Datasheet

Getting to Know Other Tubers

YouTube is a huge community. Next time you surf the Tube, take a look at the

different usernames associated with the videos; then take a look at the

number of groups and you start to get the idea. It’s kind of like a video com-

mune. You can be totally anonymous even if you have a YouTube account.

But if you post some really cool videos, you’ll find that people leave com-

ments on your stuff and subscribe to your channel. It’s only polite to return

the favor and thank your fellow Tubers for their comments.

But responding to comments is only the beginning. You can request to be a

fellow Tuber’s friend, join a group, subscribe to a channel, and so on. You may

never meet the people you associate with on YouTube in person, but it’s still

fun. And let’s face it, the world is a serious place. Adding some fun to your

life is a good thing; it keeps you younger and relieves the stress in your life.

So feel free to strike up a relationship with people who leave comments on

your videos and leave comments when you watch a video you really like.

You can also send messages to other Tubers. If you’re not sure how to do it,

we show you everything about the YouTube community in Chapter 6.

Creating the Perfect YouTube Video

Pixelated, blurry video is ugly and shouldn’t be seen or heard. When you sift

through the myriad of videos on YouTube, you may shake your head and ask

the question: Why? We did the same, and that’s why we’re on a two-man cru-

sade to stamp out ugly video. After all, if you’ve got something to show the

world, and it has your username attached, it ought to be the best it can be.

Digital video is fun. However, many people who own camcorders don’t even

know how to get the video into their computers. Face it, if you can’t get the

video into your computer, you’ll never get it on YouTube. But there’s a lot

more than getting the video into your computer. You need to render your

video in a format supported by YouTube, and you need to do some editing.

Let’s face it, nobody except family members and a few close friends want to

see the video where you forgot to stop recording after taping a scene and

captured an additional two minutes of your shuffling feet.

In Chapter 7, we give you some tips on recording good video and how to get

that video into your computer.

Let’s say you want to kick your videos up a notch or two. Editing video isn’t

rocket science. You can easily add transitions between scenes or titles and

credits with an application, like Windows Movie Maker or Apple iPhoto.

Figure 1-8 shows a video being christened with an appropriate title credit in

Movie Maker.

Chapter 1: Everything You Wanted to Know about YouTube

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