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First YouTube video experience

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falter said:
Would I be better to invest in a gimbal?
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If you care about steady shots, yes. If you don't do enough pans in a year to justify the $300-ish cost, then don't worry about it, do the best you can, and then use Warp Stabilizer to try to smooth it out (a little -- don't go overboard with Warp Stabilizer, it can look worse if try to correct too much). IIRC, you shoot everything on a cell phone currently? If so, you should do some panning tests with cell-phone-stabilized and cell-phone-unstabilized footage to see which technique works best with Warp Stabilizer.

Another separate question - I also watch other youtubers to see what equipment they are using and Adrian mentioned using a Sony cam that is 4k @ 30fps, at least going by model specs. I'm wondering, do you really need 60fps? Is there any material benefit?
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If you're demonstrating something that refreshes @ 60Hz, then shooting @ 60 means it's represented properly. If you're not, then it's entirely up to you. (There are physical limitations/reasons why you must, or must not, shoot @ 60 but those are topics of conversation best left for when you're trying to solve a problem, and that discussion would be the answer.)

It comes down to preference. Here's mine: I prefer only two framerates, 24 and 60, the same ones I grew up with. I associate 60 with informational content delivery (realism), and 24 with entertainment delivery (fiction/fantasy). That said, I'm violating my own rules; my own youtube stuff is mostly 24p because I insist on producing 4k content, and I have hardware limitations preventing me from creating 4k60. When I can justify a camera upgrade financially, I'll switch to 4k60 (and HDR if I can get the workflow correct). Until that time, my choices are 4k24 and 4k30, and I hate 30p so I choose 4k24.

Why do I hate 30p? 30 is a framerate that was only briefly used professionally around 1989-1991 (shooting film @ 30 to make linear tape editing easier). 15 and 30 were hallmarks of the birth of personal computer multimedia 30 years ago, so whenever I see a 30 video I can't help associating it with "bad multimedia" or "I don't understand interlacing so I just blended both fields together" or "I'm shooting this on a cheap cell phone".

vwestlife said:
a few people say it's distracting (it gives the "soap opera effect")
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I'm guessing those are your millenial and Gen Z viewers.
 
I do a fair amount of panning shots. Prior to getting the steadicam my technique was to plant my feet firmly center to the object, brace my elbows against my torso and then do a sweep of the item with the camera. Then in post, slow it down to help out. I think inbpast I may have tried something like Warp Stabilizer but found it made little difference. But I think my Samsung does have a shaky hands setting.

I've just been hesitant about dumping money into an offshoot of my main hobby. My objective these days has been to not identify new ways to burn up disposable income. That said, the response to my latest video has been quite different than previous.. I am getting consistent peaks of views and have picked up about 100 subscribers since I dropped it Wednesday. Not really sure what the trick was, but if it keeps up.. if one day I am where, say, Mr. Lurch is now.. perhaps an investment in a proper cam and some other improvements may be justified..
 
Question for those with substantial Youtube channels: What is (if you're willing to disclose) your click through ratio/percentage for impressions?

I'm just curious - I'm at about 4% all told on 12,000 impressions in the last week. I'm not sure what that represents (ie. good or bad).
 
If it helps make anyone feel better I have 1.5K Subs and I'm sure I'm doing lousy as well. Of course, most of that 1.5K is from over a decade ago when I started out before Google bought the platform and when I was largely a guitar channel when the "Youtube Guitarist" thing was huge. Usually my new videos get 42 views with 1-6 up-votes depending.

I'm kind of okay with it though TBH, because I'm working on a niche of just being some random older dude who started in 2006 and just keeps on going on the same shoestring budget he had at the start. Actually I get better quality now for Free than I did starting out with thrift shop webcams and free software obtained from some pretty unstable resources at the time (Cinemaforge anyone?). I also get that YouTube is largely focused on people who will bring in profits for their advertisers. I'm not one of those people. I'm more like the army surplus clad college liberal arts student holding a VHS tape that says "Steal this Video" on the label. It felt weird when I Started making more new videos recently and suddenly I had people welcoming me back for both computers and guitar vids.

I think a lot of why it's so hard now to get any attention, even people who might be looking for stuff you're posting, is because of the algorithm. Another common comment I get is "I did not know you were making new content - it's not in my feed". I think that plus my aversion of being annoying and ending every video with "SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON, HIT SUBSCRIBE, AND HIT THAT NOTIFICATION BELL!!" (facepalms). It makes it feel more like a job than the leisure activity it is for me. Kind of reminds me of an I.T. job I had where we had to constantly hound end users to send out a "top box Survey" to help our stats.
 
TheOldskoolPC: 8K subs and 2.0%.

Mad-Mike said:
Another common comment I get is "I did not know you were making new content - it's not in my feed"
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Those people are idiots. If you subscribe to a channel, then go to your Subscriptions tab (upper left corner of youtube website, or Subscriptions icon at the bottom of every youtube app), every new upload from subscribed channels is there. That's what the subscription feed literally is and does.

Anyone claiming "I didn't see your new upload" is not checking their subscriptions feed, they're checking something else, like the home page which is completely driven by analytics and machine learning.
 
I kind of figured the CTR had to be low for most. People are constantly bombarded with suggestions and probably don't even see half of them. I would love to see what that ratio looks like for a really big (1m+ sub) channel. I bet it's in the same range we are.

I'm at 1750 subs and my latest video has gotten almost 2k views In a week, and I think that video is getting around 3.5%.
 
New question: how much does your video's initial release stats matter? Like in Studio, if analytics are showing your video not doing as well as the average in the first 24 hours.. does that cause the algorithm to recommend it less?

I released my video on the digital group last night at midnight.. just for kicks. So far it is trucking close but slightly off the average. The Insight video I released late on a Wednesday night.. and it took off pretty good from there, but it was at 9pm rather than midnight PST.

The engagement stats so far look good.. more than 60% average watch time so that's encouraging.. and no complaints, which is nice.
 
The quality of your green-screen effects is better than what I've seen from some channels with millions of subscribers!
 
Coming from you that is a huge compliment. Thank you!! Although if you look closely you can sometimes see little issues like 'see through pixels and such. I haven't quite figured out if the trick is that you have to absolutely perfectly light the green screen, or if certain colors like blue shirts etc don't jive with ultra key.
 
falter said:
does that cause the algorithm to recommend it less?
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You need to not worry about "the algorithm". Most people want to blame it when a video doesn't do well, but that's not how youtube works. Your video gets recommended when someone who is interested in 70's computer history is on the platform and has a history of searching for, and watching a lot of, 70's computer history videos. It doesn't matter when you release your video. The March Creator newsletter put it pretty well:

"...[The algorithm] focuses on what your viewers might enjoy based on things like videos they’ve watched, likes & dislikes, and feedback. So instead of catering to the algorithm, concentrate on your fans. If you do, the algorithm will follow."

The stats you're seeing in the first 24 hours are likely from your subscribers, not recommendations. You can verify this by digging into the metrics in Creator Studio.
 
Yeah I just wondered if these comparison metrics they put up actually did anything beyond inform. I make the mistake of cruising reddit and reading all these theories about how videos go viral, or don't in various youtube subreddits . The stats so far show about 60/40 non sub/sub split. The videos this digital group video is being recommended from are weird.. like 'Watching and reacting to Christmas Vacation movie'.. I'm guessing that *has* to be subscribers.. can't see any way that would just be happening with with random people.
 
In the last two days my channel traffic has picked up considerably.. from about 80 views per day to 500. The proximate cause seems to be my TV Typewriter video, which Youtube seems to be suggesting from a video about a Japanese typewriter that has been getting major views.

I didn't change anything with the video description or tags etc.. it just magically happened one day. I wonder why it got lashed to that particular video out of all the videos about typewriters out there.
 
Trixter said:
I rarely watch YT videos from start to finish at normal speed. Here are some hints:
  • Most youtube players (web, android app, TV, possibly others) allow you to speed up playback to 1.25x, 1,5x, 1.75x, or 2x while maintaining audio pitch. This is great for skimming through fluff, and 2x is useful for people who talk very slowly in their videos.
  • Most youtube players have jog controls: On the web, you can use J and L to skip forward and backward. In the android app, double-tap on the right side to skip forward (the amount in seconds is customizable in the settings) and double-tape on the left side to skip backward
  • The web YT player has shortcuts to 10%, 20%, 30%, etc. time indexes by hitting "1", "2", "3", etc. on the keyboard. Great for jumping around great distances. "0" returns to the beginning.
For YT videos that always have a lot of preamble and repeated setup/history, I know to hit "3" right at the beginning of the video to skip to the 30% mark. This has been a practice of mine since about 2008, but I was delighted to find out it has a name: The Wadsworth Constant.
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So I've just started a new channel too and the feeling I got last week after releasing my first video was relief actually.

For me I always had a fear of putting my stuff out there into the world for others to see and judge, my brain always said "What if people dont like it" or "What if people correct you"
 
Ralston said:
So I've just started a new channel too and the feeling I got last week after releasing my first video was relief actually.

For me I always had a fear of putting my stuff out there into the world for others to see and judge, my brain always said "What if people dont like it" or "What if people correct you"
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I had terrible social anxiety as a kid and only began working through it as an adult. And when I started doing youtube videos a while back, I still had trouble with speaking to no one, even when no one was in the house. And then putting myself actually onscreen. But I ended up amusing myself so much that I didn't care. Good on you for trying it out! What's your channel?

I look at it as just a fun adjunct to my main hobby. It is kinda exciting though when you get noticed and subscriber numbers start picking up! Definitely helps with the camera nervousness.
 
Falter I know all about that. As a kid I was so shy (maybe thats not even the right word.. Social anxiety makes more sense now) Anyway my father would try and force me into social interactions like paying a clerk or asking for something but it only made it worse. By junior high my voice changed pretty deep and I developed a great speaking voice. Kids in class would always ask me to read the passage or give the answer aloud. IT gave me the nudge to come out of my shell. My fathers method didnt work but I forced myself to be much more social and more extravert than intravert. IT was a lot of work, but it paid off. I have been much more of someone not afraid to speak my mind ever since. Life was hard for a long time and I am glad I learned to stand up for myself when I did. But regardless I wont forget that shy timid kid I came from.

By the way I love your channel. One of my favorite new channels in the past few years. You cover a genre of Vintage tech noone else does with a very informed portrayal.

Can I make a request? Do a video on the Wang 700....
 
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Trixter said:
Had this too. Spent 2 hours getting over the fear with multiple takes. By the 40th take, I was more comfortable.
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It took way longer for me. I had a heck of a time with my first video, on my dg machine. And I felt unbelievably anxious about it even though I had the house to myself for two weeks.

I still cannot speak at length without having to resort to a billion takes. I hate it.
 
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