Creating a great video starts with a lot of preparation.
Planning, scripting, storyboarding, having the right equipment, setting up said equipment, planning b-roll and more.
In this podcast episode we discuss our entire process for preparing for a video shoot. From what we pack to tips to save money while flying with equipment, you'll learn how we always have a backup plan for our backup plan
Read MorePacquiao vs. Mayweather, Tyson vs. Holyfield, Ali vs. Frazier: history is ripe with battles between giants. Among these encounters exists one of legend. Touted as the Battle to End All Battles we bring you Monopod vs. Tripod.
Long debated between grips and directors alike, the question of monopod vs. tripod is one for the ages.
In this part of the DIY Video Guy saga we bring you the Pros and Cons of using each the monopod AND the tripod. To even the playing field we chose to compare models made by the same company and within the same price range.
Whose corner are you in?
Chances are, it will take you awhile to be comfortable on camera. Luckily there are a lot of ways to speed up that process.
From public speaking and podcasting to livestreaming and doing webinars there are a lot of ways to get better on camera, be more engaging, and deliver to the camera without reading from a script.
In this podcast episode I chat with Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income about how improving his public speaking has made him better and more comfortable on camera.
Read MoreUnless you are Doug Liman on the set of the Bourne Identity shaky footage is pretty much the worst. Often times shaky footage is rendered unusable.
Sure, you can attempt to fix it in post but there is no guarantee (other than the guarantee of pissing off your editor). There is however, a possibility people will think the camera operator has had 10 cups of coffee. Don't drink 10 cups of coffee.
In this installment of DIY Video Guy TV you will learn 7 tactics that will help you get that illusive, stable handheld footage.
You can't always walk around with a monopod or tripod and you can't always fix your mistakes in post-production. Learning to record stable, handheld footage is a must.
Read MoreWhether you're on camera interviewing someone else or you're behind the camera trying to get a strong interview out of your talent, there are some tricks to getting the best performance you can out of your interviewee.
In today's podcast episode we share ten steps to getting better on-camera interviews. We'll discuss the process we use on client shoots to have the interviewee be comfortable on camera, act natural, and sometimes not even realize we're already recording.
We also share some gear recommendations for making sure you don't have to interrupt the interview and share how to get the talent to look at the interviewer, but really they're looking straight into the camera.
Read MoreI love buying video gear and I'd bet you do too.
But when there are so many choices for what you should upgrade, you should really focus on what pieces are going to make your videos better.
In today's video show, I compare the differences between cheap and expensive lenses. I'll share why you'd want to upgrade, the added features and benefits of doing so, and show you side by side examples of techniques like racking focus with an inexpensive lens and an expensive L-series lens from Canon.
Read MoreMost of the clients we shoot videos for ask us questions about how they can set-up their own video studio in their homes or offices.
Studios are a great tool for being able to record videos quickly and consistently, so in this podcast episode we're going to share what we've learned building our video and audio garage studio as well as share our recommendations for how you should go about putting one together for yourself.
The nine tips cover determining what you want the studio to be used for, how to lay it out, determining what gear is must have, making it permanent, and tips for controlling sound and temperature.
Read MoreMore views. That's what you want, right? More people watching the videos you spent all that time to prepare, record, edit, and publish.
In this podcast episode we discuss why your videos aren't being watched at all or why people quit watching them part way through.
Whether it has to do with how the video was made, that they aren't engaging, or how they're being promoted, this episode will give you eight tips to make sure your audience keeps showing up to watch your videos, clicks play, and sticks around for the entire thing.
Read MoreIt is easy to think of ideas for videos when you have a go-to list of different kinds of videos to make. If you're stuck only making how to or tutorial videos you can quickly get burnt out.
In this podcast episode we discuss the thirteen different formats for videos, examples for each, and how to combine them to make compelling and engaging videos.
You'll take away a bunch of new styles you can use to switch up the format of your videos.
Read MoreWhen I podcast or record voiceovers I use a Shure SM7B microphone into a Focusrite 18i8, but recently I wanted to get more gain and processing on it before going into Adobe Audition.
After some research I landed on the dbx 286s microphone pre-amp and processor.
In this video review I'm going to walk through what cables you need to use it, what each of the dials on it do, what I set all of them to, and any pro's and con's of this unit.
Read MoreSo you're working on editing a video, but you're stuck. You keep finding other things to work on when really you should just be pushing through to finish what you've already started. You don't know what's holding you up and the video isn't what you want it to be, so you just keep putting it off.
In today's episode of the podcast we discuss Video Editor's Block and how to overcome it. We lay out 9 different things you can do when you feel like you hit a wall on the videos you're editing.
Hopefully listening to this episode will get you back on track and have you releasing your in-progress videos much, much sooner.
Read MoreI just went to VidCon 2015, a conference for YouTubers, Viners, and other web video creators. During last week's podcast episode I talked about the panels I went to, shared some future directions I see online video going, and ranted about selfies, Vine, and Snapchat.
But in today's video I share more of my experience at VidCon and try to help you decide whether you should go in the future.
I'll also help answer most of the following questions: What level of ticket should I get? What other conferences are there for video makers? How are there so many screaming tweens?
Read MoreConferences are a great way to connect with like-minded people and I wouldn't be where I am today professionally if I hadn't have attended a bunch of conferences over the past few years.
Well, I just went to Anaheim, California for VidCon 2015, a conference for YouTubers, Viners, and other web video creators. It was kind of an insane conference full of screaming fangirls and "celebrities" I've never heard of, but I actually got a lot out of it.
In this podcast episode I give a rundown of the panels I went to, share what some of the biggest YouTubers struggle with, and rant about why building an audience on a short-form video platform like Vine or Snapchat might not be what you really want to do.
Read MoreVlogging (video blogging) seems to be all the rage these days.
It has been around for a long time on YouTube with people talking into their webcams, but people like Casey Neistat and Ben Brown are growing huge audiences through telling daily stories of their life and putting much more work into them than a simple webcam vlog.
I recently started experimenting with vlogging and in this episode of the podcast I share seventeen tips I've learned so far.
Read MoreOne of the questions I get the most is which video editing software I use to make videos.
I talked in detail about all the different options for video editing software in episode fifteen of the audio podcast, but I wanted an even quicker way to share my answer with people, so I put together a quick video.
In this episode I discuss 7 different pieces of video editing software, ranging from free to professional, and give recommendations on which you should use right now or in the future.
Read MoreWhen I browse around YouTube I see a lot of mistakes. Things that YouTubers either should be doing but aren't, or things they are getting completely wrong.
And don't worry, when I look at my own channel and videos I get a bunch of these things wrong too, but to be your best, sometimes you have to be your own worst critic.
In this episode of the podcast I share nine things that most YouTubers and YouTube channels are doing wrong and how to avoid them yourself.
Read MoreWhen you're working on a video alone, it can be hard to push through a create on demand when you're traveling too much, overwhelmed by client work, or just not inspired.
In the video production process it might be super fun when your filming, perhaps with different people involved in front and behind the camera, at a fun event, in a new location, but once you get back home or to the office and need to edit that video, it can get really lonely. It is just you, the footage, and an empty timeline in your video editing program.
In this podcast episode I break down how to stay on track by pushing yourself to create, what to do with your downtime to make your creation time better, and how to stop procrastinating on those large video projects. I share four ways cure artist lonliness and the five steps for coming up with and then executing on great ideas.
Read MoreVideo editing already takes long enough, so let's speed things up with some of my favorite keyboard shortcuts and save you some time.
In this video I show you 37 different keyboard shortcuts I use while editing videos.
Also, I've created custom keyboard shortcuts that I've pulled from other video editors I've learned from in-person and online, so these aren't the default shortcuts built into Premiere, but if you're just getting started, practice learning the built-in shortcuts first by hovering over buttons before clicking them or seeing the command to the right of the action in the drop-down menus.
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