4 ms·

Let's Make a Promo – Creating Videos for Apps

105 points by djfumberger 12y ago

okonomiyaki3000 12y ago
Dammit. Read that wrong. Guess I need a bigger font.
- god_bless_texas 12y ago
  I came here to live a similar comment.
- anentropic 12y ago
  same
- klibertp 12y ago
  We're going to get downvoted (and rightly so, I believe!) but I, too, read the title quite a few times before I realized what's written there. I don't believe bigger font would help, but different font could. Ie. one which doesn't display "rn" as that visually close to "m". Bigger letter spacing? I don't know, something like that. Anyway, I got trolled by my own eyes, a funny feeling :)
dangoor 12y ago
This page consistently crashes my mobile Safari (iOS 7). Funny given the subject matter.
prawn 12y ago
Amazing effort. I've already started working with Reflector and ScreenFlow for our app demo, but the tip regarding After Effects and the device model is handy.
- objclxt 12y ago
  Worth noting that in iOS 8 you can capture video direct from device, and don't need to resort to something like Reflector (and the lower quality AirPlay stream that that entails). If you plug an iOS 8 device into a Mac running Yosemite it will show up as an available input in Quicktime, and you can make a screen recording direct from there.
  - xuki 12y ago
    Does this require a lightning connection? My iPad 3rd gen (beta 5) doesn't show up in Yosemite (beta 6).
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
thomasfoster96 12y ago
This was awesome. The fact that I kinda want to download the app now probably shows how important it is to have some good videos to promote your app.
epaga 12y ago
Wow. Awesome. Just as a data point for poor indie devs like me - for my own minimalistic app demo video (http://www.mindscopeapp.com http://www.mindscopeapp.com), I created a bridge over my iPad using my kids' Duplos, stuck my iPhone 4S on top, made sure there was enough light, and recorded me using the app for a few minutes. I then edited the video with iMovie on iPad and wrote a quick little doodle on Garage Band as the music.
- ronilan 12y ago
  Another data point for poor indie devs - for a project I worked on last year (http://www.placeunit.com http://www.placeunit.com) I contracted my wife as a model. We then shot the video over two mornings on an iPad. Raw video was imported to a Mac and edited with iMovie. We licensed the song for the video. Most important tip: shoot every interaction from multiple angles before moving on to the next one.
kovacs 12y ago
This is amazing work
acgourley 12y ago
Is turning the screen brightness all the way down not enough to capturing the screen output in a lit environment? If not, finding a thin film to shade it further might work. That seems easier than the solution posted of mirroring all touches to the simulator and recording there.
ronyeh 12y ago
If your app is an Open GL game, you can check out the Kamcord SDK, which will allow you to make a screen recording of your iOS or Android game. https://www.kamcord.com/ https://www.kamcord.com/ It won't be as fancy as the videos in the linked article, but for indie devs it's a pretty cheap way to make demo videos. Disclaimer: I know the folks @ Kamcord.

105 points by djfumberger 12y ago

okonomiyaki3000 12y ago

Dammit. Read that wrong. Guess I need a bigger font.

god_bless_texas 12y ago
I came here to live a similar comment.
anentropic 12y ago
same
klibertp 12y ago
We're going to get downvoted (and rightly so, I believe!) but I, too, read the title quite a few times before I realized what's written there. I don't believe bigger font would help, but different font could. Ie. one which doesn't display "rn" as that visually close to "m". Bigger letter spacing? I don't know, something like that. Anyway, I got trolled by my own eyes, a funny feeling :)

dangoor 12y ago

This page consistently crashes my mobile Safari (iOS 7). Funny given the subject matter.

prawn 12y ago

Amazing effort. I've already started working with Reflector and ScreenFlow for our app demo, but the tip regarding After Effects and the device model is handy.

objclxt 12y ago
Worth noting that in iOS 8 you can capture video direct from device, and don't need to resort to something like Reflector (and the lower quality AirPlay stream that that entails). If you plug an iOS 8 device into a Mac running Yosemite it will show up as an available input in Quicktime, and you can make a screen recording direct from there.
- xuki 12y ago
  Does this require a lightning connection? My iPad 3rd gen (beta 5) doesn't show up in Yosemite (beta 6).

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

thomasfoster96 12y ago

This was awesome. The fact that I kinda want to download the app now probably shows how important it is to have some good videos to promote your app.

epaga 12y ago

Wow. Awesome. Just as a data point for poor indie devs like me - for my own minimalistic app demo video (http://www.mindscopeapp.com http://www.mindscopeapp.com), I created a bridge over my iPad using my kids' Duplos, stuck my iPhone 4S on top, made sure there was enough light, and recorded me using the app for a few minutes. I then edited the video with iMovie on iPad and wrote a quick little doodle on Garage Band as the music.

ronilan 12y ago
Another data point for poor indie devs - for a project I worked on last year (http://www.placeunit.com http://www.placeunit.com) I contracted my wife as a model. We then shot the video over two mornings on an iPad. Raw video was imported to a Mac and edited with iMovie. We licensed the song for the video. Most important tip: shoot every interaction from multiple angles before moving on to the next one.

kovacs 12y ago

This is amazing work

acgourley 12y ago

Is turning the screen brightness all the way down not enough to capturing the screen output in a lit environment? If not, finding a thin film to shade it further might work. That seems easier than the solution posted of mirroring all touches to the simulator and recording there.

ronyeh 12y ago

If your app is an Open GL game, you can check out the Kamcord SDK, which will allow you to make a screen recording of your iOS or Android game. https://www.kamcord.com/ https://www.kamcord.com/ It won't be as fancy as the videos in the linked article, but for indie devs it's a pretty cheap way to make demo videos. Disclaimer: I know the folks @ Kamcord.