My Vlogging Self Challenge
To help keep me motivated with my various goals this month I have decided to do 30 31 vlogs.
I’ve never really thought much about vlogging really, I follow a couple of them on YouTube, with the awesome Will Fleming doing one every day for a year.
A continuation of sorts
I guess I’ve been blogging since before it was called blogging, and vlogging is just a different way to do the same thing but in a different media.
So far as I write this I’ve only done 3, the first one is super crappy as I was rushing to get it done, didn’t know what program I was going to use to edit it in, and well it’s just crap.
But as well as keeping on track with what I need to be doing I am hoping it will help with my editing skills as I put them together.
Camera Gear
While my DSLR does take nice shots, sometimes it is a bit hard to film myself with the lens I have, I’d have to get a wider one, also who wants to lug a DSLR around, when doing things like going for a walk.
I guess you could use your phone, although mine is pretty crappy to be honest and I think I would use my phone if it was a bit better and could handle things like shooting video and not crashing etc.
So currently I am using my little Panasonic camcorder which looks like this:
There are a couple of downsides to this camera, one the mic is average and you can’t plug any other mic into it. The battery is very small, so shooting time is a bit average to say the least.
But it is very portable, ready to go anytime I need it, and works quite well for what I am currently up to. I’ve found some spare batteries that are cheap as on TradeMe, and will be getting the charger to go with them to make sure I have enough juice when I need it.
Editing Software
For editing software I have tried out a bunch of free ones and trials of different programmes, while a lot of people I know use Premiere Pro for all their editing needs, I really can’t justify the monthly fee to Adobe for their cloud solution.
I do pay for the lightroom and photoshop bundle though, wish they did one for film stuff that was more affordable.
What I went with instead was Adobe Premiere Elements 14, it is a slimmed down version of Adobe Premiere Pro. It has a bunch of different modes from total beginner where it does almost everything for you right up to an expert mode allowing you to edit and play with things yourself.
And after trying a bunch of different one, I can honestly say Premiere Elements is exactly what I needed, it has a lot of options, cool things that work well and you buy it outright. So I shelled out for that and am learning all I can about it to get better at editing.
The plan for now at least is to keep each one between 2-3 minutes. While I know longer is better for YouTube, especially if you are getting views, for now, I like that time frame, it means I have to be selective in what I shoot and also what I edit.
Uploading when away from home
I currently don’t have a good laptop I can use on the go to edit things, the Chromebook I am typing on is great for what it is, but not for editing video.
So when I am away from home I am going to have to use the YouTube app in conjunction with the tablet or with the phone to be able to upload some footage.
And while I did say 31 individual vlog episodes I’m not sure if that will be consecutively or how it will actually work. And once the month is up, I’ll have to see how I go and how I feel about it.
You can find my channel right here, or check out the Vlog page for all the latest info about it.