Getting The Most Out Of Xtranormal

In this entry, I'm going to show you how to get the most out of your Xtranormal membership. This is some really cool software, but if you take it to the next level, you'll be way ahead of the competition.

Let's begin.

First thing you want to do is get a premium or commercial account. If you want to make money from the videos, you need a commercial account. The reason you want to go premium is because you get access to more features such as characters, settings, and so on. Trust me...it's worth every penny.

Next thing you want to do is get yourself a camcorder of some kind. It doesn't have to be expensive. Just something that can take movies. The reason is this. The videos themselves are fine, but imagine mixing in live human beings interacting with the characters. It takes the whole thing to a new level. Very few people will do this.

Finally, you will need some editing software to splice the live action in with the characters. If you can't afford Camtasia, which is what I use, you can get CamStudio for free.

Okay, now, as far as making the videos, I've developed a process for doing this that will make the whole thing go a lot smoother. Remember, you are now taking bits and pieces of many videos and splicing them together. This can get really hairy without a system. So here it is...a very good one too.

Write the script for ALL the characters, including yourself if you're going to be in the video. You need to have everything written in advance.

Here is my sample script from the last video I did:

Steve:

This is an XNN special news bulletin. Steve Wagenheim reporting. This just in. Home business owners reported being scammed.

Character 1:

Yeah, I was robbed.

Character 2:

Me too.

Steve:

Tell me, just what exactly has gone down?

Character 1:

Some jerk promised me that I'd be making all this money if I bought his crappy e-course. Instead, all I got was a load of horse manure.

Steve:

Could you be more specific?

Character 1:

It was crap.


And so on...

Okay, you will notice that the dialog is back and forth, just as it would be in a normal conversation. However, you don't want to record each piece of the conversation one piece at a time. For a long script, that's a nightmare.

So what you want to do is this. Type in ALL the dialog for A character and create a whole video for THAT character. That way, when you import it, all you have to do is edit each segment for the specific dialog you want.

Xtranormal has an option where you can upload your video to YouTube. Do it. THEN, use one of those online downloaders to download the video to your PC.

Here are two that I use.

http://www.mediaconverter.org/

http://www.forinside.com/

After you have each character completed, including your own character, import each video into your editing software.

What you then want to do is go through your script, line by line. Find the WHOLE video that contains THAT dialog and drag it to the time line. You'll have more than you really need. This is where the editing comes in.

What you have to do is delete all the dialog BEFORE and AFTER the dialog that you actually want to appear at THAT part of the time line. The software makes this fairly easy to do.

After you've finished with that piece of dialog, move down to the next piece in your script and repeat the process.

For a long script, it DOES take some time. But trust me...the end result is well worth it.

When you're done, compile the finished video into whatever format you want. If it's for YouTube, I suggest FLV. It's smaller than SWF.

Here is the latest video I've done so you can see how it looks when it's all finished.



I'll have more great Xtranormal tips for character creation and a whole lot of other stuff coming soon.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim