SailEver Product Films — Production Plan¶

Two films: the WatchApp film (1:55) and the DataField film (30 s).

WatchApp script: product-film-watchapp.md
DataField script: product-film-datafield.md

This file holds what both films share: the no-demo-build rule, capture process, overlay and sound rules, export and website embed.

1. Principle: we don't touch the app¶

The film shows the released WatchApp and DataField exactly as they are. There is no demo build, no debug flag and no faked screen. Everything that makes the film tight (time compression, perfect timing, clean sequences) happens in the edit, not in the code.

That means:

We record many short takes in the Connect IQ simulator, several per shot, each longer than needed.
Slow things (15 s drift delay, a 3 h pressure drop, a filling trip total) are recorded in real time and cut down in post.
The film is assembled from these takes. Numbers may differ between shots (clock, distance). That's fine as long as each shot is plausible on its own. Cuts and transitions hide the jumps.
If a take shows a bug or an odd value, we re-record or pick another take. We don't patch the app.
The only retouches allowed: on the WatchApp track view, the + / − zoom icons and the Jibe caption are painted out for simplicity. Nothing else on a watch screen is altered.

2. Shared format¶


Master	3840×2160, 16:9, 60 fps
Sound	Music + SFX, no voiceover. Both films use the same music family
Text	Burned-in overlays on a separate layer; EN and DE first, other 5 locales later as separate uploads
Music grid	120 BPM → 1 bar = 2 s. Cuts land on the beat (0.5 s), section changes on a bar line

Length, shot list and optional 9:16 cut are in each film's script.

3. Overlay pattern¶

Each beat has one title (Big Shoulders Display 800, uppercase) and nothing else: no explanation lines, the films move too fast for a second line to be read. The title names what the sailor gets. Overlays never name a button. Say "your watch", not "your Garmin"; Garmin is named only where it's a fact (Garmin Connect, the Connect IQ badge).

4. Process¶

Prepare ─> Capture sessions ─> Take log ─> Selects ─> Rough cut on music ─> Overlays & sound ─> Review ─> Export & upload

4.1 Prepare¶

Current release builds of the WatchApp and DataField (same as in the Connect IQ Store).
Simulator devices: fenix847mm (AMOLED) for the WatchApp, fenix7pro (MIP) for the DataField.
Data sources in the simulator: Activity Data (speed, pressure), GPS simulation (position, turns), FIT playback of docs/ACTIVITY.fit for realistic speed and course.
For the tide (WatchApp shot 12) and the logbook (WatchApp shots 21–22): simulator paired to a local apps/server with a seeded demo account and a sample trip (Split → Vis → Hvar) imported from recorded FIT files. No personal data on screen.
Music picked and licensed before editing starts (YouTube Audio Library, or Epidemic Sound / Artlist with the channel allow-listed). Licence PDF goes next to the project files.
Bezel plates: fēnix 8 47 mm and fēnix 7 Pro photographed straight-on, screen off, on black. The captures are masked into these. We don't use the simulator's device skin.

4.2 Capture sessions¶

Record at 60 fps (OBS or ⌘⇧5) on a Retina screen, simulator at 200 %.
Record every shot 3–5 times, each take at least 3× the shot length. Start recording before the first button press and stop well after the last one.
Slow events are recorded in full, real time:
Drift alert (WatchApp shot 17): set ANCHOR, give the boat ~0.5 m/s, keep recording until the banner appears after 15 s.
Baro drop (WatchApp shot 13, DataField shot 06): let the simulator run with pressure lowered step by step in Activity Data, or play back a FIT file that contains a real pressure drop. Keep recording until the warning appears. This take can be long (up to the full 3 h window); record it once, early, in its own session. Check in the first session which simulator option triggers it reliably.
Stats (WatchApp shot 19): record after a longer run (e.g. a full ACTIVITY.fit playback) so the trip totals look like a real day, not 0.1 NM.
Extra B-roll per session: clean holds of each screen (5 s, no presses) for transitions and the poster frame.

4.3 Take log¶

Name every file so the edit can find it:

WA04_T03_fenix847mm_max-avg-spotlight.mov
WA09_T01_fenix847mm_drift-alert-realtime.mov
DF06_T02_fenix7pro_baro-arrow.mov

Keep a simple log (spreadsheet or markdown) per take: shot, take, device, what happens at which timestamp, usable yes/no, notes (e.g. "SOG jumps at 0:12, use 0:03–0:09").

4.4 Selects & edit¶

Pick the best take per shot; one shot may combine parts of several takes.
Time compression happens here: cut out the 15 s wait before the drift alert, the hours before the baro drop, the GPS fix wait, menu scroll pauses. Light speed ramps (max. 2×) are fine for menu scrolling; don't speed up readouts in a way that shows impossible values.
Rough cut first on the music grid (cuts on bar lines), then fine-tune.
Continuity check: each shot plausible on its own. Where values jump between shots (clock, distance), put the cut on a button press or a transition.

4.5 Overlays & sound¶

Titles: Big Shoulders Display 800, uppercase. Labels: IBM Plex Mono. Both match the website.
Titles as short as the idea allows, on screen ≥ 1.5 s. 5 % safe margin, nothing important in the bottom 12 % (YouTube progress bar).
Button presses: orange ring at the real button position with a small label. This is the film's signature element.
State colours only for vessel states. SailEver orange (#ED6017) only for button rings, value highlights and their tags, the end-card CTA, and the one orange phrase in the WatchApp shot 21 headline.
SFX: soft click per button press, two haptic buzzes at the alert, two whooshes in total.
Mix to −14 LUFS integrated, −1 dBTP.

4.6 Review¶

Round 1: rough cut with placeholder text, check story and timing (WatchApp ≤ 2:00, DataField ≤ 30 s).
Round 2: full overlays and mix, check facts: every value on screen must be something the app really shows.
Final: watch muted on a phone. It has to work without sound.

4.7 Export & upload¶

4K master (ProRes) + YouTube upload (H.264/H.265). EN first, DE second.
Poster / thumbnail: WatchApp still from the end of shot 01 (full dashboard), DataField still from shot 08, exported as AVIF for the website.
YouTube titles and chapters: see each film's script.

4.8 Upload to YouTube¶

The animatic pages are for review only. What goes to YouTube is the edited film from the capture sessions.

Edit and export. Cut the takes in DaVinci Resolve (free) or Final Cut on the music grid, with the overlays on their own layer. Export one master per language: 3840×2160, 60 fps, H.264 (or H.265), high bitrate, AAC stereo at 48 kHz, mixed to −14 LUFS. Keep a ProRes master for later edits.
Channel. Use a SailEver brand channel, not a personal one, so the team can manage it. Verify it in YouTube Studio (phone number) so custom thumbnails and videos longer than 15 minutes are allowed.
Upload in YouTube Studio → Create → Upload videos. Title and chapters come from each film's script. Put the chapter list at the top of the description, starting at 0:00. Add sailever.com and the Connect IQ Store link in the description.
Thumbnail. Upload the poster still as JPG or PNG, 1280×720, under 2 MB. The website poster stays AVIF.
Settings. Audience: No, it's not made for kids. Category: Science & Technology. Language: English (German for the DE upload). Allow embedding (on by default).
Visibility. Start as Unlisted and check the embed on a staging page, then switch to Public.
Languages. The text is burned in, so EN and DE are separate uploads. Put them in one playlist and cross-link them in the descriptions. The website picks the upload that matches the page locale.
Embed. Take the video IDs and use them in the click-to-load embed (section 5): https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/<VIDEO_ID>, plus ?start=34 style parameters where a page starts mid-film.

For a placeholder upload before the real edit exists, the animatic can be rendered to a video file (headless browser frame capture plus ffmpeg). Keep that upload unlisted.

5. Website embed¶

Click-to-load: local poster with a play button; the youtube-nocookie.com iframe loads only on click. No request to YouTube before that.
No autoplay with sound.
Home hero and /watchapp embed the WatchApp film. /datafield embeds the DataField film.
The site embeds the film that matches the page locale; fallback is EN.