Some people are prolific article writers. One-a-day is not a problem for them. However, let's assume that you are 'challenged' in this regard and can only manage one a week. Now that is fine, since you can 'spin' the content and submit it all over with an automatic submission software, hence you still get a reasonable 'coverage' out of the exercise. I go one step further and post it on my blogs, Scribd and Hubpages. If you got this far, you might as well do a decent job.
Now wouldn't it be nice if you could take that same content and turn it into a video as well? Most of the hard work has already been done! Some people don't find this a challenging task at all; they just whip out a Flip camera and shoot a short video of themselves. However, what do you do if you don't like appearing in front of a video camera?
Well, let's turn that article into a video without using a camera! The simplest approach is to use custom-made software for this job. Software products that I have experimented with include MemoriesOnWeb and Online Video Story. However, if you really want control over the process, then I suggest you use a proper video editing suite such as AVS Video Editor, Pinnacle Studio, Corel MovieMaker or Sony Vegas. Or even Microsoft Movie Maker, if you can get it to work! I happen to use Pinnacle Studio, the $80 or so was a good investment since I use it for my vacation videos as well.
Here's how you go about it.
- Take your article and cut it down to about one sentence per paragraph. I prefer between 5 and 15 sentences. Limit your sentences to a few words each. Short sentences are better since they are easier to read.
- Open up PowerPoint and create a slideshow with blank pages, one for each sentence. Copy and paste your sentences, in sequence, onto plain backgrounds. I use white lettering (Arial 44pt) on black because it is easy to read. Don't forget to put a URL and a call to action on the last slide. When done, 'Save As' individual JPEG files (just confirm when prompted) so that you end up with slide1.jpg, slide2.jpg and so on.
- Now you need a still image (also in JPG format) between each two text slides. Use your own, or check out MorgueFile or Stock.xchng for royalty-free pictures. You can also use Google to search for pictures, just watch out for copyright issues. Store them in the same folder as the text files. Ideally you should name them pic1.jpg, pic2.jpg, etc.
- Fire up your video editor, and drag the text and picture files onto the story line, in the correct sequence. Following that, adjust the duration of each clip against the time line to suit your own taste. Play the video to see if you like it, and adjust the duration of each clip time-wise. We are almost done!
- Pick a nice transition effect and drag it on to each junction between text and image. Don't waste time messing around with this, just select one and use it all the way.
- Finally; the music. My video editor (Pinnacle Studio Plus 12) has a music library built-in. You could also do an online search for royalty-free music. Start with Jamendo. Do not 'rip' tracks off CDs as you will run into copyright issues. You need to copy and paste, or drag, the music clip onto the sound track, then cut off any surplus, and add fade-in and fade-out at the ends. It should not take you more than a minute to do this.
Done!
Only one more hurdle needs to be crossed. You still have to render the video, i.e. produce the 'output'. I just select Flash (FLV format) and make some coffee while Pinnacle churns out the video for me. And that is it!
Deon H Reynders is the CEO of Visionary Marketers and lives, with his wife and an assortment of four-legged and feathered friends, near Toodyay in the Western Australian countryside. Deon is an accomplished marketer, electronics engineer, coach, trainer and published author. You can read more on the conversion of articles to videos here.
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