Ok I will admit it. I always wanted to be the star. To be in front of the camera gave me a certain rush. The bad part was having to remember my lines. I mean I had hard stuff like “Stop!” and ?Can I see you license and registration??

When I decided to take my podcasts and reviews into the video age once again the anxiety started to build. Not only would I have to remember dialog but now it was going to be more technical type of phrases like ?Add a keyframe here to animate opacity? What was I to do? I looked into getting a teleprompter but even the low end ones were in the $800 realm. Ugh.

You can imagine the joy that overcame me when Adobe announced its release of Visual Communicator 3. Not only could I create TV quality shows but it also includes a teleprompter that runs on your Windows machine. Let take a look inside.

What is Adobe Visual Communicator 3?

Adobe Visual Communicator 3 is a tremendous software application that enables you to create professional video content. Create your own announcements, reports, tutorials, shows, pretty much anything you can think of. The interface is easy to learn and use. Within minutes I was able to create some fun yet professional looking videos.

Visual Communicator 3’s user interface

Beginners will love using the “wizard” for getting started. The templates are fun and customizable. Included are animated backgrounds and music, all of which is royalty free. Adobe really made the learning curve small on this application. The application also includes an advanced keying capability when using a greenscreen for content shoots.

The wizard  let’s you get going real fast.

Teleprompter at your service

As I noted above, I really wanted a teleprompter. Adobe Visual Communicator 3 really saved me from purchasing one. The application contains an easy to use teleprompter. Just copy and paste your text, click on rehearse or record and off you go.

It takes a bit of practice to be able to use the teleprompter. You will also need to adjust the camera so it is just over your screen. I often caught myself following the lines word for word. Just look at the nightly news. They all use a teleprompter. Some you will see reading off the screen, others look more natural.

Lower third graphics

Create fun graphics or import them

Visual Communicator 3 contains a nice arsenal of graphics. Customize your lower thirds at will. Integrate charts, graphs, and slides. The application has an advanced title generator that empowers you to create your own custom titles. Once again the graphics included are all royalty free.

You can also create graphics in your favorite application of choice and import it into your scene. Import your PowerPoint slides for easy narrated presentations. You can create your own animated backgrounds in programs like Adobe After Effects, render them to your video format of choice and import them in for use in your show.

Publishing your masterpiece

Ok so you created the most entertaining show ever. Now you need to publish it for the world to see. Adobe’s Visual Communicator 3 gives you several options.

When you are done recording simply click on the “publish” tab to start the wizard. You will then have several options such as sending video in an email, saving to a hard drive, printing to tape, uploading to an ftp server, and embedding it on a web page. Rendered file formats are Flash, Windows Media, Real Media, and AVI.

Feel like having your masterpiece link to a specific web page? No problem just click on the “Web Link” icon in the action tray. This will enable a “trigger link” to the URL of your choice.

Publish out to a variety of formats

Stream live to the world

Adobe’s Visual Communicator 3 gives users the ability to produce live broadcasts, seminars, and more. Stream your “Secrets of making money” seminar via FLV over the Adobe Flash Media Server (available separately, visit www.adobe.com for details).

Final thoughts

Adobe’s Visual Communicator 3 is a godsend to me. Not only is it simple to use but it is highly customizable and outputs into all the formats I would need. Coming in at just $399 I not only get a great solution to create video podcasts, tutorials, and seminars but I get a top notch teleprompter too. This really came at the perfect time as I noted above. You will also want to pick up a greenscreen or shoot with a solid color background for best results. Check out ebay.com for affordable chroma backgrounds.

Source

Buy this software here:

http://www.softster.net/P1798/Digital_Video/Visual_Communicator_v3_0.html