I’m a little embarrassed to say that this is my first YouTube video upload in over 2 years for tofugami.  Instead of doing a DIY video, I decided to try something  different.

Xhaun LOVES to watch the kids play channel and mystery unboxing.  So I decided to give it a shot.  It was fun considering I LOVE playing with toys.  As you can see it’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation themed so it’s posting a lot later than the original goal date of 2 weeks ago since the movie has been in theater for over a week now.

It’s a total learning experience.  I can say it’s not as easy as it looks creating good quality and fun videos.  I want to say thanks to Shawn for helping to edit this one.

So here are the 3 things I learned from creating my first YouTube video upload in over 2 years.

1. Learn to use the equipment, especially the camera.  We just bought 2 Canon EOS Rebel SL2 cameras per the recommendation of Shawn’s research which indicated that these were solid cameras for YouTube videos.  Either one of us have gotten around to learning how to use the camera so as you can see, the video I took, there’s a lot of over-focusing on one area which results in blurred areas throughout the video.  I definitely need to go back and learn to use the camera.  Where is that manual?

I also bought a camera kit with one of the cameras.  I have not placed my fingerprints on these peices either.  I’m sure some of these tools will help me in stabilizing the view.

I also bought a c-stand.  It allows you to shoot with a view from the top.  I actually shot from the top and the front view on the view and if you had looked at some of the clips, it’s actually impressive.  The top camera doesn’t have the same blurry video quality.  I think it’s because it was high enough I actually need to zoom in to shoot it.

Below is a sample of the video from the top in which this video didn’t make the cut.

2.   Timing is everything.   I grossly overestimated the time it took to create a video.  I bought the Hotel Transylvania toys in advance.  I figured I could post it at least by the Wednesday before the movie opened in theater.  I was so wrong!  It took time to get the c-stand in, prep my area, and video editing was just not my gig.  YouTube discontinued their built-in video editing program awhile back which is too bad because it was so easy to use.

I have to tell myself, to allow for more timing for my next video.  (Which will be a fun DIY.)

In addition, if I am looking for engagement with my audience, I definitely missed that window of opportunity.  Again, if Hotel Transylvania 3 is opening on a Friday and I post my video 2 weeks late, chances are that it’s not going to get as many views.  The buzz time has ended.  Thankfully, I am not being bitter about it as I look at this from the perspective of what can I learn from it.

3. Have fun.  So easy right?  Creating a video is hard work but it has to also be fun.  While we can crop out things that go wrong like the video portion clip below in which I realized that the shrink plastic around the toys does right by homeland security strength.  Frustration can show in each clip and ultimately I had to off-screen, use a pair of scissors to snip incisions into each plastic.  Frustration can show in how we edit as well.

And the music choices too.  Since we are not familiar with making music yet (yes, something to tackle on my to-do list), we opted for YouTube’s audio library of music.  It’s limited but worked for the time being on this one.  Shawn and I did have a disagreement on the music though.  I wanted to be able to do a voiceover for the playtime, Shawn did not.  In the interest of time, I will try that another time.  Especially when it relates back to lesson 1 here as I have purchased a microphone system that’s hidden in the dark depths of my closet.

What do you guys think of this newly uploaded tofugami video?  What do you think we could have done differently?