---
title: "Recording"
description: "Before you hit record, while you record, taking breaks, and the golden rule, plus the one thing that always beats a better shot: safety."
---

<span className="otz-eyebrow">Recorder playbook · Part 1</span>

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.

## Acceptance checks before capture

<Steps>
  <Step title="Head-mounted first-person view" icon="mobile">
    Accepted footage uses the opentez headband and shows the task from the recorder's
    natural first-person point of view.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Both arms and hands in view" icon="hands">
    The delivered video must keep both arms and hands inside the frame during the captured
    task.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Standard video format" icon="video">
    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.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Audio requirements" icon="microphone-slash">
    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.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Quality check" icon="circle-check">
    A short test can confirm that the deliverable will meet the framing, privacy, and image
    quality specifications before a longer clip is captured.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Acceptance specifications for submitted footage

<Steps>
  <Step title="Continuous task footage" icon="circle-play">
    The accepted portion must show natural, continuous work on the captured task.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Task-focused deliverable" icon="crosshairs">
    Clean, task-focused video is more likely to qualify than footage containing unrelated
    activity or interruptions.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Active portions only" icon="stopwatch">
    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.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Hands remain in frame" icon="hand">
    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.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## The golden rule

<div className="golden-plate">
  <span className="golden-eyebrow">The Golden Rule</span>
  <p className="golden-rule">Hands<span className="dot"> · </span>doing real work<span className="dot"> · </span>in frame</p>
  <span className="golden-note">If that's true for the whole clip, you're almost certainly recording something we can pay for.</span>
</div>

## Taking a break

<Tip>
  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.
</Tip>

Separate clips make it easier to submit a clean deliverable without idle portions.

## Safety comes before footage, always

<Warning>
  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.
</Warning>

<Card title="Next: Privacy and consent" icon="shield-halved" href="/recorder/privacy">
  Keep PII out and know exactly what to do if an adult enters the frame.
</Card>