04 · What can go on the site · 45 min
Surgical video
A teaching clip is a decision, not a recording of the case. Consent and a clean frame come before any editor.
Consent before capture
- Know whether the console or tower recording is allowed at all.
- Know whether a de-identified clip may leave the network, and who has to sign.
- Do not let a public URL inherit permission from a closed talk out of habit.
What to record
- Robotic: the surgeon view from the console, not the whole room, unless the room is the point and it is clean.
- Open or endoscopic: tower capture or a head camera aimed at the field. Badge cameras also see faces and screens.
- Record longer than the lesson. Cut later. You cannot invent the angle you failed to capture.
- Plan to throw away the room audio. It has names, alarms, and chatter. Narrate after, in a quiet room.
Make the file unidentifiable
Do this before the clip touches a personal computer if policy says so, and always before it is eligible for a website. Cropping is better than painting over. If the banner is the whole frame, re-export from the system without the patient overlay when the system allows it.
- Name, MRN, date of birth, accession numbers, hospital banners.
- A date stamp that, with the procedure and your name, points at one person.
- Faces, badges, whiteboards, wristbands, an EMR monitor in the background.
- Spoken names. Delete the OR track entirely.
- The first three seconds and the last three. Overlays hide there.
- The thumbnail, the filename, and the title on the page. A clean video with a sloppy filename is still a leak.
- Unusual anatomy plus a public “I did this today.” Wait, or generalize.
Cut a decision, not a duration
| The lesson | Length | Shape |
|---|---|---|
| One maneuver on a website | 45–90 seconds | Setup in a breath, then the move, then the result |
| A technique before a case | 3–6 minutes | Chapters a fellow can scrub to |
| A whole reconstruction | Chaptered | Not one 40-minute file with a title |
- Speed up exposure and setup, about 1.5–2×. Leave the critical cut or suture at 1×, or slower.
- One freeze frame. One arrow. If you need three arrows, the shot is wrong.
- No music under the move. No whoosh. The field is the picture.
- Crop out tower chrome and black bars. They teach nothing.
Pick one editor and stop shopping
| Situation | Use | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| You will do this more than twice | DaVinci Resolve, free version | A new app every case |
| You already think in Final Cut | Final Cut | Relearning on a deadline |
| One simple internal clip tonight, file already clean | iMovie or the local editor you have | Anything that uploads before you asked it to |
| CapCut | Only a local project, only after the file is clean, only if you know it is not uploading | The phone app plus an OR recording |
Resolve is the default in this guide because the free version can hold a library: trim, freeze, arrow, titles, and a repeatable export. Learn ten buttons. Ignore the color page until a shot is actually unreadable.
Picture, then words
- Write the script in the video note first. Present tense. Name the structure before the move.
- Leave a short beat of quiet at the cut so the viewer sees the field before you talk.
- Record in a quiet room, close to the microphone, or use a voice you trained on yourself and disclose it.
- Read it once out loud before you record. If you stumble on a sentence, the sentence is wrong, not your voice.
- Captions or a transcript on the page. Fellows watch on mute in the workroom.
Export for a teaching site
“Web optimized” often means mush. Suture and planes need a real bitrate. Make a 16:9 master. Cut a square version later if you must, from the master, not instead of it.
Container: MP4 Video: H.264, 1920×1080 Frame rate: match the source (often 30 or 60) Bitrate: about 10 Mbps — not a tiny "web" preset Audio: AAC, 48 kHz, 192 kbps, or silent if you have no narration Filename: procedure-maneuver-1080.mp4 Poster: a still of the field, JPG, not a title card and not a face On the page: Shows / Does not show / the decision / a transcript
YouTube or a similar host can be a second shelf if your institution allows even an unlisted file. The page on your own site still has to carry the words. A player with no context is how a maneuver gets copied without the bailout.
- Procedure name, in words a fellow would search.
- Why this clip exists, in one line.
- Shows.
- Does not show.
- The decision, including what you would do if it goes badly.
- Transcript.
- Your name. If the voice is synthesized, say so in the same breath.
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Questions in this chapter
What consent do I need before a clip goes on my website?
Short answer
Whatever your institution requires for a public file, which may be more than operative consent to record. If you don't know, it doesn't go up.
- Closed conference playback and a public URL are different.
- Unlisted is still a public file if the link escapes.
- This guide is not a clearance.
What resolution and format should I export for my site?
Short answer
MP4, H.264, 1920×1080, frame rate matched to the source, about 10 Mbps, AAC audio if you narrated.
- Don't use a mushy web preset. Suture disappears first.
- Filename: procedure-maneuver-1080.mp4. No initials, no case date.
- Poster frame is the anatomy, not a title card and not a face.
- Make the square social cut from the master, later.
Resolve, CapCut, Final Cut, or iMovie?
Short answer
DaVinci Resolve if you will do this more than twice. The editor you already know if a deadline is tonight. Not a cloud app with an identifiable file.
- The free version of Resolve is enough.
- Final Cut is correct if you already think in it.
- iMovie is enough for one clean internal clip.
- CapCut only if you are sure the project stays local and the file is already clean.
How do I get patient identifiers off a console recording?
Short answer
Crop them out, or re-export from the console without the banner. Don't paint over a name and call the file clean.
- Check the first and last three seconds.
- Delete the room audio completely.
- Check the filename, thumbnail, and webpage title too.
- A generated inpaint of a face does not fix the rest.
Should I narrate in the OR or after?
Short answer
After. Room audio has names in it, and you will talk differently once you can see what the frame actually shows.
- Script the video note first.
- Record close to the mic in a quiet room.
- A voice trained on you is fine if the page says the narration is synthesized.
- Put a transcript on the page for mute playback.
How long should a teaching clip be?
Short answer
As long as the decision. Usually 45–90 seconds for one maneuver on a site, or 3–6 minutes for a technique a fellow watches before the case.
- Speed the setup. Don't speed the critical suture.
- Chapter a long reconstruction. Don't upload the whole case as one file.
- One arrow, one freeze. No music under the move.
Can I put the video on YouTube and on my own site?
Short answer
Only if policy allows the file to exist off the hospital network at all. Your site still needs the words. The player is not the lesson.
- Unlisted is not the same as private once the link is forwarded.
- On your page: why it exists, what it shows, what it does not show, the decision, the transcript.
- Host the master yourself when you can. A platform re-compresses.
How do I make a still for the page that isn't just a title card?
Short answer
Export a frame of the field at the decision, as a JPG. The still should teach even if the video never plays.
- No face, no banner, no date stamp.
- If you need a title, put it in HTML on the page, not burned over the anatomy.
- One arrow in the editor is enough if the still is ambiguous. Then re-export the frame.
Is a cloned voice okay for narration?
Short answer
Your own voice, yes, disclosed on the page. Anyone else's, no. Don't let it imply you were speaking during the operation.
- Train it on recordings you made for that purpose.
- Write “Narration is synthesized” next to your name.
- If disclosure feels like a problem, record it yourself. It is a quiet room and one take.
The video looks mushy after I upload it. What was wrong?
Short answer
The export was probably a small web preset, or the host compressed an already-small file. Re-export around 10 Mbps and upload that master.
- H.264, 1080p, about 10 Mbps, frame rate unchanged.
- Don't upload a 2 Mbps file and hope the site fixes it.
- Platforms will crush it again. Start with detail to spare, especially on suture and planes.