Show HN: My Demo Video
youtube.com
youtube.com
First off, congratulations on finishing the video - finishing a demo video is hard work and you have a great start.
When I started the video, I had no idea what your product does or what it is for. I had to watch it all the way through to gain some sense of what your product actually does. So, if I were you, I'd do some work to make sure that its purpose is clearly defined. For example, some really good demo videos start off with a statement of purpose - ie - I want to solve x because of y.
From there, I think I'd base the video around showing how your product actually does solve the problem.
As for narration, I'm of two minds. Yes, narration would be helpful, but only if you have good quality audio and a good script. Sometimes, poor quality audio (or a bad script) do more damage than good. Consequently, I'd also consider using some of Camtasia's other features (ie - callouts) to tell your story and explain your product and the need it solves.
Great work though!!
I am going to keep playing with Camtasia and make a better demo video, maybe even consider having one professionally done - in some ways now, I wish I had waited to post a better demo b/c I do not think it would necessarily be cool to post another demo for the same start-up on HN.
Good luck - shooting demos is quite an art!!
I think the video could do with more fleshed out. Speaking for myself, it gets a bit boring seeing someone else's mouse cursor for three minutes. Perhaps try talking over it? We would get more interaction that way. A video off the top of my head that I've recently seen is that of Sqwiggle[1]. It opens with the logo and then has a nice talk through.
Improve video sharing and discovery.
>I think the video could do with more fleshed out.
I wondered how long it would be until I got a comment on the lack of narration. This was my first video screen record ever, I downloaded trial Camtasia and made this on a whim after watching Drew's DropBox demo, sad to say I actually did the narration but I had the sound options off for my mic. I watched the Sqwiggle video and it is not just more polished than mine, but on another level professionally. I will consider remaking a demo to show more features (logging in, uploading video, ect...), and in your words be more fleshed out.
I definitely think it would benefit you a lot. Coming from experience with a video of mine[1] a simple demo video doesn't seem to excite people very much. I went down the route of "I'll spend as little time as possible on the video so I can continue with the development", but really, marketing tools like this can't be ignored. In your case especially you have a classic chicken and egg problem and will need to encourage users to post videos.
Hope I've helped a bit.