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March 10th, 2009 | Posted in Screencasting 18 Comments »
Michael Pick’s screencasts on WordPress.tv are, in my opinion, perfect screencasts. They’re the best I’ve seen — and I’m not just saying this because the video quality is crisp and the audio is rich. Pick blends filmography techniques with screencasting. Instead of the typical screencast that focuses almost entirely on the screen, with a disembodied voice narrating at length around a cursor’s boring movement, Pick fills his screencasts with eye candy and motion, moving from visual to visual as he narrates, giving you a conceptual understanding more than a detailed nitty-gritty how-to. His videos are dynamic and engaging. Like a good movie, you forget you’re watching a screencast and are entranced by the choreography and motion, the music and narration.
Here’s an example.
And another.
For more sample videos, see Michael Pick’s portfolio. I emailed Pick to find out more info about the toolset he uses to create the videos. He said,
It’s a bit of a grab bag: Screenflow (for capture), Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects and Ableton Live are the main apps I use, with occasional Cinema 4D. I think you can get away with using Screenflow (mac) or Camtasia (Windows) for the basics though – the rest are “trimmings.”
Some of these applications aren’t easy. I downloaded Adobe After Effects today. After about an hour I learned how to do a simple animation using keyframes. Final Cut Pro is a Mac application, as is Screenflow. Ableton Live is an advanced audio manipulation application, what perhaps an audio engineer at a recording house might use. I’m familiar with Camtasia Studio, but it’s limited when it comes to dynamic motion. Unless you’re recording your screen, you can’t make things move in the video. For example, if you have a visual diagram you’re using to explain a concept, you’re limited to a basic image. You can flip from one image to another, sure, but you can’t do what Pick is doing in his videos, with full-blow motion of non-screen objects. I’m hoping this kind of effect is possible in Adobe After Effects. Overall, I’ve come to the following conclusions about screencasts. Engaging screencasts have the following characteristics:
- Brevity. Good screencasts are short — two minutes or less.
- Eye candy. Good screencasts keep you visually entertained, moving from image to image fairly quickly.
- Clarity. Good screencasts are visually clear and size well in your browser. The videos zoom in on the parts of the screen being explained. HD may be an option.
- Rich audio. The audio is loud enough to listen to comfortably and has a rich, deep sound.
- Background music. Good screencasts sometimes have cool background music that adds to the entertainment appeal.
- Scripts. The narration isn’t off-the-cuff but is scripted. Even though it’s scripted, the narrator reads it in a dynamic, upbeat way.
- Focus. The video focuses on a specific topic, rather than providing a 10 minute rambling tour of seventeen different features.
- Title slide consistency. Good screencasts have consistent title slides that are visually attractive.
For more information on Michael Pick, see this interview by Blog Design Studio.
Tags: michael pick, screencasting, wordpress tv
Hi Tom – are those videos supposed to be displayed in your post? All I see is the code. Viewing on Opera on Mac OS X 10.5.6.
Thanks.
Thanks, I fixed it. I had accidentally pasted the code in the visual editor.
Excellent videos. I plan to screencast our entire on-line help and I surely learned a lot from these two examples.
Oh yeah, those are brilliant!
I’m working on a new batch of “next gen” screencasts that I can actually show the world (non-intellectually gagged). This shows me that I’m on the right page…even if they look *nothing* alike!
Great post!
Focus and brevity are the two big ones for me. Find one particular issue, address it and be done. I think this also makes it easier to embed these videos in other situations, like contextual help.
[...] Michael Pick’s Perfect Screencasts [...]
These are good examples. I also like MailChimp screencasts as seen here http://www.mailchimp.com/resources/
One way to get you animations is to leverage PowerPoint/Keynote for graphics and movement. If done right, you can create powerful builds and animations. Just don’t use bullet points! Capture this with your screencapture software and use it as part of the final output.
I’m also experimenting with overlaying chromakey video on mine. This brings the speaker to the forefront and helps establish rapport and a more personal connection. Then you can go back to the regular screencast.
I try to remember to share some examples with you.
You’re right. The mailchimp screencasts look nice. Thanks for sending me the link and commenting on my post here.
Tom, thanks yet again. I’ve been working on doing some screencasts for my employer for several months and you’ve provided me with a wealth of resources.
I definitely need to step up my game. These are really amazing and engaging videos.
Thanks so much for the positive review, Tom, I’m still blushing. I enjoyed your analysis, too – food for thought.
great post, those are good screencasts, and your list of what makes it good is pretty comprehensive. nice work.
Thanks for finding out what Michael Pick uses toolwise. I also have found some good examples at Lynda.com
Hey thanks tom for linking to us. Michael pick has rolled some awesome screencasts and similarly my interview with Ian is also a remarkable read – http://blogdesignstudio.com/interviews/interview-with-ian-ozsvald-screencasting-made-professional/
I hope you like that too.
[...] anything super dynamic, just a bit of motion. As I’ve written about previously, I love the Michael Pick videos on WordPress.tv. Flash is the tool that will help me give my video tutorials a bit more life and [...]
[...] Screencasting is another web tool with applications for the classroom. Screencasting is a combination audio and video production: the video part of a screencast shows what is happening on a computer screen and the audio portion narrates the video. An example of a screencast can be seen at: http://www.idratherbewriting.com/2009/03/10/michael-picks-perfect-screencasts/ [...]
Great tips, we are about to start doing our own screencasts, so this was very useful. TAR very much!
[...] list of screencasting tools. I’d Rather Be Writing gives a couple of examples of Perfect Screencasts and discusses what makes them [...]
There are 7 other ways to create screencasts in your home…
http://cybergyaan.blogspot.com/2010/01/7-ways-to-record-your-computer-screen.html