Online Video Asset Management, A Whitepaper

"Don't Let Video Assets Become a Liability"

Your web audience prefers video as an information resource. Your public affairs and training departments want to post more and more videos, while making sure that viewers can easily navigate to their subject matter preference. You need to manage a seemingly unmanageable library of video assets that is expanding exponentially, while delivering content in a timely manner. As more than one communications officer has stated, “My agency has become Youtube-crazy.” The proliferation of videos often means that important communications get lost in an online video maze. How many sites have seemingly dumped videos into the multimedia section of their website in chronological order? Consider how effective a public library would be without a Dewey Decimal System.

A successful online video communication strategy should consider the ease and efficiency of managing an expanding library of assets. Most importantly, the successful video asset management system will foster an enhanced viewer experience. Video engages viewers more than online text, and you want them engaged and channeled to targeted communications. The following aspects are key criteria for establishing an effective Video Asset Management System.

The Platform - You want your staff to have a simple and speedy method for uploading and cataloging video assets, without requiring programming skills. A turn-key approach utilizing a content management system should allow for ease in uploading videos and updating the site, with the same level of technical knowledge requirement as for a word processing program.

Navigation – More about navigation in the Viewer Experience section below, but the initial flowcharting of a navigation system for logical organization of subject matter is a significant first step. Considerations should include: how many levels, how many categories, how are the categories linked to other website sections, what are the hierarchies? A search function on the site should be considered, and a system for entering meta data should be established.

A menu page from EFX Media’s video demo site www.efxmedia.com

Omnibus/Ad Hoc Video Support Contract, A Whitepaper

We suggest that several Federal agencies could greatly benefit from an omnibus video services contract, similar to contracts awarded to EFX Media by the US Census Bureau, FEMA, OCC and others. We have developed the following White Paper that outlines the advantages of such a contract for augmenting internal facilities at Federal agencies, corporations and associations. Consider an approach for augmenting your in-house video capabilities with video services (primarily location shooting) and technical support (editing, interactive programming, duplication, etc.), on an as-needed basis, under an omnibus type of IDIQ contract. When any department requires services over and above your existing capabilities, a vendor, such as EFX, could supply them on an "as needed" basis. This would minimize the need to add full-time staff or equipment for what might only be a temporary spike in need. The funding minimum for such a contract can be extremely low, with each task order requiring specific budget approval. A specially discounted rate card for services and labor categories would be established that would allow for instant calculation of cost.

The cost savings would likely be considerable. The efficiency of instant support without lengthy contracting effort would be enormous. The US Census Bureau foresaw this advantage and awarded a contract to our company that is similar to what I propose (see blurb below). The US Army has also consolidated many of their video service needs to an IDIQ contract recently, as has the Office of Comptroller of the Currency. The advantage of having a vendor with so wide-reaching capabilities such as EFX under contract would be to minimize contracting efforts when sudden needs require rapid response. Further, we have created a national network of video production specialists with the latest in camera equipment, all available to us at below-market rates on a 24-hour notice basis.

Noorvik, Alaska, January 25, 2010 -- EFX provided US Census Bureau with a live satellite uplink from remote Alaskan village of Noorvik. Here, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves traveled by dog sled to visit residents.

Scene from animated "It's Easy" a how-to video on filling out the
Census form, created in 60 languages. Video can be viewed at http://www.efxmediatv.com/media.cfm?c=582&m=3160




U.S. CENSUS BUREAU AV CONTRACT:
The EFX Company (dba EFX Media), a twenty six year old video production company in Arlington, has been awarded a contract from the US Census Bureau to provide video production and other audio/video services. The Census PIO (Public Information Office) sought to find a general supplier of outside AV services to augment its own extensive in house capabilities. EFX Media will provide, among other services, location video production crews, editors, editing services, interactive design, and technical staffing services. Should all options be exercised, the contract will be worth $3.5 million dollars over the base year and four option years. In addition to providing location shooting all over the country, EFX was tasked with producing a 10-minute animated educational video to show citizens how to fill out and mail back their census form. The video was produced in 60 different languages, including a version for the English & Spanish LGBT community and a version in American Sign Language.

2D vs. 3D Animation: A Few Considerations

Choices for techniques in motion graphics and animation for video are many. The primary decision is not which software, but whether 2D or 3D. If you are featuring a talking lizard for an insurance company, then best you find a genius 3D animator (although you will likely use After Effects to marry it to live action video). But for affordable animation, compositing, motion control and graphic effects, our money is on After Effects.
With the latest plug-ins and a knowledgeable designer, After Effects allows for creation of 3D-like animation in an edit suite, without the extensive modeling and wire framing required in 3D animation programs. This allows for efficiency in altering individual elements in the presentation. With most presentations for commercial and government clients, modification through various levels of approval is a way of life. Making changes in a 3D animation program can be much more cumbersome and time-consuming.

In a whimsical video promotion for AOL/McAfee, EFX editors and designers composited a wide range of animated elements and special effects. You can view the video at
http://www.efxmediatv.com/media.cfm?c=576&m=1028



After Effects is a compositing/motion graphics program from Adobe with some limited 3D abilities. Although not technically 3 dimension, it doesn’t mean you cannot achieve the look of depth, thus the illusion of 3D. After Effects works with 2 dimensional objects and offers the ability to manipulate these objects within "Z" space (depth).

Frame from an Orbital meeting presentation that can be viewed at
http://www.efxmediatv.com/media.cfm?c=574&m=2432&