As if shooting videos didn't already take enough time, editing can take even longer.
But there is a little trick I picked up that helps me get through the first draft while editing a video in less than half the time.
Once you know it, you won't have to watch through all the footage you shot to pull out the best takes and delete the bad ones.
You can learn this trick in less than two minutes by watching the video in this post, on YouTube, or using iTunes.
Read MoreEven if you're a professional and you've done something tens of thousands of times, you're still going to mess up occasionally. (Just think of how often NFL receivers drop easy catches.)
When you make enough videos, you're bound to make plenty of mistakes.
The two most important things to recover from mistakes are to fix them as soon as possible and to put processes in place to never let them happen again.
In today's episode I talk with Tim Krupa, my editor, production assistant, and brother-in-law. In it we discuss ten mistakes we've made while making videos for ourselves or clients and how you can avoid them.
Read MoreOn a typical afternoon and you set up your camera, your lights, the microphone, and get ready to record. You record for a hour, take everything down, put it away and the put the SD card in your computer.
"Wait a minute. I'm out of focus?? Are you kidding me!?"
This only needs to happen once for you to never let it happen again.
Which is why one the most common questions I get asked from people starting to shoot videos of themselves is, "what is the best way to focus my camera on myself?"
In this first episode of DIY Video Guy TV I detail four different ways you can make sure you're in focus every time you shoot a video.
Read MoreWhat if you released a video every single day? How long do you think you could keep that up? What do you think the results of that would be?
Today’s guest on the podcast, Antonio Centeno, created 200 videos in 200 days and racked up over a half million views on them a few years ago. Fast forward to today and he has a YouTube channel about men’s fashion that has over 400 videos on it, with almost 15 million views, and over 227,000 subscribers.
In this episode I chat with Antonio about why he got started making videos on YouTube after seeing a competitor do so, his tips for batching the creation of his videos together, how to make your thumbnails more clickable, how he grows his email list directly from his YouTube videos, and why he embraced the DIY mindset when he first started making videos online.
Read MoreHaving a dedicated space to shoot videos in is really helpful for increasing the amount of videos you can produce.
It can be hard to figure out the best place to set one up though and sometimes you need to use a space that has another purpose too (like an office, bedroom, living room, etc.).
In this episode Thomas Frank asks me questions again, but this time we chat all about creating a video studio in both a shared space and in a completely dedicated space (like a garage or studio).
Read MoreYouTube says that 40% of their worldwide watch time comes from mobile devices.
And if you’re using annotations in your videos, such as telling people to click to subscribe or follow a link on screen, that is 40% of people that can’t click on them.
In this episode I chat with Greg Hickman of Mobile Mixed about what you need to consider about mobile viewers when making videos for YouTube or the web.
We discuss annotations, calls to action, how to convert viewers via SMS, and how videos made with your phone can be less produced and scripted than with a regular camera.
Read MoreWhile at Fizzle.co I made a ton of videos. Complete courses, founder story interviews, and more.
At the time of leaving Fizzle the three of us had created nearly 100 hours of finished video in a couple years.
Instead of me just sharing what I learned there and how we made videos, I asked Thomas Frank, who was the guest on episode six of the podcast, to interview me about what he wanted to know about how we made videos at Fizzle.
In this episode I share what processes we used at Fizzle to create a full video courses, how to do motion tracking, how to create templates in FCPX or Premiere for using similar effects in all your videos, what to do when you get embarrassed while recording when other people are home, and we get really technical about jump cuts and slide transitions.
Read MorePaper backdrops can be a simple and clean way to shoot videos. You can set 'em up, leave your camera, lights, and microphones right there in front of them and be ready to record in no time.
In this video I give you my best tips for using a paper backgrounds in your videos.
Read MoreYou know how some albums are "unplugged", without the professional editor going through and taking out the mistakes the musicians make? That's what this episode is like. No edits, just raw speech.
I woke up today with my rant pants on (patent pending) and I wanted to share my thoughts on the trouble with consistently releasing videos and podcasts, week after week.
In this episode I talk about what you need to do to make sure you keep showing up, how to take a sabbatical when you're overwhelmed, and what kind of systems you should build to make sure you don't miss a scheduled publishing date.
Read MoreCommenters on YouTube love to ask what camera, microphone, and editing software are used to make the videos. Since I already covered the first two, today I'm answering the third.
I've used many different video editing programs over the past decade, but now I only use a couple.
In this episode I talk through six different video editing programs (from free to pro) and help you figure out which one is best for you and your budget. I also share one bonus app that saves me a ton of time and frustration when I'm syncing video for multiple cameras with my external audio recordings.
Read MoreWistia is one of my favorite companies. I use their video hosting for my course, have learned a lot from their training videos, and they throw a heck of a conference.
That is why I wanted to chat with Chris Lavigne, who has been making videos for Wistia for almost four years, about how Wistia does video well.
In this episode I chat with Chris about getting stable handheld footage with a DSLR, working with many different people on camera, dampening sound in a studio, and why you should make multiple videos instead of just one video.
Read MoreLights are one of the most overlooked pieces of equipment for creating a video.
Sure, having a fancy camera and great sounding microphone are important, but without proper lighting, the video can look horrible or even unwatchable.
In this episode I talk through six kinds of lighting you can use for making videos, the pro's and con's of each, and recommend specific brands for the different categories.
Read MoreShe started making personal videos and uploading them on YouTube 5 years ago just for her family, but she quickly fell in love it.
Amy Schmittauer has consistently been video blogging (or vlogging) for half a decade. In that time she's piled up 1.5 million views on YouTube and learned a ton about how video can work for your business.
In this episode I chat with Amy about how she is able to produce three or more videos every week, which YouTubers she looks up to, what gear she recommends for the vlogging style of videos, and what keeps her from hitting record.
Read MoreWebcam videos can look pretty awful, but they don't have to.
In this episode of my new weekly video show, DIY Video Guy TV, I walk through ten ways you can make your webcam videos look better.
This will also help you look better on Skype and in Google Hangouts.
(If you don't see the video above, you can watch it on YouTube.)
Read MoreIf there was ever an episode to listen to with headphones, this would be it.
Today's episode is gonna be a fun one and a bit different. I'll be chatting about what microphone you should use in your videos and instead of just mentioning a bunch of different ones I thought I'd actually record using a bunch of them so you could hear some of the differences firsthand.
You'll hear 10 different microphones, what they should like and why I use some for certain situations over others.
Read MoreThe lens you use to shoot your videos matters more than you might think.
Each lens gives a different vibe to your videos, has restrictions on apertures you can use and can be really flexible (or not) depending on whether or not it zooms.
In today's episode I'm gonna help you figure out what lens you should use to make your videos.
I'll be sharing which lenses I own and why, how a cropped or full sensor impacts the results you get from a lens, what features to consider when choosing, and why you might want to rent a lens and try it before buying it.
Read MoreHow do you build a online brand that stands out in an industry or niche that most people considering "boring"?
Think personal finance, law, anything technical like engineering or math, and home improvement, etc.
Well today's guest on the podcast, Matt Giovanisci, has built his audience and business around swimming pool and hot tub care through his YouTube videos for Swim University. (Some of which, like "How To Change The Sand In Your Sand Filter", have hundreds of thousands of views.)
In this episode I chat with Matt about how he got into making videos online, what his process is for planning and shooting these videos, how makes sure he adds comedy into them, and how he got started without buying any gear.
Read MoreWant to hear the question I get more often than any other question when I release a new video?
The most popular question isn't ever about the content of the video, a special effect I used or from anything I said.
The most common thing people ask me is: "what camera do you use?"
In this episode I breakdown seven different categories and types of cameras you can use to make videos and I give a bunch of examples of each, what brands and models I prefer, and some of my favorite accessories to add to get the best results out of each of them.
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