How can I learn to make really good screencast style videos?
March 19, 2022 10:36 AM Subscribe
I want to start creating educational YouTube content around software development topics - so my face in the corner, but mostly my screen. I'm looking for tips on how to make sure that my output is as high quality as possible - software to use (OBS or something else?), lighting and microphone tips, editing software, ideal length and structure, etc. I know this is a very deep topic, so the more pointers to great material about this the better.
A limitation I have right now is that I don't watch a great deal of YouTube content myself, so I'm also really interested in examples of channels that produce this kind of content really well.
I'm not interested in making money on YouTube, but I do want to make my videos as useful as possible so I'd like them to have the potential to reach a wide audience.
A limitation I have right now is that I don't watch a great deal of YouTube content myself, so I'm also really interested in examples of channels that produce this kind of content really well.
I'm not interested in making money on YouTube, but I do want to make my videos as useful as possible so I'd like them to have the potential to reach a wide audience.
Hey Simon! You've correctly identified this is a deep topic, but here's some of what I've seen.
First off, try to decide ahead of time how much editing you want to do. If the answer is "very little", that's gonna steer your towards OBS, because you can set up how you want the stream to look, record yourself all the way through, and then upload as-is or with some light editing.
If you want a more professional look, you're probably going to want to do some editing and compositing (putting two video streams together), which probably means recording the screen and your face separately.
I would think a bit about whether your face in the corner _matters_. Will your audience benefit from seeing, or is it enough to do an intro and outro with your face, then only do the screen recording with your voice for the actual meat of the video? I'm a sample of one, but I find I'm able to focus on content better without the host's face in the corner.
The best instructor I've seen on this is Phil Ebiner, who has both his own program and offers classes for pretty cheap on Udemy.
One of my favorite producers of youtube educational content is Andrew Huang, you'll notice he rarely if ever has "content" and "his face" on the screen at the same time, but his videos are also highly edited.
Two people you might already know that also do this pretty well are Al Sweigart and Kenneth Love -- they've both produced great videos of the type you're describing.
As for equipment, a decent mic and good lighting are key. Wirecutter has good guides on video calls that will serve you pretty well. If you want a quick answer: Buy a Blue Yeti mic and a ring light of some kind.
As for cameras, if you have a later-model iPhone, you can use that + Camo to give you a look better than almost any webcam.
Happy to talk more about this topic!
posted by phildini at 10:56 AM on March 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
First off, try to decide ahead of time how much editing you want to do. If the answer is "very little", that's gonna steer your towards OBS, because you can set up how you want the stream to look, record yourself all the way through, and then upload as-is or with some light editing.
If you want a more professional look, you're probably going to want to do some editing and compositing (putting two video streams together), which probably means recording the screen and your face separately.
I would think a bit about whether your face in the corner _matters_. Will your audience benefit from seeing, or is it enough to do an intro and outro with your face, then only do the screen recording with your voice for the actual meat of the video? I'm a sample of one, but I find I'm able to focus on content better without the host's face in the corner.
The best instructor I've seen on this is Phil Ebiner, who has both his own program and offers classes for pretty cheap on Udemy.
One of my favorite producers of youtube educational content is Andrew Huang, you'll notice he rarely if ever has "content" and "his face" on the screen at the same time, but his videos are also highly edited.
Two people you might already know that also do this pretty well are Al Sweigart and Kenneth Love -- they've both produced great videos of the type you're describing.
As for equipment, a decent mic and good lighting are key. Wirecutter has good guides on video calls that will serve you pretty well. If you want a quick answer: Buy a Blue Yeti mic and a ring light of some kind.
As for cameras, if you have a later-model iPhone, you can use that + Camo to give you a look better than almost any webcam.
Happy to talk more about this topic!
posted by phildini at 10:56 AM on March 19, 2022 [4 favorites]
ManyCam can do this. I downloaded it to record a video for YouTube and it's surprisingly well featured. It's made for live streaming but you can record from multiple sources. I believe the free version allows you to record from two sources at once.
posted by crunchy potato at 10:58 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by crunchy potato at 10:58 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've used Camtasia to edit similar videos for my job. The learning curve is low and it has a lot of nice features.
Blue Yeti is a solid choice as a mic, but be sure to get a pop filter or a foam cover for it. Blue's Compass boom arm and Radius III suspension mount are also really nice. You definitely don't want your mic sitting on your desk if you're going to be typing.
posted by neushoorn at 11:27 AM on March 19, 2022
Blue Yeti is a solid choice as a mic, but be sure to get a pop filter or a foam cover for it. Blue's Compass boom arm and Radius III suspension mount are also really nice. You definitely don't want your mic sitting on your desk if you're going to be typing.
posted by neushoorn at 11:27 AM on March 19, 2022
"I'd like them to have the potential to reach a wide audience"
Edit the auto captions for errors and don't use background music - not just for the deaf and hearing loss community but for those watching on low volume late at night, on pubic transport, while looking after young children, etc. etc.
And post in Projects when you've uploaded your first video!
posted by humph at 11:55 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Edit the auto captions for errors and don't use background music - not just for the deaf and hearing loss community but for those watching on low volume late at night, on pubic transport, while looking after young children, etc. etc.
And post in Projects when you've uploaded your first video!
posted by humph at 11:55 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I create programming tutorial screencasts. The most important thing is audio quality. It doesn't have to be perfect, but hearing echoy audio instantly kills your credibility. A Blue Yeti mic is fine, but have a pop filter and a mic arm (cheap ones off Amazon are fine). Putting up fabric on the walls and ceiling absorbs sound too. I just hang old duvets from hooks in the ceiling, forming a kind of cylinder of silence around my desk. Don't bother with those foam tiles, they're not better than old towels or duvets from a thrift store.
Find the Noise Gate plugin for Audacity so that you can entirely mute the parts where you aren't talking.
Here's a video on DIY sound panels that you could make too: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pABvTWSxOes
Second most important thing: set your screen resolution to something low like 1080p. Not only does this help people with slower internet connections, but a common problem I have is people's code being too small to read on screen. Also, change your mouse cursor to a super large one to make it easier to see.
You'll want a green screen if you have yourself in the corner to avoid that weird square effect. You can get cheap ones that are basically green bed sheets. Hang them from a wooden dowel from the ceiling hooks so that it's always flat. Software can fix most green screen issues, you just don't want to have a lot of folds in the green screen causing shadows. If you wear glasses, consider contacts to prevent lights from reflecting off of them.
Also, consider not showing yourself in the corner all the time. Pop back in when you're explaining something (and look at the camera) and then pop out so they focus back on the screen. Not having your face on screen allows you to edit out the small uhs and umms without making your face suddenly cut.
Have a short intro of the concepts you'll cover and a short summary. You want to tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you told them.
Studies (which I can't dig up here) show that 7 minutes is the ideal video length and after 10 or 12 minutes comprehension sinks like a rock. Keep this in mind, because videos always tend to end up much longer than this.
If you have a quiz at the end, be sure that you yourself can point to a timestamp (like, the minutes and seconds rounded to the closest 5 seconds) where you specifically answer the question you ask.
Captions are not optional. Don't rely on the auto-generated ones, they're always terrible (especially for coding terms). These are needed for the hearing impaired, for people watching where they can't have the sound on, for people who aren't fluent in English, and for automated translators. Remember while filming that stuff at the bottom of the screen may be covered by the caption text (and covered by your body in the corner).
posted by AlSweigart at 3:24 PM on March 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
Find the Noise Gate plugin for Audacity so that you can entirely mute the parts where you aren't talking.
Here's a video on DIY sound panels that you could make too: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pABvTWSxOes
Second most important thing: set your screen resolution to something low like 1080p. Not only does this help people with slower internet connections, but a common problem I have is people's code being too small to read on screen. Also, change your mouse cursor to a super large one to make it easier to see.
You'll want a green screen if you have yourself in the corner to avoid that weird square effect. You can get cheap ones that are basically green bed sheets. Hang them from a wooden dowel from the ceiling hooks so that it's always flat. Software can fix most green screen issues, you just don't want to have a lot of folds in the green screen causing shadows. If you wear glasses, consider contacts to prevent lights from reflecting off of them.
Also, consider not showing yourself in the corner all the time. Pop back in when you're explaining something (and look at the camera) and then pop out so they focus back on the screen. Not having your face on screen allows you to edit out the small uhs and umms without making your face suddenly cut.
Have a short intro of the concepts you'll cover and a short summary. You want to tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you told them.
Studies (which I can't dig up here) show that 7 minutes is the ideal video length and after 10 or 12 minutes comprehension sinks like a rock. Keep this in mind, because videos always tend to end up much longer than this.
If you have a quiz at the end, be sure that you yourself can point to a timestamp (like, the minutes and seconds rounded to the closest 5 seconds) where you specifically answer the question you ask.
Captions are not optional. Don't rely on the auto-generated ones, they're always terrible (especially for coding terms). These are needed for the hearing impaired, for people watching where they can't have the sound on, for people who aren't fluent in English, and for automated translators. Remember while filming that stuff at the bottom of the screen may be covered by the caption text (and covered by your body in the corner).
posted by AlSweigart at 3:24 PM on March 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
Also, don't have background music. It gets in the way of your talking and then your students can't have their own study music playing.
Consider typing on a wireless keyboard on your lap to keep the tapping sounds away from the mic.
posted by AlSweigart at 3:27 PM on March 20, 2022
Consider typing on a wireless keyboard on your lap to keep the tapping sounds away from the mic.
posted by AlSweigart at 3:27 PM on March 20, 2022
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posted by simonw at 10:49 AM on March 19, 2022