- Video interviews are a great way to generate
awesome content for your viewers.
You can easily interview experts from all over the world,
quickly and easily online, and get great quality results
with some very basic software and equipment.
Of course, there are a number of options that you've got
when it comes to running your calls.
Things like Skype, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, Viber,
but Skype seems to be the most popular,
and it's pretty much the standard
for any sort of online interview.
Skype also happens to have some great third-party
software available for high-definition call recording.
And that's what we'll be running through in today's video.
First off, remember we're going to be recording in HD,
so that's two HD video streams,
so one for each participant of the call.
So your results are always going to be dependent on
the internet speed and reliability of everyone on the call.
So always make sure you got a good connection
before you start, because it can easily
ruin a great interview.
Now I did do a very quick video previously
on the recommended speeds for Skype, and I'll put
a link onscreen now, and in the description below.
Now, jumping straight to the software.
There are a few free options for both Mac and PC.
I've tried a few, but honestly none of them really compare
to the paid versions, which I'm about to get into.
For example, if you're on a Mac, you could just use
QuickTime's built in Screen Recording function
to record your Skype call that way.
The biggest issue with that is you
don't have any control over your audio, and you're also
recording only what you're seeing on the screen.
One of you will be really big, and
the other one will be really small.
So not ideal for a really
professional-looking Skype interview.
So on Mac, my go-to software is called Skype Call Recorder,
and it's by a company by Ecamm.
I'll put a link in the description below as well.
This is by far the best call recording software I've used,
and I recommend it to all my clients.
But it does only work on Mac.
If you're a Windows user, I'd suggest
checking out a program called Pamela.
As a Skype video call recorder,
it does do a good job, but it's not quite as good
as the Skype Call Recorder on Mac.
Okay, so now we'll run through how to record
a video call using Skype Call Recorder,
and a few of the settings are options
that you should be aware of.
Alright, you'll see that when Skype loads up,
you've got your call recorder that pops up straightaway.
So the first thing to check when you've just installed it
is that your settings are correct,
and you should also double-check these
before you actually make your call.
So click Settings here,
and it's always a good idea to check for updates
so that you're running the latest version.
Audio encoding, I'm just gonna quickly run through
the settings here with you, just to show you the options.
I use AAC Compression.
Video quality should be set to high,
then you select your video image size, so here
you can choose what size you actually want to record.
I'd suggest selecting the highest,
so in my case it's 1280 by 720,
widescreen, which is 720p, so that's the one I use.
Video frame rate, maximum.
Again, you want to set the settings
to the highest your computer can handle,
but really we're not putting it under a great deal
of load here, so set it to maximum and give it a go,
but I'm sure it'll be fine for you.
Your recording options.
Now this is one setting that you will want to play with.
In my case, I like to use the Multi-track,
which is the advanced setting,
so what that does is it records two full-screen video,
so your screen, your picture full screen, and
the person that you're interviewing, full screen as well,
so that way you can edit the two together
in your editing software, and you just choose
and switch between full screen one or full screen the other,
so that's why I use Multi-track, or Advanced setting.
The other ones that you can choose for
are Local, which is you on your end,
so only record yours.
Remote only,
a split screen, so it's kind of a 50/50 split,
you're on one side, they're on the other,
picture-in-picture,
or you got the Multi-track,
as I explained previously.
And the rest of the settings you can show
the recording indicator on the video
if you'd like to show that the video's been recorded.
For me, I have it selected so it shows
the recording controls, which is the box over here
when you start up Skype,
and to keep recording controls in front during the call.
So for me, if I need to stop recording
or change any settings as the call's going,
we can do that there.
I also have it set to record the calls automatically.
The other important thing to check is that you're aware
of where the video files are actually saving to,
so that you can find them and edit them later.
So now we've gone through the settings there,
let's have a look at the actual applications
that you get with this.
So if you open up Applications and choose Movie Tools,
then you'll see that the Skype Call Recorder
comes with a heap of extra little handy apps,
or programs for you to help with your call recording.
So there's a few here, Convert for Internet, it's gonna
convert your call into a internet-friendly version.
Convert to an AAC file, which is an audio file,
convert it to an AIFF file, which is also an audio file,
convert to an MP3, which is again, an audio file.
You've got a marker, it's where you can add some text
to your recording, or markers for you editing later.
The two here that you're probably most likely to use
are the Split Movie Tracks app,
and the Split Sides of Conversation app.
So you open that up, you drag in the call recording
that you've just done, and it splits the movie tracks off.
And the same for the Split Sides of Conversation.
So these tools are really awesome to help you
get a really professional look,
because it'll split your tracks out,
split your conversation out, so that you can edit
your interview down to look really professional
using your editing software.
So then it's just a matter of making a call,
and we know that the Skype Call Recorder
is going to record your call automatically.
And when you're done, you can grab your recording
and drop it into the Split Conversation,
and it automatically creates the clip, Side 1,
which is me there, we can scrub through that.
And side two, you've got the full-screen video
of the person at the other end.
As you can see, it's easy to record
great quality interview footage online.
We'll have a video coming up really soon
on the recommended equipment, so stay tuned for more.
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