ONLINE VIDEO

PRODUCTION

Tips and techniques for daily content. By Andrew Michael Baron

As creator of Rocketboom, I’ve been producing a 3-minute daily video news report since 2004. Here's how I prevent the every day thing from becoming everyday.

Camera

Illustrations by Damien Scogin

Use a MiniDV camera that takes MiniDV tapes. We have a $350 Panasonic, an older $2,000 3-chip model, and a nice new Sony HDR-HC1 MiniDV/ HDV camcorder, which at $1,400 is the best deal on the market right now. Tapeless cameras will also work, but their storage is too expensive. It’s nice to keep all your source material archived at full resolution. A 60-minute full-res video will take up a whole hard drive, or you can capture it onto

a tape that only costs a couple of bucks.

There’s really only one feature I recommend for people investing in a new camera: make sure it has a microphone input or a line-in jack. If not, you’ll be dependent on the camera’s built-in microphone, which in many environments will prevent you from doing good interviews and getting clean audio.

Also consider whether the camera is a single-CCD or 3-CCD model. A 3-chip camera processes each color separately, producing a brighter and sharper picture. Most cameras under $500 are 1-chip; these are also fine, but may look a bit more grainy, especially in low light. Most people use 1-chip cameras, since 3-CCD models have only recently become affordable.

Make: 147