What was/is the purpose of the Video?

Cheers

Grazie

Ohh... Thank you Steve... Taking "very good" from you made my day!

I mean "technically" !

I still see myself inadequate in editing videos with Vegas and I still feel strongly that I need to improve my Vegas skills:)

I feel that I'm only able to use Vegas only 30-40 percent!

Thanks you Grazie:)
After making necessary corrections I'll make DVD & BD send copies to holiday resorts.

You're going to send them to holiday resorts, for what purpose?

G

I'll try to make an agreement with them for making a DVD or BD or even a flash memory (specially designed) about their resort & its environment so that they can put one copy to each room for their guests?

Perhaps I'm butting against cultural differences here, but when I arrive at a resort, I drop my bags in my room and exit almost running to explore the environment, resort, locale, etc. The very last thing I'd want to do is halt my vacation to watch a video about where I could be but for the fact that I am sitting in front of a TV.

Just my opinion...

:) Of course, everybody will do the same...
I'll try to convince resort bosses like "best advertisement is the advertisement made by the people who stay in your resort when they return home... DVD's are intended to show to their relatives and friends when they return home... (They'll take the DVD's with them supposedly!

Sorry, Ogul, I still don't see that working. Sorry to be blunt: the only time I ever received a disc was from an obscenely-priced Disney cruise who handed out CD's of Disney songs. I held onto it for sentimental reasons; I grew up at Disneyland.

Now, are you suggesting a promotional video for a resort to use? What I could see is a resort owner hiring you to shoot a promo video that is posted on the resort's website for 1 person or a million people to see. Sure beats passing around a DVD that hopefully didn't get bent, scratched, or forgotten about after guests leave the resort.

If this is the entire reason why you ask about improving technical quality of your videos, wouldn't it make more sense to first investigate a potential market for such videos?

Looks like a great holiday video.
Whether you can make some money from doing them, I have no idea.
From an editing point of view I will add a few humble thoughts...
Have a play around with your keyframing options, linear, smooth, fast, slow etc. Some seemed a little harsh.
The dissolves as well, maybe a little harsh in some places.
Some edits maybe were held a little too long. You can keep things moving along to keep peoples attention and still keep it smooth.
This, of course, is all personal preference. If you listen to everyones advice and try to adhere to all of it, it will just stifle you. Best thing to do is just keep editing... more and more and more again.

FWIW I learnt Vegas doing family and holiday vids for a long time before I ever got paid for a job. Its great training. Take a bunch of footage and pics and turn it into something entertaining.
A boy in Disneyland-
www.vimeo.com/24517612

Have to agree with the other here, I don't see your business model working. Nobody wants to watch a promotional dvd anymore. This is the smart phone and tablet generation. I can see the resort putting it on their website as an embedded video or Vimeo link. But it would have to be much shorter and to the point.

I was only able to watch the the first 30% and I would suggest a change in music. While beautiful, it doesn't compliment the video at all. Right in the beginning of the clip we see a Thomas the Tank train engine and we're listening to classical / operatic music. Also, rather than music only, some of the scenes would have benefited to have some ambiance from the camcorders audio track. It would give it more local flavor.

I'm not an expert here, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Thank you very much for reply vtxrocketeer, you may have right, internet changed too many balances!

"wouldn't it make more sense to first investigate a potential market for such videos?"

What could be a potential market and how the systems works?

There was a serial of BBC "Dragons' Den" and used to watch it full interest and full concentration in order to catch / absorb some succesful business ideas:)

In fact, I have in my mind an idea like to publish a DVD and BD about Turkey for people who live in Germany, France, U.K., Russia but.... where to contact, where & how distribute and sell and such things...

I can personally try to sell at amazon.de / amazon.fr / amazon.uk but I don't think it will worth it?

Any ideas pls on this subject:))

Thank you Jedman, your advices are priceless to me!
I'll try to see my video from your point of view!
This is much better... always to be objective!

Here in the U.S. the corresponding TV series is called Shark Tank. No matter what version you watch, however, one theme dominates: almost every contestant goes home after being shot down, sometimes rather harshly, and this is because the contestant has a fatal flaw in the business plan. All I'm pointing out here is that your business plan, to the extent it exists, has to be much more than converting a personal interest, no matter how beautiful, into a business attraction.

So you have resorts in Turkey? Cool! Why don't you visit their websites and see what kinds of promo video -- content and quality -- that you will be competing against? Then estimate the percentage of resorts who actually produced a video. Small market? Walk away maybe. Then see if YOUR quality of video even resembles the existing promo videos. If not, then perhaps this idea is not for you until you improve to that level.

In fairness, I've seen some truly, absolutely horrid videos on commercial websites that I have to assume were shot by monkeys paid to wave around a video camera. Whether these were paid or not is irrelevant: a business owner decided that s/he would promote their business with garbage.

Your remarks made me curious, so in about 10 seconds I found this: http://www.elaresort.com/en-US/promotional-films-168.html. The videos are all Flash. I watched one. Despite some nauseating camera moves, it was pretty slick. What do you think?

Thank you for your advices and for the Ela'a link, vtxrocketeer!
Most of the resorts have their own website with videos in it.
I feel that I can not compete with them because it's matter team work!
Hiring the models, their make up, dresses etc, arranging the shooting location and time etc. Resorts will be waiting for them and will show all the facilities.
Also my equipment can not compete with the production firms' equipment!
I don't even have a jimmy jib.
I feel that all I can do is to produce "pirate" videos and try to draw their attention:)
My only advantage could be that I can offer them much more less production cost!
There must be way that I can show and prove that I also can produce quality work!

OGUL, please re-read your posting you made back in 2011. It would appear you haven't listened to anything we said back then.

Please read and ask if you need further explanations.

Also, IMHO, your business "model" I can't seeing being viable. Please don't think expensive kit makes for a saleable, watch-able video, it may help but isn't necessary - at all. This can't be used as an excuse.

You are very obviously, very enthusiastic with video - that's great - but I couldn't see your latest output and read your own explanations without giving you some initial feedback and my view on what you simply aren't getting.

My best regards

Grazie

Grazie, thank you very much for your reply!
Your last sentence was very long to understand for me:)
"You are very obviously, very enthusiastic with video - that's great - but I couldn't see your latest output and read your own explanations without giving you some initial feedback and my view on what you simply aren't getting."

So what is the result?
Should I continue or give up or try other ways or just make the videos only for my own pleasure? Which direction to go?

Good start. Ask questions. Lots of questions. Look with your eyes. Look at adverts with sound off. You need to become more critical of your own work and more understanding of others work.

Like Jason, or Hercules you are on a long and eventful journey. But if you look behind you you will see many who wish you well. If you look forward you will also so armies of comrades who've trod this road for many decades and back through time through Leonardo back to the Cave painters.

My advice? Study the history of art and visit galleries.

And look..... Look with your eyes.

Ok, enough of the pep, would you like me to go through your Vimeo submission, frame by frame and give you my critique? If so, email me.

BTW, I've visited Ephesus. Stunning.

g

Ogul, for your consideration I have one suggestion based upon my experience. Video started as a hobby with very poor equipment, but my passion grew as did my skills with each video. Every video was for family. My only goal was to make my next video better than the last.

At one point years later, family and friends began to tell me that I could make money with my videos, not for their family content obviously, but for their quality as applied to whatever I chose. At a further point, when I volunteered video services in my community, appreciative friends and others began to just give me money for videos that I produced. They were gestures of thanks. Since it was very clear at this point that I could earn money in exchange for my services, I turned video into a side business.

The point is that I never let enthusiasm obscure (or substitute for) my understanding of how much more skill I needed to actually generate income.

I don't think anyone here can tell you what to do. You seem to understand a difference between the video you posted and the Turkish resort video that I found. Perhaps that difference should guide your expectations on what you can do with video right now.

Grazie, the last time I wrote, I forgot to tell you that I really admire your memory! You are remembering the posts from the year 2011:)

Yes, please, I would like you to go through my Vimeo submission, frame by frame and give you my critique if this will not be boring for you:)

By this, me and some other people will learn new things, hopefully.

Thanks in advance.

vtxrocketeer, you are really encouraging me! Thank you!
How about to make some glamor work??
I got in 1995 second prize and in 1997 honorable mention from Popular Photography magazine (U.S.) both in glamour category!

Here, in Istanbul, it's hard to find glamour models, but I've read that Barcelona is the capital of such work in Europe.
I can go to stay there for a while, like 6 moths or one year or two, find models, take pics & videos, edit with Vegas... so then??.. where to sell it?? Or do that just for my own pleasure?

Hmmm, let's see. Shoot video and stills of glamour models in Barcelona for a year or so, and you ask whether that should be for pleasure?!! Time to check for a pulse... :)

Concerning your business ideas, you might want to register at www.dvinfo.net . They have a very active wedding and event subforum filled with people from a variety of countries. That subforum seems more appropriate for this part of your inquiry, and I expect that a polite inquiry would result in some excellent advice.

Ogul

I watched about half of your video and didn't think it good. Your choice of shots was not designed to keep anyone's attention. Looking at shots of cities out of plane windows, static statues, airports runways, and freeway overpasses is not a way to entertain or educate. The dissolves on the stills was annoying. The music was distracting and poorly chosen. The lack of ambient sound removed me from any connection I might build with the place.