My first youtube video,how might I improve? MA2

[MavicMike55]

This is video from my first real day of flying. I've been doing just little flights around my house until today (Memorial Day).
I impressed myself with this one. It was such a beautiful day in the SF area. The Mavic Air 2 is sooo much better than the original Air.

Please drop any comments or suggestions you might have in the comments section of the video. Thanks

 

[Greekislandlover]

Hiya, I'm going to comment on the forum and not on the video. It makes it a lot easier for comments.

First up, you had a lovely day for the flight And have got some very smooth video. When I was in SF (we live in the UK) it was cool, windy and foggy!

So my first suggestion is get some editing software. There are several out there with varying budgets and facilities. My personal experience is with Filmora Wondershare, and Adobe Premiere Pro, but have a look round for one that suits your needs and budget. Adobe is my personal choice but the learning curve is pretty steep. It's an idea before you buy to check there are loads of tutorials for it on youtube.

Question - why include the screen shot in the lower corner at the start?

I have a few basic rules for editing. I'm sure others here have many more, but these have served me well.

1, cut out all the take off, landing and getting into position footage (unless it's usable).

2, cut out anything jerky. If you are trying to be cinematic (and most of your video is!) then jerkiness is a distraction.

3, look for duplicate or similar shots and use the best - cut the rest.

4, think of a basic sequence to tell a story. In this case it could be take off, round the bay, land and assemble it.

5, start paring the shots down to be what you consider to be a good length - some shots can be long and others only require a few seconds.

6, add transitions, music and titles.

You have a lot of good shots in there, possibly on a day that's unusually clear and bright! Enjoy flying - wish I was there.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Ninjad by Greekislandlover but he makes the same points
For the most part pretty good
Constructive criticism (you did ask)
Thank God you got rid of the screen recording at around the 6 minute mark.
I would cut the length down, you could easily remove quite a lot where things look stationary, examples - from 1 minute to around 2 ½ is basically the same shot, same from around 3 to 6.
You will fined peoples attention span doesn't last long if nothing is changing.

 

[MavicMike55]

Awesome suggestions! Thank you very much for your input. FYI-I have been using DaVinci Resolve a bit, but have a lot to learn still. I am getting to learn the basics thru YouTube videos, but it has been a slow process. To be honest, I'm not a fan of showing the screen recordings within the main video, but I was just trying it out to see if I could do it. ?. I was editing this video, and I got to the point where I ran out of patience and just wanted to get some thing posted. Anyway, stay tuned, I hope to get another video up soon and I look forward to more input. Thanks again for your time. ?

 

[fguthrie]

Nice video - I agree with The Cyborg, cut it down to around 2 minutes or so. Concerning Video editors, I'm still evaluating. It is between FilmoraPro, Resolve and Cyberlink Power Director. I ruled out Adobe Premiere as to get all you need, it is just too expensive. I have been focusing on Resolve, but I find myself going back to Power Director because it is so easy.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

This is video from my first real day of flying. I've been doing just little flights around my house until today (Memorial Day).
I impressed myself with this one. It was such a beautiful day in the SF area. The Mavic Air 2 is sooo much better than the original Air.

Please drop any comments or suggestions you might have in the comments section of the video. Thanks

I'm far from being able to critique someone else's videos because I'm just starting into this hobby myself and can barely spell the word "Kamara" hahaha. I know most people's attention span for videos is 2-3 minutes or so and this one is 10+ minutes. I love the SF area and personally I enjoyed the entire video. At the beginning I didn't see a reason to include the take-off and controller views but that's part of the learning curve. You also have more guts than I do by flying that far out over the bay. I break out in a cold sweat if I see water in the distance when I'm flying. ? ?

 

[MavicMike55]

I'm far from being able to critique someone else's videos because I'm just starting into this hobby myself and can barely spell the word "Kamara" hahaha. I know most people's attention span for videos is 2-3 minutes or so and this one is 10+ minutes. I love the SF area and personally I enjoyed the entire video. At the beginning I didn't see a reason to include the take-off and controller views but that's part of the learning curve. You also have more guts than I do by flying that far out over the bay. I break out in a cold sweat if I see water in the distance when I'm flying. ? ?

I have a high level of confidence with DJI drones. Used to fly my Mavic Air 1 well out over water, and never had a problem. I know 10+ minutes is probably to long to keep someone's interest, and will definitely shorten them down. I was getting frustrated trying to cut out portions of the video, and keep everything in sync with the screen recording, so I will also do away with screen recordings too, unless I have a specific reason to show them. That should cut down my editing times.
THANKS TO ALL that have posted their comments. Keep them coming.

 

[MavicMike55]

Nice video - I agree with The Cyborg, cut it down to around 2 minutes or so. Concerning Video editors, I'm still evaluating. It is between FilmoraPro, Resolve and Cyberlink Power Director. I ruled out Adobe Premiere as to get all you need, it is just too expensive. I have been focusing on Resolve, but I find myself going back to Power Director because it is so easy.

Well, personally, I think around 4 minutes is the sweet spot if you have good content. But I will definitely try and stay away from 10+ minute videos.
resolve can be quite confusing. I might be willing to try another editor. Is Power Director free? Works on Windows 10?
Thanks for your comments!

 

[Greekislandlover]

Nice video - I agree with The Cyborg, cut it down to around 2 minutes or so. Concerning Video editors, I'm still evaluating. It is between FilmoraPro, Resolve and Cyberlink Power Director. I ruled out Adobe Premiere as to get all you need, it is just too expensive. I have been focusing on Resolve, but I find myself going back to Power Director because it is so easy.

Honestly, go with whatever works for you. You can create top notch video's with all of them, but you will probably do your best work with the one you are happy with, and don't constantly have to fight!