We genuinely want to facilitate you contributing your own video. We must also ensure that videos displayed meet an acceptable standard in order to maintain quality for our website users and increase the chances of you getting bookings.
When you submit your footage we will evaluate it against these basic guidelines for best practice. To avoid disappointment, we strongly recommend that you follow our comprehensive free downloadable video guides. We do reserve the right not to accept your footage if it doesn’t meet quality requirements.
Video format
Videos should ideally be in Flash Video format (.flv) although we may be able to convert other formats to Flash. Please ask us if you are unsure whether your format is suitable.
Dimensions for the two video types are:
Wide:
width="450px" height="253 px "
Standard:
width="300px" height="240px"
Again, if your video is larger, we should be able to downsize it to suitable dimensions.
Video quality
Video should be taken keeping the camera steady, with no camera shake in shots.
Camera movement and zoom should be very limited. Constantly moving footage, fast zooming and excessive zooming of any kind are uncomfortable for the viewer and unacceptable.
Video should combine a variety of still shots and panned shots. Panning should be slow, smooth, comfortable to watch and should start and finish on held views.
Tilt shots should also be included for variety, moving slowly up or down. As with panning, shots should stay still on the objects at the beginning and end of the tilt.
Angles should be varied, so that subjects are not all approached from the same angle.
Focus should be accurate and constant. Shifting focus (usually caused by using only automatic settings) is not acceptable.
Lighting conditions should be good and sufficiently bright. Gloomy footage with poor visibility should be avoided.
Outdoor scenery should be clearly visible and well lit. Outdoor shots should ideally be taken on clear sunny days or in minimal cloud cover to ensure that scenery can be properly seen.
Tripod mounted camerawork should be smooth and the view should be taken from as close to human head-height as possible.
Music should be avoided for copyright reasons.