Video Tools in Tech Writing

Editor's Notes

• #3: - What are some common obstacles and challenges with tech writing today Show you some statistics and reasons for using video and how it will benefit you Some of the tools you will need and the equipment – Show and tell session at the end large amounts of data and video files – file naming and organizing – sharing issues Double your money – this was a TRICK to get you into this lecture – will show you ways that you can create new deliverables and new markets
• #4: With so many highly technical subjects we are asked to write about as a freelancer or even within our organization – the learning curves may be great… understanding of your subject matter can take meeting after meeting and we still don’t get the concept or the correct transfer of knowledge We don’t often know the subject matter at all – If an SME tells me to do a few cartwheels across the parking lot before I start up a piece of machinery ( like a condition ) I will do it. HE IS THE EXPERT NO ME. LIMITED TIME - SMES are busy doing what the do and expect us to just catch on. Engineers do not always think the way we think. We are intuitive and innate – they are analytical Inaccuracies can cause failed projects – rejection of draft material - legal issues – failed projects – If we are given bad data – or misinterpreted what we are told or what we read then the results will be as we say garbage in garbage out – just like poor software programming or glitches
• #5: There is nothing that we will miss – FIRST TIME YES… WE WILL MISS INFORMATION – but on review we will be right on the mark – AND WE HAVE THE RECORDING TO PROVE IT Even your SMEs will look at things differently if they are being recorded. THIS IS GOOD It lets you be off the hook and not so nervous about deadlines – or your ability to remember and write it all down You will reveal things and become an expert yourself which will lead to policy changes or improvements to the process which will add to ROI simply by adding this new dimensions of documentation
• #6: There is nothing that we will miss – FIRST TIME YES… WE WILL MISS INFORMATION – but on review we will be right on the mark – AND WE HAVE THE RECORDING TO PROVE IT Even your SMEs will look at things differently if they are being recorded. THIS IS GOOD It lets you be off the hook and not so nervous about deadlines – or your ability to remember and write it all down You will reveal things and become an expert yourself which will lead to policy changes or improvements to the process which will add to ROI simply by adding this new dimensions of documentation
• #7: WIRELESS MIC - 300.00 Canon Vixia Full HD - SD MEMORY CARDS 300.00 LED LIGHT / MONO POD 100.00 MONO POD VERY IMPORTANT – CREATES A STEADY SHOT IF NOT USED TO SHOOTING VIDEO – AMAZING RESULTS – YOU CAN GET YOUR CAMERA UP AND CATCH ANGLES WITHOUT GETTING ON A LADDER OR EVEN IMPOSIBLE ANGLES TO VEIW IMPORTANT CONTENT
• #8: GREAT CAMERA FOR $$$$$ FULL HD – SD MEMORY CARDs - MP4 video or AVHCD video VERY GOOD IMAGE STABILIZATION BEST IN WELL LIT AREAS – FLOURESCENT OR OUTDOORS OR SHOP FLOOR MERCURY VAPOR
• #9: BACKGROUND NOISE LEVELS – UNDERSTANDING DELAYS – EQUIPMENT LEFT ON WHILE WAITING – Lots of time your SMEs don’t always know what they are doing – software – machines – etc. 2 PEOPLE – ONE INTERVEIWER AND NOTE TAKER – 1 TECHNICIAN GETTING GOOD SHOTS HAVE A LIST OF THE SUBJECTS YOU ARE COVERING – Plan ahead and have an agenda and stick to it – know exactly what you are going to cover and why – many times new issues come up and new subject matter ins discovered. This is great but don’t get off course or you will have a nightmare with all the various video material out of order. COME BACK TO THESE NEW TOPICS OF INTEREST – AGAIN – YOU BECOME A HERO BY STIMULATING THOUGHT AND EXPOSING PROCESES OR PROCESS FLAWS ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THE DATA ACQUISITION AND EXTRACTING ????
• #10: VERY LARGE FILES AND LOTS OF CLIPS – NEW CLIP EVERY TIME YOU PAUSE CAMERA USE MULTIPLE SD MEMORY CARDS (THEY ARE CHEAP ) Files can become a nightmare for IT if you start storing them on your network and then sharing by uploading and downloading Re-naming files is important since you can easily see them when searching – create folders for each process
• #11: 1 MINUTE OF VIDEO = JUST UNDER 200 MB 5 MINUTE ABOUT A 1 GIG 2 HRs of video is over 20G USE MULTIPLE SD MEMORY CARDS (THEY ARE CHEAP ) Files can become a nightmare for IT if you start storing them on your network and then sharing by uploading and downloading Re-naming files is important since you can easily see them when searching – create folders for each process
• #12: 1 MINUTE OF VIDEO = JUST UNDER 200 MB 5 MINUTE ABOUT A 1 GIG 2 HRs of video is over 20G USE MULTIPLE SD MEMORY CARDS (THEY ARE CHEAP ) Files can become a nightmare for IT if you start storing them on your network and then sharing by uploading and downloading Re-naming files is important since you can easily see them when searching – create folders for each process
• #13: 1 MINUTE OF VIDEO = JUST UNDER 200 MB 5 MINUTE ABOUT A 1 GIG 2 HRs of video is over 20G USE MULTIPLE SD MEMORY CARDS (THEY ARE CHEAP ) Files can become a nightmare for IT if you start storing them on your network and then sharing by uploading and downloading Re-naming files is important since you can easily see them when searching – create folders for each process
• #14: 1 MINUTE OF VIDEO = JUST UNDER 200 MB 5 MINUTE ABOUT A 1 GIG 2 HRs of video is over 20G USE MULTIPLE SD MEMORY CARDS (THEY ARE CHEAP ) Files can become a nightmare for IT if you start storing them on your network and then sharing by uploading and downloading Re-naming files is important since you can easily see them when searching – create folders for each process NEXT SLIDE – WATCH VIDEO – start- pause – rewind – review for accuracy Get approval and general sign off that this procedure or process is correct before moving to writing step SNIP TOOLS ADD ANOTHER VALUE ADDED SOLUTION TO SOME PROJECTS
• #15: THIS EXAMPLE SHOWS WHERE A VIDEO WAS USED TO EXTRACT FREEZE FRAMES WHICH WERE THEN USED TO BUILD A HOW –TO OPERATIONS MANUAL FOR A FLOOR BUFFER. It was an added product you could sell to your client and offer when it was not originally the scope of your project – VALUE ADDED YOU HAVE ALL THE DATA IN THE WAY OF INFORMATION AND 1000s of photos which you can create via playing back the video on a Windows media or quick time and grab frames and create 600 x 600 dpi photos jpgs
• #16: NOW WE GET INTO AN AREA WHICH MIGHT BE NEW FOR SOME OF YOU THAT YOU HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED AS A PRODUCT HOW MANY PEOPLE GO TO YOUTUBE WHEN THEY ARE WORKING WITH A NEW SOFTWARE AND TRYING TO LEARN IT ???? EXCELL – PHOTOSHOP – FRAME MAKER ??? VIDEOS ARE THE FASTEST WAY - INDUSTRY AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATIONS IS RIGHT THERE TOO IT’S THE UP COMING GENERATION THAT ARE COMFORTABLE WITH MOBILE DEVICES AND WATCHING THINGS IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS I BELIVE YOU ARE GOING TO SEE OUR INDUSTRY EXPLODE WITH VIDEO –
• #17: NOW WE GET INTO AN AREA WHICH MIGHT BE NEW FOR SOME OF YOU THAT YOU HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED AS A PRODUCT HOW MANY PEOPLE GO TO YOUTUBE WHEN THEY ARE WORKING WITH A NEW SOFTWARE AND TRYING TO LEARN IT ???? EXCELL – PHOTOSHOP – FRAME MAKER ??? VIDEOS ARE THE FASTEST WAY - INDUSTRY AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATIONS IS RIGHT THERE TOO IT’S THE UP COMING GENERATION THAT ARE COMFORTABLE WITH MOBILE DEVICES AND WATCHING THINGS IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS I BELIVE YOU ARE GOING TO SEE OUR INDUSTRY EXPLODE WITH VIDEO –
• #18: YOU NOW HAVE VIDEO CONTENT CATERGORIZED AND READY TO OFFER TO YOUR CLIENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MAY BE NEEDED IF YOU ARE NOT INCLINDED TO BECOME A VIDEO EDITOR – YOU HAVE THE CONTENT YOU MIGHT BE WRITING AND CREATING CONTENT FOR LETS SAY THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OR SALES DEPT – NOW YOU CAN OFFER DELUVERABLES TO TRAINING DEPT.
• #19: YOU NOW HAVE VIDEO CONTENT CATERGORIZED AND READY TO OFFER TO YOUR CLIENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MAY BE NEEDED IF YOU ARE NOT INCLINDED TO BECOME A VIDEO EDITOR – YOU HAVE THE CONTENT YOU MIGHT BE WRITING AND CREATING CONTENT FOR LETS SAY THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OR SALES DEPT – NOW YOU CAN OFFER DELUVERABLES TO TRAINING DEPT.
• #20: YOU NOW HAVE VIDEO CONTENT CATERGORIZED AND READY TO OFFER TO YOUR CLIENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MAY BE NEEDED IF YOU ARE NOT INCLINDED TO BECOME A VIDEO EDITOR – YOU HAVE THE CONTENT YOU MIGHT BE WRITING AND CREATING CONTENT FOR LETS SAY THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OR SALES DEPT – NOW YOU CAN OFFER DELUVERABLES TO TRAINING DEPT.
• #22: YOU NOW HAVE VIDEO CONTENT CATERGORIZED AND READY TO OFFER TO YOUR CLIENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MAY BE NEEDED IF YOU ARE NOT INCLINDED TO BECOME A VIDEO EDITOR – YOU HAVE THE CONTENT YOU MIGHT BE WRITING AND CREATING CONTENT FOR LETS SAY THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OR SALES DEPT – NOW YOU CAN OFFER DELUVERABLES TO TRAINING DEPT.
• #23: YOU NOW HAVE VIDEO CONTENT CATERGORIZED AND READY TO OFFER TO YOUR CLIENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MAY BE NEEDED IF YOU ARE NOT INCLINDED TO BECOME A VIDEO EDITOR – YOU HAVE THE CONTENT YOU MIGHT BE WRITING AND CREATING CONTENT FOR LETS SAY THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OR SALES DEPT – NOW YOU CAN OFFER DELUVERABLES TO TRAINING DEPT.