Interested in adding video to your social media mix, but unsure of how to get started?  Get Seen by Steve Garfield is a great primer for aspiring citizen journalists and videobloggers alike.

The book is divided in to two sections. The first, "Creating", covers the type of camera to choose, lighting and sound, ways to make videos without a camera (recording your computer screen, creating animated videos, or using the clips of others), recording and shooting, and editing. 

Since I had already purchased a Kodak Zi8, the section on choosing a camera was not relevant to me.  However, I did find the information on which cameras had Firewire connections really interesting, since apparently Firewire (or a USB webcam) is the secret ingredient for streaming live.  I had wondered how that was done, since my little Zi8 requires pulling the video off the camera and on to the PC before uploading it.

As soon as we start to get into lighting and sound I get a little intimidated, and as much trouble as I have getting people to talk to a video camera, the idea of trying to light and mic them may be overly ambitious for me for now.  If  someone is interested in improving the quality of their videos and doesn't have shy subjects, though, there are lots of useful tips for equipment.

The section on making videos without a camera was interesting, although we've licensed Camtasia and so were not looking for recommendations there.  I had seen the talking robots videos before and wondered how they were made, so I found it interesting that Xtranormal.com was used to create them.

In "Recording and Shooting", the author highlights several ways to use a webcam to record and store videos on the web.  I was most interested in Wetoku.com, which will allow you to record a video interview, saves it to the site, and then gives you an embed code to post to the web.  This really intrigued me, since (last time I checked) there is a time limit on YouTube videos and our internal IT doesn't want to give up the bandwith or storage to put these on our servers.

"Sharing" gives details on how to upload videos that have already been created, how to broadcast live, and video blogging.  In the section on uploading videos there was a brief mention of two sites that would support paid "subscriber" models for video content, MyContent.com and Ooyala.com.  We've had internal discussions around creating educational videos and charging people for subscriptions, and it seemed these sites would support that, but there was very little detail in the book, so this would require some outside research.  I would have been interested in more detail on this topic.

Broadcasting live is not for the faint of heart (or on my agenda right now), but I did find the sites mentioned very intriguing, especially Qik.com, which allows live streaming video upload from a cell phone.  The author notes in passing to find WiFi, but again, for someone new to social media, the impression is that this would work any time, when in fact I don't think there is sufficient bandwidth, even on 3G, for this to be a reality yet.

At the end of the book there are transcripts of several video interviews, presumably produced as a part of the research for the book but which just didn't quite make it into the text of the book.  Definitely browse through these as well, especially the one with Felicia Day, actress, writer, and all around honorary Nerd Girl.

The book overall seems understandable and informative.  There were a lot of websites highlighted that I was not familiar with prior to reading the book.  While most of the mentions seemed appropriate, I did wonder if some of them were personal friends or clients of the author and may have gotten more coverage then they mertited on their own.  While there is a disclosure in the back of the book saying that there was a personal relationship with some of the people and companies in the book, I do think this could have been made clearer by distinguishing who was an up-and-comer or client from those who are generally accepted to be leaders in the field.

For anyone social media savvy enough to have found this review, this book probably starts at a basic enough level to get you producing and posting your own videos.  There is quite a bit of assumed knowledge for those who are not computer and web savvy, so you will not want to hand this to your grandmother and expect her to be video blogging without help.  Your kid, on the other hand, would probably do just fine.

**Social Media Club members (Open/Pro/SMB/Corporate) are welcome to participate in a free webinar hosted by Social Media Club featuring Steve Garfield, Author of Get Seen on Wednesday, July 27th at 2pm EDT. Register here!**

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