How to easily make more professional YouTube videos

by Robb Sutton

There are a lot of aspects that make YouTube videos stand out. Lighting, audio and content quality are at the forefront and without those…it can be really hard to gain traction if you can at all. What I want to cover today is a topic that isn’t covered as much as it should be but adds a lot to the quality and professionalism of your videos…graphics.

Graphics can be a tricky thing for beginning YouTubers. They are generally regarded as a more advanced editing technique if you want to get into more complicated, animated titles. For that reason, many people on YouTube tend to shy away from them.

Why should you be using titles?

Unless you are doing straight up Vlogs on YouTube…titles can really help your video in several different ways.

  1. Act as a visual aid for lists, specs or other necessary information.
  2. Titles can break up the video in sections.
  3. Titles can bring interest to longer sections of video so you do not have to cut away as often or insert unnecessary b-roll.
  4. Titles can be used for branding and introductions.
  5. You can invite people to like and follow your channel.

How can I use professional looking titles?

The #1 problem beginning editors have is creating professional looking titles. You may not have any graphics experience or a lot of experience using applications like Premiere, After Effects or Final Cut Pro. That is where a company called Video Hive from the Envato group steps in. On this marketplace you will find titles, intros and other video elements. The best part is that they are generally really cheap as well with most of them falling in the 15-25 dollar range.

What do you get for the money?

When you download the files, you will find either a project (when doing intros, logo reveals, etc) or a set of files that you will install into Premiere or Final cut for your graphics. Once these are installed, you can quickly and easily modify them for your needs.

Why pay a premium when I can find free versions?

The main reason to go this route instead of some free options…support. Any of the projects or files you purchase come with instructions for use and have support at least in the comments section. In many cases the developer will have their own support contact or board. When the reason you are buying titles and intros is because you either do not have the time or ability to do it yourself…support and instructions are crucial.

I am admittedly terrible at After Effects. When I wanted to create intros for my videos and one for these Tech Question Tuesday sequences, I browsed through the logo reveals and openers in the After Effects section. I found one I liked, purchased it and had a the projects done in less than 30 minutes for something that would have taken hours (if I could even do it).

It really is as easy as drag and drop in most cases and they have a great amount of impact on your video.

Are there free options?

Yes, you can search YouTube and find free options out there. However…the quality is not as good, you don’t get the support and it can be hard to find anything worth using in all of the mess. I typically only use the free method when it is something really simple I need like a light leak transition.

Related Posts

Leave a Comment