Tag: screencasting

  • Write a Video Script Like a Pro Even if You are Beginner

    While I am writing this blog-post from the video producers perspective- the secret formula of video script writing I am going to reveal in this blog post is very practical to any newbie in video script writing business.

    It took me many years to believe that I could write a video script. This is despite having several of them at my disposal that I used in producing videos. Video production and script writing is like art it revolves around imagination. Art is universal. It shares the same goal; to tell a story.

    If you don’t already know, copy-writing is the grandfather of story telling. A small tweak on the words that you use in selling and you get more sales or you lose more sales.

    Video relies on a written copy with an aim of persuading a prospective customer to take action. The ultimate end goal is to sell something to whoever watches the video.

    The formula I am going to share with you today on this blog-post is ridiculously easy. Please don’t complicate it by getting IMPATIENT or letting PRIDE take over. Creative inspiration come slowly and it is inspired by simple things.

    STEP 1 – Identify 3 Marketing Videos That Are Inspiring to Watch

    This step is quite obvious and you might be tempted think that you already know the formula I am going to share with you. I advise you to follow through to the end. You will notice that there is one or two things that you have not been doing right thus you are still certain of your ability.

    If your list of videos are more than 3, re-watch them and narrow them down to 3. This is for practical purposes. Most clients will refer you to a style of video they like and ask you to write a script of something related.

    STEP 2 – Transcribe The 3 Videos Into Scripts

    Yes. watch them and transcribe the videos into scripts. Study your scripts’ structure. See the approach that they have used when introducing the problem, offering solutions and asking the prospect to take action. What makes you get hooked to it?

    Step 3 – Take a Break For a Day and Think of Products That Fits into the Script Structure You Have

    Change a few keywords in the script and put in your words from the new product(s) you have picked. While doing this, read it loud and hear how it sounds. You will get encouraged when doing this exercise. The more you do it, the more you master the process. Also, you will realize that you can apply the same structure on many products and it will inspire you to write more using your own language.

    Step 4 – Use This Formula To Write Scripts For Use in Your Portfolio

    Believe you me, when a client says he/she wants a similar style of storytelling, they mean it. If you can write a script similar to the one they are referring you to in your own language, they will love it. And when this happens, you confidence and creativity will blow up. Before you know, you will be writing more and more for TV.

    Step 5 – Use the Same Formula in Writing Scripts For Use in Different Industries

    When you master this formula in writing scripts for short videos, it will be easier to apply it on longer version of video copies. You just need to be a good story teller.

    And that’s it.

    If you need help to script and produce professional screen-cast video tutorials, let me know here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • 5 Ways to Troubleshoot Problems of Video Quality Issues in Your Camtasia Screen Recordings

    There is nothing frustrating in video Screen-casting like a client telling you that the quality of the videos you sent to him/her are horrible. Considering the time you have spent recording, editing and finally delivering the video; being told this is heartbreaking.

    With this said, the client is always right. So, you have to find a solution or else, the client may decide not to pay you at all.

    Now, before you starting thinking about re-recording the videos, here are the best approaches to solving this problem.

    Ask The Client How He/She is Playing The Videos

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    Video player

    Many a times, the problem may be emanating from the client. Some video players do not play some formats. Also, if the video is rendered in 2K or 4K quality; and he/she tries to play the video on a small laptop of 18 inch screen using windows media player or any other player, it will lag and look as if it has some scratches on it. This is because of high video resolution. If you are sure the quality of the video is good and can play fine on your system, advise the client about it. Tell them that 2K and 4K videos only play smoothly on 24 inch and 27 inch screens consecutively. This way they can try other ways. The best solution for this case will be uploading the video to Youtube and choosing 1080p settings on youtube video player.

    Ask Them To Download The Video To Their Desktop And Play

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    Ask them to download the video and watch them on their system

    Am sure most freelancers and clients collaborate and share files via FTP. The most popular here being google drive and dropbox. If you use one of these FTP\’s to share video files, you will agree with me that playing videos directly online is sometimes a big problem. With this said, while sharing high quality videos, it\’s important to notify the client that the quality of the videos might be compromised when played directly from the FTP thus they should download them for the best viewing results.

    If at this point you find that the problem is indeed originating from you, the the following steps will help you find a solution.

    Choose Full Screen When Recording Screens

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    Choose full screen for \’recording area\’ in Camtasia

    There are two things that will determine the final output quality of your video. First is the screen resolution you choose from the Camtasia screen recorder. The best option is recording Full screen. You can cut out sections of the screen you don\’t want while editing.

    Second, is the zoom percentage of your browser. This is if you are recording a tutorial that requires the use internet browser. if you are recording it on 24 inch screen, set the zoom on your chrome browser to 125% and 150% for 27 inch screen. This will make text on your screen recordings easy to read. Also, the quality of your screen recordings will be good.

    Choose Editing Canvas Dimensions To At-least 1920×1080 Pixels

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    Camtasia editing dimensions

    Most clients are happy with these dimensions. This is good for editing all the recordings as your can stretch video to fit the screen. Also with this setting, you can render videos in lower HD resolution like 720p.

    NOTE: If you edit a video recorded in a 4K screen resolution with 1920×1080 canvas dimension, the final video output will be clear and crisp.

    Video Production Settings

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    Camtasia production settings

    Lastly, the video quality problem may be arising from your final production settings. It\’s important to create a custom present for this in Camtasia. Here, there are two key things to look into; first is the key-frame rate and secondly is the encoding mode. The lower the key-frame rate the higher the quality of your videos. I usually set my key-frame rate to between 5 to 10 depending on the video duration. Lower keyframes results in a large video file. It\’s also good to set encoding mode percentage to at least 75%.

    Bonus tip!

    If you are recording videos of you scrolling down a page, you computer RAM will determine how smooth the scroll will be. Low RAM will record choppy screens while high RAM will record smooth scrolls. Also, it is important to install more RAM when recording Game Plays. 16 GB of RAM or more is recommended.

    And that is it from me today.

    If you need help to create and produce professional screen-cast videos or any type of ex-plainer video, request a free quote here.

    Till next time, bye bye and take care.

    You can follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • Five things to Improve in your Screencast Instructional Video tutorials

    If you own a software, application, website, program then at some point you have used a screencast video tutorial to demonstrate to your users how your product works.

    But over time, the style of presenting these screencast instructional videos have evolved. Marketers are now using more sophisticated presentation styles to win the confidence of their customers.

    But this without proper preparation is a total waste of time and resources. At the end of the presentation, your target needs to be able to understand how your product works. The message has to be conveyed in the shortest time possible.

    Over the years, I have found out that most instructional video tutorials fail to retain viewer attention because of the following reasons;

    Sound Quality

    The presenter may have an accent that is not clearly understood by everyone.

    On the other had, most presenters lack proper equipment to use in recording the videos thus the voice is distorted with lots of background noise.

    This thus lead to boredom and may make your customer loose interest in watching the video besides not taking you serious.

    Video Length

    Some presenters repeat themselves without knowing and end up with a long tutorial which if proper planning or scripting was done, the information could have been presented in half the time.

    This is costly if you are dealing with high end customers who have less time to watch the video clip.

    Screen Recording Settings

    Good understanding on best recording and rendering settings is the key to producing a high resolution video.

    Someone with no knowledge in video production may not know this and will end up producing low quality video.

    It will take a professional video producer to record a high resolution screencast video.

    More Videos Means Good SEO

    Everything you do must be duplicable especially if the tutorial being produced is to be published on YouTube.

    It starts with scripting. If you take time to segment your software videos into sections, it will help you reach out to more new customers because you will have several videos posted online.

    For instance \’how to add a product to your site on (your website)\’ may get you ranking on YouTube or google.

    Branding

    Besides using the tutorial to support your existing customers, its crucial to consider branding it in order to market you company to new customers. Branding displays professionalism and will make new prospects to take you seriously.

    There are many other things that if you consider when planning to produce a screencast video, will help you archive your expected results besides ranking high on the search engines.

    Of-course I have mastered the art of producing screen-cast video tutorials. If you need professional help, you can request a quote for free here. 

    Don\’t forget to give me a thumbs up and leave a comment below.

    Follow me on X @cheptionymutai