(upbeat music)
- This is a YouTube Shorts.
And what you're about to watch is a complete guide
on how to make one.
(soft music)
Shorts are YouTube's answer to TikTok.
No doubt you've seen the Shorts shelf by now.
Each video is less than 60 seconds long,
watched in vertical or portrait mode
and the layout is very similar
to what you already find on TikTok.
Shorts have proven to be a great way
to build audiences fast.
For example, in six months
3D animator Jake Fellman's YouTube Shorts
have brought in almost 5 million subscribers
and over three and a half billion views.
You can't monetize YouTube Shorts yet
but we'll come back to that later.
If you don't have access to this Shorts camera tool yet
don't worry you can still make YouTube Shorts.
Simply upload your video as you usually would do,
but make sure it's in vertical video format
and less than 60 seconds long
and that will qualify it as a YouTube Shorts.
For a full tutorial on this
check out the video onscreen now.
Hey folks, I'm Rob.
Welcome back to vidIQ,
educating you on your YouTube journey.
And today's lesson is all about finally
by YouTube Shorts camera tool.
Now there is a lot to get through,
I don't wanna waste your time
so let's just get straight into it.
Once you have access to YouTube Shorts
from the YouTube mobile app homepage,
tap on the plus button at the bottom of a screen,
and then tap on create a Short.
There are no channel requirements
such as a certain number of subscribers or views
to make YouTube Shorts,
but currently YouTube are very slow to roll this out
to all users.
The default record time for Shorts is 15 seconds
but you can record up to 60 seconds.
Tap me number here above the record button
to adjust the time.
You can upload a video you've already recorded on your phone
by using the button in the bottom left hand corner.
If you do this, you'll be taken to the video editor page
where you can trim down the video if you need to.
Tap next to take you to the next screen.
We'll talk about this in more detail later,
for now let's go back to the recording screen.
You have three main recording features.
Flip, obviously jumps between the front
and rear facing camera on your phone.
The speed button allows you to adjust the speed
of a recording.
If you set the slider to very fast
you can record for longer
and this will create the effect of a time-lapse.
If you set the slider to very slow
you can record for a very Shorts amount of time
and that puts it into a slow motion video.
Do bear in mind though
that the frame rate doesn't compensate,
so you'll end up with some very jerky footage like this.
You can set a record countdown timer for up to 20 seconds
as well as setting a time limit
for how long you want to record a video.
In this example, I've set the countdown to 20 seconds
and the video would record for exactly seven seconds
before stopping.
There are two ways to record a video.
You can tap to start
and then tap to stop,
or hold onto the record button
and then released to end the recording.
You can record as many scenes as you like.
At the top of the screen
is a timeline showing you how much time you have left.
Each white notch represents a scene
and you can use the undo and redo symbols
next to the record button
to remove or readd videos you've recorded.
If you need to finish off your current YouTube Short later
you can do so by tapping on the cross button
and choosing save and exit.
Upon returning to the Shorts camera
you will be asked to carry on your previous Short
or start a brand new one.
Now it looks like this Add Music feature
is currently in development,
so the specifics may change
but this is how it generally works.
You can search and scroll through popular music tracks,
favorite them, preview them and add them
to your own YouTube Shorts.
Now, when you press the record button
you'll be able to hear the music
and sync whatever crazy stuff you want to do
to the beat of the tune.
Now, yeah.
I don't really know what to tell you
what I'm doing here other than to let you know
that the script simply said,
"Dance like your life depended on it."
Clearly my life isn't very valuable.
The alternative way to do this
is to pick music after recording the video.
Once you've advanced to the next screen
you can choose some music if you haven't already done so.
What we're going to do here
is add the same music as last time,
but the problem now is that it doesn't sync correctly
with the video.
This is where the adjust music feature will help you
not only pick the exact piece of music you want,
but time it correctly with your video.
Simply tap, hold and slide the music
to be desired location in the track.
This music feature is a pretty deep rabbit hole
because when you're watching YouTube Shorts
you'll see an audio sample button
in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen,
which if tapped will show you all the videos
that have used that audio, the audio source
and the ability to start creating your own Shorts
using that audio.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a popular music either.
As we currently understand it,
any audio from any YouTube Shorts is up for grabs.
You won't get a copyright claim
but it can only be used for personal non-commercial use.
For more information
on YouTube Shorts permissions and copyright
watch this full explainer video on screen now.
As well as adding music
you can also add text to your YouTube Shorts.
If you've ever used Instagram stories
or indeed YouTube stories
you'll be very Amelia with how this works.
You can change the font, the background, the color,
resize it and put it anywhere on the video.
You can also add multiple blocks of texts
but just like the music,
you may want the text to work with video.
This is where the timeline feature comes into play.
It allows you to trim the text boxes
so they appear and disappear
when you want them to during the video.
Simply tap and drag the ends of the text boxes
to match what's happening in the video.
I mean, come on folks,
if this YouTube Shorts doesn't go viral
I just don't know what I'm doing wrong to be honest.
Well, I think it's a masterpiece so let's upload it.
Now, this might freak out seasoned YouTube creators
a little bit.
You can't upload a custom thumbnail
nor can you write a video description,
or add video tags.
This makes your video title super important
because it's doing all of the heavy lifting.
So keep it Shorts so it doesn't get cut off
and make it impactful.
You can also add hashtag Shorts to your title
and you probably should,
as it may increase the visibility of your content.
But there are no guarantees
as there are millions of creators
making tens of millions of YouTube Shorts already.
Other than setting the visibility of a video
the only thing left to do is upload it.
Now, if you do want to make further changes
to the video's metadata
you can go into the video library
after the video has uploaded,
tap the three dots next to the video
and then you can add a video description and tags.
But if you want to upload a thumbnail
you will need to do it through the YouTube studio app
or do it via a desktop browser in the YouTube studio.
So those are the important nuts and bolts
of making a YouTube Shorts.
But what about best practices?
Let's talk about that right now.
Should you make a custom thumbnail for your YouTube Shorts?
And the answer depends on your traffic sources.
Viewers can see your YouTube Shorts
outside of YouTube Shorts.
I know that sounds daft
but that's the way YouTube have decided to do things.
So if you are getting traffic from browsed features,
suggested videos search,
it may be worth making custom thumbnails
for your YouTube Shorts.
Also consider that YouTube adds a Shorts shelf
to your channel page on both desktop and mobile by default.
So do consider how attractive
or indeed how ugly that may look without custom thumbnails.
Now let's consider the videos themselves.
Yes, you can make square YouTube Shorts if you want to
but you will have to contend with letterboxing.
That's where there's going to be huge black bars
at the top and the bottom of the video.
And that may cause a distraction to the viewer
so do bear that in mind.
At the same time, you also have to consider
there are video details at the bottom of the screen
and engagement tools over to the right.
So don't put anything important on your videos
in those parts of the screen.
There are no traditional calls to actions on YouTube Shorts,
those being end screens and interactive cards,
but what you might consider doing
is adding a pinned comment to your YouTube Shorts
because when viewers go to the comments
for that YouTube Short,
the first comment they will see is your pinned comment
and you could send them to other videos,
your channel and so on.
When it comes to YouTube Shorts, consider the viewer intent.
Most likely they want to be entertained
but they could want to be inspired and educated.
The key thing is they want that experience
as quickly as possible.
Just because you have 60 seconds,
don't use that time if you don't need it.
Audience retention on YouTube Shorts is absolutely critical,
not necessarily overall watch time.
Ideally, you want your audience watching your video
more than once.
And some creators
are even looping their videos intentionally
for amazing audience retention numbers.
And finally, the best content, as always,
is shareable content.
Consider why you share certain things
with your friends and family.
It's because that video impacted you in a significant way
and you want others to share in that experience.
Be it happiness, laughter, inspiration,
even a moving story that brings you to tears.
Incredibly YouTube Shorts can do all of this
in as little as five seconds.
Oh, and one more thing, I almost forgot.
Can creators monetize Shorts?
Well, here's what YouTube have had to say so far.
"YouTube has helped an entire generation of creators
"turn their creativity into businesses
"and become the next generation media companies.
"Over the last three years,
"YouTube have paid out more than 30 billion
"to creators artists and media companies.
"Shorts is a new way to watch and create on YouTube,
"so we're taking a fresh look
"at what it means to monetize Shorts
"and reward creators for their content.
"We are deeply committed
"to supporting the next generation
"of mobile creators with Shorts and are actively working on
"what monetization options will look like in the future.
Now, if you wanna learn a whole lot more
about the YouTube Shorts universe
make sure to check out the playlist over here.
Thank you very much for watching.
Enjoy the rest of your video making day.
Go get creating.