Website for videographer

[Dror Levi]

I am looking to change my website look tt the xml style.
Especially because I am looking for a better way to display my movies.
At this point I embed from exposure room and vimeo but I don't think it looks professional.
I would like the thumbnails and a screen.
The problem is that I don't want to spend much money and rather do it my self.
The biggest problem is that I don't know flash or xml.
Does anyone knows on a build yourself website or can give tips of how to create my dream website.

[Tripp Woelfel]

Search "Web site designs" or "Web site development tools" and you'll find a lot of people happy with WordPress. There are other options, but for me it's the simplest and, as Steve Jobs once said, "it just works."

This thread should probably be moved to the "Distribution Center".

[Chris Hurd]

Moved from Open DV to TCB.

[Chris Davis]

If you don't want to spend money, then you're going to have to spend time. Lots of it.

Take a look at some of the video players available here: Video Players - ActiveDen. They're cheap and plenty good looking. Pick one that's highly rated and well documented. You'll need to manually edit some XML to get them to work, but the ratio of work/results is the best I've seen.

[Dror Levi]

thanks allot

[Craig Coston]

Send me an email if you'd like and I'll point you in the right direction. I am much better at web development than I am at video production, and right now I'm actually in the later stages of a project that is a Flash/XML based video solution for a event videographer. The challenging part is building the content management backend where they can upload videos with descriptions, thumbnails, etc and also send out email blasts (sending code to Vertical Response via API). Find my email on my site please (I don't want to post it here, it will be visible to spammers).

Craig
Wild Fly Productions
WILD FLY PRODUCTIONS :: FLY FISHING AND HUNTING VIDEO PRODUCTION

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by Dror Levi

I would like the thumbnails and a screen.
The problem is that I don't want to spend much money and rather do it my self.

Check out the JWplayer from LongTailVideo.com.

I use it extensively, both on my website and for my clients' sites. I am by no means an HTML expert, but it does need some knowledge to spot which bits to change and how to look at examples of XML and adapt them to your requirements.

There is an extensive plug-in market, and it will also work in concert with YouTube and Vimeo, handle Google Analytics, it's skinnable, and so on. But the basic 'play my movie' is pretty easy to set up as there's a code generator on their site.

Licensing is cheap and easy too!

[Nigel Barker]

We do both video & websites & one of the big issues we encounter is people not being able to view a decent sized & decent quality video smoothly & without stuttering. The two basic problems are either the viewers computer isn't fast enough or is badly configured (e.g. an old version of Flash) or that the viewers network connection isn't fast enough. I have tried most every method & am coming round to the conclusion that embedding a video hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, Exposure Room, SmugMug etc is the lesser of the evils. If it doesn't play smoothly then you can point the finger at the problem being at the viewers i.e. if they have problems playing YouTube then they are probably aware of that & won't blame your video &/or website. If you host your own video unless your web hosting has good bandwidth then you will have problems delivering video well.

Here are some examples of different methods of displaying video that we have used.

Here we use JWPlayer which isn't perfect but is the most widely used & costs little. The actual video file (MPEG4) is hosted on SmugMug & embedded in the website http://www.propertyvideofrance.com/le-mas-bella

Here is another example similar to the above but at a much lower bit rate which obviously gives inferior picture quality but plays on even the poorest computer with bad network connection Le Mas des Vallons

Here the video (Flash VP6) is hosted on the actual web site on shared hosting (click on the thumbnail on the right hand side of the page). Sometimes this plays great & other times poorly Boutique Guest House Roquebrune

Here the same video as above is hosted on the web site on a Private Virtual Server that gives much better performance Luxury Guest House Roquebrune

Here's another version of the same Flash video on another website on the same PVS Promotional Video for Casa Rocca Bruna | Media

Finally here is an example of a page of video thumbnails that actually link to the videos on Vimeo http://www.barkers.fr/Example-Catego...rkers-way.html

So there are many different ways of achieving what you want but none in my opinion are perfect. I have been quoted anything from $200 to $1000 per month for hosting & streaming our videos from specialist companies like Brightcove. Until I can really justify that kind of money I will continue to search for a good DIY solution.

[Justin Deming]

hey, just letting you all know I am along for the ride.

I made my site 2 years ago in a hurry & it stinks!! I have not updated it in about a year & it really needs help. If you don't believe me, just have a look at Second Mouse Productions - Home.

I am doing research now & I hope to get something better going soon. I have some ideas for a look, and a bit of skill using Photoshop. where I need help is the coding, what features to include in the site, how to offer onine viewing of videos etc... My current site does play videos but the player seems so clunky & ugly. I think my hosting is a good deal though, pretty inexpensive, but then, i have virtually no traffic. I would like to get to the point where I need more service to support too mant people browsing my site :)

I will research some of the solutions offered above... I see there is lots of good advice here.

Regards, Justin