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How to Make a Speedpaint Video

August 27, 2019
  • 7,481
  • 5 min

If you are involved with creativity, you may have watched some time-lapse drawing video tutorials on YouTube. Actually, it constitutes a whole specific genre called speedpaint. As you can probably tell from the name, this is a speeded-up recording of the artwork creation process. The term is more commonly used while referring to digital art, though many artists capture manual drawing in the same way. 

While creating a picture from scratch normally takes hours, a typical speedpaint video lasts for something under 20 minutes, depending on the complexity of the piece and the platform on which it is published. 

Some fascinating examples of this genre can be found on the YouTube channel Uncomfortable, by the creator of Drawabox, an educational hub for artists. Another great source of inspiration is the BinOfTrash channel, which provides a great library of drawing lessons for Japanese Anime lovers. For another source of tutorials on drawing stylized digital portraits, check out the ericanthonyj channel. 

There are many high-quality speedpaint channels out there on the internet, and it’s pretty easy to join them (provided you can draw!). 

3-Step Guide to Making a Speedpaint Video

Aside from the creative process itself, the process of making a speedpaint video consists of three steps.

Recording

Obviously, you need to capture the drawing process happening on your screen, so screen recording software is what you need most. Make sure the program lets you capture audio simultaneously. Movavi Screen Recorder will do the job just fine, but for best results, we recommend downloading the whole Movavi Screen Recorder Studio package. This software lets you export your file directly into the editing suite. 

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Editing

The main thing you need to do with your speedpaint video is to speed it up (quite predictably!). Bear in mind that not every editing app can handle long chunks of footage from hours of recording.

As for the speeding up itself, it is up to you how fast you want it to go. The general rule is that you should cater for the audience you are aiming at. If your goal is to showcase the drawing process itself and give your viewers an idea of how to do something similar, don’t speed it up too much. You want your audience to clearly see what you are doing. If you are making your speedpaint video just for fun, make it as fast and as short as you want. Some polls on Deviant Art suggest that the optimal duration for a speedpaint video would be under 10 minutes. But it is not typical for social media audiences to focus their attention on one video for that long, so you may have to make your video about 3 to 4 times shorter if you plan to publish it on Facebook.

Once you’re done with the basics, apply all the requisite graphics (e.g. titles, logos, etc.) and special effects. Make sure your sound is synchronized and balanced, too. Now you are ready to export your file. 

Exporting

It’s best to use software that enables you to export your files in different formats tailored for specific platforms and devices. This option will save you the trouble of using an additional video converter down the road. The Movavi editor lets you export your file in pretty much any format you want. Even in GIF, which is another great option – and here’s why. 

Try Something Different

A speedpaint video does not always have to be a video file. Social network platforms love GIFs, and there is every reason for you to try this format, too. Fitting a complex piece of artwork into a minute-long process-driven GIF may not serve educational purposes for artists, but it will still look fun to people who prefer to watch than to draw. After all. it’s always inspiring to look at something beautiful being created from scratch.

Movavi Screen Recorder Studio has an in-built option for exporting videos as GIFs – do take advantage of it to spice up your Facebook and Twitter feeds. 

Share Your Speedpaint Video with the World

The most conventional way to share your speedpaint videos with the world is to upload them on YouTube. However, your statement as an artist doesn’t stop there. Registering on specialized art-related forums such as Deviant Art will help you grow your audience way more efficiently. Besides, you will have unlimited access to a wide range of sources of inspiration, as there are many brilliant artists who publish their speedpaint videos on these platforms. 

Instagram is another great tool for publishing and promoting your art, and there is more than one way to use it. Firstly, you can upload your full-length speedpaint videos on IGTV, linking them to fragments that you post on your timeline. Secondly, you can publish short minute-long versions as sneak peeks for your YouTube channel. The latter option is particularly relevant for educational channels that are aimed at teaching on YouTube or specialized art-themed portals such as Drawabox.

It’s always worth publishing on social network platforms such as Facebook, as thus you will reach wider audience. Consider creating a special Facebook page for your artwork. 

To sum up, creating speedpaint videos is a great way for artists to produce content while literally just doing their job. Some post-production work is definitely required, but the result is likely to be worth it. 

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