Digital/ Multi-Media Tools Guide

Whiteboard videos have become a popular way to convey information, present arguments, and explain complicated concepts. These videos mimic stop-motion capture animation, and often involve drawing as well as writing. 

Whiteboard videos can be created in various ways, depending on what you want your finished product to look like and what technical skills you have. On one end of the spectrum, you can film yourself writing and drawing on an actual whiteboard and then edit the video to your liking using one of the free tools on the Video Editing tab. You don't actually need a white board -- poster board, paper...anything you can film yourself writing one. Can't draw -- you can use cutouts. On the other end of the specturm, you can create the effect of a whiteboard video without using an actual whiteboard or any actual filming using a program like VideoScribe (below).

If you are going to film writing/drawing on an actual whiteboard, there are a number of things you should plan for, including:

• Sound:
  • Background noises where you are filming
  • Narration (are you going to narrate the video live or add a voice-over track later?)
  • If narrating live, the volume of your voice needs to be loud enough for your camera to pick it up
  • What you will say (write a script! Whether you are narrating live or adding a voice-over later.) 
• Lighting:
  • Brightness/darkness where you are filming (it will often be darker on film than you thought it was when filming)
  • Shadows on you or the whiteboard
• Whiteboard: 
  • What you will write and/or draw on it (create a storyboard!)
  • Props - paper cut-outs (like in the Common Craft videos linked below) or anything else you want to add to your video.
  • Hand (do you want to see your hand writing the words? Or do you just want the words to show up in the video? Deciding this before you start shooting will help you when editing.)