Recording Lecture Videos: Tips
Before jumping to the step-by-step guide, we would like you to consider the following suggestions…
#1. Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good – your video doesn’t need to be perfect.
#2. We want to create a personal and informal context via video – think of yourself as in a classroom, rather than in Spielberg’s editing studio.
#3. There will be mistakes and slips and these are OK.
#4. Informal and easy is better because we want you to be able to easily update the videos!
A step-by-step guide:
1. Prepare your lecture and slides
- Keep videos brief (< 10 minutes).
- Use signaling to highlight important ideas or concepts.
- Use a conversational, enthusiastic style to enhance engagement.
- Embed videos in a context of active learning by using guiding questions, interactive elements, or associated homework assignments.
Get the GSE PPT Template: You are welcome to use one that is specific to your department or center.
2. Select your lecture capture software
You’ll need to download lecture capture software to your Mac or PC if you don’t have it installed already. Use the following links to download the video recording software:
Capture yourself talking ONLY
Capture yourself talking over a slide deck
Panopto
Zoom
3. Optimize audio and video quality
Choose a quiet, well-lit room or office, and position your webcam so that it records your head and shoulders and sits about eye-level.
(Source: Michigan State University | Best Practices for Recording Video)
(Credit: Charles Washington, Classroom Technology Manager, Penn GSE-IT)
Additional recording equipment for optimizing video quality
In the event that lighting and background noises are a concern, there are affordable, simple solutions that will improve the quality of your lecture recording.
External Microphones: Quality audio is of utmost importance when recording a lecture — if students can’t hear or understand you, they won’t be able to watch the video. To improve audio, you can add a microphone that plugs into your USB port, such as the Blue Snowball USB microphone, the Blue Yeti USB microphone, the CAD U37 USB condenser microphone, or the RODE Wireless GO II Microphone.
Additional Lighting: Making eye contact in your video is necessary to maximize engagement with students. Make sure that your face is visible and lit with soft light from the front.
Some things to watch out for when recording videos at home:
Backlighting: If there is a lot of light behind you, or you sit in front of a window, you run the risk of looking like a shadow in a webcam video.
Low lighting: Webcams have small sensors and tend to make video look choppy and grainy in low light.
Loud fans and other background noise: Air conditioners, machines that hum, computers with loud fans, and even voices from outside the room can compromise the audio in your lecture video.
Visible clutter behind you: Avoid sitting in front of anything that can be busy or distraction to your viewers. Alternatively, you can turn on virtual background blur and replacement when you record with Zoom or PowerPoint. This will ensure learners focus on the content in your presentation.
4. Record a test video to check the quality of your audio and video
In this video you can not only practice your presentation, but also check to make sure you are happy with the sound, lighting, and overall video quality.
5. Record with your lecture capture software
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Load your slides into your lecture capture software, press record and begin your presentation.
- Record all the way through without pressing stop in your lecture capture tool until the very end — if you make a mistake, simply stop presenting for a few seconds to leave a silent pause in the recording. This will make it easy to edit out the section you don’t want later. Once you’ve captured your initial recording, you can begin to edit out the sections you don’t want in your video.
- When you are satisfied with your recording, click “end recording”. Your lecture capture software will process, optimize, and save your recording to your computer.
6. Upload your video to Canvas
Adapted from: