Recording

Once you’ve developed the course curriculum, you’re ready to record. Here are some tips to help you do so successfully.

Defaults

Please use defaults when you teach. This means having your RStudio set up to look like it would for a student. If you move your panels around, for example, please revert to the default when recording lessons.

Please also use default fonts while you are teaching. Pretty as they are, please don’t use fonts like Fira Code, as the differences in how they render the assignment operator, for example, can be confusing for newbies.

Code Style

Please follow the tidyverse style guide as closely as possible. The most important thing is to have code that is easy to read for new learners. You’re welcome to use the styler package to format your code.

Recording Videos

We record using Descript. You will receive a license to use it while recording.

Recording Procedures

Please use an external camera and external mic to record. Please put your mic as close to you as possible, but make sure it doesn’t show up on camera. If you are interested in learning some tips about high-quality screencasting, this guide from Egghead is helpful.

My general experience is that it’s easier to record videos by just hitting record and going through your lesson as many times as you need to. I often make mistakes along the way, but that’s ok because we can edit them out after the fact. Just go back to right before you messed up and start again! You can, of course, record so you get a single high-quality take, but I find that hard to do and way too much pressure.

Video Editing

The R for the Rest of Us team will edit all of your videos.