5 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Real Estate Video

We can all agree that a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is more descriptive than a picture. But it is all about the presentation. A beautifully created gallery of still images is a much better representation of a property than a shaky low-resolution video.

There are a lot of things that video can do that still photos cannot. But if video is going to do its job properly it has to be given proper consideration and not just thrown together for the sake of doing it. Same applies with still pictures, so why neglect your video tour shoots? (Yet I have seen some pretty awful looking videos.)

Here are 5 tips every agent should consider when filming a video tour:

1 – The tripod is your best friend. Maybe you have a steady hand and maybe you want to illustrate an actual walk through with the camcorder, but if this is not done carefully it can be disastrous. If you aren’t comfortable behind a video camera then setup a tripod outside the home facing the front door. Zoom into the front door then have a barn door transition (just changes the scene with a door-opening effect) to the next scene, ideally the front hallway. Setup your tripod in the front hallway, pan from left to right, then zoom in on the entranceway for the next room. Pause the video, go to the next room and setup the tripod again. Repeat this process and you will get that walk through effect without the video being shaky at all.

2 – Edit, edit, edit. With the ease-of-use of today’s video editors there is no excuse for poor looking virtual tours. If you filmed a section of the room that doesn’t really sell the property cut it out. You wouldn’t publish still photos that don’t showcase the best features, so why some agents leave video unedited is beyond me. With most editors you can add audio, narrate the video, and add cool transition effects as you move from room to room. This makes the final product look really sharp and is a lot easier to do than most people think.

3 – Consider the lighting. Filming indoors is a bit of a challenge, especially when panning across a window. If you leave the camcorder’s settings on default the auto-iris or auto-aperture will adjust to the added light from the window and make the rest of the room look dark. This just looks bad and can be overcome easily. Most camcorders have a switch or button for the auto-focus. Simply find a room that has ample light, point the camera to an area with sufficient lighting, way from a window, turn on the auto-focus to set the aperture, then turn it off. Now the iris is set and you can pan around the room and it won’t go light and dark as you do. You may have to repeat this process for other rooms with different lighting conditions.

4 – Fix the blur. Ever watched a video and noticed that items close seem to be in focus and items farther way seem out of focus? This is because the auto-focus button is set to “on” while panning the room which may be full of furniture. To overcome this, zoom into a point in the room (again, with ample lighting), allow the camcorder to focus, then zoom out to a wide-angle shot. Now pan away from side to side and everything should stay nicely focused.

5 – Have a partner. Video works well with 2 people on the set. Some of the best videos I’ve seen are of the agent walking through the property and giving a tour just as he would if he was walking the client through the property in person. One person films and the other showcases the highlights of the property. Even if it’s just one person to do the filming and the other to keep people out of the way or to setup the shots, it helps make the process much more smooth and efficient.

Follow these 5 tips and your video tours will look spectacular.