Hello everybody!
Intro
This is an updated tutorial on creating previews for your scripts and videos. For reference, I made a similar tutorial approximately four years ago, but it is now outdated, and I aim to provide an updated version. Recently, we also discussed making it mandatory to include video previews with the script bar simulator for paid scripts here → Suggestion: Require preview for paid scripts - Site Feedback - EroScripts
I will show two very easy and convenient ways to do it. I think the easier it is, the more people will do it, that’s why I want to show you the easiest way I can think of.
Why even bother?
The answer is pretty easy. If you show people on how the scripts looks, they are more likely to buy it. People want to buy good quality scripts and would like to see a short preview. They don’t want to “buy the pig in the poke”. Be confidant with your scripting skills, show them what you’ve got.
You can only showcase a bit of the video and script. Due to the file size limitation of 8mb you can directly upload on EroScripts, you can’t record 5 minutes of the video / script and show it to your audience. You can only show certain parts.
There is a way to bypass the file size limitation, by uploading the video or gif somewhere else and then embed the video here. But I don’t recommend it, because it’s more time intensive and if the original video gets deleted, the video won’t be played in your thread anymore.
I recommend to show various parts of the video. What exactly is up to you. For example: If the video has 4 different sections, blowjob, cowgirl, doggy and reverse cowgirl, show a short clip of every section of about 10 - 20 seconds. It’s also a good idea to show the finish section and how you scripted it, because that is very important for many users.
By making a gif or screen recoding, the users can see the very important and basic foundations of the script:
- Timings / precision
- Stroke lengths
- How details are scripted
- Speed
Creating gifs with ScriptPlayer
In case you don’t have ScriptPlayer yet, you can find it here → Releases · FredTungsten/ScriptPlayer · GitHub
Pros
- Very easy to use
- Good overview of the whole video
- Ability to overlay the script, giving a good overview of the whole video + script
- Ability to choose a single section of the video to make a gif of
Cons
- Gifs only provide a very low quality
- No simulator in the gif
With ScriptPlayer you can make gifs easily. I recommend to always add a simple gif in your threads. Gifs made with ScriptPlayer have one huge advantage: the gif contains short parts of the whole video. Instead of just one single short part like a gif normally does. The user can see quickly all sections of the video.
Basic gifs with ScriptPlayer
Here is how to do it:
- Open ScriptPlayer
- Open the video you want to have a gif of (either drag and drop or click on the )
- Once opened, go to → Generate → Preview GIF
- Once there, you see this:
- Most of the time, you can just use the basic settings and click ok. The preview gif will end up in the save folder as the video is.
- However, as I said before, the max file size you can upload on EroScripts is 8mb. So you have to make sure that the file size stays under 8mb.
- If the file size is over 8bm, reduce the height a bit and / or framerate. Do it until the file size is under 8mb.
- Upload it to your thread via drag & drop or by using the little “upload” button.
- Result:
As you can see the gif is pretty small. You can make it bit bigger by changing the size (blue underlined).
I either change it 450x250 or 900x600. 900x600 will make the gif to the max size.
450x250
900x600
You probably noticed that the quality gets worse the bigger you set the size. That is normal and typical for gifs.
Gifs showing script positions with ScriptPlayer
While the basic gifs are good and in my opinion essential for every thread, they don’t show the script positions. Let’s make a gif with the script positions in.
Follow the same first steps of “Basic gifs with ScriptPlayer”.
Once on step 3, we do this:
- Enable “Overlay Script Position”
- Result:
- You now have the script bar under the video. This will already give a good overview of the video and the script. I would say this is the bare minimum you should have in your thread for the paid section. It’s easy to make and gives the user a basic overview of the video and script.
- Make the size a bit bigger. 450x250 won’t work here, the script overlay gets cut out. Go for 900x600 instead.
450x250
Script overlay gets cut out. Don’t use.
900x600
Capturing screen using Captura
Download it here → Captura 8.0.0 / 9.0.0 Beta 4 Free Download - VideoHelp
Pros
- Completely free with no limitations
- Very easy to use
- Can make webm format, which makes the file size smaller
- Ability to just record a certain section of the screen
- Good amount of options, without having a overwhelming amount of options
Cons
- Doesn’t have much advanced settings like other tools have (OBS etc.)
This tool allows you to make a screen recording. It has the advantage of a much better quality compared to gifs and you can showcase certain sections better. You should also include the simulator in it as well as the script bar. The audience will get a perfect review of the video and script. As I said above, make several screen recordings of the different sections. It’s a good idea to showcase all sections. Of course, if the video has like 7 different sections, then it’s enough to showcase the most important sections. For the length, I recommend a time of about 10 - 20 seconds. This should keep the file size under 8mb. Anything longer will probably make the file size over 8mb.
Let’s make a screen recoding.
- Go to the site, download it and install it
- Open the program
- Firstly, choose "WebM (Vp9 | Opus) (Post Processing). Using this format will make the file sizer smaller, compared to choosing the standard mp4 format.
- Choose an output folder, where you want the finished video to be saved. For convenience, I always choose my Desktop.
- We just want to record a certain section of the screen, so the 5th option (blue arrow). A dotted square will open that you can resize and position.
- Open OFS with the video and script you want to record
- Resize and position the dotted square over the video and script bar.
- Choose the section you want to showcase, put the simulator close to the action (not too close).
- Play the video in OFS, then hit record (
button on bottom left of the dotted window) (The program will likely ask you to choose a folder with ffmpeg in it. Choose a folder with ffmpeg inside it, or download it if you don’t have ffmpeg on your PC. - Press stop (next to ) after 10 - 20 seconds.
- Wait until the video gets rendered
- Upload the video directly in your thread
- Result. Please note that in preview to your right, you won’t see the video play. You will just see a camera icon shown. Once you post, the video will be visible and playable.
You can change the settings for FPS and quality. The higher you set the FPS and quality, the bigger the file size will be. With the standard settings, I can record a 20 seconds video just under 8MB, so I’d recommend to use the standard settings. It’s a good balance between quality and lower file size.
There is an option to record the sound as well, which I wouldn’t use. Recording sound will only increase the file size. A very useful option is to set up a pre start countdown. A countdown will display, before the recording starts. Allowing you to be more precise with your recording. You can also set up a maximum capture duration. Useful, so the recording automatically stops after a certain amount of time. You can find these options by clicking the cog wheel on the left of the main window.
This is the best way in my opinion to showcase your script and video. It’s easy to use, doesn’t require any complicated tool or any additional tools and gives a good result.
I highly recommend everybody who sells scripts, using this method in your threads.
Other ways
There other ways to make a screen recording, but these are either more complicated to use or just annoying.
OBS is great and powerful tool for streaming and screen recording. Also completely free. However, in my opinion it’s not very user friendly. It takes some set up to achieve the optimal result. If you consider yourself an advanced user and want to maximize your presentation, OBS is definitely the way to go.
Another option is the build in recording function in Windows. Pressing “windows key + shift + r” will open the build in screen recording from the Xbox game bar. You can choose a part of the screen you want to record. I personally think it’s a subpar tool and annoying to use. But maybe you find yourself using it.
To summarize
For paid scripts, having some kind of preview showing the video + script is a must have. Not only does it show your scripting skills and shows how you scripted certain parts, the audience gets a good overview of the video and script. The audience can see important basics of the scripts in terms of, timings / precision, stroke lengths, how details are scripted and the speed. Showing these, will likely increase your sales, because the audience gets to see a preview. Having no preview at all, will leave the audience in the dark, having no idea about the quality of the script. Nobody likes to make a blind buy.
A gif is an easy and basic way of showing the video. Overlaying the script is the basic way of showing the audience the script. However, the quality is rather low and the sections are short.
On the other hand, a screen recording provides a much better quality and you can hand pick sections of the video and script you want to show to the audience. Adding the simulator + script bar in the video, gives the audience a way better info about the script. If the viewer likes what he sees, he is more likely to buy your script.
Edit and additional information:
Due to copyright reasons and the fair use policy, it’s recommended to make the clip not longer than 10 seconds. If you make several clips, all clips together shouldn’t extend the 15 seconds mark. Please be mindful with the length of the clips.
Closing words
Thank you for reading through the tutorial. My goal was to present you an easy way to present your scripts better. There more things you can do to enhance your presentation, but I wanted to cover the basics here. I may do a more advanced tutorial on this topic in the future.
Thank you everybody in this thread → Suggestion: Require preview for paid scripts - Site Feedback - EroScripts for the good discussion on the topic and the many options you showed to create a preview.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I am happy to help you.
With best regards
Slibowitz