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Based on our experience you’ve five options for recording your talks:

Level 5 – Audio only

This is the simplest way to record a talk, just place a digital recording device close to the speaker or have a wired or wireless microphone and record the signal. You can create an audio (mp3) track in the Parleys Publisher and start post-processing very fast.

Pro’s Not expensive Not much can go wrong during recording Audio conversion to mp3 is easy

Con’s More work during post-processing No idea when slide changes Demo’s are of course not included

Audio Only Example

• Legacy to SOA by Dirk Slama

Level 4 – Speaker video

If you’ve a (digital) camera you can consider to record the speaker (including audio or even use your audio recording device as backup). Very important is that you place the camera in an angle where you can also see the projected slides, this way you know when the speaker goes to the next slide.

Pro’s You’ve video of speaker You’ve a cue of the slide changes More professional result

Con’s Still a lot of work to find the slide changes Does not include demo’s Encoding to FLV needed

Speaker Video Example

• Introduction to JavaFX by Richard Bair

Level 3 – Local Screen Recording

If you control the computer of the speaker you can consider installing screen recording software. For example Keynote (on Mac) allows you to record the slides and audio (not the demo’s) of the speaker resulting in a MOV file of the presentation. Camtasia Studio and many others allows you to do screen recording but make sure you’ve a powerful enough machine and disk space to record a talk locally.

Pro’s Fast post-processing Automatic slide changes detections by Publisher Demo’s can be included

Con’s Software needs to be installed on speakers computer Hope for the best when recording starts Powerful computer needed

Level 2 – Remote Screen Recording

Remotely recording the speakers computer signal using a VGA signal grabber is less intrusive and gives you more control over the process. Is a great solution if speaker has many demo’s but more preparation work is required and can come with some extra stress during recording.

Pro’s Non-intrusive solution Fast post-processing Automatic slide changes detections by Publisher Demo’s can be included

Con’s Extra hardware is needed Recording software can crash during talk Additional audio recording sometimes needed

Note: You can now also extract the audio from the slide video.  First sync your slides based on the screen recorded video and then extract the audio (Mp3) from the screen recorded video.  Now you can publish your talk as an audio-only presentation!  For this to work you need to include the audio in your original screen recorded video.

Level 1 – Remote Screen & Video Recording

In addition to Level 2 you can also consider to record the video of the speaker, this is what we do for Devoxx. We record the computer signal WITH audio but also record the video of the speaker WITH audio. The Parleys publisher supports multiple tracks, so you can add one video track with the slides and another track with the video of the speaker. The Publisher can auto-detect the slides based on the imported PDF and keep the high resolution demo parts when done.

Pro’s Non-intrusive solution and great best result Fast post-processing Automatic slide changes detections by Publisher Demo’s can be included Video of speaker included

Con’s Most expensive solution (extra camera man needed) Recording software can still crash, so backup system is recommended Resulting video file can be big depending on number of demo

Remote Video & Screen Examples

• All Devoxx’09 talks

So hopefully the above information can help you decide how to address your recording strategies!?
If you’re seeking assistance for your own conference then please consider Parleys.com as a potential partner, based on our in-the-trenches experience we can make a difference and make it happen!

Please post any other ideas or comments below.