The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #168391   Message #4068341
Posted By: cnd
14-Aug-20 - 10:09 AM
Thread Name: Tech: How to make a YouTube video
Subject: RE: Tech: How to make a YouTube video
Yes, once you have a video, the program which Joe mentioned above is a very easy to use one. Once you've opened your video in WMM, you can cut off extra footage at the beginning/end as desired (so, for example, if you want to remove the shots of you starting and ending the recording) using a tool called "trim." I believe its icon looks like a pair of scissors, but it should definitely say trim. There are plenty of tutorials online much more effective in explaining the process than me, though.

Once the video is ready (ie, you're done making any edits you want to do), hit "File" and then either "Save Video As" or "Export" (sorry, can't remember which) and select a video format which YouTube accepts. I have always used MP4 if I remember correctly, but any extension you easily recognize should work.

From there, go to youtube.com, and sign in to your email account. In the past you could use non-google accounts to upload videos, but I think they may have done away with the that, so if you don't have one, you'll have to make a gmail account.

Once you've done that, find your profile picture icon in the top right corner (shaped like a circle). Click on the icon and then click on "YouTube studio." This will take you to a new page. Once there, towards the upper right corner should be a gray arrow pointing upwards with a red line underneath. Click that, choose "select files" and then find the video you just exported.

This will open up a new window where you type in the video's title (I would name it something like "SONG NAME - PERFORMER'S NAME - for FOLK CLUB NAME)" but generally it's good to keep it fairly short. Any additional information you want to include, type it in the "Description" box below.

For me, the most confusing part of the whole process is the next step. After giving the video a name a description, scroll down. Under audience, choose "No, it's not made for kids." If you select "Yes, it's made for kids" people will not be able to comment on or like your video (along with a few other features). It doesn't mean your video's "dirty" but it just means it's not specifically geared towards children.

Click "Next" twice (not sure what you exactly can do with the "Video elements" tab but it's never hurt me to ignore it), and select how visible you want your video to be. "Public" means that anyone can see it, "Unlisted" means people can only watch it if they have the link, and "Private" means no one can see it but yourself. Finally, click "Save" and it should be published.