How I make my videos
My animation and recording “studio”
I am asked often how I make my videos so here is the process/hardware/software that I am currently using. I hope this encourages you to make videos of your own!
I start by writing a script and editing it multiple times over several days.
I draw everything first on a piece of paper to make sure I know what I want to do and to make sure it all fits on the screen in a pleasant way.
For the video itself, I record my computer screen using a program called Capto. It’s fine but I think any screen recording software will do. I record just the red-outlined area, set the frame rate to 10 fps (keeps the file small), and opt to not show my cursor because I think it’s distracting.
I do all of my drawings again in Photoshop using the Wacom Intuos Pro (Large) tablet. While I draw the words, pictures, and equations realtime, I am recording the screen. I found a document size of 25 in x 15 in at 144 pixels/inch works well. I set the background of the image to black and use a brush size of 5.
I edit the raw screen capture in Final Cut Pro X. Editing includes a lot of things but it’s mostly cutting out the errors, speeding up the video (typically 4-20 times faster depending on what I’m drawing), making simple animations, and syncing the visuals with the voiceover.
The voiceover is recoded with a Rode NT-USB mic. My audio has improved over the years as I learn how to minimize background noise and to read my script without sounding like a robot.
I use a microphone isolation stand and I’ve also found I get better results by surrounding the whole thing with a fuzzy blanket!
My microphone isolation set up.