Reflections on the Work Invested in Intellect's Cove

Over the past 2.5 months I have created some 30 short (15-20) lecture videos for my new YouTube channel Intellect's Cove.  To date only videos for the Introduction and Chapter 1 of my new book are released, but I intend to release the others as the publication date approaches over the coming weeks.  And I still have to design and record the videos for the last 5 chapters of the book.  Here I just offer a few thoughts about the process so far.

Firstly, I have to say that this undertaking involves a massive time investment and has a steep learning curve.  I already had some on-line lecture video editing proficiency acquired during the COVID pandemic era, when I had to create some 100+ online lecture videos.   But for my new book I wanted to design lecture videos that had a more polished and engaging feel to them.  So this required a lot more work. 

Secondly, there has been a steep learning curve, with some of the time-commitment burdens being reduced as I improved certain things.  In the first few weeks I experimented with different cameras and microphones and lights (who knew good lighting could be so complicated!).  I really had to be patient during that process.  Learning what worked well, and what didn't, was itself a sizeable time commitment but I told myself that going through this learning process would be worth it in the long run. 

The process has an interesting "division of labour", and falls into the following 4 stages: 

(1) creating the lecture content; 

(2) recording the lecture; 

(3) editing the lecture video and 

(4) post-video stuff like uploading the video onto YouTube (which can take 2 hours), creating thumbnails, writing the video summary and editing the captions.  

And this is the process with only 7 subscribes and no comments, so I haven't had to invest any time into things like comment moderation, etc.

For me, (1) and (2) are by far the most rewarding and enjoyable parts of the process.  While (3) and (4) are the parts that make me doubt whether I can stick this process out long term. I would rather read and write then create video thumbnails and struggle to ensure the recording audio links up with the video recording after 100 minor video edits!

In stage #1 I create around 12-15 power point slides that will form the basis of the lecture video content.  I approach this part of the process in the same way I would if I was invited to give a 20 minute talk at a conference.  I decide on the topics and issues to cover, structure the lecture/slides, chose some appropriate imagery and info to share, and memorize the talking points I wish to convey so i am not reading a script. 

I am averaging 3 lecture videos per chapter, which enables me to survey the major themes and issues covered in each chapter.  This part of the process is the most rewarding.  Having expressed the ideas and arguments of the book in the written text is one thing.  But then selectively choosing only a subset of those points, and expressing them with visuals (chosen to ensure there are no copyright restraints on them, another time investment part of the process!) compels one to re-frame their thoughts in different ways.  This is both enjoyable and challenging.  

Stage #2:  recording the video.  I really enjoy this part of the process.  It is like giving a lecture from my spare bedroom.  I have a number of box lights shining in my face and I have to remember to connect a whole bunch of different wires and turn on various switches (like the microphone).  Over the first two months I switched from recording on my iphone to a webcam to, finally, a higher end laptop.  After the first 20 lectures were recorded I would say I hit my stride in this process.  There were a few times when I had to record complete lectures over again because the audio didn't work or some other such reason.  I remained patient through these frustrating experiences, telling myself I am learning.  And now the recording process is pretty much hassle-free for the most part.  I prefer to record lecture videos in the early morning (7-9am), and to record all the videos from a chapter together at the same time.  And I do the recording on the weeks when my youngest son is not at my home (I leave the work of stages #3 - #4 for the weeks when he is here as that is easier to do then).

Stage #3:  editing of the videos.  This is the most time consuming process. I use camtasia, which I learned to use during the pandemic when I first created online lecture content.  There are always time-consuming edits to make, editing out a cough, or long pause, or repeated points, etc.  The audio also needs to be edited, cancelling out noise, compressing it and increasing the volume, etc.  Sometimes the timing of the audio and video become disconnected, which results in one having to spend a great deal of time linking things back together.  It also takes a lot of time to upload the video, and watching the final video before uploading it.  One wants to ensure the audio is consistent throughout the video, and that the transitions between slides is smooth and somewhat visually engaging.

Stage #4:  As the number of videos I have created over the past 2 months has increased, this part of the process takes up more time.  I have about 15 videos I need to write the summary of, create thumbnails for, and update/correct the captions for.  I say "um" much more than I ever realized, and try to delete some of those from the captions so I appear at least more articulate than I really am!  It can take up to 2 hours to upload the final video onto YouTube which can be frustrating as the progress is paused if one's computer goes into sleep mode.  

So my overall impression so far:  the process allows me to experience some "flow-like" experiences while refining my research and lecturing skills.  But it also takes up a lot of time and can be frustrating.  I do have some new ideas for papers that emerged from doing a deep dive into how I would visually express the points of various chapters. However, taking this work on while also being a full-time researcher and teaching a full course load is not sustainable.  There is an "opportunity-cost" to creating YouTube videos- it comes at the cost of doing more research and writing.  Once I finish (by the end of the summer) the videos on my new book I will probably take a break and focus more on reading and writing.  At leas that is how I feel at the moment, after having created over 30 videos in 2.5 months!  I might feel differently by the end of the year.

Cheers, 

Colin