EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: kalel on July 31, 2017, 10:28:25 pm
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With so much inspiration, I wouldn't be surprised that new people will make new electronics channels (happens all the time, most likely).
And, a lot of people on the forum also have some experience making such videos themselves.
What would you recommend to anyone that might want to start a new electronics channel?
Recommendations might include simple tips or even advice on video format, audio format, and/or content format.
Any traps or issues you've experienced yourself that could be avoided, and anything that you just don't want to see in videos as a viewer.
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That depends on your capabilities and experience.
I think we have enough "educational" channels. I feel distinct lack of channels that show a process of working on a big long-term project. That may not be the best content for money views though.
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The best tip anybody can give you is to never give up. Seriously, determination to get a youtube channel going is the most important part.
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You may use my channel as an example of what not to do. :)
I've had it up for two years and have only 40 subscribers. Although a good part of that is because I haven't posted much. But I do have a few videos with thousands of views so I wonder why none of those viewers subscribe.
I am a bit annoyed by the fact that I intended to create an electronics channel but my most popular videos are the two where I repair the broken hinges on my old Toshiba laptop, and an unboxing video for the Dell laptop that replaced it when my hinge repair on the Toshiba didn't last.
I thought about the possibility of making a series of educational videos where I go through all the projects of the old Radio Shack 150-in-1 kit and build each circuit - maybe on breadboard with modern parts, not in the kit - and explain how each circuit works. Don't know if there's much value in that though because most of the old timers that used the 150-in-1 kits and would watch for nostalgic reasons don't need educational videos on how those circuits work as they built them all 30 years ago...
My latest video was just a fun video to enter the Flashing Light Prize 2017 contest but the judges already told me I couldn't win before the contest is even over. :'(
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What would you recommend to anyone that might want to start a new electronics channel?
1. Stick to what interests you, there is a niche for everything. It's harder to make a general interest channel.
2. Audio is more important than video
3. Ensure good video framing at all times
4. Stick to a consistent schedule (two per week recommended), and remember that it takes years to build up a successful channel, unless you crush stuff with a hydraulic press ;D
5. Don't fuss over details or try to "polish" your video. If it takes too long to make videos then it will become a chore and you'll give up easily.
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My latest video was just a fun video to enter the Flashing Light Prize 2017 contest but the judges already told me I couldn't win before the contest is even over. :'(
After watching the video, I would agree. That's cheating.
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My latest video was just a fun video to enter the Flashing Light Prize 2017 contest but the judges already told me I couldn't win before the contest is even over. :'(
After watching the video, I would agree. That's cheating.
Yeah, I knew I wouldn't win with a self-flashing bulb but I made the video anyway just for the fun of it. I wanted to say "They already make bulbs that flash themselves automatically." :) What I didn't expect was for @FlashingSystems on Twitter to shoot it down before the contest was even over. :)
My one good idea was to manufacture my own bulb from scratch and then flash it, but I saw Alan Yates / vk2zay tweeting pics of making a bulb and doing better job of it than I would have I didn't bother.
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My latest video was just a fun video to enter the Flashing Light Prize 2017 contest but the judges already told me I couldn't win before the contest is even over. :'(
After watching the video, I would agree. That's cheating.
Yeah, I knew I wouldn't win with a self-flashing bulb but I made the video anyway just for the fun of it. I wanted to say "They already make bulbs that flash themselves automatically." :) What I didn't expect was for @FlashingSystems on Twitter to shoot it down before the contest was even over. :)
My one good idea was to manufacture my own bulb from scratch and then flash it, but I saw Alan Yates / vk2zay tweeting pics of making a bulb and doing better job of it than I would have I didn't bother.
That's funny, because yesterday I was doing a video for the "Flashing Light Prize 2017" too, and I almost gave up. In theory, the project should have worked, but it was all erratic, like there was a loose contact somewhere. Checked the wiring, the connections, even the reed switches. All good. Checked again. Nothing! And the contest's deadline was only a few hours away. And I was still filming. And I was never made a video editing before. Nightmare!
Finally, I tested the bulb by powering it with a battery, and not by measuring it with the DMM, and to my surprise the little prick started to flash by itself, like it was making fun of me, or something!
:palm: :-DD
When I put the light bulb under the microscope, one side of the filament was connected to a bimetallic switch. Total surprise. I never knew such thing even exists! So I filmed it more as a curiosity, and to have something small as a first video edit. Then I put the 30 seconds video in the contest. Never thought of cheating when doing that, nor pretend that I should win. It was just for fun. All the crazy ideas for that contest are just like that, for fun! And indeed it was way more fun than I expected, and not only because of that red-head bulb.
Now that I think about it, how would one pick the winner for the "Flashing Light Prize 2017"? No idea. I guess the best strategy, and the most fair, to have a winner for such a crazy contest will probably be to just draw straws. Maybe they were joking when they told that you are disqualified, or they want you to go for yet another idea, so it will be even more crazy entries to the contest.
OK, enough rambling.
To get back on-topic, the most daunting task for a video channel will be, in my opinion, filming and editing. It's an incredible slow process. It feels like a total waste of time. Maybe it was just me, because last night was the first time when I really edited a video, or maybe I picked the wrong software (Blender and Gimp, never used them, or something similar before). But still, I don't think the software or the lack of skill were the main problems. It really is tedious to make a high quality video. I heard from film professionals that for 5 minutes of video, it could take many hours, maybe days to finish those 5 minutes, even if you have the best tools.
- My first recommendation will be to make a few videos first, and see how long does it takes to produce 5 minutes of video weekly.
- Also, don't start by buying expensive audio/video equipment. Any camera will be enough the first videos, even a phone will do it. The quality of a video is in its content, not in its pixels.
Let me give you an example: https://www.youtube.com/user/dgelbart/videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/dgelbart/videos)
The resolution is 480p, but the content is gold.
Of course, depending on the channel style, that could be easier or harder to do. Also, it is not clear if you want to do it for the money, or as a hobby. Video containers and codecs are just details.
So, go for it, give it a shot! You have nothing to lose if you try. Even if the channel will not get moment, you will still be a winner, because there are a lot of new things and new skills to learn while trying to build an electronics channel.
And here is a closeup with the little troubling beast:
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Thanks everyone so far! While I'm not planning, at least for now, to make such a channel myself. If I had the experience of some here, perhaps (not that beginners can't have their own channels, perhaps discussing their learning process and their ways of grasping things as they go). I did however think that the answers you provide could be useful to anyone that does take this on, and the more supportive/informative tips we can accumulate, the more new interesting channels we may end up seeing.
Video editing:
As was mentioned, I myself would recommend not going with expensive software if the channel is for fun (if profit is immediately the plan, perhaps expensive software may be a decent long term investment, but there's probably little reason to begin and 'feel the waters' using such things).
YouTube has an editor for example which might be enough to do most of the basic operations necessary. This thread is about YouTube, but if someone e.g. wanted to use Vimeo or another similar website, they might not have one included (I haven't used them to create content, so I'm not sure).
In either case, I would start first with free editors for simple editing.
E.g. Virtual Dub, Avi Demux (both for cutting/joining segments, simple filtering), and Fusion. Handbrake for conversions if necessary. Fusion not open source, but is a really powerful piece of software (professional level), and the free version comes with some limitations, most of which wouldn't matter for simple video editing (adjusting colors, adding text, animating things, so forth - it supports loading 3D models too). More and more free and/or open source video editing tools keep popping up. It's important to find one that seems simple to use for you, or at least simple enough that you feel you will be able to learn it as you go along.
If on Linux, it has a lot of awesome video editors of its own.
As for fancy editing, I haven't noticed that many electronics channels use too much fancy editing (probably mostly standard cutting/joining segments, adjusting colors and contrast if needed and maybe removing audio noise - which Audacity can do decently - and such). Even Dave himself mentioned something related:
5. Don't fuss over details or try to "polish" your video. If it takes too long to make videos then it will become a chore and you'll give up easily.
It could apply to video editing. If you spend 99% of the time on video editing, it probably won't be fun to do. Unless you are interested in video editing specifically. For example, 3D animations can be used to make instructional videos. These have a lot of designing, rendering, editing, and perhaps no camera filming involved at all.
Camera/recording:
As for Hardware used, from what I understand BigClive used a tablet and a smartphone or two (and maybe something else?). There are no quality issues with his videos what-so-ever. So, unless you want to record at 1000 FPS (I think there's a phone for that too - but might be pricey?) or want some special macro/zoom features, you probably don't need to buy any recording equipment. You may or may not want to buy an external microphone if it works with your phone (first try, maybe it sounds great already). If you need one - I would search for a cheap solution if you're willing to wait until it arrives - they can give impressive results for the price. If you're recording voice overs on PC, if using an integrated soundcard, you may experience some unwanted noise. In that case, I would consider getting a cheap (or as desired) USB Microphone, even the cheapest should still be able to remove some of that noise (unless you have very low noise on your recordings already, some high end motherboards might have decent sound-cards).
PC hardware:
Most likely, you won't need a "beast of a PC" to do video editing and what you have might be completely fine. If it's taking extremely long (or you're processing high resolution, high FPS content), then perhaps there's some way to make the workload lighter using different filters/settings or use faster software.
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To get back on-topic, the most daunting task for a video channel will be, in my opinion, filming and editing. It's an incredible slow process. It feels like a total waste of time. Maybe it was just me, because last night was the first time when I really edited a video, or maybe I picked the wrong software (Blender and Gimp, never used them, or something similar before). But still, I don't think the software or the lack of skill were the main problems. It really is tedious to make a high quality video. I heard from film professionals that for 5 minutes of video, it could take many hours, maybe days to finish those 5 minutes, even if you have the best tools.
IME, "Film professionals" are the last people a budding Youtuber should be taking advice from, Youtube videos in our engineering genre should not be massive professional productions. There are exceptions to this like say The Engineer Guy, but he's AFAIK, literally the only one who uses "proper" production techniques. Click Spring if you count mechanical eng.
But yes, a polished 5 minute video can take a week to produce. Take Afrotechmods as an example, classic nicely produced 5 minute videos. They take him 30+ hours work for each 5 minute video.
Personally, if a video takes me more than a day from concept to finished product then I'm not really interested in doing it. There are exceptions, but that's the basic rule.
I would not shoot for a highly polished video off the bat, unless you have a specific idea for the style of your channel. Most people don't have that intention, so just shoot video of whatever you are interested in and upload it and get feedback.
- Also, don't start by buying expensive audio/video equipment. Any camera will be enough the first videos, even a phone will do it. The quality of a video is in its content, not in its pixels.
A phone will only work if you have light, and lots of it. Light is key. "Low Light" is basically anything indoors.
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As for fancy editing, I haven't noticed that many electronics channels use too much fancy editing (probably mostly standard cutting/joining segments, adjusting colors and contrast if needed and maybe removing audio noise - which Audacity can do decently - and such).
If you have to edit color, contrast, or audio then you are doing it wrong.
Try to get everything right in-camera, that includes the audio.
I do the odd level adjustment of clips in audio (just match them visually by the waveform, don't normalise or compress), but that's it.
It could apply to video editing. If you spend 99% of the time on video editing, it probably won't be fun to do. Unless you are interested in video editing specifically. For example, 3D animations can be used to make instructional videos. These have a lot of designing, rendering, editing, and perhaps no camera filming involved at all.
My biggest tip is the shoot your clips in sequence.
Almost every video I do it shot in sequence. If I have to change the macro lens and move the tripod 20 times, I do it.
This saves countless time editing.
I just drop my clips into the timeline, trim the start and the end, and that's basically it. All because I get it right in-camera and shoot in sequence. It will save your sanity.
As for audio, all my behind camera stuff uses the built in mic in the Canon HF G30. If you are within say 40cm of the internal mic in acoustically ok room (e.g. not a bathroom) then internal mics in all but the crappiest camera work fine.
Whiteboard stuff I will use a professional expensive wireless mic.
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I wouldn't be at all surprised if you ask any Youtuber that they'll say the hardest video to make was the first one.
The hardest part (newbie or seasoned) is being happy to release an imperfect video and move onto the next one.
You can always improve your video in countless ways, so you have to resign yourself to the fact that no video will be perfect, or turn out as you had intended.
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You CAN make videos with the camera in your phone. All mine are recorded with my Droid Turbo XT1254 phone. It won't be up to the quality of a real camera because you can't really control things like exposure and white balance as well, but it will work. One thing I did to make it easier is I threw about $5 at some Ali Express seller and got a "smartphone telescope" that has a spring loaded bracket that you snap the phone into and can mount it on a tripod. I just use it as a tripod mount and don't screw in the crappy "telescope" lens.
If you can do your videos Big Clive style - one take without pausing, go for it. Editing video is the least fun part of the process. Although it gets less frustrating after you learn some software so you aren't stumbling around figuring out how to do the editing the way you want.
If you can't do it in one take, I've learned a few tricks to make editing easier. Don't talk continuously - it leaves you with no points where you can cut and paste clips and have it sound right. So as I'm filming I often just don't say anything for a few seconds while I think about what to say next, then do that part, then wait a few seconds before I start the next segment. This goes totally against the Big Clive style single take, but I can't do that anyway and get it right. If I get a part wrong, I just pause a bit and do it over without even stopping the camera.
When you go to video editing use an editor that shows the sound waveform. You can easily see each little segment because of the silence between each segment. If things went OK you can just cut out part of the silent parts to make things flow better and if you re-do part it's easy to see where to put the cut points to chop out when you did it wrong the first time.
Don't jump into trying to use complicated video editing software with features you don't need when you are just starting out. I did research on free video editing software and ended up on Blender. I then spent hours watching tutorial videos on YouTube just to learn enough to do basic editing. The user interface is far from intuitive and it seems like you have to memorize a bunch of stuff that isn't logical to remember how to function in Blender.
So I took a step back when I realized all I really needed to be able to do was just cut and paste clips together and put some title text at the beginning and some "credit" text at the end asking viewers to like and subscribe.
So people might laugh at this, but I went to using Windows Movie Maker. It's a very limited editor - all you can really do with it is cut and paste clips together, do some transition effects, and overlay text. But that's all I was doing. And it's much more user friendly than complicated editing software. I can chop and delete segments so fast with WMM compared to other software.
Problem is that it has only one track, you can't overlay other video clips or audio clips. So I've had to go back to looking at "real" editing software when I want to do things like that. I didn't want to go back to Blender, so I did a bit more research and found a program called "DaVinci Resolve." It's a professional video editing system, but they have a free version with some limited features (I think you can't render 4K). But I haven't used it much yet so I can't give an opinion on using it for simple YouTube videos.
Dave's advice to get the audio right from the start is good. My phone doesn't really do great audio unless you are only a few inches from it, so on most of my videos I put a lot of time into fixing the audio after the recording. I'd edit the video and then render it, then strip off the audio with ffmpeg, load it in Audacity and do a de-noise and amplify, save it back to a new audio file, then use ffmpeg to replace the audio in the original file. Lots of trouble just to get it to sound acceptable. Fortunately the audio and video stayed in sync when I did this. A quick way to annoy your viewers is to end up with audio out of sync with the video.
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When you go to video editing use an editor that shows the sound waveform. You can easily see each little segment because of the silence between each segment. If things went OK you can just cut out part of the silent parts to make things flow better and if you re-do part it's easy to see where to put the cut points to chop out when you did it wrong the first time.
Yes, that's how I do it too. I edit everything on the timeline based on the audio waveform.
Except that I usually press stop and start after each clip. Gives me time to think, move the camera and re-frame, check a datasheet on the internet etc. Also leads to less overall file size (I keep all my raw footage), andi s handy to see the thumbnails in the editor file window to know what you've got.
An average video of mine would be 50-60 clips, 100+ for a big video. But because they are all in sequence, it's trivial to edit.
Don't jump into trying to use complicated video editing software with features you don't need when you are just starting out. I did research on free video editing software and ended up on Blender. I then spent hours watching tutorial videos on YouTube just to learn enough to do basic editing. The user interface is far from intuitive and it seems like you have to memorize a bunch of stuff that isn't logical to remember how to function in Blender.
If you have to spend hours figuring it out then it's the wrong software.
I'd recommend trying NCH VideoPad, but I use Vegas for reasons I won't try to explain.
Dave's advice to get the audio right from the start is good. My phone doesn't really do great audio unless you are only a few inches from it, so on most of my videos I put a lot of time into fixing the audio after the recording. I'd edit the video and then render it, then strip off the audio with ffmpeg, load it in Audacity and do a de-noise and amplify, save it back to a new audio file, then use ffmpeg to replace the audio in the original file. Lots of trouble just to get it to sound acceptable.
Yep, this is to be avoided at all costs.
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If you have to spend hours figuring it out then it's the wrong software.
I'd recommend trying NCH VideoPad, but I use Vegas for reasons I won't try to explain.
I can also recommend it.
Its not the fastes rendering I think ... but its easy and cheap ;-)
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My biggest tip is the shoot your clips in sequence.
Absolutely. Your editing is then mostly just chopping gaps out, and inserting the odd still/caption. Having to keep track of un-sequenced clips adds an order of magnitude of hassle.
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What I miss on EE YT channels but perhaps they are there already:
Brand new parts released from the silicon vendors:
- show the (new) application/performance with a quick demonstration board (DIY or vendors built)
- what is making them better than there was before
- comparison to common used jelly bean parts
There are many domains (analog , digital, microcontroller, dc-dc etc. etc.) this can be done for.
Preferably done by an expert on that domain that has the years of knowledge so (s)he can explain why this new part is better or an improvement and can compare to existing parts
The silicon vendors might even sponsor this expert for showing off their new products.
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My biggest tip is the shoot your clips in sequence.
Absolutely. Your editing is then mostly just chopping gaps out, and inserting the odd still/caption. Having to keep track of un-sequenced clips adds an order of magnitude of hassle.
I know bloggers who insist on shooting out of sequence and also with external audio recorders they need to sync up later because that's how the film industry "professionals" do it. Double mistake whammy!
BTW, the new Youtube algorithm flavors frequent and longer content. Perfect for engineering type videos with less production value.
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The silicon vendors might even sponsor this expert for showing off their new products.
IME they are not willing to pay real engineering rates for the time it takes to produce such a video
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I know bloggers who insist on shooting out of sequence and also with external audio recorders they need to sync up later because that's how the film industry "professionals" do it. Double mistake whammy!
I started experimenting with a few different non-integrated audio options two or three months ago, including a lav mic, shotgun mic and condenser mic (all Rode). I also tried a couple of external recorders (Zoom H1 & Tascam DR-60D Mk2).
For my style of videos, which are mostly these days in the BigClive overhead style, and shot in a well-damped lab, the lav mic produced the best consistent result, but to be honest there wasn't a huge difference compared to the internal mic of the camera. The shutgun mic was actually worse than the in camera mic for these overhead shots.
There's no doubt that the condenser mic sounded the best when used as a scripted voice over or as a talking head, but that's not my normal style of video. The condenser mic also has to use an external recorder to provide phantom power, and this in itself is a bit of additional hassle to set up.
When using the external audio recorders, it isn't a huge hassle to sync for a single take video, and the video editing software takes care of the dubbing for you at the press of a button or two. Much more of a problem was forgetting to press record on the external audio recorder!
I've now gone back to just using the in camera mic 90%+ of the time, which, for the typical style of video I do a la BigClive, works reasonably well. If I were usually in an echoey room I'd probably use the lav.
So in short, for BigClive style overhead shots in a reasonably damped environment, I found there's little to be gained from external mics. If your videos are a different style, or you're in a different environment (echoey or outside) then I could certainly see a benefit from using them. The recorders are OK, but I found it too hard to remember to always press record on both the camera and the recorder, i.e., it wasn't worth the hassle most of the time.
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What would you recommend to anyone that might want to start a new electronics channel?
2. Audio is more important than video
As a former hobby sound recordist, cannot re-iterate this point enough. Sound usually is an afterthought even in large productions, especially when lighting a scene can take a lot of hours, and sound basically hook their stuff up 15 minutes before filming. But if you get it wrong, it basically ruins the illusion you are creating with vids.
Check your levels, and never go in the red. Listen to your microphone especially when recording in new places. If you have a mixer and shotgun mic, you can use 2 channels with one set with low gain and the other with high gain to pick up large volume differences with minimal distortion to at least one of the channels. Not sure how important it is for youtube vids, but you want to avoid a lot of sounds that will be picked up from a mic and if you are editing can cause severe problems if it doesn't happen during the whole segment which can cause you to re-shoot or at minimum do an ADR or try and mix out the sound in post. Things like air conditioners, airplanes, old mechanically switching fluorescent tubes, etc. can all be very jarring. If you can't eliminate noise, then a smart thing to do is to record at least 30 seconds of silence at the end of filming at a location with all the crew and gear still present. This will allow you to easily edit in the noise in any place of your cut. So that your cuts are more natural. One of the worst things you can do as well is if you have a mono audio source is to not put the audio over both left and right channels.
For all of my shoots, we did not use a separate recorder, we used an external mixer, but fed the audio back through the camera. Some of these tips may not be useful for small vids, but are just some of the things I recall from the productions I worked on.
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Is it important to have face time or bench video? I've seen quite a lot with just audio and a PC screen showing / explaining designs, concepts etc.
Do people prefer to see someone or are they less distracted by just listening?
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Is it important to have face time or bench video? I've seen quite a lot with just audio and a PC screen showing / explaining designs, concepts etc.
Do people prefer to see someone or are they less distracted by just listening?
From my limited experience, it's extra effort that makes it less likely I'll make a vid at all. I don't particularly enjoy the editing part, I am sure mostly because I haven't invested time in learning the software I use, and the thought of having to write a script fills me with dread, but for some reason I have recently become drawn to perhaps purchasing a teleprompter, so maybe that will change.
AvE with 550k subs is perhaps an extreme example, I don't think we've ever seen anything but his forearms in the 330+ videos he's made. In the end it becomes part of the charm of the channel, and I use the word "charm" with some reservation ;-)
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As a former hobby sound recordist, cannot re-iterate this point enough. Sound usually is an afterthought even in large productions, especially when lighting a scene can take a lot of hours, and sound basically hook their stuff up 15 minutes before filming. But if you get it wrong, it basically ruins the illusion you are creating with vids.
:-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+ :-+
I started in audio production back decades ago in high-school. And I only got into video production because of the poor quality of audio-for-video that I was seeing/hearing.
GOOD SOUND IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GOOD VIDEO. With rare exceptions. We have had sound-only media (radio, gramophone, etc.) for a century. The only times I see video with no sound are places like airports, restaurants, etc. But they typically have the closed-caption turned on because most video without audio (or CC) is just visual noise. I have frequently aborted watching a YT video because the sound was too bad. I don't remember ever aborting a YT video because the video was too awful.
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Several excellent tips all around. Some I reiterate and some are new.
- A nice camcorder is always preferrable, especially if it contains a MIC jack input, a macro mode and a remote control. Every time I tried to make a video with a cellphone I was never pleased with the result, but as others reported it can be done. My two biggest problems were control over light conditions (white balance, lack of sensitivity) and proper positioning (I didn't have a suitable tripod). Minor issues were related to start/stop (the remote control helps with that) and I couldn't get close-up shots of boards (some more modern cellphones have macro mode).
- If you have such camcorder (or a cellphone that has audio input), then get a great microphone. Some of them can be had for reasonable prices on the internet. Initially I used the camera microphone and found out it wasn't very sensitive and introduced noise out of nowhere. Then I got a shotgun microphone (https://www.amazon.com/Polaroid-Professional-Condenser-Microphone-Camcorders/dp/B00NMNMMEO?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffsb-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00NMNMMEO) that improved the audio volume but still introduced noise. When I moved to a lapel (lavalier) microphone (https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-Omnidirectional-Condenser-Lavalier-Microphone/dp/B002HJ9PTO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1501701370&sr=1-1&keywords=audio+technica+lavalier) is when I got the most consistent results - especially if you move your head a lot or noise activity accidentally happens around your subject (a dropped screwdriver, for example).
- Ideally is to have a tall tripod, which helps with introductory talking head shots (if you are into this) as well as get a somewhat panoramic view of the board/equipment with the ability to do close-ups by using the optical zoom. I also got from my dad a very nice crazy tripod (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/754535-REG/Polaroid_PLTRITSR_All_Terrain_Tripod.html) that helped with shots done vertically.
- I also try to stay away from edits, although I tend to review the video thoroughly and include captions of the IC part numbers, calculations, correct mistakes and other things I find relevant to highlight. Shooting the video in sequence is absolutely critical for your own sanity as well.
- As for the editing software, stay away from Blender - it does the job for 3D renderings (I did my intro caption on it) but it is really complicated without lots of training. I was a long time user of Pinnacle Studio, but it is a buggy software and you need a lot of patience with its quirks - fortunately the autosave feature is very reliable for the occasional crash. I use Camtasia Studio at work, which is a very polished solution but not 100% suitable for non-linear editing. I have never used Vegas or Adobe Premiere ($$$).
- At last, content. Find what interests you and perhaps find a niche where people may be attracted to your videos. In my case it was my curiosity to disassemble things, occasionally repair them and the language - not many countries speak Portuguese and technical content is not widely available. Another detail is simply to keep doing it - an ancient video of a certain Australian dude wisely told to just keep doing it until someday someone takes interest and spreads the word. I've had my channel for about two years and posted about 40 videos on it, but it was only noticed by a larger audience in June this year.
- Oh, and one more thing. Thick skin. Initially your videos will not be anywhere near you want them to be in terms of quality, but don't be afraid to release them and take the eventual criticism with coolness. People will like it and some will dislike it with some vocal comments. Brush it off and move along.
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So as I'm filming I often just don't say anything for a few seconds while I think about what to say next, then do that part, then wait a few seconds before I start the next segment.
Years ago when I made a few videos, I used a dog clicker to put a high spike in the audio waveform. Very easy to see and I held it off camera. I was using an external mic so this helped because I had to sync the audio and a short high audio spike helped a lot. I aligned up the camera audio track with the external mic track by using the audio spike and then deleted the camera audio track. Makes for a perfect sync.
https://www.amazon.com/SODIAL-puppy-training-clicker-strappy/dp/B00HE5CB3S/ref=sr_1_17?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1501701883&sr=1-17&keywords=dog+clicker (https://www.amazon.com/SODIAL-puppy-training-clicker-strappy/dp/B00HE5CB3S/ref=sr_1_17?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1501701883&sr=1-17&keywords=dog+clicker)
A shameless plug for some YT electronic videos:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/other-blog-specific/dd/msg1093983/#msg1093983 (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/other-blog-specific/dd/msg1093983/#msg1093983)
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IDK, I've experimented with making videos for electronics, but when I re-viewed them even I did not find them interesting. My blog was also boring, and I run out of things to write about. In the end all I saw was: I put few hours of work into making a blog post, and it gets 100 clicks in a year, no comments, no feedback, lots of spam. I ultimately shut it down, because I would need to move it again to a different server, or pay 100 dollars+ per year to keep it running.
So I guess, you need luck and good feedback. Otherwise it will not interest you anymore, and you stop doing it. And luck.
There are channels, like Würth electrionics. They have videos, like the one which explains the cost driving of a PCB. Though, with German accent, the guy describes excellently, with a lot of information. Or another video, explaining PCB embedded components. 70 views, 800 subscribers, 280 videos. Probably half of them actually worth watching. The other youtuber connects 30 volt to a capacitor with 10V rating, and gets half a million views. The other will make a video of playing minecraft and gets 100.000.000 views.
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Yes if you want millions of views you should blow something or yourself up or play some popular video game for teenagers and get a high score or glitches. :palm:
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You should do something new, that was not done before (for example in a way things are presented to the viewer).
Also sticking to new "innovative" topics can boost up views.
Doing cool projects with newest hardware, software etc.
Hacking stuff is also not so popular and done well could be interesting (and great clickbait titles possibilities :D).
Maybe that sounds too simple or general to say, but in the end you will have to find what gives YOU the vibe, that will be contagious to others.
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I would not shoot for a highly polished video off the bat, unless you have a specific idea for the style of your channel. Most people don't have that intention, so just shoot video of whatever you are interested in and upload it and get feedback.
To add to that, do try to decide up front though if you are going to focus on one type of video, or do a more "variety" channel like mine. That's important when building up and ultimately maintaining an audience, as it's hard to switch.
Mine is a good example of a general purpose channel, I can make one of a dozen different styles of videos because people are used to a mixed content channel. I can try new videos topics and approaches without fear of losing subscribers, and do long or short format.
Afrotechods and Great Scott are good examples of channels that have a very strict format and deliver the same material each time. That can potentially lead to a bigger audience appeal and greater sub/view ratio, but they are limited in the style and type of videos they can do.
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- At last, content. Find what interests you and perhaps find a niche where people may be attracted to your videos.
That's important.
You can approach it as a business from day 1, but it's likely going to be harder to pick up an audience. This is why people don't like the commercial manufacturers channels. This is Youtube, people ultimately subscribe and watch for the person, the personality, not the information.
Martin Lorton is an example of someone who tried to commercialise his channel from the start, and whilst he gained some popularity it ultimately didn't work out.
And whilst my channel has been a full time "commercial" enterprise for over 6 years now, I've never treated it as such, just doing videos that I've wanted to do and not caring too much about what gets the most views.
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GOOD SOUND IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GOOD VIDEO.
100%
And when it does come to video, good framing is more important than video quality or resolution. I take framing into account in almost every shot I do.
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I know this isn't directly related to the subject (being YouTube), but it is related to video making. It's just out of curiosity.
If someone tried to use a different network, e.g. Vimeo or others (I don't know of many other viable ones) to make electronics videos, do you think (anyone reading the thread) that they would be significantly less popular based on there being less people on those sites than YouTube (or based on something else)?
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If someone tried to use a different network, e.g. Vimeo or others (I don't know of many other viable ones) to make electronics videos, do you think (anyone reading the thread) that they would be significantly less popular based on there being less people on those sites than YouTube (or based on something else)?
Guaranteed failure. You cannot build a video audience anywhere other than Youtube.
Youtube is the only game in town because it's the worlds biggest video search engine.
The only exception would be Twitch for live gaming etc.
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Another quick bit of advice: Don't apologize for things you don't need to apologize for. My sister watches a lot of craft project related videos and she has commented about how often people apologize for background noises like dogs barking, kids making noise, or garbage trucks outside. And she said most of the time she hadn't even noticed whatever it was they were apologizing for.
And if the interruption is big enough that you do need to apologize for it, you should probably just re-shoot the segment.
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Another quick bit of advice: Don't apologize for things you don't need to apologize for. My sister watches a lot of craft project related videos and she has commented about how often people apologize for background noises like dogs barking, kids making noise, or garbage trucks outside. And she said most of the time she hadn't even noticed whatever it was they were apologizing for.
And if the interruption is big enough that you do need to apologize for it, you should probably just re-shoot the segment.
I've seen some videos where (some) people will complain about the sound quality in comments even if I could hear everything well.
It's not necessarily someone making noise in the background, it might be something like a bit of echo, even if the voice is still audible and understandable. But some things will surely depend on what device is making the sound, so not everyone will hear you the same. For example, with headphones people can usually hear more than with e.g. smartphone/tablet speakers. On some of those, it's probably difficult to understand the voice in some videos, and which ones are understandable may even depend on the voice type.
So, this seems a bit tricky.
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Another quick bit of advice: Don't apologize for things you don't need to apologize for. My sister watches a lot of craft project related videos and she has commented about how often people apologize for background noises like dogs barking, kids making noise, or garbage trucks outside. And she said most of the time she hadn't even noticed whatever it was they were apologizing for.
And if the interruption is big enough that you do need to apologize for it, you should probably just re-shoot the segment.
I've seen some videos where (some) people will complain about the sound quality in comments even if I could hear everything well.
It's not necessarily someone making noise in the background, it might be something like a bit of echo, even if the voice is still audible and understandable. But some things will surely depend on what device is making the sound, so not everyone will hear you the same. For example, with headphones people can usually hear more than with e.g. smartphone/tablet speakers. On some of those, it's probably difficult to understand the voice in some videos, and which ones are understandable may even depend on the voice type.
So, this seems a bit tricky.
You are right; audio is very personal. My earlier videos did not have great quality, but at the time I thought they were ok - now I find them way worse than I remember. I was in a hurry and my last video was shot with the camera microphone - the audio quality is way worse than my previous ones with the lapel microphone. Those things make a difference.
As you said also, the transducer is critical for the perception of quality. Listening to a video on earbuds is different than from a hi-quality headset, which is completely different than a cellphone loudspeaker.
In other words, you can't win. But that is just fine. :)
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Don't know if there's much value in that though because most of the old timers that used the 150-in-1 kits and would watch for nostalgic reasons don't need educational videos on how those circuits work as they built them all 30 years ago...
Old timer? :box:
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Another quick bit of advice: Don't apologize for things you don't need to apologize for. My sister watches a lot of craft project related videos and she has commented about how often people apologize for background noises like dogs barking, kids making noise, or garbage trucks outside. And she said most of the time she hadn't even noticed whatever it was they were apologizing for.
And if the interruption is big enough that you do need to apologize for it, you should probably just re-shoot the segment.
Related to this is to keep in mind the viewer's perspective. When the presenter says something to the effect of, "hold on while I..." or "sorry, I had to step away/answer the phone/etc...", but edits out the interruption, the result is incongruous. The interruption being referred to essentially didn't happen. There's no need to introduce or apologize for something that the viewer doesn't experience.
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Years ago I gave my nephew a 300 in 1 kit but without someone around (I'm interstate) he fiddled a bit but went back to computer games.
A couple months ago I was going to get my 9 yo nephew a kit but gave an Amazon gift cert instead because I never met him. He bought video games. I was bummed. :--
I am writing an email to his grandma and see if anyone in their family could help him with a kit. Check out Amazon, there are a lot of educational kits. I did not think to check YT on them. Now I will check YT first to see if there is a video on a kit and send a link to his grandma. Seems this is a good idea for videos.
Thanks for the idea :-+
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I'm just wondering - since I didn't see much of such kits from China (usually they are solder yourself ones), what kind of educational circuits are made with them? Do they have some sensors, diodes, transistors?
Most importantly, unlike the Chinese kits, I assume they have some decent explanations of how a circuit works.
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Years ago I gave my nephew a 300 in 1 kit but without someone around (I'm interstate) he fiddled a bit but went back to computer games.
We have Skype and Google Hangouts, et.al. these days.
What a great series you could make coaching a kid in how to play with all the 300 different circuits. Explaning how the components connect together (the circuit) what the components are and what they do. And examples of where each little circuit is used in RealWorld products go give it a concrete foundation in Reality.
You can automatically record Google HangOuts conversations and have them posted on YouTube. And the concept isn't limited to electronics or even STEM.
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...gave my nephew a 300 in 1 kit ... he fiddled a bit but went back to computer games.
...gave an Amazon gift cert ... He bought video games. I was bummed. :--
Well, you shouldn't be bummed.
Video games industry is bigger than the movie and music industries combined, so the game houses have all the money to pay for the best artists in the world, the best storytellers, the best psychologist, the best cineastes, the best programmers, the best marketing chains, the best events with million dollar prizes for a video game winner, and so on.
Then, a kid's mind is all for instant gratification, for hype and excitement, for fantasy and exploration, for adventure and play. Well, that's exactly what video games excels at.
Can a kit, or a YouTube video, compete with all that? I don't think so.
Not blaming video games, or parents, or kids, or anybody else here. It's just a stated fact, not a rant. Maybe an electronics kit and an electronics YouTube channel is just not the proper approach.
Perhaps an YouTube channel for EE student will be more successful.
Or a programming channel for kids, to make their own video game. Then, move the game to a Raspberry Pi or an Arduino. Then later arrive to some simple electronics and circuits. Maybe a robotics platform, something that moves, and beeps and blinks.
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As you said also, the transducer is critical for the perception of quality. Listening to a video on earbuds is different than from a hi-quality headset, which is completely different than a cellphone loudspeaker.
That reminds me, get good studio monitor speaker for editing video (some prefer headphones for greater detail).
I use Alesis M1Activ 520USB monitors, and Samson SR850 headphones. Most editing is done with the speakers, but the headphone can reveal detail you can't hear on the speakers, that's useful in some instances.
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As you said also, the transducer is critical for the perception of quality. Listening to a video on earbuds is different than from a hi-quality headset, which is completely different than a cellphone loudspeaker.
That reminds me, get good studio monitor speaker for editing video (some prefer headphones for greater detail).
I use Alesis M1Activ 520USB monitors, and Samson SR850 headphones. Most editing is done with the speakers, but the headphone can reveal detail you can't hear on the speakers, that's useful in some instances.
You are right Dave. All my edits are done using headphones. It is amazing what you can hear with them.
On another note I agree audio is the most important area. But please try and keep the camera stationary. Some videos I watch would have been perfect if not for the camera shacking and bouncing all over the shop. Makes me sea sick.
I still think of myself as a noob even after two and a half years and almost 5K subs. I am finally learning not to sweat the small stuff and just shoot the video.
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As you said also, the transducer is critical for the perception of quality. Listening to a video on earbuds is different than from a hi-quality headset, which is completely different than a cellphone loudspeaker.
That reminds me, get good studio monitor speaker for editing video (some prefer headphones for greater detail).
I use Alesis M1Activ 520USB monitors, and Samson SR850 headphones. Most editing is done with the speakers, but the headphone can reveal detail you can't hear on the speakers, that's useful in some instances.
Interesting models, thanks for sharing. A few years ago I saw a review of an off-brand (Superlux) that was highly regarded by some audio folks and didn't break my bank: the HD668B (https://www.amazon.com/Superlux-HD668B-Dynamic-Semi-Open-Headphones/dp/B003JOETX8). It is indeed pretty good and comfortable.
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What would you recommend to anyone that might want to start a new electronics channel?
Decide up front what your goal is. Be honest with yourself. Are you attempting to make money, help educate people, just show some of the work you do.
If your goal is to make money, I would look at the really large channels and try and follow their format.
In my case, I'm just sharing some of my home projects. There really is no end goal and it shows. Many people I watch, I can tell how much they enjoy making their videos. They are fun to watch and just naturals at it. My strength is not making YT videos and I have no expectations of ever being successful at it from a money or large following. My only real payback is if the small group of members that follow my channel are actually benefitting from it and that's good enough for me.
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As you said also, the transducer is critical for the perception of quality. Listening to a video on earbuds is different than from a hi-quality headset, which is completely different than a cellphone loudspeaker.
That reminds me, get good studio monitor speaker for editing video (some prefer headphones for greater detail).
I use Alesis M1Activ 520USB monitors, and Samson SR850 headphones. Most editing is done with the speakers, but the headphone can reveal detail you can't hear on the speakers, that's useful in some instances.
Interesting models, thanks for sharing. A few years ago I saw a review of an off-brand (Superlux) that was highly regarded by some audio folks and didn't break my bank: the HD668B (https://www.amazon.com/Superlux-HD668B-Dynamic-Semi-Open-Headphones/dp/B003JOETX8). It is indeed pretty good and comfortable.
Yes, I have Superlux too. Earbuds and Headphones. Both offer unprecedented sound for the price, considering anything else I've tried. Usually things at that price sound worse.
There was an interesting conversation on some audio forums (I can't remember the details), about what kind of audio equipment you need to make a music mix.
One argument was that you don't need superior quality audio gear, because the average user might not have it, so you don't get a proper sense of what they will hear.
That is, it's possible that your audio is more clear for you than for the listener if you use superior gear to hear it.
So, as long as there's not a huge deviation from the mean in the audio equipment that you're using, it should be fine. Especially since this is not music, and the requirements are mostly that the voice is clearly understood.
I think it's gets complicated to get into much more detail. To know exactly what the users will hear, you need to factor in details like their own hearing frequency response, and psychology even, since presumably not everyone will hear or see the same thing in exactly the same way. So, someone may find the same person prettier than someone else. Someone may find a specific voice more soothing than someone else. That's going to be a combination of their hearing plus psychology (part of which may be ingrained genetically?).
With just an average set of headphones or speakers, you're likely to get an idea of the what the average user will hear. And, you haven't spent too much.
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What would you recommend to anyone that might want to start a new electronics channel?
Decide up front what your goal is. Be honest with yourself. Are you attempting to make money, help educate people, just show some of the work you do.
If your goal is to make money, I would look at the really large channels and try and follow their format.
In my case, I'm just sharing some of my home projects. There really is no end goal and it shows. Many people I watch, I can tell how much they enjoy making their videos. They are fun to watch and just naturals at it. My strength is not making YT videos and I have no expectations of ever being successful at it from a money or large following. My only real payback is if the small group of members that follow my channel are actually benefitting from it and that's good enough for me.
Personally I like the format of your videos. Straight to the point. Overly commercial channels can be more difficult to watch.
I think the "do it as you can/want/like" is a good way to go. Do it as others do it may be more difficult.
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Interesting models, thanks for sharing. A few years ago I saw a review of an off-brand (Superlux) that was highly regarded by some audio folks and didn't break my bank: the HD668B (https://www.amazon.com/Superlux-HD668B-Dynamic-Semi-Open-Headphones/dp/B003JOETX8). It is indeed pretty good and comfortable.
Because what "audio folk" think. Speaker or headphones that are the best for music etc might not be so good for voice.
Monitor speakers for Youtube have one purpose, speech reproduction, and nothing else.
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I appreciate the gamut of styles of informative and educational content available these days. From the highly polished, high-production channels such as The Engineer Guy and What I Found Out Today to the straight-to-point, who-needs-an-intro/outro minimalism of Big Clive and Joe Smith, and everything in between, it's a rare occurrence that I turn on a TV.
Kudos to all the YouTubers who buck the mainstream trends to make content that's good for the brain and occasionally lets the magic smoke out.
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Interesting models, thanks for sharing. A few years ago I saw a review of an off-brand (Superlux) that was highly regarded by some audio folks and didn't break my bank: the HD668B (https://www.amazon.com/Superlux-HD668B-Dynamic-Semi-Open-Headphones/dp/B003JOETX8). It is indeed pretty good and comfortable.
Because what "audio folk" think. Speaker or headphones that are the best for music etc might not be so good for voice.
Monitor speakers for Youtube have one purpose, speech reproduction, and nothing else.
You are right - no one size fits all. I have a Behringer headphone that is great for what was intended for (music) but not so great for TV (and consequently YT). Regarding this particular model, I was fortunate to find a very balanced review from someone that works in studios but did not care for the faff - I took the bait and it paid off.