So you want to build a reveal video...

[Jessica Boucher]

It's that time of year again...your team wants to build an amazing video to show off all the hard work that you've created. You want it to be impressive, giving a preview of what teams should expect from you at your first event. You also want it to be powerful, giving the FRC community something to talk about.

I can't tell you how many reveal videos I've seen. I've been here through the days of reveal photos, to the refusal of showing anything before the event, through the minibot iteration saga, and up to the point where we're making parody videos of reveal videos. I'm by no means an expert in video editing, but I can tell you what I feel makes a good video, and I encourage others to jump in and share their thoughts as well.

1.) BREVITY. Want to know what my favorite reveal video is? Killer Bees 2012. It's twelve seconds long. You can google all you want, but the attention span of humans on the internet is shorter than you think. Ideally, keep it under 2 minutes.

I love the Killer Bees video because I can pause it, look at it, and make a decent guess as to what they can do at competition. Want to do a slide show of your kids? Verbally thank all of your sponsors? Throw that into an extended cut. Movies do this all the time, it gives the brand extra exposure, and the super fans will watch both because you're probably going to throw some extra robot footage in there too.

Alternatively you can show the fun stuff at the end, after you've shown the robot. Make it obvious - do a thank you slide to your sponsors and then cut to the fun stuff. You're respecting the time of your fellow teams.

(Side note: don't fit your video to the length of a specific song you want to use. Audio editing is super easy to do as well.)

2.) Functional display. Your video should tell a story, but not in the way that you think. A match has three distinctive parts: auto, tele-op, and end game. Your auto may not be done yet (but if you haven't given your robot to your programmers by now, do it!) or you may want to hide that before competition, so this can be skipped. However, if you do a scouting video specifically for Champs, you definitely want to show auto.

For tele-op, think about the tasks a team could do, and how frequent you think you'll see robots being able to do that task. Then, inverse it. You've got a great drive train? Awesome. You're going to be driving through most of the video, so don't spend too much time on it. Instead, show how you get over different obstacles, especially the more advanced ones.

What about shooting the ball? I like to think of a rule of threes: Once proves you can do it, twice proves you can do it with some consistency, three times is overkill. Unless you're going all Russian Ark on us and doing an elaborate single cut (which if so, YES PLEASE), it's easy to assume that you're cutting out the scenes where you missed.

I haven't seen a team do this yet, but I would love Youtube links to specific functions - to do that, pause the video at the time before the function is shown, click on the "Share" button, and then select "Start at". Then copy that link.

End game should go last. It makes sense - the end game is arguably the most exciting part, and from a storyline perspective it should go last.

3.) Keep it interesting. There's three reasons robot videos go viral: 1.) The team is a big name and can get away with putting out whatever 2.) The robot is amazing 3.) The video is amazing. Out of all those three, the easiest one to make happen is the last one.

This is arguably the nerdiest essay I've ever written, but I hope you've enjoyed it and I look forward to a lot of discussion below. Video is easier to create than ever before, so there's no reason why you have to build just one. Make one for your sponsors, make one for your parents, and most importantly, make one for us. We can't wait to see what you've been working on.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by Jessica Boucher

3.) Keep it interesting. There's three reasons robot videos go viral: 1.) The team is a big name and can get away with putting out whatever 2.) The robot is amazing 3.) The video is amazing. Out of all those three, the easiest one to make happen is the last one.

This is a great thread and a tremendous start. To build upon point #3: unless you are 100% confident you have a creative or interesting video, keep it short and focused on the robot. I don't care how many advanced film techniques you used to film someone using a drill press... it is still just a video of someone using a drill press, which everyone has seen and is boring.

I really agree with showing off functions. Personally, I would treat the reveal video as if the #1 seed was coming by our pit and asking what our robot could do. I think they offer great opportunity to show all your abilities and that you have thought about strategy. There were a ton of reveal videos in 2014 that never showed the robot passing the ball, which was a huge aspect of the game. Have these teams not thought about strategy or were they so off base with it that they didn't think robots needed to pass? I think you can learn a lot about a team by what they show and what they don't show in their reveal video.

[Kevin Ray]

Jessica, Thank you, thank you, thank you. There is a great deal of poignant advice and recommendations.

The only recommendation I would add is if you are going to show a high shot and want to impress, make sure that it is not staged, that is, a stationary robot shooting from a great distance. Instead, show the robot driving, acquiring the target, then shooting and moving off. Too many reveals show actions which were all too rarely replicated on the actual field with similar speed and accuracy. When a first seed is reviewing reveals in the hotel the day before selection, there's nothing worse than hearing, "Wow, wouldn't it have been great if dteam "XXX" could actually have done that in a real match?"


PS -It's not nerdy at all (think of your audience).

[GreyingJay]

Nice post Jessica!

Her post has an undercurrent to it that may not be obvious but you should have a plan for your reveal video (or any video you make, really).

There are two basic approaches you can take when making videos. The first is to take a bunch of random shots of whatever and then stitch together the best of what you have to make a video. (The "family vacation highlights" approach.)

The second is to start with a "script" or even just a basic storyboard and know what shots you will need for the reveal video, then make plans to shoot each scene.

Jessica's post gives some hints as to what those shots might be: autonomous modes working, going over obstacles, etc.

Obviously the person behind the camera has to go with the flow a little bit, as the robot won't always work or they won't always be ready for you when you want that shot. But going in with a plan is way better than just filming "everything" and then having to sift through the footage later looking for that one awesome performance, or worse, realizing you forgot to get a crucial shot.

[mjc49]

Thank you for this post. Our team plans to produce a reveal video for the first time so this advice is really valuable.

[Sperkowsky]

This is very good advice. We are shooting a super creative reveal video this year with a lot of cool unique cinematic shots but, most reveal videos are just of people practicing in their shop.

Another thing is use royalty free music if your posting to youtube.

Machinimasound and Monstercat are great places to start.

[EmileH]

One thing to add, don't pick music that only YOU like. Get your team's consensus on what music is best to use - don't pick crazy heavy metal hard rock, for example. Good songs that are pop and are upbeat will appeal to most viewers.

Otherwise YES please make this a sticky.

[MrForbes]

It doesn't matter what music you use, I always mute reveal videos.

Great thread!

[Caleb Sykes]

Originally Posted by MrForbes

Great thread!

I agree, can this be made a sticky somewhere please?

[Jessica Boucher]

Originally Posted by Caleb Sykes

I agree, can this be made a sticky somewhere please?

Done. Thanks

[D_Price]

Definitely favored for future usage

[niklas674]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

This is very good advice. We are shooting a super creative reveal video this year with a lot of cool unique cinematic shots but, most reveal videos are just of people practicing in their shop.

Another thing is use royalty free music if your posting to youtube.

Machinimasound and Monstercat are great places to start.

Did someone say cinematic shots... https://youtu.be/2pkX6uhW1X0

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by niklas674

Did someone say cinematic shots... https://youtu.be/2pkX6uhW1X0

Out of curiosity, did you do anything to stabilize the camera during those cinematic shots?

[niklas674]

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

Out of curiosity, did you do anything to stabilize the camera during those cinematic shots?

If i recall correctly, the gentleman running the camera (701 Alumni) had a whole camera set up that he had to stabilize the shots. I don't know the specifics.

[bEdhEd]

Originally Posted by Cothron Theiss

Out of curiosity, did you do anything to stabilize the camera during those cinematic shots?

Originally Posted by niklas674

If i recall correctly, the gentleman running the camera (701 Alumni) had a whole camera set up that he had to stabilize the shots. I don't know the specifics.

For all the shots with the robot operating on the field, I use Glide Gear's DNA 6001 Vest and Arm Stabilization Kit with DNA 5050 Stabilizer.
It's the least expensive system of its kind that I could find, and works well when time, patience, and practice is put into practicing its operation. I've had more practice using it since last year's reveal, so I hope that this year's video should look even smoother. Another thing that I might integrate into that system is to wear my Heelys skate shoes if I'm filming anything on a hard, flat surface.

For the shots of the CNC, 3D printers, and closeups of the robot before the field operation part of the video, I used a linear slide constructed from the slide we used in the tote grabber of our 2015 robot. For the arc shots of the robot, I set the camera on one of our moving carts and pushed it around the robot. You can make your own custom slide from various components like I did, but Glide Gear also sells sliders.

I also used a warp stabilizer on some shots that had a little bit of shake still, but as I recommend in my previous post in this thread, keep warp stabilization at an absolute minimum. Warp stabilizers really only work successfully on shots that are already stabilized by analog means, and is used as a subtle finishing touch and should never be the only means of stabilization.