How to make the perfect YouTube video

Concerto

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There seems to be a huge thread drift from the original question "How to make the perfect YouTube video" to which regular YouTube sailing posters you enjoy watching the most.

I tried giving advice in post #16 on how to make a good video and feel sure laika, the OP, has learnt very little in his quest to expand his knoweldge from virtually all the other posts. I feel sorry for laika that the forum has not been as helpful as it should be.
 

Kelpie

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There seems to be a huge thread drift from the original question "How to make the perfect YouTube video" to which regular YouTube sailing posters you enjoy watching the most.

I tried giving advice in post #16 on how to make a good video and feel sure laika, the OP, has learnt very little in his quest to expand his knoweldge from virtually all the other posts. I feel sorry for laika that the forum has not been as helpful as it should be.
I think it's one of the rules of the internet. This always happens with these threads!
 

jac

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There seems to be a huge thread drift from the original question "How to make the perfect YouTube video" to which regular YouTube sailing posters you enjoy watching the most.

I tried giving advice in post #16 on how to make a good video and feel sure laika, the OP, has learnt very little in his quest to expand his knoweldge from virtually all the other posts. I feel sorry for laika that the forum has not been as helpful as it should be.
The issue is that "What is perfect?" can't be answered in a way that everyone agrees with. In this context some want early Dylan, some want Sailing Brothers, others want La Vagabonde. Other than being filmed on and near boats they are nothing like each other. In addition i expect that many of us can't really explain clearly what it is we like about Cadoha or Sailing Florence so have to resort to " look at channel XXXX to see a good video"
 

Concerto

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The issue is that "What is perfect?" can't be answered in a way that everyone agrees with. In this context some want early Dylan, some want Sailing Brothers, others want La Vagabonde. Other than being filmed on and near boats they are nothing like each other. In addition i expect that many of us can't really explain clearly what it is we like about Cadoha or Sailing Florence so have to resort to " look at channel XXXX to see a good video"
Watching a video and commenting about it is not the same as making a video. It could be compared to sailing a boat compared to building a boat. Everyone has an opinion on what they want out of a boat, but highly unlikely know or want to build one. If you have ever tried to create an interesting video you would make totally different comments. I know I have. They might not be perfect for everyone, but there are a growing number of people who are now following my videos so I must be doing something right.

For all of those who have been contributing to the thread should post links for their own videos so I can have a look at their efforts.
 

Buck Turgidson

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Talk about precious!
If we all plugged our videos with the same relentlessness as you do we too could have "a growing number of people who follow". You may be doing something right but here is a hint you can take or leave, 3 bullet points maximum on any text page. Nobody want's to read a page of text.
Screenshot 2023-03-28 at 20.11.48.png
Same applies to any presentation you might make.

As for "Put up or shut up". Why do you think anyone want's you to have a look at their efforts? All the videos either linked or mentioned in this thread have equal or better quality to your work so what do you think you could add?

Showing or mentioning an example of what someone thinks is a good sailing video is a perfectly reasonable response to "How to make the perfect YouTube video".
 

steve yates

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Watching a video and commenting about it is not the same as making a video. It could be compared to sailing a boat compared to building a boat. Everyone has an opinion on what they want out of a boat, but highly unlikely know or want to build one. If you have ever tried to create an interesting video you would make totally different comments. I know I have. They might not be perfect for everyone, but there are a growing number of people who are now following my videos so I must be doing something right.

For all of those who have been contributing to the thread should post links for their own videos so I can have a look at their efforts.
Its called audience feedback and its really useful for those folk who are interested in what makes a good video. It will have varying ideas, all of which will be grist to the op's mill.
The videos folk have linked to in general, are those where the creators are trying to produce something to interest an audience, those are the videos the op will get good tips from.
You seem to be very pleased with your own efforts, which is great, and I hope they bring you joy. I wouldn't put them on a pedestal as examples of good videography though.
 

steveeasy

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Ouch,
The fact is everyone has different tastes. Concerto made a good point in the question was not really answered. But then perhaps in part it was. But then everyone has different tastes. Some people really enjoy following a detailed account of a trip. some people dont. some like humour, sunshine. lifestyle, the Characters, To some the photography is paramount. I suspect its getting what the numbers want if your objective is numbers. to some thats not the point, its simply to share their exploits.

Not everyone gets it right. some even cross the invisible line. I for one like a good mix. I dont like cap in hand and I dont like those who just try and use it as a platform to boost their over inflated egos even further. I like genuine film makers who want to share their knowledge and exploits. Hey and we have not mentioned Tom. I really enjoy listening to what hes doing aboard the good ship Constance.

A good youtube film is more about content than videography, unless of course that is your thing. Buck, I could watch your intro film over and over again simply for the choice in music. As for Dylan, you know he actually played a big part in me sailing.

Steveeasy
 

Concerto

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Talk about precious!
If we all plugged our videos with the same relentlessness as you do we too could have "a growing number of people who follow". You may be doing something right but here is a hint you can take or leave, 3 bullet points maximum on any text page. Nobody want's to read a page of text.
View attachment 153923
Same applies to any presentation you might make.

As for "Put up or shut up". Why do you think anyone want's you to have a look at their efforts? All the videos either linked or mentioned in this thread have equal or better quality to your work so what do you think you could add?

Showing or mentioning an example of what someone thinks is a good sailing video is a perfectly reasonable response to "How to make the perfect YouTube video".
As it was not possible to video every moment I sailed as I was singlehanded, then I feel text keeps the journey and the problems encountered are kept in context. Not everyone will bother to read the associated forum posts, so information like this is important to those who decide not to read the forum posts. My videos are my record of my journey. They show the places is sailed to and mostly the conditions I encountered. Whilst in port I visited many places and those I thought interesting were included. There are not overly long and have plenty of changing scenes, minimal comments, no speech, virtually no selfies, no music, no bikinis and not worrying about them making money. Since the first part of the Round Britain series started, the number of followers has quadrupled and the likes run at 100% or very close, and the number of likes to number views runs at 15%to 25%. So, perhaps there are more people who appreciate my videos and their content than you would believe. Perhaps you should read some of the comments for particular videos from people who find them to their liking.
 

Minerva

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What makes a good video is very subjective. Some of my favourite videos was the last year of Delos in their original format when then sailed from Namibia across the south Atlantic to Brazil. Great cinematography. Good story telling, personable characters and all tied together in a very good package.

similarly when they sailed with Andy of 59° north up in Svalbard. That was a clear change in tack to a more documentary style and it would clearly be of good enough quality to get onto the Major broadcast/on demand services if they wanted it.

In a different style, you have Sailing Magic Carpet. Aledino is a craftsman when it comes to his boatbuilding and their Vindo was / is something to behold. Mayas penmanship when it comes to story telling and her narration is a joy - she would make a superb author if she ever wanted to go doe that path. Together their last series of sailing in Scandinavia was a highlight of the week for me when their videos came out.

An alternative take on the format is Alluring Artic who just gets better each week. I’m really looking forward to watch them winter in Alaska and then the NW passage next year. Again fantastic cinematography, very well edited, personable, down to earth characters who just get stuff done without drama.

And then you have Concertos’ approach which is rather more, perhaps “rustic” and has a certain charm for that. It certainly conveys they grey, boring, monotone slogging up and down some parts of the UK coastline, but I’m sure the video logs will give him great pleasure to relive his trip for years to come.
 

jac

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As it was not possible to video every moment I sailed as I was singlehanded, then I feel text keeps the journey and the problems encountered are kept in context. Not everyone will bother to read the associated forum posts, so information like this is important to those who decide not to read the forum posts. My videos are my record of my journey. They show the places is sailed to and mostly the conditions I encountered. Whilst in port I visited many places and those I thought interesting were included. There are not overly long and have plenty of changing scenes, minimal comments, no speech, virtually no selfies, no music, no bikinis and not worrying about them making money. Since the first part of the Round Britain series started, the number of followers has quadrupled and the likes run at 100% or very close, and the number of likes to number views runs at 15%to 25%. So, perhaps there are more people who appreciate my videos and their content than you would believe. Perhaps you should read some of the comments for particular videos from people who find them to their liking.
I think what is important is that you are making videos in your style and are not trying to follow the crowd / commercialise them to hell! For that, I for one am very grateful!

Personally i welcome a bit of speech on them ( or appropriate BACKGROUND music.) but not too much inane wittering. I would be perfectly happy if your text comments were replaced by your narration but that's just me, as you say, these are your record of your trip.
 

mattonthesea

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Concerto
You wouldn't want to watch my last video. Long story short it was an interview of two of us as a way of introducing a topic. Ninety minutes down to five, we reshot the questions after. While we obeyed the 180 rule the zoom must have got knocked; in the cutaways we were interrogated by this face the size of the screen for every question!

Not because of this we dropped the idea; it was just boring. The team had a good laugh though.
 

Concerto

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Concerto
You wouldn't want to watch my last video. Long story short it was an interview of two of us as a way of introducing a topic. Ninety minutes down to five, we reshot the questions after. While we obeyed the 180 rule the zoom must have got knocked; in the cutaways we were interrogated by this face the size of the screen for every question!

Not because of this we dropped the idea; it was just boring. The team had a good laugh though.
Glad you are being honest as making a video is not easy. The filming is usually the easy bit, editting is the difficult bit. I know I could do some changes to my videos to please a few critics. However I believe in capturing what was going on in my trip, nothing was set up or multiple takes of the same item -unlike many "popular" entertainment sailing videos. I am certainly pleased with the videos I have made and will continue in the same way to complete the round Britain trip. For future videos I may make some minor changes, but filming in windy grey days will never look as good as those from a warm sunny climate. Perhaps I live in the real world, but many viewers a living in the dream world of "Wish I could be there".
 

lustyd

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The filming is usually the easy bit
The filming seems easy but it isn't. Remembering to get the shot is hard when you're out and about, framing the shot is hard and using the right kind of shot for the situation is a skillset in itself, all of which have to be learned to avoid the home video look. Even something as seemingly simple as capturing wave motion and size has only been perfected relatively recently. Add to this the complexity of getting good sound tracks without wind noise or background noise and recording good useful B roll of both audio and video. With the right shots in the bag, and a good story, editing is extremely easy.
This isn't weather dependent, a good filmmaker can make a grey day look every bit as exciting as a blue day in the tropics.
 

Kelpie

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Florence recently had a little segment on getting good shots of waves. Hours of filming to make a few seconds as a filler between other scenes. Glad they have the patience, I certainly don't!
 
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lustyd

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Florence recently had a little segment on getting good shots of waves. Hours of filming to make a few seconds as a filler between other scenes. Glad they have the patience, I certainly don't!
Haha I think the point of that segment was that she didn't have the technique so she makes up for it with quantity! One I really liked was Uma using a GoPro with stability on inside the cabin, it kept the "horizon" level so you could see them moving properly
 

Concerto

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The filming seems easy but it isn't. Remembering to get the shot is hard when you're out and about, framing the shot is hard and using the right kind of shot for the situation is a skillset in itself, all of which have to be learned to avoid the home video look. Even something as seemingly simple as capturing wave motion and size has only been perfected relatively recently. Add to this the complexity of getting good sound tracks without wind noise or background noise and recording good useful B roll of both audio and video. With the right shots in the bag, and a good story, editing is extremely easy.
This isn't weather dependent, a good filmmaker can make a grey day look every bit as exciting as a blue day in the tropics.
Being able to "see" a shot is very important. When in the sailing shots it pays to use different positions. This should include shots of the waves, bow wave, quarter wave, looking astern, showing the sails, the log and chart plotter, etc. There is nothing more boring if all the sailing shots are just from the cockpit. Using a GoPro on a fixed pole becomes very static, but may capture somethings that are unpredictable like a gust of wind, show reefing, and approaching a harbour/berthing.

I prefer the freedom of using just a mobile phone and a drone, they both can easily be moved for interesting shots. It was disappointing that there were very few days I could have used the drone whilst sailing. The one day I had everything prepared to fly, the drone had a wobbly and would not link to the controller as I had moved too far from when I had last used it. So, to date I have not tried landing on a moving boat even though I have worked out the best place to land on deck. In harbour I have landed in the cockpit on a cockpit seat, which is very precise positioning.

Talking more about using a drone for a beginner, as I was last season, as this gives such different views. Another forumite recommended using a DJI Mini 2 and I have found this very to use. There has been a new model, the Mini 3, but a word of warning about the sensors to avoid crashing make landing on a boat very, very dificult. I know someone found he could only land into his dinghy towed astern due to the rigging. The Mini 2 was incredibly easy to fly as the camera showed exactly what you are filming on the hand controller. There are built in limits using GPS to ensure you stay under 400ft and within 1 kilometre of the position it was launched from. It will fly further than this but keeps it reasonably close and within visual sight. Also built in are some pre programed flight plans like circling a point or between 2 points, flying backward and rising, rising with the camera pointing down and a circling in a spiral and assending.

This drone does have some shortcomings that most drones also have. The two biggest problems are rain and high winds. Rain can short the electronics which could cause it to crash. The drone can fly at up to 35mph, but a high wind warning shows on the controller at just over 20mph, but redcing height can reduce the windspeed. The Return to Base function will not work if the base moves position, i.e. the boat moves, as the base is a GPS co-ordinate. Launching from a moving boat requires nothing to be directly astern of the lifting point as the drone will be stationary by GPS and could hit any obstruction.

Hope these trips will help a beginner drone flyer as I had no one to teach me the basics.
 
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