Making Professional Quality Videos for Your YouTube Channel

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If you want to give your YouTube subscribers something they’ll want to come back for, you have to make sure you’re uploading great quality videos. With professionally shot videos, you can be sure to fetch more YouTube views for your videos, gain more real YouTube subscribers, and experience business growth. Here’s a quick guide on making sure you develop quality videos for your YouTube channel.

Have a solid plan

Before thinking of anything else, you have to have a plan in place. Have a clear goal for your video and know what you want. Do you want to educate people through it or raise awareness on a topic? Are you looking to create something that can drive more engagement for your business? You need to establish some basic aspects of your video before starting anything so that you can ease the other processes. Decide on:

• Video purpose
• Video subject
• Target audience
• Script

Decide on your budget

Once you’ve got a plan in place, work out a budget that you can work within. You’ll need equipment, so plan your budget accordingly. You don’t have to always choose the most expensive equipment to create a great video – a cheaper version that you know how to operate can get the job done. Plan the budget by prioritizing the microphone, camera, lighting, and other equipment you’ll need.

Choose the right equipment

You can’t hope to create professional-looking videos without investing in the right type of equipment. The equipment needed will generally cover:

• Camera
• Microphone
• Tripod/gimbal stabilizer
• Lighting equipment
• Video editing software

Camera

Your choice of camera will depend on the type of content you want to make as well as your budget considerations.

• Smartphones can allow you to record high-quality videos and the best part is – you can take them wherever you go. If you’re using your smartphone camera, though, be sure to use it in landscape mode and don’t use the front camera.
• A camcorder is another great option as it is relatively cheap, lightweight, compact, and can handle a variety of shooting circumstances.
• With a webcam, you get a plug-and-play camera, which is extremely useful if you’re recording in front of your computer. They’re also great to live stream content because they can connect to your computer directly.
• An action camera can be great if you’re looking to capture travel and sports adventures since they’re compact as well as versatile. Apart from being able to record high-quality videos, such cameras are also durable.
• With a mirrorless camera, you get the benefits of DSLR quality in a much lighter body that you can use to record footage at home or on the go.
• A DSLR camera is a perfect choice if you’re looking to take videography more seriously due to the high quality of results.

If you’re just starting off, a camcorder or webcam can take care of your needs, but if you want to upgrade, a DSLR or a mirrorless camera would be the perfect choice for you.

Microphone

A great video means nothing to your YouTube subscribers if the audio accompanying it isn’t just as great. Your videos aren’t likely to get more YouTube views if the audio quality is poor, so invest in the right microphone for your videos. Don’t rely on the built-in microphones on your cameras to record quality audio.

• USB microphones are a great option – they’re affordable, versatile, and easy to use to record high quality audio.
• With a condenser microphone, you can mix your microphone’s audio with audio that you’ve pre-recorded. It offers quality audio that’s great for podcasting as well as home recording.
• Shotgun microphones come equipped with shock mounts that help to cancel noise resulting from mic vibrations. They’re also better at focusing on sounds right in front of them without picking up other sounds, making them great for outdoor recording.
• A lapel or lavalier mic can be clipped to your clothes/belt with ease and comes with a transmitter, being able to pick up on signals from a great distance away from the transmitter.

Tripod/gimbal stabilizer

The last thing your YouTube subscribers want is to watch a shaky video. If you want to truly experience business growth and get more YouTube views, making sure your videos aren’t shaky is worth the investment, and tripods or gimbal stabilizer can help with this. Tripods can help you produce stable videos and are more affordable, but even the best handheld devices may still result in some shaky footage. Gimbal stabilizers work well here as they come fitted with motors/weights that can help to balance out your camera and produce smooth videos even in circumstances where you’re making sudden movements.

Lighting equipment

You don’t want to end up with a dark and dingy video for your YouTube subscribers to watch. Choose the right lighting equipment based on your needs to create high-quality content.

• Softbox lighting can create natural soft window lighting and is a great option if you want the subject of your video to be well lit while avoiding the intensity and shadows resulting from harsh, direct light.
• An umbrella light is affordable as well as portable means of obtaining soft lighting for your videos. They can help to create more controlled lighting and cover large spaces. They’re also great for on-location shoots and backdrops.
• With a ring light, light is emitted around the subject and all shadows are eliminated. They’re great, especially for videos showcasing beauty and makeup products since blemishes can be hidden.
• Lighting on-camera allows for camera mounted continuous lighting which is great to use, especially in dimly lit locations.

Video editing software

You’ll want to be able to edit your videos to your liking to create the final product and great video editing software is needed for this. There are plenty of options to choose from:

If you’re just starting out:

• Adobe Premiere Elements
• Corel VideoStudio Ultimate X10.5
• iMovie
• Wondershare Filmora9

If you’re a professional:

• Final Cut Pro X
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Vegas Pro 15
• DaVinci Resolve 16

For enthusiasts:

• Cyberlink PowerDirector 16 Ultimate
• Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate

For creating visual effects:

• Adobe After Effects
• HitFilm Pro

Shoot your video

Once you’ve got your plan, budget and equipment in order, it’s time to get down to actually shooting the video.

Select your background

Your background can make or break a video for your YouTube subscribers so choose a clean and non-distracting background. A blank wall or coloured backdrop will work well and over time, can even come to be associated with your brand. You’ll also want to shoot in an environment that’s quiet and free from distractions.

Position your camera

Get your camera positioning right to make sure your subject is in the frame and follow the rule of thirds for a great look. As per the rule of thirds, your subject should be positioned at the intersecting lines of your shot, if your frame is divided by 3 by 3 lines into 9 sections. This means that instead of placing your subject in the center, position them slightly to the left or right of your video. You should also avoid zooming in using a smartphone, camcorder, or webcam since it can distort quality of the video.

Set up the lights

Good lighting is a must and you must have 3 light sources to properly illuminate your subject:

• Behind the camera
• On your left
• On your right

You can also make use of natural lighting but this means that you’ll have to shoot during the day to get the best results.

Shoot from different angles

Shooting from different angles is a great way to retain the interest of your YouTube subscribers and get more YouTube views for your videos. It adds a dynamic element to your videos and is especially useful when you’re shooting a product demo or tutorial video.

Build your camera presence

If you’re appearing in the video, it’s crucial that you work on your camera presence. Your video isn’t going to come across as professional if you look nervous or fidgety. Smile more and enunciate clearly when you talk. Work on your posture to come across as more confident and use open body language in your videos. Making use of your hands in the video can help to hide some camera jitters well. The best part is, you can improve your video presence with practice so continue working on it.

Stick to simple editing

You don’t have to make use of all editing features just because you have some cool video editing software. Keep it simple but focus on enhancing video quality. Some essential editing includes:

• Noise cancellation
• Addition of transitions and background music
• Lighting adjustments
• Doing away with awkward pauses/silences

Promote your videos
Once you’ve taken all of this effort to create quality videos for your YouTube channel, work on promoting your videos through optimization as well as cross promotion on different social media platforms.

Creating quality content on YouTube isn’t easy, but if done right, it has the power to help you experience business growth by building a loyal base of real YouTube subscribers and getting a large number of YouTube views.