Guide: Free Learning Resources
A Guide for Video Creators
We’ve all enjoyed the fruits of prevailing freemium business models practiced by online sellers and providers. Having shed free trials and limited-term offers, many music, entertainment and education portals are combining premium with free access to products and learning resources.
Dropbox is a good freemium example. The popular cloud storage platform offers users two gigabytes of free space for sharing photos and videos. For $9.99 a month you can upgrade to one terabyte of storage but if you don’t need that much space you can stick with the two-gig freebie, no questions asked.
The good news for video creators is that many script-to-screen training providers are offering outstanding free resources wedged in among registration and subscription-based content only a click or two away.
YouTube Creator Academy
If you already have a substantial YouTube footprint, you’re surely familiar with YouTube’s Creator Hub, which is hailed as “The destination for awesome resources to help you make great videos, find your audience, and grow your channel.”
The price of admission to the Hub and YouTube’s Creator Academy is subscribers. The more subscribers the more benefits. High level content is tied to your subscription numbers in these subscriber categories: 1 to 1,000, 1,000 to 10,000, 10,000 to 100,000 and over 100,000 subscribers.
The road to YouTube success goes through the Academy’s Creators Benefits Program, which offers a rainbow of instructional content on how to grow your channel, branding, community building and monetizing.
The higher your channel’s upload activity, subscriber count and watch time, the more Academy benefits you unlock. Such benefits include workshops near you, online lectures and one-on-one sessions with Youtube’s brightest stars.
YouTube will teach you how to improve your output and grow your channel, but you have to do your part to keep up.
Vimeo Video School
The other user-generated video sharing space, Vimeo was founded back in 2004 in New York City by a group of filmmakers.
Users will be familiar with Vimeo’s Basic, Plus, Pro and Business memberships. Higher membership levels unlock higher levels of professional services, storage space and channel customization. Vimeo Basic is free and comes with unlimited playback bandwidth and 500 megabytes of storage per week. A Basic membership is all you need to access Vimeo Video School, a rich learning portal for creators.
Vimeo Video School resources range widely across filmmaking categories. Examples include complete courses on Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple’s Final Cut Pro, illustrated articles on storytelling and video demonstrations of how to get the most out of your DSLR.
The pinnacle of Vimeo Video School achievement is graduation to Vimeo On Demand, the download service available to VimeoPRO subscribers ($15 per month). Vimeo On Demand allows creators to distribute and sell the videos they make.
Whether creators aspire to monetization or not, Vimeo’s Video School is a solid training ground for those who want to professionalize their productions and grow their channels.
Larry Jordan
YouTube Channel: 41,091 subscribers — 4,386,675 views
Popular post-production consultant and corporate trainer Larry Jordan grows his audiences by regularly posting free seminars and tutorials on his YouTube channel, Larry Jordan — Edit Smarter.
On his channel, L.A.-based Larry delivers a wide range of up-to-date video content for entry and mid-level video producers as well as professionals, including seminars on 4K video and Final Cut Pro X, animated three-point lighting tutorials and webinars on the art of storytelling. On his website, Jordan hosts articles and blogs, step by step tutorials and a weekly free webinar on a range of technical and creative aspects of video production.
When not giving away free stuff, Jordan gives certified training and support services for Apple and Adobe software, one on one, in small groups and in formal classroom settings. Jordan posted his day rate on his web site.
Frenchel & Janisch
YouTube Channel : 230,654 subscribers — 22,445,851 views
Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, self-trained commercial video producers Marcel Fenchel and Moritz Janisch specialize in DSLR video production and training.
The Fenchel & Janisch YouTube channel is populated with mostly short and snappy video tutorials. Although their primary business is selling commercial video production and consulting services, Fenchel and Janisch have a keen interest in teaching their DSLR filmmaking skills to both beginning and advanced creators.
DSLR-related video reviews of new products and how-to video demonstrations enrich the Fenchel and Janish collection of free instructional videos. They offer powerful illustrations of concepts and techniques that cover lenses and exposure, sliders and the latest in stabilization gear, shooting time-lapse and post-production workflows.
If you’ve made a commitment to shooting video with a DSLR, Frenchel & Janisch is a go-to portal for learning how to get started and how to raise the production values of your videos.
VideoCreators TV
YouTube Channel: 250,000 subscribers — 17 million views
In the introductory video to his YouTube channel, VideoCreators TV, Tim Schmoyer explains his mission: “Teaching YouTubers how to build communities around their content.”
Schmoyer’s brand includes prolific weekly video output and polished production values. VideoCreators TV, says Schmoyer, helps YouTubers navigate “the business that surrounds your channel.” In hundreds of video tutorials Schmoyer shares his YouTube leveraging tips and tricks.
YouTuber Magazine
(Shameless Plug!)
This fledgling digital mag was cooked up by editors at Videomaker magazine in the fall of 2016. The key ingredients: In-depth interviews with star creators, step-by-step how-to articles and insider opinion — all richly illustrated.
“YouTuber’s mission is to support online video creators at all levels,” goes the introductory blurb on the digital mag’s web site. “From those with a million subscribers to those with a hundred.”
The mag’s writers, who are YouTube creators themselves, riff on wide-ranging YouTube topics — camera performance, writing sketch comedy, setting up a green screen, lighting product videos and more.
Subscription to YouTuber is free, and it’s a promising online resource for video creators of all stripes.
Videomaker
YouTube Channel: 150,847 subscribers — 18,494,850 views
With a monthly circulation of over 50,000, Videomaker is the number one national consumer magazine for video creators and enthusiasts.
YouTuber’s parent publication has been in the video education business since 1986 when publisher Matthew York first launched “the magazine for video camera users.” The camcorder revolution was in full swing, and Videomaker magazine fed the hunger of starved-for-instruction camcorder shooters.
Videomaker’s YouTube channel broadcasts free video tutorials on all aspects of motion picture production. The channel carries over the mag’s long tradition of publishing hands-on product reviews on the latest hardware and software and other technical stuff, some of which involves audio meters and video scopes. Whether you’re an online or offline video creator, Videomaker.com is a must-stop learning portal.
Other Notable Portals to Free Learning Resources
Film Courage
YouTube Channel: 68,130 subscribers 7,424,097 views
Over 3100 videos of “shared stories and wisdom from the world of independent film. — interviews, articles, podcasts & more
THiNK Media TV
YouTube Channel: 182,023 subscribers 9,147,619 views.
“On this YouTube channel you will find weekly tech, video gear, lighting, and audio gear reviews and tutorials.” — channel owner Sean Cannell.
DSLR Video Shooter
YouTube Channel: 131,023 subscribers 8,660,407 views
“The place to find the best gear and techniques for making your videos better.”
Film Riot
YouTube Channel: 1,021,276 subscribers 124,426,688 views
“Film Riot is a how-to trip through filmmaking from the hyper-active mind of Ryan Connolly — under-the-radar geeks exploring the art of filmmaking in a way you’ve never seen.”
KingTutsPro
YouTube Channel: 135,953 subscribers 14,048,165 views
“This channel is dedicated to providing you with easy tutorials including Final Cut Pro X, iMovie, Photoshop, and Illustrator CS6.”
Robert Rodriguez — Ten Minute Film School
YouTube: views: 180,545
“Fast, cheap and in-control.” DIY classic El Mariachi director Robert Rodriguez schools the next generation of lo-no budget indie filmmakers.
MakeUseOf — Technology Simplified
YouTube Channel: 109,920 subscribers 6,845,418 views
“Our missions is to help users deconstruct the world of technology and gadgets. Demystifying and bringing understanding to all things techie from safely taking apart a microwave oven technology taking out the fear factor and embracing our devices.”
NextWaveDV
YouTube Channel: 74,801 subscribers 8,433,943 views
“Improve your skills in producing, directing, lighting, editing, animation and more.”
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