Comments on: How to Produce a Good Video Tutorial http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/ Fresh Blender News, Every Day Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:37:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Tom http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-235401 Tom Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:30:39 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-235401 I found a free video tutorial recorder that records to FLV files... this alows me to stream the tutorial with a FLV web player... so the users dont have to wait for the download. <a href="http://www.vtute.com/create.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.vtute.com/create.php</a> I found a free video tutorial recorder that records to FLV files… this alows me to stream the tutorial with a FLV web player… so the users dont have to wait for the download.

http://www.vtute.com/create.php

]]> By: indiworks http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-49993 indiworks Thu, 08 Feb 2007 01:55:47 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-49993 "Find a good fast hosting service to host your file." while it might not be the fastest, it is very reliable and best of all it is free: the internet archive (www.archive.org) offers free hosting (indie media, non commercial projects etc.) e.g. via the open source movies section: http://www.archive.org/details/opensource_movies upload is via ftp (click "contribute your video") and follow the instructions. alternatively you can use the ccpublisher (uploading tool) http://wiki.creativecommons.org/CcPublisher. a good and free os x ftp client is cyberduck http://cyberduck.ch/. make sure to tag your uploads (can also be done later on) so that others find your work when looking for "blender" or "tutorial"... "Find a good fast hosting service to host your file."

while it might not be the fastest, it is very reliable and best of all it is free: the internet archive (www.archive.org) offers free hosting (indie media, non commercial projects etc.) e.g. via the open source movies section:

http://www.archive.org/details/opensource_movies

upload is via ftp (click "contribute your video") and follow the instructions. alternatively you can use the ccpublisher (uploading tool) http://wiki.creativecommons.org/CcPublisher. a good and free os x ftp client is cyberduck http://cyberduck.ch/.

make sure to tag your uploads (can also be done later on) so that others find your work when looking for "blender" or "tutorial"…

]]> By: Alexander Ewering http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-49882 Alexander Ewering Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:09:01 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-49882 Nice writeup, however, there are a few mistakes in the audio part: * Use a good microphone and a quiet room to record. If possible, use a quiet computer. Record on the highest level that you can without oversampling. What's meant here is "clipping", not "oversampling". If the audio will be post-processed, though, this step is essentially not necessary. (Yes, yes, I know there's a worse S/N ratio anyway when not recording "hot" enough, but that doesn't matter for a videotutorial) * Normalize the audio level afterwards. Don’t surprise your audience with loud passages after a soft one. Also, maximize the audio level without clipping it. This will ensure the best possible audio quality. "Normalize" is exactly equivalent to "maximize the audio level without clipping it" ;) Also, normalizing won't do anything to the "loud after soft passage" problem. * This tip was posted by jcarney: “Get a De Esser for your microphone (one of those round thin screens placed between you and the mic.) It softens the consonants, so they don’t POP when spoken. (B and P are the worst). You can do it in post, but getting right before it’s recorded is still the best.” Now, this is total bullshit. A de-esser is an electronic device which selectively softens the signal when certain high-frequency components are encountered, and is used to soften the sound of "hiss" phonems when lots of EQ in the high range is used as well. What jcarney means is a "Poppschutz", though I have no idea what the English word for that would be. And essentially, you can't do it in post. Cutting the low frequencies hard enough, especially with a male voice, will remove the bottom end and the voice will sound like the speaker had a flu :) Anyway, random rant time over ;) Nice writeup, however, there are a few mistakes in the audio part:

* Use a good microphone and a quiet room to record. If possible, use a quiet computer. Record on the highest level that you can without oversampling.

What's meant here is "clipping", not "oversampling". If the audio will be post-processed, though, this step is essentially not necessary. (Yes, yes, I know there's a worse S/N ratio anyway when not recording "hot" enough, but that doesn't matter for a videotutorial)

* Normalize the audio level afterwards. Don’t surprise your audience with loud passages after a soft one. Also, maximize the audio level without clipping it. This will ensure the best possible audio quality.

"Normalize" is exactly equivalent to "maximize the audio level without clipping it" ;) Also, normalizing won't do anything to the "loud after soft passage" problem.

* This tip was posted by jcarney: “Get a De Esser for your microphone (one of those round thin screens placed between you and the mic.) It softens the consonants, so they don’t POP when spoken. (B and P are the worst). You can do it in post, but getting right before it’s recorded is still the best.”

Now, this is total bullshit. A de-esser is an electronic device which selectively softens the signal when certain high-frequency components are encountered, and is used to soften the sound of "hiss" phonems when lots of EQ in the high range is used as well. What jcarney means is a "Poppschutz", though I have no idea what the English word for that would be. And essentially, you can't do it in post. Cutting the low frequencies hard enough, especially with a male voice, will remove the bottom end and the voice will sound like the speaker had a flu :)

Anyway, random rant time over ;)

]]> By: Bart http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-46131 Bart Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:58:13 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-46131 @Chris Stones: For OXS, Snapz X Pro seems to be the tool of choice: http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/ It costs $69 which isn't too bad I think. @Chris Stones: For OXS, Snapz X Pro seems to be the tool of choice:

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/

It costs $69 which isn't too bad I think.

]]> By: Chris Stones http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-46129 Chris Stones Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:57:03 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-46129 Whoa lots of people have stuff to say about this topic. Mac OS X really really needs something like CamStudio for it. I spent a very very long time looking and realized that I was just going to have to program something myself. And if or when I do I'd make it GPL too. Whoa lots of people have stuff to say about this topic. Mac OS X really really needs something like CamStudio for it. I spent a very very long time looking and realized that I was just going to have to program something myself. And if or when I do I'd make it GPL too.

]]> By: RedSharky http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-46100 RedSharky Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:09:18 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-46100 Another important thing is imho the technical quality of a video tutorial. This is often underrated unfortunately. This means that the video should offer good visual quality at a small file size. Sometimes we see video tutorials that use 25 fps or something. Totally useless in most cases. 5 fps are sufficient for almost everything you want to show in a VT. It’s fast enough so that nothing is omitted. Before one wants to start a VT it’s always good to think about the later resolution of the video. Imho there is no good reason to capture in HD when distributing it over the net. So you ought choose a TV or DVD resolution. Also some standard PC resolutions like 800x600 or 640x480 are are fine. I like the last one best because it’s large enough. And if so you should start Blender in a window with exact these dimensions. Blender command line arguments will do that for you (-p ). If you capture just this window and make it your video nothing will be blurred. This is good for the viewer and of course for file size. When it comes to encoding it is always good to really know your codec. Try to experiment with bit rates, key frames and other settings. Tons of mb could be saved with nearly no quality loss. And then there is really no need for using the latest proprietary non widely used codecs to keep the file size small. A common codec will do fine too. I personally like avi container with divx and mp3. Not because it’s a technical pleasure, but because everybody can instantly play it. And just a word to audio: Please don’t use stereo when there is no need for it, for example when you just recorded in mono. And please use low bit rates. And normalize your stuff. Keeping with those simple guide lines you will have perfect quality at small size (fun to download and to store). You will end up with less than 1 mb per minute. That’s really cool! So if your VT is about 20, 30 mb or so there is mostlikely much space for improvements. Absolutely no need for large files with blurry and blocky video with crappy sound. (If you like you can try my attempts of making good VTs, http://mitglied.lycos.de/redsharky/. They were made for the german community). And just one last thing: Name your VT-files properly. Give it the authors name plus a good title. This prevents guessing in forums: “ Hi, I’m searching a specificVT. Does anybody know it? It’s name is tutorial1 …” Another important thing is imho the technical quality of a video tutorial. This is often underrated unfortunately.
This means that the video should offer good visual quality at a small file size. Sometimes we see video tutorials that use 25 fps or something. Totally useless in most cases. 5 fps are sufficient for almost everything you want to show in a VT. It’s fast enough so that nothing is omitted.
Before one wants to start a VT it’s always good to think about the later resolution of the video. Imho there is no good reason to capture in HD when distributing it over the net. So you ought choose a TV or DVD resolution. Also some standard PC resolutions like 800×600 or 640×480 are are fine. I like the last one best because it’s large enough. And if so you should start Blender in a window with exact these dimensions. Blender command line arguments will do that for you (-p ). If you capture just this window and make it your video nothing will be blurred. This is good for the viewer and of course for file size.

When it comes to encoding it is always good to really know your codec. Try to experiment with bit rates, key frames and other settings. Tons of mb could be saved with nearly no quality loss. And then there is really no need for using the latest proprietary non widely used codecs to keep the file size small. A common codec will do fine too. I personally like avi container with divx and mp3. Not because it’s a technical pleasure, but because everybody can instantly play it.
And just a word to audio: Please don’t use stereo when there is no need for it, for example when you just recorded in mono. And please use low bit rates. And normalize your stuff.

Keeping with those simple guide lines you will have perfect quality at small size (fun to download and to store). You will end up with less than 1 mb per minute. That’s really cool! So if your VT is about 20, 30 mb or so there is mostlikely much space for improvements. Absolutely no need for large files with blurry and blocky video with crappy sound.
(If you like you can try my attempts of making good VTs, http://mitglied.lycos.de/redsharky/. They were made for the german community).

And just one last thing: Name your VT-files properly. Give it the authors name plus a good title. This prevents guessing in forums: “ Hi, I’m searching a specificVT. Does anybody know it? It’s name is tutorial1 …”

]]> By: [t0rc] http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-46036 [t0rc] Thu, 01 Feb 2007 04:26:52 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-46036 If you're on Windows try CamStudio ( http://www.camstudio.org/ ). It's free and outputs AVI/Flash. I would suggest using their codec as it does encode quickly, is lossless, and seems to be less CPU intensive. Of course you don't want to keep it in that format so make sure to download VirtualDub and convert it to something more common (XviD, DivX). It doesn't ad banners or watermarks to the videos either. There's also a good How-To ( http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Miscellaneous.477.0.html ) on the Blender website; it's from Metsys. Kind of dated and I wouldn't use the demonstrated application but there is some good advice in it. Good post though; definitely something to think about. Two more things you might want to add to the list: First, making sure your theme is compression and viewer friendly (or at least make sure it is easily discernible in the final) and second, creating a table of contents that highlights the times for different, important parts (really only applies to longer tutorials and those that cover multiple things. i.e., "Time Saving Tips", et cetera) and such makes navigation a lot easier - especially if you're viewers are pressed for time and of differing skill levels. If you're on Windows try CamStudio ( http://www.camstudio.org/ ). It's free and outputs AVI/Flash. I would suggest using their codec as it does encode quickly, is lossless, and seems to be less CPU intensive. Of course you don't want to keep it in that format so make sure to download VirtualDub and convert it to something more common (XviD, DivX). It doesn't ad banners or watermarks to the videos either.

There's also a good How-To ( http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Miscellaneous.477.0.html ) on the Blender website; it's from Metsys. Kind of dated and I wouldn't use the demonstrated application but there is some good advice in it.

Good post though; definitely something to think about. Two more things you might want to add to the list: First, making sure your theme is compression and viewer friendly (or at least make sure it is easily discernible in the final) and second, creating a table of contents that highlights the times for different, important parts (really only applies to longer tutorials and those that cover multiple things. i.e., "Time Saving Tips", et cetera) and such makes navigation a lot easier - especially if you're viewers are pressed for time and of differing skill levels.

]]> By: JJ http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-45917 JJ Wed, 31 Jan 2007 20:59:45 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-45917 It's not free, but there's an inexpensive Mac screen-to-movie capture app called iShowU - you can find it at <a>http://shinywhitebox.com/home/home.html</a>. It's not free, but there's an inexpensive Mac screen-to-movie capture app called iShowU - you can find it at http://shinywhitebox.com/home/home.html.

]]> By: Paul Holmes http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-45916 Paul Holmes Wed, 31 Jan 2007 20:57:11 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-45916 I take inspiration form this guys style of video tutorial making. Andrew Kramer. Some of the most enjoyable tutorials I have ever watched, plus they teach cool stuff, and thats a must when making a tutorial. Here: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials.html I take inspiration form this guys style of video tutorial making. Andrew Kramer. Some of the most enjoyable tutorials I have ever watched, plus they teach cool stuff, and thats a must when making a tutorial.
Here: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials.html

]]> By: Pedro http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-45854 Pedro Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:57:58 +0000 http://www.blendernation.com/2007/01/31/how-to-produce-a-good-video-tutorial/#comment-45854 Bart, you wrote about something I always wanted to. I really liked it, thanks. One thing I believe missed in the article is the fact that people should avoid recording fullscreen because it makes hard to see the interface and what´s been done once the image is reduced or the copression is set too high in order to get small files. I believe that resizing Blender window with just what´s needed for the tutorial is the best to do. In most cases it´s possible to create small files without having to reduce the image size. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alex, I know that it´s not free, however I believe Quicktime Pro is a very good option. It offers great image quality, small files and has options to record just parts of the screen. Bart, you wrote about something I always wanted to. I really liked it, thanks. One thing I believe missed in the article is the fact that people should avoid recording fullscreen because it makes hard to see the interface and what´s been done once the image is reduced or the copression is set too high in order to get small files.

I believe that resizing Blender window with just what´s needed for the tutorial is the best to do. In most cases it´s possible to create small files without having to reduce the image size.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Alex, I know that it´s not free, however I believe Quicktime Pro is a very good option. It offers great image quality, small files and has options to record just parts of the screen.

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