Time saving tips for course creation!

[LindsayMarsh]

Editing takes the biggest bulk of most instructor’s time. Some instructors are lucky to have video editors who can work with them/for them, but not all of us are so lucky! I do one hundred percent of my own editing and finding ways to streamline that process can save me the most time.

First of all, I create a theme or template video for my course I am working on. This theme will have a standard look for a lower third, banners or an intro screen. These graphics look consistent or have a branded theme.

I start each lesson with this template, so I already have the first few seconds set up in my editing software, same for the outro, music and fonts. This saves me a ton of time as I do not have to set it up each time, I start a new lesson as there can sometimes be 60+ lectures.

I also film in one day. I can film up to four hours of screen recording content in one afternoon. This way I can record it all and save the editing for one session. This also helps to cut down on editing time and streamline my process, so I am not going from filming to editing too often and shifting gears too frequently.

I also plan ahead. I open up a google doc with my course outline and I write out the title of each lesson. If I need to write a script ahead of time, I will do all this at once.

There is a theme here of sitting down to do one task before moving onto another. As instructors we can get excited about teaching that sometimes we rush to film before we really planned out the outline to our course, and “play it by ear”. I found that to be more time consuming in the end as I had to go back and refilm things I have said because I decided to change up the course after filming the first few lessons.

What are some things that you've done to create a course in less time?

[Robin_Slee]

So true! I find it takes around a ratio of ten to one to make video. One minute of final video takes ten minutes to produce. One hour takes ten hours!!

[Artemakis]

I also find it more efficient to first record all lectures/screencasts, and then start the editing process.

In my first course, after recording each lecture, I would edit it and only then I would proceed with the next one. It was a nightmare! 🙂 

Then I switched to record all-first, and then edit them, which works much better for me. 

[Robin_Slee]

Great tip! I will be trying that soon 😉

[GregReverdiau · Accepted solution]

Personally, I too like to record one chapter in one day. I try to keep the editing to later in the day, the morning is my prime time to record while I'm fresh. Plus, editing in the afternoon means I can export the videos while I sleep, and since I export directly to a Dropbox folder, they are also synched by the morning, which means I only have to add them with the bulk uploader. 

A few tips that have saved me a ton of time: 

- I use FCPX and there is a way to save some of the edits and apply them later. For example, color correction, where my body is located on the final video, the size of the screen that I'm showing, my fake background, my keyer, etc... is all saved for each of the angles I have. It makes it super easy to do the entire setup before I start editing. I'm sure other software have the ability to do the same. It also helps with keeping everything consistent. 

- In FCPX, there is a Multicam option available. This allows me to set up an unlimited number of "angles" that I can easily switch between when editing. I simply click on 1,2,3 or 4 on my keyboard when I want to switch to one of the angles. They are all synched in and all I have to do once it's setup is to play my course and cut between all the angles. 

- I play my course at 2x the speed when I edit. I can still hear everything I say and catch the bloopers, and it really saves down on the time! 

I hope this helps someone! 

[SatyaAnandaDhar]

I do basically the same.

I've also switched from more expensive and complex video editors to camtasia 9 to speed up the editing process.

What wears the most is the time lost waiting for rendering! Breakes the work flow!
I always record the course and then I'll edit at the end.
Sometimes I add one class or another when I see the material ready, for polishing
What works for me is to create a video file with the introduction ando other for the "background"  parts like text, images, quots etc.

[Anonymous]

If you are using Camtasia, you can render all of your Camatasia projects in bulk.  What I'll typically do is record all my lessons, mistakes and all. I'll then edit them all. Once edited, I'll open Camtasia, select all of my lesson projects, and bulk process them - sometimes letting it run after I go to bed.  When I wake up (or get back from food shopping, or return from the gym, etc), all of my lessons are ready for upload.

[mariafosscrowle]

I’ve been developing a licensing course on Wordpress for a long time and I’m finally at the video production stage, next I’ll try Udemy course production. I’m sparing you the funny and pathetic stories of how a tax accountant thought it would be easy to learn how to build an LMS website with no design or programming experience. YouTube and Udemy have brought me so far and hopefully my contributions here will help someone along.

I just discovered PowerPoint’s ability to record video at the push of a button within PowerPoint. (The video record button is not available on all versions yet). This allows me to design my templates and content ahead of time, and record as many slides that I can get in that day for each class. If I need to upload the video for a class deadline, I don’t have to worry, I have the option later to change the slides that aren’t great or could be improved or reuse certain slides for a different video.

If this sounds like a bad idea, please share you comments but It’s been a lifesaver for me along with the Udemy course that showed  me how easy it was to add animation!!

[Anonymous]

@LindsayMarsh,

I just wanted to add that I do screencast and PowerPoint based presentation courses and I've found that a lot of my time can be sucked up producing PowerPoint slides -- especially if I go for high production value with lots of animation.

Want to speed up your video production to the max?  Do pure screencast software demonstrations.  I can record as much as 1 hour per day using this method.

If I start messing around with PowerPoint slides, or of late talking head and green screen, the minutes start spinning like Clark Griswald's electricity meter when he had all the lights on in "Christmas Vactation".  You get my point -- at least you do if you're a John Hughes fan ;-).

---Brian

[LindsayMarsh]

@AnonymousGreat tip! This is exactly what I do. I do not even mess with PowerPoint and do all of my text and instruction right in screenflow (the mac video editing software I use). It is great because there is just one program I am juggling. I record my screencasts there but also edit video there as well, streamlining the process. It also adds a much more professional touch to my courses as my text is almost always, animated and structured. 

[kalimaAcademy]

Hello, I use a " debut "program from a company " nch "  that is easy to use and the payment is $ 49 for one time. For montage, I use Filmora.

Around my house there is noise, so I only shoot early in the morning for two hours, and then I do the montage and for noise removal I use the Audacity program, which is free.
It is better to record several videos at once, because you will shorten the time to set the device and lighting, and then devote yourself to editing.
The other command was prepared using PowerPoint, a simple introduction and I use it as an introduction before the videos and arranged all the things in one folder, and so I find everything I want in one time.