Hey everyone, and welcome back to our 'How to Get Started Vlogging' series!
This is the final episode.
So if you've missed out on the first two, make sure to go to the Sony Alpha Universe
YouTube channel and catch up.
Again, my name is Jason Vong and joined with me is Vivienne, and in this episode, we're
going to be talking about 'How to Edit Your Vlog'.
So the best practices when it comes to creating thumbnails and titling your videos, and finally,
leave you with some words of encouragement to keep that vlogging momentum going.
Let's get started!
So now that you've shot your vlog, it's time to put everything together.
While I can't teach you everything you need to know about video editing in the short amount
of time that we have, we can however offer you a bit of guidance on how to approach the
edit.
The biggest thing when it comes to editing is organization.
The more organized you are, the more you can focus on the creative aspect of your storytelling.
Start off by creating a folder structure within the project and importing the footage in the
corresponding folders.
For example, if you're doing a simple talking head-vlog, like what I'm doing right now,
you can have a folder specifically for 'A-Roll' of all your head-clips, and a folder for 'B-Roll',
for all the clips that you shot to supplement what you're saying.
Or if you're doing a travel vlog, you can have folders for different cities or places
that you've been to, or perhaps just the days those were shot.
The important thing here is to be able to reference a particular clip and pull it out
right away when you need it, instead of having to dig through a cluttered mess.
Next, watch everything that you've shot and start cutting all the raw footage down to
usable clips.
This will be particularly helpful for those who might not have the full story in mind
yet when they were filming the vlog and would just give them a sense of what the story might
be.
Now, some people like to go into each individual clip and set in and out points for all of
the usable sections.
I, however, like to drag my footage into the timeline and trim out all the unusable parts
like line flops, poorly exposed shots, shaky footage, etc.
I then often like to color label the clips, separating my 'A-Roll', 'B-Roll', sound effects,
music, title cards, and place them in their own layers, so at a glance, it'll be less
confusing for me to identify certain parts of the edit.
Now this seems a little extraneous, but remember: every little organization you can do to help
you streamline your editing will help you tremendously.
So once everything is organized, labeled, trimmed and sorted out, I then duplicate this
timeline with all my usable clips for back up purposes.
In case I mess up somewhere or I accidentally delete something.
After that, we're ready to begin working on our rough cut.
From here on now, it's just a matter of piecing your story together and fine-tuning the edit
to your satisfaction.
Feel free to add text, sound effects, color grade, music, and even special effects to
help you personalize your vlogs.
Next, we're going to be talking about 'Editing for Optimal Engagement'.
The best practices for retaining the audience's attention.
If at any part of your edit it feels a little drawn out or boring to you, do your best to
slim it down or removing it entirely, if it doesn't fit into your overall story.
Not that your vlog shouldn't have any slow moments, so long as there's a pay off for
your viewers at the end.
YouTube actually has a section called 'Audience Retention' in every single of your videos
which will give you a good indication where in that video the collective audience watched
the most, and where they watched the least.
So, imagine a straight line on a graph that represents the audience's retention in the
length of your video.
Ideally, you would want the viewer to watch all of your video from beginning to end.
However, in reality, this graph will fluctuate a lot.
If you see a dip that usually means the viewers are skipping through that particular part
of the video.
Now, see that dip is perfectly okay, so long as there's a rise again and the majority of
the viewers are making it to the end of your video.
However, you don't ever want the graph to just dip, and flat lines.
Now usually, it means the video lost a lot of retention.
And when YouTube detects something like that, it'll be less inclined to push out your video
to viewers.
On the flipside, if you see a spike, that means the viewers are specifically tuning
into that particular part of your video.
Usually, they are rewinding back to it and watching it again.
Make sure to pay attention to this and find out what and why your audience find interesting
and try to replicate that in your next video.
Now, this is super important and have a great impact on the growth of your channel.
Because the more Watch Time your video generates, the more will YouTube try to push that video
out to the viewers.
Remember when I said at the start of the series that your first few videos, those may not
be perfect, but can be a great learning experience?
This is what I'm talking about!
Your first few videos will give you a better idea on how to prove future ones.
Now that we have a grasp on Watch Time, let's go over the best practices for titling and
creating a thumbnail for your video.
You might have heard of the phrase 'Content is KING!' on YouTube.
And while that is still true, nowadays, how you package the content is just as important
if not more important than the content itself.
The secret formula to creating successful vlogs is a combination of clickable thumbnail,
enticing title, and long Watch Time.
When YouTube detects it, it pushes your video out to viewers who haven't seen or are not
subscribed to your channel yet.
This is how you generate more audience.
Now, it's super important that you do not clickbait!
This means luring viewers in with misleading thumbnails and titles.
Because the Watch Time data actually reflects this and YouTube will stop suggesting your
videos to new viewers.
Remember what we said in the first episode: You want to foster and answer curiosity!
So let's talk about titles first.
Say the vague and mysterious titles for later.
For now to grow your fanbase, you want to focus on using search engine optimized titles.
These are terms that are wildly searched on Google and YouTube which helps actually put
your videos on the first page of the search results which draws viewers to your video.
A great way to get started using these SEO terms is to actually do a couple of searches
on Google and YouTube, and see what kind of keywords pop up.
For example, since our videos are primarly focused on camera tutorials, our SEO terms
involve a camera brand and a camera model.
Like our videos on the Sony a6400.
Next is creating a thumbnail.
Because of how small the recommended videos are on the YouTube page, you want to make
sure that your thumbnail is eye-catchinhg and extremely clear.
You want to maximize as much screen real estate as you can.
You can add a bit of text or phrases within the thumbnail if it helps to describe the
video, but don't clutter it with too much.
Remember: you want to entice the viewers by peaking curiosity when they see your thumbnail.
Not scare them away.
Also, don't be afraid to test if your titles and thumbnails for your videos, if you notice
a stall in view growth.
Sometimes a slightest difference in phrasing or look of a thumbnail can make a huge difference
in attracting new viewers.
Lastly, some words of encouragement.
I've actually been making YouTube videos for more than 10 years now, but it wasn't until
the last 4 years that I found success.
I went through 4 different YouTube channels, made plenty of mistakes in each of them and
ended up in a lot of mental and emotional pitfalls.
But the biggest lesson that I've learned by doing all of this is to not focus on perfection!
You see, unlike television and film, internet video thrives on that raw, authentic, realness
content, that instantaneous connection with your audience.
So it's okay if there's a glip in your edit, or if your footage was shot incorrectly or
perhaps the ending of your vlog may not have that ideal result that you were looking for.
Because of the end of the day, just have fun with it!
I can't emphasize this enough.
Remember, if you enjoy the process of making the video, it will ultimately shine through
and you'll find that your audience is a lot more forgiving than you think.
Just remind yourself that the audience is there to watch you, for you and to have a
good time!
So hopefully, this has helped you out and if it did, let us know in the comments down
below.
And don't forget to subscribe to the Sony Alpha Universe YouTube channel for more awesome
content like this.
And come join me and Vivienne on my channel at Jason Vong for some fun camera content.
Everyone, thank you so much for joining us on this series, we hope to see you again very
soon.
Peace!