Getting Started with HomeVidz
Making your own HomeVidz narrated, home videotour can be fun, quick and easy. We’ve done it ourselves countless times and have a few suggestions to produce a HomeVidz videotour that will show your home in the best possible way.
- Buy a brand new tape (we accept only Mini-DV or 8mm / Hi-8 / Digital 8) or DVD, and charge the battery fully.
- Turn on every light in the home, this includes lights over the stove, bedside lights and lights in cabinets. They’ll add accents and make your home more inviting!
- For the opening shot stand on the sidewalk looking towards the house and think of two short sentences that describes your home for someone who has never seen it before, i.e., “This 3-bedroom, 2-bath ranch is on a quiet street on Anytown’s north side. With plenty of recent updates and an open floor plan the new owners won’t have to do a thing. Let’s go inside.”
- Now hit your camcorder’s “record” button…wait one second…and say those three sentences. (It’s important to wait a second to let the camcorder to get up to speed – if you don’t wait you risk cutting off the first couple of words.)
- Now “pause” the camcorder and walk inside your home’s front door.
- This time think of a sentence that describes your home’s layout as seen from the entrance, i.e. “Walking through the front door we see the living room directly to our right, the hall that leads to the kitchen, dining room and bedrooms directly ahead, and the study and half bath to the left.”
- Once again hit the “record” button …wait one second…and recite your sentence.
- Now “pause” the camcorder, move to the other side of the first room you’re going to take a closer look at (family room, dining room, etc.) and pointing the camera back at the front door think of how you can best describe what viewers are seeing, i.e. “Looking back at the front door, we can see the tiled foyer that leads to the spacious living room. This room has wall to wall carpet, a bay window, and cathedral ceilings. It’s a wonderful place to entertain family and friends.”
- Once again hit the “record” button …wait one second…and recite your sentence.
- Continue in this way throughout the home keeping each “scene” relatively short and moving the camera to show what you’re telling the viewer about.
A couple of Do’s and Don’ts
- Try to keep windows at your back. If you must show a window keep the camera moving to avoid letting the scene automatically darken.
- Break your videotour into individual “scenes” and keep each “scene” short and to the point. Don’t move from room-to-room with the camera recording and try to capture the entire videotour in one “take.”
- Keep your video to the point and interesting…the maximum length for a video is 5 minutes. Any longer and your viewers will lose interest.
Once you’re finished send your videotape along with a check for $35 to HomeVidz.com and we’ll take care of the rest. Be sure to write your listing number on the check. Your HomeVidz videotour will be posted within 24 hours of arrival at HomeVidz.com and you can begin showing your home more!