What do I need if I wanted to make a video clip where I talk about my
website and my products. What kind of a camera do I need (very
expensive?), do I have to acquire a special software, if so, where do
I find it, and how do I upload the video clip to my website?

Thanks!
Gabe

Hello Gabe~

Fortunately, it isn't too difficult to get video on the web.

Start by getting using of a digital camcorder. The higher the
resolution on the camera, the better the quality of the video, but you
can help ensure a professional looking video by using enough light.
The easiest way to do this is to shoot outdoors on an overcast day.
Shooting midday, with the sun out, is the worst possible time, as the
sun will cast ugly shadows and wash out colors. Without special,
expensive lighting equipment, shooting indoors may result in a muddy,
dark video.

The camcorder will come with software that will make it easy to put
the resulting video on your computer. If you desire, you can edit the
video using Windows Movie Maker. (In XP, you'll find this under
Programs>Accessories.) WMM is easy to use, but here are some good
tutorials:

Atomic Learning: http://www.atomiclearning.com/moviemaker2

Windows Movie Maker:
http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/Tutorials/HowToMovieMaker.aspx

Do Amazing Things: http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/Books/DoAmazingThings.aspx

There are several ways to upload your video, but the easiest is go to
use the FTP site for your website. Right click the video file on your
computer and select COPY. Go to the appropriate file on your FTP site
and right click and select PASTE.

For more detailed instructions on putting video on your website, please see:

"Putting Video on Your Website," Webdeveloper.com:
http://www.webdeveloper.com/multimedia/multimedia_putting_video_on_website.html

"What is FTP," About.com:
http://personalweb.about.com/od/ftpfileuploadprograms/a/01ftp.htm

"How Do I Add Video to My Website?" Boutell.com:
http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/creating/video.html

Good luck!

Kriswrite

RESEARCH STRATEGY:
Researcher's personal knowledge
Google search: uploading video to website

Excellent service.

Great answer from Kriswrite. I did what you want to do a few years
ago. I bought a good quality digital camcorder and a software package
called Visual Communicator from Serious Magic. Have a look here and
see what you think

http://www.seriousmagic.com/products/vc/index.cfm

I was impressed with the effects and the tools they provide allbeit
somewhat expensive. Additionally I found that I needed a fairly
powerful PC to handle the demands of the software.

dgp