Top 5 Video Tools For Creating Training Videos

Using video for employee training has come a long way over the last 20 years. From VHS tapes to YouTube, video training has become more accessible than ever before. Especially for small businesses.

Because of the growth of digital video, the question no longer is “Can I implement video into my training systems?” but instead “How can I implement video into my training systems?”.

There’s a lot to think about…

Do you make your own videos or buy “off the shelf” videos? Do you want to use actual video footage? Do you want animations? How can you make the videos engaging? How long should the video be? How can you organize videos? What if you need to update something later on? How do you distribute videos to your employees? How do you protect your intellectual property?

And the list goes on and on.

If you have decided to make your own, there are so many tools and options that exist today for making really effective, custom videos for your business. Since this can be a little overwhelming, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite platforms and tools that can be used for creating amazing training videos. 

Quick note: we are not affiliated with any of these third party products, so we do not give or receive any royalties or data to or from other companies for this blog post. If you have any questions or feedback on any of these, I’d love to hear from you so please reach out!

Live Video Editors (Record video, edit, publish)

• Adobe Rush
  • Adobe Rush is a basic video editor that has a lot of punch for a mobile app. As someone who uses Adobe Creative Cloud everyday, the app is really simple to use and navigate, however I could see it being confusing for those not as familiar with the Adobe ecosystem.

• • • Pros:
      • Free Version Available
      • Available for iOS & Android
      • In-App video capture (can record video without leaving the app)
      • Graphics/Titles Capabilities (Text overlays)
    • Cons:
      • Tricky to navigate with no prior Creative Cloud experience
      • You cannot multitask on your phone while RUSH is exporting/rendering your video. This is not a huge deal, unless your video is lengthy and can take awhile to render.

• iMovie
  • iMovie is a free, basic video editor that is easy to use and is especially convenient if you are in the Apple ecosystem.
    • Pros:
      • Free to Apple Device Owners
      • Easy to use
      • In-App video capture (can record video without leaving the app)
      • Graphics/Titles Capabilities (Text overlays)
      • Ability to export directly to file storage apps (like Google Drive)
    • Cons:
      • Not very feature heavy (could be a benefit to some)
      • Only available on iOS

Screen Recordings (Record your screen, edit, publish)

• Screencastify
  • Screencastify is a web app screen recorder and basic video editor. This is really handy for documenting computer processes. One of my favorite features of Screencastify is how you can add a personal touch to any screen recording by inlaying your webcam video in the corner of the clip.
    • Pros
      • Free version is available
      • Easy to use, and super convenient (Check out the Google Chrome Extension)
      • Built in editor
      • You can upload any video to the editor (so you can edit more than just the screen recordings)
      • Export files as a download or upload into Google Drive
    • Cons
      • Free version is limited by a time cap
      • Editor is very basic (could be a benefit to some)

Animation/Motion Graphics (Create animations, publish)

Full Disclosure: I do not have any personal experience using the animation tools listed below. All information is sourced from the product’s website and/or community review sites.

• Toonly
  • Toonly is a video animation software that makes it easy to create animated explainer videos for sales, support, and training.
    • Pros
      • Platform has pre-built scenes and characters
      • Available on PC & Mac
      • Affordable (Starts at $39/month)
    • Cons
      • All of the example videos seem pretty standardized/similar
      • Creating custom content that you cannot find in the media library seems rather cumbersome
• CreateStudio
  • CreateStudio is a video animation software available for Mac and PC that makes it easy to create cartoon style animations and/or layer professional looking graphics over video footage.
    • Pros
      • Drag & Drop User Experience
      • Has pre-built scenes and characters
      • Doubles as a video editor (for video footage)
      • One time payment of $99 (not a subscription)
    • Cons
      • Custom content seems cumbersome to create
      • Their website seems to have some errors, which hopefully doesn’t reflect into their software.

Video Distribution (Getting the video to your employees)

When discussing training video, one of the most frequent questions we get from small business owners is  “How can I make training videos accessible to my employees?”. Like everything else, there are a lot of options to consider.

One of the most common, free methods used by small businesses to share company videos is to upload videos as  “Unlisted” on YouTube. This is a great way to make video easily accessible through links. Unlisted YouTube links are not ideal if you want to control access to your videos and track who is watching.

Similar to Unlisted videos on YouTube, you can use file sharing platform (like Google Drive or Dropbox) to share your videos with links. Again however, you cannot control access or see who is watching your videos.

If you need a way to control access to your videos and other training materials, take a look at Proceed.app. With Proceed.app you can create basic videos and/or host videos that you create on other platforms. You can invite users to your organization and limit access to certain groups of users or share content publicly. Check it out!

Looking for a fast way to document your business?

Use your phone to build SOPs, training materials, work-guides, and more with Proceed.app!

Looking for a fast way to document your business?

Create SOPs, training materials, work-guides, and more using photos and videos with Proceed.app! It doesn’t get any easier.