Yoga Video Production Process. Please help with your ideas.
Yoga Video Production Process. Please help with your ideas.
Before reading this article, it's good to know that there's more info about the videos and the philosphy of this project at I want to make my yoga videos better for you. Tell me how. If you have questions about why I'm making these videos and how they fit into a bigger picture, the above link provides that background.
I just published some yoga videos. Here are links to what I have so far:
I will probably add a few videos each week for a while. To look for videos that I'll upload after writing this, check out my blog http://www.leroydiener.com/blog/ for updates.
I welcome your thoughts about the simple, important things, like how I appear, my voice-over word selection, tone, speed, etc. For example, how important is audio quality? I’ve already gotten repeated reports that the background buzz prevents relaxation. As another example, how important is the visual setting and background clutter? Also, would it be helpful to have other people doing the yoga in the video with me or instead of me?
I also welcome your ideas about technical issues, such as how I can improve my work-flow, both how to save labor and how to do a better job in any regard. Also, what equipment to use, ideas for lighting, for videography, for camera angles, for editing, for venue. Any ideas to help with quality.
I'll tell you first that it has taken me a lot of work to get to this point. First, there were the test videos at Bumpity. Because I don't want to use any videos with people walking in the background, I finally got a video that I like as a first test on 13 Dec in NY. Prior to that, I found a good video editing software and learned the basics about how to use it, making many test videos. After trying several, I also found a good audio editing software and learned the basics about how to use it, making many test audios.
Next, I got my first test video on 13 Dec. The full video is about one hour long. I transferred the video to my computer. That took a while. In the video editing software, I reviewed the video and rendered a silent version. That also took a while. Next, I import the silent version into my video software and select a portion of the video and render that portion. I split the full one-hour video into nine segments, each a different part of my yoga routine.
Next, I wrote the text which I would use for my voice-over. So far, the text is 10 pages, and I have a lot more to write.
Next, I record my voice over into an audio file. To do this, I open three windows side by side, the audio recording software, the text document and the video editing software, which I'm using in this case just to play back the silent video. My experience so far is that it takes me a few hours to record audio for a 10-minute segment. This is a repetitive process of playing the video segment from the beginning and reading the text while watching the video for timing. I start over every time I say something that I don't like or discover that the text I've written won't work well with the timing of the video. So, I edit the text over and over again as I'm trying to get the timing of my talking to match reasonably well with the silent video.
Next, I edit and save the voice-over audio file in the audio editing software. Then, I import the audio file along with the silent video segment into the video editing software. I review the video segment with the audio. If I like it, I render the video segment with the voice-over. I also capture a frame from the video as a photo to represent that video.
Because I am working with so many files, I've developed a folder structure to organize the files and a nomenclature systems for the files. The files are mp4 video files (some raw, some silent, some with added audio), wav audio files (with variations which lead to final portions to add to the silent video)s, and png image files. Each file is associated with a particular date of the yoga routine, which part of the sequence of the routine for that day, how that part fits into my overall Spinal Decompression Protocol and the name of the segment/posture.
When I have the video segment saved with voice-over, then I upload it to youtube, going through the process of clicking on all the right boxes and adding various bits of info, including a video title and description.
I’ll repeat now my appeals for your help. What is below is pasted from up above.
I welcome your thoughts about the simple, important things, like how I appear, my voice-over word selection, tone, speed, etc. For example, how important is audio quality? I’ve already gotten repeated reports that the background buzz prevents relaxation. As another example, how important is the visual setting and background clutter? Also, would it be helpful to have other people doing the yoga in the video with me or instead of me?
I also welcome your ideas about technical issues, such as how I can improve my work-flow, both how to save labor and how to do a better job in any regard. Also, what equipment to use, ideas for lighting, for videography, for camera angles, for editing, for venue. Any ideas to help with quality.