Integrating movies into documentation (Erika Yanovich)

["Blount, Patricia A" <Patricia -dot- Blount -at- ca -dot- com>]

Erica,

I've just started using video for product information and have to say,
love it. 

We're doing very brief task demonstrations. Our original plan was to
document a procedure, then place a Show Me link beneath it that animated
it. Both text and video would appear in the Help. 

We've since strayed from that path. Instead, we're posting the video
demos directly to YouTube and linking to the YouTube Channel from
directly inside the GUI. 

Here's how we're doing video:

1. With screen capture software (Captivate, Hypersnap, Camtasia, etc.),
record the task to be demonstrated.
2. Edit the recorded output with text callouts that explain the reason
why a selection was made, and the results of every click. ("Choose x if
you want to do A, choose y if you want to do B...") 
3. Adjust timings appropriately.
4. Regarding voice-over narration. I have done it. As others have
already pointed out, the workplace is not conducive to this effort. I do
it from home using a standard headset/mic. I haven't been making huge
Hollywood productions out of these videos, adding opening fanfare, etc.
But I have used the voiceover to explain concepts not immediately
evident from the GUI alone. 

For narration, I write a full script and print it out with italics
marking points I want to emphasize and bold marking the ones I want to
"punch". I practice reading the script until I can do it without
stumbling over words. I have to substitute certain words. I am a native
New Yorker and hiding my accent is difficult with a word like "explore".
It tends to come out as "explaw". Another term that required extensive
practice was the product name "D2D". It sounded like a stutter: "dee da
dee". 

Practicing the script helped me eliminate verb-age, you know... the
verbal garbage that comes out of us in conversation. All the you knows,
ums, sighs, lip smacking, lip popping, and so on. 

Once I felt confident, I recorded the narration from home, where there
are no air conditioning hums, people walking by, conference rooms to be
kicked out of, and so on. It's good enough - certainly not great, but
effective for the purpose of conveying product use. 

Visit Tom Johnson at I'd Rather Be Writing. He just did a webinar on
Screencasting.
http://www.idratherbewriting.com/category/screencasting-topics/

Feel free to contact me offlist if you'd like to discuss further.

Patty B.


Patricia A. Blount
Technical Writer
Recovery Management and Data Modeling
Tel: +1-631-342-3528
Mobile: +1-631-678-3437
Patricia -dot- Blount -at- ca -dot- com
CA, Inc.
1 CA Plaza
Islandia, NY, 11749



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