I was recently asked to define "high-quality video" and it got me thinking: Shouldn't all video be quality video? Do you need the qualifier high? Regardless there are some ways to define quality or high-quality video. If you're looking to produce a video these are all things you should consider.
Two Things To Keep In Mind
There are two key elements to producing a quality video, technical and messaging. Messaging, or content, is critically important. The video must include all relevant information and it must be conveyed in a manner that is easily understood by the intended audience. Creative Liquid works with clients in pre-production, prior to video recording, to ensure the video is going to be on message. You can have the best looking video, but if your message is confusing or misses the point your audience won't walk away understanding your message.
Technical aspects of the video include everything from clean audio to video quality. Video must be well lit and in focus, that's a given, but there’s more to quality video. Creative Liquid utilizes cameras that record in broadcast quality formats. Broadcast quality is an industry term that is easily measured. There are baseline specifications we follow.
Todau's digital cameras, such as our Sony F5 CineAlta cinema cameras, record video in file-based media. The recording format of cameras is referred to as the video codec. There are several broadcast quality codecs, including ProRes, XAVC, and AVCIntra. Broadcast quality generally refers to a codec that utilizes a minimum of 10-Bit 4:2:2 color space. Why is this important? Video files recorded in a broadcast quality codec contain more information than a more compressed codec. This information refers to color detail in the footage, which in the end provides a higher quality result.
Audio must be clean, meaning free of distracting noises. Interview subjects should be clearly understood. Creative Liquid utilizes two microphones for interviews, a lavalier worn on the interview subject and a boom microphone. This provides a primary and backup source of audio for every interview. If your video looks good, but sounds terrible your audience will turn it off.
The final technical aspect of quality video is editing and graphics. Videos should be well edited. In a well edited video the viewer should be able to focus on the message and not the edits and video quality. Graphics should be free of errors and follow industry standard practices.
Work With A Good Team
The best way to create a quality video is to work with a good team. (Cough, cough, Creative Liquid) But in all fairness, this is one of the best ways to ensure you'll produce a quality corporate video, marketing video, trade association video, nonprofit video, government video, etc. Whatever or whoever your intended audience is, they want to watch a video that has a clear message, is entertaining and is well produced.
Want to start the conversation? There's no cost. Drop us a line so we can learn more about you, your organization and your message.
About the Author
Ryan Pratzel is the founder and president of Creative Liquid. He has more than twenty years of production experience. He has built a team with a client first attitude and we're proud to call our customers partners.