The video is an essential, maybe most important, part of your paper. You’ve already done great work getting results for a paper, so finish strong and make a good video. An impactful video is vital for fundraising, hallway chats in conferences, and publicity. Many of these tips I have learned from Rogerio Bonatti when we made videos together on drone filming.

Do’s

  1. DO show the best result within the first 15 seconds. This result’s impact should be very obvious to other roboticists. Use a few words to highlight key effects, if not obvious.
  2. DO show full story in first minute (problem, key insight, result)
  3. DO leave at least 3 seconds per scene. Leave slide on for at least one sec per two words.
  4. DO make sure each scene is very obvious even without the last slide. We tend to skip around the video, so each scene should be stand-alone. Use a few words to caption, legends and arrows, if necessary.
  5. DO send to multiple people (other than coauthors) to review. Specifically ask where they got lost.

Don’ts

  1. DON’T have more than 1 key message per scene. Think about your key message of your scene, and add what is necessary to deliver a message.
  2. DON’T use too much text. Pictures are worth 1000 words, a video is worth > 10 pictures.
  3. DON’T use small text. People will likely watch on their phones. Make sure everything is big enough to see on the phone.
  4. DON’T spend less than 3 iterations to make your video. Videos take time. Allot at least one week to reiterate.
  5. DON’T add equations / math, unless you have to.

Example Video Template (first minute)

Adapted from my video on Adaptive Tube Library: Youtube Link

  1. Title Slide (5s) Title, author name, email address, logos

    Title Slide

  2. Key problem / Context (10s, if self-explanatory, skip) This scene sets up the “so what” of your paper. Why should a reader care about your work? Show, don’t tell! If you can show it visually, rather than just words. This should be understandable by roboticists outside your field.

    Key Problem 1

    Key Problem 2

  3. Key Result (10s) Time to show off, use your best result. Make it obvious what your technique enables and how it addresses key problem.

    Key Result

  4. Key Insight (10s) Describe visually the key insight you used to get your results. This should be similar to the Fig. 1 in your paper.

    Key Insight

  5. Under-the-hood (10s) Give readers a sneak-peek of how it works behind the scene. This could be RVIZ, processed data.

    Under the hood 1

    Under the hood 2

  6. Extra results (8s)

    Extra Results

  7. Last Video (5s) Leave on a high note! Use your second best result, or have a lot of results in parallel to show robustness.

Last Video

  1. Title Slide (2s)

    Title Slide