Video Production
In some cases, you can leverage your in-house video assets and integrate it with your online documentation without modification of the existing video. This is particularly the case when OVID compilations are small and do not undergo rapid revision. Typically, video production at some level is required. We put together a team of highly experienced, directors, videographers, and editors whose creative and production skills match the needs of your project.
The following video production process is a general overview and assumes that documentation exists before the production of video begins.
Typical steps within a video production project:
- Video Requirements Assessment
- Reuse Evaluation
- Evaluation of Documentation Assets
- Pre-production
- Production
- Post-production
Step One: Video Requirements Assessment
The first step is to determine which type of video is right for your e-learning, training, or maintenance needs: screen-captured video, digital camera video, or both. This is usually a simple process of doing a brief analysis of any existing documentation or video assets relevant to the project. If we are assisting you in a new project without existing assets, then we can make this determination as part of the initial requirements intake.
Overwhelmingly, we find screen capture video used in the software industry, for example, as user guide tutorials of user interfaces. These video tutorials become an extremely powerful and cost-effective learning tool when they are coupled with their associated documentation. Your company may already have licenses for such screen-capture software as TechSmith™ Camtasia, Adobe™ Captivate, shineywhitebox™ IShowU (Mac only) and others or use free alternatives such as Jing and CamStudio. This type of video is not equipment or software intensive. You may already have everything you need to include video-integrated documentation with your next product rollout. We can advise you as to the most effective ways to produce screen-captured video, repurpose the video you already have, or produce video for you as one of the services we offer.
Increasingly, both corporations and industry rely on digital (camera) video for a broad range of purposes:
- Internal training
- Maintenance procedures
- E-learning coursework
- Product demonstrations
While the cost of producing digital camera video is greater than that of screen-capture video, we strive to meet the budgetary concerns of organizations of all sizes. Video has swiftly become an effective and viable Web media because of the convergence of greater bandwidth speeds, improvements and cost cuts in video equipment and production workflows. Because we employ the latest technologies, our video services achieve a level of quality previously reserved for only the most expensive video production companies. See our video production rates for details.
Step Two: Reuse Evaluation
Next, we work with you to evaluate your in-house video to determine if all or part of existing video can re-purposed for integration with your online documentation. If your video assets are out-of-date or if your company needs to produce either software-generated or digital camera video, Wild Basin Media, Inc. makes it our business to help!
Step Three: Evaluation of Documentation Assets
Because video will be integrated with documentation, it is just as important to evaluate how video will fit into the larger strategic goals of content management within your company as it is to create the video. To avoid content management issues, it is best to determine how video assets will be organized, maintained along with your company's other internal and outfacing media assets. For example, when your documents undergo revision, your associated video assets may need to be updated to stay in sync. Without having a coherent plan in place, the task of keeping video and documentation in sync can become unmanageable. We work with companies having a broad spectrum of documentation and video assets and are at various stages within the content maturity model.
For the greatest user experience possible, video production must adhere to quality standards and best practices. For example, even though video segments may be remixed across multiple documents, captured by multiple video teams over time, and processed by more than one editor, for users video segments should all appear as if they have originated at the same time and in the same place. Technical publications departments deal with disparate writing styles among their writing staff by using a style guide. Similarly, the medium of technical video requires its own style and best practices guides to govern lighting, shot angles, sound quality, video formats, common workflow processes, etc. Like text-based content and images, video segments are subject to revisions and updates. Fortunately, MPEG-7 provides a systematic way of dealing with video revisions.
Step Four: Pre-production
As with most detailed projects, planning is key. Good pre-production planning is the best way to drive down production costs and ensure that the production phase goes smoothly. Pre-production starts by working with you to identify your organization's goals and objectives vis-a-vis video-enhanced documentation and identify the target audience. For pre-production, it is often beneficial for our clients to elect an executive producer who acts as a point of contact and works closely with our producer.
Relative to screen-captured video projects, digital camera video projects are more complex, requiring more planning and organization. Usually the existing documentation drives the creation of the shot list and storyboard. These are the blueprints of the production shoot.
A shot list is a formalized list of what our clients expect to have captured on video. The contents of the shot list may, in part or in total, be taken from text-based content (e.g., steps within a topic of task-based documentation) and other authoring artifacts. A shot list contains all items the video crew must remember while shooting particular sequences, including camera angles, shot type (e.g., close up, medium, wide), coverage, and cutaways. Wild Basin Media creates the shot list with the help of the executive producer.
The storyboard is the visual map of the action the crew needs to capture. While storyboards can be created by WBM, the client may want to generate most of the information and may allocate an in-house graphic artist to the task. Its in-house creation helps to drive down the overall cost of production. It also makes sense for the client to "own" the creation of storyboards as this is a way for information to change hands effectively from client to WBM. Storyboards do not need to be hand-drawn sketches; electronic images from company archives can also serve as an effective way to convey the flow of action.
Some OVID projects require a master script, but this is not always the case. A well-developed storyboard, the fact that the action of the video reflects the task-based processes in the existing documentation, and because voice-over narration is often preferred over voice captured during the shoot mitigates the need for a formal script. On the other hand, if associated documentation does not exist, then a formal script is essential.
In addition to the aforementioned creation of video resources, these items need to be considered before production begins:
- People (both on camera and behind camera)
- Locations (scouting, transportation, lighting, noise assessment, accessibility)
- Equipment (audio and visual)
- Shooting Schedule
Step Five: Production
The production step is the "shoot" itself. This is the phase in which all of the planning of pre-production comes together. When the story board and shot list are complete and unambiguous, our videography crew travels to your site to video your subject matter expert. The minimum crew consists of our onsite producer and camera operator without sacrificing quality. Occasionally, for very small shoots, a single videographer can cover the shoot. The producer uses the shot list and storyboard to ensure that the pre-production planning are carried out and handles any unforeseen situations that arise such as equipment issues, set noise, and storyboard/script discrepancies.
When possible, we shoot over the shoulder of the subject matter expert for two reasons:
- This first-person perspective properly orients the online viewers relative to the subject matter.
- Because we strive to reduce the need for "talking head" shots, the over-the-shoulder shot simplifies voice-over narration and localization considerations.
Step Six: Post-production
After we have shot raw footage, it is time to bring everything together into a coherent program. First, we transfer the video data to computer so that it can be edited by our non-linear editing suite. We use multiple editing systems, but Final Cut Pro is usually the editing suite of choice. In the "rough cut", the editor arranges the individual takes into a coherent sequence according to pre-production plans and mixes video any audio, including voiceovers. Voiceover narration may have been done on location by the subject matter expert. More often, voiceover is recorded in studio using professional voice talent. Any animation or other CGI are also added to the video.
In post, we integrate your company's documentation with the mixed rough cut and post the OVID compilation for review. While a good pre-production plan greatly reduces the need for any major changes, an iterative review processes ensures that you that there are no surprises upon final delivery.
