Tips for Shooting Video for Streaming

For any video that is destined for streaming media, the following guidelines will provide optimum video and audio quality during the video shoot.

Tip #1: Use a Tripod

Even the slightest movement of the camera while you are shooting is translated into change between frames. And not only is your subject moving but now every single data point in the entire frame is now changing from one frame to the next. You won't get much compression under these conditions. Do whatever you can to steady the camera: Buy a tripod. Use a bench or a chair on which to steady the camera. Lean up against a wall. Set the camera down on something and use a piece of clothing to position and cushion the camera. Do anything you can to steady the camera while shooting.

Tip #2: Don't Pan or Zoom While Shooting

Unnecessary movement is almost always bad if you plan on streaming video. Things like zooming in and out and panning creates more motion in the video. If you are working on a presentation that will also go to tape, you might shoot a well-composed pan and a series of still shots. Use the pan and zoom effects in your taped presentation, but use the stills in your streaming presentation.

Tip #3: Hold the Background Still

If at all possible, arrange for as little movement in the background as possible. This allows the codec to ignore the background and concentrate on your subject. To minimize movement in the background, you have two basic choices:

• Any background with constant motion, such as a crowd scene or a field of grain blowing in the wind, creates a very 'active' background that does not compress well. Try to record your video in front of a wall or some other static backdrop. Anything to cut down on movement in the background will make for a smaller file.
• Consumer camcorders often come with a portrait mode that changes the depth of field, which puts the subject in sharp focus while blurring the background. That soft background allows the codec to hide loss of detail after compression while concentrating on the subject.

Codecs focus on change. Here, the background is motionless, allowing the codec to focus its attention on changes in the lion's head.

Tip #4: Get Up Close

One way to reduce the background is to fill more of the frame with your subject. By its nature, streaming video is often a smaller image to begin with. That can make an otherwise acceptable video image unusable on the client's computer screen. If possible, get in close by moving the camera or zoom in on your subject before you start recording.

This wide-angle shot of a gorilla loses him in the grass. For streaming media, your subject should fill as much of the screen as practical. If possible, get in close by moving the camera or zoom in on your subject before you start recording.

When shooting video for online use, step in and get close to your subject. Remember that your online video is probably going to be displayed much smaller than full screen. Also, close-up video will seem sharper, even if it really is not. And finally, getting in close means your portrait mode will be more effective at blurring the background. That is because the lens depth-of-field is shorter the closer you get.

When shooting video for online use, step in and get close to your subject. Remember that your online video is probably going to be displayed much smaller than full screen. Also, close-up video will seem sharper, even if it really is not. And finally, getting in close means your portrait mode will be more effective at blurring the background. That is because the lens depth-of-field is shorter the closer you get.

Tip #5: Use an External Microphone

The built-in microphone on your camera is a non-discriminating device that picks up everything around it, including airplanes, traffic, crowd noises, and ringing telephones. All that background noise creates the same problems for an audio codec that background movement creates for a video codec. Since audio and video are handled separately, the better the audio, the more you can compress it.

Since you have a fixed amount of bandwidth, you will have to decide if you want to allocate as much bandwidth as possible to the video or if you want to have better audio at the expense of some loss of video quality. This is a tradeoff that you'll need to make. People are more sensitive to degradation of audio than they are to video; if the audio is harsh and garbled, your users are less likely to be satisfied with your media. If you start with high-quality audio, you can still compress it using some of the more extreme settings and still have acceptable results. That means you can balance more resources to getting the most out of the video.

These tips should be viewed as choices. If you choose not to implement any of them, you will have to compromise in your streaming video somewhere else.