YouTube is the most popular video-sharing platform in the world, with millions of users watching countless hours of content every day.
But have you ever wondered why YouTube sometimes auto-selects 360p video quality, even when your internet connection seems fast enough for higher quality?
In this blog post, we’ll explore the reasons behind this phenomenon and how you can optimize your viewing experience.
YouTube Auto 360p?
Adaptive Streaming and Bandwidth Conservation One of the main reasons YouTube auto-selects 360p video quality is to ensure smooth playback without buffering.
To achieve this, YouTube uses adaptive streaming, which automatically adjusts video quality based on your internet connection speed. By default, YouTube starts with a lower quality (360p) and increases it if your connection can handle it. This approach helps prevent buffering issues and ensures a seamless viewing experience.
Bandwidth Conservation and Compatibility
Device Compatibility and Screen Resolution Another factor contributing to YouTube’s automatic 360p selection is device compatibility.
Older devices and those with smaller screens may not support higher resolutions, so YouTube adjusts the video quality to match the device’s capabilities.
Moreover, if you’re using a device with a low-resolution screen, there’s no real benefit in streaming a higher quality video, as the difference in quality will not be noticeable.
Screen Resolution Issues
Data Usage and Mobile Viewing Data usage is a significant concern for many users, especially when streaming on mobile devices.
YouTube auto-selecting 360p can be a way of conserving data usage, as lower-quality videos require less data to stream. For users with limited data plans, this can be a crucial factor in managing their data usage while still enjoying their favourite content.
Mobile and Data Usage
Server Load and User Experience Lastly, YouTube’s automatic 360p selection helps manage the platform’s server load.
With billions of video views per day, YouTube must distribute its resources efficiently to ensure a stable and enjoyable experience for all users.
By initially offering a lower-quality stream, YouTube can manage its server load and avoid overloading its infrastructure.
YouTube Video Quality Options and Resolutions
Video Quality
Resolution
Aspect Ratio
144p
256×144
16:9
240p
426×240
16:9
360p
640×360
16:9
480p
854×480
16:9
720p (HD)
1280×720
16:9
1080p (Full HD)
1920×1080
16:9
1440p (2K)
2560×1440
16:9
2160p (4K)
3840×2160
16:9
Approximate Data Usage per Hour by Video Quality
Video Quality
Data Usage per Hour
144p
90 MB
240p
150 MB
360p
300 MB
480p
500 MB
720p (HD)
900 MB
1080p (Full HD)
1.5 GB
1440p (2K)
2.5 GB
2160p (4K)
4 GB
Common Internet Connection Speeds and Recommended Video Quality
Internet Connection Speed
Recommended Video Quality
< 0.5 Mbps
144p
0.5 – 1 Mbps
240p
1 – 2.5 Mbps
360p
2.5 – 4 Mbps
480p
4 – 7.5 Mbps
720p (HD)
7.5 – 15 Mbps
1080p (Full HD)
15 – 25 Mbps
1440p (2K)
25+ Mbps
2160p (4K)
Note: The above tables provide general information and approximate values. Actual data usage and recommended video quality may vary depending on various factors, including device type, internet service provider, and individual user preferences.
How to Change YouTube’s Video Quality Settings
If you prefer to watch videos in a higher quality than the default 360p, you can easily change the video quality settings on YouTube. Here’s how:
Click on the gear icon (Settings) in the lower-right corner of the video player.
Select “Quality” from the menu.
Choose your preferred video quality from the available options.
Keep in mind that choosing a higher quality may result in increased data usage and potential buffering if your internet connection cannot support it.
YouTube auto-selecting 360p video quality can be attributed to factors such as adaptive streaming, device compatibility, data usage concerns, and server load management.
By understanding these factors, you can make informed decisions about your video quality preferences and optimize your viewing experience.
Remember to adjust the video quality settings according to your needs and enjoy your favourite content in the best possible way.
Q: Why does YouTube auto-select 360p video quality?
A: YouTube auto-selects 360p video quality to ensure smooth playback without buffering, maintain device compatibility, conserve data usage, and manage server load.
Q: What is adaptive streaming?
A: Adaptive streaming is a technology that automatically adjusts video quality based on the viewer’s internet connection speed. This helps prevent buffering issues and ensures a seamless viewing experience.
Q: How can I change the video quality on YouTube?
A: To change video quality on YouTube, click on the gear icon (Settings) in the lower-right corner of the video player, select “Quality” from the menu, and choose your preferred video quality from the available options.
Q: Does watching videos in higher quality consume more data?
A: Yes, watching videos in higher quality requires more data to stream. If you’re concerned about data usage, consider sticking to lower-quality options like 360p, especially when using mobile devices.
Q: Will changing the video quality to a higher resolution improve my viewing experience on a low-resolution device?
A: No, if your device has a low-resolution screen, there will be no noticeable difference in quality when streaming a higher resolution video. In such cases, it’s more efficient to watch videos in a lower quality like 360p.
Q: Can I set YouTube to always play videos in a specific quality?
A: While YouTube doesn’t offer a native option to set a default video quality, you can use third-party browser extensions or add-ons to achieve this. However, be cautious when using such tools, as they may not be officially endorsed by YouTube.
Q: How can I improve my internet connection speed for a better YouTube streaming experience?
A: To improve your internet connection speed, you can try using a wired connection instead of Wi-Fi, upgrading your internet plan, or contacting your internet service provider for assistance.
Q: Why do some videos on YouTube not offer higher quality options?
A: The availability of higher quality options depends on the original video file uploaded by the content creator. If the video was uploaded in a lower quality, higher quality options may not be available.
Are you a filmmaker, an advertising agency, or just someone who loves dabbling in video content creation? Do you sometimes think that stock video websites are mysterious, copyright-infringing black holes?
Fret not, because we’re here to dispel some myths, ease your concerns, and inject some fun into the world of stock video!
What is Stock Video, and How Does It Work?
Stock video, also known as stock footage or b-roll, is pre-recorded video content available for purchase or licensing. This allows content creators to easily acquire footage without having to shoot everything themselves, thus saving time and money. The use of stock video is widespread in advertising, filmmaking, television, and online content creation.
To use stock video, you simply need to visit a stock video website (e.g., Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, or Pond5), search for the desired footage, and purchase or license it. Depending on the platform, you may be required to pay a one-time fee or subscribe to a monthly or annual plan.
Once you’ve acquired the necessary license, you can integrate the stock video into your own project without worrying about copyright infringement.
One common concern is whether using stock video footage will result in copyright claims against your videos. To ease your mind, let’s dive into the licensing aspect of stock video.
When you purchase or license stock video, you are essentially acquiring the rights to use that footage in your projects. Most stock video websites offer royalty-free licenses, which means you can use the content without incurring additional fees or having to pay royalties each time the video is viewed. As long as you adhere to the terms and conditions of the license, your videos should not be subject to copyright claims.
Table 1: Licensing Types
License Type
Description
Cost
Royalty-Free
Unlimited use for a one-time fee, no recurring royalty payments required
One-time fee
Rights-Managed
Use is limited by duration, location, or other factors specified in the license agreement
Varies by usage and terms
Copyright Concerns
Respecting intellectual property rights is essential when using stock video footage. To ensure you don’t run into any legal issues, always make sure to:
Acquire the necessary licenses for the footage you use.
Follow the terms and conditions outlined in the license agreement.
Credit the original creator if required by the license.
By adhering to these guidelines, you can confidently use stock video without worrying about copyright infringement.
Dispelling Stock Video Myths
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s debunk some common myths about stock video websites.
Myth #1: Stock video is always low-quality and clichéd.
Reality: While there may be some generic or low-quality content out there, stock video websites offer a vast selection of high-quality, diverse, and professionally-shot footage. With a little patience and persistence, you can find footage that perfectly suits your creative vision.
Myth #2: Stock video is only for big-budget productions.
Reality: Stock video websites cater to users with varying budgets. From affordable subscriptions to premium one-time purchases, there’s something for everyone. Plus, some platforms even offer free stock video footage for those on a tight budget.
Table 2: Stock Video Pricing Examples
Website
Pricing Option
Shutterstock
Subscription plans starting at $49/month for 10 video downloads
Adobe Stock
Subscription plans starting at $29.99/month for 10 video downloads
Reality: Each stock video website has its unique collection and licensing options. Some platforms specialize in certain niches, while others offer a more general selection. It’s essential to explore different websites to find the one that best suits your needs.
Myth #4: Using stock video is cheating or unoriginal.
Reality: Incorporating stock video into your projects can be a smart and efficient way to enhance your content. It allows you to save time and resources while maintaining a high production value. Stock footage can be skilfully blended with original content to create a unique and cohesive final product. Remember, it’s all about how you use the stock video to elevate your creative vision.
In Conclusion
Stock video can be a fantastic resource for content creators across various industries. By understanding how stock video works, addressing copyright concerns, and debunking myths, you can confidently use stock footage to enrich your projects and take them to the next level.
So, go ahead and explore the exciting world of stock video. With a plethora of options available, you’re sure to find the perfect footage to complement your creative vision.
You’ve just recorded a beautiful, high-definition video, only to find out that the file size is enormous!
Why is that?
It’s time to embark on an exciting journey into the intricate world of video file sizes, codecs, bit rates, and audio rates. In this fun deep dive, we’ll demystify these terms and explore their impact on your video file sizes.
File Sizes: It’s a Bit of a Mystery
When dealing with video files, there are several factors that determine their size:
Resolution: The dimensions of the video in pixels (e.g., 1920×1080, 3840×2160)
Frame rate: The number of frames per second (e.g., 24, 30, 60)
Codec: The method used to compress and decompress video data
Bit rate: The amount of data processed per unit of time (usually measured in kilobits per second, or Kbps)
Audio rate: The quality of the audio in the video file
Let’s dive into each of these components and discover how they influence video file sizes.
Codec Crusaders: A Brief Introduction to Video Compression
A codec is a combination of a coder (encoder) and a decoder, responsible for compressing and decompressing video data. Popular video codecs include:
H.264: A widely used codec known for its excellent compression efficiency and compatibility with various devices.
H.265 (HEVC): A successor to H.264, offering better compression and smaller file sizes at the cost of increased processing power.
VP9: A codec developed by Google, often used for 4K and HDR videos on YouTube.
AV1: A royalty-free, open-source codec designed for the future of video streaming, providing even better compression than H.265.
Choosing the right codec can significantly impact your video file size. More advanced codecs like H.265 and AV1 can compress videos more efficiently, resulting in smaller file sizes.
Bit Rate Busters: How Bit Rates Affect File Sizes
Bit rate determines the amount of data processed per unit of time, typically measured in kilobits per second (Kbps). Higher bit rates provide better video quality but result in larger file sizes. Here’s a handy table comparing various resolutions and bit rates:
Resolution
Recommended Bit Rate (H.264)
File Size (1-minute video)
720p
5,000 Kbps
37.5 MB
1080p
10,000 Kbps
75 MB
4K
35,000 Kbps
262.5 MB
As you can see, increasing the resolution and bit rate will significantly impact the file size.
A Sound Decision: Audio Rates and Their Impact on File Sizes
Audio quality is another crucial factor that contributes to file size. Audio rates are typically measured in kilobits per second (Kbps) and can be divided into three categories:
Low-quality (64-96 Kbps)
Medium-quality (128-192 Kbps)
High-quality (256-320 Kbps)
Higher audio rates result in better audio quality but also larger file sizes. Let’s compare the impact of different audio rates on file size:
Audio Rate
File Size (1-minute audio)
64 Kbps
480 KB
128 Kbps
960 KB
320 Kbps
2.4 MB
As you can see, the difference in file size between low and high-quality audio can be significant.
Comparisons: Small, Medium, and Large
To put everything into perspective, let’s take a look at three hypothetical video files with different resolutions, bit rates, and audio rates:
Example 1: Small File Size
Resolution: 720p
Bit Rate: 5,000 Kbps (H.264)
Audio Rate: 128 Kbps
File Size (1-minute video): 38.4 MB
Example 2: Medium File Size
Resolution: 1080p
Bit Rate: 10,000 Kbps (H.264)
Audio Rate: 192 Kbps
File Size (1-minute video): 77.1 MB
Example 3: Large File Size
Resolution: 4K
Bit Rate: 35,000 Kbps (H.264)
Audio Rate: 320 Kbps
File Size (1-minute video): 267.9 MB
As illustrated by these examples, increasing the resolution, bit rate, and audio rate can lead to dramatically larger file sizes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, video file size is determined by various factors, including resolution, frame rate, codec, bit rate, and audio rate. Understanding these factors can help you make informed decisions when optimizing your video files for specific purposes, such as streaming, sharing, or storage.
To reduce your video file size, consider using a more efficient codec (e.g., H.265 or AV1), lowering the bit rate, or decreasing the audio rate. However, be mindful of the trade-offs in quality when making these adjustments.
Deep Dive Q&A: Video File Sizes, Codecs, Bit Rates, and Audio Rates
Q1: What factors affect video file size?
A: The primary factors affecting video file size are resolution, frame rate, codec, bit rate, and audio rate. Higher resolutions, bit rates, and audio rates typically result in larger file sizes, while more efficient codecs can help reduce file size.
Q2: What are some popular video codecs, and how do they differ?
A: Some popular video codecs are:
H.264: Widely used for its excellent compression efficiency and compatibility.
H.265 (HEVC): A successor to H.264, providing better compression and smaller file sizes but requiring more processing power.
VP9: Developed by Google and often used for 4K and HDR videos on YouTube.
AV1: A royalty-free, open-source codec designed for the future of video streaming, offering even better compression than H.265.
Q3: How does bit rate impact video quality and file size?
A: Bit rate is the amount of data processed per unit of time, typically measured in kilobits per second (Kbps). Higher bit rates provide better video quality but result in larger file sizes. Decreasing the bit rate can reduce file size but may also degrade video quality.
Q4: What are the recommended bit rates for different resolutions?
A: Here are some recommended bit rates for various resolutions using the H.264 codec:
720p: 5,000 Kbps
1080p: 10,000 Kbps
4K: 35,000 Kbps
Note that these are general recommendations, and optimal bit rates may vary depending on the content and desired quality.
Q5: How do audio rates affect file size and audio quality?
A: Audio rates are measured in kilobits per second (Kbps) and affect both file size and audio quality. Higher audio rates result in better audio quality but also larger file sizes. Typical audio rates are:
Low-quality: 64-96 Kbps
Medium-quality: 128-192 Kbps
High-quality: 256-320 Kbps
Q6: What can I do to reduce my video file size?
A: To reduce video file size, consider using a more efficient codec (e.g., H.265 or AV1), lowering the bit rate, or decreasing the audio rate. Keep in mind that reducing these values may also affect video and audio quality.
Q7: How do I choose the right codec for my video?
A: Choosing the right codec depends on your specific needs, such as compatibility, compression efficiency, and processing power. For general use, H.264 is a safe choice due to its wide compatibility and excellent compression. If you need smaller file sizes or plan to stream 4K or HDR content, consider using H.265, VP9, or AV1.
Q8: How does frame rate impact video file size?
A: Frame rate refers to the number of frames per second (fps) in a video. Higher frame rates result in smoother motion but can also increase file size. If your video doesn’t require smooth motion (e.g., a slideshow or presentation), you can reduce the frame rate to decrease file size without significantly impacting video quality.
Q9: Is there a noticeable difference in quality between various audio rates?
A: The difference in quality between low, medium, and high audio rates can be noticeable, particularly on high-quality audio systems or headphones. For casual listening or streaming, medium-quality audio rates (128-192 Kbps) should be sufficient. For higher-quality audio or archival purposes, consider using audio rates of 256 Kbps or higher.
Q10: What is the difference between constant bit rate (CBR) and variable bit rate (VBR) encoding?
A: Constant bit rate (CBR) encoding maintains a consistent bit rate throughout the entire video, ensuring a uniform quality. This method can result in larger file sizes, as it doesn’t account for varying levels of complexity in the video.
Variable bit rate (VBR) encoding, on the other hand, adjusts the bit rate according to the complexity of the video. Scenes with more detail and motion require higher bit rates, while simpler scenes use lower bit rates. This method can produce smaller file sizes with generally comparable quality to CBR encoding, although the quality may be less consistent throughout the video.
Q11: How do different video container formats affect file size?
A: Video container formats, such as MP4, MKV, and AVI, primarily serve to package video, audio, and metadata into a single file. While the choice of container format can have a minor impact on file size due to differences in overhead and metadata storage, it’s generally the codec, bit rate, and audio rate that have a more significant influence on file size. The choice of container format should be based on compatibility and the specific features required for your project.
Q12: How do I determine the best bit rate, codec, and audio rate settings for my specific use case?
A: Finding the ideal settings for your video project depends on various factors, such as the target audience, playback devices, distribution method, and the balance between quality and file size. Here are some general recommendations:
For online streaming and social media sharing, prioritize compatibility and smaller file sizes by using the H.264 codec with a medium bit rate and audio rate.
For 4K or HDR content, consider using H.265, VP9, or AV1 codecs for better compression efficiency.
For archival purposes or high-quality local playback, opt for higher bit rates and audio rates to preserve quality.
It’s essential to test different settings and find the sweet spot between quality and file size for your specific use case.
Screen recording is a great way to capture what’s happening on your iPhone, whether it’s a tutorial, a high score in a game, or a funny conversation.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to screen record on an iPhone:
Open the Control Center: Swipe down from the top-right corner of your iPhone screen (or up from the bottom on iPhone X and later) to open the Control Center.
Tap the “Screen Recording” icon: It looks like a small circle with two concentric circles inside. You’ll see a countdown timer appear on the screen, giving you a few seconds to get to the screen or app you want to record.
Start recording: Once the countdown timer ends, the screen recording will begin. You’ll see a red bar at the top of your screen, indicating that the recording is in progress. To stop the recording, tap the red bar and then tap “Stop.”
Edit and share your recording: Once you’ve stopped the recording, it will be saved in the Photos app. You can then edit and share the recording with your friends and family.
Some additional tips:
To record audio while recording your screen, press deeply (3D Touch) or long press on the Screen Recording icon in the Control Center and turn on the Microphone Audio toggle switch.
To record a specific portion of your screen, use the Markup feature to draw a frame around the area you want to record.
To add a video of yourself to the recording, use the Picture in Picture feature to display a video of yourself as you record the screen.
And that’s it! You are now a pro at screen recording on your iPhone. You can now create your own tutorials, record funny moments with your friends, or even create a reaction video to your favourite TikToks.
Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about screen recording on an iPhone:
How do I find my screen recordings?
Once you stop a screen recording, it will be saved in the Photos app. You can access your recordings by opening the Photos app and navigating to the “Videos” album.
How can I edit my screen recordings?
You can edit your screen recordings using the built-in editing tools in the Photos app. You can trim the video, add filters, and adjust the volume. For more advanced editing, you can use third-party video editing apps.
Can I record my voice while recording the screen?
Yes, you can record your voice while recording the screen. To do this, open the Control Center, press deeply (3D Touch) or long press on the Screen Recording icon, and turn on the Microphone Audio toggle switch.
Can I record a specific part of the screen?
Yes, you can record a specific part of the screen. To do this, open the Control Center, press deeply (3D Touch) or long press on the Screen Recording icon, and use the Markup feature to draw a frame around the area you want to record.
Can I add a video of myself to the recording?
Yes, you can add a video of yourself to the recording using the Picture in Picture feature. To do this, open the Control Center, press deeply (3D Touch) or long press on the Screen Recording icon, and turn on the Picture in Picture toggle switch.
Can I record games or apps with a subscription?
It depends on the terms of service of the app or game, some apps don’t allow to record content, or can have their own restrictions. You should check the app or game’s terms of service before attempting to record it.
How long can my screen recording be?
The maximum recording length is limited to the amount of storage space on your iPhone. If you run out of storage space during a recording, the recording will automatically stop.
Are you a fan of TikTok and want to save your favourite videos to watch later or share with friends?
Luckily, there are a few easy ways to download TikTok videos to your device.
Method 1: Using the built-in “Share” feature
The easiest way to download a TikTok video is to use the built-in “Share” feature. Here’s how:
Open the TikTok app and find the video you want to download.
Tap the “Share” button located under the video.
Select the “Save Video” option.
The video will be saved to your device’s camera roll.
Method 2: Using a third-party app
There are many third-party apps available that can help you download TikTok videos. Some popular options include TikTok Video Downloader, TikTok Video Saver, and TikTok Video Download. Here’s how to use one of these apps:
Download and install the app from the App Store or Google Play Store.
Open the TikTok app and find the video you want to download.
Tap the “Share” button located under the video.
Select the third-party app you downloaded from the list of options.
Follow the instructions in the app to download the video.
Method 3: Using an online video downloader
Another way to download TikTok videos is to use an online video downloader. These websites allow you to enter the URL of the TikTok video you want to download and then save the video to your device. Here’s how to use an online video downloader:
Open the TikTok app and find the video you want to download.
Tap the “Share” button located under the video.
Select “Copy Link” to copy the video’s URL to your clipboard.
Go to an online video downloader website, such as snaptik.app
Paste the video’s URL into the website’s download bar and click the download button.
Wait for the video to be downloaded, and then save it to your device.
Note: It is important to be aware that downloading copyrighted material without permission is illegal. Also, it is best practice to be careful when using third-party apps and online video downloaders, as some of them may contain malware or other harmful software that can compromise your device security.
I hope these methods help you download your favourite TikTok videos! Enjoy and share with your friends. Remember, it is always good to be aware of the copyright rules and the risks of using third-party apps and online video downloaders. Happy downloading!
The cord-cutting movement has been one of the bigger shifts in entertainment, up there with the adoption of digital music and the move to the Internet for written content. The ability to access a multitude of televised content without the need for a conventional television aerial, satellite dish, or cable service has been a revelation for many, especially as fast Internet connections themselves have become increasingly ubiquitous.
Still, the services that make cord-cutting possible are not without their problems. A drop in internet speeds can wreak havoc on your viewing, as can having several people in a house watching things all at once. Another problem is recording.
Over-the-air (OTA) signals were essentially free to do with as you please within the confines of your own home. You could record them at will with nothing more than a VCR (if you don’t know what a VCR is, ask someone over 30). The advent of DVRs made recording TV shows more convenient—if a little more restrictive—but this capability has all but vanished in the cord-cutting present.
Instead, streaming service providers want you to rely on the pervasiveness of their catalogue to come back and watch shows you like at a later date. Unfortunately, as anyone who uses Netflix regularly enough will know, streaming service catalogues are not all that pervasive. Shows come and go all the time. On top of that, traditional TV channels often have their content available for a limited time, such as a month from the date it aired.
One streaming service that has helped fuel the cord-cutting revolution is YouTube TV, and it has become one of the most popular streaming services in the US, but can you record it?
Recording YouTube TV
Rejoice, cord-cutters, for the answer is yes, you can record YouTube TV. YouTube provides their TV users with unlimited cloud DVR storage space, meaning you can record as much as you like and never have to worry about deleting old shows to make space for something new.
Of course, the downside to cloud DVR storage is that you are essentially streaming content from your DVR, which means your viewing experience is still at the mercy of your internet connection. The upside is that YouTube TV grants you access to over a hundred live channels, something you can’t get through services like Amazon Prime.
Another bonus comes in the form of simultaneous recordings. With traditional TV recording methods, you could typically record one—or perhaps two—channels at one time. YouTube TV promises “no limit” on simultaneous recordings.
There is a 9-month limit on how long recordings are kept, however.
Like traditional DVR experiences, you can set up YouTube TV to record your favourite shows on a schedule, have one-off shows recorded, or simply tell YouTube to start recording manually when you are ready.
Being a streaming service, YouTube TV is available on a wide variety of platforms, from set-top boxes to streaming sticks to phones and even TVs themselves. As long your internet connection is up to the challenge, you have access to your favourite TV channels.
Watching YouTube TV Recordings Offline
“But,” I hear you ask, “what about when I don’t have an internet connection?”
Maybe your internet has dropped out for some reason, maybe you’re off camping in the middle of nowhere with no reception but still want to enjoy your shows. Whatever the reason, you’ll be happy to know that YouTube TV does allow you to download videos for watching without an internet connection.
However…
This feature doesn’t come without its caveats. For one thing, the ability to download content is only available to users who are subscribed to the 4K Plus add-on, which naturally costs a little extra. There are also limitations on how many videos can be downloaded and how long they can be downloaded for.
That’s right, your downloads are shrouded in rights management and only available through the YouTube TV service, even when viewing offline.
So, assuming you meet the 4K add-on requirement and you haven’t exceeded any of YouTube TV’s limits, you can download recorded content to your device by simply finding the recording you want to download in the app and tapping on the download button. It’s that simple. To watch them, simply head over to the downloads section and select the download you want to play.
YouTube TV Download Limitations
We’ve already mentioned the requirement that downloaders be subscribed to the 4K add-on, but what about the other limitations? Well, unfortunately, they’re pretty strict.
Firstly, you can only download one video at a time, meaning you can’t start a new download going until the last one has finished. This may not seem like a big deal, but it does mean you’ll have to start ahead of time if you plan to download an entire show to watch while out of reach of an internet connection.
Another issue is that there will be times when it is not possible to download a video. In these instances, you likely won’t get any explanation as to why the download button will simply be greyed out.
The other two limitations are that you will need to connect to the internet at least once every 30 days to keep your downloaded content accessible and, as mentioned above regarding the cloud DVR system, downloads will expire automatically after 9 months.
Final Thoughts
YouTube TV, like most streaming services, is a mishmash of pros and cons when it comes to comparing it against traditional television services. If adoption is anything to go by, it would seem that the pros outweigh the cons for most people, but that’s a judgement call for you to make.
Unfortunately, if you want to download your recordings for unrestricted offline use, you will have to resort to far more technical (and far less legal) measures than this post is prepared to delve into. If, however, you just need some shows available offline for a short trip, YouTube TV should be able to accommodate you.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
There have been several seemingly unlikely types of content that have found a home on YouTube, and perhaps one of the more unlikely of those is the Reddit comment video. These videos follow a simple formula whereby the YouTuber reads out a selection of interesting, funny, or weird Reddit comments. Essentially it’s a highlight reel of Reddit comments.
The obvious question that arises here is, of course, are you allowed to just use other people’s Reddit comments in this manner? And, in typical copyright-related and YouTube fashion, the answer is a little messy. In the simplest sense, you cannot legally use Reddit comments in your YouTube videos without permission from the author of those comments. That being said, the chances of repercussions are almost non-existent, hence why there are so many Reddit comment videos.
Who Owns Reddit Comments?
Ultimately, all questions of this nature come down to ownership. In the case of Reddit, the person who writes the comment is the owner of that content, with Reddit holding rights to use any content on their platform for things like promoting the service. This means that in the eyes of the law, you would be stealing if you started using Reddit comments in your videos without the express permission of the author.
The exception to this is, of course, when the Reddit comment in question was not created by the author, such as a quote, excerpt, or image. In those cases, the original owner still retains their ownership.
In either case, the owner could lawfully request your video be taken down for copyright infringement, and could even attempt to take you to court for damages!
Can You Be Sued For Using Reddit Comments Without Permission?
Okay, dramatics aside, the chances of you being sued over using a Reddit comment without permission are pretty slim. It is not a matter of rights—the owner of the Reddit comment absolutely has the right to pursue you in the courts if you use their comment without permission—but there is an issue of practicality.
In order to actually take someone to court for damages, there has to be damages. Reddit does not presently offer a way for commenters to make money from their contributions directly, and very few users would be able to plausibly claim that their Reddit posts form a substantial part of their income.
The upshot of all this is that the commenter in question would likely be suing you for pennies, maybe dollars. Certainly not enough to make the legal costs worth it.
Now, with all that being said, it’s worth remembering that this is a risky strategy to adopt. Essentially banking on intellectual property owners to decide that suing you is not worth the hassle may work in a lot of instances, but the one time it doesn’t work could be very bad. Needless to say, this is not a legal blog, and the only legal advice we would propose here is don’t break the law!
Asking Permission
The most practical way around this hypothetical problem is to seek the permission of the Reddit commenters whose comments you want to use. Of course, “practical” in this case is a very relative term. Sure, it is more practical than being sued, but Reddit comment videos will typically have dozens of comments in them, if not more. If there is a time-sensitive element to the Reddit comment videos in question, that makes it less practical to get permission from every commenter you want to use.
Using Reddit Content On YouTube
So, where does this leave you? Again, we are not going to advise you to do anything illegal—you should always seek the permission of a content creator before using their content—but if you decide not to seek that permission, we would certainly recommend attribution.
Ensuring that the authors of the comments you are using are clearly attributed—such as in the video itself and also in the description—will likely be enough for many Reddit posters. As we mentioned there is little-to-no money in Reddit for the vast majority of its users, but there is a lot of social prestige to be earned. Indeed, the entire premise of YouTube is built around posting content that other users like, and your video brings more attention to a particular Redditor, it’s unlikely that they’ll complain about it.
Reddit Content Video Ideas
Once you’ve worked out how you are going to handle the legal side of things regarding using Redditor’s posts, you can then start looking at how you will present your video. Fortunately, there are a few options to choose from.
It should be noted that a common theme with these kinds of videos is that the YouTuber themselves does not appear in the video. Often each comment will be accompanied by relevant imagery (such as the comment itself), but, for the most part, the YouTuber’s face does not appear. That being said, this is not a hard rule, and you may want to do something different.
Straight Laced
Some YouTubers opt to play this pretty straight, reading out the comments as evenly as possible, not offering any additional commentary. This style suits YouTubers who are not especially charismatic in front of a microphone.
Straight Laced and Computer Generated
Another option for YouTubers who just want to let the Reddit content speak for itself is to use computer-generated dialogue to read out the comments. This essentially means the YouTuber has no need for a camera or microphone, and the quality of text-to-speech has improved remarkably over recent years.
Colour Commentary
If the YouTuber in question is a charismatic presence—and especially if they are quick witted—they might want to narrate the commentary themselves and, in doing so, inject their personality into the video.
Final Thoughts
Using Reddit content on YouTube is an increasingly popular style of video, and, while there is plenty of rough edging when it comes to the legal side, if you can navigate your way through that potential minefield. it, there is an unending supply of content for you to make!
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
YouTube is not just a form of entertainment, it is also an invaluable resource for information, education, and citation for other websites. Of course, the Internet can be a hostile environment when it comes to copyright and ownership if you get on the wrong side of things, so it’s only natural to ask; can I use YouTube videos on my website?
As with most YouTube topics, there are some caveats to the simple answer, but that simple answer is yes, you can use YouTube videos on your website in most cases.
Worried about those other cases? Don’t be, we’ll explain in more detail below, but we can confidently say that this is one area of YouTube where you should be safe from accidentally running into trouble.
Using YouTube Videos On Your Website
The firstthing I did when starting to promote my YouTube videos was to set up a wordpress website with Desert Web Solutions. This gives you a place to share and grow an audience without relying to heavily on YouTube directly.
The first thing to note here is that YouTubers have an option when they upload videos, they can make their content embeddable or not, it’s that simple. If you go to a video and the “Share” button is enabled, the YouTuber who has uploaded that content has decided to make it embeddable, which means you’re free to include it in your site.
It’s as simple as that.
Of course, there are still things you can do to run afoul of YouTube’s terms of use. For example, any kind of interfering with the embed’s functionality—such as hiding controls or preventing links back to YouTube from working—can get you in trouble. The embed itself is also the only acceptable way to view YouTube videos other than through YouTube itself, so finding alternative ways to incorporate YouTube videos into your site—even if they are your videos—is not allowed.
Now, this only applies to original content, meaning content that the YouTuber has created themselves, and does not contain any potentially copyrighted material in that content. If it is entirely original content and the YouTuber has enabled embedding, you are good to go. The YouTuber will still get any ad revenue generated (if they are eligible), and there is still a chance the viewers will subscribe through the video. Good times.
Copyrighted Content
We stressed that the content had to be original, and that is because YouTubers do not always upload original content. There are many instances of YouTubers uploading a copyright song or clips of a TV show or movie. In these cases, those YouTubes are rarely the copyright holder, and as such, are not in a position to grant the rights to embed that content in your website.
Now, if we’re being realistic, the worst thing that should ever happen to you, in this case, is the video getting taken down and your website being left with a broken embed. The vast majority of the time, copyrighted content either gets taken down or has the revenue diverted to the copyright holder. In the event that a copyright holder does decide to go after someone who has infringed their copyright, that activity would almost certainly be limited to the person who uploaded their content or YouTube itself. It is highly unlikely they would go after every website that has embedded their content.
But they could.
As with many things in life, you are taking a risk if you decide to knowingly embed copyrighted content. The risk may be small given the likelihood that any copyright holders will come after you, but you have to accept that, if that happens, the consequences will be just as bad as if the risk had been high.
Embedding Your Own Content
The simplest situation here is you creating your own content and then embedding it on your website. You can still run into problems if your content includes someone else’s content, but assuming it doesn’t, you are in complete control of what you do with it, and YouTube allows you to embed videos, so it’s all good.
Exposure Vs Obscurity
It can be worth considering the size of the website you are planning to embed a YouTube video on if that video belongs to someone else for a couple of reasons. For example, if the site is a small, unknown blog, you probably don’t need to worry about upsetting any copyright holders because, in all honesty, it will never be noticed.
On the other hand, if your site is a major traffic source, you could reach out to the YouTuber about potentially working together, since having their video on the site could represent a significant traffic source.
Make it Relevant
All talk of potential copyright pitfalls aside, it’s worth touching on your choice of YouTube content when embedding videos on your website. Choosing videos that mesh well with the page you are embedding them in doesn’t just benefit you as the webmaster, it benefits the YouTuber whose video you are using.
It should go without saying that the video should be related to the content, but there are typically several examples of any type of video on YouTube. Try to find one that suits your web page in tone and style. If you are delivering a guide on how to change a car battery and your tone is comedic and playful, don’t include a video by a YouTuber who is deathly serious. At least, not if you can find a more lighthearted alternative.
Final Thoughts
Embedding YouTube videos is a great way to add a multimedia aspect to things like blog posts and articles. Finding the right videos to go with your written content (or images) can substantially enhance the overall post.
Like everything with YouTube, there are proper ways to go about embedding content and, for the most part, they are straightforward to easy to avoid getting yourself warned or banned. The biggest mistake you can make is trying to mess with the functionality of YouTube’s embed since the worst you’re likely to face from the content itself is the video being taken down.
As always, we’d recommend sticking within YouTube’s guidelines, even when the risk of getting caught looks so vanishingly small that it will probably never happen.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
Many great features and services have spawned from people using online platforms in ways that the creators had either not intended or not even considered. For example, way back in the early days of Twitter, users started including the “@” symbol to signify they were speaking to someone and the “#” symbol to denote a topic long before it was ever a feature officially implemented by Twitter. Sometimes using a platform in a way the creators hadn’t intended can cause them to incorporate new features, sometimes it can just be a cool little trick to make your life easier.
YouTube is usually the first place anyone thinks of when the subject of user-generated video online comes up. Of course, the site is intended as a platform for uploading and viewing that content, but can you use YouTube to store your videos?
The short answer is yes, you can use YouTube to store your videos. As always, however, there’s plenty more to talk about with this topic.
Using YouTube To Store Your Videos
While YouTube technically is not intended for storing videos, the functionality of the platforms allows for it with absolutely no “hacking” or playing the system. When you upload a video, you have the option to have it be public, private, or unlisted.
Naturally, most YouTubers want their videos to be public, as this is how viewers get to see those videos. But when you have your videos marked as private, you are essentially just storing them on YouTube’s servers. YouTube does not presently impose any restrictions on how many videos you can upload or how long you can keep them on YouTube’s servers, regardless of whether they are public and making revenue for YouTube or private and just taking up storage space.
Technically speaking, you are using YouTube to store your videos even when those videos are public and available to view and generate revenue, since you can always get to them, and they can serve as a backup should anything happen to your original files.
Why Use YouTube To Store Videos
The most obvious reason to use YouTube to store your videos is that video files are notoriously large and YouTube is free. If you were going to store tens—even hundreds—of gigabytes of video files on a service like Dropbox, you would almost certainly end up having to pay for that service.
While YouTube reserves the right to leverage any videos you upload for promotional purposes and to display ads against, they do not charge you for the privilege. And, if you are not concerned about keeping the videos private, you could even make some money yourself. What’s more, if the videos you are uploading are videos you would be making regardless, any revenue you generate through YouTube would be truly passive income.
It should be noted that YouTube applies a lot of compression to get the bandwidth costs of streaming down and downloading a video through YouTube Studio will return that compressed video, not the original full-quality video that you uploaded. If this is an issue, you can go to takeout.google.com, which allows you to request any data YouTube has stored about you… which can be a lot. Scroll down to YouTube and request an archive of your video files. These video files will be the original uncompressed files, however, you cannot pick and choose which video files to download. If you have a lot of high-quality videos, getting a single video back this way will involve a lengthy download including every other video you uploaded.
The Risk
Few good things in life are completely without risk, and this is no different. The risk in this case is that YouTube are in total control of their platform—as you would expect—and are at liberty to make changes to how things are run at any time.
YouTube has been a notorious money pit in the past, and while Google’s record for putting unprofitable ventures out to pasture would imply YouTube has at least reached a stage where it is breaking even, it would certainly not be out of character for Google to make drastic changes to balance YouTube’s books.
Now, there has been no wording, actions, or rhetoric that suggest YouTube might be about to impose restrictions on video uploads, or perhaps require any uploaded content to be public so that they can advertise on it, but they could make those changes if they wished. In using YouTube as a method for storing your videos, you run the risk of this kind of change happening.
Remember, YouTube is not intended to be used as a video storage tool, so there are no guarantees offered in that regard. In contrast, services like Dropbox and OneDrive will give certain assurances because their business model is built around offering file storage. It would be a poor offering if they said your files could go missing at any time. In contrast, YouTube’s business is providing a platform for user generated content, and their assurances will revolve around that side of things.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that, while storing a video isn’t free, it is the watching of those videos and the continual use of bandwidth that really racks up the bills for YouTube.
Final Thoughts
YouTube can certainly be used as a free tool to backup your video files, but it certainly shouldn’t be your only storage solution. If you are looking for a home for your files because you intend to delete them from your hard drive, you should absolutely seek out an additional backup, even if it is physical media, such as a DVD. Putting all of your eggs in the YouTube basket could come back to bite you in the future, and making decisions like that based on the hope that nothing bad happens is rarely a good strategy. After all, that’s why you have backups in the first place.
That being said, if the videos you are storing are also videos you are happy to have publicly viewable, you will probably be safe from such a hypothetical scenario, since any change like that would undoubtedly be driven by the need to make improve revenue.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
In the interests of not leading you on, let’s just say straight at the top here; this is not going to be one of those posts that poses a question and gives you a straight forward answer, because when it comes to the best frame rate for YouTube, there is no direct answer.
However, my personal opinion as somebody who has been creating content on YouTube is – 24fps is a universally accepted baseline for YouTube frame rate quality for vlogging, educational videos and normal every day use. 30fps 60fps and higher is optimal for gamers and any higher is personal choice and only really needed for advanced video editing and slow motion content.
Like many things in the YouTubing world, the answer to this question varies substantially depending on what type of content you are making, and what your personal circumstances are.
We’re going to do our best to lay it all out for you so that, while we can’t just say “this is the best frame rate for YouTube”, you should at least have all the information you need to determine the best frame rate for you.
Cinematic vs YouTube
When uploading videos to YouTube, it’s crucial to consider the optimal frame rate to ensure a smooth viewing experience for your audience. Frame rate, expressed in frames per second (fps), is the frequency at which consecutive images (frames) are displayed in a video.
The ideal frame rate depends on the type of content, audience preferences, and devices used for playback. Here’s a breakdown of common frame rates, their suitability, and comparisons:
24 fps (Cinematic):
Standard frame rate for films and cinematic content.
Gives a “film look” due to motion blur.
Not ideal for fast-paced action, sports, or gaming content.
30 fps (Television Standard):
Common frame rate for television content, including news broadcasts and sitcoms.
A good balance between smooth motion and manageable file sizes.
Suitable for most content types, including vlogs, tutorials, and interviews.
60 fps (Smooth Motion):
Ideal for fast-paced action, sports, gaming, and high-quality live streams.
Offers very smooth motion and minimal motion blur.
May result in larger file sizes and longer upload times.
Frame Rate Comparisons
Frame Rate
Pros
Cons
Best for
24 fps
Film look, smaller file sizes
Not ideal for fast-paced content
Films, cinematic content
30 fps
Balance of smoothness and file size
Not as smooth as 60 fps
Vlogs, tutorials, general content
60 fps
Very smooth motion, minimal motion blur
Larger file sizes, longer upload times
Fast-paced action, sports, gaming
Examples:
A vlogger sharing travel experiences might choose 30 fps for a good balance of smoothness and manageable file sizes.
A gaming channel showcasing high-action gameplay would benefit from using 60 fps to capture the fast-paced action without sacrificing quality.
A short film or narrative content creator might opt for 24 fps to achieve the cinematic look.
The best frame rate for YouTube depends on the type of content you’re producing and your target audience’s preferences.
For most general content, 30 fps is a safe choice. However, for more cinematic content or fast-paced action, consider using 24 fps or 60 fps, respectively.
What Are Frame Rates? Why does YouTube Frame Rate Matter?
When you boil it down to its most basic components, video is essentially just a sequence of regular still images shown in quick succession.
Before the days of digital media, these image were stored on film and literally rolled in front of a bright light at a set speed to get the effect of moving pictures projected onto a screen, but these days we can just store it all in a digital file.
Frame rate is, quite literally, the rate at which the images—or “frames”—rush past your vision. If the frame rate is too low, the video will start to look more like a slide show than a video. If the frame rate is too high, the video will look fine but over a certain threshold, the human eye ceases being able to tell the difference, and those extra frames don’t come for free, as we’ll get into later in the post.
Shooting Frame Rate Vs Showing Frame Rate
The frame rate you shoot video at is not necessarily the frame rate you will show the video at. Two well known examples of this are silent movies and slow motion.
Silent movies were shot at the very limit of where film stops looking like motion and starts looking like choppy slideshow footage—typically between 16 and 18 frames per second. However, to give the final result a more fluid feel, they were shown at between 20 and 24 frames per second, which is also why movies from this era have that comical sped-up look to them.
At the other end of the spectrum, slow motion footage will often be shot at much higher frame rates than the human eye can discern, such as 480, and even 960 frames per second. The footage is then shown at something more reasonable, like 30 or 60 frames per second, with the result being much slower video.
How to Choose the Best Frame Rate for Your YouTube Channel – What Frame Rate Should I Use?
So, now that you know what the main variables are and how they affect your footage, how do you go about settling on a frame rate for your content?
Again, we can’t give any definitive answers that will suit everyone, but we can give you some firm guidelines that should steer you to the right answer.
Remember, we’re talking about the frame rate that you show export your videos at, not necessarily the frame rate you shoot at.
What is the lowest frame rate for YouTube? [The Hard Floor]
Unless you are recreating the old silent movie effect we were talking about, you should never use a frame rate lower than 24 frames per second.
Below this speed your video will start to look choppy, giving the impression of low quality footage, or possibly Internet connectivity issues.
Even YouTube suggests that a lower frame rate(below 24 FPS), you will experience choppy quality, and the video will seem like it’s lagging in real-time. As a matter of historical fact, 24FPS for movies was initially agreed upon back in 1926 by projectionists, as motion pictures hit the talkies.
What is the highest frame rate on YouTube? [The Pointless Ceiling]
Showing video over 120 frames per second goes beyond what the human eye can distinguish, and so is wasted. And we’re being generous with 120, the truth is it’s closer to 75 frames where our eyes tap out.
The quality of the video will look fine, of course, but you will be putting a lot of unnecessary file size (not to mention processing time when editing) into your videos for little-to-no gain on the end result.
What is max frame rate for YouTube? – In 2014 YouTube added 60fps but that has been its top end frame rate every since. After years of capping video playback at 30 frames per second. Back in June 2014, YouTube announced that 60 FPS video playback was on the way in “the coming months.
Does YouTube support 120 fps videos? – No. YouTube currently supports up to 60fps HD video playback on Chrome and Safari. However, If you upload a 120fps video to YouTube, it will be converted to 60fps automatically for compatibility and compression.
What is the difference between 60fps and 120fps? – A 60Hz monitor refreshes the screen 60 times a second, so at 60 fps there is a frame drawn every time the screen refreshes, and at 120 fps there is a frame drawn every time the screen refreshes and once in between refreshes, so it’s not shown on the screen but does get drawn.
How much does frame rate cost? [Economics]
Good video recording equipment is not cheap, and it gets more expensive when you need it to do more, such as record at higher frame rates.
If money is no object for you then you can disregard this point entirely, but if, like the vast majority of us, you have to work within budgetary constraints, you might want to prioritise your spending. If the best camera you have can only shoot in 720p, you should look to upgrade it when you can, but 720p video is not the end of the world.
On the other hand, if you are shooting your video in 4K, but you have had to drop the frame rate and other settings because your hardware isn’t up to the task of editing and exporting, you need to ask yourself if 4K is really that important to your channel.
Style
Finally, when all other factors have been considered, we come to the stylistic reasons for choosing a frame rate. As a general rule, 30 frames per second is fine for the majority of content on YouTube. If you are filming something cinematic—perhaps a short film—you will want to drop the frame rate to 24, as that is the standard rate for movies, and our brains recognise it as such.
On the other hand, if you are just vlogging or shooting regular footage, 30 frames per second avoids the weird disconnect we get from seeing footage that is shot in a cinematic frame rate but isn’t actually cinematic. If you are shooting action footage—a point of view recording of you surfing, for example—you will want to bump that frame rate up to at least 60, if not 90 or 120 frames per second. The lower number of frames is most evident when things are moving fast, and that tends to be the case for action footage.
If you are doing something like slow motion, however, you will probably have a bit of frame rate adjustment to take care of, but if you’re making slow motion videos, you probably don’t need us to tell you that.
The middle ground lies when you are shooting footage that contains both. An example of this might be a “follow-cam” shot of a skateboarder, where you would have normal speed footage as they skate along, but switch to slow motion when they do a trick. In this case it would make more sense to shoot the whole thing in the higher frame rate and deal sort it all out in editing.
Adjusting Frame Rates in Editing
Frame rates can be adjusted after the fact, but it’s important to remember that, at the moment, you should avoid reducing the frame rate to something lower than what it was shot in. At least with the regular software tools we have today.
Because there will still be the same amount of frames available, slowing down the footage will result in that slide show effect we talked about. There are clever AI-based tools being developed that can interpolate between two frames and insert more frames to make the transition smoother, but at the time of writing, these tools are far from perfect and not widely available.
Increasing the frame rate—which will have the effect of speeding up the footage—should be fine, since the process is just cutting out frames and squashing the remaining ones together. It is always easier to remove information than it is to add it.
Recording Equipment
These days, if you are buying a dedicated recording device that is not a webcam, you won’t need to think about frame rate unless you are doing something like slow motion. Generally speaking, all cameras will offer at least 24 and 30 frames per second recording, with most cameras also offering 60 frames per second. If you are happy with the quality of the video itself, the frame rate will be fine.
If you are shooting something like slow motion, you will need a special camera for that, but you probably already knew that. It’s also worth noting that, with the ever-impressive quality of phone cameras, many YouTubers are forgoing expensive cameras and just using their iPhone or Android, and who can blame them? The quality is great on those little devices these days.
Final Thoughts
Frame rates are typically the kind of thing that you don’t think about unless what you’re doing is intrinsically linked to it—such as is the case with slow motion video. For the most part, YouTubers are more concerned with things like the resolution, especially with more and more 4K displays hitting the market every day. And the truth is there is no need to think about it for many YouTubers. For most of us, we can buy a camera, set it to a recording pre-set, and the frame rate it spits out will be perfectly fine for the content we are making.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
If you’re new to the wide and wonderful world of YouTube—or working with any kind of video for that matter—you might have heard of video codecs.
Or perhaps you’re not so new, and you’ve heard of them, but you don’t really understand what they are or what they do. If you are either of these people, this post is for you.
Video codecs are the software and method that is used to compress video. In the case of YouTube, codecs are employed to reduce the size of the video before it is streamed by millions of people across the globe.
It is an essential part of transmitting video, and there are a variety of different flavours available. But what are they? And why are they so important? Read on to have YouTube codecs explained in full.
What is a Codec?
In short, codecs are compression. They are the software and method used to compress a large video file into a smaller video file using clever algorithms that strive to achieve the most significant reduction in size at the expense of as little loss of detail as possible.
Video is an incredibly large medium in terms of raw data—which we’ll get to shortly—and few people who don’t work with video appreciate just how much information is involved. Of course, anyone who edits video in any capacity will be fully aware, and anyone who has ever attempted to edit 4K video on a computer that, while powerful, was nevertheless not up to the task, will appreciate the struggle that video can present.
If you need help in deciding between 1080p and 4K – maybe you are lost and don’t know the difference – check out my deep dive blog on 4K and it could take YouTube by storm!
Codecs don’t typically help with editing, however, but they make life a lot easier on your Internet connection, and given how far our Internet speeds have come in recent years, the fact that there are still effort to improve compression and shrink video files further should serve to highlight how big video can be.
How do Codecs Work?
In the simplest terms, codecs compress information into a smaller size by replacing it with a different set of data that represents the original information.
To give a very simplified example of this, imagine you have a still frame of 1080p video where the top half of the screen is entirely black. Each pixel on the screen has to be accounted for in the data for that still frame, which means there are 1920×540, or 1,036,800 pixels. That’s a lot of data.
However, we don’t need to store every single pixel in our data. Knowing that the next million pixels are the same, we can just say that and be done. Saving the data equivalent of “Black: 1,036,800 times” is a lot more efficient than actually listing black over a million times.
Of course, there is much more to it than that, but it should serve to give you a basic grounding in how codecs do their job. Compression can be taken to extreme levels, of course. Video can be compressed until it is little more than a pixellated blur of what it once was—albeit is a pixellated blur that takes up considerably less space than it once did. Many ingenious techniques are employed to preserve information, but as a general rule, the more compressed a video is, the more of that original information you lose.
“Why is information lost?” we hear you asking. In the above example of a frame that is half black, no information would be lost. The entirety of that black half of the screen would be stored fully intact in the dramatically reduced space we outlined. Real-world applications of compression are not so simple, however.
There are very rarely large portions of a frame that are the same colour in a frame of video, especially a film or TV show. Furthermore, there may not be any smaller areas that are identical. When you consider the depth of colours available and things like film grain, it is entirely possible to have frames of video where there isn’t a single collection of pixels adjacent to each other that are identical. In those cases, the simple compression method we detailed above would be useless.
This is where the information loss comes in. Codecs employ algorithms to decide what is compressible. If you have two pixels that are ever so slightly different shades of blue, they would technically be different but probably not different enough that the human eye could distinguish between the two.
The compression algorithm may count both of these pixels as the same colour, allowing it to reduce the size of the frame slightly.
And, when the video is decoded, it will still look good to our human eyes, but the information of that slightly differently shaded blue pixel is lost, and cannot be recovered from the encoded video.
This is why high-resolution footage with a lot of film grain is hard to compress, because you either can’t get much of a size reduction from the compression, or you lose a lot of that fine detail.
This should hopefully also go some way to explaining why there are so many codecs available. It is not a simple matter of which codec reduces the video size the most, there are preferences to take into account.
Some codecs are more aggressive, others don’t achieve the same degree of size-reduction. Depending on what you are doing with your video, different codecs may be suitable.
Why do we Need Codecs?
Computers are getting more powerful, and Internet speeds are getting faster, but at the same time, media is growing in fidelity.
There was a time not too long ago when our only means of watching video was the equivalent of a 640×480 screen, in what would retroactively be called 480i. For comparison, 1080p—which is considered the bare minimum these days and is even drifting slowly into obsolesce—is 1920×1080. That’s three times more information than the standard definition video we used to watch.
In keeping with this trend, 4K—which is well on its way to replacing 1080p as the defacto standard—is four times larger again. It should be noted that the “4” in 4K is not down to the fact that it is four times the size of 1080p, but rather the fact that the horizontal resolution is nearly 4,000 pixels across.
But 4K itself already has a replacement on the horizon, with 8K screens creeping onto the market. As you might have guessed, 8K is four times larger again than 4K, though we are far from 8K being commonplace in our homes, so we wouldn’t hold off on purchasing that 4K television just yet.
So what does all this mean? It means that despite computers getting more powerful and Internet speeds getting faster, the size of the media we are trying to play is getting similarly more substantial. Exponentially so, in fact. And this is just taking video files into account; there is also game streaming to consider, which Google is getting into in the form of their Stadia service.
And, while this is a gaming platform, it ultimately boils down to streaming live video to your screen, and will likely be a big part of YouTube if it succeeds.
Two players playing video games on TV at home
To illustrate this point, here is a list of some resolutions and their typical data rate in megabits per second (Mbps). This is the amount of data that is being transmitted per second, whether that is from a Blu-ray drive to your screen, or from a distant server and over the Internet.
Compression Type
Resolution
Bitrate
YouTube @ 60FPS
1080p
4.5-9 Mbps
Blu-ray
1080p
20-30 Mbps
H.264 50Mbps
1080p
50 Mbps
No Compression
1080p
3,000 Mbps
YouTube @ 60FPS
4K
20-51 Mbps
X264 Codec
4K
100 Mbps
Blu-ray
4K
82-128 Mbps
No Compression
4K
10,000 Mbps
We should mention that all of the above compression methods are to a degree where the video is still kept to a high quality.
Of course, it would be possible to significantly reduce the bitrate further with more compression, but that would compromise the quality of the video to the point where it would affect the viewing experience.
Hopefully, that table will illustrate the importance of codecs. Even looking at the raw, uncompressed 1080p bitrate, it is sixty times more data than the typical bitrate that 4K video streamed over YouTube requires. Bearing in mind that 8Mbps is equivalent to 1 megabyte per second, a raw, uncompressed 4K stream would require data transfer rates of over a gigabyte per second.
This would present serious problems for Internet delivery, optical bandwidth in disc drives, and even if you were pulling the information directly from a high-speed solid-state drive, your computer would still need to be up to the task of processing that much information.
Audio Codecs
We’ve been focused on video codecs so far, but the audio is a critical part of the process as well, and the two do not necessarily go together in the compression process. When you encode video, the file name at the end (often .MP4) is little more than a wrapper. For the most part, you can mix and match your video and audio codecs to suit your needs.
As for the audio codecs themselves, there are nuances to compressing audio that differ from video, of course. For one thing, the smaller size of audio means that audio bitrates are typically measured in kilobits per second (Kbps) rather than megabits per second (Mbps).
But the broad strokes are the same as video codecs. They work to reduce the size of the audio by compressing it, often at the cost of some of the information stored.
The Best Codecs For YouTube
The answer what the best codecs for YouTube are is quite a short one since YouTube themselves openly tell us. YouTube prefer you to upload your videos in MP4 format, encoded with the H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec.
As we mentioned above, the file format and the codec are two different things, and YouTube is open to several different formats, such as MOV, AVI, MP4, WMV, MPEG, WebM, 3GPP, and FLV.
What Happens When I Upload Video to YouTube?
If you are already uploading videos to YouTube, you will be familiar with the “processing” phase of the upload process. During this time, YouTube is converting your video to a number of different resolutions.
When you select a different quality in a video—or when YouTube changes the quality automatically due to bandwidth issues—YouTube is not doing that on the fly. All the available quality options on a video are pre-processed and exist as their own video files on the YouTube servers.
Obviously, the capability to upscale your video to higher resolutions than the one you uploaded does not yet exist to the degree that would be feasible to use in this manner, but YouTube will create lower resolution alternatives. The standard definition is typically the first one to be created, though we would generally advise waiting until at least the high definition option has finished encoding, as that will be the most in-demand version.
YouTube has a preference for the codec you upload your video with because the fewer incoming codecs they have to deal with, the more they can optimise their platform and reduce the time it takes to process new video.
Not all codecs are free; however, the most popular ones that are used today do not cost money to use. While we are on the subject of free codecs, it is worth pointing out that codecs can be dangerous in the same way that downloading an executable file from an untrustworthy source can be.
Codecs can be used to get malicious software onto your computer, or they could just cause serious problems when attempting to playback media. So take care when downloading them, and make sure you are downloading from a verified source.
Summing Up
So, now you have had YouTube codecs explained, why you need them, and how they work (in simplified terms).
Remember, the world of codecs is not static, and new developments happen all the time, especially with new video formats and resolutions popping up from time to time.
It’s worth checking in with YouTube’s help resources occasionally to make sure there haven’t been any developments you should know about.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
With all the success that people from all walks of life have been able to find on YouTube, it’s no surprise that more and more of us want to find a way into this seemingly endless community.
Regardless of how obscure or specific your interests are, there will undoubtedly be a YouTuber making content you want. And if there isn’t, you can always become that YouTuber yourself!
The convenience of ubiquitous inter-connectivity and high speed Internet has brought us to a point where we no longer have to choose from a limited selection of entertainment, all geared towards the lowest common denominator in a bid to capture the most market share. And that door swings both ways, because any content you feel the urge to make, there is a strong chance you will find an audience for it.
That being said, getting started on YouTube can be a little daunting, especially if you have never done anything like this before. Even knowing what hardware you need, what software to use, can be confusing, never mind how you get to actually publishing a video.
Fortunately, we are here to help. Keep reading for a thorough grounding in how to record YouTube videos at home.
Planning
If you are planning just to make YouTube content for your own enjoyment, and genuinely do not care if other people watch it, you can probably skip this bit. If, on the other hand, you have any ambition to grow your YouTube channel, you need to put a little thought into how you might go about it.
Now, you don’t need to have a detailed plan covering every single aspect of your YouTube career from now into the distant future, but merely turning the camera on and hoping for the best is unlikely to breed success. At least, not as quickly as having a plan will.
The first thing to think about is what market your videos will be aimed at. Finding your niche is perhaps the most critical thing you can do to ensure success—after making good content, of course.
The more focused your niche, the better your chances of attracting an audience.
This is because smaller markets tend to have less competition and more engaged audiences. So, while the potential size of your audience is much lower than a broader niche, you will be able to attract a higher portion of that possible audience, and they will be more invested in your content.
For this reason, you should attempt to drill down into the topic you are interested in making videos about, and find the most specific version of that interest that you are comfortable with.
For example, if you are a keyboard enthusiast, and plan to make videos reviewing different keyboards, consider focusing on a specific subset of keyboards, such as mechanical, gaming, ergonomic, or any other attribute that narrows the focus of your videos.
Once you know the boundaries of your niche, you can gear any promotion, related social media accounts, and SEO towards it.
Getting Started: Content
I’m sure you’re expecting this, and we both know it has to be said, so let’s do this first.
Content. Is. King.
The content you produce is the foundation upon which your YouTube empire will be built. You can use cunning tactics to build that empire and sustain it, but if your foundations are weak—if that content is not attractive to your viewers—it will all come tumbling down eventually. It is only a matter of time.
Getting Started: Equipment
Let’s start by simply saying, if you have a relatively recent smartphone, you already have all the hardware you need.
Sure, you can buy something a little more professional (and we’ll get to that in a moment) but if you don’t want to put that kind of financial commitment into your channel just yet, any mid-to-high-end smartphone from the past few years will do a more than a passable job. But let’s talk about taking it to the next level.
To simplify this topic a little, we are going to break YouTube videos down into two main types: onscreen and offscreen. Onscreen videos, as the name suggests, will feature you in the video itself, on camera. This is probably the most common form of YouTube video. A popular example of this would be a vlog, where the YouTuber talks to the camera as though it were the audience.
The other type—offscreen—where you are not on camera, is common in software tutorials, and list videos that are made up of a series of clips from movies or other videos.
If you need ideas for channels or videos where you are not on screen I have a blog with 12 YouTube Channel Ideas Without Showing Your Face – The perfect way to make a channel if you don’t want to be to be the “face” of the brand.
The difference, of course, is that you do not need a camera to make videos where you are not onscreen. What you do need, regardless of whether you are on screen or not, however, is decent audio.
While high-quality video is definitely better than poor quality video, viewers tend to be forgiving if the quality of the video is not critical to the content, as it would be in a software tutorial. What they are less forgiving of is poor quality audio. Whether it’s excessive background noise, clicking and popping, interference, or any number of other things. This kind of thing can really grate on people in the same way that many people don’t like the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard, or cutlery scratching a plate.
With that in mind, the first piece of equipment you should focus on upgrading is your microphone.
Audio
For the most part, a decent USB microphone will do the job just fine. Blue, in particular, make some great USB microphones spanning the price spectrum.
If you want to take it a step further, you will almost certainly need to get hold of an audio interface as well. Audio interfaces can come in many shapes and sizes, from small and inexpensive to multi-channel beasts that cost the same as a small computer.
Audio interfaces provide crystal clear, low latency audio input for your professional-grade microphones (or other instruments), as well as provide the necessary power to run those microphones.
I personally use a Boya BY-MM1 microphone and works wonders with my phone and camera – I even did a deep dive blog on the Boya-BY MM1 it and it has a very cool sound improving feature.
Video
When you start getting into camera upgrades, things can get very expensive, very fast. There are not many budget options that will give you better quality than a typical iPhone or high-end Android phone.
Just be sure to do your research, do not put too much stock in the various numbers manufacturers like to put on the box. Things like resolution and framerate aren’t the be-all and end-all of camera quality. And, remember, if something looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is.
One thing to note is that you shouldn’t be afraid to use less conventional means if they work for you. One such example would be using an HDMI capture device to turn a standalone camera into a webcam of sorts.
The Rest
Regarding other equipment, we could talk about when getting your perfect YouTube set up together; there’s too much to cover in this post. Needless to say, things like acoustic treatment and lighting are essential to producing the best content possible.
Lighting, in particular, can do wonders for your video quality. A great camera can still produce poor video in a bad light; however, even a mediocre camera can do good work if accompanied by good lighting.
Finding a Location to Film In
Finding a somewhere in your home to film is a topic that could fill a post of its own, but we’ll do our best to cover the basics. Your priority should be finding somewhere you can set up permanently. That is, somewhere you wouldn’t have to remove your gear in between videos.
This will allow you to set up things like lighting and acoustic treatment—things you can’t easily put up and take down every time you want to record a video. A permanent location can be anywhere from a spare room or your bedroom, to a closet or the garage. Anywhere that won’t upset anyone you might be living with.
Need inspiration for places to record in around your house? I have been making videos for over 8 years so I have pulled together a list of some of my favorite places to film in my home – some are very imaginative!
If you can’t find such a spot, you will have to try and make your YouTube set up portable so that it can be moved in between recordings. Consider things like getting a microphone with a tighter pickup pattern, so that it picks up less background noise. Opt for a smaller, more portable lighting rig. And, obviously, a laptop over a desktop computer.
Your Set
Having an interesting backdrop to your videos is by no means essential, but it does help to give your videos a little extra flair, not to mention a touch of personality.
The key to an excellent backdrop is to make sure it does not overpower the focus of the video, whether that focus is you, some product you are showing off, or anything else that you want the viewers to be paying attention to.
Be sure to keep things relevant, as well. If you are running a straight cooking channel, it would be confusing if your backdrop had a guitar mounted on the wall. Lighting is an excellent tool for this purpose, but the lighting should not overpower your camera lighting. If you can afford a camera with near-focus, dialing the focus to give the background a slight blur can help to keep the attention on what’s important.
Once you have been making videos for a while, try to incorporate things into your backdrop that speak to the history of your channel. For example, if you were running a craft channel, where you show your viewers how to make things, have some of your more impressive builds in the backdrop.
Little touches like this not only show what your channel is about, they create a sense of connection with long time viewers, who know what these elements of your backdrop represent.
Recording Times
Choosing when to record a video can be a little tricky, especially if you live with others, or have neighbours with thin walls. Most new YouTubers will be making their videos around a job or school. This severely cuts down the time available to record in.
Factor a social life, spending time with your children, being a child, and you may quickly find the main reason many YouTubers end up quitting.
How much time you dedicate to your channel will depend entirely on how seriously you want to take it. If you have big plans for your YouTube career, we recommend setting aside time solely for working on your channel. That time could be spent writing a script, editing, researching and, of course, recording. You shouldn’t work yourself into the ground, of course.
Be reasonable with your scheduling. But the more you treat your channel like a job, the more likely it is that it could one day become one.
Do Not Be Afraid to Scrap Content
Once you have started filming your videos, the next step is to upload them… or is it? Not every video is gold; even experienced YouTubers occasionally make a video they are not happy.
One of the curses—and blessings—of YouTube is that content can have a shelf life far greater than the few days or weeks after you upload it. That is great because it means your videos have the potential to reach new viewers much farther down the line. But it can also be detrimental because first impressions are a big deal.
If you upload poor content, the chances of a new viewer stumbling across that content and becoming a subscriber are pretty slim. It won’t matter that the video was a one-off and most of them are top-notch. Or that it was a long time ago and you’ve improved since then. Most of the time, they will assume that this what your content looks like, and move on.
That is why you need to be honest with yourself about your content. Get friends or family to watch for second opinions if you have to, though you will know if you are honest with yourself.
We know a lot of work goes into a video, but if that video ends up being below par, you have to let it go.
Hub Content, Help Content and Hero Content Videos are the 3 Type Of Content YOUR Channel Needs To Grow. Hub content is focused on you channels core audience for example daily vlogs, regular news or vlogs. Help Content are YouTube Videos designed to teach viewers something, a list, a lesson or a tutorial. Hero Content is when you go for the big flagship video that takes you the longest to edit, has the highest budget and is seen as the special event. Mixing these 3 types of content will help give your channel the structure it needs to grow and attract audiences outside your community, while engaging your existing subscribers.
Evergreen videos or evergreen content vs Topical trending videos, viral trends and pop culture videos. Evergreen videos aim to plant the seed for slower but long term growth while topical trending viral topic videos aim to ride the wave and gain rapid growth but does not guarantee a long life span.
WHAT IS EVERGREEN CONTENT? – Evergreen content is content that is always relevant—much like the way evergreen trees retain their leaves all year around. Interesting and relevant content that does not become dated is necessary in order to be found online by search engines.
WHAT IS TOPICAL CONTENT? – Topical content is timely, relevant content that relates to something current. The obvious advantages to this type of content are that it’s of-the-moment and usually, highly searchable. While topical content is great for achieving a temporary spike in traffic, it tends to have a fleeting appeal.
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How to find YouTube Video Ideas or Vlog Topics. Finding new ideas for YouTube Video Topics can be hard at times but I have 3 Tips On How To Find Video Topics which will give you Unlimited YouTube Video Ideas & YouTube Video Topic Ideas so you never have to worry again.
Writing block is common in most creative fields and ideas for YouTube videos can be hard for new YouTubers to come by when you can’t see the wood from the trees.
That is why I have a method to discover my YouTube Video Ideas and topics.
1 – Personal YouTube Video Ideas
Pull from your own personal experiences. Your life can be a very deep well of information, opinions, hobbies and content ideas.
I know sometime it can feel like you have nothing to think about but why not look at your hobbies and explain that to your audience. Are you a video gamer?
Why not tell us about your favourite game!
Do you like fashion or makeup?
Why not make a video about your new summer look, your favorite make up and how you put it on. Or talk more personal, tell us about your family, your friends, your day at school. You can always find something to talk about in your personal life.
2 – Trending Topic Videos & Other YouTubers
Trending topics can be the source for UNLIMITED YouTube Video Ideas in its own right. Trending topics can be anything that is in the news right now.
Why not react to the news, a new music album, a theatre play or the latest new toy trends like Fidget Spinners. Trends can also pop up out of nowhere like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge did in 2015 or the Harlem Shake. To find trends just watch what other large YouTubers seem to be doing and make a video about it, react to it, talk about it or watch that tv show or movie.
3 – Breakdown Large Topics into in-depth smaller videos
These videos are 10-15 minutes long and have 10-30 tips on how to survive a music festival. They are good videos and have been well received but if I wanted to make more videos from the same topic I could drill down into the discussion and dedicate more time to each part.
From a top 10 tips video I could make 10 smaller videos giving each tip more explanation for example how to pitch a tent, what food do you need, festival recipes, best things to pack for a festival, how to survive the good/bad festival weather.
All of those videos have merit in their own right and could easily be made into videos people want to see as well as the top 10 video compilation..
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
Two players playing video games on TV at home
