Video experiment- test firing Kodak Medalist

[Dan Daniel]

Videos on camera repair are tricky. Chris Sherlock was a master- details, explanations, commentary, clarity, etc. Some others can be painful while still having useful explanations, images, etc. Tricky stuff. I'm planning to bumble around a bit and see if I can make anything useful. So if you have a couple of minutes and can look at this video, much appreciated. Pretty much a first draft, so long critiques would a little silly, but quick responses- text is unreadable, too fast, too slow, bad angle, etc.

 

[Hunter_Compton]

Seems pretty clear to me. It might not be a bad idea to include a shot of the shutter button when you press it, or specifically which tab you are pressing to free the film roller. I'm familiar with the workings of the Medalist, so this works for me, but others might need further clarification.

 

[Tel]

I agree with Hunter Compton--I'm not familiar with the Medalist so I'd like to see what you're manipulating out of shot there, though maybe that'll be shown in the next segment. The style is good; simple and direct and very cleanly shown. No ridiculous music track over it and no sped-up footage to cater to the immediate gratification crowd. A voice-over track could help though. Keep up the good work!

 

[Dan Daniel]

Thanks! Just what I needed from both of you.

I see this as a specific trouble shooting step. If you don't know where the shutter button is, you shouldn't be doing this on a Medalist. But you are right, Hunter, some close-up cut-aways are needed. And more text explanations. Including a warning that doing this wrong can jam up the camera and require some serious disassembly to clear.

Voice-over isn't going to happen, Tel. Unlike a Chris Sherlock and others, I am horrible at talking explanations. Text is what it will be. I think that I can do more, maybe black frames with text with more explanation.

Thanks again for your time.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Watching instructional videos is difficult for me.

Video forces me to try to absorb information at a set pace. Before I finish processing sentence 3, the video has moved on to sentence 7. Guess I am too stupid for YouTube videos -- I just don’t have the bandwidth for it. Because you repeated the sequence, I was able to figure out what you are trying to demonstrate after seeing it the second or third time.

The title text for the clip "Test firing the Kodak Medalist..." can be seen only while my cursor is within the video box. It is easily missed, which leaves me asking, What am I looking at here, and why? I think the title text should be embedded in the video for a few seconds at the start, rather than depending on the video player to show it - or not.

For me, having text on the screen works better than a voiceover would. But, like watching a foreign language movie, that does require trying to read the subtitles and watch the action at the same time.

Sometimes video is superior to reading text. For example, presenting the shutter sound as audio is much more clear and efficient than trying to describe the sound.

Repeating the tricky parts is good for those of us who are on the slow side. There is the old adage,
Tell them what you are going to tell them,
then tell them,
then tell them what you told them.

In a video, this much repetition might be tiresome to some -- but if a text document, I can skim over what I already know, and re-read the tricky parts until I understand. For me, it is way too awkward to try to rewind video, or fast-forward through the boring bits -- doesn't work.

For step-by-step instructions, I wonder if some combination of text and video might offer the best of both worlds? That is, present the procedure written out in text, illustrated with still photos and video clips as necessary? But maybe that is what you are planning to do with this clip?

 

[Dan Daniel]

For step-by-step instructions, I wonder if some combination of text and video might offer the best of both worlds? That is, present the procedure written out in text, illustrated with still photos and video clips as necessary? But maybe that is what you are planning to do with this clip

Thanks. I think that you are right, to add more text. Maybe blocks explaining something before showing, so people can pause if they want. I will never spend enough time to make a factory training video or such. And in some ways, I am not certain how much I want to make something that encourages people to start doing destructive things with their camera. For example, with the Medalist thing I showed, if you don't complete an action before starting the next one, it will be breakdown time to clear out the jam.

I found a nice video program that has solid basic functions. I think I can get a handle on it and make little 'exercises' of various camera functions. https://www.openshot.org/

One thing I find hard in most repair videos is finding the part that shows me what I am working on. Like Chris Sherlock, with all his great stuff, has a half hour on a Retina wind reassembly when I just need to see the counter latching spring mechanism installation or such... Of course little sections leave all the other connected parts unknown. I see this more as discrete units- if you wonder how to adjust the Rolleiflex Automat mechanism, here you go. If you want to overhaul the full wind assembly, well, not sure I will do that.

 

[MattKing]

One thing I find hard in most repair videos is finding the part that shows me what I am working on.

You could deal with that by including a "table of contents" graphic at the beginning - showing the applicable times for each part.
Or by posting that in text accompanying the video.
Having title "pages" that help separate out the respective sections also helps.

 

[Hunter_Compton]

If you don't know where the shutter button is, you shouldn't be doing this on a Medalist.

Dan, I would tend to agree. However, sometimes showing something isn't locating it, it's illustrating a step in the process.

I know some people, myself included, are much more visual learners. It can be difficult to understand a process if you only see part of it, with the rest described to you in text.

I created this video a while back to illustrate a similar process. Now the subject is different (dismantling a shotgun) but it shows a similar set of steps as part of a procedure and in addition to text I wanted to take the time to make sure each step and each control is pictured along with how to operate it. I leave you with it as food for thought:

(Black text probably would have been better here, but the video editor I was using only allowed white).

 

[Dan Daniel]

You could deal with that by including a "table of contents" graphic at the beginning - showing the applicable times for each part.
Or by posting that in text accompanying the video.
Having title "pages" that help separate out the respective sections also helps.

I am actually hoping to avoid videos long enough to need chapters! 2-5 minutes max. And on a single issue. Maybe once I get comfortable with these types I'll go for longer ones.

I am heading towards title pages. Obvious black with text, easy to find in scanning. And text explanations.

I created this video a while back to illustrate a similar process. Now the subject is different (dismantling a shotgun) but it shows a similar set of steps as part of a procedure and in addition to text I wanted to take the time to make sure each step and each control is pictured along with how to operate it. I leave you with it as food for thought:

(Black text probably would have been better here, but the video editor I was using only allowed white).

Ah, great example. Thank you!

I just found how to generate text in Adobe Illustrator and turn into title blocks and overlays. And dropshadows on the text. I can even draw arrows and circles and things and fade them in and out on screen. When I was around video production in the early '90s a lot of this was just coming in at the high end. $5000 an hour editing suites and such. Now a $400 computer, an internet connection, a GNU free program, and you are cooking with gas.