Are you ready for the world to see your masterpiece? In the world of YouTube, Revver, Brightcove, and the like, there are easy ways to improve the quality of your videos and set yourself apart from the rest of the (junk) videos out there.

This article will be the first in a three part series — check back in future columns for “Editing for Online Video” and “Encoding for Online Video”.

Shoot! We’re assuming here that you’ve got a video camera of some sort. Mini DV cameras have become quite affordable. Many of them are even shooting HDV — a “light” version of HD that gives you great quality and relatively small file sizes. You don’t necessarily need the latest, greatest, most expensive HD camera to get your message across.

For some basics on improving your video in general, check out this tutorial video: Shooting Better Video and Still Pictures

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Some tips to keep in mind as they relate to the production of an online video:

• Closeups are more interesting that big wide shots
Wide shots are for documentaries and westerns. Keep in mind you’re going to be (in most cases) encoding your video down to 640×480 and people will be watching your masterpiece in iTunes, on their computers, or on their iPods. Shoot more closeups and “mid” shots for maximum effect.

• Progressive footage encodes better than interlaced
Interlacing is the method most standard televisions use– you are watching 2 fields made up of odd and even lines. This is done very quickly by the tv. It draws the even lines first and then the odd ones. Progressive footage is not interlaced– it is made up of a sequence of full images. A buzzword lately is cameras that shoot “24P”– 24 frames per second of progressive footage, which emulates the frame rate and look of a film camera. HDV cameras shoot progressive footage as well — 720P is a popular format.

All that being said, progressive footage looks better on a computer screen (which is not interlaced like a television) and is easier on the encoder, most especially if you only have 24 frames per second as opposed to the more standard 29.97 frames per second NTSC specification.

• Handheld footage does not encode as well as locked down footage
Put that camera on a tripod! I believe this is the first rule of “kicking your home movies up a notch.” When you encode video and are concerned with quality and file size, “locked down” works so much better. A video encoder looks at the information in one frame of video as it compares to the next. If there is a static background, the encoder can use the same information as in the previous frame to make the same bit of information in the next, and the next, etc. This efficiency makes the encoder happy and results in better quality and smaller file sizes.

Some other things that can choke an encoder (other than shaky footage), are pictures with lots and lots of information: trees blowing in the wind, moving water, etc.

So get out there and shoot!

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