A tool that might help both videographers and their clients work through the video production process is Market7. This online suite of tools lets you upload a video to a private area of the site. Your client can then review the clip and comment on it. Their comments are embedded into the video timeline to match up so you can see the exact sections of the video they are discussing in order to help pinpoint and streamline the feedback process.

As the cut is in-progress, team members from both sides can continue to enter their input on the cut itself. Comments can be sorted, filtered and exported to an editing program such as Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere via XML so none of the valuable communication gets lost in translation.

But Market7 provides more features than just an embedded video commenting tool. It offers modules for collaboration on every step of the video production process, from building a creative brief, composing a script, organizing stored files and planning tasks and events related to the video production process. There is no software to download — every tool is web-based.

The creators of Market7 are former video producers and video clients who say they recognized a lack of tools and services for video production collaboration, a void that was causing both sides of the production process a great deal of frustration. Market7 is meant to help producers get more detailed feedback to produce an end product that the client is happy with, while for clients the tool should be easy to use and understand, even for the person who knows little to nothing about video production.

I saw a demo of Market7 at SXSW. Although video production is a very small portion of my web work, I can clearly see the value in having a collaboration tool on those few occasions when it is part of my project mix. There are definitely occasions when I feel like I’m going around in circles, with the client asking for one thing, the video editor delivering something else, and me not getting the information I need from either party to realize why we we’re all heading in different directions. Market7 could probably help me avoid some costly mistakes.

Market7 uses a freemium model, with free accounts offering a single admin account, one project, 100 MB of storage and up to five project members or participants. The premium level starts at $49.95 per month for 500MB of storage and unlimited projects and participants. Higher levels include more tech support, branded hosting, and more storage (up to 15 GB in total, with fees per additional gig).

How are you managing your web video production process?

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I’ve done a lot of this type of work for a range of clients, and over the course of those efforts, I’ve arrived at a number of conclusions regarding how best to go about it. These tips won’t tell you exactly how you should manage your own workflow, but it will help you avoid some of the more common problems.

Determine Scope and Materials Up Front, in Detail

There’s nothing a client likes worse than switching horses halfway through the race. That means you should pick your applications, end products, etc. with them at the project outset. Make sure both of you know exactly what they want to get out of the project at the end. Details like whether or not they want the document to be editable, the expected shelf life of the document, whether it’s a living document or not will all be crucial in helping you decide not only what, but how you’ll be producing.

Set Up Project Milestones, Even For Smaller Projects

No matter how clearly you think you’ve determined your client’s desires at project outset, the chances that you will deliver exactly what they’re looking for, sight unseen, when it comes time to pony up at close. That’s why project milestones are important. It seems easy enough, but make sure there are check-in points, with percentage completion targets, or specific draft numbers or iterations of the document.

Too Many Cooks Spoil The Broth

Revisions are necessary, and to be expected any time you’re producing something, be it for yourself or others. What’s not necessary is an endless series of revisions and rework, which can easily happen if you don’t establish a clearly defined production process at the beginning, with specific roles assigned to specific people.

The hardest part of accomplishing this might be convincing your client to go along with it, but you need to make sure that only one or two quality assurance points exist. Those stakeholders involved should look at the work at predetermined points, and provide feedback according to predetermined procedure. Every new set of eyes that sees the work will want to add their own input, regardless of the product’s quality, just to feel as though they’ve contributed, which is why you need to set limits.

These guidelines are broad, and shouldn’t be too hard to work into your existing project management practices. Probably the most important thing to take away from this article is that communication is the key to succesful delivery. Never hide anything from the client, and make sure both you, and they, are never in a position to be surprised.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
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• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks