Outdoors Video For Websites

Video is now becoming the big thing on the internet, with Google and other major players jumping onto the bandwagon. I saw the leading edge of that wave coming some months ago and I’ve been having fun learning about deployment schemes and creating video products, both for clients and for my website. I now have the start of a pretty good library of clips related to outdoor adventure and I intend to increase and improve my offerings substantially during the next few months.

Most of my clients are lodges or guides. I’ve innovated a presentation that combines video with text to create an effective promotion. Here’s an example (you’ll need Flash 8 and a high-speed connection to watch it.)

Many companies have invested in a promotional DVD they mail to potential clients. It is very easy to take that DVD, slice out key parts, convert them into Flash video and deploy them on a website. If a company has invested big bucks to make a DVD, it only makes sense to offer key segments on your website, especially since it is easy and inexpensive.

With youtube and other video websites increasing in popularity, good clips can get tremendous exposure in a short time. Deploying a clip to such sites can be an effective part of your business promotion strategy.

I’ve shot a lot of video during the past couple years, mostly just for fun, operating without any budget as I go about my normal recreational activities. Some of it is pretty good, as you can see from the clips posted on my site. I have much more waiting to be edited. I now produce better video clips than I did when I started. I intend to go back and re-do some of my early clips, but I don’t get around to it because I am having such fun producing new stuff.

Bottom line, it doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult to put good video on your site. If you have a DVD, it is easy. If you don’t, there are plenty of guys, me included, who will work with you to produce a good product at a very reasonable rate.

Flash 8 has become my standard of choice. It is easy to convert video to that standard, easy to deploy the video, and virtually all computers connected to the internet are flash-enabled. (Some may need to upgrade to Flash 8, but that is painless.) Flash video begins to play while it is downloading, so it begins playing almost immediately for people with broadband. The number of people with broadband is skyrocketing, driving this video boom.

If you have video of an exciting outdoor activity, I may be willing to convert it and host it without charge, just to make it available to the public. Let me know if you have something.

- Dave
dave@redrockadventure.com