How can you choose the best video format to make sure that people view and spread your work over the Internet? Find out with our new free guide, What’s the best video format for online distribution?

So you’ve just finished completing the world’s next blockbuster and you want to get your baby on the web fast. The most important preparation is choosing how to format it for the web. Our newest free report explains video formats for the beginning to intermediate user — what the different video formats are and which are the best video formats for web distribution.  You’ll learn the strengths and weaknesses of MOVs, AVIs, FLVs, WMVs, and MP4s, so you can make an informed choice when you decide how the online world will see your movie.

Whether it’s a question of finding the best compression for YouTube or choosing a format that allows your users to interact with the video, there is a video format out there for your exact purposes. Choosing the best video format for web distribution is absolutely vital for getting people to watch your videos on YouTube, Vimeo or other video sharing websites. We asked filmmaker/videographer Chelsey Grasso to decipher the mysteries of getting the best compression for YouTube and the web. Download this all new free report to have all the different video formats explained in plain English.  You’ll never have to worry about your format choices adversely affecting your finished productions again.

Learn:

• Sharing Your Video Masterpiece with the World
• Why Video Formats Are Important
• Getting Down to Business: The Types of Video Formats
• Common Mistakes in Choosing a Video Format
• Tips for Selecting the Best Video Format in Any Situation
• Video Formatting: Wrapping It Up
• Additional Resources

Download your free report What’s the Best Video Format for Online Distribution?

Big announcements continue to fly in from NAB! Here is the latest from Canon which should prove to be very noteworthy for Videomaker readers.

“The new Canon XF305 and XF300 professional tapeless HD camcordersemploy an MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps codec – Canon XF Codec – for capturing and recording native 1920 x 1080 video onto affordable, universally available Compact Flash (CF) cards. The new Canon XF305 and XF300 Professional Camcorders feature hot-swappable dual card slots and support UDMA CF cards for maximum performance. Uniting video, audio and metadata into a single file, the Canon XF305 and XF300 use an MXF (Material eXchange Format) File Wrapper, a widely supported open-source format, to maximize compatibility with existing industry infrastructure and non-linear editing (NLE) systems.”

The cameras also include Canon 18x HD L-series lenses, “The Canon XF305 and XF300 Professional Camcorders include a Genuine Canon 18x HD L-series lens providing documentary filmmakers and news camera operators with the focal-range versatility required in the field. Each model includes three Canon developed and designed native 1920 x 1080 CMOS image sensors, and the new Canon XF Codec for extreme color detail required for accurate chroma-keying, color-grading and compositing for digital filmmaking Canon’s XF305 model features industry-standard HD-SDI output, genlock, and SMPTE time code (in/out) terminals for multi-camera or 3-D productions.”

MTV is dead. It was a long horrible drawn out process, but MTV the legendary music video format originators have passed away. In it’s place, stands some awfully unoriginal programming. Unless you have been living in a cave for the last 20 years, you might have noticed that MTV really doesn’t air music videos anymore. The truth is, since about 1993 the channel began to stray from the music video format and hasn’t stoped since. Music videos used to be forced down our throats growing up. Which in turn ended up inspiring a generation of indy filmmakers to perfect their craft. Using the music video format to tell their stories. Read the rest of this entry »