Now that my first screencast has been finalized and published online, I thought it would be a good time to share insights into the things that I learned while producing it. You’ll see that what initially seemed to be a pretty straightforward task, turned out to be a quite a bumpy ride indeed.

The first, and probably biggest mistake I made, was to assume that the production of a screencast resembles anything close to the prep and delivery of the regular training sessions that I normally conduct. Talking to a live audience is much more forgiving and natural than making an impersonal recording. For me, it felt like the screencast uncovered all the weaknesses and dark sides of my communication abilities. 

Despite your best efforts, it is very difficult to deliver a natural-sounding script during the screencast. I eventually realized that the best method to use was to focus more on what I wanted to demonstrate, in terms of individual steps and important points, than to try and meticulously plan out a script. 

I would advise to start recording raw version first. Focus on showing the information that is important and try to talk it through set-by-step. Don't worry about saying something stupid, making mistakes or mumbling: that's all very natural. Recording made me realise how difficult is to focus on doing something while speaking about it at the same time.

When you’re happy with the recording (which might take several re-edits), review what you said and make appropriate corrections. I think that the best way to approach this is to write it all down. The trick is to use the edited version as the basis for your voiceover; it will make your speech much more relaxed and natural sounding and you don't have to worry about timing, because as long as you're watching the video track at the same time it's easy to get in sync.

I found that splitting both the recording and the voiceover into 3 - 6 minute long segments provided valuable checkpoints. Although the length of the screencast really depends on the target audience, it is worth noting that, in my (limited) experience and based on the first viewing statistics, it seems that the majority of viewers tend to give up after watching the video for 20 minutes or so. If you really can't get finish within this time, it's probably best to split the screencast into several parts.

With the right tools editing can be easy. My software of choice is ScreenFlow for Mac or Camtasia for Windows. Both share similar features like multi-layer editing, trimming, audio and video adjustments, callouts, and also provide streamlined workflow.

While the software you use makes the difference when editing, it’s the microphone you use that can be the real showstopper. My original voiceover was recorded using an everyday Bluetooth headset. Looking back I admit it was foolish to think it might work. The audio quality was just awful, and spending time trying to clean it up/adjust it was not worth the effort. I really would recommend that you buy a semi-professional microphone like Rode Podcaster; it is certainly worth the investment (especially if you're thinking about podcasting/screencasting on a regular basis).

Sorry, this post and the screencast is currently available only in Czech language.

Celý příspěvek, společně s dalšími informaci najde na Blogu DevOps česky.

Pokud vás screencast zaujal, a chcete se dozvědět víc o automatizaci infrastruktury a deploymentu (nejen web) aplikací, přijde na školení, které pořádám 1. - 2. listopadu 2011 v Praze.

Chef - Základy automatizace infrastruktury

Pro získání slevy 10% použijte kód SCREENCAST.

In last 10 months I became a terrible procrastinator. By the end of the summer, it had reached critical level. Whilst day-to-day work remained more or less reasonable, the long-term productivity imploded. The reason? A dramatic change in my daily routine and significantly different working style. 

Beginning in February, I stopped working 9 to 5, and, as a result the so-called 'normal working day' disintegrated into patchy fragments. The only way to get back on track was to find ways how to better organize my work and time to regain productivity.

Here's what helped me so far:

• One inbox became a necessity. Regardless of saying that the tools don't matter I found OmniFocus extremely helpful. Everything goes there - emails, short notes, tasks, errands, ideas - you name it. It doesn't matter if you rigorously follow GTD practices or not. Having one inbox guarantees nothing will slip out of the radar. Individual tasks might fall behind, but except in few extreme situations it's not a showstopper.
• Time boxing improved my ability to do one thing at a time. With Pomodoro technique it's easy to split everything into 25-minute chunks, short enough periods to overcome the temptation to do something different, and yet just long enough to get something done. After while I found that I tend to plan almost everything in pomodoros.
• Limited distraction achieved by opening email only during the time dedicated for it. Same goes for Twitter. And anytime I have a sudden, eart-shattering idea, I simply add it to OmniFocus inbox, where I could get back to it later.

  Still, I found sometimes, that's not enough. The temptation to lose focus was always there. Until I learned to switch off Wi-Fi completely when not needed. Try it. You get used to it after while. When you overcome the urge to Google everything life becomes much simpler. You begin to remember things again, and you improve battery life (laptop's, not yours) as side effect. 

• But, ultimately, the best remedy against distraction proved to be pen and paper. I bought some Pukka A5 manuscript pads and a nice roller ball, and Eureka, it worked! I re-discovered that scratching notes and concepts down on paper is fast, efficient, and much easier to visualise. Also returning to previous notes feels natural. 

  Initially, I scanned almost every handwritten page straight to Evernote. Now, I trust the paper even more and scan notes only from time to time. Event this post was originally written by hand.

All in all, these little changes helped me to get back on track, despite my challenging daily routine. That's something I can work on later… :)