Klink
I've Got It
@Hellolabgroup
Audio is finicky to say the least. The best thing you can do is to record room noise before you begin to do your video recordings. Room noise is basically the natural noise/tones of the room you're sitting in. Set up Audacity as you normally would and when you hit record, stay silent for about 10 seconds. Don't say a word. Not a peep. Breathe slowly as to not accidentally record a sample of your breath. After you have your 10 second (although the longer the sample the better) sample, continue your video as you normally would.
Once you finish your recording, select the 10 second sample of room noise you have at the beginning of your file, then go to Effect > Noise Reduction and click 'Get Noise Profile'. Once that's done, highlight all of your audio and go to Effect > Noise Reduction, click on 'Reduce' and hit OK. What that should do is take that 10 second sample you recorded and reduce it across your entire audio recording. If it sounds like crap, as in you can hear a lot of distortion then perhaps you need to record another sample of room noise or not bother with it at all. Experimentation here is key.
After that's all done, make sure you save the file in the .WAV file format. This is a lossless filetype, meaning it's not going to compress the sound (knocking out certain frequencies to reduce the file size) and keep it as clear as possible. The catch of course is that you'll end up with a larger file size than an .MP3 file but the quality is much greater.
The reason you need to save in a high quality format is that by the time you render your entire video and upload it to YouTube, it's going to go through so many different layers of compression that will reduce the overall quality of your video to save file space. Not only is your video going to be somewhat compressed when you render it in whatever program you use, YouTube 'processes' the video after it's finished uploading which adds another layer of compression on top. It's why you need to save your files in as high quality as possible but you need to make sure you have the hard drive space to store it all.
To answer your question about a pop filter, it's used to stop plosives from getting into your recording. Plosives are your 'Bs', 'Ps', 'Ts', 'Cs', 'Ks' etc; words that use a very hard sound. These words tend to blow a lot of air which is extremely audible in vocal recordings. A pop filter in front of a microphone can stop those plosives creeping through but if your mouth is too close to the pop filter, it negates the effect and you'd still hear the plosives coming through. In your videos, your microphone isn't anywhere near your mouth which is good but in the few times you point your head down I can hear you blowing into the mic. You don't do it often enough to be an issue but it's something to keep in mind. Having the pop filter angled in a way to be between your mouth and the mic when facing down would help out.
I didn't originally make a comment about your channel art/branding as it's consistent with everything you have so far. That being stated, the very modern, thick font/typeface you use clashes with your simple, unshaded drawings of yourself. Your channel is all about you and in that respect, your 'Wick' thumbnails are perfect with the minor exception of your logo not being present. Placing a little 'Hello' logo under the picture of yourself may work, or you include more images of yourself within your channel art and avatar. Your channel is still young so there's more than enough time to work out what's right for you but there's nothing specific I can advise you on simply on the basis that I don't know your or your personality. What you do, how you express yourself is entirely up to you.
Sorry for the long winded response. Again, your channel is young but I know it will grow significantly. Good luck!
@KyaImatai
Thank you for your kind words. Doing these reviews/critiques has been fantastic. I've seen a variety of channels and videos of all types and of all skill levels. Now more than ever is extremely hard to 'make it big' on YouTube, so I'm more than happy to give my advice as a designer/videographer/jack-of-all-trades in order to help everyone as best as I can. The more competition there is on YouTube the better!
Now to your channel. It's extremely young but I absolutely love the overall branding of it. Font/Typeface is consistent (with the exception of your channel header) across your thumbnails and videos. Nothing more to add except use the same font/typeface from your thumbnails and videos in your channel header. Consistency is key.
For your videos, try not to rely on auto focus. In your '2015 Favourites' video your camera is working overtime to get you into focus which is distracting. That was fixed when you bought your new camera for your 'Vlog #1' video but there are a few moments where it's still trying to focus constantly. I understand that it is convenient (especially the segment in the video where you applied your makeup) but try not to rely on it.
You should consider investing in a few lights (LED or tungsten) to help give more life and professionalism to your videos. You may not think it but choosing the right lighting equipment can alter and significantly change the mood of your shots completely. LED lights tend to be more 'blue', even in their different colour balances. This gives a more 'cool' or 'chilled' mood/vibe to your videos. Using tungsten lamps are more 'orange' in colour which gives off a more 'warm' feel. LEDs are cheaper in the long run (no need to replace lamps) and there are filters you can get to help give off the tungsten lamp look but what you choose (if you choose) is entirely up to you and your budget. Of course, always remember this rule - if it looks like you have enough light, add more light.
I'd also advise investing in a shotgun microphone for your camera if you haven't already. This will help give you a much cleaner audio signal and help reduce the overall background noise.
Overall it's a great start to your channel. I wish you all the best and hope you succeed!
@MOO
Biggest issue facing your channel at the moment is the lack of consistency with your branding. Your avatar, channel art and thumbnails are all over the place in design and colours. Think of something that represents you and use that consistently as your branding going forward.
I'm glad to see your videos improving in quality although your audio still needs a bit of work. If you haven't already, invest in a condenser microphone and pop filter or if you do have a good microphone, try your best to remove background noise and keep vocal levels consistent.
Good luck with your channel!
Audio is finicky to say the least. The best thing you can do is to record room noise before you begin to do your video recordings. Room noise is basically the natural noise/tones of the room you're sitting in. Set up Audacity as you normally would and when you hit record, stay silent for about 10 seconds. Don't say a word. Not a peep. Breathe slowly as to not accidentally record a sample of your breath. After you have your 10 second (although the longer the sample the better) sample, continue your video as you normally would.
Once you finish your recording, select the 10 second sample of room noise you have at the beginning of your file, then go to Effect > Noise Reduction and click 'Get Noise Profile'. Once that's done, highlight all of your audio and go to Effect > Noise Reduction, click on 'Reduce' and hit OK. What that should do is take that 10 second sample you recorded and reduce it across your entire audio recording. If it sounds like crap, as in you can hear a lot of distortion then perhaps you need to record another sample of room noise or not bother with it at all. Experimentation here is key.
After that's all done, make sure you save the file in the .WAV file format. This is a lossless filetype, meaning it's not going to compress the sound (knocking out certain frequencies to reduce the file size) and keep it as clear as possible. The catch of course is that you'll end up with a larger file size than an .MP3 file but the quality is much greater.
The reason you need to save in a high quality format is that by the time you render your entire video and upload it to YouTube, it's going to go through so many different layers of compression that will reduce the overall quality of your video to save file space. Not only is your video going to be somewhat compressed when you render it in whatever program you use, YouTube 'processes' the video after it's finished uploading which adds another layer of compression on top. It's why you need to save your files in as high quality as possible but you need to make sure you have the hard drive space to store it all.
To answer your question about a pop filter, it's used to stop plosives from getting into your recording. Plosives are your 'Bs', 'Ps', 'Ts', 'Cs', 'Ks' etc; words that use a very hard sound. These words tend to blow a lot of air which is extremely audible in vocal recordings. A pop filter in front of a microphone can stop those plosives creeping through but if your mouth is too close to the pop filter, it negates the effect and you'd still hear the plosives coming through. In your videos, your microphone isn't anywhere near your mouth which is good but in the few times you point your head down I can hear you blowing into the mic. You don't do it often enough to be an issue but it's something to keep in mind. Having the pop filter angled in a way to be between your mouth and the mic when facing down would help out.
I didn't originally make a comment about your channel art/branding as it's consistent with everything you have so far. That being stated, the very modern, thick font/typeface you use clashes with your simple, unshaded drawings of yourself. Your channel is all about you and in that respect, your 'Wick' thumbnails are perfect with the minor exception of your logo not being present. Placing a little 'Hello' logo under the picture of yourself may work, or you include more images of yourself within your channel art and avatar. Your channel is still young so there's more than enough time to work out what's right for you but there's nothing specific I can advise you on simply on the basis that I don't know your or your personality. What you do, how you express yourself is entirely up to you.
Sorry for the long winded response. Again, your channel is young but I know it will grow significantly. Good luck!
@KyaImatai
Thank you for your kind words. Doing these reviews/critiques has been fantastic. I've seen a variety of channels and videos of all types and of all skill levels. Now more than ever is extremely hard to 'make it big' on YouTube, so I'm more than happy to give my advice as a designer/videographer/jack-of-all-trades in order to help everyone as best as I can. The more competition there is on YouTube the better!
Now to your channel. It's extremely young but I absolutely love the overall branding of it. Font/Typeface is consistent (with the exception of your channel header) across your thumbnails and videos. Nothing more to add except use the same font/typeface from your thumbnails and videos in your channel header. Consistency is key.
For your videos, try not to rely on auto focus. In your '2015 Favourites' video your camera is working overtime to get you into focus which is distracting. That was fixed when you bought your new camera for your 'Vlog #1' video but there are a few moments where it's still trying to focus constantly. I understand that it is convenient (especially the segment in the video where you applied your makeup) but try not to rely on it.
You should consider investing in a few lights (LED or tungsten) to help give more life and professionalism to your videos. You may not think it but choosing the right lighting equipment can alter and significantly change the mood of your shots completely. LED lights tend to be more 'blue', even in their different colour balances. This gives a more 'cool' or 'chilled' mood/vibe to your videos. Using tungsten lamps are more 'orange' in colour which gives off a more 'warm' feel. LEDs are cheaper in the long run (no need to replace lamps) and there are filters you can get to help give off the tungsten lamp look but what you choose (if you choose) is entirely up to you and your budget. Of course, always remember this rule - if it looks like you have enough light, add more light.
I'd also advise investing in a shotgun microphone for your camera if you haven't already. This will help give you a much cleaner audio signal and help reduce the overall background noise.
Overall it's a great start to your channel. I wish you all the best and hope you succeed!
@MOO
Biggest issue facing your channel at the moment is the lack of consistency with your branding. Your avatar, channel art and thumbnails are all over the place in design and colours. Think of something that represents you and use that consistently as your branding going forward.
I'm glad to see your videos improving in quality although your audio still needs a bit of work. If you haven't already, invest in a condenser microphone and pop filter or if you do have a good microphone, try your best to remove background noise and keep vocal levels consistent.
Good luck with your channel!
Thanks for all the help!!!
