Select a service
For each genre, you can find a suitable platform on the Internet.
- YouTube is the largest video service on the planet. There are videos about everything in the world: from cats to professional machine learning courses.
- Twitch is the leader in modern video streaming. It hosts live broadcasts of games and shows how to cook your favorite dishes or build a gazebo in the garden with your own hands.
- TikTok is a platform for short videos, often with an appropriate soundtrack. They post pranks, videos with animals, DIY (do it yourself - content about how to do something with your own hands), or "before / after."
- More and more podcasts appear in the popular services iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Yandex.Music - this area is now actively developing. In the West, audio shows are already being listened to with might and main, and in Russia, only the most advanced users still have a list of their favorite podcasters. But it is easier to start here because the competition is not so serious. Plus, you don't need a powerful computer to create a podcast - just high-quality audio equipment for clear sound.
- Social networks can also be called full-fledged sites for blogs. Facebook, Instagram - many bloggers started with them and came to success.
Each site has its own limitations. For example, on TikTok, you can upload videos that are 15 or 60 seconds long, and YouTube often blocks videos in which a famous melody is playing in the background - this is how copyright is protected. But the services have more and more opportunities every day.
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At the start, it is worth concentrating on one direction and choosing the most convenient resource for it. Start exploring this niche, study the audience, understand who you are filming a video, or record a podcast. Stay tuned for service updates and try new features, look for tips and life hacks from experienced users of the selected site - and everything will work out! Provide good sound
Bloggers often start their careers by showing the screen on video - especially when it comes to let-plays (game broadcasts) or educational materials. You don't need a lot of equipment to create such content: one laptop is enough. Those who shoot video clips often start with a regular smartphone. Modern gadgets provide a good picture, especially if you shoot by the window during the day or outdoors, where there is enough light. But microphones in smartphones and laptops are still far from perfect. Whistling, hissing, distorted voice - all this can scare away subscribers.
Extraneous sounds and noises are irritating. You can listen to this only if there is no alternative at all - for example. You need to prepare for an audio exam from a lecture. That is why the assembly of a blogging setup should start with sound devices. It is better to immediately choose a quality technique: good sound is comfortable to work with. It lets subscribers know that you are serious.
The microphone is an absolute must-have for videos, streams, and podcasts. The condenser microphone supports several modes: recording a narrow and wide stereo panorama, working only with front sound, or parallel with the front and rear. Switching them allows you to create the desired audio picture.
For example, the front mode is suitable for podcasts and voice in let-plays, the Front & Back mode is suitable for recording interviews and musical duets. Narrow stereo is worth choosing if you and the person you're talking to are sitting on the same side of the microphone or if you're recording drums, keys. Wide stereo - for sound at an event and reporting, in a word, when you want to convey an audio scene's volume.
AKG Lyra has a built-in audio interface: you can connect the microphone directly to your PC via USB. It is possible to record without any additional equipment. Plus, you can plug headphones directly into the 3.5mm jack and get direct monitoring audio without delay. You don't need to install any drivers: everything works out of the box. Also, the model in a metal case on an adjustable stand will look great in the frame.
Prepare the shooting background.
The perception of the video depends on the background for the shooting. It is better if it is neutral or monochromatic. Bright shades and color spots are annoying. It is also better not to take pictures near the grandmother's carpet. The opposite situation also happens: if you sit in a beige T-shirt against a wall of the same color, you will get lost in the frame.
In short, it is advisable to try several options, make short videos, and compare them. Video recording has its own nuances, and it is better to see the result that will be on the screen immediately.
An alternative is a chroma key: a green or blue background, which can be replaced with the desired picture or video in programs for processing videos. The bright color is specially selected. It contrasts as much as possible with tones of skin, hair, and clothing, which contains less noise in digital recording, and as a result, such parts of the frame are easier to separate from the rest.
You can order a chroma key from the online store. But if you want to shoot here and now or there is no extra money, you can get by with the materials at hand. For example, find a curtain, towel, or sheet of a suitable color at home, or paint a white fabric with green. Finally, you can glue the sheets of paper together and use gouache.
It is recommended for more convenience to make a frame under the chroma key or at least fix it on a horizontal bar.
Work on lighting
The illumination level indoors is often lower than outside. Because of this, the picture becomes indistinct and starts to get "noisy." Smartphones and digital cameras today do their best to make up for this shortcoming, but the result is still far from ideal.
For blogs where your face is the main part of the frame, it is convenient to use LED rings. They do not give harsh shadows, do not distort proportions, make wrinkles, and other skin imperfections less noticeable.
Another option is luminaires with diffused light when the lamp is covered with a white screen. If you have a white umbrella, you can try fixing an LED lamp on it. It will shine towards the dome, and the reflected light will gently frame your face. Another way is to fix the lamp behind an umbrella. Then the rays will be scattered through the fabric.
Ideally, the light should be warm (3,000–4,000 K) or neutral (4,000–5,000 K). The cold range (5,000–6,000 K) makes the skin tone bluish, emphasizes the bags under the eyes. Pay attention to this when choosing lamps.
The bottom light is better than the top light - in it, the face is usually younger and more attractive. But, speaking objectively, you need to find your “own” lighting. Try pointing your smartphone's flashlight at different angles and looking in the mirror. Learn a lot about yourself!
The light for the first videos can be collected from the available tools: a pair of table lamps, flashlights, inexpensive LED strips, sheets of white paper, and tape. Most importantly, follow safety precautions: insulate all wiring and do not use incandescent bulbs.
Free up time for a new activity
If you're aiming for success, set yourself deadlines for every new video or podcast and try to stick to that schedule. It's great if it is in front of your eyes: on a sheet on a wall, on a sticker, or even against the background of a computer screen.
It's a lot more time-consuming than it appears to record, edit, and upload new material or prepare for broadcasts. Therefore, it is worth optimizing your schedule. Otherwise, you will have to do everything at the last moment. As a result, either the issues will be collected “on the knee,” or you will get disappointed subscribers.
The higher the source material's quality, the easier it is to edit it, and the better the result. The audio interface will improve the sound characteristics, amplify the input signal, correct it, and also allow you to combine signals from several devices.
Make a content plan and script.
To achieve success, you need to define a goal and go to it step by step. A content plan will help you regularly fill your blog and not procrastinate, searching for a suitable story.
Videos and podcasts themselves shouldn't be the fruit of random experimentation either. For each release of your blog, you should have a clear plan, develop a script, and stick to it - at least at first. This will make the content interesting, relevant, help you remember nothing, and eliminate awkward pauses in conversations. And over time, improvisation will come - it will definitely revive your blog, provide new creatives.
Evaluate the result and think about what can be improved
Be sure to watch your videos and listen to your audio to grow as a blogger. In the process, you will surely notice errors - technical, logical, even caveats. You may well have missed them during editing - that's okay. But, you see, it is better not to repeat mistakes in the future and become more and more professional.
Also read: How to Promote a Reading Culture in my Child
Standard laptop or smartphone speakers do not capture all the nuances of sound. And with monitor speakers, it will be more comfortable and more productive to work with the material.
The JBL One Series 104 monitors are a compact model with clear surround sound and decent sound reproduction at all volume levels. The speakers will help create a vivid audio stage and enjoy stereo effects.
Active monitors with a built-in amplifier. They put out an honest 30 watts of audio per channel - enough for listening to podcasts, games, or videos. And if you often work on audio materials at night, you can plug headphones into the monitors and do what you love without disturbing others.
Adapted and translated by The Cop Cart Staff
Sources: Life hacker
