How we made our iPad demo video on the cheap | Hacker News Reader

How we made our iPad demo video on the cheap

blog.anideo.com

79 pointskentnguyen28 comments

In my experience, glare was the most difficult thing to address in making a live iPad demo video. The black plastic sheet with a hole in it they came up with here is an ingenious solution.

Many app videos (including my own) just end up screencasting the simulator. I originally avoided that since it seemed like a cop-out, but then I noticed it in a lot of other app demo videos.

Live demos are also tricky if you have pets, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIG6rPvfKnw

i noticed your focus is constantly adjusting, what camera you used. This is the exact problem with iphone built-in camera app.

it's easy to record video in a dark room but requiring white background in how case is a different story.

anyway...it's a cat video!

The camera focus, the light balance, the difficulty of interacting with the iPad from the side - the cat was the last straw. I just went with an edited screencast instead: http://remembary.com

for screencast on simulator, i suggest using this instead of the cursor. atleast making it more real http://wonderwarp.com/phonefinger/

I tried doing my own finger cursor and it ended up just looking creepy - and you couldn't really see taps. I'll take a serious look at this one though. Thanks!

Using a finger image will always look creepy cause it is lifeless, kinda like holding a chicken leg and pointing with it. We learned this firsthand with this unsuccessful demo video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV4VGrn_Nuo

this finger shows tap action! try it for your next screencast

A DSLR can solve the first two problems with manual focus and setting the white balance to a fixed value. The cat is more difficult.

I hope you posted that video on your Twitter/blog/etc. Instant Karma.

Just a pointer. I would have invested just a tad more in the audio. It sounds like you are speaking from a tiny closet, while what you want is to sound like you are speaking from a large open room.

I would recommend even the cheapest condenser microphone.

great info on setting up the rig, etc. I agree with the audio suggestion though.

Absolutely. The way to get that sound would be to eliminate all echo. I've seen people recommend doing the recording under a pile of blankets on your bed.

Secondly, the music sounds really cheesy. It is not made to be used as background music, since it disturbs too much. You (op) noticed this, which is why you turned down the volume to make the speaker easier to hear. I'd say thats very backwards.

If you dont mind my saying, while technically the iPad video is quite good in terms of quality due to the setup and a good write-up, i think you could have more effectiveness if you work on your voiceover skills or find someone that can make it sound more appealing.

Also, i'd shorten the video down to showing the highlights of what your app can do, rather than how to do it - at least if you're intention is a marketing message anyhow.

I helped make the video, and let me say it's super hard to get the tone of your pitch right.

We probably should get people who have experience doing voiceovers, but then again, this was a post about how to do this on the cheap.

Could you explain what you mean when you say "make it sound more appealing"? Were we not excited enough =P

The voice over was written as a description of the app features instead of from the perspective of a user. It sounded like text ripped from your help file. I don't need to be told that I can pinch to zoom in, because I can see that. Instead I want to know I can "watch my videos in crisp full screen playback".

Focus on what your users will get out of it. Emotions are important. Words like "intuitive" aren't. You don't "integrate with social services" you "share your favorite videos with your Facebook friends".

Thanks, great feedback. It seems super obvious now, but at the time it clearly wasn't.

Demonstrates how important the story and specifically the tone of the story can be in defining the entire process.

"not excited enough" would be a good description, yes. You'd be surprised how much you can positively affect a video just by showing more enthusiasm about the subject. Think about what kind of tone you might use when telling someone about a great movie or a great restaurant.

I do agree that it's not easy, but for the sake of your product, since you've put so much time and effort into it, i would urge you to persevere a little longer.

I'd also like to echo the comments of "underwater", in that you should stray away from getting caught up in scripts that sound like you're reading out the help manual.

Wish you the best of luck ;-)

A 30 day free trial of adobe after effects and a $20 template tweaked to your needs, along with $30 for professional voiceover, would have moved you to something that would be very close to what apple does.

And would probably have got you there a lot quicker.

http://videohive.net/searches?sort_by=sales&type=files&#...

http://www.provoiceusa.com/cheap-voice-overs.htm

this is great, especially the voice over service. Didn't know this exists on the cheap side. Any other video template source like videohive?

i know that revostock also has stock footage and templates.

audiojungle is good for background music. A tad pricy, but not too bad considering the quality. (tim mcmorris in particular has an incredible list of upbeat tracks that work well for corporate presentations, app demos, etc. )

http://www.revostock.com/

http://audiojungle.net

http://audiojungle.net/user/timmcmorris/portfolio

One other quick tip if you are just starting out in this. Put your script together first. Have the voice over work completed until you are happy, then tweak the video templates to match the voice over work.

If you try it in reverse order it will end in frustration and a much lower quality product.

This is what we mentioned in our post too. But before we realised, it's kind of too late. We shot the footage first and then tried to 'describe' the parts. We probably will have to do another one soon, given all the comments about the audio stuff.

I'd like to add that it's possible to lock focus and exposure (not sure if also white balance) by tapping and holding on any spot in the "viewfinder".

Also, see the full frame in the internal camera.app, just double tap the screen and it will zoom out of the cropped mode. (while still only using a middle part of the sensor, though, apparently to allow for the anti-shake to function).

We didn't read the iPhone manual that's why. However, the one feature of the app we picked that is really useful is lock focus in one place and lock the exposure in another place (two different area). Also the app allows locking of White Balance as well. Is it possible to do this with native camera app?

I just tested this at home with a few different light sources, and yes, it does lock all three - focus, aperture, white balance. But all in the one spot you tap-held.

Afaik, all the apps that have a two-spot way of selecting focus and aperture/white balance are faking it somewhat, since there is no official API to control the camera that way. Of course, most of the time the results are quite ok.

The usual method using just the built-in camera.app would be to first lock on to some spot thats both in the right distance and has the right brightness to achieve the correct look, and then just frame the scene by moving the iPhone in the recording position.

But I don't know how often I wished for more flexible ways to setup the camera manually :p

My poor mans rig would be green paper covering the screen, then load in the directly recorded video stream using green-screening in post production. It would give a perfect clarity image.

I guess the sides of the ipad screen would still reflect, so it'd look a little "off" unless your fingers are kept perfectly between the camera and ipad at all times...but that could be achieved.

It would be pretty complicated to make the demo (swipe, touch, navigate your app) with the screen covered in green, wouldn't it?

Good point...

Okay, we'll pre record the video, play that on a screen and simulate the touches/swipes on the green screened ipad with your fingers as best as possible. It doesn't have to be perfect, just get the positioning right, then the timing can be done in post.

Remember to remove hands completely from frame after every action to help with this.

You could even prerecord various swipes, touches and taps, then cut them together as you need...

one more: how about recording it in almost complete darkness to avoid reflection, then adding the background in later? or green screen the background in an almost dark room?

The key point in all this is the device is kept completely stationary. Making it super easy to change things in post.

I'd try green background instead of white and remove it in post, that way all shadows can be removed easily.

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