COMP 1010 Video Standards
Contents
Introduction
Hello and welcome to the Documentation on “How to make videos for the COMP 1010 YouTube Stream.” To start, you must find the username and password for the YouTube Channel. Where are they? They're on this page, but hidden in a comment field. If you have editing privileges, log in and click the edit tab to see the commented text.
As a forewarning, I will be using iMovie for OSX as the video editor of choice. This program is very simple to use, and it is a very powerful video editor. If you decide that iMovie is not the video editor for you, or you feel uncomfortable using an Apple computer, then here are two alternatives that you can use instead:
- Windows (Live) Movie Maker
- Microsoft’s free movie editing software made to compete with iMovie. Easy to use, geared towards the more “average” movie editor, but has less functionality than iMovie. You can choose whether to get the live version or not, but I much prefer Windows Movie Maker.
- Jahshaka
- Free, lightweight movie editing software that allows you to use tools that Hollywood uses to create blockbuster films and special effects. Tricky to get started with, but extremely versatile when you know how it works.
Of course there are other video editing software out there, but these two are, in my opinion, some of the best. If you choose to use these two instead of iMovie, you will have to find a way to import the animations and titles that I will be showing in this documentation.
The Beginning
The beginning of a video presentation is essential. It can effectively convey the feel of the entire movie in the span of thirty seconds. Therefore, it is important that we set guidelines and instructions on how to create our videos to give the viewer a sense of continuity, as well as interest.
To start, all you have to do is click on file, and click on new presentation. This will give you a blank video where you will be creating your title and importing clips that you will be using to make your video.
How to Create the COMP 1010 title
When creating the title for your movie, you will want to use the same title for all the movies on your stream. The title we will be using is the “Echo” title with the “Gradient” Background. To create this title, there is a small row of buttons on the right of your iMovie UI. You will want to click on the big “T” in the middle of the buttons, similar to how I’ve done here.
You will be given a large list of different types of titles you can use for your videos. The one we want however is the fifth in the list dubbed “Echo”.
Do you see the one with the name "Echo" underneath it? That's the one you want to grab. All you have to do now is drag the Echo box into your blank presentation. When you do this, you will be given a list of themes you can use for your title. Click “Gradient”, and you have your title. For the main Title block, you are going to want to put in the text “COMP 1010”. For the subtitle block of text, put in whatever you are doing this video for. In the case of this document, my class is doing videos for the “Extra Labs” section of the COMP 1010 wiki, so my title will look like this:
If you are planning on doing speaking during your video, this title is not where you want to do it. This title is used for the sole purpose of keeping continuity between videos. As such, we should try to keep this part short and to the point. To change the amount of time that the title runs for, double click on the title section in your presentation and switch the time to 3.0s. I found that this is an optimal amount of time to give the information without feeling like the title is dragging on. You also have to do the exact same thing for the text portion, which is located above the title section you just changed.
How to Create the Introduction Title
I know what you’re thinking, “What do you mean how to create the Introduction title? Didn’t I just do that?” Yes and no. What you created before is an introduction to the video stream, not the introduction to what you are actually going to be showing. Take a look again at the picture of the title I created above. What does this tell you? Well, it tells you that it is for COMP 1010, and that it has something to do with the extra labs. It doesn’t however tell you anything about which extra lab you are doing. That is what this next title is for.
This title is more open in what you can do with it. Since the continuity has already been obtained, feel free to have fun with this one! You can have a simple title, or you can go more into an advanced title (See the video on our channel about robocode). Below is an example on how to create a simple title that you can use if you are stuck.
Example
To create this title, you want to select the “Centered” Title with a “Black” background. If you forget how to do this, please refer to the previous section on #How to Create the COMP 1010 title. When you do this, you will be given a main title and a subtitle, just like before. This is the part where you would want to put what it is you are talking about. For example, if I was making a video on the topic “Robocode 1”, my title might look something like this:
This title page is where you will want to add your speaking to. A simple “Hello and welcome to the video tutorial on how to use [topic]” makes the viewer feel as though you are doing this to help them. I would highly recommend doing an introductory speech, even if the rest of your video contains no speaking.
iMovie has a built in voice recorder that you can use. To do this, press the microphone in the middle of the iMovie UI, then click on the title section to begin recording. It is completely fine if you make a mistake while recording your voice, it happens to everyone. If you do, just click on the voice part that shows up beneath your clip, then hit delete. After you’ve done this, try again!
Make sure that you have a microphone installed and working for this part. A couple of test runs before hand to try out the microphone as well as test the volume will be the difference between a good and bad introduction.
The length of this title should be as long as your introduction speech. Your recorded part will give you a timer on it to let you know how long you were speaking for. Just follow the steps above on how to change the length of your clip, make it the same as your speech, and you are done. You are now ready to start putting together your video.
The Middle
The middle portion of your video is where the body of your video belongs. This is where your creativity can shine! There is no real “tutorial” in this portion of the documentation, but you do have to follow some guidelines.
- Read and follow YouTube’s Terms of Service before posting any video.
- If you deviate from the Terms of Service, the YouTube channel could be banned.
- Use of profanity is prohibited.
- Keep your videos between 2-4 minutes. Longer videos are harder to keep interesting.
- If you have a longer video, that is fine, but I would highly recommend splitting it up into parts. The longest you can make your videos is 12 minutes.
- Always put in the COMP 1010 introduction above.
- Always put in the COMP 1010 credits below.
- If you decide to put music or pictures in your video, make sure you have permission to use it. If you do have permission, make sure to make notes and links if necessary in your comments, as well as notes in your credits.
- If you film people, you must get their written permission to be in your video. Here is the link for the document. Just click the appropriate photo/video consent form for the age group you are filming.
Other than these few guidelines, you are free to do whatever you want! Use whatever medium you want, whether it be live demonstration, video recordings, or whatever; it’s completely up to you.
The End
The ending for your video should be simplistic. It have credits which contains the following:
- Creators
- Music/Picture references
- Special Thanks
- “Made for COMP 1010 students, [date]”
How do you do this though? Go back into the title section in iMovie. If you don’t remember how to do this, please refer to #The Beginning section of this documentation. Similar to how you put in your titles, drag and drop “Scrolling Credits” to the end of your video. If you want to put something other than a black background, that is fine, but a black background is by far the most professional looking credits. Put in the correct information into the credits, and that’s it. Your movie is finished, and ready for uploading.
