thanks for the detailed feedback! I didn't know any of that being tools-challenged myself, and that all makes sense. I hate the shakey camera parts, but they were just plowing ahead, no time for stops and setups.

wondered if anyone would notice the safety goggles. :D Had to make the best of the footage I had while cutting all the extra "darn, I need goggles for this part... where are they??" We were all new at making a video. Nothing scripted or planned.

Jim's feedback was excellent and spot on. My observations and suggestions:

First and foremost, can you edit this down to 15 minutes? How about 10? Shorter is better and significant time could be saved in the part that I watched.

I would like to know what the product is and what it does - just a quick 15-sec summary at the beginning of the video. You had some creative shots but the cuts were quick and didn't have a theme that would clue me in to what the product was (truck grill, tires, software, white dome). How about a shot of the box, the unit installed, the receiver being tuned, and some programming on a TV in the cab of a truck (maybe the Direct TV/Epicvue logo).

Next I'd like an overview of what we'll be doing and the basic steps involved.

You budgeted a couple of minutes at the beginning of the video showing the tools; might as well list the tools there rather than rather at the end of the video.

Discuss placement before mounting the bracket. The installer says "Make sure it's level and in a position we'd like it..." and only after he's mounted it do I find out that the dome needs to be able to "see" over the top of the cab.

When installing the bottom bracket I only saw 5 holes marked. Show me a nice head-on shot of all 6 holes marked.

What is an aviation rib nut tool and where can I find one?

After the closeup of him installing the first rib nut there's a sentence fragment "...so this is what it's doing." Either include the first part of the sentence or remove the phrase.

After he's installed the first rib nut there's a wide shot (a couple of wide shots with dissolves) where he is apparently demonstrating how the tool works "sucks it up tight". Completely lost me. I need close-ups and a better description. You'll also want to show this before the tool is used, not after - otherwise remove this portion.

His comment about the drill holes not being dead center "but they still line up decent enough to get the bracket on": I wasn't quite sure what to do with that information. If I don't need to be completely precise I'd want to know that before I drilled the holes. Once the holes are drilled the horse has left the barn, so to speak.

When installing the bracket I don't want to see all 6 screws being tightened - a closeup of the tool on the first one and a shot with all 6 screws installed would suffice..

What kind of sealant is recommended in the bracket holes?

What flavor of loctite is recommended for the top bracket?

One cox has writing and one doesn't - show me a close-up!

This is as far as I watched and hopefully you can apply these comments to the rest of the video. I didn't comment on the lighting because it was OK except in a few of the closeups that could have used a bit more illumination.

From the looks of the video I gather that you didn't do a script or an outline - you filmed a guy doing the install, talking it through as he went - and you did it in near real time, with just a few cuts to get close-ups. If this is the case then you did a nice job, really about as good as you'll get.

A few strategies for your next video...

Do an outline. Clients won't have much patience for this so keep it very basic - sit down with them for 15 minutes and work out the basic steps. After a couple of these you'll have a basic template to work from that might look like this:

1. Intro: What is the product and what will be covered in the video (tools/prep, install, setup).
2. Tools/Prep
3. Install hardware
4. Setup software

An outline will help you figure out what needs to be covered and when (discussing the mounting considerations before drilling the holes, for example) and where you can break the video. Breaks make reshoots easier because the location. lighting, clothing - and even the talent - can be different.

When shooting, get more close-ups. As you begin to work at this you'll get really good at knowing where to stop and grab a close-up. Close-ups will give you tons of flexibility to extend or trim scenes when editing.

There's a lot more to know but this will give you a start. These types of videos are difficult to do well and, as Jim said, you did a nice job. Congratulations!

Guy

wow, I knew you guys would be GREAT at this!! :) And excellent, very observant feedback as well! Mostly, this will be an internal only video, so the viewers will already know most of this stuff. Looks like I missed a sentence fragment - there were tons of them.

True, shot on the fly, real time, no outline or planning. I had zero clue until I was there filming. The lack of outline had me real worried for this shoot.
Unless they double my salary or something, I don't plan to do these - I prefer written fiction, but was curious how this turned out to those that know.
It was a new GH4, and the longest edit I've done so far at 30 minutes, but I thought it would be a good experience - and get me out of work for a few hours!!

Thanks for your feedback, Guy and JDW. It's great getting real world feedback from people with experience here.

all EXCELLENT advice - i can only add that it's way too long...

nowadays any trainer over 12>15 mins is dead in the water. attention span, even among interested viewers is such that you can really compact data and they'll still get the idea.

also, someone who's going to watch a trainer in the first place is receptive and intelligent enough to fill in the gaps (eg. show one screw going in, not all of them).

otherwise job well done ;-)

Thanks. I totally agree, and had planned on shortening it after first cut, but they watched and said, "leave it all in", and they pay my salary, so, whatever. :)

I actually asked about the shot showing all 5-6 screws going in and they said leave it. Probably why I don't like doing this kind of video. :D

in over 40+ years i've generally found that the client thinks every moment of their 'product' is important and should be left in.

of course since they're paying they're right, but it doesn't do any harm to (repeatedly if necessary) point out that their audience needs to be informed in as brief a manner as possible.

years ago i used to arrange to run the penultimate cut to a small audience of potential viewers and get their feedback, (with the client present). in nearly every case the audience said it was too long...

I watched the whole thing and imho was pretty good. Like others have already mentioned there are some close-up shots that could be done and dead space like cleaning up the cabling that could be cut.

The only other thing that I wanted to see was a full screen shot of the programming. Some screen shots were cut off on the left side. View of the whole menu would make the programming sections really nice.