Seasons of the Ukulele

A weekly song challenge for ukulele players - all welcome. Find out more here

How to make videos?

JackLuis

Back when I was playing on SOTU, I used an Australian video editing software package, but after several computer crashes, I've lost the package and have to find a new way to make videos.

What are you folks using to create videos? Also, what format does YouTube want to post. It's been years since I've done this, and this old man needs his memory refreshed.

joo

Hi JackLuis,

There are a few ways i create my video.

If i use a digital camera to record, and if i need to trim or edit anything, i use Microsoft Clipchamp on my laptop. It is free but you need to be connected to the internet to use it.

If i use my phone or ipad to record, i use Youcut(also free) to edit my videos.

Sometimes i don't edit my videos and upload them to YouTube directly.

Youtube accepts Mp4 and MOV files. Also AVI, WMV, and more.

Hope this helps!

There are some free and decent video editing apps out there. I don't do much editing so Clipchamp is good enough for me.

JackLuis

Thanks Joo.

I found a free program on Amazon this morning.

VideoPad Video Editor Free - Create Stunning Movies and Videos with Effects and Transitions [Download]

In case anyone else might like to try it.

I'll download and see what it can do. I was using a cheap webcam and a mic when I was doing SOTU before. So I'll try that today to make a video about New Uke Day.

Amazon also has some Bluetooth mics for cheap prices ($14-$30 USD) that I may try as they come with two lapel mikes, so I can get Gary one too, for our Sunburst Singer duets.

JackLuis

Well that "Free" program, "VideoPad", seems to be the same program I had used before but cost me $75.

The installation was kind of weird, but I dealt with Amazon help and cleared it up. I had to wait for an e-mail from Amazon to "Redeem" the program before It would download correctly. Maybe my computer-fu is getting weaker in my 80th year?

The program comes with instruction video links, so I'm refreshing my memory and trying to get my system hooked up again, and will add more info after I make my first video.

I can recommend this program as a good package to record, edit and splice clips, plus it does audio processing pretty well too.

JackLuis

Well, while trying to set up my webcam to test my Video-Fu, I found that my old webcam was not comparable (or broken) and I had to get a new one. Amazon to the rescue!

Now, I had only paid $15 for my old webcam, so I thought I'd upgrade and found a webcam with a multicolored circle light for$ 29! It has high Def (1080 and 60 fps) with built-in mic. To get free shipping I needed to order at least $35 so, I added a bluetooth lapel mike kit ($29 which was -70% off!) This put me in Prime shipping, so I'll get them on tomarrow and can test the new rig and software. I'm hoping the mics can be volume adjusted so the ukes won't swamp my voice when Gary and I do a Sunburst Singers duette.

Now Gary, my neighbor, is primarily a guitar player, so I think I'll pitch to him to play his Acacia Guitalele while I play my new (undelivered yet) Ebony Baritone for our first try of the mic's.

JackLuis

Even more good news from Amazon!

I just got an e-mail that said my new Ebony Baritone should arrive on Wednesday! Hooray!

Which means I should be able to make a NUD video this week, if my Video-Fu is strong enough?

JackLuis

I ordered a second copy of the Video pad to put on my laptop this morning so I can move the recording over the Gary's or anywhere else. I love free software! Found out the Pro version costs $99 which isn't too bad for what it actually does.

I tried my old mic but MS voice recording didn't work, IDK why? Could be the mic is10 years old, and it just died?

JackLuis

Well, I finally got my second copy of VideoPad installed in my laptop and received my new webcam and microphones. The webcam mic has a few issues. First, its gain is quite high and seems to really emphasize my C string, causing the recorded sound to not be what my ear hears when playing. I don't think that is my lousy hearing, due to thousands of rounds of rifle and pistol fire from my Army days,

I I tried the lapel mic and couldn't get it to work(?) on my laptop. That may be from my old laptop, or my lack of experience with it. I'll try it again with my desktop tomorrow.

The circle light on the Webcam works a charm, in my rather dark office. However, it was supposed to work at 60 frames a second, but I was only able to get 30 fps? But it autofocuses well and the Video quality worked well.

I realized that my skill at producing has degraded over the years, so I'll have to practice a lot to make up for 8 years of not doing videos.