Typist Wanted

I love most aspects of making RubyTapas. I love the research, and the writing. I enjoy doing voice-over. I even like editing the video, at least some of the time. And of course I love the feedback that the videos generate.

What I don’t really enjoy is the actual screen-recording part. I am a terrible typist, and once I’ve scripted an episode and come up with all the sample code I find recording those samples for the screen to be a tedious process.

So, as part of my overall strategy of streamlining my process as much as possible, I’m thinking of delegating the screen recording part of my production pipeline. Read on if you think you might be interested in the job. Here are some notes on the job:

  • Probably ~1 hour a week of work, based on how long it takes me.
  • Modest compensation. I’m not prepared to pay consultant-level rates, since this isn’t a consulting job; but I’m not expecting work for free. Also (it should go without saying) all the RubyTapas you can eat.
  • You should know Ruby, but you don’t need to be an expert. You should at least know how to diagnose the problem if something in a code example doesn’t work the way it was supposed to.
  • I don’t care what editor you use, but you should be able to set it up with the same theme, font, etc. that I use on RubyTapas, as well as set up xmpfilter integration in order to show inline results. There may be some other editor setup nitpicks as well.
  • You’d be responsible for figuring out how to record your screen, although if you use Linux I have some tools you could try. Importantly, you’d be responsible for coming up with a 16×9 recording without any window decorations. I don’t want to have to crop borders in post.
  • You don’t have to be a perfect typist. When I record for RubyTapas I just keep trying until I get a section right, and then edit out all the bad tries in post. That said, the less I have to edit out the better.
  • No, you wouldn’t have to synchronize with voice-over. I record VO after the screen-recording, and edit the screen recording to match the pacing of the VO.
  • No, I can’t replace this job with a program. While I occasionally automate typing large code samples, a lot of RubyTapas screen recordings involve following the script and moving around the code adding, changing, and evaluating things just as if I were live-coding during a presentation. Scripts aren’t really good for that kind of thing.
  • You’d need to have the spare time and inclination to record two ‘casts a week, every week.
  • Perks, other than compensation: you get to see RubyTapas scripts early, and you get to yell at me if an example doesn’t make sense.

Interested? Drop me an email. (Warning: I’m mostly heads-down on a new project right now, so I can’t guarantee a timely reply.)

1 comment

  1. Hey, Avdi! Don’t you think about an idea to accompany the screencasts by pleasant sounds of a mechanical keyboard?

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