01
What should the technical check cover?
Four things, on a phone, with sound on. Whether the voice sits at a sensible level against other clips, whether the subject stays in frame throughout, whether the picture holds up at arm's length, and whether the opening second shows something rather than a title card or a cutaway.
02
The four point technical pass
All four have to be done on a phone with the sound on. A desk screen and speakers hide exactly what this pass is looking for.
| Check | Where | Sign of trouble |
|---|---|---|
| Level against other clips | Phone, after another video | Yours is noticeably quieter |
| Subject stays in frame | Phone, watch through | Speaker drifts to an edge |
| Sharpness at arm's length | Phone, held normally | Face reads as soft |
| The first second | Phone, watch the start | A title card, or a cutaway |
03
Doing the pass quickly every time
Put the finished clip on your phone, turn the volume to where you normally keep it, and hold the phone at a comfortable distance. Watch once all the way through without pausing. Most problems show up on that single uninterrupted viewing, because that is how viewers will see it too.
Keep a short written checklist nearby for the first few weeks. After a while the checks become habit, but in the beginning it is easy to skip one when you are in a hurry, and the skipped check is usually the one that would have caught the problem.
04
Common problems and how they look
A voice that is too quiet shows up as the urge to turn the volume up. A voice with echo sounds distant even when the speaker fills the frame. A frame that drifts shows the speaker's head touching the edge or empty space where their face should be. Soft focus shows most clearly on hair and eyes.
The opening frame is its own check. If the first image is a blank screen, a logo, a blurry transition or someone mid-blink, change the start of the clip. That frame often becomes the thumbnail and is always the first impression in the feed.
05
When to fix and when to skip
Some problems are worth fixing even when time is short: a word spelled wrong on screen, audio that is hard to hear, a face cut off at the edge. These are the issues viewers comment on and the ones that make a channel look careless.
Minor imperfections, such as a slightly uneven cut or a small change in lighting, are rarely noticed at scrolling speed. If fixing them delays the clip by a day and the clip is about something timely, posting now usually beats posting perfect later.
06
Catch it before the feed does
- Watch it on a phone with sound. Desk speakers and a large screen hide exactly what you are checking for.
- Play something else first. Loudness only means anything in comparison.
- Check the first second specifically. It decides whether the rest gets watched at all.
Produce one and run the check on a phone. Nothing to pay for the first.
Questions people ask
- Is this the same as reading the words?
- No, and both are worth doing. One catches names and figures, this one catches sound and picture.
- How long should it take?
- About the length of the clip. That is the point of keeping it to four things.
- What is most often wrong?
- Level, usually too quiet, and an opening second that shows nothing worth staying for.
- Should I check every clip?
- Every one you would be unhappy to have judged on. In practice that is most of them.
- What if I find a problem?
- Most are fixed by choosing a different stretch or a different shape and running it again.