Need advice on video length

WoodChuckDad · Jul 22, 2019

I need some help. I have a youtube channel focused on farm related stuff. I usually try to keep my videos 10-15 minutes which seems to work well for normal farm stuff.
I just made an in-depth video showing a fuel tank replacement for an excavator. I have trimmed it and edited it and it is 52 minutes. My wife suggested cutting it into two parts. What do you all think. I figure only people who are really into heavy equipment, and probably someone who needs to do a replacement themselves, would watch it. if you were doing so, would you want it to be all one video, or two videos (part 1 and part 2. ). I would put a link in both of them, connecting to the other. I appreciate your input.

Thanks,
David.

RNeumann · Jul 22, 2019

I’d cut it in 2 or 4.....your wife is right.

I honestly tend to skip videos over 7-8 minutes. Or I use the double tap advance feature on the touch screen devices.

TnAndy · Jul 23, 2019

Length wouldn't make a difference to me >IF< it's something I need to do as well, AND you don't have a lot of repetition of the same thing....kills me to watch a guy cutting multiple pcs of the same thing (for example) for 5 minutes....YEAH...GOT IT the first time man ! MOVE ON.....

Other thing I'd question is how much is dedicated to just sheet metal removal to get TO the tank. Again, don't need to show removing every screw and bolt taking stuff off unless it's real tricky....simple say "remove this", and next frame it's gone. Don't need to spend 10 minutes watching you remove the obvious. Just say "This has to come off"....anyone relatively mechanically minded will figure out what is holding "this" in place....just you telling them it's got to come off is usually enough, again, unless there is a trick to removing.

A good video like this ought to be like a shop manual in motion:

1. Remove "this"
2. Remove "that"
3. Disconnect wiring harness
4. Remove bolts at points A, B, C
5. Remove tank

BRMyers · Jul 23, 2019

I mostly agree with TnAndy, except it depends on who your intend for your audience? A complete newbie would appreciate every step, an advance user, not so much. Many skip the basics and if there is something unusual in the process when removing "this" or "that", then just include that 'hidden' bolt that everyone forgets type thing.

EddieWalker · Jul 23, 2019

I really appreciate that there are so many video's out there to help fix things, or show how to do something, but if it's more then two minutes long, I probably wont watch it unless I'm really desperate to figure something out. And then I'm going to fast forward through all of it looking for that one part that I haven't been able to figure out. When replacing the steering cylinder for my 555E backhoe, I looked at dozens of videos without ever finding what I was looking for. All in fast forward without sound. Fortunately I found a parts diagram that showed me what was going on and then it all made sense to me.

CADplans · Jul 23, 2019

Video length is also dictated by the # of followers,,
early videos have to be short, to keep viewers interest, and get them to follow,,
once you have the followers interest,, the videos can get longer,,

Andrew Camarata can make 90 minute videos, and his followers want more,,
Andrew has a friend that also makes videos,, his are hard to watch over 5 minutes long,, typically.

Both cover similar topics,, the style of presentation varies,,, a LOT!!

MossRoad · Jul 23, 2019

I'm kinda the 7-8 minute attention span type as well.

Maybe make a quick, here's the steps video that tells the basic steps and the total time it took you to do the job. Then link to a longer video or videos with complete details.

cdaigle430 · Jul 23, 2019

WoodChuckDad said:
I need some help. I have a youtube channel focused on farm related stuff. I usually try to keep my videos 10-15 minutes which seems to work well for normal farm stuff.
I just made an in-depth video showing a fuel tank replacement for an excavator. I have trimmed it and edited it and it is 52 minutes. My wife suggested cutting it into two parts. What do you all think. I figure only people who are really into heavy equipment, and probably someone who needs to do a replacement themselves, would watch it. if you were doing so, would you want it to be all one video, or two videos (part 1 and part 2. ). I would put a link in both of them, connecting to the other. I appreciate your input.

Thanks,
David.

I am a huge youtube fan and yes agree it should be cut to at least 2 parts. Part one should be Diagnostics, fix recommendations and disassembly, Part two repair, assembly and conclusion.

WoodChuckDad · Jul 23, 2019

I have split it into 4 segments. Thanks for the feedback. The very beginning of part 4 is a quick step by step of how to get it off including bolt size. I will list that as well as a synopsis of each part in the description so people can just pull up part 4 if thats all they want

joeu235 · Jul 23, 2019

@WoodChuckDad I think it has more to do with how well edited it is vs the length. As long as the extra dead space is edited out I think viewers will stay engaged. It takes me about an hour of editing per minute of actual video. My channel isn't big by any means but I do have some experience. What is your channel? Below is mine

Lewis Renovation - YouTube