Need help to make educational videos

[Midwaytmm]

Here’s my situation. I’ve been put in charge of a project for our company . It’s a small outfit in the petrochemical industry. We’ve developed a process to help improve several production problems that are common, within certain vessel types. In order to explain the process, we need to be able to make a video , using content from thermal imaging equipment, as well as standard video equipment. This job would be best performed by a pro. But it’s proprietary, with a patent in the works . I’m only giving background, so I can better explain where I’m coming from

The videos we intend to make will be designed as educational. There won’t be any special effects, or anything along those lines. Will be set up similar to reading a book. Short 5-10 minutes per chapter , for each step of the process. I’m completely uneducated where it this is concerned. I’ll give all the info I think is relevant, then hopefully somebody can offer instructions, or at least a place to start. Thanks in advance

Equipment records video in AVI files as well as mpeg and mp4v
Will use some footage from mobile phones as well
Need to be able to string together video and put into a format that can be emailed to individual users, or uploaded to a secure site provided by a third party
Software needed will be bought, and not downloaded off internet

Based on these needs, and our lack of skills/knowledge in this area, what software would you recommend?
Is a special computer needed? Or would a standard laptop be able to handle this type of project ?

Thanks again for your help

[redwudz]

Midwaytmm, in the future please use a more descriptive subject title in your posts to allow others to search for similar topics. I will change yours this time. From our rules:

Try to choose a subject that describes your topic.
Please do not use topic subjects like Help me!!! or Problems.

Thanks,

And welcome to our forums.

Moderator redwudz

[KarMa]

Most of the major graphical editors can be used by novices for simple things like editing and adding text and adding narration over a video. So things like Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas, and the free beta version of DaVinci Resolve. Since your needs are so simple it really just comes down to what containers and video/audio formats each program supports importing. I tend to believe Adobe PP and Sony Vegas support more consumer level video types than DaVinci Resolve. With DaVinci it only seems to support H.264/AAC in a .MP4, other types of H.264 (AVCHD) and then the rest are more professional formats. Whatever you decide, you can always convert your source videos to H.264 with something like Handbrake, which is a well known simple video encoding program (x264 gui).

Software needed will be bought, and not downloaded off internet

Well, Adobe Premiere Pro works on a monthly rental model so I believe downloading it is the only way to get it anymore. Sony Vegas might have boxed versions but it's usually downloaded anymore. The free version of DaVinci Resolve is also download only.

[Cornucopia]

It is possible for you to do, but you are fighting an uphill battle if you have never done this before and must create something with lasting educational value, on time, and within budget.
That is why it is a regular occurrence for companies such as yours to hire professionals (writers, actors, directors, videographers & audiographers, editors, and producers), but make them sign NDAs.

Scott

[lordsmurf]

you are fighting an uphill battle
hire professionals (writers, actors, directors, videographers & audiographers, editors

Him doing the video is like me playing chemist. Nothing good will come of it.

I'm all for helping DIY, but not this.
Sometimes you need a pro. This is one of those times.

[KarMa]

Him doing the video is like me playing chemist.

It sounds like a video that's a step above powerpoint. This stuff is not that difficult. Maybe things like timing, clarity, flow, style requires practice/skill but taking sensor videos and adding text and/or voice audio is not difficult. Adobe and Sony products are built for the average person in mind anyway, despite what some here might believe. OP just needs to watch a few tutorial videos on youtube about the given program to figure out using a timeline and simple cuts.

And as far as a NDA and hiring someone, make sure these people are worth more money than this R&D information is worth. Odds are that the people hired don't have the money to cover the value of the R&D. Lot of risk to produce a powerpoint video.

Is a special computer needed? Or would a standard laptop be able to handle this type of project ?

For the stuff you want, not really. Ballpark guess for a 1080p video editor would be a 4-core CPU with 8GB of RAM and maybe an external GPU (not required but can help). Video editing always needs space, so be sure to have a TB or 2 of extra harddrive space. Also recommend Windows 7 or newer.

[Midwaytmm]

I apologize about the title. I must have missed it in the rules. Thanks to those that offered help/suggestions. As I stated, hiring outside is not an option that is worth the risk . I agree the video would be a step above PowerPoint. I have searched on YouTube, but the problem is half of the simple editing software suggested for beginners, is a “free download “ . In my experience, there is no such thing as free. I’m aware that the odds of anyone waiting with bad intentions, being able to do anything with our tech, is slim to none . But in our opinion, it’s not worth the risk . I should have mentioned that we have purchased two different software packages already, at the advice of the salesman at the store. Neither one seem to support the systems were using . The avi files in particular. We were told they do, but in reality , it doesn’t work .

[johnmeyer]

Free downloads from companies who are in the business of selling software are perfectly safe. It is the "free" software that contains adware, and also the software from "warez" sites that can be extremely nasty.

If you want to get started with a program that used to be a really great program for those just starting out, I recommend:

Pinnacle Studio

I haven't used it for over a decade, but it is how I got my start, back when DV video first made video editing something that all of us could do. I am quite certain you'll be able to produce a video using this software. You can download the trial and then, for $45, you can buy the basic program. If you eventually want all the bells and whistles, you can upgrade to the $79 version. Either of these versions is not much money. You can run them on pretty much any PC built in the past ten years.

BTW, I said "used to be" in my description above not because it isn't a great program for beginners anymore, but because I haven't used it myself for so long that I no longer know, first hand, how it works. The last version I used was version 4, and they are now at version 21.

[Midwaytmm]

Thank you for the advice sir. I will look into it .

[Midwaytmm]

Thought of another possible option . Would it theoretically be possible to hire somebody professional, for instructions? Kind of like tutoring? I could provide ramdom footage from our instruments,she /he cold teach me the process of putting it together ? Are services like that available? How would you go about finding somebody? We live 15 miles outside a town of 200, so phonebook not an option...... internet search for? Video editing pro? Don’t know what they’d call themselves.

[usually_quiet]

@Midwaytmm You have video from a number of different sources. It is hard to say whether or not there is an editor that will allow putting all of them on a timeline together without converting or re-encoding some of them. For example, even today, editors often have trouble with variable frame rate video, and cell phone video is typically variable frame rate.

Well, Adobe Premiere Pro works on a monthly rental model so I believe downloading it is the only way to get it anymore. Sony Vegas might have boxed versions but it's usually downloaded anymore. The free version of DaVinci Resolve is also download only.

I don't know the details, but apparently, support for variable frame rate video was recently added to Premiere Pro.

I went to the webpage for VEGAS Movie Studio 15 Platinum to check on delivery options. The program can be downloaded or a physical copy can be mailed to US customers for an additional $5. I don't think it would automatically handle cell phone video correctly.

I would not recommend DaVinci Resolve for a novice. There is a high probability that it would not accept many of the video files in their native state.

[Midwaytmm]

I appreciate the info. Our primary equip records , then outputs in AVI format. My understanding is that it’s older tech. The Mbl phone footage could be replaced by anything that records video. So maybe if we switched to some other equipment that would be an easy fix to one of the roadblocks?

[Midwaytmm]

Should also mention our other camera run through a dvr ,by design, then download in mpeg4 format. Not sure if this info is useful or not