How I make my YouTube videos

Hey 👋

I’ve been making videos for about 10 months at this point, but I’ve never really shared exactly how I make them. My videos are not special, but I still like to have my them organized and part of a system. Although I try not to overcomplicate the whole process.

I’ll be sharing all the software + hardware I use for this as well, so in case you think I missed anything, feel free to let me know by replying to this email.

In general, there are 6 stages to the entire process:

1. Picking a topic

2. Research + scripting

3. Title and thumbnail design

4. Recording

5. Editing

6. Publishing

These stages are the general processes that any channel has to go through to make a video (although it could be in a different order). Let’s take a better look at each one of them!

1. Picking a topic

   This used to be quite easy during the start of my channel since I knew all I had to do was make Discord.js videos and cover every aspect of it. But now I’ve reached a point where covering the absolute basics doesn’t make a lot of sense anymore, since I’ve already done it.

   There are really 2 main sources I use to get topic ideas. Video comments and the suggestions channel in my Discord. Both of them provide a great foundation to build upon so that’s what I usually do.

   I try to avoid topics which may be complicated to beginners, since I’ve come to realize most of my viewers at the moment are beginners in web development.

2. Research + scripting

   Depending on what the topic is about, and how much experience I have on the topic, this is usually the part which takes the most amount of time. It sometimes even ends up taking days to do research and write a script based off of it since I have to prep each step of the video.

   I use Notion to do all of this since it allows you to create very flexible systems based on your requirements. I’ve never paid for Notion since all the features I need are covered in the free plan, so I highly recommend it if you’re interested in creating your own workflows.

   Each video usually just starts as an idea, then moves onto the “Research” category once I think I have enough time to do research on it.

   In the research category, I usually code out the whole project beforehand and optimize it as well as I can. Once I think it’s good enough, I move the video to the “Scripting” category.

   My videos used to be scripted word for word to an extent in the beginning, but in the last few months I’ve made the transition to just script the intro and outro of the video, and freestyle the main topic. However, I don’t just talk about things when I feel like I want to, I usually have bullet points setup in my script in between the intro and outro which I go over step-by-step.

3. Title and thumbnail design

   This was usually the last step when it came to my video making process, but I’ve recently realized coming up with titles and thumbnails before recording is really helpful.

   The reason is, when I’m recording, I speak in regards to what the title and thumbnail looks like…. does that make any sense? The goal is to basically see through the viewers eyes what they came expecting from the video, and to just stick to that.

   For thumbnails I only really use Photoshop. I tried using Figma for a while, but this was when I was already too comfortable with Photoshop. If you’re looking for a free alternative, I recommend Figma or Canva.

4. Recording

   Recording is pretty straightforward. Sit down, open up your script in another monitor and get going. I use OBS for recording all my videos since it’s pretty lightweight, free, and has all the features I need.

   I usually record my audio using OBS as well, but recently I’ve been experimenting with Adobe Audition so I could quickly do post processing.

   I also use the Blue Yeti Nano microphone to record my audio and use Logitech G Hub to modify the mic settings (Crisp and Warm preset with 15% input gain).

5. Editing

   This is hands down the most tedious and boring part of making videos. It usually takes me 2-3 times the duration of the recording to fully edit the video, and this is really without any special effects. I wonder how crazy it would get if I decided to add those.

   For editing I use Premiere Pro and honestly haven’t bothered to look at another software. Premiere Pro just works for me, and I’ve gotten quite comfortable with it. A free alternative that I can recommend is Davinci Resolve.

   I use my MacBook Air (M1, 2020 - Base Model) for editing videos, and it’s honestly never disappointed.

6. Publishing

   This is the simplest part of the entire process. Upload the video as unlisted, setup titles, thumbnails, description, monetization settings, and share it with patrons for early access.

   I usually don’t delete my working files for another 3-4 days until I can confirm there were no errors in the video that went unnoticed. Usually if that happens, I try to use YouTube Studio’s built-in editor, but it doesn’t work for everything.

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And that’s about it! Do you also make YouTube videos, or plan to start soon? Let me know by replying to this email. I’d love to subscribe to your channel!

That was it for me for this week. See ya around 👋