by Francis
If you are recording a screen recording, and if you want to relax and listen to some music, don’t use the music on your computer! The sound of the music will be much louder than the sound of your voice recording. Or at least, it can be.
If you really want to listen to music and have some distraction while you give your VA instructions, then use an external device like your iPhone or an mp3 player.
Of course, you will only be so used to video recordings that you will have had lots of experience with it.
Since I really like to share tips about saving time when managing a VA – do yourself the favor. Save yourself the trouble of going ahead and recording 1 hour of awesome thoughts – which then all have disappeared from your short term memory – just to find out that it’s un-usable for your VA.
It’s not clear if such a recording can be salvaged by doing some audio edits. Most screen recording services lead to mp4, avi or svf format.
At least with basic audio editing skills, there is not much to retrieve.
That said, video recordings are awesome, both for your VA and for you.
The free recommendation is JING. But at the moment, I am using Snagit (costs 49$, and was worth the investment) in order to be able to record unlimited recordings.
Comments for Important tip for screen recordings – don’t record while listening to music
| Feb 11, 2014 | A Good Mic Does Wonders by: DeniseI definitely agree with this article! If you wish to make a screen recording, just turn off the music player. It would be easier for your VA to concentrate on what it is that you want them to do if Justin Beiber isn’t singing at the background. Haha!I also believe that if you spend a lot of time making video recordings, it would be better if you simply invest in a good microphone. I have a friend who does screen recordings for his employer a lot. He had this microphone which had its own mini stand and it really did wonders. You couldn’t hear any feedback on his recordings and his voice was even all throughout. But maybe he was just so used to doing screen recordings that’s why they were so good — I can’t be sure. However, I’d bet my money on the mic.Also I think it’s right for you to recommend Jing. Eversince I got it, I never uninstalled it. Before, when I used to do screenshots, I printed the screen, copied it on Paint, cropped it, and then saved it. Yeah, that’s how it was done before… Pretty tedious, right? But with Jing, all you have to do is click on the ‘sun icon’ on your desktop and then crop the pic or take a video — which you can save or simply share directly. I always suggest it to my friends (and coworkers who doesn’t know about it yet) when I tell them to screenshot something for me. Such a useful tool! |
| May 28, 2015 | Also Watch Out For Audio Feedback by: FrancisIf you record audio or video with a screen recording software, look out for audio feedback. The same applies for recording a Skype conversation, for example.For me, I rarely use a headset, so I have audio loudspeakers connected to my laptop. If there’s any sound coming out of my boxes while I try to record something, especially in a recorded Skype call, then sometimes you have to deal with audio feedback loops. So always think about what sort of audible input you have in the background while you record something for whichever purpose.I have found that for most applications related to outsourcing, built-in microphones from the laptop work just fine. If you want to record stuff to produce content for later, like a podcast, then it makes sense to think about buying some professional microphone hardware. |
Another really annoying thing that can happen: Check that your audio stream is recording properly!
I recently have recorded a set of instruction videos for my main assistant, just to find out a few days later that the audio stream was not working. So I now had to re-review some videos without really remembering in detail what they were about.
Normally, my philosophy for video recordings is “record it and forget it, my VAs take care of the details”. So having to go through the videos again is twice as annoying.
In my case, my internal mic was broken or has a problem on my laptop. The solution: an external headset with microphone (which by the way has a better audio quality, making the life easier on my VA team).
Lesson learned: double check that the recording has audio right after you do your recording. In the tool I use at the moment, Snagit, it’s as simple as pressing play and listening to a few seconds of your recording after it is finished, before you send it to the Dropbox shared with your Virtual Assistant.