This is a quick guide to get you started today if you want to shoot and share videos – on your blog, on YouTube or on other social media. A lot of video guides for bloggers overwhelm you with detail and kit specifications. This guide is for you if – 1. you want to start straight away, and 2. you don’t want to buy any kit right now.
There are lots of alternatives, but don’t make decision paralysis put you off recording your first video. Start with one of these suggestions and move on when you are ready.
Shooting video
Just use your phone. No special apps are needed, but if you want a bit more control, try FilmicPro.
Don’t forget to hold your phone horizontally. Unless you’re shooting for Steller (see below).
Editing video
These are my recommendations for the simplest, easiest ways to get your videos clips and photos assembled into a film or slideshow ready to publish. You can spend hours editing in Final Cut Pro, After Effects or Adobe Premiere, but to get started today you can’t beat any of these:
iMovie – drag and drop, add music, make slideshows, export, share. Easy.
Adobe Voice and Adobe Slate – fairly revolutionary in the video world. Very basic, few options, but incredibly easy to tell a story from your iPad.
Magisto – one of many video editing apps, but one of the least cheesy.
Sharing video
The benefits of using YouTube are you don’t have to worry about bandwidth and storage limits. The downsides are the free for all that comments can become, and the fact you don’t have control over the page your video is displayed on.
An alternative is to host your video on Wistia, and embed it direct into your blog. There is a free option with Wistia if you don’t have too many videos or views per month.
Uploading video direct to Instagram and Facebook is a guaranteed way to make you stand out.
Lastly, have a look at Steller, a cross between Instagram and iBooks. It’s a beautiful little platform. Exposure is a similar concept – a platform to share videos and stories.
Next steps
When you’re ready to get more technical, buy some kit or learn a bit more about storyboarding, I recommend Caleb Wojcik, the DIY Video Guy. Sign up for his free email series on kit for all budgets.
And I suggest the first bit of new kit you buy is a mic. Dreadful sound makes for a dreadful video. I use this one from Photojojo.
A note on audio copyright
You can’t usually just use whatever’s in your music library as a backing track to your video if you are going to publish it, because of the copyright restrictions. I use audiojungle for reasonably priced royalty free backing music.
None of my links are affiliates, I do no sponsored posts and take no benefit in cash or in kind from anyone mentioned. If I link to something, it’s because I’ve used it and like it.
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