Video Quality... In Case You Were Wondering

I recently received an email from my friend and videographer Michel Gravel of Onstar Videobox Studios regarding the atrocious audio and video quality of my recent video blogs... he is right, the quality kinda sucked and I knew that before I posted them. But in case you are picky about video quality and were wondering, I posted the videos for content and entertainment sake and not as a display of quality video.

Based on the feedback I have received, I think that I succeeded in that.

On the internet, the generally accepted vlogging (video blogging) style is typically not very professional, but a more 'capture what you can' style. I have seen more closet doors than Home Depot carries as I watch lot of video blogs out there. However, to borrow the expression, "the best camera is the one you have with you". I did note on some of the descriptions of the videos that I was doing the best I could with what I had, something I say frequently and thought I'd put into practice.

Basically I am just playing around with vlogging, and someday the quality might even get OK thanks to 1) experience, 2) better gear, and 3) tips like the ones Michel gave me.

I generally take the road of striving for perfection, as I think is evident in the quality of web work we do, but my resources were limited. I just wanted to try and do... something... anything really. Again, I had some good feedback; crummy audio and video aside. I threw caution to the wind, and I hope people take the vlogs for what they are and not for what they could have been had I possessed better resources. Maybe someday I can go back and do it again with better equipment.

So those are my excuses for what they are worth. If you hate the videos, sorry. If you didn't mind them, I hope they at least made you smile and you got some good information from the lovely people I interviewed!

Rob, Tara and Roxanne were awesome; and if you are in Hawaii, you are fortunate to have such excellent folks on your islands. If you are in the Vancouver area, Onstar Videobox is a good option if you need professional video.

And that's about all I have to say about that.

-Jake

Comments

[Tractor Beam Marketing]

Thanks Tara, you are definitely correct. The lighting and noise posed some problems and created interesting choices. The indoor/outdoor style of Hawaiian living (which I love) often does away with a lot of walls and windows, and the large covered areas do make lighting difficult pretty much anywhere. It was either that or sweating and squinting in the directly overhead sun. I think we did make the best of it, and I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to meet you, Rob and Roxanne.

There has been quite a bit of filming done out around Ko Olina and I have been fortunate enough to observe. Recently the 'Pirates Of the Caribbean 4', and a couple of years ago they did interviews for some of the DVD Special Features for 'Nim's Island' (Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler, Abigail Breslin); the setup, cameras, lighting, audio, tents, etc. was incredible... and all for a couple of minutes of interview that were not even the most spectacular quality.

I appreciate your comments and am enjoying reading your blog posts as well!

-Jake

[Tara]

HI Jake -

I'd like to add, at least for the portions in Hawaii, we were dealing with challenging lighting situations. Personally, I appreciate the medium of vlogging and I can live with "less than professional" in the same way that I don't expect everyone's blog to look like the CNN website. Kudos to you for getting in there!