[0:10]Success isn't about greatness, it's about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success and greatness will come. All jokes aside, if you want to be a creator on this platform and find some success in that, consistency is definitely the key with that. I'm sure that you've felt that creating consistent content might feel a little bit impossible, but, you know, in 2024 this year, I have created 96 videos. Yeah, 96 videos. So today, I wanted to share six tips that helped me keep organized and consistent with creating content on YouTube. And no, I haven't lost my mind yet. So, let's head to the office and get into it. Okay, we're going to get straight into it, and there's going to be a lot of talking. So if you're interested, bring out a notebook and pen, I'm sure there will be a couple of ideas that you can write down here. We're going to get into the first topic though, which is pre-production and idea generating. Being consistent means that you have to create a lot, and creating a lot means that you will need to have a lot of things to create. So, I like to sit down and generate a bunch of ideas and pre-plan some of those ideas into videos. I've noticed that the creative part of your brain turns on at the most random times, especially when you're doing nothing. That's why I keep a notebook on me so I can always jot down these ideas onto paper so I can turn these ideas into something in the future. Even though I nearly made 100 videos this year, I am also human and sometimes when I sit down, I don't really get the ideas coming to me. This is when I lean on AI for assistance. Use AI as a form of support in these moments to then generate ideas which can help you come up with your own ones from them. Now, once you have those ideas, turning them into actual videos takes a lot of effort, and this is where pre-production really helps. Now, try this out, write out all your ideas on paper. This gives you a bird's eye view of your possible videos from your ideas. And you can clearly see which videos will work together and decide on the best approach for filming and content flow. Proper planning and organization gets you a long way when it comes to video creation, and creating consistently can feel quite overwhelming. So I definitely recommend you try this out.
[2:24]So I was just editing one of my reels and I came across a problem. I wanted to create this short form video to showcase this new candle that I got. However, I realized that after I filmed, that I didn't leave enough headroom above my head to leave any text. In this particular situation, what I want to do is expand the scene to allow more text above my head. And for this, I'm going to use Adobe's Generative Expand. The trick here is I'm firstly going to take a screenshot of the video and import it into Photoshop with the same resolution of the video project. And here I'm going to simply expand the scene as much as I want. Here I'm going to use a simple prompt just to expand the background. Now after the expansion, I can use the Selection Brush tool to manually adjust any specific part of the image that I think needs fixing. This is perfect for detailing or cleaning up any specific areas that the expansion may or may not blend perfectly. Now once we've done this, the second trick here is to export this as a PNG file. This will allow you to overlay your image or your new background on top of your original video. And now I can complete this video by adding the text above my head. Now, this is a situation I come across quite often, so having a tool as powerful as Adobe Photoshop just ensures that you can create the video exactly how you'd like it, even if you didn't shoot it perfectly at that time. It's important to remember that the key to staying consistent is to work efficiently, not harder. Back to work. Now the second point I want to talk about today is being efficient while shooting. You've done your planning and pre-production and now you are at the point where you are shooting your video. My personal video settings are quite heavy and they take up a lot of space, so when I'm shooting, I try to be as effective as possible. I don't want to over-shoot because firstly, that takes up more time, but it also takes up more storage space, and when you're shooting consistently, storage space becomes a problem. So while I'm shooting, I like to outline a few certain key shots in the pre-production phase, so that when I'm shooting, it's very easy, I know what I need, and then once I've shot it, that's it, it's done. I'm sure we are all very busy people, so saving time while shooting gives you more time to then edit and do other parts of the whole video creation process. Another key tip for shooting, especially when creating reels, is to batch film your content. Let's say you pre-produced three videos, a series perhaps, and by batch filming these three videos, you're going to save time on setting up and shooting again, and you can just edit all these three and then schedule them for different days of posting. This might sound pretty obvious, but it is a great time-saver. Now this next tip is something that you should definitely ingrain into your workflow, and it is file management and organization. I film things with my camera, my phone, every single day, and to keep on top of things, at the end of every day, I take my SD card, I put it in my computer, and I organize the footage. Being meticulous in organizing your footage will save you hours and hours of time when it comes to it. Now how I do this is I have a separate folder for each project, and within that folder, I have a footage folder, which will then separate into different days and the different camera. This way, if I'm looking for a specific file, I know which camera I shot it on, I know which day I shot it on, and it'll be much easier to locate it. When I'm working in the editing software, having each folder separated into its own category makes it ridiculously easy to then edit chronologically. As a lot of my videos are vlogs, having a chronological timeline makes a lot of sense for me, and if I don't need to worry about putting the footage in the correct order, then this has already saved me quite a bit of time. Now in this project folder, for everything else that I need in my video, there is definitely a dedicated folder for it. Such as screenshots and thumbnail pictures, overlays that I draw on my iPad, miscellaneous things, music, I'm sure you get the idea. Another great thing about organizing your files correctly is that sometimes I have to find a specific clip from a previous video, and when I need to do that, then I know where it is exactly. I think pulling clips from previous video has a very high value, especially for returning viewers, so I love doing this in videos, and I think it is a great thing. You might be a little tedious to do this, but once you ingrain this into your workflow, trust me, you will thank yourself later. Now that you have shot your video and you have your files organized, the next step is, of course, editing your video. Now there are a lot of time saving editing tips out there, about one in particular, which is color coordinating your clips. You can color coordinate your clips so that you create a visual roadmap for yourself, which will help you when editing a video. Sometimes I find it a bit intimidating when there is a lot of footage, especially when creating longer-form videos for YouTube. So by color-coding the different clips on your timeline for different sections makes your whole edit a lot more digestible. For example, let's say you're making a vlog over a week. There's an introduction section where you're making coffee. There's a middle section where you're out in the city doing something with your friend. And then at the end, there is a talking segment where you're back at home chatting about some updates or pickups. I would color-code these different colors on the timeline just so I know when I'm looking at it at an overall grand scheme, there are three sections and they're all separate. So when it comes to the next step of chopping the footage up and sorting it into place, it's a lot easier to understand. I also make sure that the clips where I'm talking to the camera, the dialogue, I highlight these as they are the more important parts of the video. Now I'll give you another tip when it comes to editing videos, and for me personally, this is by creating the spine of my video first. Not sure if there is a proper term for this, but I call it the spine. This is where you create the backbone of your video first. If you have dialogue clips or crucial key points in the video, I've laid these out on the timeline first. Sort out the music situation, sort of have an understanding of how the video is going to flow before adding all the B-roll clips in between to then fill in the gaps. I've also heard this being called a radio edit. I personally think that if you're editing chronologically like a vlog, this will save you a lot of time because that first step of editing, deciding how you want to create the video is usually the hardest. So just to recap real quick, when you have your files organized, you can easily import them onto your video timeline. And while they're categorized already, you can color coordinate them to different colors so that you can understand what's going on. And from that, you can then create the spine of your video, and then you can insert everything else to then create your video. It sounds a little complicated, but this is how I simplify my whole editing process to be able to create videos consistently without wasting too much time on the actual edit. Now, the last tip I want to give you guys, this is for the hustlers out there. This is for the people who want to maximize their efficiency when it comes to content creation. And that is effectively maximizing the footage that you have shot. Now, what I mean by this is that if you've created videos for YouTube, for instance, you can repurpose the clips that you've already shot for then posting on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. You've already shot the footage, you've done the hard work, you've created a video already. And from here, you can just select clips that will work for short form content and repurpose them. Let's say you did a little unboxing in your latest YouTube video. You can easily repurpose this to work for Instagram Reels and TikTok and YouTube Shorts. This will give you four chances for the same footage that you shot to reach a larger audience. Now, if you're shooting horizontal videos and you already know you're repurposing the footage for Instagram and TikTok, then you'd know that when you're filming the video, you can have everything framed and centered so that when you repurpose it for Instagram and TikTok, everything is going to be in that vertical frame as well. If you're doing that, then you know what's up. When it comes to creating consistently for content creation, you don't need to give your soul away for this. It's about working effectively and efficiently. I have made so many videos this year and I don't plan to stop. So hopefully, if you've made it to this point in the video, you can take parts of what I have said and apply it to your own video creation process. We discussed a lot of things today, my friends. So if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below. I'm sure I will be able to help you there, and other than that, I hope you have a nice productive day. Stay creative, friends. Peace.
