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View Full Version : Video Review- Looking for some fresh eyes and opinions



Harold Mansfield
07-10-2013, 01:09 AM
I've been procrastinating, toying with and downright chicken at the idea of creating a video for my website.
Finally did it. Could use some feedback.

A couple of things didn't come out like I wanted to, like the video capture in the video, but I'm working on improving that.

Be gentle. I've had no formal training,

Re-edited Version

http://youtu.be/ucruYklx4K8?rel=0

vangogh
07-10-2013, 02:50 AM
I like it. I think it turned out great. I was looking for things to criticize so I could help you find things to correct, but I honestly couldn't come up with anything. It's really good. Is this for your site or on other sites as a marketing tool? I was thinking your site, but since you mention your number and email address I figured maybe you'll use it elsewhere.

Harold Mansfield
07-10-2013, 08:49 AM
The plan is to use a few different versions on a couple of landing pages and start doing some ad/marketing testing here and there.
But I also want to get it on places like my Angie's List profile, Linked In and Facebook pages and so on, so yeah my hope is to definitely use it as a marketing tool.

Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciated it.

LGCG
07-10-2013, 09:09 AM
Awesome work, Harold! I wish I could come up with some criticisms but I really don't have anything to add. You did a great job!

Wozcreative
07-10-2013, 09:49 AM
This video is done really well! The voice-over is really nice, clear and pleasant. The wording is very understandable for those non tech savvy and is a nice touch to add some of those sound effects. The characters are really cute too!

My only qualm is the screenshot at the end.. it looks too.. busy, old, not really designed well. It's an important part, even though it's the last thing you see. I would spend some time designing that a bit better and adding hierarchy.

Harold Mansfield
07-10-2013, 09:58 AM
This video is done really well! The voice-over is really nice, clear and pleasant. The wording is very understandable for those non tech savvy and is a nice touch to add some of those sound effects. The characters are really cute too!
Cool, thanks.



This
My only qualm is the screenshot at the end.. it looks too.. busy, old, not really designed well. It's an important part, even though it's the last thing you see. I would spend some time designing that a bit better and adding hierarchy.

I do kind of agree. I can definitely do that. I also need to redo the soundtrack so that it fades out at the end. Thanks for the feedback.

KristineS
07-10-2013, 11:16 AM
I think the video is terrific. Whoever did the audio did a great job. I do audio for our company videos and I know how hard it is to speak conversationally, not be too fast or too slow, and keep the audio interesting.

Harold Mansfield
07-10-2013, 11:26 AM
I think the video is terrific. Whoever did the audio did a great job. I do audio for our company videos and I know how hard it is to speak conversationally, not be too fast or too slow, and keep the audio interesting.

I did the video using online software, and Camtasia. Also the sound effects and music..well, you know, I purchased them and added them in.
The voice over is a friend of mine who is a 20 year radio vet, who also does voice over work professionally.

I figured out almost immediately that I was not going to be able to do the voice over and have it come out well. Even though I had purchased a decent mic, and some other recording accessories, there was just no way.

I watched a lot of crappy videos by a lot of companies and all things being equal visually, the sound and the voice over is what really stood out to make a video come out well and give you a positive impression of the company, or not well at all and you immediately get a bad impression of them and just stopped watching it.

If I had any advice to give from the experience, it's DO NOT do your own voice over work if you don't have good equipment, can't speak well (and clearly) on demand, AND a don't have a proper enviroment in which to record.

KristineS
07-10-2013, 11:32 AM
If I had any advice to give from the experience, it's DO NOT do your own voice over work if you don't have good equipment, can speak well (and clearly) on demand, AND a proper enviroment in which to record.

I have to agree with that. I started cutting audio for commercials when I worked at a tv station. We had a professional sound room with a mixing board and all the rest. It was great training. I learned how to speak clearly, pace my vocals to fit the time allotted, and how to add inflections and interest to my voice. Doesn't mean there aren't some good bloopers of me screwing up audio out there, but that happens to everyone.

Having the proper environment does help. Where I work now, our set up is a bit more rudimentary, but we make it work.

Harold Mansfield
07-10-2013, 03:29 PM
Yeah, I thought I was just going to watch a few tutorial videos and knock it out. I got a real quick education there. It is NOT that easy.

Besides that fact that once you get all set up and put the head phones on, you realize that no matter how quiet you think it is, there's noise and hums everywhere that come through and bounce around and make your recording sound like crap. It's like there is wind in the room (even when the A/C is off) and you can hear the Earth vibrating.

I actually heard my computer for the first time. I always wondered why it was so quiet. Well, it's not with head phones on and an open mic.

My office is in an open area with two archways (no doors) that lead to other parts of the house. It's surrounded by 4 windows and one of my desks is glass. Hands down the worst possible conditions.

Even trying to clean it up with Audacity, deafen it with towels, blankets, egg cartons and everything else...you really need a completely quite room with a door that you can close.

Not to mention that proper voice over work is a skill. One that I don't have.

Sometimes you just need to let it go and admit that you can't do everything yourself and get a professional.
And I'm really happy that I did.

Harold Mansfield
07-11-2013, 01:02 AM
My only qualm is the screenshot at the end.. it looks too.. busy, old, not really designed well. It's an important part, even though it's the last thing you see. I would spend some time designing that a bit better and adding hierarchy.

I re-edited some things and changed the last couple of screenshots with the company info.
Better?

Business Attorney
07-11-2013, 02:47 PM
I like it. It really tells your story well. And I agree with everything that was said about the voice. It can make or break a video, and it is a developed skill. You are lucky to have a friend who was so talented.

vangogh
07-11-2013, 06:35 PM
Harold I've been experimenting with audio and video on my blog this year. Mostly audio, which I've been doing myself. I agree it's much harder than you think it's going to be. I started thinking I could kind of improv off some notes, but I kept stumbling over myself. Eventually I started writing out a post and reading it loosely. The more I practice, the more I'm able to improv.

I've only done one video so far. It was a screencast that wasn't much more than audio, but I did have to move the mouse around a little and demonstrate a tool I built. I've picked up a few tricks like when you do stumble be silent for a moment or two before continuing on. The pause makes it easier to cut the bad part from the track.

I'm doing audio once a week for my blog now and I need to work in more screencasts. It's so much harder trying to type out code and talk at the same time than doing only one or the other. I have some ideas for videos beyond screencasts, but I want to get the screencasts down first.

Harold Mansfield
07-11-2013, 06:47 PM
Harold I've been experimenting with audio and video on my blog this year. Mostly audio, which I've been doing myself. I agree it's much harder than you think it's going to be. I started thinking I could kind of improv off some notes, but I kept stumbling over myself. Eventually I started writing out a post and reading it loosely. The more I practice, the more I'm able to improv.

I've only done one video so far. It was a screencast that wasn't much more than audio, but I did have to move the mouse around a little and demonstrate a tool I built. I've picked up a few tricks like when you do stumble be silent for a moment or two before continuing on. The pause makes it easier to cut the bad part from the track.

I'm doing audio once a week for my blog now and I need to work in more screencasts. It's so much harder trying to type out code and talk at the same time than doing only one or the other. I have some ideas for videos beyond screencasts, but I want to get the screencasts down first.

What are you using for the screencasts? Camtasia? The easy way is to do the screencast first, edit it so that you can show smooth transitions, and then do the audio over the video. Kind of like how animators do it. At least that was the tip that Mark ( the guy that did my voice over) told me.

That's kind of how I did the few seconds of screen capture in the video as well. It's all editing.

Mark looked at the video, which at the time had a generated voice reading the script, but he recorded it separately from the video software and sent me the tracks. He read it all at once with the proper tempo, and spacing and such...and then separated it into clips for me that matched the scene numbers.

I then uploaded each section to it's appropriate scene, and the whole thing came out pretty seamless.
It will also be easy for me to edit it down for a couple of shorter versions.

I'm hoping to get 3 videos out of it.

Harold Mansfield
07-11-2013, 07:13 PM
Oh yeah. It's really important to write out a script. I spent a lot of time on the script to get it down to just the right words, and as few of them as possible.
When I tried to do it live, I stumbled, forgot some things, said "um" a lot and was just all around crappy.

I spent 3 days fine tuning just the script. It's really hard to get everything you want to project down to seconds. The whole thing actually read at 1:30, but with sound effects and added pauses it added about 18 seconds to it.

I still see 2 areas where I could have replaced 2 words that would have given 2 of the scenes an entirely new meaning.

I don't feel too repetitive in saying that it is not easy.

KristineS
07-12-2013, 11:00 AM
A good script is really important. I always have a script when I record any audio, it helps eliminate the pauses and the ums. We may change some of the wording while we're recording, but the basic structure is always there.

Scripts help with length as well. I tend to want to cram tons of information in and when I do the script it's very easy to see that we'll end up making a documentary, not a short video. Writing the script first helps cut the information into bite size pieces.

patrickprecisione
07-15-2013, 08:16 AM
A good script is really important. I always have a script when I record any audio, it helps eliminate the pauses and the ums. We may change some of the wording while we're recording, but the basic structure is always there.

Scripts help with length as well. I tend to want to cram tons of information in and when I do the script it's very easy to see that we'll end up making a documentary, not a short video. Writing the script first helps cut the information into bite size pieces.

Definitely. A script also helps you from wasting too much time recording. Before we used a script we'd go through 10 or more takes. Once we had the script we could knock it out in a fraction of the time.

Harold Mansfield
07-15-2013, 10:44 AM
The somewhat scary part of it was writing a script and not being sure that I could create the visuals that matched. In a few cases I changed the animation to match the script and in others I changed the script when I found I could do more with the animation.

Music adds a whole new dynamic to it, since I wanted certain things spoken and shown at specific sections of the music track. That's when the editing and script revisions get really frustrating. But it was also kind of fun.

1:30 is actually a long time when you're doing it scene by scene.

KristineS
07-15-2013, 01:49 PM
Scripts help so much with getting the visuals lined up. We've shot tons of raw footage for things, and the script helps narrow down what we use and what we don't. Although, I have to admit, the script has been altered so we can use some really good footage, so pictures can change the words as much as words help determine what the pictures will be.

Harold Mansfield
07-15-2013, 08:37 PM
Did a re-edit today. Added a few subtle things that I thought were lacking, and changed some things that I thought were overdone, like the circular wipes.
I'm not going to upload the new version to You Tube, but it is on Vimeo if anyone wants to see it:
https://vimeo.com/70223407

vangogh
07-16-2013, 01:33 AM
What are you using for the screencasts? Camtasia?

I use Screenflow for the screencasts. It's basically the same thing as Camtasia, but it's Mac only. Both got great reviews, but I decided to support the developer who was supporting Mac longer.

I do work with a script and I do edit things after. It still takes practice though. When you stumble over your words you're very conscious that you're recording yourself. I also never realized how difficult it would be to type one thing while trying to say another at the same time. A few months of audio and I can easily see improvement in both the output and my ability to record them. I have fun with it. There's more to do than writing alone, but I enjoy thinking about and practicing and hopefully improving all those other things.

Harold Mansfield
07-16-2013, 10:30 AM
When you stumble over your words you're very conscious that you're recording yourself. I also never realized how difficult it would be to type one thing while trying to say another at the same time. A few months of audio and I can easily see improvement in both the output and my ability to record them. I have fun with it. There's more to do than writing alone, but I enjoy thinking about and practicing and hopefully improving all those other things.

For me, I completely underestimated how difficult it is to do voice overs. Besides the technical knowledge of having the right equipment, knowing how to use it properly, and general knowledge about sound and recording...I really thought it was going to be as easy as buying the equipment and I'd sound like a professional.

The training to know how to put out the right style, pace, voice inflections, and consistency. It's a real skill. And when I found that I couldn't do it like the pros it was frustrating.

KristineS
07-16-2013, 03:24 PM
Doing audio is a lot like singing, and a lot of the training is the same. Thinking about pitch and phrasing, where to place your breaths, paying attention to the speed at which things are said, even breathing from the diaphragm and head voice and chest voice come into it. I find that I use a lot of the techniques I learned when I was singing in my audio work as well.

Khalifa
07-17-2013, 04:04 PM
I really like it, you've done a great job. The voice over is interesting, it kept me watching all the way to the end. Now, wanna make one for our company? haha

patrickprecisione
07-18-2013, 08:54 AM
Now, wanna make one for our company? haha

I think that's about the best compliment you could get, Harold. Great work!

Harold Mansfield
07-18-2013, 09:13 AM
I really like it, you've done a great job. The voice over is interesting, it kept me watching all the way to the end. Now, wanna make one for our company? haha

PM'ed you.

vangogh
07-22-2013, 11:20 PM
Thinking about pitch and phrasing, where to place your breaths, paying attention to the speed at which things are said, even breathing from the diaphragm and head voice and chest voice come into it.

Most of that stuff isn't too difficult for me, though I times I do speed ahead a bit much. I find it's more there are moments where I'm not sure what I want to say next and after a moment or two I become conscious that I'm not saying anything and so feel the need to say something. It's usually not where I want to go though and so I trip myself up. I've learned over time to just pause the recording when that happens, think about what I want to say next, and start recording again. The more audio I do, the less I find I need to edit after.