[Sergio Tapia]

I want to start making/producing programming videos showing cool tricks and how-to's for Spanish speakers. I noticed this is a niche that can be filled and nobody out there is doing it.

What are some do's and don't you think when producing a video?

Do you guys need to see the speakers face (via webcam) on the bottom right, or is the voice enough?
What about annotations (in general, not the youtube type annotation)?

Thanks! Let's have a nice discussion.

[BenignDesign]

Moving this to Corner Cubicle for a more serious discussion.

This post has been edited by BenignDesign: 09 January 2011 - 03:35 PM

[JackOfAllTrades]

If you're going to show yourself on camera, either wear pants or keep your camera focused above the waist.

kthxbye!

But seriously, I don't think showing your face on the screen in a necessity. I think annotations are a nice touch. I've thought about making some videos demonstrating debugging, but I have the follow-through of a hack golfer.

[Sergio Tapia]

Hahaha, ok. Good tip, no nude shots. Anything else?

[tlhIn`toq]

Don't plagiarize other authors' work. Taking someone else's tutorials and how-to's and re-releasing them in another language WITHOUT THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S APPROVAL just wouldn't be right.

I agree that these kinds of articles don't require a camera. There is no need to show a person on screen. That makes it a YouTube video. A coding tutorial video should be made up of screen captured video.

[Jstall]

I've watched a number of programming videos and have a couple of suggestions:


If you are going to use screen capture software to show your code make sure that you can zoom in and out when necessary. Also ensure that you are using a font size that allows your code to be seen and read clearly, I've seen many videos that used a font size that made the code unreadable.

I would suggest at least having a basic idea of the flow of your video, even if that's just jotting down a quick list of key points and the order in which you will touch on them.

Speak clearly and check your mic volume! I know this seems like a no braining but again it's something I have seen fairly often, people with muffled and/or barely audible voices.

Do your best to eliminate background noise when you record. Dogs barking or people talking in the background is distracting and annoying to anyone trying to learn from the video. I once watched a Smarty templating engine tutorial that had a freaking rooster periodically crowing in the background, it was hilarious.

Uhhh that's all I can think of right now. I imagine it will be an interesting experience, good luck to you!

[gabehabe]

NEVER EDIT ANYTHING. Record lots of clips and use a remote control to stop/start when you need it. Too many people are stuck in their ways of editing videos. Now it's our turn to show them you don't need to edit video to produce some high quality footage.

[Sergio Tapia]

notsureifserious.jpeg

[Locke]

I'm pretty sure that was a SpectateSwamp quote. AMIRITE?

On-topic: