video-pacing

# Video Pacing

Comprehensive guide to video rhythm, timing, and pacing for maximum viewer engagement across platforms.

## Core Principle

**Pacing = Information Density x Visual Change Rate**

The optimal pace balances cognitive load with visual stimulation. Too fast overwhelms; too slow loses attention.

## Attention Curve Theory

```
Engagement
    |
100%|●━━━━━━━━━━●
    |          ╲
 80%|           ╲━━━━━━━━━━━━━━●
    |                          ╲
 60%|                           ╲━━━━━━●
    |                                  ╲
 40%|                                   ╲━━━━━━●
    |                                          ╲
 20%|                                           ╲━━━●
    |
  0%└────────────────────────────────────────────────▶
    0s   3s   10s   30s   60s   90s   120s   180s
              Time in Video

■ Critical retention points:
  • 0-3s: Hook (lose 33% without strong hook)
  • 10s: First major drop-off
  • 30s: Platform algorithm threshold
  • 60s: Half-time engagement check
```

## Platform-Specific Pacing Rules

| Platform | Optimal Cut Rate | Avg. Shot Duration | Hook Window | Sweet Spot Length |
|----------|------------------|-------------------|-------------|-------------------|
| TikTok   | 20-40 cuts/min   | 1.5-3 seconds     | 0.5 seconds | 15-30 seconds     |
| Reels    | 15-30 cuts/min   | 2-4 seconds       | 1 second    | 30-60 seconds     |
| YouTube Shorts | 15-25 cuts/min | 2-4 seconds    | 1.5 seconds | 30-60 seconds     |
| YouTube Long | 8-15 cuts/min  | 4-8 seconds       | 5 seconds   | 8-15 minutes      |
| LinkedIn | 5-10 cuts/min    | 6-12 seconds      | 3 seconds   | 60-90 seconds     |
| Twitter/X | 15-25 cuts/min  | 2-4 seconds       | 1 second    | 15-45 seconds     |

## Cut Frequency Patterns

### High-Energy Pattern (TikTok, Reels)
```
Time:    |0s     |1.5s   |3s     |4.5s   |6s     |7.5s   |9s
Cuts:    ●━━━━━━━●━━━━━━━●━━━━━━━●━━━━━━━●━━━━━━━●━━━━━━━●
Energy:  [HIGH]  [HIGH]  [PEAK]  [HIGH]  [PEAK]  [HIGH]  [END]
``