I’m writing a series of blogposts about the history of the Chaos Computer Club over at NYCResistor. I just finished the first one and I invite you to check it out.

Update: Here’s the second installment!

This is the last video in my “Getting Started in Video” series that I’ve been doing at Etsy.

The easiest way to edit video is to shoot it in one take.  Here on the Etsy Video Awesomeness Team, we call those videos "One-Take-Wonders." 

But you can’t always get it in one take, or maybe your take is too long.  That’s when you need to learn how to edit.

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In this video you’ll learn five things.

1. Cut — Get rid of that awkward moment when you spaced out on camera.
2. Titles — Add text to your videos.
3. Music — Add Creative Commons music to your video.
4. Exporting — The setting you should use before uploading to the internet.

I’m showing you how to edit in iMovie.  It’s an editing platform that I love.  They changed iMovie a lot in version 8 and they made it a lot less awesome.  Luckily, if you’ve got iMovie8, you can actually download iMovie HD for free.  I recommend doing this if you’re on a Mac.

If you’re on a PC, Windows Media Maker is already on your computer and it’s a completely functional platform.  Combine that with Quicktime Pro for compressing the avi formatted videos that it outputs and you’ve got a decent system for editing videos.  All the stuff I show in iMovie will work in a similar fashion in Windows Media Maker too.

When adding music to your videos, don’t use music without permission.  It’s copyrighted, and having copyrighted music in your video means that you won’t be able to screen it at a film festival (and in a worst case scenario, the music industry could sue you). 

A strategy for adding music to your videos is to have musician friends hook you up.  We use music from our friends Barry London, Jukeboxer, Alice Cohen, and Lineland with their permission and we also have Matt and Eric, as in-house musicians.  No matter what music you use, make sure to credit it in your video credits and link to them in your blog posts.

Another way to get music for your videos is make it yourself.  I’ve made a lot of music with Garageband and it’s fun! I put out my own album of music that you are welcome to use in your videos.  I released it under a Creative Commons license so all you have to do is credit me in your video and you’re good to go.

You can also add music to your videos with Creative Commons music.  I’ve used music from this album that Wired put out, and if you search for Creative Commons music, there is a lot out there. Even if it’s Creative Commons, it’s always a good idea to ask permission for music, if for no other reason than to let your favorite musicians know how awesome they are.

I’ve also had good luck with the internet archive’s open source audio collection.  I particularly like old 78 recordings.

Once your video is all done, you’re going to want to compress it so that the file is small enough to upload to video sharing sites.  Here are the settings I use in Quicktime Pro for export. 

I’m always experimenting and trying new settings, so if you’ve got a different way of doing this, take a screenshot of your settings and post them to the handmade video flickr pool. 

If you’re making videos and you make things, join the handmade video google group (which we wrote about here) where creative media-makers chit chat about how we do things. You can always shoot me an email with a question, but the handmade video google group is a great place to tap into a community of video folks to ask questions if you get stuck or need help.

Looking for more video tips? Check out the rest of the Getting Started in Video series! And let us know if you’re making videos! 

Lotta Jansdotter just came out with a book about printing called Lotta Prints. I caught up with her at her Brooklyn studio and she showed me some tips and tricks for using stencils and yams to make prints!

Lotta has created a bunch of stencils that you can rip out of her book and use right away or you can make up your own!

If you’ve got any yams or potatoes around, you can use them to make prints, too! Upload photos to flickr and post the links in the comments below.

Lotta is having a printmaking workshop this Friday, June 13.  If you’re in the NYC area, check it out!

Get to know Lotta better with this video we made with her last fall.

When I was in my 20’s, I daydreamed about getting a job making musical instruments and I came this close to getting a job at Dusty Strings, a musical instrument making shop in Seattle.

This video that Tara made here at Etsy pulls on my heart strings. Part of me wonders what my life would be like now if instead of teaching and making videos, I had become a musical instrument maker.

If you ever dreamed of making your own guitar or just would like to see behind the scenes into the workshop of a Luthier, then this video is for you. It’s all about James Peters, his family, and his business, armor guitars, making custom guitars. - MP4 Link

While there, Tara shot a bunch of footage and put together a bunch of little videos and we decided to put them all out in one blogpost. I love this format. It’s like having a bunch of windows to look through to see a story.

James’ whole family makes a living on Etsy. Which is awesome. I love the idea that you can live wherever you want in the country and still make a living selling things on the internet. He’s not only a musical instrument builder, but he’s also a musician.

Check out these two videos of him playing and singing. Great stuff. - Link

I just published a video with a sweet dog. Dogs are hard to shoot on video. They wiggle, squirm, look around at everything and in general don’t do what you tell them to do.

Last week I had a chance Kate Moss (the dog) about a dinner party she was planning. It turns out that she loves to search the Vintage section of Etsy to find fabulous items. In this video she shows some of the items she’s thinking about buying and then gives a short video tutorial to help you shop for Etsy Vintage.

She was a champion among dogs. She would run around and then sit for a little bit so I could get a shot in.

MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | HD | Subscribe in iTunes

This is the second video that focuses on the styles of our furry friends. The first one was with Dottie. Even though it was a pretty simple video to shoot, it’s now the 4th most popular video on our page. I’m going to probably schedule a cute dog video every once in a while as a treat for myself and dog lovers. Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think!