Creating Videos for YouTube – How to & Tips

One of the projects I have decided to pursue is the creation of videos for YouTube. I want to create audio centred videos that persons are looking to use for meditation, to help them sleep, for white noise whilst studying or just background sounds to help them relax.

The concept is simple. I find royalty free video and audio, I put them together and I post them to YouTube. The goal is to keep creating videos, being consistent with posting, in the hopes that one day, the channel I have started, called a noisy soul, will eventually have enough subscribers and watch hours and allow me to make some passive income.

The reality is, anyone can do this, the realty also is anyone can do this. Channels already exist doing exactly this and I wonder if I am late to the game. Probably, but I am going full speed ahead. The goal is to keep producing content people clearly want, including myself, and build up an audience.

Getting Content for Your Videos

If you would like to also try this out, check out this guide below.

First, you will need to find royalty free audio and videos. The site I have been using for royalty free audio is orangefreesounds. Be sure to check what you are allowed to do with the downloaded audio, before you start downloading a storm. This site does not only have royalty free audio. Audio with restrictions for usage can negatively affect your monetization goals on YouTube.

For now, I have only been using audio that specifically says it can be used for commercial purposes and my intention is to work with what’s free.

For royalty free videos, I go to pexels. You can also search for royalty free videos to find other sources. Some word of advise and what I have observed. If you want to create high quality videos, pay attention to the resolution quality of the videos you download at this stage. Aim for high quality videos which are over 1080p or better yet. those that are 4k quality. Trust me, you don’t want to put out low quality content because the competition out there is real.

That’s it for content. As I explore and grow with this channel, I will pick up some new tips and ideas along the way, but this is what I have been working with and learnt so far regarding gathering usable content.

Making a Video for YouTube

Putting a video together has been interesting. The audio and video clips you get may in most cases be no longer than 30 seconds. This makes it so much fun when you are trying to make a video that’s 30 minutes or better yet, 3 hours, long. There is going to be a lot of editing, slicing and moving clips around to compose something that flows seamlessly. I literally feel like a videographer and sound editor at this stage and I’ve only just started.

Audio Clips

The first thing I tackle is the audio and how I can make it longer. The software I have been using is Audacity. It is available for Windows and Mac. You will be able to add your really, really short audio clip and with some maneuvering make the audio as long as you need it to be.

Video Clips

Be wary that the video clips can be just as short as the audio, so it requires some cutting and piecing together to make a longer composition. Create an initial composition, as unique as possible, at a reasonably good length like 5 minutes and then copy and paste to make it as long as the audio clip.

Putting it Together

To put everything together and create the final video, I have been using iMovie, because it’s what I have. I have not done any video editing on Window just yet, but I’ve seen Blender being recommended for video editing. It is free but has a steep learning curve as its geared towards 3d modelling. I have played around with Blender to do 3D rendering a while back, when I was doing a Graphic Design Diploma, but never for video editing, so if you give it a try, let me know.

Exporting the video, especially if it is a couple hours long, takes a while and uses a lot of computer resources. Be sure you have a fairly fast computer to handle the load and ample amounts of disk space.

Also, uploading very long videos to YouTube, takes just as long, or even longer, than exporting videos. Prepare yourself for another long process.

That has been my strategy to create videos. If you haven’t already realized, it does take quite a while to put everything together.

Summary Tips

Just to highlight the process and some major tips.

• Search for royalty free audio clips, e.g. from orangefreesounds.
• Search for royalty free video clips, e.g. from pexels.
• Review the usage for royalty free content, to be safe, e.g. is it available for commercial usage?
• Ensure the video clips is of a high quality, above 1080p, 4k if possible.
• Ensure your computer can handle the tasks of creating videos. It can be a resource intensive process.
• Get software to do editing and creating videos, Audacity for audio, iMovie or Blender for video
• Edit the audio and video clip lengths to make them longer.
• Review your compilation to ensure it looks and sounds good before posting to YouTube.

That’s a Wrap

My journey has just begun, but in this short space of time I have really learnt a lot. I already have other thoughts and ideas for how to make the free content I find more usable. I have definitely developed some new skills with editing videos and audio clips, so I feel like I’m already winning.

Check this post here on why I started this YouTube channel and look out for my next post.