects and innovative use of graphics, text and footage, not to mention an appearance by Conor Lynch himself who narrates with class and style!

Connector Canon Digital Video Awards Showcase

by connector on August 27th, 2009

If you missed the Connector Digital Video Awards night in June  you can now get an overview of this highly succssful contest which was managd by Connector in partnership with Edelman PR.  Congrats to the winners Martin, Dan & Ronan and thanks to Liam Cunningham & Canon for their generous support.

You can also check out more Connctor videos if you click here >>

Connector No.11 Registration

by Conor on May 11th, 2009

Connect with Free All Ireland Tickets

by connector on July 9th, 2008

Toyota have kicked off an innovative campaign called ‘Meet Mike’ which uses a healthy mix of digital video (YouTube) & social media (Facebook & Bebo).

The bait for you to check it out is that you can win a set of 4 tickets for the 2008 All Ireland Football Final in Croke Park.

Mike is a staunch GAA fanatic, sporting a jersey emblazoned with all of the county crests.  What a connector !!

With 18 weeks of thrilling football action to follow this summer, he’s hoping there’s room on the sidelines for the Official Dentist of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship.

Follow Mike on his escapades as he schmoozes with Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, as his wife Hillary makes futile attempts to coax him out of his Toyota and back to the family home and as Mike pushes for the founding of a Gaelic Automobile Association.

This campaign was created by Eighty:Twenty.