This is kind of an extension to my rant about people being encouraged to start a youtube channel as a content farm opportunity, but I want to talk about what you might actually need to start a youtube channel. I have no idea how to start this so I'll get straight into it...
I mean firstly, you might want to ask yourself why you want to make a youtube channel, the focus of this tutorial is on the literal how-to rather than channel growth, so keep that in mind as you head in. I don't think you really need a big elaborate reason to start a channel, especially if you just have a video you want to share and think youtube is the best place for it (this guide also probably isnt for you either if that's your plan as I wont be going over the technical side of creating a youtube channel and whatnot). But if you plan on continuing to film videos and upload regularly, its good to consider what equipment you'll need, and if you don't already have the equipment, is it worth spending the money to buy it.
So, what equipment will you need?Maybe this sounds silly but I think one of the biggest lies anyone will tell you about starting a youtube channel is that "anyone can do it". I once saw someone insist that "everyone has an iphone" and therefore no one has an excuse to not start a youtube channel today. As someone who in the past owned a phone with no storage and ads loading on my lock screen, I can confidently say that not everyone has the resources available to them to start a youtube channel whenever they please. Everyone's situation is going to be different and it is going to be up to you to weigh up how much you are willing to spend on a new hobby. That being said, I believe there's never a wrong time to start a youtube channel. You do not have to have the highest quality equipment to make youtube videos. Higher quality videos may for sure attract more viewers, but getting out some lower quality videos is better than getting nothing out.
So where can you get some gear on a budget? What gear do you actually need? As far as I can think there are two major types of youtube videos: videos filmed on a camera, and videos made on a computer (or mobile, or other device like a gaming console). For videos filmed on a camera you may be able to get away with just your phone. Remember it doesn't have to be high quality, as long as its possible and not too unbearable of a process, its better than nothing. You might be able to score a camera second hand, consider asking friends or family if they have an old one lying around, checking local op-shops or online. Older digital cameras may have surprisingly good quality audio and video, but if they are missing parts or cords, or those parts or cords are damaged, replacing them may be more difficult or costly in the end. Also keep in mind you will need a way to get your videos off your camera and onto a phone or computer to put up on youtube.
You shouldn't need anything in the way of lighting, natural sunlight is usually the best way to go without a fancy setup, although again, sometimes you've just got to work with what you've got. Depending on your camera's inbuilt microphone, you can also probably get away without an external microphone as well. A tripod may be useful depending on what you're filming and where you are, but if you're indoors you may be able to whip up a makeshift one with boxes, books and maybe some tape (or a lot). Using string or yarn to hang your camera off something nearby might also help (maybe put a pillow or two under it for added safety).
When it comes to non-camera filmed videos things get a little more complicated. Are you playing video games? Making animations? Making commentary videos? You might be able to make videos like these on a phone, but again things get difficult if you're not working with a popular and up to date model. Do you need a screen recorder? Does you phone come with one inbuilt? Do you need to download an app and will that app cost? I obviously cant cover every possible scenario here. My only recommendation is I've seen some good things about capcut as an editing app. I haven't made a video with it myself, but to my knowledge the free version simply adds a logo at the end of the video which you might be able to chop off with your camera's/camera roll's inbuilt editing if that's available to you.
All that being said, maybe the kinds of videos you want to make cannot be made on a phone. This is where I'd argue things start to get properly expensive if you cannot get something second hand. I honestly don't have any recommendations in the way of getting the hardware of the computer for cheap and so can only remind you to try and work with what you have (working with videos in lower quality formats to help the computer manage easier for example). If you plan to include your voice in your videos a simple headset will work fine. Most microphones can produce pretty good sound if you know how to set your recording settings right. One thing I personally had to learn the hard way is that if your computer has two audio jacks you may need a cord splitter if you are using a headset. I believe this depends on your audio drivers though? (I'm no computer expert, do not quote me on that). I have no experience using a facecam but generally I'd assume just read my advice above about camera stuff and that should cover it.
Software recommendationsNow that hardware is out of the way, what software do I have to recommend? For screen recording I'd recommend obs studio. Its free and maybe a little daunting at first but very easy to use once you know what you're doing. I wont be doing any tutorials on how to use any of the software as there are hundreds of far better ones already out there (but feel free to reach out if you want help or advice!), but this is the part where you'll want to learn how to set your audio settings good and video settings to not potentially light your computer on fire if its not really cut out for this graphics heavy stuff.
For editing I'd recommend davinci resolve. This is, again, free, and arguably more of a learning curve than obs, but it's the only video editor I know of that doesn't have odd or inconvenient limitations (although I suppose this depends on what you're looking for in an editing program). Resolve literally has everything you could possibly need packed into its free version and I believe the pro version is a one time payment (too lazy to search it up so again, don't quote me on that).
Maybe you're asking "do I even need to edit my videos?" and the answer to that is that it's completely up to you! I think its nice to at least cut off the start and end of your videos where you're reaching for your camera, or closing and opening your screen recorder, maybe learning to cut out any long pauses in your recording and such, but ultimately it's your choice!
There's a few more software recommendations that I have but first lets take a step back and reassess. If so far you haven't encountered any issues, congratulations you have the tools available to make a youtube video! Let's take a look at actually creating your channel:
The youtube side of thingsArguably the most important part of your channel, apart from the videos of course, is your username. You might already have one picked out but first you might like to consider a few things. If you want your channel to stand out it may be worth focusing on memorable and easy to spell, but still unique names. Names that are hard to spell are hard to search, but names that are common will get lost amongst other channels, especially if your channel name is shared with someone who already has a following. You also want to consider basic internet safety: Do you really want or need to use your actual full name as your username? If your channel focuses on a certain type of content maybe you could include that in your name (i.e. "so-and-so gaming" for a gaming channel or "so-and-so vlogs" for a vlogging channel). These channel names are straight to the point and might help if you're struggling to come up with ideas. However on the flip side they are rather unoriginal and have little flexibility if your videos change in direction over time. I'd also suggest avoiding numbers, symbols or unnecessary capitalisation.
As this guide discourages the idea that there is a "wrong" way to do youtube you can disregard any advice that takes the fun out of it for you (apart from maybe the internet safety part, please seriously consider that one!), but these are just my thoughts. I personally found myself concerned with the longevity of my name when picking it and so focused on picking one that I would ideally never grow to dislike, so I want to highlight that here. But ultimately there's nothing wrong with changing your name down the line if you decide you don't like it later! If you're really struggling for ideas there are some pretty good username generators online to give a try.
Once you've created your channel I'd encourage you to fill out all the channel personalisation options before uploading any videos (so if anyone does click through to see your channel they get the full experience right there and then). The channel description can be something quick and simple, even a little "I want to make videos about stuff :)" is more inviting than leaving it blank. Your profile picture can be something as simple as a selfiie or a cat picture you stole off pinterest (yeah okay, haha, I'm guilty of doing this a lot, I know). My first pfp was a smiley face I quickly whipped up in like 2 minutes on a drawing app. Your channel banner can also just be something yoinked from some part of the internet. Just having this stuff on your channel will help convince people you're here to stick around and let them get to know your channel a bit better even when there's few videos up yet.
Channel ArtSo what if you want to actually put some time into making channel art? What software can you use? On my pc I use a program called medibang paint pro. To my knowledge its free (or at least I dont remember paying for it :/ ), its more focused on art and drawing but I get by just fine using it to move around and edit images. Mobile users might want to look into ibis paint, which also free and also an art app but should get the job done. When making a channel banner you can use this template to make sure everything fits nicely. Don't stress too much about the 'tv' area on the template. I personally usually just fill it with solid colour or a big image of some sort. If you're short for inspiration I'd suggest just plastering your channel's name in nice big bold text across your banner and adding to it later as you come up with more ideas. Remember something simple and low quality is better than nothing.
Speaking of channel art, you might be interesting in making thumbnails for your videos. Again there is no wrong way to do this but if I could critique what I see on some people's thumbnails my advice would be this: If you're using text, make sure it is clear and readable. "Good" thumbnails use large, bold, uncomplicated fonts that are easy to read. The same goes for adding images, make them big and readable and take up as much empty space as possible. If you're able, consider balance of your thumbnail and where the eye is drawn to when you first look at it. Contrast and detail that is made too apparent in one part of the thumbnail can make it appear heavy and unbalanced. Perhaps I'm getting a little nit-picky, and its certainly not advice I've mastered in my own thumbnails but it is stuff I prefer to keep an eye out for.
Subtitles/Closed captionsMy only other software recommendation is in the realm of subtitling/closed captions, if you choose to add them. I used to use the inbuilt subtitle editor in youtube but have recently changed to a program called subtitle edit which I have found to be much easier to use. I'm still perfecting the process but at this point in time I'd suggest writing subs in an .srt file format, or if you want to add formatting to your subtitles (italics, bold, colours) using EBU-STL format. (I hope this isn't sounding too overwhelming, I'd like to think it makes more sense if you choose to look into it further). If you need some extra help powering through them, subtitle edit has inbuilt speech to text tools. I've only ever used the small model of faster whisper to draft my subtitles so I'm not sure if any of the others work better. And the key word here is 'draft', you do not want to let the speech to text do all the work for you because you will encounter all kinds of issues.
Final thoughtsAt this point in time this is basically all the advice I have. There are lots of smaller steps in between what I've talked about here, but I don't believe this is where I want to talk about it, and to be honest, right now I can't be bothered. Again, if you want any further advice or help please reach out and I will do my best to help! But remember, even if youtube is "not what it used to be" you can still be in it for the fun, and you never know, you might make it further than you think! Just remember to enjoy what you do and what you make, because if it's something you're passionate about, the one thing that isn't down to luck is how much fun you'll have :3
