XI International Congress on Man

Preparing your Video
When preparing your video, first select a theme and present the research steps in chronological order leading from your initial questions, introduction, methodology, results and observations, discussion and conclusions. Particular focus should be placed on novel and interesting aspects and the video should be understandable to viewers not familiar with the subject matter. Additionally, authors should not assume the viewer has read your printed abstract beforehand. References should be placed in the video, however these slides should be two maximum and should be shown only briefly at the end to minimise time wastage, yet to at least provide the viewer with the reference list which can be obtained during replay or a pause.

Before filming
Videos require a great deal of planning and preparation in order for good production quality. Firstly, prepare a detailed script of the video and rehearse it thoroughly, with one member of your audience being someone who is unfamiliar with your research. This will ensure that the delivery of your research is in a form which is understandable to most without jargon specific to your field, and that concepts can be clarified to ensure maximum comprehension to your audience during the conference itself. Secondly, storyboard your video and include cuts and transition so that you can visualise what the final product will look like.

During filming
Maintain the quality of the original recording as medium throughout filming as compression will be the final step of your video after the editing process. The camera should always be kept stable, level and without jiggles. Tripods should be employed as much as possible. Try to find a variety of images while filming animals, anatomy, farms, habitats, behavioural habits or whatever is applicable to your research. Always start out with a wide establishing shot to give context to your topic and to allow the viewer to become oriented. Thereafter you may zoom, crop or pan, however do not over use these and always begin and end your moving segments with a static shot. Ensure that each shot is well balanced and composed with careful lighting and no distracting shadows as the eye is drawn to the most brightly coloured part of the screen. Transitions in between screens should be simple such as a fade to black to signify a change in subject, time or place, however even these should be used with discretion.

After filming
According to your storyboard, do rough cuts of video and add in your audio, which is an equally important component. The narrator should speak naturally and slowly with as clear English as possible, explaining what is about to happen, where to look, and instructions for the viewer such as "the camera zooms into the lower left bottom corner" so that they can orient themselves. Avoid being repetitious and make clear, concise points to successfully convey your message. It is better for the narrator to record the audio separately by doing a voice-over in a quiet room where you can watch the video and record the sound that explains what is going on. Ensure that the narration is synchronised with the action on the screen. If you are adding music to the video, place it on a separate track so that it will easy to fade out when narration begins. Interviews should also be carried out in as quiet as possible an environment without background noise of farm vehicles, animals or people talking.

Editing
The pacing of your video must be neither to fast nor too slow and a balance must be struck e.g. the recording of a live demonstration will be too slow, and too many jump cuts or an abrupt change of image will be too fast. When editing the raw footage, choose what you would like to preserve carefully. Raw footage is on average 1GB per minute which doubles in size after editing. After edits, compress your video. As a final step, ensure that you test your digital video file for usability on a variety on computers to ensure that there are no technical problems.

Technical Requirements
The final data size of videos must be less than 100MB and it is advisable to test your final file before submission to ensure that it does not exceed the limit. Videos should also not exceed the time limit of 5 minutes. The video should be playable on both Macintosh computers and standard PCs, and the video should be encoded as an MP4 using the H.264 codec. Video editing software such as Final Cut Pro and iMovie has such features, however, a sure alternative to ensure you video meets requirements is to upload to YouTube and download the encoded result. The resolution should be 720px x 480px with an aspect ratio of 16:9, and the size should not exceed 100 MB. A helpful tip is to encode your video using square pixels to avoid your movie looking stretched when projected.

Submission
Before submitting, ensure that the meta-data properties of the digital file is filled out, the following fields being compulsory; author, title and copyright information. Authors will retain copyright of videos, however, you are required to sign an agreement allowing XICIMFAUNA to distribute it. Submission should be done via the PCS Submission System. XICIMFUANA, except under very exceptional circumstances will not accept analog (videotape) submissions. Software applications such as .exe files and digital video clips requiring a specific computing platform or additional software to play will not be accepted.