Why make a YouTube channel?

Since I started my Art With Crystal channel people regularly ask me how they can make their own YouTube channel.

Why? Maybe they want to share colouring tips, photoshop or crafting tutorials or drawing videos… or maybe they make stop motion videos, are a gamer or just want to make fun videos to show their friends! 

YouTube is a free and easy way to share your videos online with friends, family and the world. You can choose to keep your channel private, control who has access to your channel or individual videos, or make it public so anyone can watch. 

Getting Started… 

The videos below can guide you through setting up a channel. Depending on how tech savvy you are it may take a while but once it’s all up and running it will be pretty straight forward to start making and posting videos!

I’ve broken the process down into 4 steps:

1. Set up a YouTube Channel
2. Make a Video
3. Add your video to YouTube
4. Edit your video

Plus a BONUS: Tips for setting up a GAMER channel

 

 

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Video camera, tablet or smart phone – something to record your videos on.
• Computer.
• Space/memory on your computer so you can store your videos (or an extra hard drive you can plug into your computer).
• Internet access.

NOTE TO GAMERS and DIGITAL ARTISTS:

If you just want to record your computer screen and your voice you won’t need a video camera/smart phone… just headphones with a built-in microphone (ideally one that you can adjust to be closer or farther from your mouth). You will also need a computer with Window, Mac OS or Linux on it to run the programs I suggest. Having 2 monitors/screens makes it MUCH easier, too.

 

STEP 1: Set up a YouTube Channel

To create a YouTube channel you’ll first need a Google Account. Here’s a video to walk you through it. 

 

STEP 2: Make a Video 

If you’d like make videos of yourself doing things:

• Use a regular camera on your phone, tablet, laptop with a camera in it or whatever you have.
• If you’d like to record yourself, I highly recommend using something with a screen that faces you. That way you can see what you’re recording while you record.
• Watch the video below for great tips on recording yourself colouring, drawing or crafting!
• Save the video to your computer.

 

Are you a gamer or digital artist and need to record your screen?

Scroll down to the bonus section to learn how to record your screen and your voice at the same time!

 

 

STEP 3: Add Your Video to YouTube

I’ve done this a lot on my own so I didn’t need to follow a video, but this looks like a good one. If you find a simpler video please let me know.

 

STEP 4: Edit Your Video

Once your video is on YouTube you can edit it! Trim the beginning and end off, cut out sections in the middle – whatever quick edits you need to do.

For more advanced edits you’ll likely need to purchase another program like Wondershare Filmora or Adobe Premiere. There are a ton of different options out there!

Here’s how you can do simple edits with YouTube:

 

Did I miss anything? Did you find better resources? Please comment below to let me know or email me at crystal@artwithcrystal.com.

 

Would you like to record yourself playing video games or drawing, colouring or creating digitally?

My son is making a “gaming channel” so his goal is to record his screen while he is playing. He also needs to record his own voice while he plays.

How can you do that? It’s a bit tricky but once it’s set up it’s pretty easy to use. 

 

How to Record a Video of Your Screen:

You’ll need to download this free program to your computer: OBS Studio.

This program also allows you to add that little square to your screen which shows a video of your face while you play. Many of the pro YouTube gamers use that feature. BUT… my son won’t be using it until he’s older so I didn’t figure that part out. Is that something you want? I’m sure there are great tutorial videos to teach you how. 

Here’s a video to walk you through setting it up. He mentions using a different program, Audacity, to record your voice… BUT… I’ve found an easier solution for you so ignore that. OBS can also record your voice and it simplifies EVERYTHING. I’ll explain how to do that below this video.

How to Record Your Voice:

You can record your voice using the OBS program, too!

Here’s a video to walk you through how to do that and the settings you should have to get the best quality of sound possible, even from your headphone microphone.

IMPORTANT: At 1:15 he tells you to disable all of the devices. If you want to record the sound from your computer, leave the top option, “Desktop Audio”, as “default”. If you’re gaming you probably want that to be on! He’ll walk you through how to connect your mic. You’ll then see 2 audio mixers (that line that moves with sound): one for your mic and one for the desktop/computer’s sound.