Making videos without being in front of the camera?

[VegardBerland]

Hi! I'm building a Youtube channel with reviews, tutorials and cinematic edits. Since I'm not a fan of being in front of the camera or using my voice, I use a lot of time to make these videos with just text and example clips. Some people might think this is boring and not useful to watch and would rather have a person talking to them. The good thing is that I try to make these videos to the point and not waste too much time talking about other things like some channels do. Is my style of making videos useful? How can I make these kinds of videos better?

 

[Blackpool tower]

Hi! I'm building a Youtube channel with reviews, tutorials and cinematic edits. Since I'm not a fan of being in front of the camera or using my voice, I use a lot of time to make these videos with just text and example clips. Some people might think this is boring and not useful to watch and would rather have a person talking to them. The good thing is that I try to make these videos to the point and not waste too much time talking about other things like some channels do. Is my style of making videos useful? How can I make these kinds of videos better?

Hi. I would add some mood music & captions. Also different transitions with start & finishing titles.
Good luck

 

[dozzn]

Your YouTube channel is excellent! The videos are amazing. Keep up the good work!!
If you don’t want to be on camera, you don’t have to be.

 

[Hertzdonut]

How can I make these kinds of videos better?

I have to say, first of all, your video footage is spot on, not to mention that jaw dropping intro! Big thumbs up! However, I have to admit, once the review part began, I was disappointed not to hear some narration. I understand, you're not a fan of your own voice. Who is? (Politicians notwithstanding! ?)

However, that really limits your valuable feedback. I would've like to have heard some further comments to expand your bullet points. Without those, an unintended consequence is that your video takes on a sales pitch format. I began to wonder, who is this video aimed at? Potential buyers? That's not what you were doing of course, but I'm just sharing how it began to feel to me. You did show some "cons", of course, and that's important. Again, to what extent those cons impacted your judgment, we can only guess.

I also agree with you that too many reviewers ramble on or wander off-script. The fact that you are keenly aware of that puts you ahead.

Not being on-camera is not important, but your voice is. Your flying skills/cinematography are obviously superb, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the future. Keep up the great work!

- Jeff

 

[VegardBerland]

I have to say, first of all, your video footage is spot on, not to mention that jaw dropping intro! Big thumbs up! However, I have to admit, once the review part began, I was disappointed not to hear some narration. I understand, you're not a fan of your own voice. Who is? (Politicians notwithstanding! ?)

However, that really limits your valuable feedback. I would've like to have heard some further comments to expand your bullet points. Without those, an unintended consequence is that your video takes on a sales pitch format. I began to wonder, who is this video aimed at? Potential buyers? That's not what you were doing of course, but I'm just sharing how it began to feel to me. You did show some "cons", of course, and that's important. Again, to what extent those cons impacted your judgment, we can only guess.

I also agree with you that too many reviewers ramble on or wander off-script. The fact that you are keenly aware of that puts you ahead.

Not being on-camera is not important, but your voice is. Your flying skills/cinematography are obviously superb, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the future. Keep up the great work!

- Jeff

Thank you so much for your constructive feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time

I agree and I have some of the same thoughts myself. When I don't even use a voiceover, I'm facing some problems. No one is watching these kinds of videos to read pages of text. This limits me to use short bullet points with a small text which forces me to leave out further comments as you point out. I've been considering adding my voice to some of my videos, but so far I've been trying out this format. My verbal English is not the best either, but I can't expect to get better by not using it

Again, this feedback was honest, great and exactly what I wanted

 

[VegardBerland]

Hi. I would add some mood music & captions. Also different transitions with start & finishing titles.
Good luck

Thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated

 

[VegardBerland]

Your YouTube channel is excellent! The videos are amazing. Keep up the good work!!
If you don’t want to be on camera, you don’t have to be.

Thanks for your nice words! Really appreciate it

 

[SethB]

@VegardBerland I was really very impressed with all visual aspects of your work. Outstanding flying, thoughtful composition, all technical aspects & processing working well. The graphic design is very clean, contemporary, and appealing.

I do find many Youtube presenters creating *extended* introductions. I’m fast forwarding, where does the actual tutorial start? This is so irritating to me because it seems they’ve thought more about themselves and building their celebrity, and thought less about why a viewer would be interested to stick with their video. Many are not good at understanding viewer interests. I feel it’s important to recognize that each viewer is one click away from finding something better. The internet content ecosystem is built on the idea that “I can find what I want, when I want it.”

Your introductory imagery captures my interest!

I also reviewed your velocity-ramping transitions tutorial.

One person’s opinion:
In the Air 2 clip you’ve created a great and valuable summary. I expect more density and detail in a review. I’d be very interested in what your more-detailed script for that clip might look like. You might try creating a version you write that is narrated by a native english speaker whose voice you like.

I can easily imagine my drone students using your transitions tutorial just as it is, and that they will like it very much. Here the instructions are very clear, with examples, and can be paused while a learner replicates the method in Premiere.

 

[VegardBerland]

@VegardBerland I was really very impressed with all visual aspects of your work. Outstanding flying, thoughtful composition, all technical aspects & processing working well. The graphic design is very clean, contemporary, and appealing.

I do find many Youtube presenters creating *extended* introductions. I’m fast forwarding, where does the actual tutorial start? This is so irritating to me because it seems they’ve thought more about themselves and building their celebrity, and thought less about why a viewer would be interested to stick with their video. Many are not good at understanding viewer interests. I feel it’s important to recognize that each viewer is one click away from finding something better. The internet content ecosystem is built on the idea that “I can find what I want, when I want it.”

Your introductory imagery captures my interest!

I also reviewed your velocity-ramping transitions tutorial.

One person’s opinion:
In the Air 2 clip you’ve created a great and valuable summary. I expect more density and detail in a review. I’d be very interested in what your more-detailed script for that clip might look like. You might try creating a version you write that is narrated by a native english speaker whose voice you like.

I can easily imagine my drone students using your transitions tutorial just as it is, and that they will like it very much. Here the instructions are very clear, with examples, and can be paused while a learner replicates the method in Premiere.

I cannot express enough how much I appreciate you taking the time to give this kind of in-depth feedback Thank you!

As you say, people probably use 3-5 seconds to decide if they should find another video or continue watching yours, so the starting seconds are crucial for getting new viewers.

I agree that this video lacks some density and details, because of my limited format. Using other voices online to read my script is also an option I might consider. Thanks for the tip!

The tutorial was also nice to get a feedback on! On a Premiere tutorial you probably have to pause the video anyway, so maybe it's just as good to have it in text as having to rewind the video several times to remember what the creator said

Again, love this feedback!

 

[Ty Pilot]

I saw your review video earlier today and, as others have said, found the video to be quite beautiful. The cinematography was excellent and the pace of your editing is spot on, you obviously have camera use and editing skills nailed down, tight as a drum. Well done.

The title of your video puts an expectation into the viewer that at some point, were gonna here from the guy making this awesome video. Moreover, because your camera and editing skills are so clearly evident, the expectations are even heightened to some extent.

I get it that some do not feel comfortable in front of the camera, but I feel a voiceover - even if it were in a language the viewer does not speak is better than nothing. I have watched 45 minute long videos in German and Dutch - I speak neither but hearing a human voice while reading closed caption made a connection.

There are apps and programs that will convert written word into speech and there are a TON of youtubers that use this along with stock footage and build channels with hundreds of thousands of views. Though I am not a fan of that type of video because none of it came from the guy posting, he just paid for it.

But in your case, this might be an option that could really open your channel up, since you are the guy making the video and clearly have great content. Good Luck.

 

[Hummingbird.UAV]

Hi! I'm building a Youtube channel with reviews, tutorials and cinematic edits. Since I'm not a fan of being in front of the camera or using my voice, I use a lot of time to make these videos with just text and example clips. Some people might think this is boring and not useful to watch and would rather have a person talking to them. The good thing is that I try to make these videos to the point and not waste too much time talking about other things like some channels do. Is my style of making videos useful? How can I make these kinds of videos better?

If you don't like to do voice overs you can subscribe to an online text reader service and they will give you a professional sounding narration. Downside is you have to type out the words. I sometimes do that and use a teleprompter to record the narration.

 

[VegardBerland]

I saw your review video earlier today and, as others have said, found the video to be quite beautiful. The cinematography was excellent and the pace of your editing is spot on, you obviously have camera use and editing skills nailed down, tight as a drum. Well done.

The title of your video puts an expectation into the viewer that at some point, were gonna here from the guy making this awesome video. Moreover, because your camera and editing skills are so clearly evident, the expectations are even heightened to some extent.

I get it that some do not feel comfortable in front of the camera, but I feel a voiceover - even if it were in a language the viewer does not speak is better than nothing. I have watched 45 minute long videos in German and Dutch - I speak neither but hearing a human voice while reading closed caption made a connection.

There are apps and programs that will convert written word into speech and there are a TON of youtubers that use this along with stock footage and build channels with hundreds of thousands of views. Though I am not a fan of that type of video because none of it came from the guy posting, he just paid for it.

But in your case, this might be an option that could really open your channel up, since you are the guy making the video and clearly have great content. Good Luck.

This feedback is so valuable! Thank you so much

It is great to get some thoughts from you on what works and what need change or improvement. The things you are saying is really relatable when I'm watching videos myself on Youtube.

I will really consider a voiceover when I'm doing videos like this. Good to know the footage and editing part is good enough. Then I can focus on this voice thing

 

[VegardBerland]

If you don't like to do voice overs you can subscribe to an online text reader service and they will give you a professional sounding narration. Downside is you have to type out the words. I sometimes do that and use a teleprompter to record the narration.

Thanks for the tip! I usually write some sort of script for my videos anyway, so I will check out this possibility!

 

[4006448]

Thank you so much for your constructive feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time

I agree and I have some of the same thoughts myself. When I don't even use a voiceover, I'm facing some problems. No one is watching these kinds of videos to read pages of text. This limits me to use short bullet points with a small text which forces me to leave out further comments as you point out. I've been considering adding my voice to some of my videos, but so far I've been trying out this format. My verbal English is not the best either, but I can't expect to get better by not using it

Again, this feedback was honest, great and exactly what I wanted

I agree with others about how good the footage is. My opinion is that I would prefer voice over for describing the footage but a short in-person conclusion.

 

[Zbip57]

I use a lot of time to make these videos with just text and example clips. Some people might think this is boring and not useful to watch and would rather have a person talking to them.

I'm a huge fan of your channel. You are blessed to have such tremendously beautiful landscapes to work with. Norway is high on my list of countries I need to visit someday.

Another strong reason to use written text in your videos, rather than spoken voice, is that there are hearing impaired people who would love to learn from your videos but are unable to hear what's being said.

I started posting YouTube videos in 2013 when I bought my first DJI Phantom. I posted quite a few instructional videos experimenting with the Phantom's various features.
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLngMU-9AtNNzQuoLUBi1UIYDbDlw4mlJ

Then I was contacted by Mitch Bergsma, who has a famous Youtube channel promoting GoPro products.
www.youtube.com/user/micbergsma

Mitch had recently bought his own DJI Phantom and was watching my videos. But Mitch is deaf and couldn't understand anything I was saying in my videos. Until he contacted me it had never even occurred to me that there were people watching my videos who couldn't hear what I was saying. It's something to think about. I know there's at least one other very active member right here on this Mavic Forum who is also hearing impaired.

Youtube is able to automatically generate Closed Caption subtitles, but if you're not speaking clearly, or there's any sort of background noise (like buzzing propellers), those auto-generated captions are often hopelessly unintelligible. I tried creating my own SRT subtitle files uploading them to YouTube, but it's a really tedious process trying to synchronize the timing of the text to what's going on in the videos.

It's so much easier to just add text title overlays directly into the video at key points (as you did in your video above). Some people are very photogenic and are at ease talking on camera, others maybe not so much. Some say, um, ah, or like, too often. That's just distracting.

I find brief text titles are much more effective.

 

[dave canada]

I,m older and its hard for me to hear everything I don,t think it gets much better than that I really enjoyed

 

[VegardBerland]

I'm a huge fan of your channel. You are blessed to have such tremendously beautiful landscapes to work with. Norway is high on my list of countries I need to visit someday.

Another strong reason to use written text in your videos, rather than spoken voice, is that there are hearing impaired people who would love to learn from your videos but are unable to hear what's being said.

I started posting YouTube videos in 2013 when I bought my first DJI Phantom. I posted quite a few instructional videos experimenting with the Phantom's various features.
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLngMU-9AtNNzQuoLUBi1UIYDbDlw4mlJ

Then I was contacted by Mitch Bergsma, who has a famous Youtube channel promoting GoPro products.
www.youtube.com/user/micbergsma

Mitch had recently bought his own DJI Phantom and was watching my videos. But Mitch is deaf and couldn't understand anything I was saying in my videos. Until he contacted me it had never even occurred to me that there were people watching my videos who couldn't hear what I was saying. It's something to think about. I know there's at least one other very active member right here on this Mavic Forum who is also hearing impaired.

Youtube is able to automatically generate Closed Caption subtitles, but if you're not speaking clearly, or there's any sort of background noise (like buzzing propellers), those auto-generated captions are often hopelessly unintelligible. I tried creating my own SRT subtitle files uploading them to YouTube, but it's a really tedious process trying to synchronize the timing of the text to what's going on in the videos.

It's so much easier to just add text title overlays directly into the video at key points (as you did in your video above). Some people are very photogenic and are at ease talking on camera, others maybe not so much. Some say, um, ah, or like, too often. That's just distracting.

I find brief text titles are much more effective.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this! I'm overwhelmed by the good response from this community with constructive feedback

This is very interesting and I haven't thought of it this way before. This is something to consider even if I use voiceover in the future. Maybe a bit of both where I keep some short explanations in addition to the voice.

Thanks again for sharing your story and giving me some new interesting thoughts

 

[VegardBerland]

I,m older and its hard for me to hear everything I don,t think it gets much better than that I really enjoyed

Thanks a lot for watching and giving some positive feedback! Sounds good

 

[VegardBerland]

I agree with others about how good the footage is. My opinion is that I would prefer voice over for describing the footage but a short in-person conclusion.

That sounds like a good idea! Thanks for watching and taking the time to give some feedback