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Event information
If a picture is worth a thousand words, isn't a video priceless?
Videos are a great way for new users to get started with a product, for experienced professionals to deepen their skills, and for prospective customers to learn what solutions are available. The Lotus Information Development team is hosting a virtual event aimed at encouraging customers, business partners, and IBMers to create informational videos and contribute them to the Lotus product wikis. Participate by posting videos, spreading the word using the wiki share feature, and rate the videos you think are best. VideoFest starts September 27, 2011 and will culminate at Lotusphere 2012 when the top videos and contributors are highlighted.
What's in it for YOU
 | All videos submitted on or after September 27th will be showcased at Lotusphere 2012, with special recognition given to the top rated within each category, as well as across the entire portfolio. In addition to building your reputation as an expert and leader in the Lotus community, contributors of top-rated videos will receive special awards and public recognition as part of the event. This is your chance to be spotlighted at Lotusphere, whether or not you attend! |
Video ideas
 | Here are some ideas to get you started. Above all, we'd like to see your creative side. Your videos can include graphics, audio, and special effects. Check our our space on IdeaJamwhere we've set up a way for you to suggest and vote on ideas for videos! |
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This type of video is for application developers to show off their cool stuff. Whether it's a gidget, gadget, web app or mobile app this is your moment to shine and show off your stuff!
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Are you a problem solver, troubleshooter or security genius? This type of video would show off your sleuth capabilities and share some great solutions or workarounds,
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Hit the ground running....
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This type of video would help get a new user a sense of how to best use a product, component or feature to be more productive quickly.
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For this video you'd fill in the blank. Your video may include a short tip, best practice, or an interesting way that you use Lotus products.
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We're here to help
 | Use the information in this article to learn how to create, publish and submit your videos. And if you still need help, Lotus community members are standing by to lend a hand. Here are some options for getting help: 1) post a question in the forum, 2) make a comment on the VideoFest event page in Facebook, or 3) email us at lotusdoc@us.ibm.com |
Create your video
This section is indented to help you find the tools you need to capture your demos, and provide you with some general guidelines that will help you produce effective demos. As well, this page also contains additional resource material.
Writing a script
Consider the following when writing a script for your video.
- Start with a brief introduction giving the user an overview of what they'll see.
- Write out the audio script for each scene with the accompanying visuals.
- Identify what each person in the scenario is doing in each scene. For example, two people having a Sametime chat.
- Identify where the cursor is pointing with your spoken word.
- End with a brief summary of what the user just saw.
- Keep the narrative brief. Avoid long descriptions and static scenes whenever possible.
- Strike a balance between providing context and stepping through a procedure.
- Remember that you are not writing something for someone else to read...you're writing for someone to hear.
- Consider these tips to prepare to record your video.
- Print out the script and do at least one dry-run through the script.
- Make sure script narrative uses the correct interface terms (don’t call a “Send” button an “OK” button).
- Iterate the script as needed to naturally flow with the steps a user must take to execute a task.
Preparing the recording environment
Consider these tips for preparing the environment to record your video.
- Stage the environment; for example, creating a teamspace in Lotus Quickr, or starting a community in Lotus Connections, or setting up a contact list in Lotus Sametime.
- Turn off excessive browser toolbars, link rows, etc. Minimize the task bar, reduce size of system tray. In general, remove clutter!
- Change your instant messaging status to Do Not Disturb (unless, of course, you're using Lotus Sametime in your recording)!
- Choose the recording area appropriately for your product.
- Whole desktop, if you show multiple popup windows
- Single application, might be fine for web applications in a single window
- Explicit area, if you want to focus on a small subset of a product
Video capturing guidelines
Use the following guidelines when capturing your video.
- Capture at a screen resolution of 1024 x 768.
- Include audio.
- Use capture tool default settings.
- Keep the video to within 5 minutes.
Video software tools
IBM employees should contact either
Amy Wentley or
Sharyn Richard for information about software to use to create videos.
- A free, open sourced shareware screen capture tool that produces AVI or SWF. Available for Windows platform only.
Watch the video below or
Download "Creating videos for VideoFest using CamStudio"
Note: This video shows the current released version of CamStudio 2.5. There is a beta version of CamStudio 2.6 available for download with new features such as the ability to add a URL at the end of the video for user to be redirected when video is done playing. To see more training videos or learn about the features in the new beta version, see http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A57A11C0D77BBF9B
- A free shareware screen capture tool that produces SWF. Available for Windows or MAC platforms.
Watch the video below or
Download "Creating videos for VideoFest using Jing"
- Licensed software that produces in variety of video formats. Available for Windows and MAC platforms.
- Universal video player - Free, open-sourced shareware that plays almost every video file format. Can be used on most platforms.
Download VLC
- Video converter - Free shareware video file type converter. Windows or Mac.
Download AVC
Additional resources
Music sources
There's nothing like a background music track to kick off your video. Check out these clips and other resources to use in your creation.
Looking for music? Try these resources
Copyleft/public domain musical works available on Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons
Archive.org's audio and MP3 library
Share your video
Host your video
When you are ready to submit your video, you can post the video using one of the following mechanisms:
- Your own publicly accessible hosting server.
- A publicly available video hosting service, such as YouTube or Screencast.
If you are using your own hosting server or a public hosting server other than YouTube, see
Embed your video in a wiki article below.
Post a video to YouTube
Note: Refer to YouTube acceptable file formats to see the list of file formats that can be uploaded to YouTube.
1. Go to Youtube.com and log in to your YouTube account using your account information.
Note: If you would like to upload your video to the LotusIDC YouTube channel, contact Amanda Bauman or Sharyn Richard
2. Click Upload at the top of the screen, select the multimedia file (Up to 2 GB in size; up to 15 mins in length; acceptable file format), and click OK.
3. After the file finishes uploading, complete the Title, Description and tags. Be sure to use the tag videofest and lotustechinfo. Consider including a link back to the Media Gallery in the product wiki for more videos.
4. For the category, select Science & Technology.
5. Leave the privacy setting Public (anyone can search for and view - recommended).
6. Click Save Changes.
Embed your video into a wiki article
Follow these steps to link to a YouTube video from a wiki article.
1. Copy the URL to your video to the clipboard. If you posted your video to YouTube, then open the video on the YouTube Web site, and click the <Embed> icon, then right-click and copy the HTML code, as shown below.
2. Open the Lotus product wiki that is associated with your video. If you produced an integration demo, you should consider posting the video to both of the relevant product wikis.
3. Open the appropriate product wiki from the Web interface (all wikis are linked from this page: Lotus product wikis).
4. Log in using your developerWorks username and password, and click Add an article on the top, left side of the wiki.
5. In the Subject field, add "Video:" or "Demo:" or "Tour:" at the beginning to indicate the type of deliverable. This extra word complements the use of tags and categories, etc. and give users a visual cue when reading down a long list of articles.
Notes:
- The subject of your article will become the URL for the article
- Changing the article's subject will not change the URL once it is created and saved.
6. Select the Media Gallery category and any other categories that apply to your video.
7. Tag the article VideoFest to ensure it is included in this program. Also tag the article by product, task, and deliverable type (i.e. demo, video) to make your article easier to find.
8. In the main body of the article, type a description for the video, then add instruction text such as: Click the Play button to start the video.
9. If your video is on YouTube, then paste the HTML code that you copied in step 1. The HTML code should look similar to the following code:
If your video is on a different hosting server, then use the code shown above and replace the value and src parameters with the URL to your video on that hosting server.
10. If you have a script (text version) of the video, you can either paste the text into the wiki article below the embedded video, or create a link to that text using wiki markup.
11. To save the new wiki article, click Save.
For more information, refer to wiki help. Contact Amanda Bauman or Sharyn Richard if you have trouble embedding your video.
Share a video
After submitting your video, share it with your community using the new Share feature in the Lotus product wikis.
Watch this video to learn how to share a video.
Rate videos
Visit the VideoFest category in this wiki, or the VideoFest gallery to see videos for other products.
Watch this video to learn how to rate a video.
Visit the Learn Lotus site to see more featured videos.