VLogging for Beginners

[Sport Rider]

We all watch youtube to live vicariously through others out there in the moto community who are doing all the trips and traveling that we wish we had time to do. After watching videos on YT for several years I decided to give it a try. Perhaps a thread like this might be useful for someone thinking about doing it and for those with more experience to share ways and means to do it.

I started by buying a couple different video cameras off Amazon which were in the $40-$50 range. The downside to these cameras are they have no video stabilization and the quality makes it pretty hard to watch. I have a YT channel if you want to see some of my recent attempts.

https://www.youtube.com/@davescott1493

There are some others on here who are already ahead of me in their experiences. hopefully they will post some tips they have found useful.

Given the issues with stabilization, I decided to hit up ebay and find a cheap use GoPro. I found a Hero 5 Black model which offers stabilization and a waterproof feature. I don't intend to take it in the water, but riding through a rainstorm without worrying about it would be nice.

my most recent upload has video from the Hero 5. you can really tell a difference.

The other aspect of making these videos is an editor to cut, paste, slice and dice into a magnificent work of art. I downloaded a product called VSDC which is a free basic editor. I also found a tutorial on YT for this product. Search "vsdc video editor tutorial" and you'll find a good one.

For mounting, I used a combination of ram mounts and some 3M adhesive along with some of the mount brackets that came with my cameras. Vibrations from handlebar mounts still seem to be problematic but I'm working on that. I also picked up a chin mount for my helmet on Amazon. The latest video with the hero 5 was using that and results were good. the only real problem is not being able to see the screen to see if the camera is on and also fumbling for the power button with leather gloved.

Anyway...just an initial post with some random thoughts. Hopefully others will add more value here and/or ask questions to learn.

[LightSmith88]

Hey there! I like where you are headed with this. I have also just started gearing up for some motovlogging. Like you I started with a super cheap gopro knockoff. I recently aquired a drift ghost xl but then after a little research I ended up getting the gopro hero 10 and a dango helmet mount. Ialso got a media mod case with built in micro phone. I scored all that used on ebay for a reasonable price. After watching some different videos, I plan on mounting the ghost xl on my front fender pointing back at me, and the gopro on my helmet. I am a newbie at this as well so I will keep an eye on this thread. I will for sure check out that editing software.

[Sport Rider]

I was trying to stay cheap in my purchase. that's why I went with a used hero 5. One of the drawbacks with it is the need for this big box (almost the size of the camera but a bit slimmer) in order to connect an external mic.

I'm also finding that my hero 5 may have been cheap for a reason. I can't get the touch screen to work so I can change settings. given this plus the cost of the external mic connector, I may just opt for a better model and just use this for a secondary camera. I think I'd really like to get a Insta360, but not wanting to spend that much at this stage of my efforts. I don't plan to do any long term YT work to make $. More just as a hobby for riding. No plans for regular vids coming out, etc.

[GypsyR]

I'd like to offer some advice. Point the camera at everything but yourself. Seriously. Unless you are very physically attractive. AND having sex with someone also very attractive. Your motorcycle, your dog, some other dog, your dumbass buddies, anything but sticking the camera in your own face while you talk.
With exceptions. Stuff like "Look at what that rock did to my arm!" is fine. A tripod camera or friend videoing while you try to get your bike out of mud, a lake, a tree, etc are great.

Expect to video countless hours of boring video even you don't want to want to look at. Keep your videos short with just interesting bits.

Sort of and in general. Obviously you if you are thinking of videoing yourself in a
trials competition or something about all that (except sticking the camera in your own face) doesn't apply.

I'd go with "story mode". Beginning, middle, end. IE:

"Today going riding wherever. Here's what I did to the bike to prepare/what broke last time that I fixed". Dog that can't go. Cute kid passing through. Short and to the point.
Middle, any high oe low points. Other interesting people/things.
End. What broke or might could use improving. Very short windup.
Submit to someone who doesn't care for creative criticism.
Trim it down even more because video watchers have terribly short attention spans.
Post it.
Post a link here so we can see it.

[LightSmith88]

Yeah, I get what you are saying, and I suppose I should have offered more context to that. The camera-pointing-back thing is for quick shots (reaction shots, you might call them). The bulk of the stuff I watch that uses that is a few shots here and there for a quick reaction if you are doing something cool. It is not to watch my face talk. No one wants that. It is also on the front of the fender, so you kind of see the whole front of the bike. Moto vlogging, technically, is about talking while you ride. That is what the term stands for. That is what we are talking about here. Understandably, some people want pure action videos. If so, they would not be watching Moto Vlogging videos. A good example of what I will be doing would be Madjack Media videos or Mike Festiva. Both are great examples of "moto vlogging". It is a good way to combine content on the bike with some amount of action at the same time. I don't want to do a bunch of videos just standing in front of a bike and talking. I would rather be riding while talking. I do find that watching videos of just what is directly in front of the bike gets boring unless you happen to be on gnarly terrain the entire time. That is where a quick "reverse" shot for context or a "reaction shot" would come in handy. A drone works great for this, but I don't have that ability. These are just my two cents. As I said before, I am new to this for sure, but I have the equipment now, so I might as well try it out.

[Sport Rider]

question... is there a place I can download free music to embed in the vid without having to register and only get a 30 day free trial?

[LightSmith88]

Here is what I found but I have not tried it yet....
Does YouTube have free music for videos? Yes, YouTube offers free music for use in videos. To check it out, sign into your YouTube account and go to the Creator Studio section. In the corresponding sidebar, you will see the YouTube Audio Library.

[Sport Rider]

so, I managed to get out last Friday for a day in the mountains on mostly gravel roads. I have my camera mounted to my helmet (chin). it's working fine and vibrations are not an issue but once I got to see the videos, I realized I suck at keeping my focus on the road. I My head was swiveling all over the place as I looked at various things. LOL I'm going to need to focus on looking with my eyes and not my head.

I'm going to try to edit some things together for a very short video. I still haven't gotten music to work yet.

[LightSmith88]

Nice! I went out to the trails this weekend as well. I had a GoPro on my helmet, my buddy had one on his helmet, and I had that Ghost XL mounted on the fender. Now I have a ton of footage to edit down to a video! I think that I am going to try for a 15-minute video to start. I have been watching videos on how to use the clipchamp editing software that is part of my Microsoft 365 subscription to do the editing. It is available to download for free even without having 365. I already had it on my computer because of that. It has stock footage and stock music available as well. I have already started using it, and it seems to be pretty straightforward. It will be the weekend before I have time to edit this stuff into something worth watching, though. It is going to take some time. I think altogether I have about three hours of footage to go through! I have often heard that editing takes up the most time. Now I see why! Good luck on your first project! Mine will be this...

[Sport Rider]

here's my upload. I got the audio working but used the same song repeating. Gonna have to get some other tunes downloaded so it's not quite so boring. I also did this one at 2x speed. it was way too busy to enjoy watching.

[LightSmith88]

It's a good start. The music came through with heavy distortion on my computer speaker, even when I turned it down. I actually like the song that you used, and the ride is fun, even at high speed. It gets blurry when you are on trails and such. I wonder if that has to do with the settings on your camera. Are you recording in 1080 at 30 fps? I am not sure if the GoPro Hero 5 goes that high, but I am just curious. I used a Hero 10 and my buddy used a Hero 11. I had mine on 4 K, and he had his on 1080. I actually think that his footage came out looking better. I changed my settings to that for next time.

[Sport Rider]

so, therein lies the problem. as this is a used camera, I've found that the touch screen is not working to allow me to change settings. One thing is that I set the video at 2x speed to begin with and that seems to have caused some grainy-ness in the pic quality. I'm uploading another with ClipChamp that you suggested at regular speed and using some random music. I'm going to see if that's better.

one other note....if you forward farther into the video does the music settle down? I found it did on my computer. seems the first segment of the music I had a setting too high and it caused distortion.

[Sport Rider]

here's another attempt. still grainy but have music and motorcycle sound. I think my next step is to try to get some type of mic set up so I can talk during the video.

[LightSmith88]

Here you go. Check this out. This is the video that I watched that got me started on what to get. It has some great information. I bought the GoPro 10 because of it for a really great price. It has all of the features you need, but since it is not the latest model, you can find good deals on it. He uses the media mod for a microphone setup. I did the same thing and it works great! He will literally take you through the camera setup step by step. The only two adjustments that I made were recording in 1080 instead of 4k to get longer clips (30 min vs 5 min), and going for the 30 frames per second instead of 24 as he does. I like his mike setup because you don't have to mess with any wires inside the helmet. Give it a watch and let me know what you think.

[LightSmith88]

Upon reviewing your newest video, you are correct. The music and bike sound much better. And yes, the graininess is still there. I wonder if you can work that out in your settings. By the way, I forgot to ask: What bike are you riding in these videos? I'm just curious. Also, I see that your avatar is a "bike in a box." Which one is it?