Creating video training content

This is the result of a discussion and a workshop. It has been edited into a unified outline, but it still has some variation of opinion.

"We want to produce training videos to upload to our LMS. Each one will probably be two or three minutes long with a subject matter expert talking to camera on a given topic. We want to do it in-house because we will be creating lots of content in the future. What do we need to know?"

Evaluate the request

Even if it will be low-cost and well-designed, don't do it unless it's going to be used. Turn it away and ask the requester to come back when they have a plan, including how they are going to know if the learning has worked.

Is video the right medium? Video training is appropriate for theoretical notions, which is why YouTube has so many fully developed video series for basic university classes. Some of them are excellent and you should absolutely watch them. So if you want to clarify a legal notion, or a calculation your employees need to perform but struggle with, go to YouTube. If you want behavior changes, find another medium.

Before you make video, look up Youtube or Vimeo for anything suitable. It’s often there. But email to check that you have the right to download and broadcast it. People might not have had the rights to post it in the first place. You also face the possiblilty that the people who put it up can pull it off or replace it with something unsuitable at no notice.

Planning

Most organizations tend to think, "How difficult can it be to record training?" This comes from recording a child's birthday party. Think about it. You have your expensive camera and you just start shooting. When you review the recording, you find that it is a jumble of scenes without direction, just cutting from one thing to another. That’s not very effective. Then, you think, "How about editing?"

Using external production companies is good for a one off, but learn to do it in house if you want to upskill employees and use creativity to a high level.

Decide how long-lasting do you want your 2-3 minute videos to be. Are they going to be on your site for years? If they are going to be treated as disposable, make them so easy to make and record that staff become comfortable sitting there and recording them. I spend 30 minutes or so writing myself a 'script', 10 minutes or so recording (I usually need 2 or 3 takes) and about 30 minutes editing and cleaning up the sound. They are never going to match up to studio recorded videos, but they serve the purpose they are being used for and I'm not afraid to turn around and delete them and record another one next year because they only take a couple of hours in total.

Ignore any negative comments about time taken to produce videos. People will always watch a film in which you can get more content over in a short space of time. This saves employees time, so it is a business benefit. You'll also get other comments like "It takes me days to edit my holiday videos." Again just ignore these comments and finish the project.

Plan production processes

Whether recording a 2-3 minute video or building a five week training curriculum, make sure you complete all relevant development steps. Whatever your model, you can't skip steps and hope for an acceptable outcome. Keep it simple to start and learn as you go. Your solutions will improve with each iteration. Design and planning is more important than tools. The more you lack planning and storyboarding, the more time you spend in editing.

Establish simple, clear production processes and roles for:

Define your product

  1. Keep videos short; many are only two minutes. Most experts suggest that the maximum length of a video should be six minutes from start to finish; any longer and people lose concentration.
  2. Plan the format of your media to support all end users. For example, will learning be delivered to a smart phone over cellular bandwidth? Should the video be incorporated in a E-learning? If so, use smaller segments and use a design to support interactions. Don’t go for HD if you are going to offer video online; lower resolutions work better.
  3. Go for HD if you plan to offer material on DVD. Film test versions in 720hd and then check them on different devices; find a format you are happy with before recording the rest. If you are going HD, make sure you get the lighting right and aren't too tight with the frame. It can make the subject look terrible if you are too close with HD and harsh lighting.
  4. Hint: Putting videos on YouTube works very well. It takes care of the transcoding needed for different devices, frees up space on your own servers, and can easily be linked and embedded in most Virtual Learning Environments.

Plan learning goals

  1. Start planning with learning outcomes, that is, the change in actions or behaviours that the business needs. Design videos backwards from these learning outcomes and storyboard them. Include only what the learner needs to know, not what the subject matter experts or business leads think they need to know (or you may know). It's not the tools. It's the training. In this YouTube age, you can get away with video murder. But at the end of the day it's still about training.
  2. For writing learning objectives, read Robert F. Mager Making Instruction Work. It's the best step-by-step book on creating training.
  3. Your outcomes probably can’t be achieved in only one video. Plan to do a series of videos if you want to change learner behaviours. If you need to produce video in volume, design and use templates.
  4. If a client wants you to use training to solve a problem, use Cathy Moore's Action Mapping. Get the business leads to quality assure for the business goal (the change in action/behaviour they seek). Get the trainers to quality assure for learning delivery.

Planning content

Design and pre-production planning is essential to instructional video. Learning objectives drive the specific design.

Have a good structure, state the learning outcomes of the video before you start, have a clean set, and observe the rule of thirds.

You will notice that the screen in YouTube classes rarely, if ever, shows the speaker. Rather, it shows computer generated visual aids required for the explanation. Always use computer generated visual aids because a chalk board doesn't look good on camera.

Find a way to involve the listener. Ask questions. Give them a few seconds to make some deductions before telling then the next information if they could figure out it.

Some practitioners recommend a modest upfront investment in a good educational designer/broadcaster to help with an initial design, alignment and prototyping with your business processes. Use it to learn, and then scale it up as templates and production system design that you can use in-house.

There are many options out there for free graphics, or spend a couple of dollars on some shutterstock images with text overlayed. Never use clip art; it’s just lazy.

Your script

  1. Start by getting a subject matter expert and a course developer to write a good script. Treat the whole video as a journalistic exercise. Find and tell the story.
  2. As with all teaching, open with the story, or scenario and even what happened in that instance. Then ask the student a question related to the learning; this holds their attention and asks them to think about the scenario they’ve just seen. This helps memory and is more interactive. (Don't open with 'the corporate message'.)
  3. Beware of cognitive load; don't show too many things at a time.
  4. Then, if you prefer (I don't), go to the corporate expert video clip, 'at the camera' or the 'over-shoulder' interview with the interviewer off camera. Give the interviewees answers only, not the questions.
  5. Add in the learning points, either using questions like 'what would you do if...', or by active language (never passive), short text statements. Use one image and one short statement per five-second clip or add short text in the video. Minimise text! The image should stimulate emotion that in turn stimulates learning retention. Poor quality audio distracts learners, but poor video doesn’t necessarily. Add audio that also stimulates a relevant mood or emotion. Keep the learner as receiver, not the video as a transmitter that push information.

Your storyboard

Make a storyboard; never underestimate the use of storyboarding. Without a storyboard, there's no lesson. Without a lesson, there's no learning. Make sure the storyboard is completed, reviewed and approved before recording the first frame of video.

Storyboarding is a great tool and you probably do need to mix visual aids with 'talking heads' to get complex concepts across and create interest. There are fantastic tools around these days that enable you to do this. We use Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate to create modules that happily mix video with animation and graphics without having to resort to any form of coding. But even Microsoft's new Office Mix product, which is a free plug-in to PowerPoint, is very capable.

Tip: When planning your storyboard, don’t forget camera angles.

On-camera people and interviews

You’ll need Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), presenters and perhaps actors. The biggest challenge is finding SMEs who are comfortable in front of a camera and engaging. No matter how wonderful the content of their answers, it won't captivate audiences if the person isn't engaging and doesn't have high energy. When you find them, they might need some coaching and support on good practice speaking on film. Have them practice the script, and plan for multiple takes. (SMEs tend to go on and on, without much animation, inflections, pauses and eye contact with the camera. It's a staged event, not a politician rattling off.)

Don’t use a talking head with nothing else. They are simply forgotten. And "Telling isn't Training." When you do use a presenter as a talking head:

  1. Create an identity that students can trust with the subject.
  2. Dress appropriately. Some organizations need to see a uniform.
  3. A good way to start a course is to give a brief personal introduction.

A few other tips:

  1. The talent is more important than the equipment. Writing and delivering voice-overs are separate skills that require training.
  2. Try an interview. Leave it relatively unscripted so that it looks authentic. Consider having a few key points to discuss and practice a few times in the days leading up to filming. Intersperse some shots of relevant work activities/outputs and stitch it all together in a video editor. Not everybody is a good interviewee, so your editor might have to delete sections to make the video useful.
  3. Nobody gets their lines right on the first take.

A time-efficient shoot

Shooting video is very time-consuming for everybody working on it. A lot more than you think. Each minute of finished video takes about four hours of planning, storyboarding, and project management. A two to three minute video may take two to three hours of video time, so here are some tips to make the process more efficient.

  1. You can cut down on editing time by having a good script.
  2. Rehearsing is essential. On-camera people all need to rehearse each dialogue six or seven times beforehand. They will waste everyone’s time if they leave it to the actual shoot. Even at recording, you will have to shoot it two or three times. Record audio during rehearsals, and check it to see if it is what you expected.
  3. Set up the location. If people are sitting down, use chairs that make them sit bolt upright. If they will stand, put marks on the floor for their feet and for the tripod. You can then quickly return to your studio.
  4. It is best to get the lighting right while shooting. It is difficult to fix in post-production and requires more sophisticated software.
  5. Some people really need make-up so have a team member on hand with makeup skills.

Getting a good shoot

  1. Don't read off a script, pause and do the next section. Pause before you start speaking and after you finish each section to make editing easier.
  2. Keep the video camera stationary so students aren’t distracted.
  3. Know what you are trying to pass along. Don't be afraid to try many different takes or angles to get all the approaches.
  4. Start with Why, get the positive posture, master the hand movements and eye contacts.
  5. The content has to be what audience would like to know, any phone with a tripod stand will do to capture, get feedback, rest is magic.
  6. Make sure the presenter's eyes are clearly visible.
  7. Keep the background neat; avoid anything distracting.
  8. Watch for reflections of the camera in mirrors, windows, and glossy surfaces.
  9. Avoid pure white shirts for on-camera people.
  10. Vary the perspective of the shot to maintain interest.
  11. Use professionals for presentation and voice-over.
  12. Be prepared to review and re-edit a number of times.
  13. Start the camera before you start the action. This gives the editor something to play with.
  14. Test with students to make sure they paid attention and got the message.
  15. After the first video, before shooting the others, check it on a large screen with a good audio. It might look great on the camera display, but not good on a full-size screen.
  16. Do not expect great production quality at first; you might need to go with something that is just adequate. After a while, it gets better and everyone needs less time.

Sound

If you get the best sound you can, the image side of your production tends to look after itself.

Sound quality is often the missing link in video production. It is the Achilles heel of in-house DVDs. Employees will always compare your work to what they know. Most people are used to TV and high quality MP3 sound. Harsh it may seem but you will get comments like, "Why is there a hiss on my voice?" Be mindful of white noise.

An external microphone is essential, and use good mikes of the right kind for the job. Don't use an on-camera microphone; it will be too far away from your subject to get good audio.

Record voiceovers in an acoustic "dull" space. Hard-surfaced meeting rooms are sonically a waste of time. Most voiceovers on TV are recorded in a recording studio and outside broadcasting interviews are often "cleaned up" in a studio using software.

Some recording studios are not all that expensive if you're concerned about sound quality, but you can also achieve good results with soft furnishings. This may sound bizarre but you can do the recording on a bed, speaking towards the covers, with a little tent of cushions to mask the sideways sound.

Other tips:

  1. Make sound consistent by placing the mike at a consistent location and distance.
  2. For outside filming, use a windsock (teddy bear on a stick). However, you can’t record sound outside during windy weather even with a windsock.
  3. You can use realistic background sounds. In some cases, it is best to add them later.
  4. Prevent unwanted sounds. Mobile phones can ring suddenly, so switch them off during filming. Jewelry can clink, and air conditioners hum.

Editing

Don't be afraid of editing. Many courses are out there on using all the different editing tools.

The finished size of video is kept to a minimum so it is easier to store internally and to stream out over a network.

General tips

  1. The best video doesn’t necessarily make the best education. And the best set of instructions doesn’t necessarily engage students; the enthusiasm of the communicator needs to come across.
  2. Experience in camerawork improves your editing, and experience in editing improves your camerawork.

Software

Lightworks has a free version of its video editor. It only does lower resolution video, but it is the resolution needed for online work. (Moviemaker, which comes with MS Windows, is a little too basic to be useful.)

Camtasia comments

  1. Camtasia is a good video editor. iPads with Apple’s video editing software also work great. You can go total studio production all the way to a YouTube-esq short and everything in between. It all depends on the aesthetics you are going for.
  2. Give a look at Camtasia Studio. With this software you can do the whole screencast and you can film yourself. We record with a hd webcam, which is enough with a good light. For audio, which is very important to have a good quality, we are using an additional mic. Furthermore, we've painted the background green to get a nice contrast. With Camtasia it's possible to work with a green screen so you can easely make the green color transparent with just one click. https://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html
  3. Camtasia definitely lacks many good features, but its very simple to use and can be picked up pretty quickly with a little bit of effort.
  4. Camtasia is excellent but, as stated by other contributors, voiceovers can sound dull and flat without editing. Worthwhile going to a local recording studio or becoming familiar with Audacity or Cooledit.
  5. Camtasia does have the capability to improve the sound.
  6. I use Camtasia for video editing but actually use a legitimate audio recording source. I'm using a M-Audio Producer USB mic and Adobe Audition for mixing.
  7. Camtasia is also good for screen capture if you are doing a software demo.
  8. There's lots of good recording software out there, Camtasia being one, but often using some of the software that actually comes with the camera. From experience though, it's not the software or the computer you use (so long as its at least reasonably specc'd), but you do need a good quality camera and especially a very good quality mic. It will cost but it will be worth it! Most webcams can record in HD now, although whether they are good enough for what you want depends on your set up and distance. Thhey will be fine in some circumstances not in others. However, the microphone on them, or a standard desktop microphone that might be fine for Skype calls will probably not be good enough for this.
  9. I have used Camtasia also, but moved to NCH.
  10. If using Windows, Camtasia Studio is very good and is easy to learn and use. It has a good chromakey feature. and Techsmith has lots of video supporting tutorials: https://www.techsmith.com/tutorial-camtasia-8.html. As with many tools, expect the first few videos to take a longer time to create, as you're learning how to use the features and workflow. Camtasia Studio 8 costs about $250.
  11. By the way, a perpetual license for Camtasia is about $100 in a one-time payment.
  12. Pluralsight authors use Camtasia, and I have never heard too many bad things. I did hear today from a client that they feel actually having a visual of the teacher would be beneficial, although in my experience high quality content can be voiced over succinct slides and screen share demos.

Other software comments:

  1. I think Debut by NHS Software is the best software option for a number of reasons.
  2. Use Audacity to clean the sound up
  3. iMovie, Win Movie Maker or Linux-based OpenShot (my favourite) are good enough to edit most 2-3 minute videos as long as the original is adequate quality. (I don't think OpenShot is available for Mac/Win yet, so it is probably not for everyone, but does have very easy to use effects including green-screen built in and is far more powerful than the other two).
  4. Goanimate is great for creating your own animated videos or, if you prefer talking to a camera, you may wish to consider working with a local college that has its own studio and students who would love to develop their experience and portfolio.
  5. Snagit (TechSmith) works for quick and easy videos. Apparently it has more advanced features are available in Camtasia.
  6. Check out Shootsta http://shootsta.com - anyone in your company can shoot the videos or you may want hire someone or use your instructional designers. But they do the post production.
  7. Demo Builder is good for making professional video (http://www.demo-builder.com/).

Equipment

When selecting a camera, and eye-piece is helpful because it is difficult to see many scenes in a camera-back viewer in daylight.

I don't yet have answers to these questions: 1. Is it still desirable to be able to have manual focus? 2. Is it still desirable to be able to use a light meter and set aperture manually?

We've created videos using a fairly inexpensive camera and edited them in Adobe Premiere Pro. You can also use Camtasia. I generally use this for my Learning and Development videos. We used Premiere for some youtube videos. We are producing on little to no budget so money should not be a concern if you get the equipment.

I've seen this work really well for using certain pieces of equipment for compliance training. They shot fairly basic videos but inserted them into a course so they could add learning objectives and a quiz at the end. By wrapping it into a course, you can get more value out of it by tracking usage and scores through SCORM.

I use Sennheiser headsets when recording voiceovers in Camtasia and Storyline. The quality is adequate as long as you have the mic adjusted just right to your face.

Many recommend a professional video camera with croma key effect. Consider the Canon XA 25 ($2,499) or XA20 ($1,999), or XA10 ($1,499). If you get a Canon, you'll need video converter software such as Wondershare Ultimate Video Converter ($50) to convert Canon’s MTS video to something Camtasia can import. If you are only doing single person talking head videos, a simple green screen and stand (approx. $70) and a decent inexpensive three light kit (approx. $300 if you look) should suffice.

Lighting is important for a proper green screen and because Camtasia lacks the "fix it in post" features of more complicated software such as Apple's Final Cut Pro X.

An Azden WM-Pro wireless mike works fine, although it does not take advantage of the camera's XLR inputs. We ended up using a Sennheiser ME66/K6 shotgun microphone kit that includes a boom pole (approx. $550, plus XLR cable) which gives us a good rich sound. Apples FCP X has a steeper learning curve and intimidating interface for beginners. If you know what you are doing and you have a Mac, you cannot beat FCP, except that it lacks the easy captioning features of Camtasia (if accessibility is a concern). Camtasia for Mac has slightly different features from the Windows version.

Invest in some portable sound recording equipment such as a zoom H1 recorder and a lav mic. Use Audacity (freeware) to remove background noise, and import into your video editing software of choice. Good audio goes a long way in giving a quality finish to your video.

Windows operating systems struggle with video creation, and creating something on a system that is run off a server can often affect the server’s operating capability. This in turn can effect other systems using the server and ultimately cause larger problems. To combat this issue, use stand-alone equipment. I started to use a mac book pro and found iMovie to be very fast at the creation of stills, moving images, voice overs and music. Final cut is still available and gives a more polished look but ultimately with every iMovie update, iMovie moves closer to final cut.

Spend on a camera. Handheld mid priced HD cameras are amazing for image but fall on sound quality.

Some kinds of productions

Over the last decade in working with multi-generational workforces, we've designed and produced:

Websites