YouTube Newbies
Up to this point, I am chalking all this surprise up the fact that I’ve only been on YouTube with my own channel for two years. I’m still relatively unknown. From here, people began to listen to us talk and ask questions. How much do they charge you to have a channel? Nothing. How much do I have to pay to subscribe to your channel? Nothing. Do they pay you to be on YouTube? Nope. Well, to that I have to say when my channel gets more subscribers and views, I may be eligible to be paid in advertising revenue, but right now, I’m not that popular. What gets me is that this is all news to my friends, even though YouTube has been around for over a decade; since February 14, 2005, to be exact. Big Stock
Scammers and Cheaters
Sure, we older folks are jaundiced about “hidden charges,” and we almost expect to be scammed or cheated at every turn. I’m 65 now, and I could be very easily taken in. I grew up in an era where people stuck by their word, promises were kept, and respect and help were given to the elderly—not these days. Many people don’t mind darting out in front of the elderly entering a building, they don’t think a thing of bait and switch tactics toward the elderly, and I’ve experienced an elderly lady who wouldn’t let me help with her bags because she had them stolen from her before. It is a cold, dark world we live in.
Free Forever?
As for YouTube, free content, free uploading, and free viewing is still the norm. That may change someday, but not yet. You can state your opinion, share your expertise, inform and uplift your audience, or rant if you want to. There are, of course, certain standards that you must agree to keep. No foul language, no porn, and these days sharing videos with children, even your own children, must conform to certain decency standards. These all seem like perfectly elementary rules and should not have to be stated and agreed to, but it is another sign of the times. Denise McGill
Process
What I do is set up my camera on a tripod arm, so it points down on my hands. I film the tutorials with the camera in front of me so, technically, it is all upside down for the viewer. That’s an easy fix. When I put it all together in iMovie or Adobe Premiere Pro, I just have the film sequence flip to right-side up. This way, I don’t have to have a camera over my shoulder and worry about getting my head in the way. Because I work on one painting or collage over several days, I end up with more than two or three clips to put together for one video. Because I take hours to complete each image, I didn’t want to bore my audience, so I sped up the film so that it tracks at 2000% of the original speed. That way, I can speed through an image creation that took many hours in just a few minutes.
Intro and Out
After I had the YouTube channel a few months and viewed other artist’s work, I decided I needed an introduction and a salutation clip as well. The first intro I created was pretty static. It was just a photo of me drawing with the title of my channel over it. After a few months, I got really tired of that and stumbled on a premade Adobe AfterEffects plugin from EnvatoMarket created by vidhive called Cube Parallax. This meant I had to open AfterEffects, a program that I had but had never used before. The plugin had all the wonderful whirling images in a blank, and all I had to do was drop in the images of my work that I wanted to be seen. I was very impressed by how easy it was to use, and if I had run into any problems, the site where I got the plugin had helpers standing by. Now with my new cool intro, I needed an equally cool out. I started by creating a “Thank You for Watching” page and had it zoom way out, but this never seemed enough. Next, I created a plain white page in Photoshop with a couple of my images in the corners and a “Please Subscribe” message with my website mentioned as well. These are by no means terribly professional, and I may change them before long, but I feel good about showing my work on YouTube now.
Final Thoughts
What do you think of the wealth of information available on YouTube? Do you think you will ever have your own channel? Or do you have one already? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Denise McGill © 2019 Denise McGill
Comments
Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on February 28, 2021: Rochelle Ann De Zoysa, Is your Youtube channel under this name? I’ll have to look you up and subscribe. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on February 18, 2020: Shaloo Walia, Well, not everywhere! I do try new things often and see what works for me and what doesn’t. I have tried to get Instagram working for me but I find it frustrating so although I have a page I don’t do much with it. So I’m not everywhere. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Rochelle Ann De Zoysa from Moratuwa, Sri Lanka on February 17, 2020: You are a multi talented lady :) I too have a Youtube channel :) I love painting too :) God bless you! Shaloo Walia from India on December 28, 2019: You have a YouTube channel too!!! Wow!!! You are everywhere Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 18, 2019: Lora Hollings, Oh, that is exactly what I wanted these videos to do: make people want to create for themselves. I hope you do pull out your paintbrushes. Thanks for commenting and giving me a thumbs up. Blessings, Denise Lora Hollings on December 17, 2019: Your YouTube tutorials are just great, Denise. It is obvious that you put much thought and planning into these and it shows! And your wonderful talent speaks for itself. I love your style and you’re able to communicate so well with your audience. I watched some of your videos and gave you thumbs up too! I’ve learned a lot over the years from YouTube. It can be a great source of learning and entertainment! The tea rose painting is just beautiful. You make me want to take my paint brushes out again. Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 17, 2019: Jason Nicolosi, Thanks so much for the thumbs up. I want to entertain as well as educate with my crafts and paintings and I hope I’m doing that. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Jason Nicolosi from AZ on December 16, 2019: Great article as usual. I remember the first time I introduce my mom to YouTube. She had a blast looking up recipes. I love the paper church model video, very cool. I hit the thumbs up on the videos because I truly thought they deserved it. I am happy that you’re on YouTube. Great videos! Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 16, 2019: William Kovacic, I hope you do develop your own channel. We all have something interesting to say as well as expertise to share. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 16, 2019: Linda Crampton, I appreciate your visit. Thanks for the good wishes and the comment. Blessings, Denise William Kovacic from Pleasant Gap, PA on December 15, 2019: Thanks for making us aware of your channel, Denise. I’ll have to check it out. I’ve thought about having a channel but haven’t developed it yet - maybe someday! Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on December 14, 2019: Your tea roses video is lovely, Denise. I enjoyed seeing how the roses and their leaves gradually appeared very much. Good luck with your YouTube channel. Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 14, 2019: Virginia Allain, Definitely you should do that. You could read excerpts or just hold it up and talk about it. There are lots and lots of book reviews on YouTube. I’ve favored several. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 14, 2019: Linda Lum, That’s so interesting. I thought sure that this was redundant information for all my friends on HubPages seeing that I usually link one of my YouTube videos to my hubs and most of you have seen one or two by now. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 13, 2019: Bill Holland, I hear the rule of thumb, like here on HubPages, is that the more consistent you are in posting content, the more of a following you generate. I try to upload a video every week. Some weeks are better than others, but I try. I’ve seen some of your content, and I’d like to see more. It felt very homey and welcoming. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 13, 2019: Liz Westwood, I understand what you mean. I never meant to be more than an observer myself but someone suggested putting my art tutorials on YouTube and I thought it sounded like a good idea. It took me a whole year to figure out how. After that, it was only a matter of editing the footage and posting it. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 13, 2019: Mary Norton, I really appreciate the tutorials also. When I get a squash I’ve never seen before I can look it up on YouTube and sure enough someone will tell me all about it and how to cook it. It is so helpful. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 13, 2019: Devika Primić, You should consider having a YouTube channel of your own as long as it is free. You can link your own videos to your hubs. They don’t have to be long. As a matter of fact, most people prefer to watch a short 3 to 5-minute video to a longer one of say, 20 minutes. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Denise McGill (author) from Fresno CA on December 13, 2019: Eric Dierker, I really didn’t expect this to be news. Most of the video links I put into my hubs are from my YouTube channel. Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Denise Virginia Allain from Central Florida on December 13, 2019: I’ve been thinking that I should make some book trailers to promote my mother’s memoir. Thanks for the tips. Linda Lum from Washington State, USA on December 13, 2019: Well, I had no idea that you are on YouTube. I don’t see painting in my future, but I love the creative process so just might hop over there to watch you in action. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Bill Holland from Olympia, WA on December 13, 2019: Best wishes with your YouTube endeavors. I’ve done some in the past, but I never seem to make time to do it on a regular basis….evidently it isn’t a priority with me. Happy Weekend, my friend! Liz Westwood from UK on December 13, 2019: This is a great explanation of how you use YouTube. I’m an observer rather than a participant. There’s an impressive and useful range of stuff on YouTube. Mary Norton from Ontario, Canada on December 13, 2019: I started to appreciate YouTube when I can view it on TV. The tutorials are great and also the audiobooks. You can find almost anything. Devika Primić from Dubrovnik, Croatia on December 13, 2019: I don’t get confused by any of it online it is just how people are. Important, useful and an informative hub. I don’t have a you tube channel but have been thinking about it. Eric Dierker from Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A. on December 12, 2019: Well I will be! How cool is this? I think I can dig it. Don’t know much but you are filling me in. Muchas Gracias Senorita. I will be back.
