How to Make Your Webcam Footage Look Better
One trend in recent video tutorials that I really like is that many of them have become far more hands on in their approach to teaching various techniques.
It is one thing to talk about something and quite another to actually demonstrate it live in a video.
Very often you will see people appearing on webcams or live streams and although the subject matter may be great, the look of the video is so bad you begin to get distracted.
Instead of taking in the information you are thinking, “Dude! Couldn’t you at least tidy your room first!”
When you think about it, it really is a question of manners and showing a little respect for your audience more than anything else.
Anyway in the video below you can get to see an intentionally bad looking set up (but not all that far fetched!) tuned into something way more pleasant to watch.
The actual instructions come from a pro cinematographer so I guess he should know how to do this right?
That pro cinematographer is a guy called Larry Fong who has worked on some serious blockbuster Hollywood stuff and most of what he covers in the video plus some more is in this article he wrote on his website HERE.
Hayao Miyazaki – How Animation Comes To Life
If you have followed along with my weekly blog posts over the years you would know this.
Everything I add to the Friday Roundup is at least 99% in the form of tips, guides, How to’s” etc.
I rarely add anything outside of that category because it is not really the purpose of the blog.
This week however I am making an exception.
The video below showed up in one of my news feeds and I was reminded of just how special Miyazaki’s work is.
I guess if there is anything to learn from it is that audio plays a major role in any video production.
However from that point forward I wouldn’t worry about it too much!
I added the video because it is just a wonderful analysis of Hayao Miyazaki’s breathtaking animated productions.
If you are not familiar with his work or (worse) have only seen the “Disneyfied” versions of his films then do yourself a favour and go check them out.
Make sure you watch the subtitled Japanese versions and not the ones dubbed into English. If you are wondering why… watch the video below.
The Shot List Part Two – Camera Framing
This is part two of a series started by Studio Binder last week.
If you missed last week’s video on Basic Shots you can catch up on that one by clicking here.
This week’s video builds on the concept of shots by adding in the way the subjects of those various shots are positioned within the frame of each.
For a little more information or at least an alternate version there is a text version with a little more explanation on their website HERE.
How to Livestream on YouTube – Complete Beginners Guide
With the current lock-down situation still in place for many people the concept of live-streaming may be a solution to your contact needs!
Anyway as is the case with most things video, there is the simple way and the advanced way.
In this video the guys from Primal Video go through the steps to get you up and running on YouTube live streaming.
It covers the most basic points and the most basic solutions as well as going into a few of the more advanced options available.
PowerDirector – Add a Background Behind Your Subtitle
In the subtitle designer in PowerDirector you do not have the ability to directly add a background to your subtitles.
Sometimes you may want to do this to make those subtitles pop out a little more to make them easier to read or even just look better.
As is the case with most video editing software there is usually a workaround!
In the video below you can see how to do it.
CyberLink PowerDirector Review
PowerDirector – Scroll Song Lyrics on the Screen
This is just a quick “down and dirty” method for adding song lyrics to a video and then have them play back in sync with the song.
There are a few ways to do this in both PowerDirector and pretty much every other video editing program out there.
How to Make the Animation Effect – CyberLink PowerDirector 18
This is a demonstration of how to access and use the A.I. Effects that come with PowerDirector 18.
These are not effects that you can just drag onto a clip you have in the timeline as there is pretty intensive processing going on to achieve the effect.
You have to apply the effect to a clip and PowerDirector will then create a new version of the selected clip that you can then add to your projects.
Not really a set of effects that I personally use at all but some of you may find them interesting.
Edit Like Zach King with Filmora9
If you are not already aware of him, Zach King is a YouTuber who makes some incredible special effects videos.
He specializes in effects that create wildly impossible optical illusions.
Of course once you step behind the curtain you discover most of what he does is based very little on advanced editing processes and more on creative shooting to set it all up.
A perfect example of those types of effects that are dependent on the shoot rather than the edit is shown below.
Just click here if you want to take a look at a pretty good collection of some of his videos.
Zoom Through Text Effect in Filmora9
This is a tutorial on how to do the zoom through the text effect in Filmora.
That’s the effect where you have text on a plain background and can see the underlying video through the text.
Then the text zooms larger and larger until the underlying video is fully revealed.
Camera Basics for Beginners – Quick Camera Series
This is a wrap up of the series from the guys at Filmora on basic camera settings and in this one they cover how those three main settings all come together.
Below the video you will find links to the previous videos in the series covering ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed.
Video Editing Basics for Beginners and Non-Editors – DaVinci Resolve
Hmmmm… I watched this one and I have to say it is not really as simple as they make it out to be!
What it is supposed to be is a simple introduction to the DaVinci Resolve user interface.
It is supposed to be doing that by stepping through the process of producing a simple video most likely for the purpose of a quick upload to YouTube or something like that.
To be honest I found it a little confusing especially when the guy in the video keeps showing complicated features and then saying things like, “But you don’t have to bother with that.”
I kind of figure that if I don’t have to bother with it then why did you show it to me!
How We Made a Blockbuster Movie Trailer
The Cinecom guys have been working on a short film for what seems like quite a while now.
As yet nothing seems to have come of it but in a recent update they gave a little background on what the problems have been so far.
In the meantime they decided to make the trailer of the movie before the movie has even bee finished!
It is worth taking a look at especially from an overall video making viewpoint because they cover everything that went into at least the making of a trailer!
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