With the growing popularity of YouTube — a platform where people can share anything from the amusing antics of their pets to their amazing performance skills — agents around the world are now scouring the website to look for new and exciting talents they can develop, manage, and groom into the next superstars.
To help all the aspiring artists out there create the best audition video and stand out from the rest of the pack, here are eight simple tips on how to improve your YouTube videos.
1. Sign up for your very own YouTube account and channel: You can’t upload videos without a YouTube account, so either create a new account or sign in with your username at the top right of the YouTube screen.
2. Capture videos directly from webcams: Not all audition videos need to be professionally produced. A stable video that
captures your best take can do the trick just as well. The Record from Webcam feature (http://www.youtube.com/my_webcam)
lets you record a quick video without hauling out the camera.
3. Upload in ultra-high definition and beyond: Low resolution is great for mobile phones, but for maximum cinematic impact, videos should be viewed on large screens with the highest resolution possible.
4. Streamline your uploads: Uploading a set of videos one by one is time-consuming and, so just head to Advanced Video Upload (http://upload.youtube.com/my_videos_upload) and start uploading videos in batches.
5. Edit videos in YouTube: Just use YouTube’s free online Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor) to splice and trim your footage — without downloading any software.
6. Update your followers automatically: Share your latest videos with your Facebook and Twitter followers immediately with
Autoshare. The feature allows you to automatically share your YouTube activity with friends on social networks and aggregator sites like Google Reader. To turn on Autoshare, go to the “Activate Sharing” section of the “Account” page (http://www.youtube.com/account_sharing) and start linking to your accounts on other sites.
7. Learn about your audience: Successful video creators on YouTube know their audience well, and the best place to learn more
about who is watching your videos is YouTube Insight (http://www.youtube.com/t/advertising_insight) — a free tool which gives you detailed statistics about your videos and helps establish when and where your videos are popular.
8. Learn production straight from the pros: For more ideas and production tips, check out YouTube Creator’s Corner (http://www.youtube.com/t/creators_corner), which is ideal for aspiring videographers with big dreams and small budgets.
Here you’ll find tips and tools for editing your footage, creating animations, optimizing your video and even project ideas.
YouTube is a platform that evens the playing field so that anyone can be discovered and become a global sensation.