Video/Photo Editing Basics

I've always wanted to make my own videos and there is a lot of things I had to learn.

Video Editing

Programs: For PC / Computer

DaVinci Resolve - A full-on video editor software that can do so much customization, you could take a class on it and still need help learning about it. However, once you get the basics down its all smooth sailing from there.

Tips

Fading Audio
Keybinds
Outline Text under Text Shading. Enable Select Element 2. Set thickness 0.0488 is good and color to black. Set this for first text box and copy paste for all new text boxes to save time.

Apps: For Phone

Quik (By GoPro) - A phone app that lets you select photos and video files to quickly put on a timeline and even will sync the film to your music. The only drawback is that the editing has its limits and you can only select 1 song to add to videos. If you are making a video with multiple songs, this is not the app for that.

Tips

The order you select your files will be the order of the video scenes. I wish DaVinci did this.

Video Recording
In order to create a video, you must first record the video. Whether outside or on a virtual screen, you'll need to figure out the best way for you.

Camera Types

Webcam - Usually attached to a laptop or external device connected by USB.
Action Cam - An example is the famous GoPro.
Phone - Simply use your phone to record, most phones can record 4k resolution just fine.
Professional Camera - Most expensive and you would have to do your research on what you are willing to spend and features you need at each price point.

OBS Studio - Allows you to record the screen of your PC, so others can see what you're doing on the screen and is very customizable. Download OBS

Blurred Background Effect - If you do not have a nice to look at background, when recording yourself speaking... It is very beneficial to blur the background. I was able to find a few methods to do this with the article here.

Lighting/Camera Mounts - Can make a big difference in your video clarity. For example, having a video mount on a motorcycle helmet so your hands are free. The lighting is helpful, let's say you're in a dark room and your viewers can't see you with the lights turned off. The type of light and its direction will impact the look of you or your focused object while recording.

Photo Editing

Apps: For PC / Computer

Paint - This is a program where you can copy/pasta screenshots taken on your PC/Computer and save the image onto your computer. You can also add multiple photos and text to the same file and make creative collages. I use this for my YouTube Thumbnails and screenshot saves.

Tips

Add Outlined Text
Exact Pixel Sizing (You can use this for making YouTube Thumbnails) "Click Resize>Check Pixels"

Apps: For Phone

Gallery (Android) - This is the default image app of android phones, it is also a video/photo editor if you select a file and click on the pencil button.

Tips

If you press and hold on a file it will make a check mark and you can select multiple files to put in the editor. The order you select will be the order put together.

Instagram (download after edit) - A popular social media with posts, stories, reels.

Tips

You can add images or videos as a story on Instagram and add music/text/emojis and then download it.

Video Uploading
You have to know where you want to upload your videos. Where will they be seen by others.

YouTube - This is a popular video uploading website that many people hope to share their videos with many viewers. You can also become very popular and make a living if your fan base is big enough.

Tips

Thumbnail size 1280x720 (This is the picture on your video that people see and click on to watch your video. I call this the cover photo of your video.)

Social Medias - Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok etc... all allow you to upload posts/videos.

Royalty Free Music

In order to not get your sound muted from uploading, you have to use a royalty-free music provider.

This was a hard one for me because I had already made so many videos without royalty-free music. Originally, I was making videos with movie soundtrack songs. I ended up being really discouraged to make videos for many years, because I couldn't post them on YouTube... Until I watched a YouTuber one day and they mentioned how they found music for their videos. I went and learned about royalty-free music. I saw the websites, selections and that's when I decided to start over and make videos again. EpidemicSound is basically the best sounding and quality to me personally, out of all the cheesy royalty-free options. I found many other websites lacked any character and sounded very monotonous. They didnt just sound monotonous but also were very steep in pricing. This place has music that I could actually enjoy myself and the pricing was affordable. Other sites might make you pay per song and just didn't have any quality in my opinion.

So, if you didn't know... YouTube and other big websites will monitor the sound in your videos and basically mute the sound if it's not royalty-free. Unless you're a big star and have connections for using big famous sound content, I'm not sure how that works yet. For some reason the big companies refuse to let us use their sound even if we are doing a non-monetized video. So, even if you're not making any money on that video, they will still not let you use the sound. Just be aware of this if you choose to have any music in your video. Royalty-free just makes it less of a hassle for new creators, unless you know how or have hook-ups already.

EpidemicSound - This is a popular music/sound selection website among other YouTubers, they offer a monthly and yearly subscription service.

Tips

You can download as many songs/sounds as you want while subscribed and if you decide not to pay anymore for a sub, you're still protected.
I always make sure to give EpidemicSound and the artist credit in the description of my videos.
You will need to list your social medias and YouTube channel in your account, so I have listed HowtoCalmLife's YouTube, IG, Facebook in my profile.

Selecting Sounds/Music - This is one of the tasks we have as video creators, you must sample or listen to many songs and pick some for download. Once you have a nice selection of sound you can then have them ready to add into your videos. I usually have a video in mind when I'm sampling music and wait until I think a song matches my content. I will also save songs that I would like to use later. A good way to find music is to have it play in the background and whenever you like one, just download it at the time of hearing it.

Pricing - Monthly or Yearly (Annual). They also have 3 different memberships; I just have 1 brand... so I chose the Personal/Annual membership.

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