For a couple of years, I've wanted to create a course on Udemy. Finally, during the pandemic I was able to dedicate a few months to create one. A few months ago, I've published it and got a few hard-earned lessons I want to share. Things that would have saved me days and weeks of work. Practice makes perfect and I can't tell you how to create a great course (I mean mine is at most decent) but I'll tell you a few things that would hopefully save you time and improve the quality.
Tip 0. On mac, change resolution of your screen
Default resolution scale for mac is 16:10. Udemy video player expects 16:9. So, if you record in 16:10 you'll have only two options:
- Add black borders
- Udemy player will scale your video automatically and your users will get an image that will look like this
I've noticed it during the review, after I've recorded the whole thing. So, I had to scale all videos manually and chose which potions of a video to cut. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Tip 1. Increase the font size in your editor and console
I prefer my font size to be dense and small but when recorded that way text is barely legible. Remember that not everyone will watch your videos full-screen and some will watch from their smartphones. Increasing the font size is a low hanging fruit for improving the quality of your videos.
Tip 2. Keep your videos under 15 min
One of the screen-casts I recorded lasted 30+ min. It was impossible to keep attention for such a long period of time. Even though I knew everything in the video it was still hard to keep up during the review. In the end I had to split videos in three to make it watchable.
Tip 3. Don't be afraid of cuts
For screen-casts, I shot both camera and screen. I thought that cutting video too often will look destructing and tried to avoid it. Instead, I tried to record an episode with one or a couple of takes max. It turned out to not be needed. Cuts are fine, on the other hand 'Uhms...', stutter and long pauses do destruct. As long as your content flows, do as many takes and cuts as needed.
Tip 4. Put important things in the center
The bottom of a video is covered by subtitles and the top is covered by UI elements. This may bite you when you show commands in a terminal, text editor, pretty much anywhere. Don't forget that and be careful.
Here you can see how UI and captions obstruct the view
Tip 5. It's ok to publish a somewhat ready course
When you publish the course and start to market it. People will buy your course but won't start to watch it until later. So, if you haven't recorded everything you planned it's still worth it to publish your course and finish a few weeks later.
That's about it. Hope you won't repeat my mistakes and your Udemy course will be a success 😉
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