I have recorded a few hymns, in my own particular style (including some wrong notes!) – and even produced a CD or two for fun.   Over recent years I have put some of these into a video production system, along with the words.  I use a Roland G-70 workstation keyboard – over 10 years old now, but still providing good service.

The video software I use is Filmora9 by Wondershare (about £56 in 2020 for a lifetime licence, with updates) very reasonably priced and has been updated regularly.  I have used several systems over the years, but this one seems to be well structured and has many features packaged in.

One of the main issues with such videos is copyright – with the words of a published song and any images embedded in the video.  I have recently been using either my own / family pictures from holiday etc, or a good selection from Pixabay / Unsplash.  There are several sites around now – all with royalty free images (but also ones you can purchase).  It is tricky to credit each person’s name on each image, but I do credit the site(s) I use at the end.

These versions don’t work so well for worship, as some of the images can be distracting, the intention was for them to be a resource for reflection – and also to be a means of learning newer hymns (or those new to a congregation).

An important area is how to display words a little ahead, and in a way that is useful – either to enhance / reflect the meaning, or to keep the flow going.

I have now realised that a major contributor to file size is the frequency of the video. Filmora provides great flexibility here and a value of 2,000 allows a 5 minute video to be created at 720p in around 78Mb file size.

Getting the file size down without compromising too much on quality is useful, as it makes it possible to transfer the files using Dropbox ‘Transfer’ (which does not contribute to a personal space allowance).

I tried it recording with my workstation keyboard as well – slightly different approach to the words in this one.