YouTube has emerged as one of the largest internet sites, where you can share videos with people all round the world.
Videos can be made just for fun or you may have professional considerations in mind. Remember, videos are excellent SEO tools.
Hiring a professional videographer to create your clips, is a matter of the past.
Several reliable programs are available on the internet that will help in creating your own videos, and make them suitable for YouTube.
Questions to Ask when choosing video editing software
- Is the software free or paid?
- If it is a paid software, how expensive is it and will your budget will permit it?
- Is the application simple to use?
- Does the program come with a guide and tips for making the video interesting?
- How time consuming is the process?
- Will the finished product be worthy of viewing?
Popular video options
- Screencast videos - This involves recording whatever is being shown on the monitor. This method is commonly used to demonstrate a product or for providing instructions through a slide show presentation.
- Talking head or Real video - These are recordings of actual people or scenes accompanied by speech. These, usually, have very limited text use.
Free software
The following list of free video editing software work well for beginners and short duration clips.
However, the most common problem with these programs is not being able to edit or annotate the video.
- Windows movie maker is one of the best, free editing software available on Windows. It offers quite a few transitions & video effects, movie titler, zoom and scroll. There is also an auto movie command to build an auto-made video.
- Avid Free DV has basic audio and video editing features. It allows you to put your video on two tracks at the same time.
- Jumpcut has several transitions and special effects. Pictures and videos can be imported and mixed and it also has title support.
- Animoto is easy to use and lets you select videos or photos from Facebook, Flickr, Picasa or Instagram and also choose and include your own music.
- JahShaka has features that can be enjoyed only in the expensive video editing edition of the software. However, it is still in the Alpha stage.
- Any video editing software that came free with your camera. The program should be user-friendly and reliable.
You sometimes need separate audio recorders to complete your videos. You can make use of Audacity and Garage Band for Windows and Mac, respectively.
Paid Software Options
- TechSmith Camtasia Studio Version 7 (for Windows)
- Screenflow (for MAC users)
- Pinnacle Studio
- Muvee Auto Producer
- Avid Express Pro
- Ulead Studio
- Nero
- Adobe Premiere Elements
- Sony Vegas
Some of these programs offer trial versions for you to check out before buying.
Required hardware
Along with a good video camera, you also need a powerful computer with a high speed processor, high-capacity RAM and spacious hard drive as well as a good microphone and headphone.
Blogger, entrepreneur, digital marketing consultant and recording artist. I make money online and teach others how to do the same.
"You’re such a smart boy!" were his first accolades heard. So, it’s no wonder that this phrase became the title of his business, Smart Boy Designs.