Nice work!

LIked it alot too, especialy the angle perspective shot of the green led ticker! I agree w J.Roy, I would disolve the title then bring it back up towards the end,maybe once you fix the audio at the end fade to black with the "coming summer 2004" and a long sustain note.
other than that looks like "blue chip clips to me!"

Looks great!
Hate to be a wet blanket but better someone asks now. Do you have clearances to use that footage and / or releases from the people you have in closeup?

I think he mentioned "stock footage" but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean royalty-free.

Aside from that, Johnny hit the nail on the head with his comments.

I agree that the DVD series title should only occupy a few seconds at the header and footer of the piece. You want to give your customer a reason to buy the DVD series. I know the name of the University but don't know anything else.

What are their credentials? How long is the program? What can I expect to learn in the series? Perhaps a minor breakdown of each DVD you're going to produce in the series. Who's teaching the course?

Remember, you're selling a product. You need to tell them what it is you're selling.

Mike

Obviously like nearly everyone else said, kill the overbearing title being on screen so long. Sorry, I'm blunt. No it ain't a good job as far as informing any potential customers what you trying to sell.

It looks like the "stock footage" was lifted from the opening of Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser which is fine to suggest investing, but it has nothing to do with day trading which already had its ox gored several years ago. The be frank it looked like some MLM scam you were hyping. All that was missing was earn $!00,000 a month in just two hours a day, you too can be your own boss. Try again. From scratch.

I partially agree with Billyboy on this one. There wasn't much to the video other than just flashy images. What was the purpose of watching it? The video and music combination that you have is awesome, but it needs to be background to the video's main purpose. If "coming soon" is all you're prepared to say right now about it, then use a web banner or a post card.

If shortened down to 30 seconds or less it would make a great opener for a short informercial. Or if you provided narration and emphasizing text it could be good background texture for a commercial.

There's definitlely a lot you can do with the segment that you've compiled, but only if behind the main content. The current video material doesn't communicate much aside from location establishment.

Having said that, this wasn't too bad if you were just experimenting with what Vegas can do. If this were your first video ever, I would say it's awsome. If it's your 30th, but first in Vegas, then I would say it's not to bad.

JBJones

"it's purpose is just a teaser trailer clip for upcoming dvds I'll be producing this summer.... " - Well, if that is what it's purpose was . . I wouldn't buy the DVD . . .

Yes it looks dynamic. Yes the music is 'business' like . . . To steal a 'Phrase' from elsewhere - "Where's the Beef!"

Look . . . I'm really glad you wanted to share your work -GOOD! I really do mean this . . it is fab you have the "sphericals" to do so . . most people wouldn't have had the confidence to do it . . . but confidence aint gonna keep getting yer the gig - yeah?

Okay:

1 - Title too long on screen

2 - SAY what I'm gonna get for my money. EVEN if this is a trial with us Guys and Gals here . . .make up the titles . .it doesn't matter.

3 - USE the beat and score to emphasise the title changes - when you do them

4 - Look at the "negative" spaces on the screen and "fit" text within this.

5 - Consider layering the images - neat! Have your "message" float between

6 - Make It Real! Have some footage of real people "perceived" to be gaining some benefit from your DVD - yeah?

7 - PRICES PRICES PRICES

8 - Where I can get it . . .Web addresses . . all the contact stuff.

9 - Testimonials can FLASH through the piece - yeah?

10 - COME back with what you've done! I'm very interested to see how you are going to develop this one .. . hey, I've had "knock-backs" . . . hopefully I will always get them . . this is what keeps me fresh and alert . .

Best wishes,

Grazie

Excellent comments -- hey thanks all, agree with you...

Yes it's the first time I've ever used vegas to make something... using royalty-free video clips, so usage is granted..

agree re more sales message content needed, eg prospective titles of upcoming DVDs, contact information, fading out the title to something more informational ...

super ideas all -- thanks a bunch, appreciate it...

Grazie- great checklist, will do, especially re fade-in testimonials and the other ideas... ++ way to go.

Ken

Ken,

I really liked it, but agree with the critics. It is a thrill just seeing anything Vegas can do . But you have to get past that and drill into the communication and aritstic mine and dig out the precious metal. Thanx for posting and can't wait to see some of your uses of Ultra and the Virtual sets.

Tom

ok here's a mod I just did, 10 megs but worth the d/l

>> http://www.daytradinguniversity.com/daytradingdvds2.wmv


check out the embedded video in the virtual set from ultra..
btw ultra is a Breeze to use! about 200x easier to learn than vegas...

comments? (I need to put me not the model in the video for the chroma, and fix the text at the end.... somehow unletterbox the video-ideas? .and narrate it with voiceover once I chromakey myself into it etc... this is just a "figure out how to use ultra w/vegas")

Check out the embedded video ... Ultra works great with Vegas 4...

I hadn't used Either application before 2 weeks ago... now it seems pretty easy...

(flash, now That's a learning curve, see www.dtu1.com/flash.htm for my masterpiece-in-progress there... )..

Appreciate any feedback, thanks all..


render well and prosper...

Ken

Much improvement. My only comments are the music, not sure what was going on and the text at the end "37 new patterns....!" I've had the same problem with text like that before. My fix is to set properties in the placement tab to Top Left, set keyframe to hold and then adjust placement.

Hunter

thx Hunter... I'm going to use flash from now on for all titles, since it can export into a 32-channel alpha avi ..... flash is much better for titling than trying to do it inside of vegas I think ... :p


ken

Good video. I like it.

Ken have you shot any video yet with Ultra. I see that you have used one of the sets with Suzy Patz (the new Kiki Stockhammer?) and put your stuff on the TV screen in the set. But have you keyed any of your own footage? I want to see real-world poorly lit greenscreen shots keyed in Ultra.

Tom

Sorry, I am sure I am just impatient.

hi, not yet re keying my own footage, still waiting for my greenscreen to get delivered ... hopefully should be here within a day or two... I'm going to call around town here in honolulu too and see if anyone has something ...

I can't wait any longer! heck I'll just go to the hardware store and get a blue dropcloth in the meantime, I gotta key! gotta do it! today!

ken

Maybe put the dialog sound track of the cute blonde in the background.

Can of blue, green or red paint. Matte finish of course. But then you have to paint a wall - do you rent or own ... LOL

Hunter

Lol... new house I'm moving to, the basement is my new video studio so paint there... for now, I'm going to see if it'll work with a simple sheet ...but hey it only gets better from here...

waiting for my green chromakey screen to come in soon...


ken