How To Make Great Educational Videos for Less Than $100 (a Guide for YouTubers, Part 1)
At konoz we have a mission:
#teach1billion by empowering 10,000 exponential teachers to share their passions with free videos that reach 100,000+ students each.
If you have relentless passion and unbounded curiosity for a subject, there has never been a more exciting time for teaching and learning. Access to information has never been so vast, cheap, and fast, and things have just started.
We love creators, and we want to enable more and more great teacher to share their expertise and wisdom with the rest of the world.
So let’s say you’re an expert at something, you feel inspired and you want to give it a shot. But you feel lost. Where do you start? How do you make videos? How do you edit them? What’s a graphic tablet? Which microphone should you use?
We’re starting a blog and video series that will help you along the way, step by step. In time, of course, this will become a course on konoz (because we’re so meta).
OK, ready? Here we go.
1. Get a Decent Microphone
Believe it or not, one of the biggest issues with online videos is bad audio. While video technology has become unimaginably cheap, ubiquitous and of high quality, audio seems to be lagging. Phone, cameras, and laptops don’t usually have good international microphones, and often times are placed near a fan and don’t have unidirectional ability.
TL;DR; the mic you have is probably bad, get a good one.
Luckily for you, there are some pretty inexpensive mics out there that work surprisingly well.
Disclaimer: we’re not associate in any way with any of the companies making these products. They’re simply things we found useful and that worked well.
First Option: Samson Go Mic Portable USB Condenser
Pros: Pretty portable, excellent price-quality ratio, attaches anywhere, sounds great, and just works.
Cons: Not comparable to high-end mics, can’t attach to a smartphone.
Cost: $38
Quality: Excellent (for its category)
Category: Portable, low-end mic
Where to buy: http://amzn.to/1Rdh2aX
This thing is tiny, and beautiful. It plugs into the USB port, works out of the box, and has three settings (directional, circular, and automatic noise reduction). You can take it with you anywhere, it fits in your pocket and can clip to your computer or lay on the table on its own.
Second Option: Lavalier Clip-on Microphone for Smartphones
Pros: Super portable, excellent price-quality ratio, works with every smartphone.
Cons: Not comparable to high-end mics. That’s it, really.
Cost: $19
Quality: Excellent(for its category)
Category: Portable, low-end mic
Where to buy: http://amzn.to/1lFHn2P
This is going to save your videos. If you have a recent smartphone (iPhone 5 or more, Samsung Galaxy, etc.) your camera is excellent. Unless you want to do fancy stuff, you really don’t need an reflex camera, but you absolutely need a microphone.
This little baby will increase the production value of your videos immensely. From amateur to surprisingly good with less tha $20.
Second Option: The Headphones You Already Own!
Pros: you probably have one, so it won’t cost you anything.
Cons: the audio quality is lower than the Go Mic, and if you record your face it’s not nice to show that you’re wearing headphones.
It may sound obvious, but it’s not. So many could-be-great videos out there are ruined by bad audio, and you end up losing your audience before the video even starts getting interesting.
I use the Apple earbuds that came with my iPhone. The microphone they have is OK, but personally I don’t like the way they fit in my ear, and the fact that they’re not noise-canceling.
If you already have a pair of whatever brand, use that. They’re probably better than your phone’s or you laptop’s internal microphone anyway. If you have to buy a new pair, try the Acctrend Ae3-sc In-ear Headphones.
Cost: $26
Quality: Very Good (for its category)
Category: Earbuds, low end
Where to buy: http://amzn.to/1GZTP1L
2. Get a Graphic Tablet
Teaching is a lot of fun, but not everybody is comfortable in front of a camera. Teaching online is an art, and as such it deserves special respect and attention. The most effective way to explain things online is not necessarily the same as AFK (Away From Keyboard). At konoz, some of our most successful teachers use a very personal approach, scribbling and handwriting as they explain.
This can be accomplished in mainly two ways:
- Record with a camera as you physically write on a whiteboard or a piece of paper.
- Use a screencapture software to record what you write directly on the computer.
#1 requires a large desk, a good camera, good lights, and potentially lots of patience and even more editing.
#2 requires none of the above, and can be accomplished quite easily using a graphic tablet.
My Choice: Wacom Intuos Pen Tablet
SMALL SIZE
Cost: $75
Quality: Very Good
Category: Graphic Tablet, small size
Where to buy: http://amzn.to/1JOC9JU
MEDIUM SIZE
Cost: $188
Quality: Excellent
Category: Graphic Tablet, medium size
Where to buy: http://amzn.to/1HFqaAA
I have the medium size to work with large screens (1080p and superior). Comes with pre-installed software (ArtRage Studio and Sketchbook Express), but will work just the same with any graphic software you already have in your system. It detects the pressure you apply on he tablet, so you can make nuanced brushes and it feels great on your hand. It’s almost like writing on a piece of paper.
Graphic Design Software
The tablet will integrate with the Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) as well as your favorite Free and Open Source Software (GIMP and Inkscape to name a few).
ScreenCapture Software
Again, the best option is the software you probably already have on your machine. If you’re a Mac user, QuickTime integrates everything out of the box, If you have linux try SimpleScreenRecorder. I haven’t used Windows in 18 years, so I don’t what would work well there, but from what I read the Open Source CamStudio seems like a good option.
For this example I’ll use QuickTime. Open it up and select New Screen Recording.
Now select your external microphone.
Click record, and you’re good to go!
Summary
- Get a decent mic and a graphic tablet. They should cost around $100, and you’ll get a surprisingly good quality out of them.
- Open up the the graphic design software of your choice.
- Start a screen recording, and have fun teaching!
Next time we’ll look at how to record videos and best practices for teaching effectively.
Video Guide
This blog post wouldn’t be complete without a video explaining the whole process. Here’s Brian, an Exponential Teacher at konoz, showing in details how he makes his Control System Lectures videos.
Enjoy, and stay tuned for Part 2!
— Fede, CEO of konoz
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