Recorder playbook · Part 1 Natural, continuous work from a first-person point of view is exactly what opentez accepts. The specifications below describe the video deliverable, not how you must perform your underlying job, organize your work, or manage your time.

How to do this

Side view of a recorder wearing a privacy-blurred headband-mounted camera

Angle the camera down so both hands and the active work surface fit inside the frame.

Secure the headband

Keep the camera stable and angle it toward the area where your hands will do the work.

Record a short test

Move through the full task motion once, then review the test before recording a longer clip.

Confirm the whole motion stays visible

Check that both hands, the material, and the active work area remain in frame from start to finish.

Examples from recent trade captures

Trim layout at a miter saw — Keep both hands, the material, and the tool area visible while laying out the next step.

Window-screen assembly — Frame close hand-tool work without cropping either hand out of the task.

Electrical lead preparation — Keep fine hand work and its immediate target visible at the same time.

These clips demonstrate camera framing only. Follow your normal training, safe hand placement, and required protective equipment. Never change how you perform a task to improve the shot.

Acceptance checks before capture

Head-mounted first-person view

Accepted footage uses the opentez headband and shows the task from the recorder’s natural first-person point of view.

Both arms and hands in view

The delivered video must keep both arms and hands inside the frame during the captured task.

Standard video format

Accepted footage uses normal Video mode, not Slo-mo, Time-lapse, or Cinematic, so the deliverable preserves the task’s natural motion and speed. The image must be clear and reasonably well lit.

Audio requirements

Unless a project specification calls for sound, accepted footage must exclude private conversations. Any captured audio must comply with the project’s consent rules. A Texas bystander’s recorded yes does not permit recording unrelated private conversations.

Quality check

A short test can confirm that the deliverable will meet the framing, privacy, and image quality specifications before a longer clip is captured.

Acceptance specifications for submitted footage

Continuous task footage

The accepted portion must show natural, continuous work on the captured task.

Task-focused deliverable

Clean, task-focused video is more likely to qualify than footage containing unrelated activity or interruptions.

Active portions only

Only portions showing active performance of the captured task count toward the accepted footage-hour measurement. Idle stretches and breaks are excluded from the deliverable measurement.

Hands remain in frame

The accepted portion must keep the recorder’s hands in frame. Portions where the hands are not visible do not qualify as part of the accepted deliverable.

The golden rule

The Golden Rule

Hands · doing real work · in frame

If that’s true for the whole clip, you’re almost certainly recording something we can pay for.

Taking a break

Short, clean, active clips can qualify just as well as one long clip. There is no penalty for separate clips; idle portions are simply excluded from the accepted footage measurement.
Separate clips make it easier to submit a clean deliverable without idle portions.

Safety comes before footage, always

Never let the camera change how you work. Don’t reach into a saw, rush a cut, or skip protective equipment for the sake of a better shot. If a task can’t be done safely with the headband on, take the headband off and skip the clip. No clip is worth an injury.

Next: Privacy and consent

Keep PII out and know exactly what to do if an adult enters the frame.