Producing a Screencast Video
I shared my first screencast video last Friday and today I shall write about the technical side of video production.
Video is a lot easier to produce than it used to be and if you plan to offer quality information on your website, it is worth considering using it. The people who use it say that the best way to improve the quality of videos is to produce them. So, my advice is strive for a good video but don’t worry if your first efforts fall short. You will improve.
I’ve just started and today I’ll write about my experience and encourage you to experiment.
There are two main types of video, screencast and live action. The latter is where you have a camera and film somebody or something. This is more complex than screencast because you have to think about technical issues such as lighting . I shall write more about it when I try it. Screencast is the type I used. This is where you record what is happening on your computer screen with a voice-over.
If you have a modern lap top or tablet you have almost everything you need. The only extra bits of equipment I used were:
- a microphone headset – these are fairly inexpensive and guarantee high quality sound. Viewers are more likely to forgive poor visual quality than they are inaudible sound. Visual quality is not really an issue with screencast but sound is really important.
- Camtasia, video editing suite. This can be purchased and is not terrifically expensive. You will notice the video zooms in on parts of the screen and Camtasia is the means to do that. It is also possible to cut the inevitable hiatuses from the video and the erms. I’m hoping my erms will naturally disappear but it is amazing how similar they all look (Camtasia displays the sound track as a graphical interface that enables you to decide what to cut).
I knew what I wanted to say, rehearsed a couple of times and then got going. Camtasia interfaces with PowerPoint and so the first part of the video was straightforward. Camtasia than offers the option to leave PowerPoint and continue the screencast. I lined up the five websites on a browser and moved across. I cut out the transition.
Once the video is complete it needs to be produced. Camtasia takes care of production. I’m still ironing out a few issues, particularly the interface with YouTube but overall it was not too difficult. I can see video production will become easier now that I’ve made a start. The main constraint is finding time!
I’m happy to answer questions and try new things, so do ask if you want to know anything about video production.