A Step-by-Step Approach to Professional Video Sharing

The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Live Streaming

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Live streaming on YouTube is a great way to get more engagement from your audience, even if you do not have a huge following. As long as you have some reliable subscribers leaving comments on your videos you should be able to schedule a live stream and know it will have an audience. People feel a personal connection with their favorite vloggers so if you give your subscribers a chance to interact with you in real time they will probably plan to join in. The key to a good live streaming is to respond to comments and questions from people who are watching. Besides watching the live chat of your video you can create a hashtag for your stream and monitor it on twitter.

Table of Contents

• Why Livestream?
• Type of Content to Livestream
• What You Need to Livestream On YouTube
• 4 Ways to Setup Your Livestream On YouTube
• 8 Tips to Improve Your Livestream on YouTube
• How to Grow As A Livestreamer on YouTube

Why Livestream?

You have grown your audience, and now you want to take your channel to the next level and diversify your content.

Whether you are vlogging, gaming, or running tutorials on YouTube, there is potential to host a live broadcast. It’s not limited to any genre, you simply need to create content that people are interested in watching.

Before we get started into the How, let’s start with a few reasons Why you should be live streaming your content.

Connect and engage with your audience

When a viewer leaves a comment during a livestream you will be able to see it right away and respond. Having an instantaneous conversation with a viewer while they are watching your video will encourage more engagement and establish a ber relationship with your viewers — and you will know that these viewers are not bots.

Increase watch time and session watch time on your channel

If you are making YouTube videos on average 10 minutes long, and the viewer only watches half of it, that’s only 5 minutes of watch time, which is fine… But if you are live streaming for 45 minutes, and you are able to hold the viewer’s attention, you can surpass what your regular videos can do.

Make videos faster

As a YouTuber, you are always striving to be more efficient. Live streaming allows you to do that as you can set up and go. The content you end up creating during the duration of your livestream can then also be condensed into a highlight reel or a recap.

With a bit of planning before you go live, you can create a week’s worth of content in one go, instead of having multiple schedules for livestream content and your standard publishing videos.

Type of Content to Livestream

Live streaming has a lot of value, but what type of content should you be streaming?

Here are a few popular ideas for content that will attract viewers to your livestream:

Q&A session

Unboxing

Game or challenge

Sneak preview or review

Live events (just make sure the Internet can support it)

A demo or a tutorial

A live commentary or (if you are a gamer) Let’s Play video

What You Need to Livestream On YouTube

A Plan or Outline

It’s good to know what your livestream is going to be about before you start. Is there a key message you want to hit, an action you want your viewers to take, or a structure you want to follow.

Just because it’s live, doesn’t mean it all has to be improvised. If you go in without a plan, you might end up feeling flustered or getting stressed out. Allow for spontaneous comments or events to take you off your initial plan, but always return to your outline so you know how to wrap up your livestream when you have to.

Stable Internet Connection

You cannot conduct a quality livestream, if your Internet is bad. When evaluating your internet connection for live streaming on YouTube, look at the Upload speed. Depending on the quality of your video, these are the minimum upload speed rates your Internet will need to perform:

480p = 1.5 mbps

720p = 3 mbps

1080 = 5 mbps

In addition, be aware of external causes that may be slowing down your internet such as someone else using it, a poorly performing router, or a damaged cable.

Camera

If you have a smartphone or a laptop with a webcam built in, that is the best camera for you to get started live streaming. It’s good to have a milestone and work towards a more advanced camera, but until then, don’t feel discouraged because you don’t have expensive gear. If you have a smartphone, a laptop, or a basic webcam, that’s perfectly fine.

Microphone

You don’t need a great microphone for live streaming, you only need a good one. If you do want to spend several hundred to a thousand dollars for a professional studio microphone, nobody will stop you, but know this, a mic that is easy to use is as important as the audio quality as you develop a consistent live streaming schedule.

Streaming Software (For Higher Quality Streams)

Once upon a time, to livestream on YouTube, you needed additional software to capture content from desktop, camera, microphone, etc, called encoding software — but not anymore.

Those encoding software, such as OBS , Wirecast , and VMix , are required if you are producing content that requires a high frame rate such as gaming, but not mandatory if you are simply vlogging or running a tutorial.

If you are using Chrome, you canstream live on YouTube without using an encoder .

A Capture Card (For Higher Quality Streams)

You will need a capture card when you are capturing footage from a different PC or console. If you are a gamer and you are using one PC to stream and one PC to play your game, then you should consider getting a capture card.

4 Ways to Setup Your Livestream On YouTube

There are 4 main ways you can start live streaming on YouTube. The one that works best for you depends on the content you are going to be streaming.

1. Camera/Go Live (Chrome Browser)

By accessing www.youtube.com/webcam on the Google Chrome browser, you can start streaming immediately through your connected webcam. This way is best for a simple Q&A or letting your viewers know your thoughts in a timely situation. This method does not require an encoder.

There are 3 ways to access livestream this way:

1. Click here to connect to your YouTube channel

2. You can access it from the top menu on YouTube

3. You can access it by clicking Camera under the Live Streaming tab in your Creator Studio

2. Google Hangouts On Air (Quick)

Another way to livestream without an encoding software is by using the Google Hangouts On Air feature.

This is great if you want the feel of your livestream to be similar to a board meeting, where you can invite people, split screen, and share screen to illustrate your point.

Here’s how you can access this Google Hangouts On Air:

Step 1: Go to Events under the Live Streaming tab in your Creator Studio

Step 2: Click New Live Event button on the top right corner

Step 3: Enter the event’s Info and Setting page. Fill out the details of your Livestream, and under Type, select Quick (using Google Hangouts On Air).

Step 4: You can schedule your livestream or Go Live immediately by clicking one of the blue buttons on the left-hand side.

3. Mobile

Live streaming via your mobile device gives you a lot more freedom to maneuver. You can walk around and give your viewers a tour — but remember to stay within the WiFi or LTE range. That means you still won’t be able to livestream well inside an elevator.

Here’s how you can livestream on mobile:

Step 1: Access the YouTube app and make sure you are signed in to the account you want to livestream from.

Step 2: At the top, click on the camera icon

Step 3: Click on Go Live

Pro Tip: When live streaming, always hold your smartphone horizontally. This allows your video to be oriented as a landscape, instead of a portrait.

4. Custom Encoder

The fourth way of live streaming on YouTube is with encoding software. This is the recommended method if video quality is essential, such as gaming videos.

Step 1: Download and install an encoding software. In this example, we’ll be using OBS .

Step 2: Open OBS

Step 3: Go to YouTube Creator Studio and enter the Stream Now page

Step 4: Under Encoder Setup, copy Stream name/key (Warning: DO NOT share this key with anyone)

Step 5: Return to OBS and enter the Setting menu on the lower right-hand side of the application

Step 6: Click into the Stream tab

a) Under Stream Type, select Streaming Services

b) Under Service, select YouTube/YouTube Gaming

c) Under Server, select Primary YouTube ingest server

d) In Stream Key box, paste the Stream Key you copied from YouTube

e) Click Apply and then OK

Step 7: Plug in your webcam

Step 8: In the main OBS dashboard, under the Sources menu, click the + icon and add Video Capture Device. You should now see visuals from your Webcam.

Step 9: Select the Resolution you want for your video and click OK

Step 10: Return to your YouTube Streaming Page and fill out the details of your livestream

Step 11: Go back to OBS and click Start Streaming

Step 12: See on YouTube Streaming Page at the top that you are Live. You are officially streaming. Once You are finished streaming, return to OBS and click Stop Streaming to end the stream.

8 Tips to Improve Your Livestream on YouTube

Do Speed Test

Before you start your livestream, do a speed test of your Internet. Check out from here.

Have Good Lighting

Be aware of your surroundings when you are about to livestream. You don’t need the top-notch lighting kit, you can simply sit beside a window and allow natural lights to illuminate your stream.

Shoot A Live Test (Unlisted)

Have a technical rehearsal by doing a livestream test, then rewatching it, and evaluating the quality of the audio and visual.

You don’t have to worry about your audience logging in and seeing your test if you set the Privacy of the stream to Unlisted.

Look at the Lens, Not the Screen

If you are streaming with the selfie camera on your smartphone or using your camera’s viewfinder to make sure you are in the frame, remember that you need to be looking at the lens — not the image of yourself.

Eye contact is important in building trust, and if you are looking at yourself, it will appear as if you are looking past your viewers instead of at them.

Show It To Your Viewers

Whatever you are talking about, if you can, show it to your viewers. YouTube is a visual medium, and that means your viewers can become disinterested if there’s nothing visual holding their attention.

In the beginning, you probably won’t have a multi-camera setup, so you cannot cut away from your livestream. However, you can share the screen and you can bring physical objects into a frame.

If you are talking about your dog, show her on camera. If you’re presenting something with a lot of steps, create a Powerpoint slideshow.

Consider what visuals or props you can add to your livestream to enhance your performance.

Find A Way to Make it Evergreen

Evergreen content refers to content that is relevant for a great length of time. Talking about an event isn’t evergreen, because the event will soon pass and become old news. However, giving some tips for how to plan an event would be evergreen content.

Since your livestream will be saved on YouTube and your viewers can replay and watch it. They’re more likely to enjoy it if the content is relevant and interesting.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Long

A livestream doesn’t need to be 40 minutes long. It only needs to be long enough for you to get your story across — and if you want to answer some questions and engage with your audience. As soon as your story is over, even if it’s only 5 minutes, that’s okay. Don’t stress about the length of your stream, it’s not an endurance competition.

Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes

Another thing you shouldn’t worry about at all is making mistakes. When you are doing livestreams pretend you are engaging with someone in real life. In real life, you aren’t able to edit out your mistakes, whether it’s a word mispronounced or coffee spilling. Roll with it and laugh it off.

How to Grow As A Livestreamer on YouTube

Let People Know When You Are Streaming

Give people enough time to schedule it in, don’t spring it on them in the last minute. Share it on social media, your website, and any other means.

Create a Streaming Link 2 Days Before

Share your livestream link via social media to remind everyone to tune in when you go live. Looking for your link? It should look something like this: <www.youtube.com/user/\[channelname\]/live>

Reach Out To the Communities Most Interested

If you are going to be live streaming about a specific topic, such as photography, you should reach out to those who are interested in the topic. Highlight what aspect of photography you are going to be streaming and attract new viewers to your content.

Be Aware of Time Difference

If you have an international audience, find time to livestream where you can get the optimal amount of viewers.

You can find the location of your main demographic in your YouTube analytics .

Create a Channel Trailer to Promote Livestream

Make a video and host it as your channel trailer, that way anyone who lands on your YouTube page will see the promo for your livestream.

Promote Through Feature Content and Channel

YouTube has a feature that enables you to use your existing content to promote your upcoming livestream.

Here’s how to set it up:

Key Takeaways

1. Live streaming will help you make more videos, engage with your audience, and grow your channel.
2. You don’t need expensive equipment to livestream on YouTube, you only need a webcam and a microphone.
3. YouTube has made live streaming as easy as a few clicks, no additional software needed unless you are gaming.
4. Always do a test run of your livestream to ensure the internet, audio, and visual are all working properly.
5. Create content and reach out to communities to promote your livestream.

Have you encountered any obstacles when setting up your livestream on YouTube? Let us know in the comments below, we are happy to help!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Live streaming on YouTube is a great way to get more engagement from your audience, even if you do not have a huge following. As long as you have some reliable subscribers leaving comments on your videos you should be able to schedule a live stream and know it will have an audience. People feel a personal connection with their favorite vloggers so if you give your subscribers a chance to interact with you in real time they will probably plan to join in. The key to a good live streaming is to respond to comments and questions from people who are watching. Besides watching the live chat of your video you can create a hashtag for your stream and monitor it on twitter.

Table of Contents

• Why Livestream?
• Type of Content to Livestream
• What You Need to Livestream On YouTube
• 4 Ways to Setup Your Livestream On YouTube
• 8 Tips to Improve Your Livestream on YouTube
• How to Grow As A Livestreamer on YouTube

Why Livestream?

You have grown your audience, and now you want to take your channel to the next level and diversify your content.

Whether you are vlogging, gaming, or running tutorials on YouTube, there is potential to host a live broadcast. It’s not limited to any genre, you simply need to create content that people are interested in watching.

Before we get started into the How, let’s start with a few reasons Why you should be live streaming your content.

Connect and engage with your audience

When a viewer leaves a comment during a livestream you will be able to see it right away and respond. Having an instantaneous conversation with a viewer while they are watching your video will encourage more engagement and establish a ber relationship with your viewers — and you will know that these viewers are not bots.

Increase watch time and session watch time on your channel

If you are making YouTube videos on average 10 minutes long, and the viewer only watches half of it, that’s only 5 minutes of watch time, which is fine… But if you are live streaming for 45 minutes, and you are able to hold the viewer’s attention, you can surpass what your regular videos can do.

Make videos faster

As a YouTuber, you are always striving to be more efficient. Live streaming allows you to do that as you can set up and go. The content you end up creating during the duration of your livestream can then also be condensed into a highlight reel or a recap.

With a bit of planning before you go live, you can create a week’s worth of content in one go, instead of having multiple schedules for livestream content and your standard publishing videos.

Type of Content to Livestream

Live streaming has a lot of value, but what type of content should you be streaming?

Here are a few popular ideas for content that will attract viewers to your livestream:

Q&A session

Unboxing

Game or challenge

Sneak preview or review

Live events (just make sure the Internet can support it)

A demo or a tutorial

A live commentary or (if you are a gamer) Let’s Play video

What You Need to Livestream On YouTube

A Plan or Outline

It’s good to know what your livestream is going to be about before you start. Is there a key message you want to hit, an action you want your viewers to take, or a structure you want to follow.

Just because it’s live, doesn’t mean it all has to be improvised. If you go in without a plan, you might end up feeling flustered or getting stressed out. Allow for spontaneous comments or events to take you off your initial plan, but always return to your outline so you know how to wrap up your livestream when you have to.

Stable Internet Connection

You cannot conduct a quality livestream, if your Internet is bad. When evaluating your internet connection for live streaming on YouTube, look at the Upload speed. Depending on the quality of your video, these are the minimum upload speed rates your Internet will need to perform:

480p = 1.5 mbps

720p = 3 mbps

1080 = 5 mbps

In addition, be aware of external causes that may be slowing down your internet such as someone else using it, a poorly performing router, or a damaged cable.

Camera

If you have a smartphone or a laptop with a webcam built in, that is the best camera for you to get started live streaming. It’s good to have a milestone and work towards a more advanced camera, but until then, don’t feel discouraged because you don’t have expensive gear. If you have a smartphone, a laptop, or a basic webcam, that’s perfectly fine.

Microphone

You don’t need a great microphone for live streaming, you only need a good one. If you do want to spend several hundred to a thousand dollars for a professional studio microphone, nobody will stop you, but know this, a mic that is easy to use is as important as the audio quality as you develop a consistent live streaming schedule.

Streaming Software (For Higher Quality Streams)

Once upon a time, to livestream on YouTube, you needed additional software to capture content from desktop, camera, microphone, etc, called encoding software — but not anymore.

Those encoding software, such as OBS , Wirecast , and VMix , are required if you are producing content that requires a high frame rate such as gaming, but not mandatory if you are simply vlogging or running a tutorial.

If you are using Chrome, you canstream live on YouTube without using an encoder .

A Capture Card (For Higher Quality Streams)

You will need a capture card when you are capturing footage from a different PC or console. If you are a gamer and you are using one PC to stream and one PC to play your game, then you should consider getting a capture card.

4 Ways to Setup Your Livestream On YouTube

There are 4 main ways you can start live streaming on YouTube. The one that works best for you depends on the content you are going to be streaming.

1. Camera/Go Live (Chrome Browser)

By accessing www.youtube.com/webcam on the Google Chrome browser, you can start streaming immediately through your connected webcam. This way is best for a simple Q&A or letting your viewers know your thoughts in a timely situation. This method does not require an encoder.

There are 3 ways to access livestream this way:

1. Click here to connect to your YouTube channel

2. You can access it from the top menu on YouTube

3. You can access it by clicking Camera under the Live Streaming tab in your Creator Studio

2. Google Hangouts On Air (Quick)

Another way to livestream without an encoding software is by using the Google Hangouts On Air feature.

This is great if you want the feel of your livestream to be similar to a board meeting, where you can invite people, split screen, and share screen to illustrate your point.

Here’s how you can access this Google Hangouts On Air:

Step 1: Go to Events under the Live Streaming tab in your Creator Studio

Step 2: Click New Live Event button on the top right corner

Step 3: Enter the event’s Info and Setting page. Fill out the details of your Livestream, and under Type, select Quick (using Google Hangouts On Air).

Step 4: You can schedule your livestream or Go Live immediately by clicking one of the blue buttons on the left-hand side.

3. Mobile

Live streaming via your mobile device gives you a lot more freedom to maneuver. You can walk around and give your viewers a tour — but remember to stay within the WiFi or LTE range. That means you still won’t be able to livestream well inside an elevator.

Here’s how you can livestream on mobile:

Step 1: Access the YouTube app and make sure you are signed in to the account you want to livestream from.

Step 2: At the top, click on the camera icon

Step 3: Click on Go Live

Pro Tip: When live streaming, always hold your smartphone horizontally. This allows your video to be oriented as a landscape, instead of a portrait.

4. Custom Encoder

The fourth way of live streaming on YouTube is with encoding software. This is the recommended method if video quality is essential, such as gaming videos.

Step 1: Download and install an encoding software. In this example, we’ll be using OBS .

Step 2: Open OBS

Step 3: Go to YouTube Creator Studio and enter the Stream Now page

Step 4: Under Encoder Setup, copy Stream name/key (Warning: DO NOT share this key with anyone)

Step 5: Return to OBS and enter the Setting menu on the lower right-hand side of the application

Step 6: Click into the Stream tab

a) Under Stream Type, select Streaming Services

b) Under Service, select YouTube/YouTube Gaming

c) Under Server, select Primary YouTube ingest server

d) In Stream Key box, paste the Stream Key you copied from YouTube

e) Click Apply and then OK

Step 7: Plug in your webcam

Step 8: In the main OBS dashboard, under the Sources menu, click the + icon and add Video Capture Device. You should now see visuals from your Webcam.

Step 9: Select the Resolution you want for your video and click OK

Step 10: Return to your YouTube Streaming Page and fill out the details of your livestream

Step 11: Go back to OBS and click Start Streaming

Step 12: See on YouTube Streaming Page at the top that you are Live. You are officially streaming. Once You are finished streaming, return to OBS and click Stop Streaming to end the stream.

8 Tips to Improve Your Livestream on YouTube

Do Speed Test

Before you start your livestream, do a speed test of your Internet. Check out from here.

Have Good Lighting

Be aware of your surroundings when you are about to livestream. You don’t need the top-notch lighting kit, you can simply sit beside a window and allow natural lights to illuminate your stream.

Shoot A Live Test (Unlisted)

Have a technical rehearsal by doing a livestream test, then rewatching it, and evaluating the quality of the audio and visual.

You don’t have to worry about your audience logging in and seeing your test if you set the Privacy of the stream to Unlisted.

Look at the Lens, Not the Screen

If you are streaming with the selfie camera on your smartphone or using your camera’s viewfinder to make sure you are in the frame, remember that you need to be looking at the lens — not the image of yourself.

Eye contact is important in building trust, and if you are looking at yourself, it will appear as if you are looking past your viewers instead of at them.

Show It To Your Viewers

Whatever you are talking about, if you can, show it to your viewers. YouTube is a visual medium, and that means your viewers can become disinterested if there’s nothing visual holding their attention.

In the beginning, you probably won’t have a multi-camera setup, so you cannot cut away from your livestream. However, you can share the screen and you can bring physical objects into a frame.

If you are talking about your dog, show her on camera. If you’re presenting something with a lot of steps, create a Powerpoint slideshow.

Consider what visuals or props you can add to your livestream to enhance your performance.

Find A Way to Make it Evergreen

Evergreen content refers to content that is relevant for a great length of time. Talking about an event isn’t evergreen, because the event will soon pass and become old news. However, giving some tips for how to plan an event would be evergreen content.

Since your livestream will be saved on YouTube and your viewers can replay and watch it. They’re more likely to enjoy it if the content is relevant and interesting.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Long

A livestream doesn’t need to be 40 minutes long. It only needs to be long enough for you to get your story across — and if you want to answer some questions and engage with your audience. As soon as your story is over, even if it’s only 5 minutes, that’s okay. Don’t stress about the length of your stream, it’s not an endurance competition.

Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes

Another thing you shouldn’t worry about at all is making mistakes. When you are doing livestreams pretend you are engaging with someone in real life. In real life, you aren’t able to edit out your mistakes, whether it’s a word mispronounced or coffee spilling. Roll with it and laugh it off.

How to Grow As A Livestreamer on YouTube

Let People Know When You Are Streaming

Give people enough time to schedule it in, don’t spring it on them in the last minute. Share it on social media, your website, and any other means.

Create a Streaming Link 2 Days Before

Share your livestream link via social media to remind everyone to tune in when you go live. Looking for your link? It should look something like this: <www.youtube.com/user/\[channelname\]/live>

Reach Out To the Communities Most Interested

If you are going to be live streaming about a specific topic, such as photography, you should reach out to those who are interested in the topic. Highlight what aspect of photography you are going to be streaming and attract new viewers to your content.

Be Aware of Time Difference

If you have an international audience, find time to livestream where you can get the optimal amount of viewers.

You can find the location of your main demographic in your YouTube analytics .

Create a Channel Trailer to Promote Livestream

Make a video and host it as your channel trailer, that way anyone who lands on your YouTube page will see the promo for your livestream.

Promote Through Feature Content and Channel

YouTube has a feature that enables you to use your existing content to promote your upcoming livestream.

Here’s how to set it up:

Key Takeaways

1. Live streaming will help you make more videos, engage with your audience, and grow your channel.
2. You don’t need expensive equipment to livestream on YouTube, you only need a webcam and a microphone.
3. YouTube has made live streaming as easy as a few clicks, no additional software needed unless you are gaming.
4. Always do a test run of your livestream to ensure the internet, audio, and visual are all working properly.
5. Create content and reach out to communities to promote your livestream.

Have you encountered any obstacles when setting up your livestream on YouTube? Let us know in the comments below, we are happy to help!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Live streaming on YouTube is a great way to get more engagement from your audience, even if you do not have a huge following. As long as you have some reliable subscribers leaving comments on your videos you should be able to schedule a live stream and know it will have an audience. People feel a personal connection with their favorite vloggers so if you give your subscribers a chance to interact with you in real time they will probably plan to join in. The key to a good live streaming is to respond to comments and questions from people who are watching. Besides watching the live chat of your video you can create a hashtag for your stream and monitor it on twitter.

Table of Contents

• Why Livestream?
• Type of Content to Livestream
• What You Need to Livestream On YouTube
• 4 Ways to Setup Your Livestream On YouTube
• 8 Tips to Improve Your Livestream on YouTube
• How to Grow As A Livestreamer on YouTube

Why Livestream?

You have grown your audience, and now you want to take your channel to the next level and diversify your content.

Whether you are vlogging, gaming, or running tutorials on YouTube, there is potential to host a live broadcast. It’s not limited to any genre, you simply need to create content that people are interested in watching.

Before we get started into the How, let’s start with a few reasons Why you should be live streaming your content.

Connect and engage with your audience

When a viewer leaves a comment during a livestream you will be able to see it right away and respond. Having an instantaneous conversation with a viewer while they are watching your video will encourage more engagement and establish a ber relationship with your viewers — and you will know that these viewers are not bots.

Increase watch time and session watch time on your channel

If you are making YouTube videos on average 10 minutes long, and the viewer only watches half of it, that’s only 5 minutes of watch time, which is fine… But if you are live streaming for 45 minutes, and you are able to hold the viewer’s attention, you can surpass what your regular videos can do.

Make videos faster

As a YouTuber, you are always striving to be more efficient. Live streaming allows you to do that as you can set up and go. The content you end up creating during the duration of your livestream can then also be condensed into a highlight reel or a recap.

With a bit of planning before you go live, you can create a week’s worth of content in one go, instead of having multiple schedules for livestream content and your standard publishing videos.

Type of Content to Livestream

Live streaming has a lot of value, but what type of content should you be streaming?

Here are a few popular ideas for content that will attract viewers to your livestream:

Q&A session

Unboxing

Game or challenge

Sneak preview or review

Live events (just make sure the Internet can support it)

A demo or a tutorial

A live commentary or (if you are a gamer) Let’s Play video

What You Need to Livestream On YouTube

A Plan or Outline

It’s good to know what your livestream is going to be about before you start. Is there a key message you want to hit, an action you want your viewers to take, or a structure you want to follow.

Just because it’s live, doesn’t mean it all has to be improvised. If you go in without a plan, you might end up feeling flustered or getting stressed out. Allow for spontaneous comments or events to take you off your initial plan, but always return to your outline so you know how to wrap up your livestream when you have to.

Stable Internet Connection

You cannot conduct a quality livestream, if your Internet is bad. When evaluating your internet connection for live streaming on YouTube, look at the Upload speed. Depending on the quality of your video, these are the minimum upload speed rates your Internet will need to perform:

480p = 1.5 mbps

720p = 3 mbps

1080 = 5 mbps

In addition, be aware of external causes that may be slowing down your internet such as someone else using it, a poorly performing router, or a damaged cable.

Camera

If you have a smartphone or a laptop with a webcam built in, that is the best camera for you to get started live streaming. It’s good to have a milestone and work towards a more advanced camera, but until then, don’t feel discouraged because you don’t have expensive gear. If you have a smartphone, a laptop, or a basic webcam, that’s perfectly fine.

Microphone

You don’t need a great microphone for live streaming, you only need a good one. If you do want to spend several hundred to a thousand dollars for a professional studio microphone, nobody will stop you, but know this, a mic that is easy to use is as important as the audio quality as you develop a consistent live streaming schedule.

Streaming Software (For Higher Quality Streams)

Once upon a time, to livestream on YouTube, you needed additional software to capture content from desktop, camera, microphone, etc, called encoding software — but not anymore.

Those encoding software, such as OBS , Wirecast , and VMix , are required if you are producing content that requires a high frame rate such as gaming, but not mandatory if you are simply vlogging or running a tutorial.

If you are using Chrome, you canstream live on YouTube without using an encoder .

A Capture Card (For Higher Quality Streams)

You will need a capture card when you are capturing footage from a different PC or console. If you are a gamer and you are using one PC to stream and one PC to play your game, then you should consider getting a capture card.

4 Ways to Setup Your Livestream On YouTube

There are 4 main ways you can start live streaming on YouTube. The one that works best for you depends on the content you are going to be streaming.

1. Camera/Go Live (Chrome Browser)

By accessing www.youtube.com/webcam on the Google Chrome browser, you can start streaming immediately through your connected webcam. This way is best for a simple Q&A or letting your viewers know your thoughts in a timely situation. This method does not require an encoder.

There are 3 ways to access livestream this way:

1. Click here to connect to your YouTube channel

2. You can access it from the top menu on YouTube

3. You can access it by clicking Camera under the Live Streaming tab in your Creator Studio

2. Google Hangouts On Air (Quick)

Another way to livestream without an encoding software is by using the Google Hangouts On Air feature.

This is great if you want the feel of your livestream to be similar to a board meeting, where you can invite people, split screen, and share screen to illustrate your point.

Here’s how you can access this Google Hangouts On Air:

Step 1: Go to Events under the Live Streaming tab in your Creator Studio

Step 2: Click New Live Event button on the top right corner

Step 3: Enter the event’s Info and Setting page. Fill out the details of your Livestream, and under Type, select Quick (using Google Hangouts On Air).

Step 4: You can schedule your livestream or Go Live immediately by clicking one of the blue buttons on the left-hand side.

3. Mobile

Live streaming via your mobile device gives you a lot more freedom to maneuver. You can walk around and give your viewers a tour — but remember to stay within the WiFi or LTE range. That means you still won’t be able to livestream well inside an elevator.

Here’s how you can livestream on mobile:

Step 1: Access the YouTube app and make sure you are signed in to the account you want to livestream from.

Step 2: At the top, click on the camera icon

Step 3: Click on Go Live

Pro Tip: When live streaming, always hold your smartphone horizontally. This allows your video to be oriented as a landscape, instead of a portrait.

4. Custom Encoder

The fourth way of live streaming on YouTube is with encoding software. This is the recommended method if video quality is essential, such as gaming videos.

Step 1: Download and install an encoding software. In this example, we’ll be using OBS .

Step 2: Open OBS

Step 3: Go to YouTube Creator Studio and enter the Stream Now page

Step 4: Under Encoder Setup, copy Stream name/key (Warning: DO NOT share this key with anyone)

Step 5: Return to OBS and enter the Setting menu on the lower right-hand side of the application

Step 6: Click into the Stream tab

a) Under Stream Type, select Streaming Services

b) Under Service, select YouTube/YouTube Gaming

c) Under Server, select Primary YouTube ingest server

d) In Stream Key box, paste the Stream Key you copied from YouTube

e) Click Apply and then OK

Step 7: Plug in your webcam

Step 8: In the main OBS dashboard, under the Sources menu, click the + icon and add Video Capture Device. You should now see visuals from your Webcam.

Step 9: Select the Resolution you want for your video and click OK

Step 10: Return to your YouTube Streaming Page and fill out the details of your livestream

Step 11: Go back to OBS and click Start Streaming

Step 12: See on YouTube Streaming Page at the top that you are Live. You are officially streaming. Once You are finished streaming, return to OBS and click Stop Streaming to end the stream.

8 Tips to Improve Your Livestream on YouTube

Do Speed Test

Before you start your livestream, do a speed test of your Internet. Check out from here.

Have Good Lighting

Be aware of your surroundings when you are about to livestream. You don’t need the top-notch lighting kit, you can simply sit beside a window and allow natural lights to illuminate your stream.

Shoot A Live Test (Unlisted)

Have a technical rehearsal by doing a livestream test, then rewatching it, and evaluating the quality of the audio and visual.

You don’t have to worry about your audience logging in and seeing your test if you set the Privacy of the stream to Unlisted.

Look at the Lens, Not the Screen

If you are streaming with the selfie camera on your smartphone or using your camera’s viewfinder to make sure you are in the frame, remember that you need to be looking at the lens — not the image of yourself.

Eye contact is important in building trust, and if you are looking at yourself, it will appear as if you are looking past your viewers instead of at them.

Show It To Your Viewers

Whatever you are talking about, if you can, show it to your viewers. YouTube is a visual medium, and that means your viewers can become disinterested if there’s nothing visual holding their attention.

In the beginning, you probably won’t have a multi-camera setup, so you cannot cut away from your livestream. However, you can share the screen and you can bring physical objects into a frame.

If you are talking about your dog, show her on camera. If you’re presenting something with a lot of steps, create a Powerpoint slideshow.

Consider what visuals or props you can add to your livestream to enhance your performance.

Find A Way to Make it Evergreen

Evergreen content refers to content that is relevant for a great length of time. Talking about an event isn’t evergreen, because the event will soon pass and become old news. However, giving some tips for how to plan an event would be evergreen content.

Since your livestream will be saved on YouTube and your viewers can replay and watch it. They’re more likely to enjoy it if the content is relevant and interesting.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Long

A livestream doesn’t need to be 40 minutes long. It only needs to be long enough for you to get your story across — and if you want to answer some questions and engage with your audience. As soon as your story is over, even if it’s only 5 minutes, that’s okay. Don’t stress about the length of your stream, it’s not an endurance competition.

Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes

Another thing you shouldn’t worry about at all is making mistakes. When you are doing livestreams pretend you are engaging with someone in real life. In real life, you aren’t able to edit out your mistakes, whether it’s a word mispronounced or coffee spilling. Roll with it and laugh it off.

How to Grow As A Livestreamer on YouTube

Let People Know When You Are Streaming

Give people enough time to schedule it in, don’t spring it on them in the last minute. Share it on social media, your website, and any other means.

Create a Streaming Link 2 Days Before

Share your livestream link via social media to remind everyone to tune in when you go live. Looking for your link? It should look something like this: <www.youtube.com/user/\[channelname\]/live>

Reach Out To the Communities Most Interested

If you are going to be live streaming about a specific topic, such as photography, you should reach out to those who are interested in the topic. Highlight what aspect of photography you are going to be streaming and attract new viewers to your content.

Be Aware of Time Difference

If you have an international audience, find time to livestream where you can get the optimal amount of viewers.

You can find the location of your main demographic in your YouTube analytics .

Create a Channel Trailer to Promote Livestream

Make a video and host it as your channel trailer, that way anyone who lands on your YouTube page will see the promo for your livestream.

Promote Through Feature Content and Channel

YouTube has a feature that enables you to use your existing content to promote your upcoming livestream.

Here’s how to set it up:

Key Takeaways

1. Live streaming will help you make more videos, engage with your audience, and grow your channel.
2. You don’t need expensive equipment to livestream on YouTube, you only need a webcam and a microphone.
3. YouTube has made live streaming as easy as a few clicks, no additional software needed unless you are gaming.
4. Always do a test run of your livestream to ensure the internet, audio, and visual are all working properly.
5. Create content and reach out to communities to promote your livestream.

Have you encountered any obstacles when setting up your livestream on YouTube? Let us know in the comments below, we are happy to help!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Live streaming on YouTube is a great way to get more engagement from your audience, even if you do not have a huge following. As long as you have some reliable subscribers leaving comments on your videos you should be able to schedule a live stream and know it will have an audience. People feel a personal connection with their favorite vloggers so if you give your subscribers a chance to interact with you in real time they will probably plan to join in. The key to a good live streaming is to respond to comments and questions from people who are watching. Besides watching the live chat of your video you can create a hashtag for your stream and monitor it on twitter.

Table of Contents

• Why Livestream?
• Type of Content to Livestream
• What You Need to Livestream On YouTube
• 4 Ways to Setup Your Livestream On YouTube
• 8 Tips to Improve Your Livestream on YouTube
• How to Grow As A Livestreamer on YouTube

Why Livestream?

You have grown your audience, and now you want to take your channel to the next level and diversify your content.

Whether you are vlogging, gaming, or running tutorials on YouTube, there is potential to host a live broadcast. It’s not limited to any genre, you simply need to create content that people are interested in watching.

Before we get started into the How, let’s start with a few reasons Why you should be live streaming your content.

Connect and engage with your audience

When a viewer leaves a comment during a livestream you will be able to see it right away and respond. Having an instantaneous conversation with a viewer while they are watching your video will encourage more engagement and establish a ber relationship with your viewers — and you will know that these viewers are not bots.

Increase watch time and session watch time on your channel

If you are making YouTube videos on average 10 minutes long, and the viewer only watches half of it, that’s only 5 minutes of watch time, which is fine… But if you are live streaming for 45 minutes, and you are able to hold the viewer’s attention, you can surpass what your regular videos can do.

Make videos faster

As a YouTuber, you are always striving to be more efficient. Live streaming allows you to do that as you can set up and go. The content you end up creating during the duration of your livestream can then also be condensed into a highlight reel or a recap.

With a bit of planning before you go live, you can create a week’s worth of content in one go, instead of having multiple schedules for livestream content and your standard publishing videos.

Type of Content to Livestream

Live streaming has a lot of value, but what type of content should you be streaming?

Here are a few popular ideas for content that will attract viewers to your livestream:

Q&A session

Unboxing

Game or challenge

Sneak preview or review

Live events (just make sure the Internet can support it)

A demo or a tutorial

A live commentary or (if you are a gamer) Let’s Play video

What You Need to Livestream On YouTube

A Plan or Outline

It’s good to know what your livestream is going to be about before you start. Is there a key message you want to hit, an action you want your viewers to take, or a structure you want to follow.

Just because it’s live, doesn’t mean it all has to be improvised. If you go in without a plan, you might end up feeling flustered or getting stressed out. Allow for spontaneous comments or events to take you off your initial plan, but always return to your outline so you know how to wrap up your livestream when you have to.

Stable Internet Connection

You cannot conduct a quality livestream, if your Internet is bad. When evaluating your internet connection for live streaming on YouTube, look at the Upload speed. Depending on the quality of your video, these are the minimum upload speed rates your Internet will need to perform:

480p = 1.5 mbps

720p = 3 mbps

1080 = 5 mbps

In addition, be aware of external causes that may be slowing down your internet such as someone else using it, a poorly performing router, or a damaged cable.

Camera

If you have a smartphone or a laptop with a webcam built in, that is the best camera for you to get started live streaming. It’s good to have a milestone and work towards a more advanced camera, but until then, don’t feel discouraged because you don’t have expensive gear. If you have a smartphone, a laptop, or a basic webcam, that’s perfectly fine.

Microphone

You don’t need a great microphone for live streaming, you only need a good one. If you do want to spend several hundred to a thousand dollars for a professional studio microphone, nobody will stop you, but know this, a mic that is easy to use is as important as the audio quality as you develop a consistent live streaming schedule.

Streaming Software (For Higher Quality Streams)

Once upon a time, to livestream on YouTube, you needed additional software to capture content from desktop, camera, microphone, etc, called encoding software — but not anymore.

Those encoding software, such as OBS , Wirecast , and VMix , are required if you are producing content that requires a high frame rate such as gaming, but not mandatory if you are simply vlogging or running a tutorial.

If you are using Chrome, you canstream live on YouTube without using an encoder .

A Capture Card (For Higher Quality Streams)

You will need a capture card when you are capturing footage from a different PC or console. If you are a gamer and you are using one PC to stream and one PC to play your game, then you should consider getting a capture card.

4 Ways to Setup Your Livestream On YouTube

There are 4 main ways you can start live streaming on YouTube. The one that works best for you depends on the content you are going to be streaming.

1. Camera/Go Live (Chrome Browser)

By accessing www.youtube.com/webcam on the Google Chrome browser, you can start streaming immediately through your connected webcam. This way is best for a simple Q&A or letting your viewers know your thoughts in a timely situation. This method does not require an encoder.

There are 3 ways to access livestream this way:

1. Click here to connect to your YouTube channel

2. You can access it from the top menu on YouTube

3. You can access it by clicking Camera under the Live Streaming tab in your Creator Studio

2. Google Hangouts On Air (Quick)

Another way to livestream without an encoding software is by using the Google Hangouts On Air feature.

This is great if you want the feel of your livestream to be similar to a board meeting, where you can invite people, split screen, and share screen to illustrate your point.

Here’s how you can access this Google Hangouts On Air:

Step 1: Go to Events under the Live Streaming tab in your Creator Studio

Step 2: Click New Live Event button on the top right corner

Step 3: Enter the event’s Info and Setting page. Fill out the details of your Livestream, and under Type, select Quick (using Google Hangouts On Air).

Step 4: You can schedule your livestream or Go Live immediately by clicking one of the blue buttons on the left-hand side.

3. Mobile

Live streaming via your mobile device gives you a lot more freedom to maneuver. You can walk around and give your viewers a tour — but remember to stay within the WiFi or LTE range. That means you still won’t be able to livestream well inside an elevator.

Here’s how you can livestream on mobile:

Step 1: Access the YouTube app and make sure you are signed in to the account you want to livestream from.

Step 2: At the top, click on the camera icon

Step 3: Click on Go Live

Pro Tip: When live streaming, always hold your smartphone horizontally. This allows your video to be oriented as a landscape, instead of a portrait.

4. Custom Encoder

The fourth way of live streaming on YouTube is with encoding software. This is the recommended method if video quality is essential, such as gaming videos.

Step 1: Download and install an encoding software. In this example, we’ll be using OBS .

Step 2: Open OBS

Step 3: Go to YouTube Creator Studio and enter the Stream Now page

Step 4: Under Encoder Setup, copy Stream name/key (Warning: DO NOT share this key with anyone)

Step 5: Return to OBS and enter the Setting menu on the lower right-hand side of the application

Step 6: Click into the Stream tab

a) Under Stream Type, select Streaming Services

b) Under Service, select YouTube/YouTube Gaming

c) Under Server, select Primary YouTube ingest server

d) In Stream Key box, paste the Stream Key you copied from YouTube

e) Click Apply and then OK

Step 7: Plug in your webcam

Step 8: In the main OBS dashboard, under the Sources menu, click the + icon and add Video Capture Device. You should now see visuals from your Webcam.

Step 9: Select the Resolution you want for your video and click OK

Step 10: Return to your YouTube Streaming Page and fill out the details of your livestream

Step 11: Go back to OBS and click Start Streaming

Step 12: See on YouTube Streaming Page at the top that you are Live. You are officially streaming. Once You are finished streaming, return to OBS and click Stop Streaming to end the stream.

8 Tips to Improve Your Livestream on YouTube

Do Speed Test

Before you start your livestream, do a speed test of your Internet. Check out from here.

Have Good Lighting

Be aware of your surroundings when you are about to livestream. You don’t need the top-notch lighting kit, you can simply sit beside a window and allow natural lights to illuminate your stream.

Shoot A Live Test (Unlisted)

Have a technical rehearsal by doing a livestream test, then rewatching it, and evaluating the quality of the audio and visual.

You don’t have to worry about your audience logging in and seeing your test if you set the Privacy of the stream to Unlisted.

Look at the Lens, Not the Screen

If you are streaming with the selfie camera on your smartphone or using your camera’s viewfinder to make sure you are in the frame, remember that you need to be looking at the lens — not the image of yourself.

Eye contact is important in building trust, and if you are looking at yourself, it will appear as if you are looking past your viewers instead of at them.

Show It To Your Viewers

Whatever you are talking about, if you can, show it to your viewers. YouTube is a visual medium, and that means your viewers can become disinterested if there’s nothing visual holding their attention.

In the beginning, you probably won’t have a multi-camera setup, so you cannot cut away from your livestream. However, you can share the screen and you can bring physical objects into a frame.

If you are talking about your dog, show her on camera. If you’re presenting something with a lot of steps, create a Powerpoint slideshow.

Consider what visuals or props you can add to your livestream to enhance your performance.

Find A Way to Make it Evergreen

Evergreen content refers to content that is relevant for a great length of time. Talking about an event isn’t evergreen, because the event will soon pass and become old news. However, giving some tips for how to plan an event would be evergreen content.

Since your livestream will be saved on YouTube and your viewers can replay and watch it. They’re more likely to enjoy it if the content is relevant and interesting.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Long

A livestream doesn’t need to be 40 minutes long. It only needs to be long enough for you to get your story across — and if you want to answer some questions and engage with your audience. As soon as your story is over, even if it’s only 5 minutes, that’s okay. Don’t stress about the length of your stream, it’s not an endurance competition.

Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes

Another thing you shouldn’t worry about at all is making mistakes. When you are doing livestreams pretend you are engaging with someone in real life. In real life, you aren’t able to edit out your mistakes, whether it’s a word mispronounced or coffee spilling. Roll with it and laugh it off.

How to Grow As A Livestreamer on YouTube

Let People Know When You Are Streaming

Give people enough time to schedule it in, don’t spring it on them in the last minute. Share it on social media, your website, and any other means.

Create a Streaming Link 2 Days Before

Share your livestream link via social media to remind everyone to tune in when you go live. Looking for your link? It should look something like this: <www.youtube.com/user/\[channelname\]/live>

Reach Out To the Communities Most Interested

If you are going to be live streaming about a specific topic, such as photography, you should reach out to those who are interested in the topic. Highlight what aspect of photography you are going to be streaming and attract new viewers to your content.

Be Aware of Time Difference

If you have an international audience, find time to livestream where you can get the optimal amount of viewers.

You can find the location of your main demographic in your YouTube analytics .

Create a Channel Trailer to Promote Livestream

Make a video and host it as your channel trailer, that way anyone who lands on your YouTube page will see the promo for your livestream.

Promote Through Feature Content and Channel

YouTube has a feature that enables you to use your existing content to promote your upcoming livestream.

Here’s how to set it up:

Key Takeaways

1. Live streaming will help you make more videos, engage with your audience, and grow your channel.
2. You don’t need expensive equipment to livestream on YouTube, you only need a webcam and a microphone.
3. YouTube has made live streaming as easy as a few clicks, no additional software needed unless you are gaming.
4. Always do a test run of your livestream to ensure the internet, audio, and visual are all working properly.
5. Create content and reach out to communities to promote your livestream.

Have you encountered any obstacles when setting up your livestream on YouTube? Let us know in the comments below, we are happy to help!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Vintage Video Production: Techniques for Timelessness

How to Create Vintage Videos: A Comprehensive Tutorial

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

“Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.” – A Vintage Thought

Vintage videos are ultimately the retro videos you have ever imagined. The look is highly inspirational in itself. The vintage effect in photography and videos results in a must-see look that everyone wants to capture all day long. The meaning of vintage is ‘the time when something of quality was produced.’ When something is called retro, it means old, recognized, and essential. Vintage also resembles love apart from videos and photos. All in all, it’s a positive and result-oriented thing to carry on in your videos. And this is what we want to mention in this post relating to the creation of vintage videos.

Here are some vintage-style video ideas for you to have a look at.

• Part 1: What to Consider When Shooting a Vintage Video?
• Part 2: How to Create a Stunning Vintage Video?
• Part 3: Tips to Make Your Vintage Videos Stand Out

What to Consider When Shooting a Vintage Video?

Vintage videos are kind of old school vibes and must be shooting accordingly by keeping in mind the following points. These are a sort of expert tips given by photographers based on their practical experience. First of all, you have to understand that a video can be made vintage, but you can’t change the actual environment of shooting. Some editing always involves there in every project out there. Still, the tips given below will help you a lot in creating a retro look.

Use Vintage Lenses

The very first helpful tip is to use a vintage lens. They allow chromatic aberration by distorting colors around the frame. Furthermore, you can find various kinds of lenses in terms of a vintage effect.

Decrease Contrast

Do the correct color grading by reducing the contrast a little bit. You must not level the retro videos in black or white or like-new videos. You can simply add a contrasting effect and then reduce it to have that vintage look.

Keep it a little soft

If you have ever noticed, the vintage videos are a little soft and look like degraded with time. It’s a result of decreased sharpness in the camera’s menu settings. You can even add a slight blur to the final video or simply use recognized software made for video editing .

Brighten up the black levels

Lots of black points in the video are not ideal for a vintage effect. The suitable approach is to bring up black levels and make it dark gray instead of inky black. This look can be achieved either by levels effect or curves effect in your editing software.

Reduce Saturation levels

Bringing down the saturation levels is another tip to create a vintage effect. The old videos are also absent in bright colors. Don’t go too crazy about reduction as 20%-30% saturation level is more than enough.

How to Create a Stunning Vintage Video?

What you need to get started as both beginner and professional is Wondershare Filmora Video Editor. It is a highly recommended software to create vintage videos. The intuitive user interface and lots of editing functions are helpful for a video editor. It has both primary as well as advanced editing programs to check. It has various advanced color tuning tools to promote the making of original videos. It features tint, temperature, Vignette, 3D Luts, Lights, and so on.

Steps for the vintage effect to videos on Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Step 1: Upload video & make specific changes

The very step is to add the video by clicking the + icon. We have added the three sample videos from the library of Wondershare Filmora itself. Adjust them in the timeline as per your requirements.

After doing all the essential editing functions, click on the Effects tab given at the upper-left corner. Simply type the word Old in the Search tab.

The Old Video filter will immediately appear in the list of filters. Tap the “+” icon in Old Video filter to add to the timeline. Drag its ends right or left to adjust the duration.

Step 2: Apply White & Black Filters

The second step is to apply the Black & White filters. Go to the Effects tab and explore five Black & White filters available. Each of these filters is quite different and must be applied accordingly. Check the aesthetic of your video clip before any filter application to retro videos.

Step 3: Add the Sun Kissed or Sepia Tone Rise Filters to the video clip

There are various other categories of filters you can apply, such as Retro, Sun Kissed, and Sepia Tone, etc. The features of Filmora also present several subcategories such as Faux Film or Shake.

On the other hand, the subcategory of Sepia Tone features Sun-Kissed & Rise Filters to stimulate sepia-tinted texture and recreate the old visual style. The Sun Kissed filter presents brown and red colors to give that warm image atmosphere.

Step 4: Desaturate Video Clip

Now, you need to desaturate the video clip with Ash & Willow filters. We have typed Ash in the Search bar, and you can see the filter below. These filters are essential to desaturate the video with preset contrast, brightness, or exposure values.

Then, we have combined the black & white filter with an overlay of Film Reel Horizontal. It will help you sell the effect and make the video look more authentic. However, the only application of Black & White or Ash & Willow filters is not going to make any creative thing in terms of vintage videos. You have to mix overlays with features such as Random Dust or Film Reel Horizontal.

Step 5: Apply Black & White and Old Film Color Correction Presets to the video

You can also access the Advanced color correction Tab of Filmora from the Color button. It also features Preset and Adjusts Tabs to desaturate footage. The Preset presents a variety of options, including Black & White and Old Film. You just need to right-click the particular preset and select the Apply option.

Tips to Make Your Vintage Videos Stand Out

Following the helpful tips would assist you in creating awesome retro videos.

• You can use various vintage apps such as Retro VHS, RTRO Camera, 8mm, Camcorder, VSCO, etc. Or, despite using these limited apps, you can directly use our preferred video editing software called Wondershare Filmora.
• If you use a specific vintage camera, keep it on low highlights and low contrasts. Use color grading, as we have discussed above. They help to provide the ultimate old-school effect.
• Always keep low saturation settings for shooting vintage videos. Take control over Saturation, Hue, and Luminance of video.
• Add overlays and respective filters to recreate a required vintage look. You must add things that dust, scratch, and grain the heck out from the video that you have created.
• Lower the frame rate or FPS to create an excellent vintage look. You can make it to 18 or 14 FPS depending upon the aesthetic requirements.
• Keep an eye on black and white filters you have used. It’s because more of a black and white can ruin the actual vintage experience.

Conclusion

So, this is an ultimate tutorial on the creation of vintage videos. We Hope you have admired the steps and our recommended video editing software. Vintage means grand, and thus you should make it amazing as well. It is the reason we have stated all facts regarding the vintage effect in our post above. Wondering how to add such effect in FCPX? check this article:How to Create a Vignette in Final Cut Pro X?

Surely give a read and thank us later!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

“Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.” – A Vintage Thought

Vintage videos are ultimately the retro videos you have ever imagined. The look is highly inspirational in itself. The vintage effect in photography and videos results in a must-see look that everyone wants to capture all day long. The meaning of vintage is ‘the time when something of quality was produced.’ When something is called retro, it means old, recognized, and essential. Vintage also resembles love apart from videos and photos. All in all, it’s a positive and result-oriented thing to carry on in your videos. And this is what we want to mention in this post relating to the creation of vintage videos.

Here are some vintage-style video ideas for you to have a look at.

• Part 1: What to Consider When Shooting a Vintage Video?
• Part 2: How to Create a Stunning Vintage Video?
• Part 3: Tips to Make Your Vintage Videos Stand Out

What to Consider When Shooting a Vintage Video?

Vintage videos are kind of old school vibes and must be shooting accordingly by keeping in mind the following points. These are a sort of expert tips given by photographers based on their practical experience. First of all, you have to understand that a video can be made vintage, but you can’t change the actual environment of shooting. Some editing always involves there in every project out there. Still, the tips given below will help you a lot in creating a retro look.

Use Vintage Lenses

The very first helpful tip is to use a vintage lens. They allow chromatic aberration by distorting colors around the frame. Furthermore, you can find various kinds of lenses in terms of a vintage effect.

Decrease Contrast

Do the correct color grading by reducing the contrast a little bit. You must not level the retro videos in black or white or like-new videos. You can simply add a contrasting effect and then reduce it to have that vintage look.

Keep it a little soft

If you have ever noticed, the vintage videos are a little soft and look like degraded with time. It’s a result of decreased sharpness in the camera’s menu settings. You can even add a slight blur to the final video or simply use recognized software made for video editing .

Brighten up the black levels

Lots of black points in the video are not ideal for a vintage effect. The suitable approach is to bring up black levels and make it dark gray instead of inky black. This look can be achieved either by levels effect or curves effect in your editing software.

Reduce Saturation levels

Bringing down the saturation levels is another tip to create a vintage effect. The old videos are also absent in bright colors. Don’t go too crazy about reduction as 20%-30% saturation level is more than enough.

How to Create a Stunning Vintage Video?

What you need to get started as both beginner and professional is Wondershare Filmora Video Editor. It is a highly recommended software to create vintage videos. The intuitive user interface and lots of editing functions are helpful for a video editor. It has both primary as well as advanced editing programs to check. It has various advanced color tuning tools to promote the making of original videos. It features tint, temperature, Vignette, 3D Luts, Lights, and so on.

Steps for the vintage effect to videos on Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Step 1: Upload video & make specific changes

The very step is to add the video by clicking the + icon. We have added the three sample videos from the library of Wondershare Filmora itself. Adjust them in the timeline as per your requirements.

After doing all the essential editing functions, click on the Effects tab given at the upper-left corner. Simply type the word Old in the Search tab.

The Old Video filter will immediately appear in the list of filters. Tap the “+” icon in Old Video filter to add to the timeline. Drag its ends right or left to adjust the duration.

Step 2: Apply White & Black Filters

The second step is to apply the Black & White filters. Go to the Effects tab and explore five Black & White filters available. Each of these filters is quite different and must be applied accordingly. Check the aesthetic of your video clip before any filter application to retro videos.

Step 3: Add the Sun Kissed or Sepia Tone Rise Filters to the video clip

There are various other categories of filters you can apply, such as Retro, Sun Kissed, and Sepia Tone, etc. The features of Filmora also present several subcategories such as Faux Film or Shake.

On the other hand, the subcategory of Sepia Tone features Sun-Kissed & Rise Filters to stimulate sepia-tinted texture and recreate the old visual style. The Sun Kissed filter presents brown and red colors to give that warm image atmosphere.

Step 4: Desaturate Video Clip

Now, you need to desaturate the video clip with Ash & Willow filters. We have typed Ash in the Search bar, and you can see the filter below. These filters are essential to desaturate the video with preset contrast, brightness, or exposure values.

Then, we have combined the black & white filter with an overlay of Film Reel Horizontal. It will help you sell the effect and make the video look more authentic. However, the only application of Black & White or Ash & Willow filters is not going to make any creative thing in terms of vintage videos. You have to mix overlays with features such as Random Dust or Film Reel Horizontal.

Step 5: Apply Black & White and Old Film Color Correction Presets to the video

You can also access the Advanced color correction Tab of Filmora from the Color button. It also features Preset and Adjusts Tabs to desaturate footage. The Preset presents a variety of options, including Black & White and Old Film. You just need to right-click the particular preset and select the Apply option.

Tips to Make Your Vintage Videos Stand Out

Following the helpful tips would assist you in creating awesome retro videos.

• You can use various vintage apps such as Retro VHS, RTRO Camera, 8mm, Camcorder, VSCO, etc. Or, despite using these limited apps, you can directly use our preferred video editing software called Wondershare Filmora.
• If you use a specific vintage camera, keep it on low highlights and low contrasts. Use color grading, as we have discussed above. They help to provide the ultimate old-school effect.
• Always keep low saturation settings for shooting vintage videos. Take control over Saturation, Hue, and Luminance of video.
• Add overlays and respective filters to recreate a required vintage look. You must add things that dust, scratch, and grain the heck out from the video that you have created.
• Lower the frame rate or FPS to create an excellent vintage look. You can make it to 18 or 14 FPS depending upon the aesthetic requirements.
• Keep an eye on black and white filters you have used. It’s because more of a black and white can ruin the actual vintage experience.

Conclusion

So, this is an ultimate tutorial on the creation of vintage videos. We Hope you have admired the steps and our recommended video editing software. Vintage means grand, and thus you should make it amazing as well. It is the reason we have stated all facts regarding the vintage effect in our post above. Wondering how to add such effect in FCPX? check this article:How to Create a Vignette in Final Cut Pro X?

Surely give a read and thank us later!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

“Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.” – A Vintage Thought

Vintage videos are ultimately the retro videos you have ever imagined. The look is highly inspirational in itself. The vintage effect in photography and videos results in a must-see look that everyone wants to capture all day long. The meaning of vintage is ‘the time when something of quality was produced.’ When something is called retro, it means old, recognized, and essential. Vintage also resembles love apart from videos and photos. All in all, it’s a positive and result-oriented thing to carry on in your videos. And this is what we want to mention in this post relating to the creation of vintage videos.

Here are some vintage-style video ideas for you to have a look at.

• Part 1: What to Consider When Shooting a Vintage Video?
• Part 2: How to Create a Stunning Vintage Video?
• Part 3: Tips to Make Your Vintage Videos Stand Out

What to Consider When Shooting a Vintage Video?

Vintage videos are kind of old school vibes and must be shooting accordingly by keeping in mind the following points. These are a sort of expert tips given by photographers based on their practical experience. First of all, you have to understand that a video can be made vintage, but you can’t change the actual environment of shooting. Some editing always involves there in every project out there. Still, the tips given below will help you a lot in creating a retro look.

Use Vintage Lenses

The very first helpful tip is to use a vintage lens. They allow chromatic aberration by distorting colors around the frame. Furthermore, you can find various kinds of lenses in terms of a vintage effect.

Decrease Contrast

Do the correct color grading by reducing the contrast a little bit. You must not level the retro videos in black or white or like-new videos. You can simply add a contrasting effect and then reduce it to have that vintage look.

Keep it a little soft

If you have ever noticed, the vintage videos are a little soft and look like degraded with time. It’s a result of decreased sharpness in the camera’s menu settings. You can even add a slight blur to the final video or simply use recognized software made for video editing .

Brighten up the black levels

Lots of black points in the video are not ideal for a vintage effect. The suitable approach is to bring up black levels and make it dark gray instead of inky black. This look can be achieved either by levels effect or curves effect in your editing software.

Reduce Saturation levels

Bringing down the saturation levels is another tip to create a vintage effect. The old videos are also absent in bright colors. Don’t go too crazy about reduction as 20%-30% saturation level is more than enough.

How to Create a Stunning Vintage Video?

What you need to get started as both beginner and professional is Wondershare Filmora Video Editor. It is a highly recommended software to create vintage videos. The intuitive user interface and lots of editing functions are helpful for a video editor. It has both primary as well as advanced editing programs to check. It has various advanced color tuning tools to promote the making of original videos. It features tint, temperature, Vignette, 3D Luts, Lights, and so on.

Steps for the vintage effect to videos on Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Step 1: Upload video & make specific changes

The very step is to add the video by clicking the + icon. We have added the three sample videos from the library of Wondershare Filmora itself. Adjust them in the timeline as per your requirements.

After doing all the essential editing functions, click on the Effects tab given at the upper-left corner. Simply type the word Old in the Search tab.

The Old Video filter will immediately appear in the list of filters. Tap the “+” icon in Old Video filter to add to the timeline. Drag its ends right or left to adjust the duration.

Step 2: Apply White & Black Filters

The second step is to apply the Black & White filters. Go to the Effects tab and explore five Black & White filters available. Each of these filters is quite different and must be applied accordingly. Check the aesthetic of your video clip before any filter application to retro videos.

Step 3: Add the Sun Kissed or Sepia Tone Rise Filters to the video clip

There are various other categories of filters you can apply, such as Retro, Sun Kissed, and Sepia Tone, etc. The features of Filmora also present several subcategories such as Faux Film or Shake.

On the other hand, the subcategory of Sepia Tone features Sun-Kissed & Rise Filters to stimulate sepia-tinted texture and recreate the old visual style. The Sun Kissed filter presents brown and red colors to give that warm image atmosphere.

Step 4: Desaturate Video Clip

Now, you need to desaturate the video clip with Ash & Willow filters. We have typed Ash in the Search bar, and you can see the filter below. These filters are essential to desaturate the video with preset contrast, brightness, or exposure values.

Then, we have combined the black & white filter with an overlay of Film Reel Horizontal. It will help you sell the effect and make the video look more authentic. However, the only application of Black & White or Ash & Willow filters is not going to make any creative thing in terms of vintage videos. You have to mix overlays with features such as Random Dust or Film Reel Horizontal.

Step 5: Apply Black & White and Old Film Color Correction Presets to the video

You can also access the Advanced color correction Tab of Filmora from the Color button. It also features Preset and Adjusts Tabs to desaturate footage. The Preset presents a variety of options, including Black & White and Old Film. You just need to right-click the particular preset and select the Apply option.

Tips to Make Your Vintage Videos Stand Out

Following the helpful tips would assist you in creating awesome retro videos.

• You can use various vintage apps such as Retro VHS, RTRO Camera, 8mm, Camcorder, VSCO, etc. Or, despite using these limited apps, you can directly use our preferred video editing software called Wondershare Filmora.
• If you use a specific vintage camera, keep it on low highlights and low contrasts. Use color grading, as we have discussed above. They help to provide the ultimate old-school effect.
• Always keep low saturation settings for shooting vintage videos. Take control over Saturation, Hue, and Luminance of video.
• Add overlays and respective filters to recreate a required vintage look. You must add things that dust, scratch, and grain the heck out from the video that you have created.
• Lower the frame rate or FPS to create an excellent vintage look. You can make it to 18 or 14 FPS depending upon the aesthetic requirements.
• Keep an eye on black and white filters you have used. It’s because more of a black and white can ruin the actual vintage experience.

Conclusion

So, this is an ultimate tutorial on the creation of vintage videos. We Hope you have admired the steps and our recommended video editing software. Vintage means grand, and thus you should make it amazing as well. It is the reason we have stated all facts regarding the vintage effect in our post above. Wondering how to add such effect in FCPX? check this article:How to Create a Vignette in Final Cut Pro X?

Surely give a read and thank us later!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

“Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.” – A Vintage Thought

Vintage videos are ultimately the retro videos you have ever imagined. The look is highly inspirational in itself. The vintage effect in photography and videos results in a must-see look that everyone wants to capture all day long. The meaning of vintage is ‘the time when something of quality was produced.’ When something is called retro, it means old, recognized, and essential. Vintage also resembles love apart from videos and photos. All in all, it’s a positive and result-oriented thing to carry on in your videos. And this is what we want to mention in this post relating to the creation of vintage videos.

Here are some vintage-style video ideas for you to have a look at.

• Part 1: What to Consider When Shooting a Vintage Video?
• Part 2: How to Create a Stunning Vintage Video?
• Part 3: Tips to Make Your Vintage Videos Stand Out

What to Consider When Shooting a Vintage Video?

Vintage videos are kind of old school vibes and must be shooting accordingly by keeping in mind the following points. These are a sort of expert tips given by photographers based on their practical experience. First of all, you have to understand that a video can be made vintage, but you can’t change the actual environment of shooting. Some editing always involves there in every project out there. Still, the tips given below will help you a lot in creating a retro look.

Use Vintage Lenses

The very first helpful tip is to use a vintage lens. They allow chromatic aberration by distorting colors around the frame. Furthermore, you can find various kinds of lenses in terms of a vintage effect.

Decrease Contrast

Do the correct color grading by reducing the contrast a little bit. You must not level the retro videos in black or white or like-new videos. You can simply add a contrasting effect and then reduce it to have that vintage look.

Keep it a little soft

If you have ever noticed, the vintage videos are a little soft and look like degraded with time. It’s a result of decreased sharpness in the camera’s menu settings. You can even add a slight blur to the final video or simply use recognized software made for video editing .

Brighten up the black levels

Lots of black points in the video are not ideal for a vintage effect. The suitable approach is to bring up black levels and make it dark gray instead of inky black. This look can be achieved either by levels effect or curves effect in your editing software.

Reduce Saturation levels

Bringing down the saturation levels is another tip to create a vintage effect. The old videos are also absent in bright colors. Don’t go too crazy about reduction as 20%-30% saturation level is more than enough.

How to Create a Stunning Vintage Video?

What you need to get started as both beginner and professional is Wondershare Filmora Video Editor. It is a highly recommended software to create vintage videos. The intuitive user interface and lots of editing functions are helpful for a video editor. It has both primary as well as advanced editing programs to check. It has various advanced color tuning tools to promote the making of original videos. It features tint, temperature, Vignette, 3D Luts, Lights, and so on.

Steps for the vintage effect to videos on Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

Step 1: Upload video & make specific changes

The very step is to add the video by clicking the + icon. We have added the three sample videos from the library of Wondershare Filmora itself. Adjust them in the timeline as per your requirements.

After doing all the essential editing functions, click on the Effects tab given at the upper-left corner. Simply type the word Old in the Search tab.

The Old Video filter will immediately appear in the list of filters. Tap the “+” icon in Old Video filter to add to the timeline. Drag its ends right or left to adjust the duration.

Step 2: Apply White & Black Filters

The second step is to apply the Black & White filters. Go to the Effects tab and explore five Black & White filters available. Each of these filters is quite different and must be applied accordingly. Check the aesthetic of your video clip before any filter application to retro videos.

Step 3: Add the Sun Kissed or Sepia Tone Rise Filters to the video clip

There are various other categories of filters you can apply, such as Retro, Sun Kissed, and Sepia Tone, etc. The features of Filmora also present several subcategories such as Faux Film or Shake.

On the other hand, the subcategory of Sepia Tone features Sun-Kissed & Rise Filters to stimulate sepia-tinted texture and recreate the old visual style. The Sun Kissed filter presents brown and red colors to give that warm image atmosphere.

Step 4: Desaturate Video Clip

Now, you need to desaturate the video clip with Ash & Willow filters. We have typed Ash in the Search bar, and you can see the filter below. These filters are essential to desaturate the video with preset contrast, brightness, or exposure values.

Then, we have combined the black & white filter with an overlay of Film Reel Horizontal. It will help you sell the effect and make the video look more authentic. However, the only application of Black & White or Ash & Willow filters is not going to make any creative thing in terms of vintage videos. You have to mix overlays with features such as Random Dust or Film Reel Horizontal.

Step 5: Apply Black & White and Old Film Color Correction Presets to the video

You can also access the Advanced color correction Tab of Filmora from the Color button. It also features Preset and Adjusts Tabs to desaturate footage. The Preset presents a variety of options, including Black & White and Old Film. You just need to right-click the particular preset and select the Apply option.

Tips to Make Your Vintage Videos Stand Out

Following the helpful tips would assist you in creating awesome retro videos.

• You can use various vintage apps such as Retro VHS, RTRO Camera, 8mm, Camcorder, VSCO, etc. Or, despite using these limited apps, you can directly use our preferred video editing software called Wondershare Filmora.
• If you use a specific vintage camera, keep it on low highlights and low contrasts. Use color grading, as we have discussed above. They help to provide the ultimate old-school effect.
• Always keep low saturation settings for shooting vintage videos. Take control over Saturation, Hue, and Luminance of video.
• Add overlays and respective filters to recreate a required vintage look. You must add things that dust, scratch, and grain the heck out from the video that you have created.
• Lower the frame rate or FPS to create an excellent vintage look. You can make it to 18 or 14 FPS depending upon the aesthetic requirements.
• Keep an eye on black and white filters you have used. It’s because more of a black and white can ruin the actual vintage experience.

Conclusion

So, this is an ultimate tutorial on the creation of vintage videos. We Hope you have admired the steps and our recommended video editing software. Vintage means grand, and thus you should make it amazing as well. It is the reason we have stated all facts regarding the vintage effect in our post above. Wondering how to add such effect in FCPX? check this article:How to Create a Vignette in Final Cut Pro X?

Surely give a read and thank us later!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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