ohaple
YTtalk Mad
Back with yet another Youtube tutorial. I created the video for a friend's channel, but thought I would type up the info for you guys here as well. (Not sure if this belongs in the "intros" forum, since it is a tutorial but is about intros)
The video is here if that is your preferred format, or you can scroll down to view it in text.
So this tutorial will show you how to make an intro for YouTube without having to use hard-to-learn programs such as Adobe After Effects. This tutorial is focused on iMovie, so only works for Mac users, but the concepts can be used in other programs that have similar features.
First, some tips on intro-making.
-Make the colors and font match your banner and thumbnail designs if possible
-Intros should be shorter than 10 seconds for most channels
-Less text is better! You don't want to overwhelm your audience with links or long descriptions. A simple channel name and 5 word description should be fine.
-Make sure audio is balanced and text is very readable. If audio is too loud, you can drive away viewers. If it is hard to read, you might as well leave it out entirely.
Now onto the nuts and bolts.
-Open iMovie and create a new project.
-You will want to choose one of the "Movie Trailer" themes. I recommend "Action," "Sports," "Spy," or "Supernatural."
-Click on "Storyboard" and go down the scenes until you find an animation in the movie trailer that you like. Often the best looking ones are the ones designed for the title of the movie.
-Type your text into the boxes where the animation is. This will change the default text to your channel text.
-Use the "Share" function to export the movie trailer
-Create a new project in iMovie with no theme selected. This will be your final draft.
-Import the video created in the steps above by using "import" or by dragging and dropping.
-Highlight the section of the movie trailer where you typed in your custom text.
-Drag the selection onto the timeline.
-Remove default audio by sliding the audio bar to 0%
-This is where you get creative. Highlight the video and click the blue gear to get to the clip properties. In the video section you can adjust color, speed, reverse, and many other factors. You may be happy with a simple color shift, or you may want to splice the video into several pieces to adjust the parts of the animation individually. You can do as much or as little as you want. For an example, you can reference the video above at timestamp 3:25.
-From here you want to design your audio. You can use SFX or music but make sure that whatever you use is properly licensed. I used songs and clips provided by my network's music library, but I have also used machinimasound.com in the past. MAKE SURE YOU ABIDE BY COPYRIGHT LAWS AND THE LICENSE OF THE PARTICULAR SONG/SFX! You do not want all of your videos getting claimed because of your intro. For my real intro on my channel I went as far as to write and record my own theme on guitar. This may not be practical for everyone.
-Drag the song or sound onto your timeline, and adjust the levels and timing however you want.
-Preview the video.
-Does it hurt your ears at max volume? Turn it down.
-Is it easy to read? Increase contrast or colors.
-Is it shorter than 10 seconds long? Use the clip "gear" to adjust speed of animation.
-Once it is done, click "Share" again.
-Make sure to render this out in high quality since you will be using it on all of your videos.
-You are done! Add it into your videos and enjoy the additional professionalism that an intro can give your channel.
-TIP: You can use the same methods to create an outtro for yourself.
Here is an old video from my channel, where I had used this method for the intro and outtro. The intro is at the start, the outtro is at 1:18 It gave my channel a nice feel, even when I didn't have the skills to use more advanced animation techniques.
The video is here if that is your preferred format, or you can scroll down to view it in text.
So this tutorial will show you how to make an intro for YouTube without having to use hard-to-learn programs such as Adobe After Effects. This tutorial is focused on iMovie, so only works for Mac users, but the concepts can be used in other programs that have similar features.
First, some tips on intro-making.
-Make the colors and font match your banner and thumbnail designs if possible
-Intros should be shorter than 10 seconds for most channels
-Less text is better! You don't want to overwhelm your audience with links or long descriptions. A simple channel name and 5 word description should be fine.
-Make sure audio is balanced and text is very readable. If audio is too loud, you can drive away viewers. If it is hard to read, you might as well leave it out entirely.
Now onto the nuts and bolts.
-Open iMovie and create a new project.
-You will want to choose one of the "Movie Trailer" themes. I recommend "Action," "Sports," "Spy," or "Supernatural."
-Click on "Storyboard" and go down the scenes until you find an animation in the movie trailer that you like. Often the best looking ones are the ones designed for the title of the movie.
-Type your text into the boxes where the animation is. This will change the default text to your channel text.
-Use the "Share" function to export the movie trailer
-Create a new project in iMovie with no theme selected. This will be your final draft.
-Import the video created in the steps above by using "import" or by dragging and dropping.
-Highlight the section of the movie trailer where you typed in your custom text.
-Drag the selection onto the timeline.
-Remove default audio by sliding the audio bar to 0%
-This is where you get creative. Highlight the video and click the blue gear to get to the clip properties. In the video section you can adjust color, speed, reverse, and many other factors. You may be happy with a simple color shift, or you may want to splice the video into several pieces to adjust the parts of the animation individually. You can do as much or as little as you want. For an example, you can reference the video above at timestamp 3:25.
-From here you want to design your audio. You can use SFX or music but make sure that whatever you use is properly licensed. I used songs and clips provided by my network's music library, but I have also used machinimasound.com in the past. MAKE SURE YOU ABIDE BY COPYRIGHT LAWS AND THE LICENSE OF THE PARTICULAR SONG/SFX! You do not want all of your videos getting claimed because of your intro. For my real intro on my channel I went as far as to write and record my own theme on guitar. This may not be practical for everyone.
-Drag the song or sound onto your timeline, and adjust the levels and timing however you want.
-Preview the video.
-Does it hurt your ears at max volume? Turn it down.
-Is it easy to read? Increase contrast or colors.
-Is it shorter than 10 seconds long? Use the clip "gear" to adjust speed of animation.
-Once it is done, click "Share" again.
-Make sure to render this out in high quality since you will be using it on all of your videos.
-You are done! Add it into your videos and enjoy the additional professionalism that an intro can give your channel.
-TIP: You can use the same methods to create an outtro for yourself.
Here is an old video from my channel, where I had used this method for the intro and outtro. The intro is at the start, the outtro is at 1:18 It gave my channel a nice feel, even when I didn't have the skills to use more advanced animation techniques.
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