My Setup & Workflow

I've been meaning to document my screencasting and publishing workflow for some time. At least at a fairly high level.

So here it is:

My Setup and Workflow

Not the most streamlined workflow but compressor and presets do most of the heavy lifting on the encoding side and having the eight core makes a huge difference.

Might help some people out, if only to make them realise just what can be involved. Now you know why I went full time :-)

Comments

[Matthew Hillyer]

thanks for the workflow Don, nice to see it in all one blurb.

How long does it take you to do this each week?

[DonMc]

It depends on the complexity of the show.

I usually allow myself a half day to prepare and "get into the zone" - seriously!

Then at least another half day to record the show.

The first assemble edit depends on how smoothly things have gone in the recording and if there is a lot of patching up to do. Probably looking at the best part of three quarters of a day to do that.

I won't include the encoding as that's pretty automated.

The final edit varies too. If the introduction is particularly long, it can take ages sorting out graphics and text to talk over. Nothing worse than a dead screen whilst you're talking. Probably looking at minimum of half a day. The final prodction and publishing is probably a couple of hours.

I have done a whole show from scratch to published in two days, but they are long, long days and I'm completely destroyed following it!

[Paul Shadwell]

This is great Don, very useful.

So tell us what you do with the rest of your week? only joking :-)

Thanks again for all the help and advice, I'm still struggling with my first ScreenCast.

[Jane Griffiths]

Thanks for taking the time to detail your workflow, it's not like you've got anything else to do!! :-) This is just great to see how the pro does it, compared to how I struggled with my first pathetic little screencast last week.
Problem is I'm even more tempted to purchase ScreenFlow now that I can see what can be done with it!
Is there any reason that iMovie 06 HD couldn't do the job of Final Cut Studio for a beginner like me?

cheers and thanks for all your helpful hints via Twitter.

[DonMc]

No problem Jane!

The issue that a lot of people run into is suffering a degradation in quality when importing into iMovie if you don't get the resolution right. It should be OK if you match the resolution of your captured video with you iMovie project.

You are of course limited to the number of video tracks in iMovie which is not an issue in FCP or I believe SF

The beauty of Screenflow is that you can edit within the package and some of the effects you can create in seconds used to take me hours of manual toil with FCP. I would say that for most people, the editing in Screenflow is sufficient for their needs albeit a bit limited in the titling and transition capabilities. Not to say it can't be done but it could be easier.

[Simon]

Hey! You left out, pick the software to show case, learn the software, work out how to teach it, write a script! :)

[DonMc]

Heh! That’s the first part of the week!

Actually, the script part - I don’t have one. I tend to script the introduction as I need to describe that application or service and set it into context. However, once I start recording the actual tutorial, I’m pretty much winging it.

There is usually a list of bullet points or areas that I feel needs to be covered and I tend to arrange these into a logical sequence before I start but once I hit record, it’s all live.

If I had to script every show, you’d probably need to multiply my prep time at least five or six fold. Not only that, it’s incredibly difficult to record a screencast and follow a script at the same time. Usually, if a commissioned piece is scripted for an external customer (which invariably they are as they need approval), I usually have to record the audio first, then the accompanying screencaptures, then assemble in the editing process. Much more time consuming plus you lose all the spontaneity.

[hugopoon]

Wow. Don't your eyes ever get tired? It kills me to edit a 5 min audio clip and add a slideshow in FCP

BTW, if you do a screencapture at the screens dimmest setting, will it affect the final screencast?

[ScottBrickert]

Thanks for the details.

One more I was curious about was framerate. Are you publishing in 720p24 or 720p30 or?

What is a range of file sizes and upload times for the Full HD shows?

[DonMc]

Hugo - It's a good job they don't get tired - must be the large monitor!

I don't think the physical setting of the screens brightness affect the screencapture at all the dimming is applied to the hardware and the capture is done in software.

[DonMc]

Scott - I actually out put the finished versions at 15fps. As it's not full motion video and usually only the cursor is moving on the screen for the bulk of the time, there is no need for 24 or 30 fps.

This has a dramatic effect on the file sizes.

Some people drop the frame rate as low as 5fps but I find 15fps is a good compromise between quality and size.

File sizes for the 1280x720 show vary depending on time and complexity but average between 80MB and 150MB. Upload times vary also based on your particular connection. I usually expect a good three or four hours to upload all the different versions.

[Stefaan Lesage]

Hi don,

Thanks for sharing that info. I was wondering though why you are uploading the files using Transmit, and not allowing Feeder to upload them to your LibSyn account ?

I have a similar workflow, except for a few things. First of al, my audio rig is a simple USB mic, but I'm gonna be upgrading soon.

Second, I let Feeder upload the files once they are encoded using Compressor. That way I don't have to start yet another program to do the uploading.

Lastly, I just copy past the Feeder item I added into my Wordpress blog, no need to edit sites and stuff.

Of course I'm not doing this profesisonally.

Regards,

Stefaan

[DonMc]

Actually Stefaan, that's a great suggestion re Feeder uploading the files. I suppose I just like the extra control by FTP'ing them manually!

[James]

Don,

Quick Question:

At the moment, I am using ScreenFlow to record my Flash generated slideshows. After I create the slideshow, I preview it in Safari and then start the capture from there. What settings do I use to to get the highest quality export so that I can place it in iDVD to finish everything off? There are so many codec options, and the help menu doesn't do a great job of explaining anything. Keep up the great work! I love the show!

Thanks,

James

[DonMc]

James - Not something I've tried but off the top of my head....

Try and resize the slideshow to display at DVD resolution -720×480 (NTSC) or 720×576 (PAL). SF will capture the whole screen but you can resize the canvas area to just the bit you want using the button on top of the timeline on the left. Again, resize the canvas to exactly 720×480 (NTSC) or 720×576 (PAL).

I'd then export the movie using the DV PAL or DVD NTSC codec as this is the format iDVD requires and should not need to re-encode the movie.

Hope that works for you!

[hugopoon]

Don I think it'd be great if you could take a few pictures of your insane setup =)

[DonMc]

What, you mean like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcallister_family/2905128626/

[iChris]

Thanks for the great detailed list of your setup Don! I heard you on MBW (as well as elsewhere).

I'm curious as to why you record on the MB Air? Is it just so you have a good screen size and "blank slate" to work with - as opposed to just recording it straight onto your Mac Pro?

[DonMc]

Hi iChris,

Yes, the main reason was to have a clean setup and be able to have supporting material on the Mac Pro.

However, more recently I've started to record the screencasts on the Mac pro now that it has a multi monitor setup.

[hugopoon]

Okay Don, hopefully one more question…how do you get so many monitors working with just one Mac Pro? I thought they only had 2 DVI outs or something!

[DonMc]

I bought an additional graphics card giving me an additional 2 DVI outs.