"How To Make Your Online Sales Video With Camtasia 7"

You need not be wearing a genius cap to see online sales videos (most created with Camtasia Studio 7) are flooding progressive websites. Online sales videos are spreading for one reason - THEY WORK... And, they are replacing the traditional sales page, once a necessity for online selling.

Before you begin to think, 'produce a video? No way I can afford that and besides, I know absolutely nothing about video production!' - Allow me to surprise you with facts, figures and one very short video presentation that may reverse that way of thinking.

Watch this HD, 3 minute video (below) I produced using the computer I am now typing on.

Set your YouTube player to high definition or 720p. Also, if the video stops, or pauses too often, move the bar tool back to the beginning. (TIP: You may need to let the lighter colored red bar move to the right for 50 seconds or a couple of inches to attain interruption-free viewing.)

I produced every element of the video you just watched using software entitled 'Camtasia Studio 7'. This amazing program is a jack-of-all-trades.

• Records on-screen activity
• Automatically zooms in to an area where the cursor is pointed
• Editor for Audio, Video Transitions, Titles, Text... much more
• Your rendered video can be uploaded easily to YouTube, Camtasia... many, many others

The process of video production is basically simple. It's a lot like following a cooking recipe. Following are the steps I use to produce a finished video production.

1. Write the script
2. Sketch or list the visuals I will use - A video script is usually created with a vertical line drawn down the middle of the paper. The left side contains a description of the video action while the right side contains narration and audio
3. Import my on-screen video - This could be video I've shot or the recorded on-screen action captured in Camtasia
4. Import images or other video I've shot to Camtasia Studio 7 - Camtasia made this process very easy... 2 clicks of the mouse and an import is done
5. Choose or compose, then import mp3s of the background music I will use
6. Import SFX (sound effects) to Camtasia Studio 7
7. Record and save the narration
8. Edit all of these parts into a finished video
9. Render the video for sharing with YouTube, Camtasia, etc.
10. Watch it and hopefully smile at the result

The image (below) is a shot of the editor. You are looking at every element used to make the video you just watched. Pretty cool, huh?

Think 'vertical' as you look at this screen shot. Every Callout, Zoom and Audio action is being synchronized with the top Video line. As Editor, you have full control over how long each element will last, when it will appear and for how may repetitions.

The arrow is pointing to the Tracks option. Select this for adding multiple audio stereo tracks and the Picture-In-A-Picture, PIP, video and accompanying audio track. PIP describes the usage of other video/audio seen and heard inside the main screen action--much like your TV's PIP option.

The arrow is pointing to the editing screen. The screen looks small here, but is quite large when the program is running. This is where all of the action you decide to make happen is shown.

The timeline is where the editor takes ALL of the parts; the still images, the video, callouts, titles, audio, SFX, and narration to make a seamlesss, finished video.

The squared-off images seen on the timeline represent one of the video or still images described above.

The Callout bars seen below, represent text captions and effects.

The Audio 1 image you see represents the explosion SFX I used in the video.

This type of video editing is called "non-linear", meaning edits may be inserted anywhere at any time throughout the editing process. Camtasia Studio 7 is also non-destructive, so if a mistake is made, it can easily be fixed and saved.

I know - I KNOW this brief introduction to video editing looks daunting and impossible to learn; please trust me, you can be producing simple videos in no time using this software. Once the script was written, the video you watched at the beginning of this hub took only 3 hours to assemble. Granted, my professional background includes years of video production, but remember this; in most cases, the simpler the video,the more understood the message.

What's that? Oh, of course, the price! I think I know what you are expecting to pay, but it's nowhere near that. You can buy Camtasia Studio 7 online for $299 or less. Search the web ; you can find some great deals.

If you solicited an ad agency or a video production house to produce a video like the one I produced and you watched at this hub's beginning, you would be billed close to $5,000, and that price is low end.

I will be more than happy to answer your questions (within reason) at no charge.

One last thing... when you are ready to 'jump' into making your own marketing videos with Camtasia Studio 7, you will need additional hardware:

• A Very Good Microphone
• Monitor Speakers
• Sound Card
• Cables

It's a very exciting time for Internet marketing!