Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What to learn for starting a youtube channel?

S

Sun Salute

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 25, 2017
17
2
Hi!
I basically want to start my own youtube channel, doing mostly sketches with maybe some minor special effects - obviously not Rocketjump level, but still :D

The thing is, I don't have any video editing skills at the moment, so I will study something. The question is - what do you think would be better to go for? Premiere Pro + After Effects or Final Cut + Motion (or something else?) I have both a mac and a windows laptop, so I can do both, the question is mostly in efficiency, time spent to learn, and being able to edit on the go (I do have a nice rig at home, but I am usually around elsewhere with my laptop).
 
Depends on what editing you want,the software you been looking at,requires some learning and knowledge. However,to start with,there are many simple video editors for both windows,macOS and iOS.
 
Generally the apple software is easier to learn but the ones you listed are loaded with features that are distracting and makes for a bit of a learning curve that distracts from creativity. I'd look at iMovie first, to get a handle on editing and effects, and then move on to something more sophisticated. There are tons of YouTube channels done with iMovie.
 
Last edited:
its like asking which is better, windows or osx. both will get the job done, so its just a personal preference.
 
Sun Salute said:
Hi!
I basically want to start my own youtube channel, doing mostly sketches with maybe some minor special effects - obviously not Rocketjump level, but still :D

The thing is, I don't have any video editing skills at the moment, so I will study something. The question is - what do you think would be better to go for? Premiere Pro + After Effects or Final Cut + Motion (or something else?) I have both a mac and a windows laptop, so I can do both, the question is mostly in efficiency, time spent to learn, and being able to edit on the go (I do have a nice rig at home, but I am usually around elsewhere with my laptop).
Click to expand...

Hi,

First of all - congrats for wanting to share your creativeness. :)

Honestly, you might not need anything more than iMovie tbh. At least in the beginning. You may want somewhat of a creative opening and then some text titles, but from there, it would be sharing your sketches/sketching which I imagine would be only a few shots at the most - depending on how you lay it out.

I would check out Casey Neistat's channel because he has some great gear episodes.

Your first purchase should be a high quality camera and then I would imagine some sort of a tripod system to hang the camera above your head to capture your sketching. Probably some sort of a light too with a microphone attached to the camera. I know many vloggers talk about having a camera with a flip screen so that if you ever talk directly to it, you can actually see what you've got framed.

Keep us posted. I can draw stick figures like a boss, but anything else, I'm useless lol

So I'm jealous.

Cheers,
Brian
 
from personal experience i'd say, you'll edit faster in FCPX than in Premiere but composite faster in After Effects than in Motion. fcpx and motion probably run faster on less potent hardware, though.

learning the functions you'll need 99% of the time are about the same - i'd say, a week for FCPX or Premiere and much longer (depending on what you want to do with it) for motion/after effects. you won't become a good editor after a week and there'll be still a lot to learn that's true for both editing suites, but you'll know the basic tools, their shortcuts and how to use them. premiere can be more complex than fcpx and after effects can do more than motion, so there's more to learn there in the end.

i'd say, try both editing suits first, and then go from there. if you get fcpx, you'll want motion anyway just to create editable titles and graphics for it (or editing existing ones). fcpx, motion and compressor together are also still cheaper than one year of adobe cc. if motion turns out not to be your thing, or when you get more advanced, you'll want to learn after effects anyway. if you get premiere, then then it's after effects - no need for motion.

there's also davinci resolve lite and fusion from blackmagic which are both free. resolve is a great tool for color grading (where ae,premiere,fcp and motion are not particularily good at) and you can also edit with it in a similar fashion as in premiere - but it needs reasonably fast hardware and offers probably a less polished / handholding user experience than adobe's or apple's offerings. fusion seems great for video effects, but looks also more complex, "big-boyish" than after effects or motion. so, more learning time/steeper learning curve there, and there'll still be some things that after effects/premiere/final cut/motion can do, that the free version of davinci/fusion can't.
 
Sun Salute said:
Hi!
I basically want to start my own youtube channel, doing mostly sketches with maybe some minor special effects - obviously not Rocketjump level, but still :D

The thing is, I don't have any video editing skills at the moment, so I will study something. The question is - what do you think would be better to go for? Premiere Pro + After Effects or Final Cut + Motion (or something else?) I have both a mac and a windows laptop, so I can do both, the question is mostly in efficiency, time spent to learn, and being able to edit on the go (I do have a nice rig at home, but I am usually around elsewhere with my laptop).
Click to expand...
Holy hell batman. Go big or go home is a fantastic philosophy. If I may, attempting to learn three or more applications will get in the way of doing what you really want. Just start with something simply at first, like iMovie. Then you will know what you need, aka Motion and why.

Best bet is to just get something up now. Yes it will suck. Yes it will be hilarious at the company you found two years from now's 10th anniversary. So get started, do not burn time learning something you may or may not need.

Good luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: eyeseeyou and ColdCase
Watch every season of Casey Neistat.

But seriously get a good lighting set up, a camera that shoots at least in 1080 and get your feet wet with imovie.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 960design
Like others, I recommend starting with iMovie. It's a pretty smooth transition to FCP after that. I'm not sure what your skillsets are, but from my experience I see you will be challenged on several fronts: The creative part (the sketches); the production part (the video capture and editing); and, the distribution part (youtube and engagement). My advice is not to go big on all fronts from the outset. iMovie is pretty capable, and when you push against its limits FCP is there for you. Just know that FCP is very capable, and has a somewhat steeper learning curve. Note that I am a fan of iMovie/FCP because they are "one and done" pricing, while the CC products (which are also excellent) are subscription, forever.
Best of luck, and keep us posted!
 
  • Like
Reactions: eyeseeyou
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back