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Course & Tutorial | Learning only happens if students make it to the end
The biggest enemy of a teaching video is not weak content; it is being too long, too slow, too hard to concentrate on.
Completion rates for online courses are generally low, and the reason is often not the content but the pacing. The pauses during recording, the repetitions, the gaps while the speaker searches for the next words are fine to sit through in person, but on video they become very obvious — and students simply close it.
Editing a teaching video is essentially compressing “40 minutes of talking” into “25 minutes that is just as complete, with none of the filler”. At the same time, the screen recording, the slides and the shot of the speaker are arranged to appear at the right moments.
These situations are a good fit
- Online course platforms: post-production before the course goes live
- Corporate training videos that need to be standardised and used long term
- Schools or institutions producing teaching videos and distance courses
- Talking-head videos for knowledge-focused YouTube channels
- Software tutorials that need screen recording and talking head combined
- Recorded lectures being turned into an online course
Common formats and lengths
- 5–15 minutes per unit: the length most platforms recommend, and easier for students to finish
- A full course: divided into several units, one topic per unit
- Horizontal 1920×1080; screen recordings are best captured at 1080p or above
- Subtitles are essential, and we recommend supplying an SRT file for the platform to use
- A consistent opening title, chapter cards and closing are usually needed
Please prepare these materials
The rules for materials are simple. Just follow whichever one of the options below matches what you have:
1. You already have footage
- Upload the original files to Google Drive, then share the folder link with us
- Please put the files in order first — name them in the order you want them to appear (01, 02, 03…). This step saves a great deal of back-and-forth and makes the quote more accurate
- Please send the original files rather than sending them through a messaging app, which compresses them and costs you quality
2. You do not have footage yet
A simple script is enough. You only need to write down three things:
- From which second to which second
- What is on screen
- What text appears
For example:
0–5 sec | Opening shot (for example an aerial of the setting, the entrance, the product itself) | Text: the brand or topic name
5–12 sec | Main content, camera pushing in slowly | Text: the one line you most want people to remember
12–20 sec | Closing shot | Text: contact details or a call to action
It does not need to be beautifully written, just clear. We will use that script to assess how feasible it is and what the scope of work would be.
3. Other things we can look at (not required)
Below are the supporting materials people often have for this kind of video. They are only a reference, not a requirement. Providing your material in either of the two ways above is enough — having these lets us assess things faster, and not having them makes no difference.
- Supply the talking-head footage and the screen recordings separately; switching between them is easier to handle that way
- The slide file (the original PPT or Keynote, which looks better than a screen capture)
- The course outline: so we know how to divide the chapters
- Points that need emphasising or annotating
- Opening and closing assets, logo and brand colours
For anything else, just ask on our official LINE.
How we might approach it
Every project has a different set of materials and a different brief. What is listed below are the approaches commonly used for this kind of video; which of them we actually use, and how far we take them, depends on your material and what you need.
- Filler words and pauses removed: the “erm”s and “like”s and the gaps for thinking are cut out; this is the step whose effect is most obvious
- Cutting between speaker and screen: the speaker when a concept is being explained, the screen when something is being demonstrated, with the timing decided by the content
- Key points marked: keywords on title cards, a box or a zoom over the part of the screen being used, so students have less work to do to follow
- Chapter division: cut into units following the outline, with chapter cards added
- Levels matched: segments recorded on different occasions are brought to a consistent loudness, so the volume does not jump up and down
We do not simply apply a fixed package. We need to see the full picture of the material and the brief first, and only once we have confirmed what can realistically be done do we provide a quotation and a production schedule. That way the price and the delivery date rest on something solid, and you will not get halfway through and find that extras are needed.
Editing can make a course better to watch and easier to finish, but it cannot change the quality of the course content itself. If a section is not explained clearly, the better answer is to re-record that section — we will flag sections like that during the edit and leave the decision to you.
Process
How we work together
Every project is bespoke, so the process starts with “taking a look first”, not with a price.
Send the material or a script
If you have footage, upload it to Google Drive and put it in order; if you do not, send a simple three-point script (from which second to which second / what is on screen / what text appears).
Assessment and quotation
Once we have seen the full picture of the material and the brief, we confirm what can be done and provide a quotation and production schedule.
Production and delivery
We deliver a first cut on the agreed schedule, and export the finished film once the revisions are confirmed. Working days are counted from confirmation of payment.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
We recorded many times and there are a lot of NG takes — will that be expensive?
The volume of footage does affect the hours. But if the re-recorded sections are clearly marked (clap your hands or pause for three seconds when you misspeak, for example), we get through them much faster, and that can be reflected in the quote.
Can you produce subtitle files?
Yes. As well as subtitles burned into the picture, we can supply an SRT file for the course platform; please say which you need when you enquire.
There is noise in the recording — does that affect learning?
It does, and a great deal. Continuous background noise wears listeners out over time. Most problems of this kind can be repaired; see audio noise repair for how.
Can a recorded lecture be turned into an online course?
Yes. Lecture footage usually needs to be re-divided into chapters, have the slides added in and the on-site sound treated; see live recording repair for the approach.
A whole course has a lot of videos — how is that priced?
Tell us the total number of units and the rough length of each. Producing a whole course is more efficient in process terms than doing single videos, and that is reflected in the overall quote.
Thinking about a course & tutorial?
Email us and we will reply with what else we need to know, then move on to assessment and a quote. LINE works too.