b) Is it a high definition camera? Most, if not all, high-definition cameras are 3-chip cameras which will greatly help in the sharpness, clarity, and richness of color. While Internet streaming videos are not usually high-definition videos in their final form, they will look much better if they were originally shot in HD. Plus, if you choose to purchase DVD versions of your video tours as many agents often do, having a true high definition version of your video will make all the difference when showing it to others on a TV.

 

c) Does the camera allow for the removal and interchanging of different lenses? This is such an important question that it should almost be asked first. There are many videographers out there who have purchased small, inexpensive video cameras on which lenses are not interchangeable, and most of these cheap cameras come with standard lenses permanently attached to the camera. To put it bluntly; wide angle lenses are the only way to go when shooting real estate--period. Videographers who do not have cameras with interchangeable lenses can only achieve a "wide angle" by using a snap-on lens adapter which is temporarily affixed to the outside of the built-in lens. This always results in heavily distorted images (bent walls, curved ceilings, etc), as well as blurry footage, and can even include the actual adapter itself in the outer edges of the footage--thus obstructing part of the image! Notice below: the image on the left is a standard image created by a camera with a "wide angle" adapter attached to it, and the image on the right was taken with a true wide lens. Notice the massive distortion, blurriness, and obstruction of the edges of the image caused by the cheap adapter, and the clean, straight lines with no obstruction shot with a true wide lens on the right.

 

If the videographer plans to use a tripod to shoot the property, you might as well save your money and hire someone to take panoramic photos of each room in your house. Think about it: a panoramic still-photo camera sits on a tripod and rotates on an axis to take its pictures. If a video camera were to sit on a tripod and rotate similarly, it will yield the exact same results--only you'll pay much more for the video than you would for the panoramic images.

 

Another reason to avoid a videographer who insists on using a tripod is this: absolutely no 3-dimensional data can be extracted by the human eye when examining footage shot from a tripod. You do want your viewers to understand not just the height and width of each room in the home, but the depth as well, don't you? If so, then the camera cannot merely be pivoted on a tripod: it must be in motion. Just listen to the experts in Hollywood: "Parallax Shift [the visible evidence of perspective within a movie] is present only when the camera is moving, and thus a lack of parallax means the camera is not moving. If the camera is simply panning, there is no parallax." (Dobbert, 2005, pg. 39).

 

Click the image below to see the difference between tripod footage and moving-camera footage: the footage taken from a moving camera provides much more useful imagery to the viewer!

 

 

 

Dark footage corrected:

 

Blurry footage corrected:

 

Color correction:

 

1) The option to choose streaming or downloading (progressively). Streaming occurs when the video is played as it is being downloaded: contrarily, downloading actually places the file on the user's computer to be viewed once the download is complete. If the speed of the user's Internet is too slow for streaming, then downloading is another option for that user.

 

2) Branding capability: The video players need to support branding images for advertising purposes. Agents will want their names, faces, and contact information clearly displayed each time the video is played. While many MLS sites do not allow branding, you can certainly brand your videos on your own websites, direct marketing, or any other web-based outlet you choose. One more thing: these branding images should also allow "hyperlinking" to any web destination you choose. This means that if a viewer clicks your branding image, it can take them directly to your website; pull up an email program with your email address already populated in the address section; or link to another video altogether--such as a community video, or even a personal video about you!

 

3) Reporting tools: You will want to be able to see how many hits your video tours are getting; where they are coming from (around the country); and other such helpful information that will tell you how your marketing campaigns are working for you.

Naturally, you'll expect the video tour provider to have access to the Multiple Listing Service websites in your area and to be considered an approved tour provider for those websites. But you may want to expose your buyers to other methods of viewing your video tours, such as DVDs; CDROM videos; or hand-held devices. Any reputable video tour provider will offer these options, and perhaps more.

 

Having a variety of delivery options means reaching more potential buyers across many different platforms. The web-based videos will appeal to the Internet surfers; the DVDs can be looped on a television in your office--appealing to anyone who walks in (they can also be given away to buyers who have seen your properties and whom you'd like to remember your properties); and hand-held device videos are a luxury to any agent who would like to be able to show their video tours to anyone, anywhere, at anytime--all without having to be connected to the Internet or TV.

Once upon a time, photos were the way to go in terms of Internet marketing and sales, but times have changed. The Internet is faster than it has ever been, and the public expects to see more than still pictures. They can find full-motion video online all over the Internet at websites like AOL; YouTube; Google; MetaCafe; MySpaceTV; Yahoo; virtually everywhere! And the multiple listing services have caught on: Realtor.com, for example, now provides (for its Showcase customers) the hosting and streaming of full motion video tours for agents who are smart enough to have them. If you're trying to sell one of the largest single investments a person can make--especially in a down market--you can't afford to miss the most effective method of reaching your buyers no matter where they are. Get a full-motion video tour for each and every one of your properties right now!

For every referral you give that results in a Knightyme Video Tour purchase, you'll receive a video tour of any of your listings for half price.

 

Purchase a "Knightyme Video Tour" NOW and see for yourself why we have NEVER had a customer only buy one--they always come back!

Order now! Visit our website and place your order risk free today! BUY NOW!

 

 

Dobbert, Tim. (2005). Matchmoving: The invisible art of camera tracking. San Francisco: Dan Brodnitz.