Video branding guide

The guide details the ‘look, sound and feel’ of videos produced by or for Parks Victoria and ensures that our videos:

• Are consistent and professional in style;
• Are highly engaging and hold the viewer’s attention;
• Meet the public’s expectations of Parks Victoria;
• Follow Parks Victoria’s visual style and brand guidelines.

Parks Victoria’s main video distribution platform is YouTube. Unless otherwise specified videos should be produced in line with YouTube requirements.

For the full brand guidelines, download the Video Style Guide.

Filming tips

Videos are a great way to hero our landscape and to tell our stories. They should be easy to watch and feel like the audience is being drawn into nature. Drone shots are a great way to achieve this, but don’t overdo it – they need to create a feeling and remain relevant to the story. Don't make a video too long, and try to stick to a single idea. Creating a story board before you begin filming can detail the actions and imagery you want to capture in your video, assisting in the flow of the narrative.

Tech specifications - video

Aspect ratio

• 16:9 (landscape) native unless specified for specific platform i.e. 9:16 for Instagram stories / TV, 1:1 for Facebook
• Archival footage of stills to scaled to fill 16:9 where possible.

Video quality

• Resolution – Videos to be recorded and exported at a minimum of 1080p FHD. If necessary slow-motion and other cropped shots can be at 720p.
• Framerate – 25 fps

Final export

• MP4 container and H.264 Codec
• Follow export specs for YouTube FHD at 1080p
• Other platforms requirements will be considered according to need

Colour correction and grading

• Colour correction and grading should only be attempted by a professional.
• If your video is not going to receive a professional colour grade – it should be filmed in standard colour mode, allowing for the most ‘natural’ in camera colour and saturation. This is appropriate for most of the content Parks Victoria produces.
• If your video is going to receive a professional colour grade – it should be filmed in a flat colour profile or “log”. This can be appropriate for hero brand films. Videographers / DOPs can discuss with the project manager which colour makes the most sense depending on the project.
• Final videos should be graded to natural colours – not over or under saturation or too heavily influenced on one colour direction.

Tech specifications - audio

• Where possible avoid locations with significant background noise – i.e. roads with passing traffic, construction sites etc.
• Use an appropriate microphone (and windsock) to separate target audio from background audio – lapel (lavalier) mics work well for this purpose.

Microphone placement

• Shotgun or boom mics should not be in the frame.
• Lapel mics may be visible, but cords, cables and transceivers should be hidden.

Audio quality

• Avoid distortion or clipping.
• Remove incidental background noise where possible, but do not introduce noise reduction artefacts.
• Compression may be used to normalize audio levels, without artefacts or distortion

Sound effects

• Subtle supporting sound effects (such as nature sounds) may be used if they add to video but avoid anything gimmicky or distracting.
• Ensure that they are appropriate to the area – don’t use the call of an animal that is not endemic to that specific location.

Closed captions
For accessibility purposes closed captions need to be provided as additional fine in .srt format. Please do not ‘burn them’ into the exported video file.