Making a training DVD

[JimiHx]

Hi guys,

After producing some web-commercials and smaller instructional videos, I'm currently working on my first big project (25K $). So obv. I want to deliver a professional product.
For a mental healt care institute I'm producing a training DVD for staff members to learn physical techniques (baised on aikido) to deal with agression from patients. The first part consists of about 30, 2 to 4 minute, demonstrations how to act when attacked and gain control over the patient. The second part consists of 12 scenes, where professional actors play an aggresive patient and staff members (playing 'themselves') intervene and regain physical of the patient and the situation.

Both parts have to start off with some basic information about the techniques, like body posture etc. The text is roughly one US letter (using the right term here? I'm european...:happy
My idea is to have a voice-over narrate the text, with bulletpoints and sometimes whole sentences appear as text on screen. An other option might be to show the whole text (while being narrated).
In both options I would like the text to be visually accompanied by stills or preferably even parts of the videos.

Do you guys have any advice to mix these two (text and image) together in a professional and attractive way? Important here is that the visual (image/video) part can't be to distracting. It's important that the viewer absorpes the information!

Maybe you can point to some plug-in effects (payed ones, no problem) or give me some tips on a nice-looking, proffesional and informative way to present text pieces in a DVD.
Or maybe some examples of text representation in video/dvd.

I'm editing in FCPx and have some minor skills in Photoshop but for the quality-level I want to produce those skills aren't good enough.

Thanks!
Rudolf

 

[Andrius Simutis]

If it's a paid project where you're looking for quality graphics, and you admit that you don't have the skills or tools, you should consider hiring a professional designer with some experience in this field.

 

[Allan Black]

Hi Rudolf .. 30X2 to 4 minute demos = 1-2 hours + 12 scenes could end up being to long for the viewers, even with an interval.

Our experience is, demo videos should be a maximum of about 30 minutes, after which, most of the audience lose concentration and interest.

This also needs an accompanying live demo, because some smaller staff members won't be physically able to restrain some bigger violent patients
and your video might be encouraging them to do it. Or maybe a physical instructor on the video who can describe his techniques while he's demonstrating
them to the viewers.

And these days other languages come into it, one reason to keep it all in the narration. Finding pro narrators who can record an ethnic version is easy enough, but getting other language texts and/or captions done can be a real pain, and won't fit with the timing on your video.

Just some things to consider.

Cheers.

 

[Jim Ritscher]

Most libraries have instructional videos. Take some out and you can see what others do.