One complete lesson, mathematics or science, was videotaped in each classroom. What counted as a lesson was determined by what was standard in each participating country. Standardized procedures were developed for the videotaping procedures, and videographers were carefully trained to follow these procedures.

In the TIMSS 1999 Video Study two cameras were used in order to obtain more detailed information on student behavior. One camera (the "teacher camera") focused primarily on the teacher, and was operated manually by a videographer. This camera followed what an attentive student would be looking at during times of public discussion, usually the teacher, and then followed the teacher and sampled students' activities during private work time. The videographer also used this camera to capture close-ups of the chalkboard or overhead screen, objects shown or used in the lesson, students' notebooks or worksheets during periods of private work, and teacher/student interactions during private work.

A second camera (the "student camera") was placed high on a tripod near the front of the room, positioned with a wide angle to include as many students as possible. The main goal of this camera was to capture students' interactions with the teacher and/or each other during the lesson. The student camera facilitated coding of the instruction, for example by reducing the number of inferences coders had to make about what students were doing in response to teacher talk and action, or to what student behaviors the teacher was referring.

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