{"id":17100,"date":"2018-05-04T12:48:29","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T17:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rocksdigital.com\/?p=17100"},"modified":"2024-11-18T11:05:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T17:05:53","slug":"managing-video-content-assets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocksdigital.com\/managing-video-content-assets\/","title":{"rendered":"Manage video content with 10 assets to save time and money"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fred Mantel\/Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the increasing value of video in online marketing, and important changes in the playing field for video<\/a>, managing video content assets effectively at your company has terrific payoff. We\u2019ve had >50,000 videos online and available, and I think some of these lessons learned are worth sharing.<\/p>\n

Managing Video Content Successfully Means Addressing Many Components, AKA Assets<\/h2>\n

\u201cA video\u201d is really many assets, because there are more assets in a video than just the moving frames. Images, audio, spoken words and timing each have their own separate value. The production process can also spin off individual images and artwork; these are likewise assets.<\/p>\n

Like most digital assets, making copies is easy but keeping track is hard. (We\u2019ve had clients pay 5 figures for a video, then contact us a year later asking if we still have a copy because they lost it. No joke.)<\/p>\n

Managing all of these assets for maximum value is, first and foremost, a matter of recognizing that the video file does not<\/u>\u00a0contain all of these pieces. You can\u2019t just chuck an MP4 (compressed video) file into a folder, and then assume that all the parts can magically be extracted.<\/p>\n

10 Important Assets in Managing Video Content<\/h3>\n

So what do you do? Succinctly, keep the high-quality pieces in an organized way. Let me break that down, piece-by-piece.<\/p>\n

1. Words (Scripts)<\/span><\/p>\n

Any script for voiceover or recording is its own asset, so save it! You may need it for re-takes or revisions, or legal review. The written script is also a great money-saver for video captions.<\/p>\n

2. Timing & Captions<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s more and more common for online video to have captions. Note that a video with captions tends to have more SEO \u201cjuice,\u201d and one video can carry captions in multiple languages. If you invest in captions in one language \u2013 in English let\u2019s say \u2013 the timing record can be re-used with captions from other languages. (It\u2019s far cheaper to pay for good translation of the caption file than re-transcription of the video!) So save the caption files.<\/p>\n

3. Artwork<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re contracting for video that involves artwork, negotiate for the artwork in digital form near the end \u2013 don\u2019t wait until production is finished. Specify vector art<\/em>if possible. You can\u2019t enlarge a fuzzy little JPG image into a big PowerPoint slide, but you can<\/em>transform an Illustrator or PDF vector into any size. Save it.<\/p>\n

4. Audio<\/span><\/p>\n

Rights can get complicated, but as with artwork, have the discussion up front about retaining copies of the audio, especially voiceover. (VO artists will frequently charge a full session fee for a 1-minute fix \u2013\u00a0an editor with the right raw material may be able to bypass that.)<\/p>\n

5. Video Masters<\/span><\/p>\n

Online video compresses by saving the differences between frames, not each frame. \u201cA frame\u201d of video is an algorithmic reconstruction, so it will never look as clear as the original. It\u2019s worth discussing the cost of uncompressed masters. If you get them, save them.<\/p>\n

6. Online Video Files<\/span><\/p>\n

Conversely, if you get compressed-for-online copies of video (formats like MPEG-4\/.mp4 and Quicktime\/.mov are common), save them! The big social media networks have recently changed requirements. You can\u2019t upload a video once to YouTube or Wistia, then \u201cembed\u201d that single copy everywhere. Instead, the big networks require that you upload the file to their<\/u>\u00a0platform. You will need that MP4 file again.<\/p>\n

7. Video Thumbnail(s)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThumbnails\u201d are the still images that represent a video before<\/em>it is played. Thumbnails are to video what subject lines are to email; a good one means more plays. Thumbnail images should be tested, and the best ones should be saved.<\/p>\n

8. Call-to-Action Images<\/span><\/p>\n

Some marketing-focused video hosts allow still graphics to be overlaid on the video. These call-to-action graphics can be invaluable \u2013\u00a0save them.<\/p>\n

9. URLs and IDs<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to miss this one, but it\u2019s absolutely worth being methodical about not<\/em>missing it. Every video uploaded to a video host or social network gets some sort of unique ID on that system.<\/p>\n