How Long Should an Intro Be?

[Deltoy]

Let's face it -- People have short attention spans these days. So how long should an intro be? Should you even have an intro? Because people say it should be no shorter than 15 seconds max. When I make an intro I want it to be short and get right to the point. So I will make a poll on this.

 

[markkaz]

None of the above. Intros aren't necessary but if you want to use them, 3-5 seconds is highly recommended. 15 seconds? Your content better be outstanding otherwise I'm out by 10 seconds.

 

[Maevi]

I would say it also depends on what kind of content you create. For vlog-type things I'd say no intro preferably, but if you have to have one just say hi or something. For gaming videos or generally videos that are 30+ minutes, you can have an intro that is about 15 seconds long. Although it really also depends on the overall quality and I suppose catchiness of your intro as well. If it's just you saying something or showing some footage of stuff, it better have one heck of a soundtrack to it.

 

[Birky]

I wouldn't go any higher than 5 seconds.

 

[WatcheroftheDeep]

1/2 a second, no joke. nobody wants to sit through an intro, so you throw it at them so fast, they see it, and it's over before they think annoyed at it.

 

[Birky]

1/2 a second, no joke. nobody wants to sit through an intro, so you throw it at them so fast, they see it, and it's over before they think annoyed at it.

Half a second isn't enough time to see any animation. Would just be a pointless picture with your name or something so no point in having an intro if it's going to be half a second.

 

[WatcheroftheDeep]

well then no more than 2 seconds lol

 

[midzan21]

Personal opinion about intros: optimal time is 3-5 seconds for most of videos. If it is video which don't need editing then it wouldn't have intro at all.
Personal experience: first intro which I made for first series of tutorials was about 8-18 seconds long (tl;dw*), second intro was shorter (4-10 seconds, but still tl;dw*), and finally my latest intro is 4 seconds long (YouTube says 5... Damn you Youtube) and I would keep it for long time.

*tl;dw - too long, didn't watch

 

[mindway]

1 millisecond lol, intro need to be no more than 2-8 seconds because people want directly watch the content not an intro on the entire video

 

[McCoob]

Intro is useless in my opinion, but if I had to choose I'd make an intro no longer that 5 seconds.