Fast-track Your E-Learning Video Development: Targeting Production Needs Analysis

While you may be experienced in instructional multimedia, video is a whole different animal. First, don’t panic! Where would Steven Spielberg be now if he had let anxiety sideline his ambitions?

Second, understand that every aspect of video production has expert specialists: streaming, script writing, videography, editing, and post-production are a fusion of art and science within themselves. Don’t expect to achieve even amateur status, let alone join the experts in any of these disciplines overnight. The key to success with your first e-Learning videos is to home in on the information, processes, and techniques you absolutely need to know to get the job done now. Over time, you will polish these skills, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get great results with your initial efforts. It’s all in applying the basics.

In this chapter, I’ll focus on the important pre-production considerations, showing you how to create a thorough technical and creative needs analysis that will fast-track your video production, saving you time, money, and (most important) excessive deadline-related stress.

Let’s look at a needs identification approach that examines the technical and creative considerations of each of the six steps in the production process:

• Identifying the desktop characteristics of your learners
• Determining your deployment platform
• Writing your storyboard
• Shooting your video
• Editing your video
• Testing your video

In each of these steps I’ll give you some questions to ask, and a handy planning template at the end of the chapter.

STEP 1: IDENTIFYING THE DESKTOP CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR LEARNERS

The first thing to consider is the environment in which your learners are playing the video. The three questions to consider are:

1. Should I stream video to the learners?
2. What video player(s) do the learners have?
3. Do the learners have audio capability?

1. Should I Stream Video to the Learners?

 There are two types of video: streaming and non-streaming. Streaming video is video sent to a learner’s computer in a continuous stream, playing as it arrives. Non-streaming video uses video files that download completely to the learner’s desktop before playing. Because file size is an important consideration for this type of video, you should develop clips over 30 seconds as streaming video.

You can deliver streaming video in one of two ways: progressive streams, or real-time streams. The distinctions between the two are simple, but important.

Progressive streams are sent to learners via conventional Web servers. In this method, content is sent from the LMS or other Web server to a streaming media player, such as QuickTime, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player, on the learner’s desktop. These media players start playing the files as the video is downloading. In this method, copies of your video files actually download to the learner’s computer.

Real-time streaming is the second type of streaming. In real-time streaming, the video files are stored on a streaming server and sent to remote learners a few frames at a time using a streaming server software package, a compatible streaming media player, and a proprietary real-time streaming protocol. In real-time streaming, files play on one of the streaming media players mentioned above, but the learner cannot save them on his or her computer.

The first consideration in terms of delivering streaming video is the bandwidth requirements of your learners. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. High bandwidth connection speeds are essential for receiving clear, uninterrupted streaming video.

Learners with access to high speed connections such as DSL or cable modems that can transfer an average of 1.5 MB of data per second should enjoy seamless viewing of video encoded at their connection speed or lower. On the other hand, learners with slower 56K or 28.8K modems (transferring 56 and 28.8 kilobytes per second respectively), will experience video digitized for high speed as choppy and halting. You can accommodate multiple bandwidth configurations either by   providing learners with a choice between a high bandwidth version and a low bandwidth version of your video, or by streaming from a dedicated streaming server instead of your LMS or Web server.

Let’s take a look at the competing advantages of delivering video from either your LMS (or standard Web server) or a dedicated streaming video server. The primary advantage of serving video from a Web server or LMS is cost-savings. Hosting video from an existing Learning Management System, a corporate Web site, or over an intranet lets you take advantage of your current infrastructure — a big cost savings for a first-time try-out video training program. However, the more robust your video training library becomes, and the more learners you serve, the more benefits a dedicated streaming server will yield for you.

Streaming servers offer tremendous value in terms of delivery quality. They are dynamic and can stream content at multiple bit rates, which can be useful when you need to stream to many learners at various connection speeds. Additionally, streaming servers actively communicate with their clients and can adjust audio and video delivery based on network congestion and other variables, eliminating the stops and starts that sometimes characterize video progressive streams. They are also essential if you plan to do live Webcasts.

For a detailed analysis of the benefits of each delivery method, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/compare/webservvstreamserv.aspx.

2. What Video Player(s) Do Learners Have?

Whatever server option you choose, your learners will still need to have desktop access to your designated player. A player is a special program that decompresses audio and video data for viewing on the screen. Currently, the most popular streaming media players are Windows Media, Real Video, QuickTime, and Flash.

Some of these media players come bundled with popular browsers and operating systems. For example, learners on the most current version of Vista or Windows XP will have access to the Windows Media Player 11. Browsers including Internet Explorer 6 or later, Netscape 6+ or later, Mozilla, and Firefox, as well as Safari for Mac OS X, all come with the Flash player as the default installation. Check the features for your learners’ preferred operating systems and browsers to determine what media players are readily available to them.

Your video player requirements will dictate your encoding and exporting process. A codec encodes a video file for distribution over the Internet. Codec is short for compressor/decompressor, a software application that compresses video and audio data for streaming across the Internet, and then converts it back to its original form at the destination. Whatever codec you decide to use, be sure your learners have access to a compatible player.

In my company, the majority of learners have access to Windows Media Player. Knowing this, we encode all our video using the Windows Media  codec. This ensures that any learner with a Windows Media  player can easily access and view our video.

The DivX codec is popular for producing relatively small video file sizes. However, video compressed with the DivX codec only plays back in the DivX player. If learners do not have the DivX player on their desktop, they will need to download it in order to view the video. You’ll find a good introduction to codecs at http://graphics.csail.mit.edu/~tbuehler/video/codecs/index.html (Editor's Note: As of February 24, 2010, this article appears to have been removed from the Web.).

3. Do the Learners Have Audio Capability?

Do your learners have internal or external speakers on their computers? If not, you may want to reconsider using video until your learners upgrade their systems. If they are able to stream audio, will their work environment require the use of headphones? If so, whose responsibility will it be to provide those headphones?

STEP 2: DETERMINING THE DEPLOYMENT PLATFORM

There are four questions to ask about deployment of your video:

1. Is my video file format compatible with my authoring software?
2. What does the LMS require?
3. Will I need to export the video to DVD for deployment?
4. Are there access issues that affect video distribution?

1. Is My Video File Format Compatible With My Authoring Software?

If you plan to import your video into an authoring tool such as Authorware, Toolbook, or Flash, you’ll need to confirm that the software supports your video file format. For example, Authorware supports AVI, MOV, MPEG, and WMV formats only. (See Table 19.1: Video Format Descriptions.) If you have a large file size, always test to be sure your published video runs seamlessly from within the authoring tool.

2. What Does the LMS Require?

If you are delivering from your LMS, test a video clip early in the process to be sure it uploads and streams correctly. For example, one LMS would only accept video files packaged in an authoring tool (as opposed, for example, to a standalone AVI). No matter what the LMS documentation tells you, find a sample video clip and test its compatibility with your LMS.

3. Will I Need to Export the Video to DVD for Deployment?

If you’re also considering distributing your video on DVD, you’ll want to do a second export (assuming you are also exporting the file for streaming) at 720 X 480 size using a DVD encoder such as MPEG-2 which is the codec commonly used to produce DVD Videos. You can find more about creating DVDs at http://www.signvideo.com/d-athr_pt1.htm

4. Are There Access Issues That Affect Video Distribution?

If you’re posting your video to an existing LMS or Web server platform and you have remote or public learners, you’ve probably already dealt with firewall and digital certificate issues. However, if you’re posting to a platform for the first time, talk to your technical support folks about any pertinent user requirements and test, test, and test!

STEP 3: WRITING YOUR STORYBOARD

Video storyboards are different in important ways from the e-Learning storyboard created by the instructional designers. You will want to know:

1. What should a video storyboard include?
2. What technical considerations should I keep in mind when creating the video storyboard?
3. What camera shots should I include in my video?

1. What Should a Video Storyboard Include?

Video storyboards are essentially graphic time-lines displaying the content and sequences of planned shots. If you’re shooting a talking head with one camera in a single area, you might not need a storyboard. However, if you’re working with an original script, have multiple location shots, multiple actors or subjects, or multiple camera angles, you’ll save yourself (and your team) lots of aggravation and time by working out your shot list and shooting sequence ahead of time.

Video storyboard templates can be highly detailed or, as in the example in Figure 19.1, as basic as a word processing document outlining scene, lighting and audio information. If you’re developing a complex video, you may want to further document details, using professional forms such as a Camera Shot List, Location Release Form, Field Tape Log. Dependent Films (http://www.dependentfilms.net/files.html)offers a slew of free forms for download including a storyboarding tool.

Figure Figure 19.1: Instructional video storyboard template

2. What Technical Considerations Should I Keep In Mind When Creating the Video Storyboard?

The amount of information (color, transition, movement, sound, and so forth) processed in your video directly impacts viewing quality, especially for your low-bandwidth learners. If you’re accommodating 56k connections, don’t try to recreate your favorite movie action scene. Instead, keep movement and transitions to a minimum, backgrounds basic, and, if possible, audio simple and mono (rather than stereo). The ideal (but no doubt, most boring) low-bandwidth video would feature a talking-head against a dark background in a noise free studio. If you’re lucky enough to develop for corporate broadband connections (and especially if you have a dedicated streaming server) you can throw caution to the wind and become creative with action shots and transitions.

Most importantly, remember that your goal is to transfer knowledge. Engaging your audience with bells and whistles is only appropriate if it furthers that goal. Apply adult learning principles to your storyboard by using multi-camera shots and cut-aways to break up the monotony of a talking head, edit videos into short (four- to ten-minute) segments whenever possible and incorporate thoughtful questions at the end of the training, and so forth. As in all instructional design, special effects are the means to your goal — not an end in itself.

For tips on shooting streaming video, visit these sites:

http://www.indigipix.com/webstreaming.html

http://www.streamingmedia.com/tutorials/view.asp?tutorial_id=36

3. What Camera Shots Should I Include In My Video?

One camera, one-angle shots can make for very boring training videos. Even for talking-head videos, a two-camera shot will be more engaging and give you creative freedom during the editing process. If you don’t have access to a second camera, use a single camera to create the illusion of a multi-camera shoot by taping a single scene several times from different angles and editing the shots together later.

STEP 4: SHOOTING YOUR VIDEO

You should be ready at this point to begin shooting. This section answers three common questions:

1. What basic equipment will you need?
2. What about sets?
3. What about professional talent?

1. What Basic Equipment Will You Need?

The world of digital video camera equipment is extensive, and identifying all the options based on your training department budget is beyond the scope of this chapter. With that said, I’ll put one foot into the water and advise that at the minimum, you’ll need a decent digital video camera and case, extra batteries, a tripod, a good microphone, and three-point lighting equipment. (Three-point lighting is a common lighting technique that utilizes three lights: key light, fill light, and back light. Placing each light strategically around the subject creates appropriate shadows for a three-dimensional look.)

The sample budget shown in Table 19.2 considers the average cost for midrange camera equipment that will get you started shooting professional quality video footage.

If you are new to Digital Video, learn more about these options at http://www.desktop-video-guide.com/buying-digital-video-equipment.html

A good site for learning about camcorders (including a camcorder glossary) is http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

You can find good introductions to three-point lighting at:

http://www.3drender.com/light/

http://www.mediacollege.com/lighting/three-point/

In terms of computer hardware, if your training budget allows, spring for a dedicated video computer. You’ll find that video places tremendous demands on a computer. Editing software utilizes every bit of your computer’s processor (CPU) and memory (RAM), and the hunger increases with each bit of raw video you add as well as every time you upgrade your editing system. (New and upgraded features make more demands on your processor.)

One gigabyte of hard-drive space stores about four and a half minutes of digital video footage. Hence, you’ll need at least 13 gigabytes of space just to store one hour of video. Additionally, video capture as well as rendering time, which is the time it takes for editing effects to be applied to your video and outputted into the final file, is directly impacted by the speed of your processor. The faster the processor, the quicker it can read and write data.

Arguably, the minimum computer hardware requirements for digital video include a 1 gigabyte hard drive for your operating system, editing software, and other programs and a second 20 to 40 gigabyte hard disk for storing video; 256 megabytes of RAM to give you the capacity to open multiple programs at once on your desktop; an IEEE-1394 / Firewire / iLink / Lynx (various manufacturer’s names for standard video capture cables) for importing raw digital video footage from your camera onto your hard drive; an Intel^® Pentium^® III processor for editing and rendering video at a reason able speed; a 16-bit sound card; and a 17-inch monitor. It’s also a good idea to check your editing software documentation to verify the minimum hardware requirements you’ll need to run the software effectively.

For more detailed explanation of minimum video hardware requirements, see http://www.computervideo.net/new.html

2. What About Sets?

Chroma Key is a video and film compositing technique that lets you shoot foreground action against a specifically colored light blue or green background, later replacing the colored background with a separately shot background scene. A green or blue screen lets you reuse settings and backgrounds easily and gives you access to locations that might be difficult or costly to use otherwise.

The video storyboard will identify the locations, backgrounds, actors, and props you’ll need for each scene in your video. If you can afford it, invest in a good quality portable blue or green screen or, if you’re lucky enough to have a dedicated video office, consider painting an entire wall for green or blue screen use. It will add substantial value to your training videos.

For example, a video that’s set in your corporate office adds relevancy and realism to your training. Sometimes, however, it’s simply too disruptive to shoot in office locations during work hours. A great solution is to tape footage of primary office locations ahead of time for the purpose of creating a library of corporate background scenes. Later, record your SMEs or actors in front of a blue or green screen, and simply drop in the appropriate corporate background during editing. You’ll earn well-deserved kudos for placing the corporate logo or the corporate headquarters entrance behind the CEO during her big speech.

Chroma Key software such as Adobe® Visual Communicator® and Adobe Ultra 2® (more on this below in the section, “What editing programs should I use to edit my video?”) are comparatively easy to learn and will also give you access to hundreds of professional backgrounds and locations.

For more on shooting against blue and green screens:

http://www.seanet.com/Users/bradford/bluscrn.html

http://www.vce.com/bluescreen.html

Blue or green screens are available from many digital video supply stores or Websites or through the following links:

http://www.backdropsource.com/index.asp

http://www.filmtools.com/chromkeyfab.html

http://www.chroma-key.com/

3. What About Professional Talent?

Actors are another consideration. Many times, when credibility is paramount to the training, you’ll use subject matter experts from your own environment. If you’re taping a pre-planned event, chances are the speaker has already been identified for you. In cases where you’re developing a concept from scratch and you need professional narration or a strong on-screen presence (with minimal budget), the drama department of your local college or your community theatre can be a hotbed of reasonably priced, albeit professional-level, talent. You’re likely to find theatre students or local actors willing to work for minimal compensation in exchange for the opportunity to beef up their resume.

If you opt for professional acting talent, you should be aware that many professional actors belong to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) union and you will be required to pay minimum wages based on SAG contractual agreements. For more information, see http://www.sag.org/content/contracts.

Another consideration is signed release forms. It’s a good idea to bring a handful of “Use of Image” authorization forms on all your shoots. Once signed, these releases grant you permission to use the image and/or audio of an employee or passer-by in connection with your video. Consult your legal department for specific wording on these agreements.

STEP 5: EDITING YOUR VIDEO

Editing is an entire subject to itself, and you may want to refer to the articles in the Learning Solutions Magazine by Steve Haskins on shooting and editing digital video. I will only summarize some guidelines on editing software here.

What Editing Program Should I Use To Edit My Video?

Editing is the meat-and-potatoes of the creative digital video process and, in my opinion, the most engaging. Editors are both born (from a creative talent perspective) and made (from a technical skill perspective). But with today’s sophisticated software, even folks like me, who weren’t born with a natural visual bent, can produce professional-quality videos. There are literally dozens of digital video editing programs on the market that deserve further exploration when you have some time. But for the sake of getting you up and running quickly, I’ll introduce you to what is arguably the most commonly used editing software for producing instructional video. All the software applications discussed below have options to output as either streaming video or DVD.

Low Kearning Curve, Good Results:

Pinnacle Studio Plus http://www.pinnaclesys.com

Microsoft Producer free plug-in for PowerPoint 2003+ lets you capture and synchronize audio and video with your PowerPoint slides adding a new dimension to your SME presentations. (See Figure 19.2.) Find information on Producer at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/technologies/producer.mspx

Adobe® Visual Communicator® is a drag-and-drop editing system with pre-fabricated sets; full video templates; background music and title screen.

Figure 19.2 Microsoft Producer

Moderate Learning Curve, Richer Options, and Professional Results:

Adobe Premiere Pro®: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/ -- Adobe’s video postproduction tool

Apple’s Final Cut Pro®: http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/  -- Apple’s video postproduction tool

Steep Learning Curve, Professional Editing Results:

Adobe® FLASH®: http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/
Adobe’s tool is the choice of many Web professionals

Chroma Key Programs

Adobe Ultra 2 http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/production/ultra/ (Editor's Note: As of February 24, 2010, this article appears to have been removed from the Web.)

Professional chroma key and virtual set software (See an example of a virtual boardroom set in Figure 19.3.) A good site for learning more about editing techniques is http://www.greatdv.com/index.html

Not all of these programs are mutually exclusive. For example, I’ve developed AVI segments in Visual Communicator and brought them into Premiere to edit with other footage. I’ve also edited video in Adobe Premiere and then brought the exported footage into Microsoft Producer for final output.

Figure 19.3 Serious Magic Ultra in use

STEP 6: TESTING YOUR VIDEO

The biggest question after production and editing is:

What Do I Test?

Let me get three words out of the way. Test! Test! Test! And when you’re done with those steps, Test again! But of course, the question is not necessarily whether to conduct a usability test (consider this mandatory), but what and how to test. Here are the minimum criteria for testing video usability:

1. Player Controls:

Click every navigational button two or three times in different orders: forward, back, pause, start, stop, and so forth. Make sure all controls do what they are supposed to do without hesitation.

2. Ease of Player Download:

Are all learners able to open your video seamlessly (player automatically opens when they click on your video link) or do they get error messages? Will they need to go to the player’s Website to download the player? If so, directions should be included (see example below).

3. Multiple Connection Speeds:

This is especially important if you have remote users. Always test at the learner bandwidth rates you’ve identified early on in your needs analysis. Even if you feel confident that most learners will access your video from a T-1 line, it may not hurt to get an idea of how your video will stream on a 56K connection in case that renegade learner (who will no doubt be your CEO casually browsing the training curriculum from her home computer) tries to access your video.

4. Visual/Audio Quality:

This may seem to be a no-brainer, but we’ve actually posted video that worked fine on our desktop but had no audio once we published to our LMS. Don’t take anything for granted. Watch and listen.

5. Load Testing for Multiple Users:

Get as many volunteers as possible to access your video at the same time to test performance under multi-user conditions.

After thorough testing, write up a one- to two-page FAQ sheet addressing the most likely Help-based scenarios (along with their fixes), for example, “Learner cannot download Windows Media Player,” and distribute to anyone who is in a position to field questions from your learners. You may also want to make a version available to your learners through a distributed handout or by a link posted to your site. At the very least, I would recommend posting basic instructions on accessing media players at the point of entry. Here is an example of appropriate verbiage for your video introduction page:

“To view instructional videos, you will need the Microsoft Media 9 Player installed. Click this Test Video link to check your current video player configuration. If you have problems playing the test video, click Install Windows Media Player.”

SUMMARY

This needs analysis is most relevant in the early stages of your video curriculum development. However, even as you gain experience, and as your video curriculum becomes more robust, it’s a good idea to periodically review your criteria to be sure you’re still in tune with the technical requirements of your learning population.

Use the Instructional Video Development Needs Analysis chart (Table 19.3) at the outset of your project to identify the priorities for instructional video development. The chart highlights the considerations covered in this chapter: identifying the technical capabilities of your learners; deciding on the server you will deploy from; constructing a descriptive, graphic storyboard; determining the type of camera equipment you’ll use to shoot your video; outfitting your computer to meet minimum hardware standards in order to edit your video effectively and efficiently; and developing processes to test your video before deploying it to your full learning population.

In addition, Table 19.4 provides a comprehensive guide to developing your video project budget. Keep in mind that the choice is not whether to address these issues, but when to address them. The upfront effort you put into your needs analysis will reflect handsomely in the professionalism of your final product.

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