r learns youtube - but will she like it?

The goal - to learn how to make youtube videos and get enough experience to be able to say "yes, I hate making videos" or "no, making videos isn't so bad."

The method - to make 12 videos, roughly one per month, and learn new techniques with each video.  Learn by doing.

After a few rocky starts, here is my youtube channel: crowing hen

To be frank, my videos are shit.  I don't have the skills to make the video turn out how the vision in my mind is.   The closest I've gotten to achieving this vision is my most recent video on laundry. But, alas, it's not a tutorial video - it's more like a lifestyle video.

It's also a lot of work to create disappointing results.  With planning, set up, filming, clean up, editing, publishing, etc, it takes me about 2 hours to create 1 min of finished video.

I also want to learn a bit about how youtube works from a creator's point of view.  I really like this:



My goal with youtube is to ...
...create tutorials
...reach a greater audience than I can with photography and text alone
...fill in gaps in the cannon
...to explore youtube as a passive income stream


What would success look like?

make at least 12 videos

aquire an engaged audience (watch time, subscriptions, likes, comments)

get a decent way towards the monetization because this is the metric that Youtube uses to show success of new channels.

to make videos turn out the way I envision them

What's the goal of this thread?  
- Momentum.  I want to get to 12 videos and interacting with people on forums help motivate me.
- Tips and tricks - not just for making videos, but for understanding youtube.
- somewhere I can talk about this project without boring the people in my household any more than I need to.

Well, I know nothing about video making, but I'll be rooting for you. Sounds like you've got a good plan and that's key to success, I think. My husband thinks I should make videos, but I'm clueless, not to mention not inclined. Anyway, I'll be interested in your learning experience.

Another vote of confidence. It seems (from what I see) that a good portion of the 'expertise' seems to just come from actually doing it for a while. I watch a decent amount of youtube in the cooking and plant areas and even some of the big names were really sloppy when they started!! I think it's great, plus you see them grow and it reminds you they are actually real people and this isn't all out of some studio somewhere.
Yay R!

(PS your about page and titles so far look great.)

Honestly, I think your videos look great. They're beautiful, and a lot better than many videos I've watched. Sure, there's always room for more skills and improvement, but your videos are nice to watch. It'll be great when there's more explanation. But, I've watched a lot of youtube videos. Some are shinier, but their extra level of shininess is like icing on the cake. The cake is still delicious and fulfilling without the frosting. The frosting is just an extra bit of pretty.

Well, here's a funny thing.  Someone offered to pay me to make a video for my channel.  That's lovely.  It's even more lovely is that they were serious.

But I declined.

Maybe one day I'll get there, but for now, I want to keep my relationship with youtube very simple at this time.  Paid promotions get complicated, not to mention the extra pressure to achieve someone else's vision.  Youtube has strict rules about this and I haven't bothered to read that section yet because it will probably change before I'm ready for this sort of thing.

I also want to sit down with myself and a pot of tea and ask some deep questions about who and when would I accept this kind of deal.  Like Sean Tucker says in the video I linked to above, it's important to think about this early.  When would I feel ready to accept money or free stuff for making videos?  What is an ethical framework that I want to set up for my youtube channel?  It's going to be a very large pot of tea to think this through.

Once I finish the 12 videos and achieve a place where I feel more confident in my skills, I might just accept.  OR if I was being paid to create a video for someone else's channel (with them laying out the format of the video and other wobbly stuff I'm struggling with), I might do it sooner.  But for now, I agreed that the person could lend me the item and I would not promise to make a video but I probably would if I felt like it.  I get to play with the thing I really want to play with and I give the thing back after a month.  Very little pressure and I feel this fits with my scruples.  

It's actually a video I've been wanting to make for a long time.  I just haven't had a good shape of what the video would look like in my head.

...

Which brings me to planning.  

So far I have a random idea in my head and I write down the minimum steps I need to film to make it work.  When it comes to filming day, I take way too much footage.  For that one and a half minute laundry day video, I took about 4 hours of video and lost another 4 hours from the second camera.  Ops.  That's far too much footage to wade through during editing.  

So planning?  

That's later, the rain stopped and I have chores to do before it starts again.  

More about planning.

The first step is to research what's been done before.  How is it good?  How is it bad?  Where do I get all upset because they are doing it wrong?  

Would my video fill an empty niche?  

Would my video add to the internet or just be more noise?  

The flick carding video was a prime example of that - The inspiration for that one was from the fact that I couldn't find a single video I liked to show someone how to use a flick carder.
(I just wish I had better music choice for that one.  Oh well)

I liked the video and the music. Well done!

I thought your videos were quite good. Keep it up!
I've also been thinking of doing some videos, and I know for sure the first few will make me cringe, for many reasons.
It's one thing to know the subject matter, and five more to write a script, present it well, shoot good video, get good sound, and edit it. In time, practice and experience make for fewer disappointments, and less time spent, same as for any skills.

Yeah, research. I've watched lots of videos even before the pandemic... and there's a lot of negative examples. Knowing what you don't want is just as (or even more) important as knowing exactly what you are aiming for, which I think you can only understand by doing and learning as you go.
There's also some great videos, and it's hard to measure your efforts against them, since you cannot know how much work and equipment they have spent to get their results.
I've focused mostly on watching similar content to what I'd like to make myself, but there's a lot of "how-to" videos about producing a YouTube channel for me to watch yet... another long winter project...

This is something I find challenging - I don't watch many videos, TV, or visual media.  I'll quite often listen to youtube tutorials while doing something else, but sitting and watching something makes me feel like I should be doing more productive things.  

Some things that can hold my attention:

Main media
- Sherlock
- Dr Who
- Anything (and everything) by Kurosawa
- Many older British Comedies (Monty Python, Black Adder, and that ilk)
- Some British detective shows (Morse etc, Foyles war)

Youtube
- Bernadette Banner
- how to ADHD
- Sean Tucker
- I think she's Chinese and she does crafting, lifestyle, and cooking and it's gorgeous!

Youtube gives a very simple measure of success with a nifty diagram to help beginners understand how to improve.
The monetization metric

This is where I was this morning.  



Which, to my untrained eyes is an excellent start.  

Monetizing my videos isn't my main goal at this time, but it might be something to think about later.  But it is a good measure of how well I'm getting the hang of this youtube thing.  

r ranson wrote:
- how to ADHD
- I think she's Chinese and she does crafting, lifestyle, and cooking and it's gorgeous!

Hello, brain!

...and Liziqi's videos are beautiful and touching.

I know what you mean about watching "something" and feeling like you should be doing more productive things.

another source of inspiration

Thanks for the words of encouragement.  They mean more than I can say.  You guys are the best!

Where I'm at right now?

I have the footage for two films - but these won't be released 'till spring.  One will be very long (hopefully under an hour) and very audience-specific.  After that, I want to make a shorter version (8-11 min) with the same footage for the general permies.  It's a huge project involving multiple people and two organizations.  I don't know why they thought to trust me with this.  Crazy.  The footage is shot and I need to get a draft together so we can know what needs voice over and what can manage without.   You probably won't hear more about this project until it's finished.  But I'm including these two films as one film in my 12-film goal because they are basically me learning the same skillset.  

The filming part was interesting because we had so many people (shot outside with masks on anyone not in front of the camera).  I was able to do the wide shots by setting my camera on the tripod and then run and hold a diffuser or reflector to adjust the natural light while another person had a camera with a monopod and zoom lens filming the closeups (from an appropriate social distancing distance).  

I knew the theory behind diffusers and reflectors and use them regularly in my still photography, but for some reason, I didn't expect them to make such a difference.  Also, the filming was over two days so the light from one day to the next was significantly different (bright sun on day one, overcast grey on day two).  But the new software I'm trying has a way to adjust colour and exposure so if "auto" on the camera wasn't good enough.  So that's something else to learn.

That's enough spoilers.

...

I have a few projects to finish up then I can transform my weaving/sewing/textiles studio into a filming station.  I have the idea for the tutorial but it means making a big mess to find out where I put this and that - where I would remember it of course... if only I could remember where that is.  

I think I might try storyboarding this to see if I like that method.  

Here are some permies threads about making videos and equipment.

finding the right microphone https://permies.com/t/145768/
early questions about making and editing videos - https://permies.com/t/133957/art/hard-edit-youtube-video
more questions on how to edit video https://permies.com/t/124018/art/describe-edit-post-video
what's the best length for a youtube video? https://permies.com/t/134015/art/optimum-length-youtube-video

The next big skill I want to learn is colourgrading.

First thing - find out what it is.
Second thing - find out why to do it?
Third thing - find out how to do it in Filmora9?

Here's another video I've found really helpful.

Mainly out of fear for the lengthy and ever-changing terms and condition on YouTube, I decided to post most of my videos on Bitchute first. Most of my videos are poorly edited anyway so I don't think they would generate much traffic even if I did start a YouTube channel.
Here's my current Bitchute channel if you're curious:
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Riyd6uFNAKXy/

r ranson wrote:This is something I find challenging - I don't watch many videos, TV, or visual media.  I'll quite often listen to youtube tutorials while doing something else, but sitting and watching something makes me feel like I should be doing more productive things.  
...

That same kind of feeling I have too. I prefer listening podcasts while I am doing something more productive, because then I don't have to look.
I do watch youtube videos, the ones that really show something I can learn from. What that is depends on what I want to learn then. I watched many gardening (permaculture) videos.

Your videos look good to me. They are interesting.

Dang, I just found out that views under my unlisted videos won't count towards my monetization metrics.  
oh well.  

There's one thing annoying me in some videos (including the two of those guys talking about youtube videos) and that's the way they start. They always start with "What's up ...". I just do not like that.
I hope you don't address your viewers like that r....

I agree!  "BOT's Up!" is not my style.

I don't know what my style is, that's another part of the process.  But I am learning what I don't want my style to be.

Here's a video I watch from time to time, when I'm thinking about what style fits me best.

So my latest video got 100 views in just under 24 hours.  
I think this is very good for a chanel my size!  Especially when we remember that I don't have a clue what I'm doing.



For this one, I experimented with sound (still didn't get it quite right) and colour correction.  It was filmed at 4-am so I could get a quiet house, but the artificial lighting looks weird.  I think the daytime would be better.  

r ranson wrote:So my latest video got 100 views in just under 24 hours.  
I think this is very good for a chanel my size!  Especially when we remember that I don't have a clue what I'm doing.

For this one, I experimented with sound (still didn't get it quite right) and colour correction.  It was filmed at 4-am so I could get a quiet house, but the artificial lighting looks weird.  I think the daytime would be better.  

Wow very relaxing. I love these types of videos. Some type of piano music in the background. No voice. Just watching and observing, a task/skill being shown! These types of films greatly relax me and send a type of soothing tingling energy thru my body.

Thanks for the video R

i subscribed

i get 3 views on my garden tour videos...
one is me at a friends house
the other two i know who they are
this is on vimeo though.. the tags never seem to get me any views

maybe add a link to youre etsy and links to cotton seed

maybe the laundry one could have a link to the cleaning with cleansers you can eat book

Here we are a couple of months later with the growth chart.

The numbers are higher so that's good.  They kept going up even without me adding videos.  

For a channel as new and as lackadaisical as mine, I think it's doing really well.  But there's so much more I could do.  Wouldn't be wonderful if I could get to that monetization metric by the end of the experiment?  

Some things I want to do
- choose 3 fonts and stick with them for everything.
  - simple font for onscreen text
  - big font for titles
  - little font for title, front and back matter.
- work up my confidence to start talking on the videos.
- get better at lighting and editing
- make a plan for the future

I'm also thinking about constancy.  What is my channel's theme? Is it just fibre arts, or can I include farming and lifestyle things too?  Just tutorials?  

r ranson wrote: ''
I'm also thinking about constancy.  What is my channel's theme? Is it just fibre arts, or can I include farming and lifestyle things too?  Just tutorials?  

Your channel is great, your videos show progress. If you like showing more on different fibres, fibre arts, the farming needed to grow fibres (both plant and animal) and your lifestyle, please do it. I'll watch your videos!

Here is my first attempt at a voice over.

I tried four different microphones and alas, this was the best.



I'll put some subtitles on it later.  

But you know, this actually went quite well.  2 hours filming, 3 hours editing (including the voice-over struggle).  

My voice is starting to sound a bit better than it did in the summer.  It's not as flat as it was, but it's still not as enthusiastic as I would like.  Mostly I was stressed by the technical glitches so I was getting pretty exasperated by the time I got to recording.  

I actually published something with my voice.  I'm feeling pretty darn chuffed with myself.  I think the ability to add voice to videos will expand the kind of videos I can make.  

Woot.  I think I did the captions.  
(would anyone like to check and let me know if it is working?)

Your voice sounds very good. I can clearly understand you.
And you did the re-weaving so beautifully!

Captions worked for me and I learned what warp and weft means...Great video.

I am still learning how to use forums.

Nice video! My mom described this mending method to me years ago, and it's just as I imagined.
I've got a jacket with a hole that I need to mend and I'll do it this way when I do. (been putting it off for years...)
One thing that my mom mentioned was "stealing" some threads from elsewhere in the garment for a perfect match, somewhere like a seam allowance, or a hem.

I just watched your carding cotton video. I think it would be super satisfying to watch some of it in fast motion- like when you take the seeds out of the cotton... After the first two speed up the video and show you completing all of them. It seems silly, but the added dimension makes the video more interesting and other people like me will find it just plain satisfying to see the bowl emptied at the end!

After watching, I feel super ready to sit down and card cotton if given the materials! Only problem, I do not know why I am carding cotton, nor do I know what a punish is and what you do with such a thing. This is where talking to the camera prior to the demonstration (I know, awkward) about what you are going to do and why you're doing it is helpful. Assume people who are completely ignorant on spinning are going to find your video, because one already has :)

I know what you mean.

The spinning videos are going to need a lot more talking.  Which means, building courage.  Something to work towards.

Yesterday I finished a huge video project that took almost 6 months and 400 hours (including filming, acting, editing, setting up, cleaning up, ...).  It was intense and even more so as the video is only half an hour long.  (you'll get to see it in a few months).  We still have some fine-tuning to do once I get the feedback, but for the most part, it's at the "good enough I could publish it today and not hate myself" stage.  

The thing about this video, more than any I made before, is that I am making it in cooperation with other people.  It means I need to be more careful about details like spellchecking and noise levels.  I need to make it so that my part in all this isn't noticeable.  Instead of spending one hour per minute of video created, I'm spending three.  I'm really liking the results and I feel that if I keep going with youtube, I want to do this more.

But will I keep going?  Do I enjoy this medium?  Is it worth my time?  It sure takes a lot of time.  

Wow! Good job taking on such a project and coming to a satisfactory product :) I know that’s a huge deal- I took up podcasting for a short while last year and it was always so satisfying to see my collaborative episodes come out so well. (I only ever was disappointed with one)

I’m glad to see you were happy to take your time getting it done, and done well, rather than feeling the need to rush. I feel like that is the success to creating content online. Otherwise the urge to quit is greater. (I quit when covid hit and I just didn’t want to deal with the covid chaos and continue my online presence.)

As time progresses you’ll get faster in addition to already having previous content you can lean back on to make future productions quicker!

One of the things I'm wondering is if I could get to monetization by the end of 2021 with the equipment I have?  

Which generates other questions:
Can I make the videos I want to make with the gear I have?
Do I have enough ideas of videos to make that fit in my niche?
What is my niche?
How often would I need to publish?  

I know it's just a popularity contest and I've never been a big fan of those, but the monitization metric (1,000 subscribers, 4,000 watch hours) is a good indication of "I have video-making skills that are worthwhile".  It's a medium of expressing myself and I am surprised how much I enjoy it.  I enjoy it almost as much as it frustrates me.  

The answers to the questions will be unique to me.  I am still undecided if I want to go on, but maybe.  possibly.  I don't know.  

More often than not I believe niches are made too big rather than too small. So the issue of ‘can I come up with enough video ideas’ most likely won’t be too much a concern. Even if you can’t think of many now- each new idea in the future may produce another 2-4 other video ideas. Or perhaps what you think is one video should really be multiple.

I never did YouTube but I heard the optimal video is actually short bits, less than 5 minutes. If you go this route- one project easily becomes multiple videos.

I’m personally a long video watcher but I’m not really your average consumer either. But you can take that into matters, too. The niche isn’t just your topic but which audience you want. Maybe you prefer creating long videos less often rather than short videos often. This will appeal to a different subset of people.

Hi R. I don't know for others, but I like watching videos while knitting (maybe others like watching while spinning). The video can be any subject, but of course I am interested to hear and see more on handcrafts, wool and other textiles materials, or gardening (permaculture, food forests). I don't like leaving my knitwork because the video has ended and I have to search for another one ... A video of 15 - 30 minutes is OK. Are you thinking of making such videos?