Make Great WordPress Videos

Steve Burge @stevejburge

Steve Burge

Steve Burge

LakeLanier.comLakeAllatoona.com

AppalachianTrail.com

OSTraining.com

#1: Equipment

Logitech: $50

No need to spend $100s

Windsocks: $2

Camtasia for PCs: $300

Screenflow for Mac: $100

#2: Before Shooting

Prepare

1. Know your audience 2. Know your style3. Know your product

All of these make it difficult to outsource videos.

Quiet Environment

Write a Script

#3: Shooting

Screen Resolution

High-quality computers: full screen, then shrink during editing.

Low-quality computers: screen to 1280 or 1024.

Increase mouse by at least 200%

Natural voice

Keep going despite mistakes

#4: Editing

Editing

Voice: Remove “um”s and “ahs”.Visuals: Remove key mistakesImages: Insert where useful but keep to a minimum, particularly logos (add them as overlays).

Zooming

Do zoom in on key areas. People will watch this on their phones.

Don’t zoom in and out much. It will make viewers dizzy.

Export Size

Choose the largest screen size you’ll use. For us it’s 905px.

Export Formats

h.264 is best as it’s HTML5-friendly..wmv, .flv and .mov are all proprietary and increasingly old-fashioned.

#5: Hosting

1. Free hosting 2. Self-hosting3. Professional hosting

Free Hosting

Self-hosting

Professional hosting

Don’t worry about warez

#6: How long will it take?

Preparation: Depends on product knowledge.Shooting: 5 mins for 1 min of footage.Editing: Much longer! Depends on mistakes, graphics, transitions etc.Overall: A 5 mins video will take well over an hour.

#6: How much will it cost?

From $150 to $15,000 or more depending on your ambition.

#7: White screen

Equipment: Video camera, tripod and more.Room: Often a basement or garage.Teleprompter: iPad or laptop below camera.Software: Final Cut Express, X or Pro. Export from there to Screenflow.

White screen videos

vimeo.com/789519

#8: Further Learning

telestream.net/screen-flow/demos.htm

Over to you …