Subscriber asks:
Bought the camera you recommended.
I when into home that had no window coverings and turned all lights on like you said. Because I have large luxury homes it will take over 10 minutes so I have 3 takes on this. But light was coming in thru windows so strong, video goes dark many times.
RESPONSE:
Suggestions to correct lighting issues:
– Adjusting the zoom all the way out each time you turn on the camera will help
– Go into the camera settings and be sure to turn the backlight setting on
– There’s another lowlight color setting that should be on
See if that helps.
Regarding the YouTube 10 minute limit, you can film any property up to 5000 sq feet in less than 10 minutes, you just have to adjust your route and pace. Frankly your challenge is to master the basics, and THEN work on route and pace once you’re comfortable with the walking and talking aspects.
Hang in there – you’re off to a great start!
Todd
COACH’S UPDATE MARCH 2011:
YouTube increased the maximum video duration from 10 to 15 minutes, giving us plenty of time to film the unedited video tours we teach here at our site.
This poster had trouble because his video camera would adjust to the BRIGHT SUNLIGHT that was streaming through the windows by making the rest of the room look dark in his video. You’ll notice that I gave him the technical answers of how to adjust his camera settings to correct the problem.
Do you like playing with the settings on a camcorder?
If you’re like MOST people who just want to have their camera work for them automatically, you’ll LOVE what I say next, as my post on using the iPhone4 to take videotours suggests:
“I’m quickly falling in love with using smart phones and mobile computing devices to take video tours”
Bright light streaming through the windows of a home is a SELLING FEATURE that a good video recording device should illustrate in our videos automatically. The video camera on my iPhone4 does this very well… and it does it AUTOMATICALLY. Can a good video camera do it better? Yes, and if you want to learn to be a videographer you can invest the money in expensive camera equipment, and invest the time to learn how to use it. The majority of agents, landlords and property managers prefer to just learn how to shoot a good video tour with equipment that does this for them automatically.
Want to ‘stay tuned’? Join our free email list or subscribe to our blog, so you can stay current on the latest trends with equipment recommendations and video techniques.
Todd Breen
TheVideoTourCoach