In true curmudgeonly fashion, I have long eschewed YouTube as the supreme time-waster. Still do – as a matter of fact, albeit there is a time and place for everything.
I recently wrapped my first YouTube video blog. It is the inaugural launch episode of “Tim’s Gear Review”. There will not be many episodes about new gear, since I buy these items myself, but I am certain shoppers searching for reviews on used gear they are considering on eBay and Craigslist may find some worthwhile advice.
This was hard work, but a great exercise in dusting off my video editing chops since I primarily do graphic design full-time now.
Some lessons learned:
Lapel (lavalier) mic:
I knew some hum would be introduced from the lights for the my on-screen appearance, but it was far more severe than imagined. Isolating the audio, rather than “fixing it in post” is the way to go. I suspected this, but “dove in” anyway using the camcorder’s on-board mic. Dubbing is impossible for me because of the unscripted, conversational approach. I’ll purchase one for the next review (maybe a review of the lavalier itself?).
Are you a YouTube Newb?
I am. Did you know that you cannot “re-upload”. Not without resetting your View Counts, anyway. I wrongly presumed, like a blog post, I could Publish – Post – Proof – Edit, and Re-Post.
While initially crestfallen that the subject of my first gear review (the Wacom Intuos4 graphics tablet) was already reviewed by dozens, I feel that I have something to contribute on this topic. I have been a graphics tablet user for over twenty years, having used Summagraphics and Calcomps before Wacom hit it big.
I overcame that discouragement and was amused that a few dozen people have viewed it (at this writing) and am awe-struck at amateur content providers that garner nearly a half million views.
I have discovered some pretty funny, polished productions that inspire me to raise the bar higher on my next production. If it were not for iJustine’s behind the scenes blog post, or Terry White’s Intuos4 review, it probably would not have occurred to me to publish. Thanks for the inspiration.