iOS Marketing video?

[firewood]

Anyone have any suggestions, recommendations, or pointers to books or websites on how to produce, shoot, edit, and upload a good video to help demonstrate and market an iOS app?

Would an 4S be good enough to shoot the video footage?

Should an app marketing video be hosted on one's app's website, or on youtube?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I shot an ad using a camcorder on a tripod with my girlfriend (she has the nicest looking hands of anyone I know) demonstrating how to use my app on her iPhone 4S.

I think the results came out okay, but all I did with the video was throw it up on YouTube and embed it in my app's webpage. To this day, I think I have under 100 views.

I suspect my video just wasn't interesting, so wasn't shared.

Oh well. For my next project, I think I'll be making a game, and I'm going to try nailing marketing with this one. I'm thinking that when the game starts approaching a finished state, I'll begin releasing 10-20 second long teaser clips and a few screenshots on my website each week. At the end of each video, it'll tell the viewer to share the video and like a page on Facebook. When the page reaches a sufficient number of likes, I'll release a teaser app with a single level from the game. By the time that level is released, I'm hoping the game will be just about done and ready for the App Store, but incase it isn't, I might repeat the cycle, sharing teaser videos and telling people to like the page, and releasing an update to the teaser app with a second level from the game when it reaches a higher still number of likes. And of course, when the app is released, I'll announce it on the page and hopefully end up with a considerable splash.

 

[larswik]

Finally an area that I know

I produce a TV show that runs in local hotels and commercials for the local TV stations. www.nextlevelpro.biz I graduated film school in 94 and have been doing it since.

Just today I started to add in my app to the next release of my show so tourists would download it. Instead of trying to point a camera at the iPhone and getting reflections I purchased the program called Screenflow. It captures the video from the screen on my computer.

I then started xCode and used the simulator to run the app while I recorded the screen. After that I did a quick matte in After Effects and composted it together with my host. It is quick and dirty but it should work fine for my needs.

 

[firewood]

After Effects looks pricey. Any other decent video compositing solutions that would help make a good app marketing video?

In what format and resolution should an app promo video be?

 

[larswik]

It really depends on what you want to do. Adobe after effects is pricey. I have never used iMovie to edit with but it comes with every mac these days. I did use photoshop to create a black baclground then I put the iPhone simulator on top of that background while I recorded. This created a nice black background in the video that I captured. You could just crop down the image around the iPhone leaving a boarder and you might be able to do that in iMovie.

For the most part I work in HD. in the case of the video I was working on I did it at 1280 x 720. The end result will be reduced down to SD for my show.

 

[SoAppy]

If you have an Adobe Flash 3/4/5 license you can animate your movie very easily and export to video .MOV

 

[xArtx]

In some cases it's possible to save an image to photoalbum every second, and make an in app
Video segment by animating the frames with avisynth.

 

[waterskier2007]

Finally an area that I know
... I purchased the program called Screenflow. It captures the video from the screen on my computer.

I then started xCode and used the simulator to run the app while I recorded the screen....

Just so people know, QuickTime has the built-in ability to capture screen recordings on the Mac.

 

[xStep]

...I purchased the program called Screenflow. It captures the video from the screen on my computer.

I then started xCode and used the simulator to run the app while I recorded the screen.

And if your app can't use the simulator, as mine can't, then use something like Reflector to record the content. It will take a little more post processing if you want to show the touch points.

 

[Duncan C]

Finally an area that I know

I produce a TV show that runs in local hotels and commercials for the local TV stations. www.nextlevelpro.biz I graduated film school in 94 and have been doing it since.

Just today I started to add in my app to the next release of my show so tourists would download it. Instead of trying to point a camera at the iPhone and getting reflections I purchased the program called Screenflow. It captures the video from the screen on my computer.

I then started xCode and used the simulator to run the app while I recorded the screen. After that I did a quick matte in After Effects and composted it together with my host. It is quick and dirty but it should work fine for my needs.

I have reflector, which another poster mentioned. It's a slick Mac app that lets you make your Mac act like a virtual AirPlay screen, and includes a video recording option. It was quite reasonably priced.

What do you do to script your demos, and do you add sounds, voiceover, overlays that show touches, etc? If you're a video guy you probably have skills to make app videos dance and sing that the average iOS developer lacks. Any advise?

We have a very visual entertainment app we just submitted to the app store. We are thinking about doing promotional videos for it, so I'm interested in your thoughts.

 

[larswik]

That's tricky. It really depend on what you want to do? For the video that I created for my Hotel Show I just wanted to highlight the app to let the visitor know that the app is available to download. I just recorded the simulator window and combined that in After Effects and then in to my timeline in Final Cut Pro.

Like good apps, good videos also take time to make. When I finished my first app I was contacted by a company that creates videos to highlight your app. Depending on your skill level for video and what you need it might be worth going to a company that creates good videos for you.

I goggled and found these guys http://www.apptamin.com/app-videos/ as an alternative to creating a good video yourself.

 

[xStep]

iOS Dev Weekly had the following link in their weekly email, issue 93.

How to Market Your Mobile App with Video​

P.S. Editing here in the iPhone is limited.

 

[Lunapip]

I have reflector, which another poster mentioned. It's a slick Mac app that lets you make your Mac act like a virtual AirPlay screen, and includes a video recording option. It was quite reasonably priced.

Reflector is slick. You can try it out for 10 minutes to see if it does what you need.

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