Transforming YouTube Content Using the Power of iMovie

Easy Way to Edit YouTube Videos in iMovie

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

iMovie is the built-in video editor that allows you to combine several video clips. It is available for both Mac and iOS devices. This app was first released in 1999 when it came with the iMac DV model.

With the use of the iMovie, you are able to create movies that include sound effects, menus, transitions, titles, themes, and music, just to name a few. The resulting movie can be saved onto physical media or as a file on the hard drive.

If you are a Mac user, then you can easily edit YouTube videos in iMovie. All you need to do is to follow the simple steps below. In this article, you will learn how to import videos, organize videos, add YouTube titles and add transitions.

• Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie
• Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie

To edit a video for YouTube with iMovie, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Import Video Clips into iMovie

If you have recorded the video clips with the use of a videocam, then connect the camera to the Mac and open the app. You can import the videos by manually selecting the clips that will be part of the YouTube video.

Note: If you want to import videos that you have already published on your YouTube channel, then you can download them from the channel, and save them as MP4. However, if the videos were uploaded by other users, then you need to use a video converter, this article will let you know the 8 best video converters to convert video to MP4.

Step 2: Edit the Video Clips

Once you have all the clips that you need, the next step is to edit YouTube videos in iMovie. When you import the clips, you have created an Event in the app. If you want to include a clip in your final video, just drag the file to the project browser, where you can edit the video.

You can also add videos from other Events into the current project. You can select the parts of the video by dragging across the video from the chosen start to stop points. Edit the video until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 3: Enhance the Video

Once you have edited the video, you can then add background music, themes, sound effects, onscreen text, transitions between clips, and photos. The best thing about iMovie is that it comes with a sound effects library. It also allows you to upload audio from your iTunes library, iLife, and GarageBand.

iMovie allows you to add text to any part of the video, whether it is a title screen at the start, credits at the end, and everything in between. Try to enhance the video until you think it is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

• Add YouTube title : If you want to add a title for YouTube Video, all you need to do is click Title in the toolbar, and then highlight My Movie on the left. From here, enter the title you like.
• Organize videos : You also can rearrange video clips in the timeline. Just drag the video on the timeline to wherever you want.
• Add transitions : If you have more than one video clip, you definitely need transitions between them. Click the Transitions tab, and then select one transition you like. In the end, drag it to stop between two clips.

Step 4: Export and Upload the Video to YouTube

When you edit YouTube videos in iMovie, you have the option to export the video straight to the video streaming website. All you need to do is to click on the Share button found at the top of the screen. Then select YouTube. Add your YouTube account in iMovie by entering your username and password. Then you choose a title, description, and tags for the video.

You can choose the resolution and size of the video that includes HD 720p and HD 1080p, mobile, medium, and large. Click on Publish to upload the video to YouTube. Uploading the video will take several minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the resolution and size of the video.

Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

There’s a better way to edit YouTube videos. It involves the use of Wondershare Filmora . It is user-friendly and allows beginners to make videos professional-looking videos.

This software has more than 300 video effects for family, weddings, love, and travel, etc. You can also add animated captions to photos that will help tell the story. It comes with an array of intro and credit templates that will enhance your video.

Lastly, you can easily share the resulting movie on YouTube, DVD, other devices, and a lot more.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

iMovie is the built-in video editor that allows you to combine several video clips. It is available for both Mac and iOS devices. This app was first released in 1999 when it came with the iMac DV model.

With the use of the iMovie, you are able to create movies that include sound effects, menus, transitions, titles, themes, and music, just to name a few. The resulting movie can be saved onto physical media or as a file on the hard drive.

If you are a Mac user, then you can easily edit YouTube videos in iMovie. All you need to do is to follow the simple steps below. In this article, you will learn how to import videos, organize videos, add YouTube titles and add transitions.

• Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie
• Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie

To edit a video for YouTube with iMovie, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Import Video Clips into iMovie

If you have recorded the video clips with the use of a videocam, then connect the camera to the Mac and open the app. You can import the videos by manually selecting the clips that will be part of the YouTube video.

Note: If you want to import videos that you have already published on your YouTube channel, then you can download them from the channel, and save them as MP4. However, if the videos were uploaded by other users, then you need to use a video converter, this article will let you know the 8 best video converters to convert video to MP4.

Step 2: Edit the Video Clips

Once you have all the clips that you need, the next step is to edit YouTube videos in iMovie. When you import the clips, you have created an Event in the app. If you want to include a clip in your final video, just drag the file to the project browser, where you can edit the video.

You can also add videos from other Events into the current project. You can select the parts of the video by dragging across the video from the chosen start to stop points. Edit the video until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 3: Enhance the Video

Once you have edited the video, you can then add background music, themes, sound effects, onscreen text, transitions between clips, and photos. The best thing about iMovie is that it comes with a sound effects library. It also allows you to upload audio from your iTunes library, iLife, and GarageBand.

iMovie allows you to add text to any part of the video, whether it is a title screen at the start, credits at the end, and everything in between. Try to enhance the video until you think it is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

• Add YouTube title : If you want to add a title for YouTube Video, all you need to do is click Title in the toolbar, and then highlight My Movie on the left. From here, enter the title you like.
• Organize videos : You also can rearrange video clips in the timeline. Just drag the video on the timeline to wherever you want.
• Add transitions : If you have more than one video clip, you definitely need transitions between them. Click the Transitions tab, and then select one transition you like. In the end, drag it to stop between two clips.

Step 4: Export and Upload the Video to YouTube

When you edit YouTube videos in iMovie, you have the option to export the video straight to the video streaming website. All you need to do is to click on the Share button found at the top of the screen. Then select YouTube. Add your YouTube account in iMovie by entering your username and password. Then you choose a title, description, and tags for the video.

You can choose the resolution and size of the video that includes HD 720p and HD 1080p, mobile, medium, and large. Click on Publish to upload the video to YouTube. Uploading the video will take several minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the resolution and size of the video.

Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

There’s a better way to edit YouTube videos. It involves the use of Wondershare Filmora . It is user-friendly and allows beginners to make videos professional-looking videos.

This software has more than 300 video effects for family, weddings, love, and travel, etc. You can also add animated captions to photos that will help tell the story. It comes with an array of intro and credit templates that will enhance your video.

Lastly, you can easily share the resulting movie on YouTube, DVD, other devices, and a lot more.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

iMovie is the built-in video editor that allows you to combine several video clips. It is available for both Mac and iOS devices. This app was first released in 1999 when it came with the iMac DV model.

With the use of the iMovie, you are able to create movies that include sound effects, menus, transitions, titles, themes, and music, just to name a few. The resulting movie can be saved onto physical media or as a file on the hard drive.

If you are a Mac user, then you can easily edit YouTube videos in iMovie. All you need to do is to follow the simple steps below. In this article, you will learn how to import videos, organize videos, add YouTube titles and add transitions.

• Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie
• Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie

To edit a video for YouTube with iMovie, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Import Video Clips into iMovie

If you have recorded the video clips with the use of a videocam, then connect the camera to the Mac and open the app. You can import the videos by manually selecting the clips that will be part of the YouTube video.

Note: If you want to import videos that you have already published on your YouTube channel, then you can download them from the channel, and save them as MP4. However, if the videos were uploaded by other users, then you need to use a video converter, this article will let you know the 8 best video converters to convert video to MP4.

Step 2: Edit the Video Clips

Once you have all the clips that you need, the next step is to edit YouTube videos in iMovie. When you import the clips, you have created an Event in the app. If you want to include a clip in your final video, just drag the file to the project browser, where you can edit the video.

You can also add videos from other Events into the current project. You can select the parts of the video by dragging across the video from the chosen start to stop points. Edit the video until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 3: Enhance the Video

Once you have edited the video, you can then add background music, themes, sound effects, onscreen text, transitions between clips, and photos. The best thing about iMovie is that it comes with a sound effects library. It also allows you to upload audio from your iTunes library, iLife, and GarageBand.

iMovie allows you to add text to any part of the video, whether it is a title screen at the start, credits at the end, and everything in between. Try to enhance the video until you think it is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

• Add YouTube title : If you want to add a title for YouTube Video, all you need to do is click Title in the toolbar, and then highlight My Movie on the left. From here, enter the title you like.
• Organize videos : You also can rearrange video clips in the timeline. Just drag the video on the timeline to wherever you want.
• Add transitions : If you have more than one video clip, you definitely need transitions between them. Click the Transitions tab, and then select one transition you like. In the end, drag it to stop between two clips.

Step 4: Export and Upload the Video to YouTube

When you edit YouTube videos in iMovie, you have the option to export the video straight to the video streaming website. All you need to do is to click on the Share button found at the top of the screen. Then select YouTube. Add your YouTube account in iMovie by entering your username and password. Then you choose a title, description, and tags for the video.

You can choose the resolution and size of the video that includes HD 720p and HD 1080p, mobile, medium, and large. Click on Publish to upload the video to YouTube. Uploading the video will take several minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the resolution and size of the video.

Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

There’s a better way to edit YouTube videos. It involves the use of Wondershare Filmora . It is user-friendly and allows beginners to make videos professional-looking videos.

This software has more than 300 video effects for family, weddings, love, and travel, etc. You can also add animated captions to photos that will help tell the story. It comes with an array of intro and credit templates that will enhance your video.

Lastly, you can easily share the resulting movie on YouTube, DVD, other devices, and a lot more.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

iMovie is the built-in video editor that allows you to combine several video clips. It is available for both Mac and iOS devices. This app was first released in 1999 when it came with the iMac DV model.

With the use of the iMovie, you are able to create movies that include sound effects, menus, transitions, titles, themes, and music, just to name a few. The resulting movie can be saved onto physical media or as a file on the hard drive.

If you are a Mac user, then you can easily edit YouTube videos in iMovie. All you need to do is to follow the simple steps below. In this article, you will learn how to import videos, organize videos, add YouTube titles and add transitions.

• Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie
• Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

Part 1. Steps on Editing YouTube Videos Using iMovie

To edit a video for YouTube with iMovie, you can follow these steps.

Step 1: Import Video Clips into iMovie

If you have recorded the video clips with the use of a videocam, then connect the camera to the Mac and open the app. You can import the videos by manually selecting the clips that will be part of the YouTube video.

Note: If you want to import videos that you have already published on your YouTube channel, then you can download them from the channel, and save them as MP4. However, if the videos were uploaded by other users, then you need to use a video converter, this article will let you know the 8 best video converters to convert video to MP4.

Step 2: Edit the Video Clips

Once you have all the clips that you need, the next step is to edit YouTube videos in iMovie. When you import the clips, you have created an Event in the app. If you want to include a clip in your final video, just drag the file to the project browser, where you can edit the video.

You can also add videos from other Events into the current project. You can select the parts of the video by dragging across the video from the chosen start to stop points. Edit the video until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 3: Enhance the Video

Once you have edited the video, you can then add background music, themes, sound effects, onscreen text, transitions between clips, and photos. The best thing about iMovie is that it comes with a sound effects library. It also allows you to upload audio from your iTunes library, iLife, and GarageBand.

iMovie allows you to add text to any part of the video, whether it is a title screen at the start, credits at the end, and everything in between. Try to enhance the video until you think it is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

• Add YouTube title : If you want to add a title for YouTube Video, all you need to do is click Title in the toolbar, and then highlight My Movie on the left. From here, enter the title you like.
• Organize videos : You also can rearrange video clips in the timeline. Just drag the video on the timeline to wherever you want.
• Add transitions : If you have more than one video clip, you definitely need transitions between them. Click the Transitions tab, and then select one transition you like. In the end, drag it to stop between two clips.

Step 4: Export and Upload the Video to YouTube

When you edit YouTube videos in iMovie, you have the option to export the video straight to the video streaming website. All you need to do is to click on the Share button found at the top of the screen. Then select YouTube. Add your YouTube account in iMovie by entering your username and password. Then you choose a title, description, and tags for the video.

You can choose the resolution and size of the video that includes HD 720p and HD 1080p, mobile, medium, and large. Click on Publish to upload the video to YouTube. Uploading the video will take several minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the resolution and size of the video.

Part 2. A Better Choice to Edit YouTube Videos

There’s a better way to edit YouTube videos. It involves the use of Wondershare Filmora . It is user-friendly and allows beginners to make videos professional-looking videos.

This software has more than 300 video effects for family, weddings, love, and travel, etc. You can also add animated captions to photos that will help tell the story. It comes with an array of intro and credit templates that will enhance your video.

Lastly, you can easily share the resulting movie on YouTube, DVD, other devices, and a lot more.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

A Compreranstive Approach to High-Fidelity Recording, No Mic Necessary

How to Record Good Audio Without a Microphone?

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Audio quality is more important than video quality on YouTube. You’ve probably heard that before – viewers might forgive sub-par video quality if they’re interested in what you’re saying, but if it’s hard to understand what you’re saying they’ll click away.

Getting an external mic (even a $10 one-off Amazon ) is one of the best ways to improve your videos. That said, maybe your budget is $0. Or, maybe you just don’t happen to have a mic now and don’t want to wait to make videos. It could even be that you just don’t want to bother with an external mic.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy, free, things you can do to protect the quality of your audio recording even if you’re not using an external mic. Here are a few tips:

• 1. Keep Your Camera Close
• 2. Shoot Somewhere Quiet
• 3. Pick a Good Room
• 4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind
• 5. Use a Free Audio App
• 6. Do a Sound Check

1. Keep Your Camera Close (like, really close)

The biggest problem with the mic built into any camera or phone is just that, since it’s with the camera, it’s usually too far away from you. Built-in mics can record decent audio up close, but usually, your camera will be set up farther away from you than an external mic would be.

For example, your camera’s mic might be just as good as a clip-on LAV, but that LAV is right by your mouth and the camera is a couple of big steps away.

Moving your camera/smartphone physically closer to you will make it hard to include anything besides your head and shoulders in your shot, but it will get you significantly better audio.

2.Shoot Somewhere Quiet

The best way to limit the amount of background noise you pick up in your sound recording is to shoot somewhere where there’s no background noise. That probably seems really basic, but it’s something a lot of people just don’t do. It’s easy to default to recording in your home office, even though it’s right next to the kitchen where your family is bustling around, or in your bedroom even though there’s a busy street right outside your window.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your audio is simply to scout out a quiet room in your house where the sound recording conditions are better. Speaking of recording conditions…

3. Pick a Good Room

There’s more that goes into picking a good room than how quiet it is. If you try to record in a room that’s too big your voice might sound to distant, and if you try to record in a room that’s too small your audio will be too echo-y. You need a room that’s just right.

You should also pay attention to what’s in the room you’re recording in. Avoid hard, reflective, surfaces like appliances and mirrors which your voice will bounce off of. The same conditions that make you sound great when you sing in the shower will – like recording in a small space -make your voiceover unpleasantly echo-y.

Look for a room that has a lot of soft things in it, like beds and sofas.

4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind

If you shoot outside, then the wind passing over your built-in mic will do terrible things to your audio. You can do a lot to counter-act this problem by physically blocking the wind.

There are a few ways to do this. If you’re doing hand-held shots you can partially cover your camera or phone’s mic with your finger. You don’t want to completely cover it/press down or your audio will be muffled. What you’re trying to do is create a barrier blocking out the wind.

On movie sets, they block out wind by covering the microphones with big fuzzy things called ‘dead cats’. You can also block out wind noise by attaching something fuzzy to your microphone. If your camera’s built-in mic is on front of it then you just need something big and fluffy you can loop around the lens. You can use a piece of a boa, a fuzzy novelty scrunchie – you can even murder a fuzzy stuffed animal! Do you have an old coat with a fuzz around the hood? That fuzz would do nicely.

The pompom used in this video cost $2, but you might already have something that would work!

If your built-in mic is on top of your camera you can get something called a ‘micromuff’. A micromuff is essentially a circular or rectangular piece of velcro with long strands of fluff on top. It’s open in the middle so it doesn’t actually cover your mic, but the surrounding fuzz blocks out the wind.

You use the adhesive backing to attach the base velcro to your camera. The other side of the velcro has your fluff attached to the back.

The only thing about a micromuff is that it costs about $30, and if you’re going to spend $30 on audio equipment then you could just buy yourself an inexpensive LAV mic. I only bring up the micromuff because it’s a very simple design you can probably DIY – you just need velcro with adhesive backing and any of the fluff-sources we just discussed.

5. Use a Free Audio App

If you’re recording on a smartphone, you can download a free app that will let you make adjustments to your audio as you record it. With the right app, you can adjust your gain (volume is how you control ‘output’ audio, and gain is for ‘input’ audio. By turning up your gain, you can make your mic more sensitive), tempo, and more. A lot of the time, your audio recording app will also let you edit your audio afterward.

Even if you’re not recording video from your smartphone, it might be a good idea to use your phone as your mic and record a separate audio file. You’ll be able to use an app to fine-tune your recording, and you can set your phone up closer to you the way you would an external mic while keeping your camera back a bit farther.

Free audio apps: Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder (Android), RecForge II (Android), Smart Voice Recorder (Android), Audio Memos (iOS), and Recorder Plus (iOS).

6. Do a Sound Check

Once you think you’ve got good audio set up – test it! You don’t want to do a whole video and find out when you play it back that your audio doesn’t sound good.

Do you have any of your own audio tips to pass on? Leave them in the comments!

This topic was suggested by RS Beauty over in the forums. Thanks for the idea!

Polish Your YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora allows you to record voiceover and edit the recorded audio with mixer, equalizer and provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Audio quality is more important than video quality on YouTube. You’ve probably heard that before – viewers might forgive sub-par video quality if they’re interested in what you’re saying, but if it’s hard to understand what you’re saying they’ll click away.

Getting an external mic (even a $10 one-off Amazon ) is one of the best ways to improve your videos. That said, maybe your budget is $0. Or, maybe you just don’t happen to have a mic now and don’t want to wait to make videos. It could even be that you just don’t want to bother with an external mic.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy, free, things you can do to protect the quality of your audio recording even if you’re not using an external mic. Here are a few tips:

• 1. Keep Your Camera Close
• 2. Shoot Somewhere Quiet
• 3. Pick a Good Room
• 4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind
• 5. Use a Free Audio App
• 6. Do a Sound Check

1. Keep Your Camera Close (like, really close)

The biggest problem with the mic built into any camera or phone is just that, since it’s with the camera, it’s usually too far away from you. Built-in mics can record decent audio up close, but usually, your camera will be set up farther away from you than an external mic would be.

For example, your camera’s mic might be just as good as a clip-on LAV, but that LAV is right by your mouth and the camera is a couple of big steps away.

Moving your camera/smartphone physically closer to you will make it hard to include anything besides your head and shoulders in your shot, but it will get you significantly better audio.

2.Shoot Somewhere Quiet

The best way to limit the amount of background noise you pick up in your sound recording is to shoot somewhere where there’s no background noise. That probably seems really basic, but it’s something a lot of people just don’t do. It’s easy to default to recording in your home office, even though it’s right next to the kitchen where your family is bustling around, or in your bedroom even though there’s a busy street right outside your window.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your audio is simply to scout out a quiet room in your house where the sound recording conditions are better. Speaking of recording conditions…

3. Pick a Good Room

There’s more that goes into picking a good room than how quiet it is. If you try to record in a room that’s too big your voice might sound to distant, and if you try to record in a room that’s too small your audio will be too echo-y. You need a room that’s just right.

You should also pay attention to what’s in the room you’re recording in. Avoid hard, reflective, surfaces like appliances and mirrors which your voice will bounce off of. The same conditions that make you sound great when you sing in the shower will – like recording in a small space -make your voiceover unpleasantly echo-y.

Look for a room that has a lot of soft things in it, like beds and sofas.

4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind

If you shoot outside, then the wind passing over your built-in mic will do terrible things to your audio. You can do a lot to counter-act this problem by physically blocking the wind.

There are a few ways to do this. If you’re doing hand-held shots you can partially cover your camera or phone’s mic with your finger. You don’t want to completely cover it/press down or your audio will be muffled. What you’re trying to do is create a barrier blocking out the wind.

On movie sets, they block out wind by covering the microphones with big fuzzy things called ‘dead cats’. You can also block out wind noise by attaching something fuzzy to your microphone. If your camera’s built-in mic is on front of it then you just need something big and fluffy you can loop around the lens. You can use a piece of a boa, a fuzzy novelty scrunchie – you can even murder a fuzzy stuffed animal! Do you have an old coat with a fuzz around the hood? That fuzz would do nicely.

The pompom used in this video cost $2, but you might already have something that would work!

If your built-in mic is on top of your camera you can get something called a ‘micromuff’. A micromuff is essentially a circular or rectangular piece of velcro with long strands of fluff on top. It’s open in the middle so it doesn’t actually cover your mic, but the surrounding fuzz blocks out the wind.

You use the adhesive backing to attach the base velcro to your camera. The other side of the velcro has your fluff attached to the back.

The only thing about a micromuff is that it costs about $30, and if you’re going to spend $30 on audio equipment then you could just buy yourself an inexpensive LAV mic. I only bring up the micromuff because it’s a very simple design you can probably DIY – you just need velcro with adhesive backing and any of the fluff-sources we just discussed.

5. Use a Free Audio App

If you’re recording on a smartphone, you can download a free app that will let you make adjustments to your audio as you record it. With the right app, you can adjust your gain (volume is how you control ‘output’ audio, and gain is for ‘input’ audio. By turning up your gain, you can make your mic more sensitive), tempo, and more. A lot of the time, your audio recording app will also let you edit your audio afterward.

Even if you’re not recording video from your smartphone, it might be a good idea to use your phone as your mic and record a separate audio file. You’ll be able to use an app to fine-tune your recording, and you can set your phone up closer to you the way you would an external mic while keeping your camera back a bit farther.

Free audio apps: Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder (Android), RecForge II (Android), Smart Voice Recorder (Android), Audio Memos (iOS), and Recorder Plus (iOS).

6. Do a Sound Check

Once you think you’ve got good audio set up – test it! You don’t want to do a whole video and find out when you play it back that your audio doesn’t sound good.

Do you have any of your own audio tips to pass on? Leave them in the comments!

This topic was suggested by RS Beauty over in the forums. Thanks for the idea!

Polish Your YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora allows you to record voiceover and edit the recorded audio with mixer, equalizer and provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Audio quality is more important than video quality on YouTube. You’ve probably heard that before – viewers might forgive sub-par video quality if they’re interested in what you’re saying, but if it’s hard to understand what you’re saying they’ll click away.

Getting an external mic (even a $10 one-off Amazon ) is one of the best ways to improve your videos. That said, maybe your budget is $0. Or, maybe you just don’t happen to have a mic now and don’t want to wait to make videos. It could even be that you just don’t want to bother with an external mic.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy, free, things you can do to protect the quality of your audio recording even if you’re not using an external mic. Here are a few tips:

• 1. Keep Your Camera Close
• 2. Shoot Somewhere Quiet
• 3. Pick a Good Room
• 4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind
• 5. Use a Free Audio App
• 6. Do a Sound Check

1. Keep Your Camera Close (like, really close)

The biggest problem with the mic built into any camera or phone is just that, since it’s with the camera, it’s usually too far away from you. Built-in mics can record decent audio up close, but usually, your camera will be set up farther away from you than an external mic would be.

For example, your camera’s mic might be just as good as a clip-on LAV, but that LAV is right by your mouth and the camera is a couple of big steps away.

Moving your camera/smartphone physically closer to you will make it hard to include anything besides your head and shoulders in your shot, but it will get you significantly better audio.

2.Shoot Somewhere Quiet

The best way to limit the amount of background noise you pick up in your sound recording is to shoot somewhere where there’s no background noise. That probably seems really basic, but it’s something a lot of people just don’t do. It’s easy to default to recording in your home office, even though it’s right next to the kitchen where your family is bustling around, or in your bedroom even though there’s a busy street right outside your window.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your audio is simply to scout out a quiet room in your house where the sound recording conditions are better. Speaking of recording conditions…

3. Pick a Good Room

There’s more that goes into picking a good room than how quiet it is. If you try to record in a room that’s too big your voice might sound to distant, and if you try to record in a room that’s too small your audio will be too echo-y. You need a room that’s just right.

You should also pay attention to what’s in the room you’re recording in. Avoid hard, reflective, surfaces like appliances and mirrors which your voice will bounce off of. The same conditions that make you sound great when you sing in the shower will – like recording in a small space -make your voiceover unpleasantly echo-y.

Look for a room that has a lot of soft things in it, like beds and sofas.

4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind

If you shoot outside, then the wind passing over your built-in mic will do terrible things to your audio. You can do a lot to counter-act this problem by physically blocking the wind.

There are a few ways to do this. If you’re doing hand-held shots you can partially cover your camera or phone’s mic with your finger. You don’t want to completely cover it/press down or your audio will be muffled. What you’re trying to do is create a barrier blocking out the wind.

On movie sets, they block out wind by covering the microphones with big fuzzy things called ‘dead cats’. You can also block out wind noise by attaching something fuzzy to your microphone. If your camera’s built-in mic is on front of it then you just need something big and fluffy you can loop around the lens. You can use a piece of a boa, a fuzzy novelty scrunchie – you can even murder a fuzzy stuffed animal! Do you have an old coat with a fuzz around the hood? That fuzz would do nicely.

The pompom used in this video cost $2, but you might already have something that would work!

If your built-in mic is on top of your camera you can get something called a ‘micromuff’. A micromuff is essentially a circular or rectangular piece of velcro with long strands of fluff on top. It’s open in the middle so it doesn’t actually cover your mic, but the surrounding fuzz blocks out the wind.

You use the adhesive backing to attach the base velcro to your camera. The other side of the velcro has your fluff attached to the back.

The only thing about a micromuff is that it costs about $30, and if you’re going to spend $30 on audio equipment then you could just buy yourself an inexpensive LAV mic. I only bring up the micromuff because it’s a very simple design you can probably DIY – you just need velcro with adhesive backing and any of the fluff-sources we just discussed.

5. Use a Free Audio App

If you’re recording on a smartphone, you can download a free app that will let you make adjustments to your audio as you record it. With the right app, you can adjust your gain (volume is how you control ‘output’ audio, and gain is for ‘input’ audio. By turning up your gain, you can make your mic more sensitive), tempo, and more. A lot of the time, your audio recording app will also let you edit your audio afterward.

Even if you’re not recording video from your smartphone, it might be a good idea to use your phone as your mic and record a separate audio file. You’ll be able to use an app to fine-tune your recording, and you can set your phone up closer to you the way you would an external mic while keeping your camera back a bit farther.

Free audio apps: Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder (Android), RecForge II (Android), Smart Voice Recorder (Android), Audio Memos (iOS), and Recorder Plus (iOS).

6. Do a Sound Check

Once you think you’ve got good audio set up – test it! You don’t want to do a whole video and find out when you play it back that your audio doesn’t sound good.

Do you have any of your own audio tips to pass on? Leave them in the comments!

This topic was suggested by RS Beauty over in the forums. Thanks for the idea!

Polish Your YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora allows you to record voiceover and edit the recorded audio with mixer, equalizer and provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Audio quality is more important than video quality on YouTube. You’ve probably heard that before – viewers might forgive sub-par video quality if they’re interested in what you’re saying, but if it’s hard to understand what you’re saying they’ll click away.

Getting an external mic (even a $10 one-off Amazon ) is one of the best ways to improve your videos. That said, maybe your budget is $0. Or, maybe you just don’t happen to have a mic now and don’t want to wait to make videos. It could even be that you just don’t want to bother with an external mic.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy, free, things you can do to protect the quality of your audio recording even if you’re not using an external mic. Here are a few tips:

• 1. Keep Your Camera Close
• 2. Shoot Somewhere Quiet
• 3. Pick a Good Room
• 4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind
• 5. Use a Free Audio App
• 6. Do a Sound Check

1. Keep Your Camera Close (like, really close)

The biggest problem with the mic built into any camera or phone is just that, since it’s with the camera, it’s usually too far away from you. Built-in mics can record decent audio up close, but usually, your camera will be set up farther away from you than an external mic would be.

For example, your camera’s mic might be just as good as a clip-on LAV, but that LAV is right by your mouth and the camera is a couple of big steps away.

Moving your camera/smartphone physically closer to you will make it hard to include anything besides your head and shoulders in your shot, but it will get you significantly better audio.

2.Shoot Somewhere Quiet

The best way to limit the amount of background noise you pick up in your sound recording is to shoot somewhere where there’s no background noise. That probably seems really basic, but it’s something a lot of people just don’t do. It’s easy to default to recording in your home office, even though it’s right next to the kitchen where your family is bustling around, or in your bedroom even though there’s a busy street right outside your window.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your audio is simply to scout out a quiet room in your house where the sound recording conditions are better. Speaking of recording conditions…

3. Pick a Good Room

There’s more that goes into picking a good room than how quiet it is. If you try to record in a room that’s too big your voice might sound to distant, and if you try to record in a room that’s too small your audio will be too echo-y. You need a room that’s just right.

You should also pay attention to what’s in the room you’re recording in. Avoid hard, reflective, surfaces like appliances and mirrors which your voice will bounce off of. The same conditions that make you sound great when you sing in the shower will – like recording in a small space -make your voiceover unpleasantly echo-y.

Look for a room that has a lot of soft things in it, like beds and sofas.

4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind

If you shoot outside, then the wind passing over your built-in mic will do terrible things to your audio. You can do a lot to counter-act this problem by physically blocking the wind.

There are a few ways to do this. If you’re doing hand-held shots you can partially cover your camera or phone’s mic with your finger. You don’t want to completely cover it/press down or your audio will be muffled. What you’re trying to do is create a barrier blocking out the wind.

On movie sets, they block out wind by covering the microphones with big fuzzy things called ‘dead cats’. You can also block out wind noise by attaching something fuzzy to your microphone. If your camera’s built-in mic is on front of it then you just need something big and fluffy you can loop around the lens. You can use a piece of a boa, a fuzzy novelty scrunchie – you can even murder a fuzzy stuffed animal! Do you have an old coat with a fuzz around the hood? That fuzz would do nicely.

The pompom used in this video cost $2, but you might already have something that would work!

If your built-in mic is on top of your camera you can get something called a ‘micromuff’. A micromuff is essentially a circular or rectangular piece of velcro with long strands of fluff on top. It’s open in the middle so it doesn’t actually cover your mic, but the surrounding fuzz blocks out the wind.

You use the adhesive backing to attach the base velcro to your camera. The other side of the velcro has your fluff attached to the back.

The only thing about a micromuff is that it costs about $30, and if you’re going to spend $30 on audio equipment then you could just buy yourself an inexpensive LAV mic. I only bring up the micromuff because it’s a very simple design you can probably DIY – you just need velcro with adhesive backing and any of the fluff-sources we just discussed.

5. Use a Free Audio App

If you’re recording on a smartphone, you can download a free app that will let you make adjustments to your audio as you record it. With the right app, you can adjust your gain (volume is how you control ‘output’ audio, and gain is for ‘input’ audio. By turning up your gain, you can make your mic more sensitive), tempo, and more. A lot of the time, your audio recording app will also let you edit your audio afterward.

Even if you’re not recording video from your smartphone, it might be a good idea to use your phone as your mic and record a separate audio file. You’ll be able to use an app to fine-tune your recording, and you can set your phone up closer to you the way you would an external mic while keeping your camera back a bit farther.

Free audio apps: Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder (Android), RecForge II (Android), Smart Voice Recorder (Android), Audio Memos (iOS), and Recorder Plus (iOS).

6. Do a Sound Check

Once you think you’ve got good audio set up – test it! You don’t want to do a whole video and find out when you play it back that your audio doesn’t sound good.

Do you have any of your own audio tips to pass on? Leave them in the comments!

This topic was suggested by RS Beauty over in the forums. Thanks for the idea!

Polish Your YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora allows you to record voiceover and edit the recorded audio with mixer, equalizer and provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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