The following is a checklist of best practices for launching videos on MAKE, CRAFT, and Maker Faire.
During editing, be sure to include the appropriate logo bug in the upper right corner.
See FCP settings screenshot
During editing, consider the ending of your video:
have you asked the viewers to subscribe or check out your other episodes?
have you included clips of other episodes to later annotate on YouTube? See Becky’s iPhone Gloves video as an example.
Choose a video thumbnail. Keep in mind:
YouTube will put a big play button directly in the center of the frame
The thumbnail should make you want to click on it
Take a screenshot or export a still frame to make your thumbnail
The maximum dimensions of this image must not exceed 1280×720 pixels.
Export the different versions of the video. We need:
An HD file, preferably h.264 3800 kbps with AAC audio, for launch to YouTube and Vimeo
a podcast-friendly m4v, easy to make with the “export: movie to iPhone” settings-free option in Quicktime
Write up your metadata. This includes:
Video title
Video description with any relavant links
tags
File delivery: depending on your arrangement with your producer, you will deliver files in one of two ways.
The simple way: Upload your HD, m4v, metadata and thumbnail image to ftp.oreilly.com in the MakeOnline folder corresponding to your name.
The complete way: Launch the files to public servers (CDN, Vimeo, YouTube).
Draft a blog post! The text can be similar to your video description, but should include formatted HTML and related links just like any other post on our sites.
Include the podcast HTML slug appopriate for your series (look at a past episode’s post for example) – it will include a link to subscribe to your podcast, download the m4v, or watch on YouTube or Vimeo.
iTunes looks for the link to that m4v, so double check it works or the podcast won’t launch in iTunes.
Add any series and topical categories, the MAKE/CRAFT Podcast category, and don’t forget a featured image (can be the same as the video thumbnail).
