How SCM Creates Video Content for Clients Like Bloomberg BNA

Our SMART CONTENT MARKETING STUDIOS in Washington, D.C. are humming this week, and we’re burning the midnight oil!  (But aren’t we always?)

We’re deep into creating new videos (and updating older ones) for one of our longtime clients – Bloomberg BNA. We love working with these folks – they’re sharp, professional, fun to work with, and they create awesome software products.

Over the last 10+ years, SCM has been brought in by Bloomberg for branding engagements and product launches. We’ve created all kinds of individual content assets for them, including email campaigns, sales copy, digital & print advertising, and business videos.

Right now, we’re racing to finish in time for a new Bloomberg software product launch next week.

Want to know how we create software training videos for our clients?  Here’s our 6-step process –

1. START WITH THE SCRIPT

• Our client sends us a script and an “instance” where sample data has been pre-populated to give us something to show viewers on the screen. (Or if they prefer, SCM creates the script for them from scratch.)

• The script includes suggestions for which “screen grabs” or captures should actually be shown on the screen at different times. It also includes a narrative that will accompany each section of the script.  This is called a “voiceover”.

2. RECORD THE VOICEOVER

• Using the script, we record the voiceover narration. This is usually handled by someone on the SCM Audio Team (either myself or one of our other professional voiceover talents). We use professional microphones in our sound studio – Blues, Sennheisers, ATRs, or something comparable.

• To enhance the viewer’s experience, SCM sometimes adds dynamic music to its videos. It depends on the client, the product, the audience, and the goal of the video. A sales video, for example, might benefit from an upbeat motivational music bed, but viewers watching a training video might find that distracting. We discuss all of this in advance with our clients.

3. CAPTURE THE MOVEMENTS

• An SCM editor (in this case it was Senior Editor Fredde Lieberman) starts the painstaking process of recording the instance as it appears on the screen, moving the mouse to point to one location or another, as the voiceover is playing. We use Camtasia software to capture everything that is happening on the screen.

4. ADD THE HIGHLIGHTS

• Then, the editor goes through each part of the script, zooming in on certain areas or panning left/right as the narration dictates, emphasizing sections to direct the user’s eyes where we want them to go. We often use yellow or green highlights, red circles, and blue arrows to add clarity to what’s happening on the screen.

• We record all of these new additions again with Camtasia, and then edit the audio or video as needed.

5. REVIEW WITH THE CLIENT

• Once we’re finished, we do a WebEx with the client to review the video and decide what improvements or edits are needed.

• Because we’ve done quite a few of these training videos, we can usually nail everything down in Round Two.

6. DELIVER THE FINAL VIDEO

• Lastly, we “sharpen” and “render” the training video in Adobe Premiere Pro, and  then it’s ready for the client’s product launch!

We’ll give you a glimpse of this particular Bloomberg video when we’re finished, but for now – you might also enjoy seeing this sales video we created for them too!