If you look around on Youtube and other video
repositories you will find that many tutorials are available for open
source projects. I my self learned Gimp qiute fast using these small
videos. Many of the videos are produced by absolute amateurs but
never the less brings a lot of value to the projects.
'These videos are an important part of marketing but
also a simple way of teaching users how to do stuff with your
application.
Unfortunately LibreOffice don't have a tradition for
making tutorials or promotion videos. I would like us to change that.
I have made a few tutorials but none of them is close
to being perfect. I'm also an amateur when it comes to making videos.
Never the less I would like to parse my experience to others both in
LibreOffice but also in other open source project.
If you have comments or if you can help me with
additional knowledge - please don't hold back :-)
Lesson one: Prerequisite
Before you even begin thinking of making video
tutorials you need to get some software. But before that you need a
piece of hardware to run your software on. And of cause you do. But I
mention this explicitly because when it comes to video and audio
editing the hardware configuration is essential. Even a recording of
your desktop actually requires quite a lot of effort from your
hardware. I recommend at least 4 Gb RAM and a dual core processor. I
am using Ubuntu Linux 64 bit on a 4Gb Ram machine and I don't always
have enough power.
We need some tools, right?
Yes. First of all you need a program to record your
desktop. I find that Recordmydesktop suites my needs. I'm some kind
of a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) person. Recordmydesktop does what
the name says: It records my desktop and saves it as a video file on
my hard drive. Other programs does the same and its completely up to
you. Recordmydesktop is in most Linux distributions repositories so
search for it.
A nifty little tool I have found is the key-mon
project (http://code.google.com/p/key-mon/).
This is a small window on your screen that shows what happens on your
keyboard. Remember the desktop recorder doesn't record your keyboard
and key-mon just shows any keyboard activity on the screen so that
this will be recorded as part of the video. If you want to explain
shortcuts and other keyboard tricks this is absolutely a nice tool.
You need some image editing software too. I usually
use Gimp but from time to time I need to edit scalable vector
graphics too so I recommend also to install Inkscape. Both
applications are probably in your distribution already.
Editing the video is what is the key issue. I prefer
OpenShot but you can use Kdenlive or other programs if you like.
OpenShot has been criticized for being unstable and that it lacks
advanced features but I find that it suits my needs and when it comes
to stability its not more nor less stable than other applications.
When OpenShot crashes its usually because of lack of ram on my
computer.
If you want to use speak in your video you will first
of all need a good microphone. The built in microphone will usually
NOT do the job. I have a set of earphones with a microphone that
didn't cost much. But I know that others prefer to record the voice
on a mobile phone witch is actually a pragmatic solution.
You might find that OpenShot can do what you need
with the voice track but if you need to edit or fine tune you voice
take you might find Audacity a nifty tool. I think Audacity is state
of the art when it comes to audio editing.
Lesson two: Plan the video
Before you even think of recording anything you must
plan the project. First is to create whats called a story board.
Imagine what you want to do in your video and write it down. Break
the video down into scenes. Write down precisely what is to happen in
each scene. For each scene you should also plan whats on the screen
before you start. An empty desktop or the application open? Should
you prepare a document?
Remember that when you shift from one scene to the
next you might want the two scenes to be linked together in the way
that the second scene starts exactly as the previous scene ended.
Write that down.
My experience is that the more you prepare in the
story board the easier the rest of the work will be. You simply can't
prepare enough but experience will show you.
Lesson three: Strategy
Do you want to make the complete tutorial in one shot
and speak as you take the scene? Or do you plan to take each scene
one by one and then cut/paste everything together when you are done?
You can even do the complete video and cut it together and then
record the speak later.
If you plan to take everything in one shot you will
need to rehearse several times before you record it. If you prefer
this strategy you will most likely end of with a great tutorial but
with a lot of small mistakes. But if you rehearse before you record
you can do it. Some of the best tutorials on Youtube are made this
way.
I prefer to take each scene one by one. That way I
can re-take a scene if I make too many mistakes. I also prefer to
record and add the voice at a later time. One reason is that I either
ask somebody else to speak or that I need to record the voice in a
different place.
On the other side some of the best tutorials are
actually one long take. Take a look at this example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8OTSC_iVT0
This is a video where you can feel the soul of the author. You kan feel that this guy really loves what he is doing. If we edit too much we will end up having a nive video but with no spirit. The key is in the voice.
Lesson four: Recording voice
My office isn't a good place to record voice because
there is too much background noise. Besides that the room is an
office with hard walls and floor. In professional sound recording
studios you will find that the room is covered with soft material to
avoid sound reflections. You can imitate that by using a room with
soft walls and heavy curtains. The best place to record voice is
actually in my bedroom.
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