Would you spend $ on static photos or video ?

Just wondering if anyone buys static photo shoots anymore or is all your emphasis on acquiring video ?

totally off-topic here but I musta missed it when ya moved. didja move? i thought you were in NM or something.

and if ya did move, congrats!!

as for the photos vs. videos, i've seen a lot of sites where it'd appear they bought more photos than videos - especially on sites where they produce their own video content and then purchase photosets as a retention tool to boost the amount of content their site offers.

i buy pics - lots of people do. and surfers/members look at them, too :)

Ok, I'll share a little secret from my market research folder with you all:

Guys more often watch videos to get worked up, but when it comes time to actually rub one out, they'll put up stills to do it to.

Keep that in mind when you're making your sites and buying your content.

:D

There are benefits to both stills and movie content, i guess it really depends on what you are ultimately going to be using the content purchase for.

For example, stills give you a lot more room to market with than movie content does however, at the same time, you can make stills content out of movie content however, movies tend to cost more on average than stills sets.

Its also easier to use existing still content in promo materials than it is movie caps or movie content.

Also, in addition to the cost of the content, movies are going to cost you more in bandwidth than image content will over the same time frame with the same level of traffic unless you are utilizing 1mb filesize pics on your sites.

If you are going to be using the content on free sites, aen sites, tgp galleries etc etc, id probably go the image content route, at least to start off with then build up to utilizing movies.

Ultimately though, its going to be a case of buying whatever YOU are more comfortable with using, it seems to me that it is a lot easier to get the required documentation for image content these days than it is movie.

Regards,

Lee

What a question :cry:
Do you realy think about this? Try to make a site without any photo and then think twice about your question :P

Hi and thanks everyone for you input. It seems that photosets are still and integral part of most websites and marketing.

I thought it was a good question. Some webmasters don't buy content at all. They just use sponsor content. I haven't bought a photoshoot in a while now. I use my own content and video so I don't really have a need to go out and purchase someone else's. I sort of see static photos as being replaced by video now.

Unless you have a site that is featuring just hi end streaming video, and have a LOT of it, I think you really need a good balance of vids and still photos. As others mentioned, just for all the areas that need stills for promotional and advertising venues: banners, site tours, tgp galleries, fhg's, freesites, full page ads and so on, you need them ... and speaking as a designer here ... it's a real bitch trying to put out quality ad media using vidcaps.

Brian,

Yes, I moved away from New Mexico and have been in SF for about a year now and finally getting used to it.

Just Me,

I found that to be true with myself. Now, if only we could control video on the net, like slow motion and angles, I believe that would go over really well.

Lee,

I would agree that still images are easier to market. I've seen the 10 second movie clips on tgp's and they never impress me and usually just annoy me. I started posting my own clips at my site and bandwith really shot up like tenfold. It does concern me because I only have like 70 gigs on my account and approached that really fast. I need to move back to my own server and at least 1000 gigs to be comfortable using mostly video. I was suprised how many people that get off to still images and not video, some would say it's the majority still.

Bec,

Making screen grabs, caps of video is very tedious and one of my least favorite things to do. I am looking for content for a new venture of mine and was wondering where photosets fit in the big picture. I do think balance is the key here. I probably will stay with a 2/3 or 3/4 proportion of images to video on the new site.