How much time to create a video?

So much of what takes time to create videos is down to the person making them. If someone tells you it should take 1 hour to make a 20 minute video put as much faith in that as you would for someone who tells you can make a 20 minute video in 10 minutes.

The rule of thumb is you'll get faster with practice. The same goes for someone you outsource a video to.

~Bill

Responses could be anything from 20 minutes (Do it live) to many, many hours depending on what all is involved in the production.

For researched, somewhat scripted and fully edited training video, I would say 8 hours per finished hour is a fair ballpark guess.

Break it down, and consider your skills...

• Are you a good writer? How long would it take you to write 20 minutes of spoken content?
• Can you speak freely without pausing, umms and ahhs, and lots of throat clearing? That will greatly reduce your editing time.
• A GREAT editor can edit faster than real time, but a clumsy simple snags in your delivery can double the editing time right quick.

Add in graphics, powerpoint slides (if you use it), mapping out the flow, transitioning between screens, etc... guess how long each will take and probably double or triple it to start.

If you are using the video to sell then it should probably take you a few days. Once I know I'm going to make a video I'll script out a few ideas, and then sleep on it, and repeat the process for a couple of days until I'm as close in my mind as to what I want to say as possible. Once i'm comfortable with what I'm doing, and assuming I've prepared my material in those couple of days previous I'll just record it. It'll take me a number of takes to get the first 30 seconds in order and once that is recorded then I'm ok at going with the flow. Once recorded it probably takes a couple of hours to remove the bits I don't want, error messages, stumbles, long loading times etc.

The point is don't be afraid. I have experience of being a professional trainer, I created training videos for a large company called EDS which were viewed by thousands and I worried to begin with but people take more notice of the tonality of your voice than they do the pauses. If you know what you're talking about then just get on with it. But from my own experience from knowing I need to record a video to delivering it, it will take about a week, but not full-time.

I also produce a lot of screencast videos to demonstrate how a user will follow a workflow I design, usually this will just take about 3 takes and I'm done, but there is no imagination to such a video, it would just be "click here, wait for this, click there" and most of the time I'll repeat it because I've sneezed in the wrong place or my phone has rang in the middle of it.

If you over plan you'll make it too difficult. A script is an OK idea as long as you realise you shoudn't stick to it word-for-word. If you do, the voiceover will appear clunky and you'll waste a lot of time, relax, know your message, and don't rush it.

Just curious, why does the time it takes other people to make a video matter to you?

Yeh, a 10-min sales videos takes longer than a 10-min screen-capture video. For sales video, it has to be polished, no unnecessary pauses, no um's, have to get everything right. For screen-capture video, you just pretty much explain out loud as you would to a friend sitting beside you, so yes you are allowed to make occasional mistakes.

Don't try to be a perfectionist because that will kill your time management. Its ok if you mess up. We are all human. If you stutter or jumble your words a couple of times it actually makes me look at you like a real person. Now for a sales video I understand not wanting to mess up once but not for training videos. In the famous words of Nike "Just Do It."

I'll generally just write a quick bunch of bullet points to cover. I'll then fire up the recording and start. If I make any mistakes I just pause my voice and let the recording keep going and regain my composure, then start that bit again. I can then come back in and edit out those bits very easily. This will speed up the process a lot. Do NOT restart your recording every time you make a mistake or you will be there forever.

For me it's usually about 5 hours for a 15 minute vid.

Unscripted vids are a lot quicker, around half that time.

For me, it always takes much longer than I thought. I've done a number of interview videos, promo videos for small businesses, as well as instructional how to vids.

I always count on several hours to get the video completed. And this can be for a video that is only 2-4 minutes in length. This includes choosing intro and outro music and slides. Once the actual video is shot there can be a bit if editing, for example putting in call outs, and other images, if I am using Camtasia.

The best way to complete a video IMO is to have all the prep work done ahead of time. A story board can be a huge time saver as well as giving you the basic framework of your video.

If you are recording yourself, it pays to do a dry run a few times before you start recording. I recommend this as a way to get your self very familiar with your presentation. This has helped me create many of my videos in one take.

If you are publishing your video to youTube or other video sites doing keyword research is also a must. So that will take a bit of time as well.

Trying to make the perfect video can be all to time consuming. So don't try to be perfect, just do it.