YouTube instructional videos with no speaking.

[RABid]

I notice more and more people posting instructional videos on YouTube with text overlays rather than spoken instructions. I'm not talking about videos that demonstrate the sound patches included wit the latest synth. I'm talking about videos that promise to teach me how to program patterns and build songs in a very complex device. I find these silent text filled movies to be a very poor substitute to videos with a good, clear spoken direction to accompany the video demonstration. If I am focusing on the text that is scrolling by I am not watching which buttons are pushed or seeing what the screen of a device looks like. Might as well just read the manual and look at the diagrams. 

 

What is your thought? Are they doing it this way because they think it is better? Because they think they don't have a good speaking voice? Because it is easier to type in text than to get a good vocal recording? Honestly, I watch a lot of synth and DAW videos by people for whom English is a second language. Have never considered an accent to be a barrier or a reason not to watch and learn.

 

By the way, it could just be me. When I read I totally focus on the text with all of my visual acuity. I can read and listen to music. I can read and listen to the tv. I cannot read and watch a demonstration at the same time. 

[Anderton]

Having done 218 one-minute videos in the past 218 weeks (and several longer ones), I have some definite thoughts about this.

 

There are SO MANY bad instructional videos. "So, you click here with the mouse...hmmm, what's...[pause]...oh right [pause, clicks on different page]...first you have to click here on enable. [returns to previous page] Okay, after clicking you can't see this because it's kind of small, but on the screen it says..." Then there are the "endless blathering" videos where 30 minutes of video contains 3 minutes of information.

 

I write scripts for all my videos because I respect my audience. Doing scripting and narration for a 1-minute video is about a 2-hour process, sometimes more. It's hard to do narration right, and hard to fit a topic into 60 seconds or less. There are a lot of script revisions and working with a stopwatch. The last video I posted on Musicplayer's YouTube channel is one minute long. So, if it's a waste of your time, you've only wasted one minute  But if it benefits you, you pretty much got all you needed to know in 60 seconds.

 

Videos and text are different ways to present information, not interchangeable options. Some topics are best covered with videos, some with text. A lot of videos I've seen would work better as a "comic strip" of screen shots with captions, and posted to a website so you can go through it at your own pace.

 

YouTube implementing the transcription feature, and the variable speed playback feature, help isolate the parts in any video that are worth it. But I really don't like the search favors videos. I have to scroll down to find the topic in text form, which I can assimilate in 2 minutes instead of 15 minutes (or more) watching some video.

 

Disclaimer: There are some good videos out there. For example, Gregor's videos for Studio One are great. Overall, though, trying to get information in a compact form from YouTube ain't easy. 

 

 

[jazzpiano88]

38 minutes ago, Anderton said:

There are SO MANY bad instructional videos. "So, you click here with the mouse...hmmm, what's...[pause]...oh right [pause, clicks on different page]...first you have to click here on enable. [returns to previous page] Okay, after clicking you can't see this because it's kind of small, but on the screen it says..." Then there are the "endless blathering" videos where 30 minutes of video contains 3 minutes of information.

Hear Hear!    It’s really too bad that the FCC required a license to transmit, and now we have YouTube allowing your worst cesspool rat to broadcast videos to the unsuspecting public along side the good stuff.   I think there is an unserved market for curated instructional videos.  I’m really looking forward to the inflection point where Google goes out of business.  

[Anderton]

57 minutes ago, JazzPiano88 said:

I think there is an unserved market for curated instructional videos.

 

Based on my experience, you're right. Before the cesspool rats started creating videos, I did a two-DVD set for Cakewalk on Sonar tips. They were tightly scripted/edited, and I'm proud to say my face didn't appear on them once  

 

I realize that in the land of the blind the one-eyed is king, but the DVDs were extremely well-received by purchasers and immensely successful. If I put out the same material now, no one would buy it. "Why should I? There are a million free videos on YouTube!"

[o0Ampy0o]

I used to download instructional videos and watch them with Quicktime able to pause and rewind. A local file plays more efficiently and usually affords more freedom to view in a manner that suits you the most. Now that downloading is problematic I can do video screen captures. It just takes more time because you have to record in real-time. Downloading is generally faster.

 

I see a lot of editing to get things snappy bullet point fast. Too many people try to be entertainers with attitude, pizzazz, and trendy tricks like the host popping in to make a comment to himself as a guest. Some people can do it at a professional level. Many should not attempt it at all. I don't care for the style where a host/narrator adds too much stylistic spice. I prefer the 1970's FM radio calm, articulate FM broadcasting voice.

 

One of the worst approaches is never getting to the point, the productive content. Rambling on and on and on about this or that. Save that for its own video. Make the instructional videos getting to the point, instructional.

 

Text-to-voice software, as soon as I hear a robotic voice I leave.

 

 

 

[Notes_Norton]

Depends on the subject.

 

I like text because I can hit pause and reread if I don't understand. Also, if the instructor had a thick accent or doesn't speak cleary, especially on little laptop speakers, text could be much better.

 

On the other side coin, if speaking and demonstrating are involved, you can look at what the speaker is doing and hear him/her at the same time.

 

If the tutorial is well done and easy to understand, I'm OK with it no matter what the method.

 

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Anderton]

10 hours ago, o0Ampy0o said:

Text-to-voice software, as soon as I hear a robotic voice I leave.

 

Good to know. I've been checking into it because creating narration takes so long, but I've resisted because I felt people wouldn't like it.

[RABid]

20 hours ago, Anderton said:

Then there are the "endless blathering" videos where 30 minutes of video contains 3 minutes of information.

I follow a lot of music creators, DAW, modular synths, beat box instructional videos. The quickest way to get unfollowed is to ramble for 10 minutes before you ever get on topic.

 

Now there is one type that does well by me. When I watch a really good intro to something, such as intro to Ableton Live, and it IS a good quick start guide. If that person has a 3 hour course on Udemy there is a good chance that I will buy it. You have be be careful though, some of them have the material on Udemy for a while, then release it all on YouTube. No need to buy when they have already put it up for free.

[o0Ampy0o]

Devote some time showing the forest before focusing on the trees. If you are teaching a song, perform the song then do the lesson. If it is a piano tutorial, demonstrate the riffs, perform everything parts or whole then give the intro/background then the step by step lesson.

[Dave Bryce]

I can think of a useful advantage to all text, no spoken word instructional vids.  Multiple language versions are probably easier to create.

 

dB

[zeronyne]

On 10/5/2023 at 12:24 PM, Anderton said:

 

Good to know. I've been checking into it because creating narration takes so long, but I've resisted because I felt people wouldn't like it.

The AI-based text to speech convertors are quite good. You can usually figure out it's fake rather quickly, but they are far from lifeless. This has actually given non-English speakers a new audience as language is no longer a barrier.

And then there is the accessibility issue. I like text whether there is a voiceover or not in many instances because when I pause, I like to see the copy.

[zeronyne]

And let me add that faceless and voiceless YouTube videos about guitar pedals are so much more aesthtically and aurally pleasing than personality-based reviews. In my opinion, of course. They are almost Zen.

[Anderton]

15 minutes ago, zeronyne said:

And let me add that faceless and voiceless YouTube videos about guitar pedals are so much more aesthtically and aurally pleasing than personality-based reviews.

 

My face never appears in any of the videos I make, unless there's a still photo at the beginning as a greeting.

[Joe Muscara]

On 10/5/2023 at 4:59 PM, RABid said:

The quickest way to get unfollowed is to ramble for 10 minutes before you ever get on topic.

My understanding is that was done because a certain length gets ads or something like that so the creator gets paid. I agree it’s irritating to sit through 10 minutes of explaining why or what they’re doing before they actually tell you what you came for. 

[o0Ampy0o]

20 minutes ago, Joe Muscara said:

My understanding is that was done because a certain length gets ads or something like that so the creator gets paid. I agree it’s irritating to sit through 10 minutes of explaining why or what they’re doing before they actually tell you what you came for. 

 

Would that be overall video length or how long the viewer hangs in there?

 

I just use the slider to find the meat. 

[Notes_Norton]

And don't forget to hit the “subscribe” button!!!

 

If I can find instructions that are written like an old-fashioned manual, and if what I'm learning is something that would be best taught to me that way, I'll go for reading. I can skip or scan the parts that are not relevant to me, I can slowly read the parts that are challenging to comprehend based on my previous experience, or even reread them and I can “flip” back and forth between a couple of topics.

 

Either way, video, video without words, or print manual, what matters most is the author. Is the information presented in a way that is easy for me to understand and follow … if speech, is the speaker speaking clearly with good diction … is there a minimum amount of non-essential entertainment or promotion added … and so on.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Joe Muscara]

1 hour ago, o0Ampy0o said:

 

Would that be overall video length or how long the viewer hangs in there?

 

I just use the slider to find the meat. 

It seems to be the length of the video and where they can have ads inserted. Realize this was before the recent switch to one-minute vertical videos similar to TikTok and Instagram Reels. Those have now taken over the algorithm, though I don't know how or if the creators are making money from those.

 

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/26/8888003/youtube-video-length-contrapoints-lindsay-ellis-shelby-church-ad-revenue

[AnotherScott]

Lots of people speak little to no English at all. Not just content creators, but viewers, too. Voiceless videos, where the presenters try to make a point of making their videos understandable just from the visuals, can serve both groups. Presenters who really can't speak English can create a video that an English speaker may still find helpful; and these videos may also be more helpful to non-English speaking viewers than ones that depend on understanding the English narration. 

[o0Ampy0o]

On 10/6/2023 at 11:33 AM, zeronyne said:

The AI-based text to speech convertors are quite good. You can usually figure out it's fake rather quickly, but they are far from lifeless. This has actually given non-English speakers a new audience as language is no longer a barrier.

And then there is the accessibility issue. I like text whether there is a voiceover or not in many instances because when I pause, I like to see the copy.

 

It is possible some have been good enough I did not notice them as being synthetic. However, some at least have not mastered the breath of speech and there is a distinct characteristic giving it away. It has to do with the way the throat opens and closes up and how syllables get accentuated, among other subtleties. But the most recognizable trait is the robotic cadence. The most extreme example is what Steven Hawking used. If that were an effect dialed in from 0-10 you never hear the slightest amount in a natural voice. I am hearing some in text to voice software.

[o0Ampy0o]

On 10/6/2023 at 11:51 AM, Anderton said:

 

My face never appears in any of the videos I make, unless there's a still photo at the beginning as a greeting.

 

I have seen people using pictures which are clearly not the same person. Some have tried switching genders. Many use photos styled after portfolios of actors and models. I don't know whether they are AI generated portraits but many articles that read like they are AI generated have a picture of a person, real or not, and who knows whether their background is real or made up?

[Anderton]

Well, not only is my picture really me, it's a recent one! So many times you see head shots of people on panels or whatever, but when you see them in person, they're like 30 years older. And I don't wear a hat to cover my baldness, either. I just tell people I have flesh-colored hair.

 

I must admit my bio head shot was taken years ago, but it's the best picture I have for being reduced to something the size of a postage stamp. More recent shots tend to be onstage or doing something musical, which is not what people want for a bio shot. I guess I need to do a new photo shoot one of these days.

 

[o0Ampy0o]

I have had an image of you in mind** that definitely did not include skin colored hair. Not to get religious but your openness and diplomacy are quite unique on internet forums.

 

Off topic, sorry, (not so off topic if you think of the most common portrait of a religious figure in the western world.** ). There is an amazing oil painter, Morgan Weistling. When he paints regular people you get the idea that there is a living conscious being behind those eyes. He started out doing movie posters back when movie posters were hand drawn and painted. Most artists rough out the composition and work everything before bringing anything to a finish. He is amazing to watch. He has done so many to avoid boredom he starts with the eyes. He brings them to fully rendered finish and works his way outward. This would lead to disastrous distorted results in most artists, not him. Sometimes he has done religious illustration. When he intends to depict deeply soulful qualities ironically his results are cheesy.

 

 

 

[Anderton]

Interesting...starts with eyes, and works outward. With music, I start with vocals and work outward. Seems pretty similar.

[bill5]

There are exceptions of course, but YT is about the last place I go for instructional anything for reasons stated here and perhaps more. I go there for entertainment. On the whole it's not exactly the most professional environment. 

[o0Ampy0o]

14 hours ago, Anderton said:

Interesting...starts with eyes, and works outward. With music, I start with vocals and work outward. Seems pretty similar.

 

Agree, not only is that beginning at something and working outward, the voice is as much a window to a soul in sound as the eyes are visually in terms of common conscious perception.

 

I have been extra visually acute all of my life being naturally artistic. Although I have strong interest and dabble in music my strength has been the visual arts. But I also have synesthesia so what I see, feel, hear, smell, taste have informed the other senses. Within days after my mother passed away I was sitting alone in a room and I felt her presence atypically strong. It was very warm, comforting and distinctly her. I realized I had not felt her this way since I was a very young child. Then it was how I knew her. I was very young but I remember I felt her before I recognized her appearance with my eyes, meaning I already knew she was who she was before I relied on my eyes to see and recognize her presence. It is this way for most people it just is not remembered by everyone.

 

Warning existential ideas to follow:

I had forgotten how she once felt to me until I felt her that day after she passed away. I suspect we are only what we are temporarily. Many specific conditions, experiences, circumstances make us what we are in a lifetime. We are a complex form of energy. The conditions which define us individually in a lifetime do not last forever. We have invested in this specific form long enough that it becomes part of our energy but it never was all we were. We are so much more than we know or anyone else can know. We leave a lot of the energy which defined us individually here when we die. Just realizing what we really are cannot help but remove some of the perception of how we were when we only saw ourselves in limited form. I doubt my mother could ever again be that strong as the person I knew her as. That was probably the strongest she could be before she moved on leaving this world behind and going back to what she is in the larger scheme of things. Why me and not anyone else she knew? I had enough awareness of such things to perceive it unlike anyone else in her life, (I am not suggesting the synesthesia is a factor). This is not an objective scientific analysis of course. It is describing my subjective perception.

[Anderton]

We have a physical body, but it's imbued with a certain type of energy unrelated to the chemical processes inherent in the physical body. Energy is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed. So, the question that has haunted humanity since the dawn of time is what kind of transformation that energy takes.

[KuruPrionz]

3 hours ago, Anderton said:

We have a physical body, but it's imbued with a certain type of energy unrelated to the chemical processes inherent in the physical body. Energy is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed. So, the question that has haunted humanity since the dawn of time is what kind of transformation that energy takes.

And, it is likely that transformational energy is various, both in it's origin and how it is perceived. 

[Notes_Norton]

On 10/7/2023 at 4:08 PM, Anderton said:

And I don't wear a hat to cover my baldness, either. I just tell people I have flesh-colored hair.

 

I wear a hat on my outdoor gigs. I call it my “Rock 'n Roll Toupee”, but indoors when I'm usually wearing a suit or tux, I go hatless and tell people I got too tall for my hair.

 

I went bald in my 30s. When I was in my 40s I played cruise ships for 3 years. I did an experiment, and wore a hat and no hat on alternate weeks. It was a one-week cruise. On the hat weeks, the bar consistently made more money than the no-hat weeks.

 

I guess it was because the younger people peeked in, saw the bald head, and went looking for younger entertainers.

 

Now that I've also turned gray, I suppose it doesn't matter, but outdoors, I don't want a burn on top.

 

Notes ♫