Business and people have started using screencasts (video screen captures) to provide services, sell products and for online training. And It is actually worth it. Screencasts do sell well and people learn in a better way through demonstrations that are visual.
But it is quite important to pay attention to little details so that people actually enjoy it. The content should be compelling and of high quality for video and audio. With this, there may arise a few questions in your mind. Which screen recording software to use? Which mic and which headphones? And much more. Well, that’s a bit more challenging. As lately, I have been giving a detailed attention to some pretty good screencasts, I have learned a lot and came to the following conclusions about them. To mention, compelling and engaging screencasts, have following characteristics:
- Short – two minutes or even less
- Eye candy – visually entertained
- Visually clear – HD quality maybe
- Rich audio – Loud and deep sound
- Cool background – Appealing and good music
- Narrative – Dynamic script
- Consistency – Title slide visually attractive
The videos that are effective and attractive have almost all the above characteristics. Here are some techniques to develop higher quality screencasts.
Making a Plan
A great project has goals with organized plans. First, know what are the needs of your audience, take an action accordingly and visualize your cast. Build the story in your mind, the size, and its compatibility. Bring your thoughts to fingertips. And you can give it a start after you have outlined everything. Organize your thoughts without creating a mess matching your objectives. Put the pieces together.
The Script
Writing the script for your video will help in planning visuals for it. Your script should flow naturally, smoothly and be engaging. Consider the viewpoints of your audience and then you can easily build an intriguing script. The best script is one that is more of a story, it draws in the audience, keeps them focused for a long time and sounds like a conversation.
Recording the Screencast
As the technology is undergoing a great advancement, there are lots of different applications for recording a screencast. With Movavi screen recorder you can record screen in HD format and capture any video from your screen. Just clear your desktop when you are ready to record. It is an ultimate screen recorder for windows that helps in capturing streaming video and music from websites. Before you start recording, sit in a quiet room and use good tools for sound. And don’t forget to rehearse before recording to make sure that everything is right. It’s ok to do the recording in segments.
A Quality Microphone
The other critical piece is audio quality. Do not compromise with the USB microphone for screencasts. Use professional quality USB microphone instead of built-in microphone in your laptop or computer. The audio will be clearer without any distracting background noise. One of the first things people will notice about your screencast video is the audio quality, so make it outstanding.
Soundproof For Better Recordings
If you are making the recordings in your home or office, you need to remove distracting ambient background noises. Your microphone may still pick some background noises like a phone ringing, your god barking, your chair squeaking, bell ringing, and echo, but do your best to remove anything. Another option is to rent a studio space for a day at a local coworking space.
In the end, do take care of the screen resolution, aspect ratio, size and other little things. Consider the different platforms that your audience will use to watch you video like mobile, laptop, computer, iPad etc. A resolution of 1280×720 is a good resolution for HD video to view on smaller screens also. Also, consider the thumbnail for your video. You can show the final output and then start with the first step. Overall, it can be a little time consuming, but if you follow all the steps carefully it will be a valuable experience.