Make a YouTube Video

This article teaches you how to set up, film, edit, and publish a video on YouTube.

Steps

Choosing Your Equipment

  1. Use a smartphone for mobility. Most smartphones on the market comes with two video-making essentials: a video camera feature to record videos, and a large hard drive to store them. While smartphones are portable, the audio and visual quality may be inferior to that of a dedicated video camera.
    • Depending on the phone you're using, the camcorder may have its own app button, or it may be contained elsewhere, typically in a sub-menu of the camera app. If you're having trouble finding your phone's camcorder function, review its instruction manual or check online.
    • Videos take up a lot of storage space. You may need to transfer your videos off of your phone after recording.
  2. Use a webcam for convenience. As with smartphones, most laptops made within the last 5 years come with an integrated webcam (usually just above the monitor). Webcams tend to have much poorer quality than a standard video camera, but if you can't afford to purchase a smartphone or dedicated camera, they will get the job done.
    • If your computer doesn't have a webcam, you can usually purchase and install one for under $20. You'll likely spend more for a higher-quality camera.
  3. Use a video camera for optimal performance. You can find decent-quality video cameras for under $50 on Amazon, or you can spend around $120 on a high-quality video camera. Video cameras typically have better display quality than a smartphone or webcam.
    • Most modern video cameras have a removable SD card that can be used to transfer videos from the camera to the computer. Double-check to ensure that your selected camcorder has an SD card before purchasing it.
    • Avoid using VHS camcorders or Super 8 cameras, since transferring their information to a digital format on your computer is more hassle than the limited video quality is worth.
  4. Record content that is on your computer monitor. This can be accomplished by downloading 3rd party software that will allow you to record your screen. If you're recording tutorials or video game footage, you'll want to use such a program.
    • Some notable options for recording your monitor are: Hyper Cam, Open Broadcast Software, XSplit, and CamStudio.
    • You can always purchase software to record your screen as well. Many programs also give you the option to live stream your content, so keep that in mind when searching for software.
    • Many programs enable you to have several videos being recorded at once. If you wish, then you can easily set up a face-cam using the previously discussed webcam. By doing so, you can record the main content while having your face-cam as an overlay on the surface of the main content. This is mainly done by streamers, but many people also use this technique for YouTube Videos.
    • When recording, be sure that both the audio and video are properly being recorded by first making a test clip and viewing it.
  5. Consider purchasing a dedicated microphone. While not imperative, good sound quality can make or break a video; to this end, relying on your recording device's built-in microphone isn't ideal. If you can find a reasonably priced microphone that is compatible with your recording device, your videos' quality will improve immensely.
    • Some video cameras come packaged with a dedicated microphone and all of the hardware you need to connect the two.

Coming Up With an Idea

  1. Try writing up a script. While optional, doing this before settling on a video genre will help determine the kind of video you wish to record.
  2. Consider using a current trend for a video. YouTube hosts videos from millions of users, but some types of video are more popular than others:
    • Video blogs, or “vlogs,” are regularly-updated video series featuring the creator talking about whatever is on his or her mind, usually for 10 minutes or less.
    • Video game-related videos attract a fair amount of traffic, especially if you cover recent releases.
    • Tutorials can encompass literally any topic in which you are skilled.
    • Montages are videos filled with images or video clips, set to music.
    • Pet videos are always popular. These are typically recorded with a hand-held device, such as a smartphone or camcorder. They often feature the creator's pet doing something funny or endearing.
    • Reviews are video blogs that review a product or service. Being sardonic and funny when reviewing something will get more people to watch.
    • Comedy videos encompass a wide range of styles and approaches. They're best done with friends, and can feature anything from practical jokes, to silly dancing, to scripted sketches and beyond.
  3. Make a video for a personal purpose. If you'd like to share an experience with friends or relatives who can't be there to live it with you, YouTube is a great way to bridge the gap.
    • Plan ahead of time to film events like family picnics, weddings, and birthdays so that you'll have the raw video to edit and upload to YouTube later.
    • You can choose to lock a video so that only people with the specific URL (web address) of the video can view it, but that's no guarantee it won't eventually be seen by third parties. Keep the content of your video clean and in accordance with YouTube's guidelines.
  4. Make a video out of other videos. This practice is especially popular with clips that don't belong to any specific YouTube user, such as clips of old cartoons and TV shows.
    • If you're taking this route, you won't need video recording equipment, but you will need source files in the form of downloadable video clips. (YouTube clips aren't normally downloadable.)
    • These "remix" videos often exist in legal limbo. You're unlikely to get in any trouble for making one, but if one of the copyright holders for the original clips in your video requests that YouTube remove it from their site, they will do so immediately.

Making the Video

  1. Make sure you have plenty of light. If possible, film during the day, using natural daylight. If you're planning to do a nighttime scene, provide a little bit of light so people can see what you're doing.
    • If you're recording yourself, you should sit facing the light, and the camera should point toward you.
    • If you need alternate lighting in the room, just get a lamp, put a white lightbulb in it, put a thin cloth or sheet over the light, put it behind your iPhone/iPod/camera and point it towards your face. It should work for a good White Light! Just make sure it is not too harsh, but not too dim.
    • This step doesn't apply for screen-capture videos.
  2. Make-Professional-Quality-YouTube-Videos. Once you've settled on an idea for your video, perform whatever tasks you must to set up and prepare, then record the video.
    • You may have to record multiple takes. This is completely normal, especially for a beginner.
    • Record more than you plan to use. You can edit out the extra bits later on. There's no reason to worry too much about getting the timing perfect from the beginning.
  3. Speak loudly and clearly. This serves the dual purpose of both ensuring that you make the most of your audio quality and capturing your audience's attention.
    • If you're using a microphone, speak directly into it. This is especially important when you're using a recording device with a built-in mic.
  4. Stop recording when you're done. Make sure you definitively press the "Stop" button on your selected device. Doing so will typically save your recording automatically. Now that you have your video, it's time to move the file from your recording device to your computer.
  5. If you have a specific colored background, don't wear that color! For Example: Pink Walls: Don't wear anything pink or purple. But, if you have white walls, you can wear any color including white!
  6. Have a clean background! People will think you are unorganized and messy if your background isn't clean enough.
  7. Be cautious of what information you give out. Most likely you won't want anyone knowing where you live or what your number is.

Transferring and Editing

  1. Transfer the video from your smartphone. Either connect the phone to your computer, or send the video there wirelessly.
    • To copy files from your phone to your computer, connect the devices with a cable and use your phone's software (e.g., iTunes for an iPhone) to transfer the files.
    • To share the video to YouTube directly: open the YouTube app, make sure you're logged in with your Google account, tap the video camera icon, and select your video.
    • You can also upload your video to Google Drive and then open it from there in YouTube. You must use the Google Drive account that's tied to your YouTube Google account.
  2. Transfer video from your camcorder. Connect the camcorder to your computer via USB cable, or insert the SD card into your computer's SD card slot (typically located on the right or left side of a laptop's housing).
    • Your computer and the camcorder should both come with features to make the transfer easy. Generally speaking, all you have to do is highlight the video file(s) you want inside the window that displays the contents of your camcorder or disc, and drag the file(s) onto your desktop (Windows) or hard drive (Mac).
  3. Find video from your webcam. Find the file where the video clips are stored and select the one(s) you want. Since they're already on your computer, there isn't much else you have to do.
  4. Find the footage from your monitor recording software. This can usually be located in the same folder that the software itself is in.
    • Some programs save the footage in your computer's "Videos" folder.
  5. Edit your video. To do so, first open it in your editing program of choice. You can research the right editing program to fit your needs and there are lots to choose from for every platform.
    • Several free options include:
      • iMovie - This app comes pre-installed on Mac platforms. It's also an iOS 10 app, meaning you can edit your video on your iPhone.
      • Davinci Resolve - This free editor also has professional color correction features and is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
      • HitFilm 4 Express - This is has a lot of features including visual effect tools and is available for Mac and Windows.
    • Several professional options include:
      • Final Cut Pro X - Costs $299 in the Apple App Store.
      • Vegas Pro - Originally developed by Sony and costs $399.
      • Adobe Premiere Pro - Licensed as a subscription service starting at $19.99 a month.
  6. Save and export your finished video. Be sure to export the file to somewhere you can find it easily.
  7. Upload your video to YouTube when you're ready. This process will differ based on whether or not you choose to do so from a mobile platform.

Maintaining Subscribers

  1. Continue to produce quality content. It does not matter how many viewers your videos usually have--if you don't keep uploading high-quality videos, you will likely lose subscribers.
    • If you need a starting point for viewers, then just show the videos you make to your friends. If they find it interesting, then they may subscribe to you and even share the video with others.
  2. Always thank your viewers. This may seem cheesy, but doing this at the end of every video will help to create your brand, as well as showing your viewers that you are genuine.
    • The only possible exceptions to this rule are videos that are extremely short and/or supposed to end abruptly.
  3. Keep a regular posting schedule. Set goals for yourself, such as promising yourself that you will post one video every week. As your channel grows, you will probably want to start uploading multiple times per week.
    • Do not set unrealistic goals. Estimate how many videos you could manage to make in a certain period of time, and push your expectations back.

Tips

  • Being positive about your brand will encourage other people to view your videos.
  • Avoid purchasing an extremely expensive camera (e.g., a DSLR) unless you know how to use it.

Warnings

  • Don't plagiarize other people's content.
  • Like any popular website with user-created content, YouTube is full of bullies, trolls, and people who will attempt to bring you down. If ignoring them isn't enough, you can disable comments on your videos.

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