3 How Long Should I make my Summer Vacation Film?

[Dale D]

I'd like to poll the potential audience! It is well known that the watching time of the average video viewer is less than 3 minutes. So I have just completed a 6 week photography summer vacation, crammed with tons (or gigabytes) of data, including spectacular landscapes, videos, timelapses, sunrises, sunsets, astrophotography, fishing expeditions, and hiking treks. Nobody in the world can compress that amount of data into 3 minutes.

So I have been at my computer for the past week, assembling and editing this data. I have come to the 11 minute mark and am only about 55% through the material. Do you split the show in half? Do you "go for it," with as tight an edit as possible? I have shortened slide to 2 seconds, and sped up drone and other videos to the point where they border on Keystone cops material.

This would be a seminal video for me- e.g.: a family keepsake. It is meant mainly for my wife and children. But the material is so good I really wanted to share it with my Mavic Pilots friends too!

What would you do? Full length, let the time limits be(Mod Removed Language)Break the video into the two 11 minute films?

Dale

 

[dirkclod]

Do as you want but you know how it is here. Course make long version for home but would try and break it up here in sections.
Not many will watch a long video unless it’s spectacular. Not saying it isn’t just my thoughts.

 

[Dale D]

Do as you want but you know how it is here. Course make long version for home but would try and break it up here in sections.
Not many will watch a long video unless it’s spectacular. Not saying it isn’t just my thoughts.

Dirk:

I saw it was you and I trust your judgement, but truthfully, nobody will watch even the 11 minute version! If I broke it up, it would be three versions for me! A full version (probably 25 minutes like a Karlewski), first half version, 2nd half version. I think I am going to go for the full version and do it just for myself and family and close friends who know my work and look forward to my travel adventures on video. I will offer it out to the forum on this basis with a similar introduction. My viewership here should be sparse.

ANY ADDED THOUGHTS?

Dale

 

[AlanL]

Why not just do it in installments? One version as your own keepsake with the whole enchilada and then segments as best you can break down the content to make multiple stories out of it all. Then you can post the segment stories at will in digestible bites.

 

[Dale D]

Why not just do it in installments? One version as your own keepsake with the whole enchilada and then segments as best you can break down the content to make multiple stories out of it all. Then you can post the segment stories at will in digestible bites.

Alan! I like this idea very much! I can do the enchilada first, then break it up into , for example, 5 segments of a 25 minute video at 5 minutes per video?

Dale

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I would do one of the following . . .

'Chapters' of the trip, links to other videos in a timeline at the end and / or in descriptions.
(Getting there, day 1, 2, etc, link up as many days / nights as you need to say max 4 mins, and homeward bound.)

A series running through the timeline of sunsets, astrophotography, sunrises, in that order.

Or places combining all the media, again 3 - 4 minutes is about it.

 

[Dale D]

I would do one of the following . . .

'Chapters' of the trip, links to other videos in a timeline at the end and / or in descriptions.
(Getting there, day 1, 2, etc, link up as many days / nights as you need to say max 4 mins, and homeward bound.)

A series running through the timeline of sunsets, astrophotography, sunrises, in that order.

Or places combining all the media, again 3 - 4 minutes is about it.

I'm not smart enough to do that( heh heh) and it sure sounds like a lot of work. But thanks for the idea South Oz

 

[dirkclod]

Dirk:

I saw it was you and I trust your judgement, but truthfully, nobody will watch even the 11 minute version! If I broke it up, it would be three versions for me! A full version (probably 25 minutes like a Karlewski), first half version, 2nd half version. I think I am going to go for the full version and do it just for myself and family and close friends who know my work and look forward to my travel adventures on video. I will offer it out to the forum on this basis with a similar introduction. My viewership here should be sparse.

ANY ADDED THOUGHTS?

Dale

I understand and would watch it all as I know your work. I just know these guys and though they said they watched it you know these keyboard Warriors. Would love to see it all myself coming from you I just answered what you asked. Love your travels and wish I was you.
dc

 

[Dale D]

I understand and would watch it all as I know your work. I just know these guys and though they said they watched it you know these keyboard Warriors. Would love to see it all myself coming from you I just answered what you asked. Love your travels and wish I was you.
dc

KEYBOARD WARRIORS! I LOOVE THAT! I am going for the whole video. After that, and if there is time, I'll break it up into chapters. I am getting older and time is fleeting. I celebrated 84 Sept. 9! I have two major trips coming up and hope to make it before something serious breaks. Sorry to bother you on a Saturday night.

Dale

 

[GFields]

I'd like to poll the potential audience! It is well known that the watching time of the average video viewer is less than 3 minutes. So I have just completed a 6 week photography summer vacation, crammed with tons (or gigabytes) of data, including spectacular landscapes, videos, timelapses, sunrises, sunsets, astrophotography, fishing expeditions, and hiking treks. Nobody in the world can compress that amount of data into 3 minutes.

So I have been at my computer for the past week, assembling and editing this data. I have come to the 11 minute mark and am only about 55% through the material. Do you split the show in half? Do you "go for it," with as tight an edit as possible? I have shortened slide to 2 seconds, and sped up drone and other videos to the point where they border on Keystone cops material.

This would be a seminal video for me- e.g.: a family keepsake. It is meant mainly for my wife and children. But the material is so good I really wanted to share it with my Mavic Pilots friends too!

What would you do? Full length, let the time limits be(Mod Removed Language)Break the video into the two 11 minute films?

Dale

Studies are showing that most people (especially on social media) will only watch a video that 2-3 mins. Personally, if the video is interesting, the length is not important to me.

 

[Dale D]

Studies are showing that most people (especially on social media) will only watch a video that 2-3 mins. Personally, if the video is interesting, the length is not important to me.

Yes! GF. I am very familiar with those statistics. I follow my own Vimeo stats which are available in real time, and the watching time is usually less than 30% and the finishes are less than 20%.
I can screen grab one of my charts to prove it. I am going to go for the whole video for now. It should be less than the Chile video of 31 minutes. (May 15,2022). I checked out your website.Nice work on the Hamton Inn.

Dale

 

[DMD Cine Attic]

Do whatever makes you happy. My process would most likely be the following: First pass, all potential shots in no particular order. Sleep on it, I'm usually less attached to any particular shot in mornings. Re-watch the next day, remove the ones that went stale overnight . sleep on it again. Repeat the process a few times, in the meantime I'd work on the ones that are the absolute keepers. Eventually I'd weed out the bad from good and start working on the story line/flow. So essentially, no rush, sleep on it, be happy with it . Probably a few short videos theme/location/story line based, rather than long mix-it-all up thing. But that is just me.

 

[Sky Wombat]

Dale I Like your stuff so would probably watch a long version in a 'couple of hits' which is why the chapter idea seem to make sense. Ha put a cliff hanger in it and that'll draw us in
Bring it on, I'm ready and waiting.
There are a number of contributors e.g. Bronis & Drones who regularly post longer videos and I usually watch them through. Comes down to subject matter, expertise of photography and editing.
No pressure!

 

[AlanL]

Alan! I like this idea very much! I can do the enchilada first, then break it up into , for example, 5 segments of a 25 minute video at 5 minutes per video?

Dale

Yeah - target the segments to be short enough to keep those of us with Adult Onset Attention Deficit Disorder still watching by the end

 

[dirkclod]

KEYBOARD WARRIORS! I LOOVE THAT! I am going for the whole video. After that, and if there is time, I'll break it up into chapters. I am getting older and time is fleeting. I celebrated 84 Sept. 9! I have two major trips coming up and hope to make it before something serious breaks. Sorry to bother you on a Saturday night.

Dale

congratulations on your age
And you never bother me

 

[Dale D]

Do whatever makes you happy. My process would most likely be the following: First pass, all potential shots in no particular order. Sleep on it, I'm usually less attached to any particular shot in mornings. Re-watch the next day, remove the ones that went stale overnight . sleep on it again. Repeat the process a few times, in the meantime I'd work on the ones that are the absolute keepers. Eventually I'd weed out the bad from good and start working on the story line/flow. So essentially, no rush, sleep on it, be happy with it . Probably a few short videos theme/location/story line based, rather than long mix-it-all up thing. But that is just me.

Agreed. I have spent weeks leading up to this editing session, already weeding out and rating each slide or video. I have slept on them, have taken many breaks, back and forth between Photoshop, LR Timelapse processing, etc. I now have my assets sorted and in folders and all I have to do is a final decision in each folder on the keepers. Each day of the trip takes a full day of editing video. Ergo, 6 week =42 days = a month and half of editing.

 

[vindibona1]

The max time for viewers WHO HAVE MORE THAN A PASSING INTEREST IN VIEWING THE MATERIAL is 7 minutes. This applies to things like wedding montages to be played at the wedding where people at least know the couple and sit quietly polite while it is shown after the rubber chicken course. For others, as stated above... 3 minutes. 4 minutes tops.

Last year I ended up putting together a video for my nephew and his bride from their wedding. Of coure I filmed the whole ceremony and stole bits and piece from others' phones and put together a 55 minute video for the couple. However, for the family I did a 5 minute recap of the wedding. To do so instead of using video to boil it down I created a stills montage which allowed me to show the interesting visual points without the extended time that video clips demand.

I know that your footage is spectacular and you have a lot of it, considering how long you were there. But sometimes you just have to be really critical and only show the best of the best. I know how hard this is and how hard you worked on all the footage.

Looking forward to seeing what you produce.

 

[Dale D]

The max time for viewers WHO HAVE MORE THAN A PASSING INTEREST IN VIEWING THE MATERIAL is 7 minutes. This applies to things like wedding montages to be played at the wedding where people at least know the couple and sit quietly polite while it is shown after the rubber chicken course. For others, as stated above... 3 minutes. 4 minutes tops.

Last year I ended up putting together a video for my nephew and his bride from their wedding. Of coure I filmed the whole ceremony and stole bits and piece from others' phones and put together a 55 minute video for the couple. However, for the family I did a 5 minute recap of the wedding. To do so instead of using video to boil it down I created a stills montage which allowed me to show the interesting visual points without the extended time that video clips demand.

I know that your footage is spectacular and you have a lot of it, considering how long you were there. But sometimes you just have to be really critical and only show the best of the best. I know how hard this is and how hard you worked on all the footage.

Looking forward to seeing what you produce.

SK
I thank you for those words. I have completed July 20th through August 8th, and the final folder is Aug. 29. So 21 more days of already good and sorted material to deal with. Each day I might have shot DSLR stills, drone videos, drone stills, timelapses, etc.
I am estimating a final product of under 30 minutes. Those who watch it will really be into this kind of stuff and I guess, after all, those are the eyes I want to attract. Best example in this forum is Karlewski's consistent 25 minute adventures.

My regards to Lori Lightfoot and Kim Fox.

Best ,
Dale

 

[FLDave]

I've watched many YouTube videos over 10 minutes. I don't watch choppy videos and don't watch videos without a "story".
Quality and content are much more important than length "rules". It also depends on your intended audience and what they want to watch. Only you can know what your intended audience wants to see.

 

[vindibona1]

SK
I thank you for those words. I have completed July 20th through August 8th, and the final folder is Aug. 29. So 21 more days of already good and sorted material to deal with. Each day I might have shot DSLR stills, drone videos, drone stills, timelapses, etc.
I am estimating a final product of under 30 minutes. Those who watch it will really be into this kind of stuff and I guess, after all, those are the eyes I want to attract. Best example in this forum is Karlewski's consistent 25 minute adventures.

My regards to Lori Lightfoot and Kim Fox.

Best ,
Dale

It's interesting to see some folks view a group of people following the Pied Piper off the cliff and beg to do the same thing.