If you’re a budding video marketer out and about shopping for a camera to create your YouTube promotional videos, don’t make the same mistake I did; double check your chosen camcorder exports its video in a widely supported format.

I bought the JVC Everio, which appeared to offer all the “bells and whistles” I needed, including a “one touch upload to YouTube” option which I assumed meant that the camera exported video in a format supported by YouTube.

Oooops!

It doesn’t.

JVC (and to my understanding, several other brands of camcorders as well) exports finished videos in a proprietary “MOD” format. The problem with this is that this format is not supported by any of the video editing software I own (Camtasia and Windows Movie Maker).

That means in order to do ANYTHING with your video, you must first convert it into a more common file format supported by popular video editing software  (yes, with the Everio you can upload your video directly to YouTube, but you can’t edit it first – and you’ll need to at least add a title screen or two before making your video live).

In order to do this, you’ll need to purchase video converter software. Yeah I know – more stuff to buy.  However, most of the more popular options offer a free trial option so you can try before you buy. I experimented with several, but in the end settled with NCH’s Prism Video Convertor which was the only one I could get to work consistently. You can download a free trial and read customer reviews at Download.com.

So learn from my mistakes; when you’re shopping for a camcorder to make your online marketing videos, ask your sales rep what format exported video is in; my recommendation is for MPEG formats. You’ll save yourself a TON of headaches! ;-)

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