Presentation Goals
ƒ Help you understand how to make instructional videos
ƒ Provide examples
Producing
Multimedia Training
Materials: Tools and
Techniques
ƒ Provide techniques and tips
Dr. Richard Jerz
February 5, 2007
www.rjerz.com
Example Video
Why Video?
ƒ Best for technical instruction
ƒ Picture worth thousand words
ƒ 30 pictures per second worth …
ƒ More importantly
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Very rich media
Can be re-edited and improved
Convenient (asynchronous, players)
Repeatable (at no extra cost)
Compress time, improve learning efficiency
Turbocharge education (faster and more learning)
People seem to like it (movies)
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Where do we begin?
Stage: Video Editing Software
ƒ Stage
ƒ Adobe Premiere (Production Studio)
ƒ Audience
ƒ Apple iMovie2 (Macintosh)
ƒ Content
ƒ Camtasia Studio
ƒ Process
ƒ Adobe Captivate
ƒ Microsoft Movie Maker
ƒ Ulead Videostudio
ƒ Adobe (Macromedia) Flash
ƒ Adobe Encore
ƒ And Others…
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Stage Characteristics
Stage Examples
ƒ What can be included:
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Digital live video (dv)
Digital computer video (wmv, mov, avi, mpg, etc.)
Computer images (jpeg, bmp, tif, etc.)
Audio/voice (wav)
Music (mp3, wma, aac, etc.)
ƒ Holding bucket, where media in imported
ƒ Timeline for composing and editing
ƒ Preview window for results
ƒ Miscellaneous tools (e.g., cropping, transitions and effects)
Windows Movie Maker
Camtasia Studio
Adobe Premiere
I like Adobe Premiere (Production Studio)
ƒ Good reviews
ƒ Good company reputation
ƒ Comprehensive set of production tools
ƒ Powerful (many tracks, overlays, transitions, audio/video
effects)
ƒ Can import many file formats
ƒ Can export many video formats (.wmv, .mov, .rm, .avi)
ƒ However, it has a longer learning curve
ƒ And it is more expensive than others
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Composing the Video (i.e., your movie)
Video Components
ƒ Plan
ƒ Live video
ƒ Collaborate
ƒ Computer video
ƒ Create script
ƒ Audio
ƒ Practice
ƒ Screen captures
ƒ Improve
ƒ “Other” graphics
ƒ Titles
ƒ Music
Live Video
Live Video Method
ƒ What is the Instructor’s (Actor’s) role?
ƒ Recording with your DV camcorder (example)
ƒ Advantages
ƒ Getting DV from camera into Adobe Premiere (example)
– Brings life to movie
– Personalizes
– Entertaining
ƒ Disadvantages
– Entertaining
– Paced by real time (lips/sound)
– Quality dependent upon actor
– Tip
ƒ Keep your live role to a minimum
Computer Video
Editing Computer Video with Premiere
ƒ Camtasia Recorder
ƒ Video example
ƒ Alternatives:
– Adobe Captivate and others
ƒ Tips
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Practice
Use a good mouse
Record your voice with video
Screen size: aspect ratio
ƒ 720x480, 1080x720
ƒ Quickeys
– Remove (by editing in Premiere) any delays
– Compress time
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Audio
Microphones
ƒ Adobe Audition
ƒ Alternatives:
– Audacity (free)
Telex
Computer
ƒ Tips
– Voice pacing movie
– Quiet (not noisy) background
– Use a good microphone (Samsom)
ƒ Quality comparison
– Normalize. Delete at zero crossings. Remove noise.
Sony
Samson
Microphone Examples (without noise
reduction)
Microphone Examples (with noise reduction)
Editing Audio
Editing Audio
ƒ An extremely important and powerful technique
ƒ Audio “podcasts”
ƒ Audio often used to pace the video
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Screen Shots
Other Graphics
ƒ Camtasia SnagIt
ƒ Photos
ƒ Scanned images
ƒ Captures screen, windows,
region, plus more
ƒ Photoshop and other computer applications
ƒ Tip
ƒ Tips
– Match screens to production size
– Screen size:720x480
– Compressed images seem to produce smaller video, with “equal”
quality
– Optimize jpegs (jpeg Optimizer)
ƒ Quickeys for quickly sizing window
– Be careful of aspect ratio (1:1 versus .9:1)
ƒ Create practice “round”
Titles and Word Slides
Music
ƒ PowerPoint
ƒ iTunes (Apple)
ƒ Titles within Premiere
ƒ Many others: Windows Media Player, Musicmatch, etc.
– Copyright notice
ƒ Tips
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In PPT, save as “jpeg”
Recreate transitions
Keep words to minimum (podcasts)
Consider your “movie” theme
Using PowerPoint provides easy re-delivery
ƒ Technique: “Rip” music CD
ƒ Tips
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mp3, not wma or acc
Set iTunes for mp3
Edit in Audition
Consider copyrighted problems
Putting it all together!
Exporting (Who is to use this video?)
ƒ Import into stage software
ƒ Computer, Internet, CD, DVD, iPod
ƒ Drop onto timeline
ƒ Crop, stretch, and compress
ƒ Time the audio to the video
ƒ Example
ƒ Tradeoffs: Size, quality, compatibility, playability
ƒ Windows Media
– PC based
ƒ RealNetworks
– PC and Mac
– Can be streamed
– Good compatibility
ƒ Flash
– PC and Mac
– Streaming format
ƒ Podcast
– Video and/or audio
– A “portable” format
ƒ Examples: see my website
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Exporting Tips
Warnings!
ƒ The world of codecs
ƒ This is not easy
ƒ Settings can be tricky (example)
ƒ Very time consuming
ƒ Screen size (720x480, except podcasts)
– DVD’s can use this size, and 720x540
ƒ Great rewards!
ƒ 15fps for Internet, otherwise 30fps
ƒ Fun!
ƒ Exporting can take time
ƒ You can be the director.
– Depends on computing power
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Some Production Notes for SW Lesson 1
End
ƒ Length of movie: 6 minutes
ƒ File sizes:
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Flash: 29.5MB
Windows Media: 19MB
RealNetworks: 18MB
Mpeg4: 17MB
ƒ Target Internet bitrate: 400 kbps
ƒ Original content size: 238MB
ƒ Time to produce: approx. 5 hours
ƒ Time to export to WMV: 45 minutes
ƒ Computer: Dell Precision M60, 1.73 mHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB
Hard disk, nVidia graphics
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Questions & Discussion
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References and Costs
ƒ Adobe: Production Studio $1,200
ƒ Techsmith: Camtasia 4 and SnagIt, $319
ƒ Samsom: Q1UQ1 USB Dynamic Mic, $49
ƒ Sony DCR-H40 DV Camera, ~$500
ƒ CE Software: QuicKeys, $80
ƒ Xat.com: jpeg Optimizer, $39
ƒ Apple Computer: QuickTime Pro, $30 (for podcasts)
ƒ Adobe: Flash 8 Professional, $699 (for Flash 8 encoder)
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