Experimenting With YouTube
I recently wrote a post about how I wanted to have a go at producing some gaming videos for YouTube. “How hard can it be?” I asked rhetorically, knowing that there would probably be a lot more to the process than meets the eye. Two weeks on and I can report back that there is indeed a learning curve but it is not insurmountable. I managed to figure out how to record a video game, edit it and then add a narration as well as a simple animated logo. Furthermore, I succeeded in doing this without spending a lot of money. I bought some video editing software and a year’s subscription to XSplit Broadcaster but got a really good deal on both. In total I paid £41, which is very reasonable. Hence yesterday, I posted my first video on the officially relaunched Contains Moderate Peril YouTube channel.
Like a lot of people, I captured my video game material using OBS Studio. This was easy to configure as there are plenty of YouTube videos on this subject. Deciding what software to use for editing was a little trickier. I didn’t want to use a beast such as DaVinci Resolve as it smacks of using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. Eventually I read a comparison review over at TechRadar and Corel VideoStudio 2023 seemed to fit the scope of my project. It has proved easy to learn and is well supported. All went well to begin with. I edited an 18 minute video down to 8. However, when I started adding more material, I noticed that the sound started getting out of sync, leading to a crash course in the iniquities of video content recorded with a variable frame rate. Remuxing offered a solution but added an extra layer of work. So I switched from OBS Studio, to Bandicam (which stuttered) to XSplit Broadcaster.
The thing about making videos for YouTube, is that it’s only half of the work. Uploading the finished MP4 file and having to input all the metadata required for posting, is a complex task. There is an element of “voodoo” associated with choosing a title and a thumbnail image, along with selecting the right keywords and writing a description that will potentially intrigue viewers. If you’re looking to monetise your YouTube channel (which mercifully, I am not) then there is a lot of pressure to get this process right. Like writing online, I can see how easy it is to start obsessing about numbers and traffic. However, YouTube is already an oversubscribed space so it is best to put thoughts of “global domination” out of your mind. I have and I am just pleased that I managed to produce something.
I guess the question remains, am I going to post YouTube videos regularly? Not exactly. I am going to try to do a few more and see if I can learn how to refine my presentation and make the production process more efficient. If that can be done I don’t see why I can’t publish something once a month? But in true blogger style, I reserve the right to get bored and lose interest, or to have unforeseen complexities in my life which prevent me from doing anything online. It has been fun learning something new. I like to challenge myself and think it important to keep the brain ticking over, especially as you get older. This project has also been a timely reminder of how hard some YouTube content creators work. Especially those who clearly do it as a means of income. It is far more labour intensive than blogging.
