Watch a reference clip once and you might remember the reveal. Watch it again and you might notice that the sound of the box opening starts before the lid moves. Rea Video helps you find decisions like that and carry them into a shoot of your own. Start with a video you have permission to study. Pick one moment you would like to understand. Follow it through the frames, the cut, the words on screen and the sound.
With Rea Video, the useful question is often quite small. Did the camera move closer or did the editor enlarge a still? Does that dashboard need animation or could someone record the actual screen? A Rea Video breakdown puts the relevant moments in sequence so a director, editor and designer can talk about the same piece of work.
Inside a six-second Rea Video study
Three cuts of light on a gold spinning top. This original Rea Video reference was edited from three still crops with an original tone. Watch how a tighter frame changes the impression of speed.
Shot 1 · Establish the upright silhouette and the pool of light beneath it.
Read the Rea Video sample report →Read your first Rea Video shot breakdown
Begin at the moment you noticed on first viewing. Find its time in the Rea Video report and look one shot earlier. A hand might already be reaching into frame. A voice might be finishing a sentence. What felt like a sudden entrance may depend on preparation that started before the cut. Write down what the viewer knew at each point.
Next, look at the first and last frames of the shot. Rea Video brings those two views into the breakdown. If the object has grown while the background stays perfectly aligned, try a simple crop on a still of your own. If the edges of nearby objects move across the background, plan a camera test. The Rea Video shot notes can guide this experiment. The two approaches need different equipment and produce different pictures.
Keep the Rea Video timestamp with your note. “Hold until the label turns toward camera” gives an editor an action to look for. A timestamp tells them where to find the reference when two people remember the gesture differently.
A Rea Video field guide to three kinds of clip
Rea Video case study · A conversation interrupted by a screen
One public Rea Video example follows a short conversation broken up by interface shots. The published breakdown counts ten shots in about nineteen seconds. The useful observation for a producer is that the speakers return to the same setting. Count the locations and performances you need before estimating your shoot from the number of cuts.
Try the same exercise with your own tutorial. On the Rea Video timeline, mark the instant the cursor takes over from the speaker. Return to the Rea Video sample and read the line of dialogue that crosses the cut. You can record the screen with your own account and sample data, then give the speaker a cue that matches the action the viewer will see.
Rea Video case study · An overhead unboxing
The unboxing example in the Rea Video collection is a good exercise in reading hands. Follow the wrist as it brings a package into the center of the frame. Look at the shadow underneath the box and the space left for a caption. A producer reading the Rea Video case can use those details to decide the height of a phone rig and where to put the light.
Rea Video also gives you reason to question a confident first impression. Platform compression can obscure fine image detail. When a smooth patch of skin looks synthetic, compare several moments in the same shot and check the evidence recorded alongside the label. Copy the relevant Rea Video frame reference and keep any unresolved question in the brief for the person reviewing the footage.
Rea Video case study · A product tour built from moving graphics
A third Rea Video report covers a seventy second product promo. Much of the running time is attributed to code driven graphics. A screen capture inside a graphic still needs someone to operate the product. The person rebuilding this sequence needs both a motion layout and a list of screens to capture.
Use Rea Video to draw up that list before designing the transitions. Which button should already be selected? What text must be readable when a card stops? Which screenshot changes when a viewer switches languages? Pair each item with its Rea Video timestamp. Those are practical questions a designer can settle with a product owner while an editor works on timing.
What Rea Video can tell you about a cut
Take a sequence in which a cup lands on a table. The outgoing frame may show the hand almost at rest while the incoming frame shows the cup from above. Rea Video lets you locate that boundary in the shot list. Try placing your own cut just before contact and then just after it. Watch both versions with the sound muted.
For a dissolve, study the material on both sides of the transition. In a Rea Video breakdown, two neighboring shots can suggest a useful match in brightness or shape. If the outgoing frame has a dark upper corner, a bright new title in that corner can attract attention before the next shot has taken over.
Look for the longest quiet interval in the Rea Video sequence as well. A held shot gives a viewer time to read a price, see a change in texture or understand where an object went. After reading the Rea Video timing notes, time how long a new viewer needs to read your own wording aloud.
Follow the text and sound with Rea Video
A caption is part of the composition. Rea Video can separate the timing of a line from its appearance. Use the subtitle timings to find its entrance in Rea Video, then inspect the frame for position, color and outline. A subtitle that clears a speaker’s chin in one composition may cover the product when you change the crop.
If the Rea Video report includes subtitle files, choose the format according to the edit you plan to make. SRT is a convenient starting point for plain timed text. ASS can carry styling information. Open the export in your editor and watch a complete line wrap on a narrow screen before you sign off on the layout.
Now listen without looking at the picture. Use the Rea Video audio notes to find the voice, the music and a well placed effect. Tap along for a few beats. An editor can borrow the placement of a pause and record an original tap, click or breath to give new footage its own sound.
Build a shoot list from a Rea Video report
Start with the things only your team can supply. At the top of your Rea Video notes, list the actual product, its packaging, the interface state and any spoken lines that must be accurate. Arrange to capture those first. A good imitation of a button is little help if your customer needs to recognize the current release.
For shots you plan to film, translate Rea Video observations into directions a camera operator can try. Set the object a hand’s width from the rear edge of the table. Keep enough headroom for two lines of text. Use the Rea Video frame pair as a guide. Record a short rehearsal and compare the first and last frame before dressing the entire set.
For a generated insert, begin with one movement and one stable reference you own. The Rea Video plan can suggest which shots belong together. Give the person preparing the prompt a clear starting pose, a destination and a reason for the movement. Check whether the selected model accepts the references and duration that the plan requires.
For a graphic, hand the designer the words, the timing and the visual hierarchy. Rea Video can help identify the layers involved. A designer still needs to decide how a longer headline wraps, how a number counts up and how the animation ends if the next shot is shorter in your version.
Bring your own video to Rea Video
Choose the best source file you are allowed to upload. A clean export gives Rea Video more visual evidence to examine. Keep its original audio when the relationship between the edit and the soundtrack matters. If you have several versions, choose the one that actually contains the transition you want to study.
Sign in to analyze a private reference. Review the credit quote for your Rea Video task and check the file and language before you confirm. An open Rea Video sample is a convenient way to see the level of detail to expect before you spend credits on a clip of your own.
Once the Rea Video report is ready, start with one decision you can act on today. Send your photographer a short list of setups or give your editor the timing of the title reveal. Keep the full Rea Video report with the project so someone can trace a decision back to the relevant shot.
Questions creators ask about Rea Video
Can Rea Video identify the original camera or prompt?
Treat a reconstruction as a starting hypothesis. Rea Video can describe clues and suggest a plausible way to reproduce a result. Many combinations of camera, lens, crop and lighting can produce a similar frame. A Rea Video prompt gives you something to test with your own reference material. The original creator’s settings may be unavailable.
Does Rea Video deliver a finished remake?
The analysis delivers a plan you can use in production. Read the Rea Video shot list to see which pieces need filming, recording, design or generation. Rendering new footage is a separate production step. For a short product demonstration, a phone, a steady mount and a screen recording might cover most of the list.
Can I use Rea Video on a compressed social clip?
Yes, if you have permission to use the file. A Rea Video report may have less evidence to work with after platform processing. When a Rea Video label matters to your decision, compare it against the clean export if you have one. Record disagreements alongside the timestamp so a second reviewer can inspect the same frames.
What should I give a collaborator after a Rea Video analysis?
Give each person the part they can act on. The sound editor needs the cue, the duration and the action it supports. The designer needs the final words and their time on screen. Add the relevant Rea Video timestamps and your own asset list. Someone opening the brief tomorrow should know exactly what to make first.
Rea Video reading list
Open the Rea Video mixed-media case for a timed dialogue and a screen capture. Study the Rea Video unboxing report for a practical camera setup. The Rea Video product tour is a starting point for motion design. For a compact example with known source material, open the Gold in Motion study above.
The upstream audio plots show how the cases differ. Compare the dialogue waveform, the unboxing waveform and the product tour waveform. Audio plots by JuneYaooo, reproduced under the Apache License 2.0.
What comes in my Rea Video download?
Open the Rea Video storyboard for an overview. Read the Rea Video report for the reasoning behind each shot. Look for timing and packaging files in the Rea Video archive where text is detected. Keep the Rea Video timecodes on your production checklist so that a collaborator can locate the relevant cut.