New website design - Page 2 at DVinfo.net
DV Info Net

Go Back   DV Info Net > Special Interest Areas > Wedding / Event Videography Techniques
Register FAQ Today's Posts Buyer's Guides

Wedding / Event Videography Techniques
Shooting non-repeatable events: weddings, recitals, plays, performances...

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old March 25th, 2008, 08:32 AM   #16
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,505
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Drob View Post
good design but you're not taking advantage of vertical real estate - on a monitor with decent resolution, you're still forcing me to scroll instead of just being able to see everything.. otherwise, good job - lots of previews and easy to find info
Mike thanks for taking the time to look.
Wow this thread is expanding quickly for a post that was made 2 months ago.

Anyway, I do agree about not taking advantage of the vertical real estate for my text. I wanted to make the page layout as self contained as possible and tried to set it up to take advantage of users with smaller screens without having to scroll across every time on their screen when viewing a page. I ahd some early testers (ironically also vidoegraphers) complain that they always had to scroll over to see the whole page on their smaller screen.

Also, if I wanted to give the user less scrolling then I would have had to compromise my original intent of the page layouts. Also the visitor would still have to scroll somewhat anyway, which is why I left it alone.

I did cut and rewrite quite a bit of copy, but didn't want to cut anymore copy than I already had. So it was a trade off. I'll probably take a look later on and see if I can cut down some more copy, especially on my Wedding page. As I still think it's too wordy.
__________________
Michael
www.lvpvideo.com
Michael Liebergot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 25th, 2008, 08:40 AM   #17
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,505
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Weeks View Post
I don't like the font... it's probably just me but I hate seeing Arial or Times on a Web site. Maybe something like Tahoma or Verdana? They should come with any Windows box, and if you have Office for Mac installed they will be on your Mac.

I like the blue color on the main page... don't care so much for the purple on the 'About Us' page though.

I like the use of the pictures, and I thought the Vendors page was a good idea.

Also, I agree with Mike about the vertical resolution. Although it would interrupt your design, it would be nice not having to scroll. Other than that I like it (except for the font!)
Nick, thanks for looking.
Yeah I'm not crazy about the font either, I actually prefer Trajan when possible, over Tahoma and Veranda. I would have rather preferred to simply create teh copy as a graphic to be consistent. But then I would have lost text optimization for Google and such.

Funny, the purple is the color I like best (my personal favorite color). Actually that graphic will also be changing, as it will be replaced with a portrait of myself, the wife, and our new baby (and maybe the dog) when we have one professionally taken. The joined hands are poignant being that it's bout us (two people). But I wanted it to be more about me, hence the pictures personalization when it's taken. Besides I want everyone to see my ugly mug.

As for the blue on the main page, that was intentional. As I have read up on the subliminal use of color on the human psyche, and blue signifies trust (especially baby blue, which was too light for the page).
__________________
Michael
www.lvpvideo.com
Michael Liebergot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 25th, 2008, 10:15 AM   #18
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Bloomington, IL
Posts: 61
Nice site. Keeps a consistancy but varies enough to make it interesting. Video is nice, I use the same flash media player on a web site I take care of.

On a different subject of your business, you refer that you went to HD but you don't reference what equipment you use. What camera(s) are you using now?

Thanks and have a great day, lastly, do you do videography full time?

Jeff
__________________
Created Design Video
Video production for the common man
Jeffrey Lovell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 25th, 2008, 10:24 AM   #19
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,505
Jeffery, we currently are no using Sony FX1's and Canon HV20's (which are mainly used as capture decks or 3rd alter cams). We also still us a PD170 for some product training videos which I shoot.

I don't mention what equipment I use anywhere on the site. People really just don't care and wouldn't even know what equipment we would be referencing.
I just mention that we use quality audio recorders and have transitioned to HD cameras. So I don't bore them with the technical details and just focus on the quality. Which my main goal of the text on the site is to focus on our quality and our desire to form a personal working relationship.

I haven't posted any of the FX1 samples online yet, as I haven't gotten to those edits yet.

I think I mentioned this a few posts back but, I actually do graphic design for a direct mail company full time, and have this as a second business.
You could call it full time though, since I spend 40-80 hours per wedding video. Stage and cooperate video is obviously not as long or intensive.
__________________
Michael
www.lvpvideo.com

Last edited by Michael Liebergot; March 25th, 2008 at 03:23 PM.
Michael Liebergot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 27th, 2008, 08:57 AM   #20
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Portsmouth, UK
Posts: 118
Just to agree, very nice clean site....all the info that is needed and pleasing to the eye.

Out of curiosity what was the flash gallery you actually used? Have not seen that one before...
Vince Baker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 27th, 2008, 09:35 AM   #21
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,505
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vince Baker View Post
Just to agree, very nice clean site....all the info that is needed and pleasing to the eye.

Out of curiosity what was the flash gallery you actually used? Have not seen that one before...
The player was from this site:
http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=JW_FLV_Media_Player

I used the player setup wizard to layout the player how I wanted and copied and pasted the code in my page. I downloaded the FLV player and have it on my server and it's coded in my HTML accordingly. I wanted the player on my server and not another.
Of course I had to create an XML file for the playlist.

The player setup wizard is here.
http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?page=wizard
__________________
Michael
www.lvpvideo.com
Michael Liebergot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 28th, 2008, 11:59 AM   #22
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Belgium
Posts: 9,510
[QUOTE=Michael Liebergot;849353]The player was from this site:
http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=JW_FLV_Media_Player

An even easier way to use Jeroen's player would be if you'd have a wordpress website, through plugins it's quite easy to implement with a minimum of coding knowledge.

I did like the site as well, well structured and even if you can discuss font and color it's really not that important, content is. I wouldn't disagree that a well designed professional site would give a client the impression that you A. must be equally professional or B. have been ripping customers of to pay for such an expensive site ;) but as long as it doesn't look like your grandfather build it, it will serve it's purpose.

With your site all that was needed was there and easy to find. I also liked the scroll bar with the text on each page as it keeps focus on the image on the left (just for visual purpose) and the navigation on top. (which I think is important because i think it will keep your client focussed on the sites content)
I really liked the availability checker, my site runs on wordpress and I have been looking for a plugin that could handle that, it would save me some work not to inform clients each time I can't accept their wedding.
Noa Put is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 28th, 2008, 12:19 PM   #23
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,505
Noa thanks for the reply.
I agree about using a Wordpress Blog for a website,a s I have started to see many use Blog pages as their main website. Blogs are indexed more frequently and seem to be a bit more Google friendly at the moment.

I decided to keep a site separate and start 2 different Blogger blogs (LVP Blog and a Tools of the Trade Blog), which are still a work in progress. When they are a bit more content intensive then I will link them from my main website. Both are currently linked to my main website for cross reference.

As for the availability checker, that came from Wedj.com and their Gigbuilder software, which I truly love. Not only can clients check availability, but also when booked, they can download contracts, make online payments, and most importantly for me, provide me with event details like party information, vendor info, timeline and such.
__________________
Michael
www.lvpvideo.com
Michael Liebergot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 4th, 2008, 01:30 PM   #24
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Spartanburg, SC
Posts: 26
Michael...

Great website! Could you share more specifically what "Video Jukebox" code you utilized. Was it a pre-written application, or a coding examples using something like swfobject.

Thanks for any help!
__________________
LifeSong Video Productions, LLC
http://www.lifesongvideoproductions.com
Chris Sigmon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 4th, 2008, 01:58 PM   #25
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,505
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Sigmon View Post
Michael...

Great website! Could you share more specifically what "Video Jukebox" code you utilized. Was it a pre-written application, or a coding examples using something like swfobject.

Thanks for any help!
Chris take a look a few posts up, as I mentioned where the jukebox came from.
There is a wizard that will enable you to generate the appropriate code for your site. You then have to copy and paste it in your HTML document.

You will also have to download the player if you would like it to run on your server (which I prefer), ad you will also have to generate an .XML playlist for the jukebox. If you simply want a single player then no playlist is required.
__________________
Michael
www.lvpvideo.com
Michael Liebergot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 4th, 2008, 02:05 PM   #26
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Spartanburg, SC
Posts: 26
Thanks, Michael.... I now know that there's a PAGE 2 of posts! DUH.... If I'd noticed that before I posted, I'd have seen you post where you described all of this.... sorry for the duplication.....
__________________
LifeSong Video Productions, LLC
http://www.lifesongvideoproductions.com
Chris Sigmon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 4th, 2008, 05:06 PM   #27
Major Player
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Belle Mead, NJ
Posts: 552
Hey Michael - nice site. I too am going the wordpress route. Its very easy to use this in conjunction with Vimeo so you can either embed the SD clip on your blog or provide a link to an HD version on Vimeo. (got the idea from Patrick's blog) Where are you getting your photos from? I've approach a few photogs I've worked with about using some of their work to feature on my pages. Seems like it would be a win-win but no takers yet. I looked at some photos on istock but some of them look "too slick".

Art
Art Varga is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 4th, 2008, 05:23 PM   #28
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,505
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Varga View Post
Hey Michael - nice site. I too am going the wordpress route. Its very easy to use this in conjunction with Vimeo so you can either embed the SD clip on your blog or provide a link to an HD version on Vimeo. (got the idea from Patrick's blog) Where are you getting your photos from? I've approach a few photogs I've worked with about using some of their work to feature on my pages. Seems like it would be a win-win but no takers yet. I looked at some photos on istock but some of them look "too slick".

Art
Thanks Art, I know that many are gong the Wordpress Blog route, but for some reason I didn't. Don't remember my reasoning.

As for the photography, they are my pictures. At the event I also take along a small camera and snap a few pictures from time to time. Mainly to use for cover artwork. I get lucky sometimes with some of the pics.

There are a few stock photos, but most are from actual weddings of mine.

We just recently had our first child (baby girl), and we are going to have a family portrait done soon (me and wife, baby, and dog). This picture will be going up on our "about us" page in place of the holding hands, which is currently just a placeholder. This should give it a more personal feel that I want this site to have.

I haven't had the opportunity yet, but I just switched over to HD, and will be taking a few stills with the camera as well as attempting to pull some frame grabs off of the actual video.
__________________
Michael
www.lvpvideo.com
Michael Liebergot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 4th, 2008, 06:33 PM   #29
Major Player
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Belle Mead, NJ
Posts: 552
well then - nice job on the photographs! I've taken a few stills from time to time but quite frankly I'm so challenged with the video stuff I'm resigned to leaving the stills to the pros.

Art
Art Varga is offline   Reply
Reply

DV Info Net refers all where-to-buy and where-to-rent questions exclusively to these trusted full line dealers and rental houses...

B&H Photo Video
(866) 521-7381
New York, NY USA

Scan Computers Int. Ltd.
+44 0871-472-4747
Bolton, Lancashire UK


DV Info Net also encourages you to support local businesses and buy from an authorized dealer in your neighborhood.
  You are here: DV Info Net > Special Interest Areas > Wedding / Event Videography Techniques


 



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:33 PM.


DV Info Net -- Real Names, Real People, Real Info!
1998-2024 The Digital Video Information Network