When it comes to tutorial videos, which to you prefer?…

Yesterday on my Facebook fan page I posed the question about my tutorial videos: “When a new feature update comes out to an Adobe application such as Photoshop CC, which do you prefer from me: 1. A single video that covers the new features (could be long 20-40 minutes) OR 2. multiple smaller videos that cover each feature individually (example, “New Camera Shake Reduction in PS CC”, “New Live Corners in Illustrator CC”, etc.)?” and I got a ton of great responses. This prompted me to want to ask my broader readership here. As you might expect, the feedback I got on Facebook was mostly do “shorter” feature specific videos. Some said, they wanted BOTH, the longer overview video and the shorter videos. There were a good number of folks that said they actually prefer the longer videos. However, if I went by just the feedback I got on Facebook it would be just do the shorter videos.

Here’s the irony of it. While everyone says they want shorter videos, when I look at my actual YouTube stats that show my Top 10 Most Viewed Videos over the last 30 days, they are all the longer ones. None of my shorter videos ever make the top 10 list:

Video Views Minutes Watched
85,391 (20%)
794,692 (23%)
41,463 (9.7%)
455,321 (13%)
22,234 (5.2%)
221,416 (6.5%)
19,031 (4.5%)
247,635 (7.3%)
18,205 (4.3%)
158,675 (4.7%)
14,244 (3.3%)
135,710 (4.0%)
13,762 (3.2%)
146,995 (4.3%)
9,941 (2.3%)
102,132 (3.0%)
9,906 (2.3%)
58,687 (1.7%)
8,998 (2.1%)
75,116 (2.2%)

I know when someone sends me a video link, if it’s only  a minute or two I’m liable to watch it right then and there. If it’s several minutes long then I’ll probably say “I don’t have time for this now, I’ll watch it later and later may never happen. However, I’d still like to hear from you. Which do you prefer? (yes both is great and I could do the longer one and chop it up to make the shorter ones, but is that worth it?)

10 Replies to “When it comes to tutorial videos, which to you prefer?…”

  1. I prefer shorter…but by shorter, I mean around 10 minutes. Enough time to fully explain the subject.

  2. Shorter videos, please. As short as possible to give a consise introduction to the new feature. Thanks for all the effort you put out to in your presentations. They are terrific!

  3. I like a combination of both long and short videos. Short videos are nice for learning a single technique, but they leave me wanting more information.

    I am like you in that I may set aside a longer video, but I always do watch them later.

  4. If you enjoy the person who post the video and you know that the quality of information inside the video is what you need, then doesn’t mather if the video is long or short

  5. I would prefer smaller specific videos. As PS is for a variety of people (illustrators, photographers, graphic artists, etc) it is easier to select the topic this way. Also if you could mention whether this enhancement is brand new or if there was another historical procedure that gave similar results (for re-editing purposes). If you could comment on the LR solution also. Also if this is only found in PS CC and not the non-CC.

  6. There is so much great info out there, and, as much as I would love to learn everything about all Adobe’s products, not all features are for me at the moment. Shorter videos so we can choose only what’s relevant, but still be able find them if the need comes up in the future.

  7. People wants shorter videos, but like Mr. White’s example, top viewed videos are longer. I think its all about how the video is useful.. Your list up there is amazing, i ll watch em all, even they were 2 hours long…

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