Best Practices for shooting video?

[AlexM]

Share your video recording best practices below!

[ScottDuffy]

Video is sort of the foundation of what we do. I've created courses of varying styles of video - from screencast of a presentation, to a live demonstration, to a talking head, to animation, and even fancy combinations of those using editing software. Here are my best tips for video.

• Talking head video is not required, but it's nice to have. Students like to see who they are learning from, even briefly.
• When doing a presentation, do not be boring! Add graphics to the screen, minimize the use of words as much as possible, pick a professional template, and make sure something on the screen changes every minute or so.
• For talking head, lighting is most important. Ensure you are not in the dark, and there are no sharp lights or weird shadows.
• Keep the videos under 10 minutes if possible.
• Keep the background free of distraction unless you can put it out of focus
• Shoot in landscape mode, of course
• You can use a phone as a camera because it has a high quality lens and records in high definition
• No need to shoot in 4K (in my opinion) because this isn't Star Wars. Even in "the future", nice 1080p will be nice to watch.
• Compress your videos using Handbrake. Even if Udemy supports 4GB uploads, you're inviting trouble with the ocassional upload failure and possible rendering failure. There is no harm in compressing a video.
• Don't go overboard with on screen effects and transitions
• Keep practicing and learning how to get better. 

That's all for now. I'll edit this if I can think of more.

[GregReverdiau]

My main experience is with talking head so here are my recommendations for this kind of shots. Some of these tips may be more appropriate to more advanced users: 

• Learn as much as you can about lighting. Learn about lighting your face (number of lights, position, strength) but learn also about lighting your background. You don't need fancy equipment to get good lighting (at least not to start). 
• Learn about white balance. This will allow you to display a nice skin tone.
• If you plan on using a green screen, learn how to properly light it and learn how shadows will affect post-processing. 
• Learn about video resolution and frame rate and how it affects your final product. 
• Get all your settings figured out BEFORE recording. Don't think you will have a chance to edit it in post-production.  

Good video quality is super important, so spend enough time trying different settings and asking for feedback. Once you record an entire course and realize your settings were messed up, you'll never do that again! 

Final tip: good audio is as important as good video. Check out these audio tips in this post.

[PavelGrishi501]

I have great topics to teach on. However, I feel like I'm totally against showing myself on camera, even in promo video.

Will doing just voice-over be acceptable?