Client demo video: send a page with chapters and a transcript

A client demo video works best when your client can jump straight to the part they care about, read what you said, and download the files without asking. Cheap Recorder can write a small page file next to your recording that does all three: it plays the demo, lists chapters you marked, shows the transcript and links every file, and it opens from the folder with nothing to host. This guide shows you how to record one and how to send it so it works on your client's computer.

Why a page beats a bare video file

When you send a client a plain MP4, they open it, skim, and scrub back and forth looking for the bit about their question. If they missed something you said, they have to find it again by ear. If they want to share one part with a colleague, they send the whole video with a note like "around the middle".

A page with chapters fixes that. Each chapter is a moment you marked while recording, and clicking its time jumps the player there. The transcript sits under the player with times and speaker names, so your client can read instead of rewatching, and clicking a time in the transcript jumps the player too. A Files list gives them a download link for every file the session wrote.

What you need before you record

• A plan with the publish page file. On the standard plans this is Creator and up. Creator is $12 a month billed monthly, or $4.99 a month billed yearly, with a 7-day free trial. Open your name in the top right to check your plan.
• Google Chrome on a computer, and a folder to save into.
• A short outline of the demo. Write the three to six parts you will show. Each part will become a chapter.
• Optional: ffmpeg. If you want a cut-down MP4 as well, you need a computer that can run a bash script and has the free tool ffmpeg installed.

How to record a client demo video with a page file

1. Under Where to save, press Choose folder and pick a folder.
2. Open Options and tick Also save every source separately. This step decides everything: the page is only written in this mode. You cannot add the page afterwards, so if you forget, you have to record again.
3. Leave Live transcript ticked if you want the transcript on the page. While it is on, Chrome sends your microphone audio to Google to turn it into text.
4. Under What to capture, choose A browser tab for a web app. That keeps your other tabs and apps out of the demo. Leave Record my webcam on if you want to appear in the corner.
5. Type the title your client should see into Name this recording. It becomes the heading of the page and part of the folder's name.
6. Press Start recording. Each time you move to a new part of your outline, press M or Add marker.
7. Press Stop and finish.

Your folder now holds a new folder for this demo, with the MP4 and its transcript. Inside it, the Separate sources folder holds each source as its own file, the caption files, a markers list, a manifest, a script called finalise.sh, and publish.html. In this mode the recording card does not offer Download MP4 or Convert, because everything is already in the folder.

Tidy the transcript before you send it

Your client will read the transcript, so give it two minutes. In the recording card, open Transcript. Click any word to cut it, such as a false start or a sentence you said twice. If the transcript shows Speaker boxes, give each speaker a proper name, for example your name and your colleague's. Then press Apply edits and rewrite files. The page is written again, and cut words no longer appear in its transcript.

On plans that include cutting words from the transcript, Remove filler words marks every um, uh, erm, hmm, like, you know, basically, sort of and kind of in red. Scan the red words once before you save, because "like" and "you know" are often real words. The guide to cutting filler words explains each button.

What your client sees

Open publish.html from the Separate sources folder in Chrome and check it before you send it. Your client sees:

• A header with the Cheap Recorder name and mark, or your own brand name, colour and logo on plans that include the brand kit (Business and up on the standard plans).
• The title and length of the demo, and a link to download the main recording.
• A player for the main recording, with your camera in its corner if you recorded it.
• Chapters, one per marker. With no markers, the page says "No chapters were marked."
• The transcript, with times and speaker names.
• Files, a list of every recording and file the session wrote, each with a download link.
• A small footer reading "Published with Cheap Recorder", which plans with white-label publish pages leave off.

A worked example: a dashboard handover

Say you built a reporting dashboard for a client and want to hand it over without a live call. Your outline has four parts: logging in, the daily view, filters, and exporting a report.

1. You record a one-minute practice with two markers and open its publish.html. Seeing the page once tells you exactly what your client will get.
2. You tick Also save every source separately, choose the dashboard's browser tab, and name the recording "Sales dashboard handover".
3. You record for nine minutes and press M four times, once at the start of each part.
4. In the transcript you cut two false starts, press Remove filler words, restore one "like" that was a real word, and press Apply edits and rewrite files.
5. You open publish.html. The heading reads "Sales dashboard handover", the page lists four chapters, and the transcript reads cleanly.

Your client opens the page, clicks the "exporting a report" chapter, and watches only the two minutes they needed.

Send it the right way

Send the whole folder of the recording, not just the page. publish.html plays the MP4 one folder up and links to the other files by their names, so it only works when they sit where the recorder put them. Zip the recording's folder and share the zip. Nothing is uploaded by Cheap Recorder; the page and the files stay on your computer until you send them.

Cuts in the transcript do not shorten the MP4 the page plays. If you want the cut words gone from the video too, open a terminal in the Separate sources folder and run bash finalise.sh on a computer with ffmpeg installed. It makes demo.mp4 there, applies the transcript cuts and adds your markers as chapters. Word timings are estimates, so watch demo.mp4 through, then send it alongside the page.

If your demo includes a call with the client's team, tell everyone you are recording. The client demo guide covers each step, and getting captions and a transcript while you record explains how the transcript works.

Frequently asked questions

Does my client need an account to open the page?

The page opens straight from the folder with nothing to host. Send the whole recording folder as a zip so the page can find the video and files.

Why is there no publish.html in my folder?

The page is only written when Also save every source separately is ticked before you record. It cannot be added afterwards, so tick it and record again.

Can I remove my ums from the demo video?

Yes, on plans that include cutting words from the transcript. Mark the words, press Apply edits and rewrite files, then run bash finalise.sh with ffmpeg to make demo.mp4 without them.

Which plan has the publish page?

Creator and up on the standard plans. The brand kit, with your own name, colour and logo on the page, is on Business and up.

Get started

The free plan needs no card, and Creator has a 7-day free trial. Try Cheap Recorder in Chrome, record a one-minute practice demo with two markers, and see the page your client will get.