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Making and Optimizing Your
Videos
YouTube is designed to make sharing your videos
with friends and family as easy as possible. You
probably have the tools to make a video already,
even if you don't have a camcorder. Web cams,
digital cameras, and even cell phones often have
video recording features — many digital cameras
even have a simple switch to choose between stills
and video, something like this:
So take a look at what you already have —
you may be surprised! Most of these devices record
in either the .AVI or .MPG formats, both of which
YouTube supports, and the video shot with them
can be uploaded directly from the device or after
being copied to your computer.
Digital and Analog Camcorders
If you already have a digital camcorder (one that
captures in Digital8, MiniDV, HDV, or any of the
DVD formats), then you're ready to start shooting
your masterpiece. Your camcorder will need some
kind of direct connection to your computer, either
to the USB or FireWire ports or by inserting the
DVD you've recorded. Once you've downloaded the
video from the camera, you can upload it to YouTube
or bring it into an editing program to play with
it some more.
If you have an analog camcorder (one that uses
VHS, VHS-C, SVHS-C, 8mm, or Hi8 tape), you can
still get your videos onto YouTube. It will require
an extra step and some additional equipment, though,
since these camcorders are not usually equipped
with computer connections. You will need to digitize
the video with a converter box, which will convert
the analog signal from the camcorder to a digital
signal that the computer can understand. After
the video has been digitized, you can manipulate
it further or upload it.
Suggestion:
While it is possible to buy equipment and learn
how to transfer videos to DVDs, if you were not
already planning on making this investment we
would recommend that you contact your local camera
shop for information on finding a conversion service.
The cost should be around $10.00 USD. - Robert
McLellan
Editing and Improving Your Videos
If you want to be a bit more hands-on with your
video, most new computers come with basic video-editing
software installed (like Apple's iMovie or Windows
MovieMaker). Once you have copied the video from
your phone, camera, or camcorder to your computer,
you can bring the video into these programs. Most
allow you to not only edit the video, but add
effects, titles, and music to make your video
look and sound more interesting.
Uploading Your Videos to YouTube
Once you're happy with your final result, you'll
need to save the video in a format that YouTube
can accept in order to upload. Unless you're a
professional video producer, we recommend that
you save your videos as either QuickTime .MOV,
Windows .AVI, or .MPG files — these are the
most common formats and they work well within
our system. We specifically recommend the MPEG4
(Divx, Xvid) format at 320x240 resolution with
MP3 audio. Resizing your video to these specifications
before uploading will help your clips look better
on YouTube.
Uploading Directly with Mobile Devices
If you have video capabilities on your cell phone
or PDA, you can now upload videos directly from
the device to YouTube. So if you get a quick clip
of something cool with your phone, you can put
it up right away. Just set up your Mobile
Upload Options in advance, and then send your
videos to the email address you're assigned. All
of your mobile videos will have the default tags,
title, and description that you set, or you can
overwrite them in the email message you send.
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