Recording Your Own Content

Creating your own content is the best way to connect with your athletes!

Using our dashboard and some simple methods, you can create easily digestible content for your athletes to access anytime, anywhere.

Video Recording for Beginners

  1. Open your video recording app. We recommend that you use the selfie camera on your mobile device. Ensure that you record in landscape mode and open the settings of your camera to ensure that it is recording at least 1080p quality. Laptops can also work but we recommend that you check the quality of your webcam before recording on Laptops. Most Macs record at 1080p but some Windows devices only record at 720p. This impacts the quality of your image.
  2. Quiet space
    Find a quiet space to record your audio in. Avoid recording your audio where there is any loud background noise. Be sure to watch your recording levels, so don’t sit too close or too far from your recording device.
  3. Frame your shot. Make sure that you are properly framed on your screen. Ensure that you are not too far or to close to your camera and that you have even spacing either side of your shoulders. Below is an example of good framing.
    Try and remain still – natural movements of your hands as speaking is totally fine, but anything outside of conversational body movement can be too distracting.
  4. Hit record. When you are ready press record.
  5. Speak and Smile.
    Have your talking points or script preprepared. Relax, make sure you keep your breath steady and try to speak with a smile on your face. Speaking with a smile calms you and makes your voice sound friendly and much more engaging.
  6. Hit Stop.
    Once you’re done, stop the recording. Make sure you save it. If you’re recording on your phone you will likely have a .mp4 file, some iPhones record .mov files. If this is the case you will need to change your camera settings. If you’re recording on a laptop you should also have a .mp4 file.
  7. Edit.
    If you want to edit any errors in your recording, now is the best time to do it. Often videos will have a bit of silence at the start and end as you prepare to speak and move to stop the recording. You can trim the start and end within your phone’s video editor which is within the Photo/Video gallery on your device. If you want to do any more advanced edits, you can use an App like Microsoft ClipChamp, Mac’s iMovie or the free to download CapCut on your mobile device. This will enable you to remove any mistakes in the middle of recording. As always we are here to assist with editing if you need!
  8. Upload Once you have your final file, save it to your laptop or desktop. Head to the OMP Dashboard and upload it following the steps we have outlined.

Audio Recording for Beginners

  1. Open your audio recording app. If you’re on iPhone, use Voice Memos or Garage Band. For Android, use Voice Recorder. For those on a laptop, use Garage Band with Macs, and Sound Recorder with Windows. Audacity is a free app available on both Mac and Windows.
  2. Quiet space Find a quiet space to record your audio in. Avoid recording your audio where there is any loud background noise. Be sure to watch your recording levels, so don’t sit too close or too far from your recording device.
  3. Hit record. Keep an eye on your levels. Most recording apps will have a sound wave on display, indicating how loud or quiet the audio you are recording is. Make sure that you keep an eye on these levels. If they’re getting really big, move away from the microphone. If they’re really small, move closer to the microphone or project your voice a little more.
  4. Speak & Smile. Have your talking points or script preprepared. Relax, make sure you keep your breath steady and try to speak with a smile on your face. Speaking with a smile calms you and makes your voice sound friendly and much more engaging.
  5. Hit Stop . Once you’re done, stop the recording. Make sure you save it. If you’re recording on your phone you will have a .m4a file. If you’re recording on a laptop or desktop it’s likely you’ll produce a .wav or .mp3 file.
  6. Edit. If you want to edit out any errors in your recording, now is the time to do it. If you have recorded with your phone, send the file to your laptop or desktop and then open it in Audacity. There are many free guides on YouTube that will show you how to edit audio with Audacity. It’s super easy so don’t be scared to try it!
  7. Upload. Once you have your final file, save it to your laptop or desktop. Head to the OMP Dashboard and upload it following the steps we have outlined.

Recording Tips

Microphones: Recording your content can be done using your phone or laptop. Cheap USB microphones are available and you can purchase microphones that attach to your iPhone or Android phone.

Scripting: You can be as thorough as you like with scripting for your content. Simple dot points can be enough for some, while others find it easier to write a script and read it word-for-word. Just make sure you’re prepared so that your content is engaging.

Media Team: If your team/organization has a media department dedicated to capturing content of the team, see if they can assist you in recording your content. Like a campus radio station, they will have the best equipment to record your talk.

Editing Audio: It isn’t always necessary but if you need to edit, we recommend using Audacity which is free on Windows and Mac. Mac users have access to GarageBand which is also an easy-to-use editing software that comes pre-installed on your Mac. You can download Audacity here – Audacity ® | Free Audio editor, recorder, music making and more!

Campus Radio: If you’re at a high-school, university, or community college that has a radio station on campus, reach out to them and see if you can use their facilities. If your school has a media or communications faculty, approach them to see if any students may be willing to help.

Saving Files: For Audio, save your files as mp3, or wav, for video save your files as an .mp4.