Screencasting: Recording

Before you begin recording, decide:

• Is a screencast the most effective way to communicate the information?

• How much time do you want to spend?
  • Something that provides simple, clear, instructions but has no added features, might do the trick really effectively
    • Is what you're teaching likely to change soon (eg you're demoing a website or software that frequently updates its features or interface)
  • Do you want something polished, for marketing purposes? Are you more interested in providing quick answers/demonstrations/explanations?
  • A well branded title slide (or at least a consistent slide) for the opening of the video can also add a professional quality, especially if you plan on making a series.

• Outline your screencast
  • If you're demoing a process with more than a few steps, plot out the most logical order to present the information
  • Is it worth preparing a script? 

• How will you disseminate it? This might influence the size of your recording
  • Are you recording for full HD in YouTube, or for an iPhone?
  • Will you be doing something quick, and emailing it as an MP4? For Moodle?

• When you record, do a double or triple take of a sentence
  • You might like the sound of one take more than another; it's easy to cut what you don't like

• Pause occasionally.
  • This makes it easier to edit out anything you don't like, or a nice space to insert something new (without cutting into some other content)

• If recording audio, it is worth investing in a quality microphone.
  • Poor audio can be extremely distracting.