I recently decided that I wanted to create a YouTube channel and start making a handful of development tutorial videos and vlogs. This clearly required some level of recording/editing setup. Being both a hobbyist on a budget and new to making videos, this required a hefty amount of searching to find a tool that was both easy to learn and inexpensive/free. After reading a number of reviews, installing a handful of applications and playing around for a while, I feel like I have found the best of both worlds. Today I am going to share my thoughts on what I found in both recording and editing.
Recording – Flashback Recorder Express:
The Express version of the flashback recorder from Blueberry Software takes the blue ribbon on easy to use. Within 30 seconds of installing the software, I had configured my recording setup exactly how I wanted it. Webcam enabled and positioned, desktop icons hidden, screen region for recording selected, audio tested and ready to roll. As I made a handful of test recordings, I branched out into some of the more advanced settings. Everything was right at my fingertips and exactly where I would expect to find it. It also offers some nifty features in terms of scheduled recordings, or starting a recording when an application launches. The launch screen also has direct links to a number of tutorial videos. While the tutorials are related to editing (which is a pro or higher feature), I am a huge fan of tutorials to expedite the learning process. Nothing beats a “hello world” to learn something new. I was also very pleased by the fact that Flashback Recorder doesn’t impose limits to recording length or apply a watermark. Very helpful for making my hobby efforts look and feel more professional.
The “free-ness” of the application only started to show itself when it came time to edit and export my recordings. The express version offers minimal editing options and only exports to WMV. Since I had expected to have to pair it with an editing program, this was not a deal breaker. The price of the Pro version is a very reasonable $49, and after experiencing the ease of use of Express, I’m definitely going to take the 30 day trial of Flashback Recorder Pro for a spin and I expect I will likely make the purchase.
I am a far cry from a professional YouTuber and I’m sure I am only scratching the surface of features that are staples for the pros, but Flashback Recorder is a great, easy to learn tool that I would highly recommend to anyone looking to make some recordings.
Editing – Shotcut:
After trying a number of editing tools, a trend began to develop, complexity. One after another, the tools proved to have a tremendous learning curve. I was very pleasantly surprised when I found this mold breaker. Shotcut is an open source editing tool that is a welcome change for new learners. The UI begins sparse, with only the most obvious tools exposed (export, import etc.) but collections of other features bundled in easy to access windows that can be toggled on or off from the control ribbon. The control windows can also be pulled out and re-organized to customize the layout to your individual needs.
Immediately after downloading the application, I was prompted to check out the tutorials to get started. These were all well paced and easy clearly touched upon all the features I would need as a first timer. I quickly found myself working through all of them in a desire to know more and learn about what options were at my disposal. The export feature in Shotcut comes with over 50 presets to compile and output your creation (including one for YouTube). Shotcut could also easily be used as a file type conversion tool on its own.
Royalty Free Music – Incomptech:
My video would be boring without some audio to go with it. I had heard the name Kevin MacLeod before from some of the YouTubers I follow, as being the go-to guy for royalty free music. I headed over to his site and I was not disappointed. More than 1000 tracks for every genre under the sun. You can search by genre, length, mood, bpm or just browse the list by name. All the tracks can be played in your web browser to sample them and each one comes with a copy-able snippet of accreditation. I picked out the one I wanted and imported it into Shotcut with a simple drag and drop.
The end Result:
After about an hour of putting together a collection of clips, applying filters and transitions, I had a video I was ready to export. The export process was fast and simple and I now had my Runtime Development welcome video for my YouTube Channel.
So my while built in microphone and webcam aren’t going to win me any awards for cinematography, I feel like I was able to come up with a pretty reasonable product for a first go. This will help pave the way for more tutorials and vlogs as time rolls on. Maybe this might even inspire someone else to take the plunge and try something new.
Drew Grubb - Runtime Development 