My first Youtube video, help me learn & improve

[FoxyMel]

I'm a complete beginner to video editing, and just created my first video ever yesterday. It's very simple (but hey, gotta start somewhere). I used Movie Maker, and would like feedback/suggestions for ways to improve it. What do you think I should try to do next to make it look cooler and prettier? I was thinking of adding images that slide or fade in, but i'm not sure. Also, is it ok to stick with Movie Maker for now, or do you suggest another software? Please let me know and thanks for watching

[CaptionWorld]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

There must be millions of Youtube music videos with similar themes that you could gain ideas from to start with. Its all about experimenting and being creative with no hard and fast rule.
As for the software and your new to video editing Sony Vegas seems to be the popular talked about one on this forum. I would carry on with WMM until you think your ready to move up a gear. You can do quite a bit with WMM to start with. So have fun. These days editing software has become very sophisticated and can do remarkable things but at the end of the day its all down to your imagination.

Please post back for further advise as there is a mountain of expertize on this forum.

[Midnight Blue]

one tip I'll give you for this type of video. You seem to take away the line of the song as she finished it and then put up the new line often with a few beats before she starts to sing the next line. It would be better if you held the first line untill she starts to sing the next line. Always cutting to the beat of the music.

[slimbob]

Greetings fellow WMM user!!!!!!!
You have mastered the use of text the adventure is about to begin ..........
Look forward to seeing your next video.

What export setting did you use to upload to you tube ?????
Have you been to www.papjohn.org ??? great site for WMM info/help/advice

Welcome to the forum FoxyMel

[TimStannard]

Hi Again FoxyMel

Some thing you might think about are changing the font, using transitions to introduce the text and get rid of it (transition are things like sliding text in, fading it in and a whole bunch of fancy stuff), changing the colour of the background or the text.
I'm far from familiar with what curret versions of WMM can do, but slimbob is really helpful, so just flutter your eyelids at him (so long as you're not allergic to cats!)

One thing you may or may not be aware of. Whilst many people do it, you are not legally allowed to take a song (or images) by someone else and use it without their permission. I don't know about in the US but over here in the UK this is something thy fail to teach kids at school and actually give the wrong impression by encouraging kids to nick photos and text from the internet for thir projects.

[slimbob]

I'm far from familiar with what curret versions of WMM can do, but slimbob is really helpful, so just flutter your eyelids at him (so long as you're not allergic to cats!)
.

I know a bit about it as it's the only video editng software my old mate (P.C) will run!!!!!
Well from what I have tried anyway ... it had a fit with vegas movie studio!!
Foxy Mel a great book to get is called "Windows MOVIE MAKER 2 ZERO TO HERO" also def go to Windows Movie Maker as he has a few "you tube" specific export settings to add to movie maker for free!!
Plus he is a Microsoft MVP and knows movie maker like the back of his hand.
You can do a lot more with WMM than people give credit.

Personally I always import and export as DV-AVI ... I have tried every export setting including papajohn's "you tube" specific settings but with my stuff DV-AVI gives the best quality on you tube??
it does create big files (ie) 10 minutes = 2gig approx but I have a few external HD's so not an issue.
Also bigger files do take a bit longer to upload to you tube (ie) file size but for me 4 minutes or 20 minutes makes no difference.

Or if quality is not massively important and you are short on storage space then use papajohn's 16:9 you tube export setting = very small files and not bad quality either.

Any questions about WMM just shout and I will help if I can Foxy Mel

[slimbob]

Mel I thought I better add .....
The book recommendation is for WMM 2/2.1 ????
What version are you running????
Windows Movie Maker is for everything WMM (ie) all versions.
Strangely enough version 2.1 is often said to be the best version (ie) better than windows live version or most recent version (ie) lots of cuts to functionality

[FoxyMel]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and advice!

one tip I'll give you for this type of video. You seem to take away the line of the song as she finished it and then put up the new line often with a few beats before she starts to sing the next line. It would be better if you held the first line untill she starts to sing the next line. Always cutting to the beat of the music.

Thanks for the tip, didn't think about it but you're right - I'll do that for the next video!

One thing you may or may not be aware of. Whilst many people do it, you are not legally allowed to take a song (or images) by someone else and use it without their permission. I don't know about in the US but over here in the UK this is something thy fail to teach kids at school and actually give the wrong impression by encouraging kids to nick photos and text from the internet for thir projects.

I realize that, and will give credit to original owners in the description and also add a link to the official music video. I like to believe that this kind of use of copyrighted material benefits the owner by expanding the audience without affecting their business (e.g. not giving away the mp3). If I use pictures, I'll try to keep track of where I got them to give proper credit to those as well.

Have you been to www.papjohn.org ??? great site for WMM info/help/advice

Going to look at it now. I'm using WMM which came installed with Windows 7 (it says Version 2011, Build 15.4)

[FoxyMel]

The papajohn website is really good, I learned how to save better quality video with new profiles. Here are my new attempts:

Gavin DeGraw - Not Over You [Lyrics Video] [HD] - YouTube
Justin Bieber - Boyfriend [Lyrics Video] [HD] - YouTube



I'm liking those much more than my first two tries Thanks for the help!

[Midnight Blue]

These are much more engaging than the earlier ones and it's not just because they have images I found the timing is better as well.