Optimal Video Length & How to Attain It?

synthetic67

synthetic67

Active Member
As I mentioned in another thread, my videos are very long, ranging from 20 minutes to an hour and a half these days, depending on the Minecraft stadium or other build I'm reviewing. I've taken measures to cut down on that length dramatically already, going from the hour to hour & a half on average to 20-40 mins, but I want to cut down further. My ideal length would be around ten minutes on average.

For my stadium reviews, I give scores out of 5 for structural design, interiors, sight lines, size, and creativity. Other builds have a slightly different format. It's the same scoring system out of five, but there I score on structural design, interiors, landscaping, and creativity.

So what would be the optimal video length to maximize viewer retention given my chosen video content? I heard it was around 5 minutes a couple years ago. Is that still correct? Would my ten minute goal suffice? And how would you suggest getting to that goal, considering my reviews are both thorough and meticulous?

I'd greatly appreciate your help on this, as it's a major focus for me right now as I strive to push my channel to the next level.
 
I would say you're quite right - with gifs and 7 second vines being all the rage these days, longer videos feel like Lord of the Rings Unedited at times.

With a review video though, try 10 minutes (15 max). I know that if a video passes that, I tend to pause and watch it later. But not everyone does that mostly they'll just switch off when their time runs out.
 
Frankie April Turner said:
I would say you're quite right - with gifs and 7 second vines being all the rage these days, longer videos feel like Lord of the Rings Unedited at times.

With a review video though, try 10 minutes (15 max). I know that if a video passes that, I tend to pause and watch it later. But not everyone does that mostly they'll just switch off when their time runs out.
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Any ideas how I can further cut down to that range then? Would a "bullet points" style review suffice? Also, I've considered simply abandoning the review format for a showcase model, but everybody else does that, so there's nothing new and unique about it - unlike my reviews.
 
synthetic67 said:
Any ideas how I can further cut down to that range then? Would a "bullet points" style review suffice? Also, I've considered simply abandoning the review format for a showcase model, but everybody else does that, so there's nothing new and unique about it - unlike my reviews.
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Ummm well, check your videos for any repetition. Anything you say twice, or something that's similar to another comment (e.g. 'the left wall is nice, so is the right wall', you only need to say 'the walls are nice', for example).

Does a certain aspect NEED reviewing? I don't know how to explain this bit, but... review only the unique points of the builds. Do you need to go into the minute details, or could you cut some out and focus on the more obvious, bigger picture?

Cut out any pauses, gaps, ums and ahs and uncertain stuttery moments. You'd be surprised how many seconds you can shave off by doing this!
 
Frankie April Turner said:
Ummm well, check your videos for any repetition. Anything you say twice, or something that's similar to another comment (e.g. 'the left wall is nice, so is the right wall', you only need to say 'the walls are nice', for example).

Does a certain aspect NEED reviewing? I don't know how to explain this bit, but... review only the unique points of the builds. Do you need to go into the minute details, or could you cut some out and focus on the more obvious, bigger picture?

Cut out any pauses, gaps, ums and ahs and uncertain stuttery moments. You'd be surprised how many seconds you can shave off by doing this!
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Thanks, those are some thought provoking ideas. I've already cut way down on repetition, but can probably cut down some more. My subscribers have suggested perhaps cutting down on minutia as well, so that's definitely something I need to work on. I do also cut out some stuttery moments, but others are more difficult to remove because they're interspersed with dialogue that actually matters. Taking a "big picture" approach is an interesting idea as well. I will definitely have to consider how best to implement that.

Thanks for your help. Gave you a like because you considered my content and made suggestions relevant to it.
 
synthetic67 said:
Thanks, those are some thought provoking ideas. I've already cut way down on repetition, but can probably cut down some more. My subscribers have suggested perhaps cutting down on minutia as well, so that's definitely something I need to work on. I do also cut out some stuttery moments, but others are more difficult to remove because they're interspersed with dialogue that actually matters. Taking a "big picture" approach is an interesting idea as well. I will definitely have to consider how best to implement that.

Thanks for your help. Gave you a like because you considered my content and made suggestions relevant to it.
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No problem! :)
 
I keep mine under 4 minutes.. I'll edit it to what I think is good.. then cut what is irrelevant or I don't need. I also don't do gaming videos.. I can see a longer format for those. good luck!
 
It definitely depends on the type of video, I think. There are some vloggers who I watch 20+ minute videos of, with no problems, but for most I would say 4-8 minutes. For gaming, generally 10-15 minutes seems to be my cut off unless the content is HILARIOUS from the start.
 
I think you should strive to keep these kind of videos under 6.59 minutes - When it's less than seven my mind approximates it to be around 5 minutes whereas anything above will be approximated to 10 minutes (yup, I know, not mathematical correct, but that's what happens).

As others have mentioned: cutting it down to a fairly rough review, with about one minute per point, and then only show of a few of the details that made you rate it so and so, could be a way to achieve it.

However it all depends on what you want to do with these videos ? What kind of viewers do you want to appeal to?
- Honestly I think the best thing to do would be to make 2 videos, that way you would reach two very different kind of audiences =) And only with a little more effort!
1. A short overview with just the rating and a few details (about 5 min), where you record your voice where you quickly runs through the introduction of the Stadium, Rating/pointsystem and highlights a few nice/not-so-nice details. Then you pick and choose a few nice shots from your entire footage, that shows these specific details, cuts and syncs them up nicely with you audio, and done. Also loose the introduction maybe? I don't really see the point in telling the viewers that this is part XX, since this isn't a continuous story, it's fine to write it in the title though if you like, just don't "waste" time on it in the video...
2. Then you could also make an extended version where you go more into details, remember to cross-link between the two videos. This is where there will be more room to let your personality shine through, but still keep in mind, that a lot of people don't have the time to watch hour-long videos... I don't think the extended videos should exceed 30 min.
 
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