- What is the cost of starting a gaming channel on YouTube?
Well, in some cases it really doesn't have to be anything.
- vidIQ - vidIQ - vidIQ.com
- Hello, I'm Dan and welcome back to vidIQ.
We are the YouTube Tool, Academy and Channel
that helps educate you along your YouTube journey.
Today we're discussing starting a gaming channel
on YouTube for free.
Before we jump into that though,
I have to ask, in the comments below let me know,
what was your biggest hurdle for getting started on YouTube,
back when you first started your channel
or if you haven't started yet?
What is that hurdle getting in your way
of starting your YouTube journey?
Now when I say Getting Started for free on YouTube,
there are a few disclaimers.
Watching YouTube, for example, is free but I assume
you're doing that on a device you purchase
such as a phone, a TV or a computer.
So know, this isn't a video about how to go
to some Shady Back Alley and pick up a free device
to start recording games on your YouTube channel.
However, what I will be going over
is some of the tips and tricks you can use
with things you already own
to record gameplay videos for virtually nothing.
We're going to discuss physical equipment that you'll need.
We're going to discuss software you'll need
whether you're on desktop or mobile.
And I'll even go a little bit in depth
on how to get some free games.
None of the brands listed here today
are paying us for any kind of representation.
These are other products that I've personally purchased,
or ones that I've just seen creators speak highly of.
Now for this particular video,
I won't be going in depth on consoles,
because that's a whole separate topic in itself.
However, the editing portion of this video
may still be helpful to you if you are recording on console.
But for now, Today's focus is PC and mobile.
With all of those disclaimers out of the way.
Let's get into equipment.
Now, as I've already touched on,
you will need a computer or a phone.
If you're going to be recording gameplay content
out of one of those devices.
It's not enough to just record gameplay content,
though most people would like
to add some commentary to that content.
So what can you do about a microphone,
if you don't really have the budget right now,
to go purchase one?
The hard truth is that if you are going
to spend money on a YouTube journey,
the number one thing you should definitely spend money on
is a microphone, hands down.
However, if that's not an option for you,
or you're not even sure you really want
to make YouTube videos yet,
you are just like to try it.
There are a couple of suggestions I have for you.
The biggest suggestion I could give you
is having your gaming headset that you may already have
to talk to your friends online.
Have that become your main microphone for the time being.
If you don't have a gaming headset,
my next recommendation for you
would be to use voice capturing software
on your mobile phone and have that be your microphone.
Recording the audio off of your mobile device.
If you're recording your gameplay on a PC,
is a little bit tricky.
You'll need to find a way to sync this audio
with the gameplay itself.
My quick tip for you would just be
to take your computer mouse,
hovering over the record button on your capture software,
have your phone already recording and just click the mouse,
nice and loud into the microphone.
Once you go to edit your video,
you'll hear the click and you'll know it,
that's the moment when you started recording your gameplay.
This is not an elegant solution and like I said,
if you are to spend money anywhere,
a microphone is always hands down,
the biggest thing you're going to want.
Audio is so important on YouTube.
Once your equipment squared away,
we now need to discuss the software aspect
of making gameplay content.
First, I'll go over recording on a desktop computer
and then mobile.
Now regarding recording your screen on a desktop,
the first thing I'm going to tell you is never ever
use your phone to record your monitor,
and let that be your screen capturing method of choice.
It's 2020 now and nothing will get somebody
to click away from your video faster,
than if they see you trying to record your screen
with your mobile phone.
I would urge you to take a look at OBS, or Streamlabs OBS,
either one would do it very nicely.
These will capture your screen,
they will do it in high quality and they're absolutely free.
There will be some setup you may need
to look at a tutorial or two so you can get it set up
at the highest quality possible
for whatever level of computer that you have,
but once you do get them set up, they are fantastic.
However, another free screen capturing software
that works equally as well is called Nvidia ShadowPlay.
Now you'll only have Nvidia ShadowPlay,
if you have an Nvidia graphics card that is kind of newer,
I don't know exactly when Nvidia
started implementing Shadowplay.
But look it up,
see if you already have Nvidia ShadowPlay installed,
because if you have an Nvidia graphics card,
you very likely do.
Nvidia ShadowPlay, will record your screen,
at a very high quality and for me anyway,
it hasn't limited any of my gameplay performance at all.
Screen capturing and playing your game.
That's the fun part. That's the easy part.
Let's get into video editing.
Today there are a bunch of options
for free video editing software.
I'm going to talk about just a few.
But I would recommend googling,
if none of these jump out of you.
If you're on Windows 10,
you have a built in video editor
and it's simply called video editor,
just literally type that into your search bar,
it'll come right up and you have a somewhat
decent video editor to get started with.
If you're on a Mac, the equivalent to this would be iMovie.
But if you're looking for something a little more robust,
I would recommend either HitFilm Express or DaVinci Resolve.
Both of them start out free and come highly recommended.
Now, these are just my personal recommendations.
You can always go on Google
if nothing jumped out at you here,
and look for other screen capturing
and video editing software available to you,
because there's a lot out there.
(upbeat music)
All right, let's talk mobile.
This is a different animal and I'll be honest with you,
I personally haven't gone out of my way,
to record much mobile gameplay,
but I do have a few recommendations for you
in terms of screen capturing.
And again, if these don't jump out at you,
feel free to Google some for yourself.
First and foremost, if you have an iPhone,
you already have screen capturing built into your phone,
which is great.
That solves a huge problem for you right there.
Certain versions of Android phones
will also have built in screen capturing software
at their disposal.
If neither of those options are of interest to you.
Then I recommend AZ Screen Recorder.
This is another app that comes highly recommended
by the community and does a ton for free.
(upbeat music)
Editing on mobile has the same rule set as recording,
you're going to have some options
built into your phone already.
And you're going to have other options out there
that start out free and have limited features.
On iPhones, you could be using iMovie.
On Android using Google Photos,
you actually have a built in video editor
that kind of just streams clips, it's not super powerful.
And then my personal recommendation would be Premiere Rush,
which has a free version with some limited features.
Now with all the software recommendations I just gave you.
If you have your own advice,
please let everybody know in the comments,
what you use to record and edit your videos
whether you're on mobile or desktop.
(upbeat music)
Alright, let's talk about games.
Now, whether you're on mobile or desktop,
free games can be very easy to come by.
My warning to you is that when you start
YouTube playing free games,
you're going to have a lot of competition
because obviously well they're free.
Anyone can access to use instantly.
If you're going to the Steam Store,
you can use search filters to find free games
and I would recommend checking out new releases,
if you're gonna be playing them on YouTube,
so you can start to get in early on some of these games
that maybe haven't been covered a whole lot yet.
Another site I like to use is itch.io.
A lot of indie game developers put their games there,
first before they even hit steam.
So in some cases, you can be pretty early to the party,
obviously have your very popular releases like, Fortnight,
which is free for everybody.
And a lot of people do start their channels with that game.
But again, you run into that problem
with a lot of competition.
As for free games, the very last suggestion I have for you,
if you're just getting started on YouTube,
there's nothing wrong
with playing the game you already bought.
If anything looks interesting for you,
and you'd like to record it, you're on your way.
Now this was a very broad overview
of gaming on YouTube in 2020 for free,
but I want to show you one more thing
that if you're a new youtuber you may find very helpful.
(upbeat music)
This is the vidIQ Discord.
we started promoting this discord channel,
kind of recently and it's taken off.
This discord is full of creators just like you looking
for tips and tricks on how to grow on YouTube
and looking to share their own insights.
Now we don't allow self-promotion in Discord.
So don't come in here trying to share your content,
moderators will kick you out.
But if you're looking for actionable advice
on how to improve your thumbnails,
or other strategies that might help you grow your channel,
then this is the place for you
and it's linked down below in all of our videos.
I hope you found this video helpful
and I do plan on going more in depth
on a lot of different areas regarding things you can do
to more easily record and edit gameplay.
If you haven't already,
let me know in the comments below
about your biggest hurdle to getting started on YouTube.
I will see you in the next one.
Have a great rest of your day.