Need your input on my Fiesta ST video series

[benvid]

The first of many videos is finally out in my Fiesta ST video series. I'm looking to see what you guys want to see in future videos, so please give me your thoughts below!

And subscribe to see more ST projects!

https://youtu.be/sMIN4LnLIjk

 

[green_henry]

I'd like to see some track videos with pointers about how to best approach each turn. I guess it would be of limited interest to those outside of Northern California, but there are quite a few of us on this forum who run HPDE events at Thunderhill (West and East), Sonoma, and/or Laguna Seca

 

[benvid]

I'd like to see some track videos with pointers about how to best approach each turn. I guess it would be of limited interest to those outside of Northern California, but there are quite a few of us on this forum who run HPDE events at Thunderhill (West and East), Sonoma, and/or Laguna Seca

Perfect thanks for the input, that sounds like something I can do. I can put it in my queue, I know I want to do a few Fiesta build specific videos first but I think this is possible. I am an instructor with multiple groups here, we should all link up at an event sometime. I also provide affordable private coaching for anybody interested as well.


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[green_henry]

Build videos, when they document the installation steps , are always valuable and appreciated!

 

[benvid]

2 new videos in my FiST video series. Please subscribe to my channel! It will help me make more content, and I am also open to input on what you guys want to see

Track Record with a FiST

View: https://youtu.be/EzZVeczR4JU


Cobb Mount Review

View: https://youtu.be/pRxmEbzz4gI


Another video coming next week too!


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[benvid]

Build videos, when they document the installation steps , are always valuable and appreciated!

Here is a “build video” for you, kind of. Well it’s an installation video that I just made. Just thought I’d tag you!

View: https://youtu.be/wShYww99d8o



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[Clint Beastwood]

Ha the brake fluid into the bag looked way too much like the car was catheterized lol.

Lookin good so far! Things I really liked:

1. Helmet cam video from the track. It does a good job of showing the forces exerted on you, but it would be good if you switched (picture in picture style) between the helmet footage and an in-car mounted camera. Too much helmet cam footage is hard to watch.
2. Genuinely informative content. This cannot be stated enough. Big props on taking the time to try to teach things. I don't know what your ultimate objectives are (to learn video production, to build a channel, to build self confidence, etc.) but good on you for giving it a go, and not just recording videos of you tearing around town making noise and whatnot. Way too many of those on youtube.
3. Paying attention to the scene. Instead of just pointing the camera where it seems interesting things are happening, it looks like a lot of your shots were deliberately framed. If you aren't doing it deliberately, you've got a great eye. If you are doing it deliberately, it shows - thumbs up!
4. Really clean video. Again, I don't know if you're doing it deliberately or just have good instincts, but you're either *really* good at lighting, or doing a good job of balancing/color correction in post. It shows! Again - big thumbs up!
5. For handheld with what appears to be a gopro or similar camera without motion stabilization, you're doing a pretty good job of keeping it steady. Look into a Yi 4k camera, it shoots video at 99% of gopro's quality (they're like 90 bucks, but don't bother with the voice features they suck), with great in-camera stabilization. They also sell a gimbal if you ever want to go all-in on handheld. The less attention you have to pay to holding the camera, the more attention you can pay to the rest of your video. A gimbal seems like a luxury expense, but it sure helps the camera become an afterthought.
6. Intro (positive) - you bothered to do one! Good on you! I do have a critique, listed in my recommendations section.
7. You aren't deliberately adding "filler" to your videos to hit the 10:30 length to game the algorithm. It means your videos won't get front-paged, but it also means your videos are content heavy and light on filler. Besides, having made tons of tutorials and stuff, videos beyond 2 minutes and 30 seconds long rarely get finished anyways. Breaking them up into bite-sized chunks is a good move

Recommendations (full disclosure, working in the field I do, I do not like going on camera publicly. In my professional life I record a ton of tutorials and instructional information.):

1. Bring back the 'stache. It was just "right". I can't grow more than patchy bullshit, so must live vicariously though you.
2. Get an aftermarket deadcat for your lav mic. It'll improve your audio quality dramatically.
3. Attach some weight to your camera when going handheld, it'll make the shots less jiggly. It's a cheap way to avoid buying a gimbal (or get a gimbal!). I use a Yi 4k with motion stabilization, and a gopro compatible pistol-grip full of lead shot. It's heavy, but really stable. I've also been known to attach a bubble level to the top of my camera for at-a-glance determination of it's orientation.
4. Your background music is a bit too loud/distracting, it makes me want to mute the video. Some lo-fi beats or something at really low volume fills in "the empty" without being jarring/distracting. I know it's tough in a "gotta find free-use music" world. With informational videos though, don't be afraid of "dead air".
5. Work a bit on your audio editing, duck the audio more so you have less background music when trying to talk. Pull down the highs on your voice a bit and boost the bottom-end. It'll give a little more authority. Get a digital recorder, a lav mic, and don't be shy about using video from one source and audio from another. If you clap your hands at the beginning of each recording it really helps to "sync up" your clips in post. You can just look at the waveform for the spike
6. This'll come with time (I've only watched two all the way thru so far) but when you get a little more comfortable on camera it'll show in the end result. Put a couple dots .5" apart above your cameras lens (stickers, sharpie, etc.) and look at them like they're "eyes", it'll make the video come through more naturally.
7. If the camera supports motion stabilization, use it - if not, shoot in the highest resolution you can and motion stabilize in post (when handheld).
8. Maybe get a headrest mount camera for road/track footage - the constant motion of a head mounted mic is kinda hard to watch, but it IS more interesting than a windshield or hood mounted camera.
9. Intro - I would recommend putting a ton of time into recording a 15-20 second intro that you keep for x amount of time, like 6 months, on all your videos. It creates consistency/branding, and reduces your editing time per-video, since you don't have to worry about cranking out an interesting intro each time. Big props on even having one, and not just a generic motion logo with dubstep noises behind it like so many do.

I dig what you are doing - interesting stuff, good content, clearly interested in the quality of your output. Keep it up!

 

[benvid]

Ha the brake fluid into the bag looked way too much like the car was catheterized lol.

Lookin good so far! Things I really liked:

1. Helmet cam video from the track. It does a good job of showing the forces exerted on you, but it would be good if you switched (picture in picture style) between the helmet footage and an in-car mounted camera. Too much helmet cam footage is hard to watch.
2. Genuinely informative content. This cannot be stated enough. Big props on taking the time to try to teach things. I don't know what your ultimate objectives are (to learn video production, to build a channel, to build self confidence, etc.) but good on you for giving it a go, and not just recording videos of you tearing around town making noise and whatnot. Way too many of those on youtube.
3. Paying attention to the scene. Instead of just pointing the camera where it seems interesting things are happening, it looks like a lot of your shots were deliberately framed. If you aren't doing it deliberately, you've got a great eye. If you are doing it deliberately, it shows - thumbs up!
4. Really clean video. Again, I don't know if you're doing it deliberately or just have good instincts, but you're either *really* good at lighting, or doing a good job of balancing/color correction in post. It shows! Again - big thumbs up!
5. For handheld with what appears to be a gopro or similar camera without motion stabilization, you're doing a pretty good job of keeping it steady. Look into a Yi 4k camera, it shoots video at 99% of gopro's quality (they're like 90 bucks, but don't bother with the voice features they suck), with great in-camera stabilization. They also sell a gimbal if you ever want to go all-in on handheld. The less attention you have to pay to holding the camera, the more attention you can pay to the rest of your video. A gimbal seems like a luxury expense, but it sure helps the camera become an afterthought.
6. Intro (positive) - you bothered to do one! Good on you! I do have a critique, listed in my recommendations section.
7. You aren't deliberately adding "filler" to your videos to hit the 10:30 length to game the algorithm. It means your videos won't get front-paged, but it also means your videos are content heavy and light on filler. Besides, having made tons of tutorials and stuff, videos beyond 2 minutes and 30 seconds long rarely get finished anyways. Breaking them up into bite-sized chunks is a good move

Recommendations (full disclosure, working in the field I do, I do not like going on camera publicly. In my professional life I record a ton of tutorials and instructional information.):

1. Bring back the 'stache. It was just "right". I can't grow more than patchy bullshit, so must live vicariously though you.
2. Get an aftermarket deadcat for your lav mic. It'll improve your audio quality dramatically.
3. Attach some weight to your camera when going handheld, it'll make the shots less jiggly. It's a cheap way to avoid buying a gimbal (or get a gimbal!). I use a Yi 4k with motion stabilization, and a gopro compatible pistol-grip full of lead shot. It's heavy, but really stable. I've also been known to attach a bubble level to the top of my camera for at-a-glance determination of it's orientation.
4. Your background music is a bit too loud/distracting, it makes me want to mute the video. Some lo-fi beats or something at really low volume fills in "the empty" without being jarring/distracting. I know it's tough in a "gotta find free-use music" world. With informational videos though, don't be afraid of "dead air".
5. Work a bit on your audio editing, duck the audio more so you have less background music when trying to talk. Pull down the highs on your voice a bit and boost the bottom-end. It'll give a little more authority. Get a digital recorder, a lav mic, and don't be shy about using video from one source and audio from another. If you clap your hands at the beginning of each recording it really helps to "sync up" your clips in post. You can just look at the waveform for the spike
6. This'll come with time (I've only watched two all the way thru so far) but when you get a little more comfortable on camera it'll show in the end result. Put a couple dots .5" apart above your cameras lens (stickers, sharpie, etc.) and look at them like they're "eyes", it'll make the video come through more naturally.
7. If the camera supports motion stabilization, use it - if not, shoot in the highest resolution you can and motion stabilize in post (when handheld).
8. Maybe get a headrest mount camera for road/track footage - the constant motion of a head mounted mic is kinda hard to watch, but it IS more interesting than a windshield or hood mounted camera.
9. Intro - I would recommend putting a ton of time into recording a 15-20 second intro that you keep for x amount of time, like 6 months, on all your videos. It creates consistency/branding, and reduces your editing time per-video, since you don't have to worry about cranking out an interesting intro each time. Big props on even having one, and not just a generic motion logo with dubstep noises behind it like so many do.

I dig what you are doing - interesting stuff, good content, clearly interested in the quality of your output. Keep it up!

Hey Clint,
Holy crap that’s a lot of input, I really appreciate you putting the time into giving some true input. I might have multiple responses to this since I take time to process ideas sometimes. I would check out my other videos to get a better feel for my channel. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with the channel but I have had it for 6+ years now haha. I have always seemed to just make videos that I enjoy making and not just fall into trends or what algorithms like best (but maybe I need to because I would like more subscribers?). I have many videos with 10k+ views but I still have less then 500 subscribers. I would like more subscribers but I also don’t want to make long boring videos with filler material, I’ve always wanted to make the videos as simple and fast to watch as possible, which is what people love about these videos but it doesn’t help with subscribers. So any input you have on that would be awesome as well.

A lot of the recommendations you had, I definitely saw as a weakness as well but since I just became a dad a lot of the things I need to do to improve take either time or money that I don’t have at the moment but I will work on them for next time for sure.

Some of the recommendations you gave I didn’t realize until now so I am looking into them more for next time, so I appreciate those for sure.

As far as the mixing goes, I always mix and then listen to it on multiple devices and I thoughttttt I had a decent balance and I even brought the music down to -21(since this wasn’t an instrumental only tune) vs my normal -18 but I did not eq my vocals on this video and you noticed that so you definitely have a good ear.

I also understand the fact that I am horrible on camera, if you only saw how I actually am on camera you would appreciate the amount of editing I do to cover that up. But I am learning and trying to improve. I am better then I was years ago so atleast there is some progress.

And yes the shots are all deliberately framed the way they are, I am trying to tell a story and give myself some entertainment while shooting and editing these videos. I think the main reason I create these videos is because I just have fun with it and I enjoy sharing them on the interwebtube

Thanks again for your input




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[Clint Beastwood]

Hey Clint,
Holy crap that’s a lot of input, I really appreciate you putting the time into giving some true input. I might have multiple responses to this since I take time to process ideas sometimes. I would check out my other videos to get a better feel for my channel. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with the channel but I have had it for 6+ years now haha. I have always seemed to just make videos that I enjoy making and not just fall into trends or what algorithms like best (but maybe I need to because I would like more subscribers?). I have many videos with 10k+ views but I still have less then 500 subscribers. I would like more subscribers but I also don’t want to make long boring videos with filler material, I’ve always wanted to make the videos as simple and fast to watch as possible, which is what people love about these videos but it doesn’t help with subscribers. So any input you have on that would be awesome as well.

A lot of the recommendations you had, I definitely saw as a weakness as well but since I just became a dad a lot of the things I need to do to improve take either time or money that I don’t have at the moment but I will work on them for next time for sure.

Some of the recommendations you gave I didn’t realize until now so I am looking into them more for next time, so I appreciate those for sure.

As far as the mixing goes, I always mix and then listen to it on multiple devices and I thoughttttt I had a decent balance and I even brought the music down to -21(since this wasn’t an instrumental only tune) vs my normal -18 but I did not eq my vocals on this video and you noticed that so you definitely have a good ear.

I also understand the fact that I am horrible on camera, if you only saw how I actually am on camera you would appreciate the amount of editing I do to cover that up. But I am learning and trying to improve. I am better then I was years ago so atleast there is some progress.

And yes the shots are all deliberately framed the way they are, I am trying to tell a story and give myself some entertainment while shooting and editing these videos. I think the main reason I create these videos is because I just have fun with it and I enjoy sharing them on the interwebtube

Thanks again for your input




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You're not horrible on camera! You're fine on camera, you just seem slightly uncomfortable which is fairly normal, thats why so many youtubers hide behind that "HI GUYS! SO AND SO HERE, LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE!" stuff. Slightly uncomfortable and genuine > fake and confident any day (to me, at least). If you draw little dots or eyes over the camera lens and look at those like they're eyes it feels more natural and you might come across as more "comfortable", you'll start to forget that its a camera. Once that happens it's noticeable on camera and you'll seem more comfortable (and you wind up with a lot more footage of picking your nose and zoning out lol). Whether consciously or not, staring at the lens you start to think your reflection is goofy looking and make weird face movements to correct what you see in the (heavily distorted) reflection. By not looking at the lens, you circumvent that feedback loop.

Don't look at things as weaknesses, look at them as places you can learn/improve. It's helpful, not critical!

With the mixing stuff, I only notice because I am a bigtime audio nerd - but if you want to aim for great audio, always preview your mixing with a few different audio outputs. I usually use etymotic ER4SR headphones when on the computer - but if I edit/audio master wearing those, people on speakers will find it "muddy" because the ety's provide exemplary separation that most speakers/headphones can't differentiate. If you edit your audio with bose headphones, anyone using clean/reference headphones will find the audio too "sharp". Try headphones, and some speakers, maybe a few different pairs of headphones until you get an idea of the ideal "signature" you need to target. Just because they sound great in one pair of headphones doesn't mean they'll sound great in all of them. Some great open-backed headphones to use for editing stuff on the cheap are Koss KSC75's, they super clean, no boosted bass, and the separation of audio channels is exemplary - and they're dirt cheap (also, if you get some, reply back and let me know what you think about them for the cost!!). https://www.amazon.com/Koss-KSC75-Portable-Stereophone-Headphones/dp/B0006B486K

Make sure after mastering you test with speakers or some different commodity-headphones, like iphone headphones or something, so you get to hear what 90% of your viewers will hear.

To grow *subscribers*, create a narrative that goes from one video to the next, i.e. start a project in one video, and continue it across a few videos, like.... do your normal videos at 2-3 minutes, but also have a 30-60 second update of your long-term "narrative project" so people who want to see the progress of the narrative project have to keep coming back. Every 5 videos or so, have a longer/bigger update video. Subscribing is the easiest way to keep track of those updates - the channel "Mighty Car Mods" did this really well with their older videos from a couple years ago, though now they've got that strong "sellout" vibe going (but they're getting paid, so good for them). Occasionally mentioning that people subscribing helps you out, without begging, wouldn't hurt. Give people a reason to come back, rather than just watching the video that they searched for, and maybe one recommended by Youtube. Heck, might not hurt to make a video asking viewers what they'd like to see, and making a few (reasonable) viewer request videos.

 

[benvid]

You're not horrible on camera! You're fine on camera, you just seem slightly uncomfortable which is fairly normal, thats why so many youtubers hide behind that "HI GUYS! SO AND SO HERE, LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE!" stuff. Slightly uncomfortable and genuine > fake and confident any day (to me, at least). If you draw little dots or eyes over the camera lens and look at those like they're eyes it feels more natural and you might come across as more "comfortable", you'll start to forget that its a camera. Once that happens it's noticeable on camera and you'll seem more comfortable (and you wind up with a lot more footage of picking your nose and zoning out lol). Whether consciously or not, staring at the lens you start to think your reflection is goofy looking and make weird face movements to correct what you see in the (heavily distorted) reflection. By not looking at the lens, you circumvent that feedback loop.

Don't look at things as weaknesses, look at them as places you can learn/improve. It's helpful, not critical!

With the mixing stuff, I only notice because I am a bigtime audio nerd - but if you want to aim for great audio, always preview your mixing with a few different audio outputs. I usually use etymotic ER4SR headphones when on the computer - but if I edit/audio master wearing those, people on speakers will find it "muddy" because the ety's provide exemplary separation that most speakers/headphones can't differentiate. If you edit your audio with bose headphones, anyone using clean/reference headphones will find the audio too "sharp". Try headphones, and some speakers, maybe a few different pairs of headphones until you get an idea of the ideal "signature" you need to target. Just because they sound great in one pair of headphones doesn't mean they'll sound great in all of them. Some great open-backed headphones to use for editing stuff on the cheap are Koss KSC75's, they super clean, no boosted bass, and the separation of audio channels is exemplary - and they're dirt cheap (also, if you get some, reply back and let me know what you think about them for the cost!!). https://www.amazon.com/Koss-KSC75-Portable-Stereophone-Headphones/dp/B0006B486K

Make sure after mastering you test with speakers or some different commodity-headphones, like iphone headphones or something, so you get to hear what 90% of your viewers will hear.

To grow *subscribers*, create a narrative that goes from one video to the next, i.e. start a project in one video, and continue it across a few videos, like.... do your normal videos at 2-3 minutes, but also have a 30-60 second update of your long-term "narrative project" so people who want to see the progress of the narrative project have to keep coming back. Every 5 videos or so, have a longer/bigger update video. Subscribing is the easiest way to keep track of those updates - the channel "Mighty Car Mods" did this really well with their older videos from a couple years ago, though now they've got that strong "sellout" vibe going (but they're getting paid, so good for them). Occasionally mentioning that people subscribing helps you out, without begging, wouldn't hurt. Give people a reason to come back, rather than just watching the video that they searched for, and maybe one recommended by Youtube. Heck, might not hurt to make a video asking viewers what they'd like to see, and making a few (reasonable) viewer request videos.

Thats awesome, Ill be using this as a guideline to start working toward. Ill need to be planing out videos farther into the future to make that work but I am going to try. Thanks for all the time put into the feedback. I need everyone else to step up their game!