Effortlessly Create Engaging YouTube Thumbnails

How to Make a Thumbnail for Your YouTube Free Easily

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Youtube is one of the widely and most used video-sharing platforms all around the world. Being such a huge platform, billions of users upload different videos every second, making it a very competitive platform. Getting your videos noticed and clicked by others requires so many factors to be considered. One of the main factors that increase the chances of your videos being connected and seen by others is an attractive thumbnail. It is the first and the most important factor that helps the viewers decide what to watch and ignore. According to an estimate, among all the best-performing videos on Youtube, 90% have custom thumbnails. So, if you are looking forward to increasing the number of clicks on your videos, having a custom thumbnail is one of the most important things to consider. There are multiple ways to make a thumbnail for Youtube, but most are paid and difficult to use. In this article, we will discuss a hack to make a thumbnail for your Youtube free.

---

You might be interested in:

• How to Make Game Streaming Video with AI Portrait
• How to Make Reaction Video with AI Portrait

---

How to make a thumbnail for Youtube using AI Portrait

With time, Filmora brings new and advanced features for its users to equip them with all the necessary tools required for effective and efficient video editing. One of its latest features is AI Portrait. This feature has several uses and benefits. This feature is designed for Gamers, Vlogger, and other related genres to help them make their videos stand out from the crowd and gain more clicks and views. AI Portrait contains several effects that help you make the human element of the video separate from the background and make it more obvious. We can also use the AI Portrait effects to make beautiful and attractive thumbnails for your Youtube. Follow these steps to create a stunning thumbnail for your Youtube videos.

Step 01: Open Filmora X. If it is not already installed on your computer, download and install its latest version from here .

Step 02: Make sure that the aspect ratio of your project is 16:9. To do that, click on a screen-shaped icon below the preview screen and select “Change Project Aspect Ratio.”

Step 03: Change the Aspect Ratio to 16:9 if it is not set to it already. 16:9 aspect ratio is the standard size of Youtube thumbnails that represents the best possible results.

Step 04: Choose a background of your choice for your thumbnail. You can choose a background from the sample colors provided by Filmora.

Step 05: If you want to use your custom background, you can import it into the Filmora by clicking import or dragging and dropping it in the media section.

Step 06: Import your video the same way into the media folder of Filmora and drag it into the timeline and place it above your background.

Step 07: Select your footage, go to the Effects tab and click on AI Portraits. It will open up all the effects related to AI Portraits. These AI Portrait features help you separate the human from a background without using a green screen or anything else.

Step 08: Double click on any of these effects to see how they will look like on your footage.

Step 09: To make a thumbnail for your Youtube, we have to remove the background of your footage first. To do that we have to apply Human Segmentation to the footage first. It will separate the human from the footage. Drag and drop the Human Segmentation effect into the footage in the timeline. Once you drop it into the footage, it will ask you to purchase this feature to export the footage. Since we are not trying to export the footage, we are only creating a thumbnail, click on “Try It”. Once the background is removed, you can add other effects as well. Drag and drop the “Human Border” into the footage. It creates an outline around the human in your footage.

Step 10: The effect will be applied to the footage. Now the background has been removed from the footage and ready to be used on your custom background. You can adjust the human accordingly where it looks perfect.

Step 11: Now it is time to add a title into your thumbnail to highlight what the video is all about. Go to the Titles, and select lower thirds. You can also select any of the titles types which best suits your needs. Drop the title into the timeline above the footage and adjust it accordingly. Now double click on the header to edit and rename it.

Step 12: Once you are satisfied with the final results, click on the Camera icon below the preview screen or press “Ctrl+Alt+S” to take the screenshot.

Conclusion

This is how your Youtube thumbnail will look like after applying all the above-mentioned effects and settings.

This article on making a thumbnail for your Youtube is just an idea for you, and you can use your creativity to create amazing thumbnails using other features of Filmora. These cool thumbnails will help you attract more viewers and click, which will ultimately help you grow your Youtube Channel. Unlike all other articles and tutorials that show you how to make a thumbnail for Youtube, this method is free and doesn’t need any technical skills to be implemented.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Youtube is one of the widely and most used video-sharing platforms all around the world. Being such a huge platform, billions of users upload different videos every second, making it a very competitive platform. Getting your videos noticed and clicked by others requires so many factors to be considered. One of the main factors that increase the chances of your videos being connected and seen by others is an attractive thumbnail. It is the first and the most important factor that helps the viewers decide what to watch and ignore. According to an estimate, among all the best-performing videos on Youtube, 90% have custom thumbnails. So, if you are looking forward to increasing the number of clicks on your videos, having a custom thumbnail is one of the most important things to consider. There are multiple ways to make a thumbnail for Youtube, but most are paid and difficult to use. In this article, we will discuss a hack to make a thumbnail for your Youtube free.

---

You might be interested in:

• How to Make Game Streaming Video with AI Portrait
• How to Make Reaction Video with AI Portrait

---

How to make a thumbnail for Youtube using AI Portrait

With time, Filmora brings new and advanced features for its users to equip them with all the necessary tools required for effective and efficient video editing. One of its latest features is AI Portrait. This feature has several uses and benefits. This feature is designed for Gamers, Vlogger, and other related genres to help them make their videos stand out from the crowd and gain more clicks and views. AI Portrait contains several effects that help you make the human element of the video separate from the background and make it more obvious. We can also use the AI Portrait effects to make beautiful and attractive thumbnails for your Youtube. Follow these steps to create a stunning thumbnail for your Youtube videos.

Step 01: Open Filmora X. If it is not already installed on your computer, download and install its latest version from here .

Step 02: Make sure that the aspect ratio of your project is 16:9. To do that, click on a screen-shaped icon below the preview screen and select “Change Project Aspect Ratio.”

Step 03: Change the Aspect Ratio to 16:9 if it is not set to it already. 16:9 aspect ratio is the standard size of Youtube thumbnails that represents the best possible results.

Step 04: Choose a background of your choice for your thumbnail. You can choose a background from the sample colors provided by Filmora.

Step 05: If you want to use your custom background, you can import it into the Filmora by clicking import or dragging and dropping it in the media section.

Step 06: Import your video the same way into the media folder of Filmora and drag it into the timeline and place it above your background.

Step 07: Select your footage, go to the Effects tab and click on AI Portraits. It will open up all the effects related to AI Portraits. These AI Portrait features help you separate the human from a background without using a green screen or anything else.

Step 08: Double click on any of these effects to see how they will look like on your footage.

Step 09: To make a thumbnail for your Youtube, we have to remove the background of your footage first. To do that we have to apply Human Segmentation to the footage first. It will separate the human from the footage. Drag and drop the Human Segmentation effect into the footage in the timeline. Once you drop it into the footage, it will ask you to purchase this feature to export the footage. Since we are not trying to export the footage, we are only creating a thumbnail, click on “Try It”. Once the background is removed, you can add other effects as well. Drag and drop the “Human Border” into the footage. It creates an outline around the human in your footage.

Step 10: The effect will be applied to the footage. Now the background has been removed from the footage and ready to be used on your custom background. You can adjust the human accordingly where it looks perfect.

Step 11: Now it is time to add a title into your thumbnail to highlight what the video is all about. Go to the Titles, and select lower thirds. You can also select any of the titles types which best suits your needs. Drop the title into the timeline above the footage and adjust it accordingly. Now double click on the header to edit and rename it.

Step 12: Once you are satisfied with the final results, click on the Camera icon below the preview screen or press “Ctrl+Alt+S” to take the screenshot.

Conclusion

This is how your Youtube thumbnail will look like after applying all the above-mentioned effects and settings.

This article on making a thumbnail for your Youtube is just an idea for you, and you can use your creativity to create amazing thumbnails using other features of Filmora. These cool thumbnails will help you attract more viewers and click, which will ultimately help you grow your Youtube Channel. Unlike all other articles and tutorials that show you how to make a thumbnail for Youtube, this method is free and doesn’t need any technical skills to be implemented.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Youtube is one of the widely and most used video-sharing platforms all around the world. Being such a huge platform, billions of users upload different videos every second, making it a very competitive platform. Getting your videos noticed and clicked by others requires so many factors to be considered. One of the main factors that increase the chances of your videos being connected and seen by others is an attractive thumbnail. It is the first and the most important factor that helps the viewers decide what to watch and ignore. According to an estimate, among all the best-performing videos on Youtube, 90% have custom thumbnails. So, if you are looking forward to increasing the number of clicks on your videos, having a custom thumbnail is one of the most important things to consider. There are multiple ways to make a thumbnail for Youtube, but most are paid and difficult to use. In this article, we will discuss a hack to make a thumbnail for your Youtube free.

---

You might be interested in:

• How to Make Game Streaming Video with AI Portrait
• How to Make Reaction Video with AI Portrait

---

How to make a thumbnail for Youtube using AI Portrait

With time, Filmora brings new and advanced features for its users to equip them with all the necessary tools required for effective and efficient video editing. One of its latest features is AI Portrait. This feature has several uses and benefits. This feature is designed for Gamers, Vlogger, and other related genres to help them make their videos stand out from the crowd and gain more clicks and views. AI Portrait contains several effects that help you make the human element of the video separate from the background and make it more obvious. We can also use the AI Portrait effects to make beautiful and attractive thumbnails for your Youtube. Follow these steps to create a stunning thumbnail for your Youtube videos.

Step 01: Open Filmora X. If it is not already installed on your computer, download and install its latest version from here .

Step 02: Make sure that the aspect ratio of your project is 16:9. To do that, click on a screen-shaped icon below the preview screen and select “Change Project Aspect Ratio.”

Step 03: Change the Aspect Ratio to 16:9 if it is not set to it already. 16:9 aspect ratio is the standard size of Youtube thumbnails that represents the best possible results.

Step 04: Choose a background of your choice for your thumbnail. You can choose a background from the sample colors provided by Filmora.

Step 05: If you want to use your custom background, you can import it into the Filmora by clicking import or dragging and dropping it in the media section.

Step 06: Import your video the same way into the media folder of Filmora and drag it into the timeline and place it above your background.

Step 07: Select your footage, go to the Effects tab and click on AI Portraits. It will open up all the effects related to AI Portraits. These AI Portrait features help you separate the human from a background without using a green screen or anything else.

Step 08: Double click on any of these effects to see how they will look like on your footage.

Step 09: To make a thumbnail for your Youtube, we have to remove the background of your footage first. To do that we have to apply Human Segmentation to the footage first. It will separate the human from the footage. Drag and drop the Human Segmentation effect into the footage in the timeline. Once you drop it into the footage, it will ask you to purchase this feature to export the footage. Since we are not trying to export the footage, we are only creating a thumbnail, click on “Try It”. Once the background is removed, you can add other effects as well. Drag and drop the “Human Border” into the footage. It creates an outline around the human in your footage.

Step 10: The effect will be applied to the footage. Now the background has been removed from the footage and ready to be used on your custom background. You can adjust the human accordingly where it looks perfect.

Step 11: Now it is time to add a title into your thumbnail to highlight what the video is all about. Go to the Titles, and select lower thirds. You can also select any of the titles types which best suits your needs. Drop the title into the timeline above the footage and adjust it accordingly. Now double click on the header to edit and rename it.

Step 12: Once you are satisfied with the final results, click on the Camera icon below the preview screen or press “Ctrl+Alt+S” to take the screenshot.

Conclusion

This is how your Youtube thumbnail will look like after applying all the above-mentioned effects and settings.

This article on making a thumbnail for your Youtube is just an idea for you, and you can use your creativity to create amazing thumbnails using other features of Filmora. These cool thumbnails will help you attract more viewers and click, which will ultimately help you grow your Youtube Channel. Unlike all other articles and tutorials that show you how to make a thumbnail for Youtube, this method is free and doesn’t need any technical skills to be implemented.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Youtube is one of the widely and most used video-sharing platforms all around the world. Being such a huge platform, billions of users upload different videos every second, making it a very competitive platform. Getting your videos noticed and clicked by others requires so many factors to be considered. One of the main factors that increase the chances of your videos being connected and seen by others is an attractive thumbnail. It is the first and the most important factor that helps the viewers decide what to watch and ignore. According to an estimate, among all the best-performing videos on Youtube, 90% have custom thumbnails. So, if you are looking forward to increasing the number of clicks on your videos, having a custom thumbnail is one of the most important things to consider. There are multiple ways to make a thumbnail for Youtube, but most are paid and difficult to use. In this article, we will discuss a hack to make a thumbnail for your Youtube free.

---

You might be interested in:

• How to Make Game Streaming Video with AI Portrait
• How to Make Reaction Video with AI Portrait

---

How to make a thumbnail for Youtube using AI Portrait

With time, Filmora brings new and advanced features for its users to equip them with all the necessary tools required for effective and efficient video editing. One of its latest features is AI Portrait. This feature has several uses and benefits. This feature is designed for Gamers, Vlogger, and other related genres to help them make their videos stand out from the crowd and gain more clicks and views. AI Portrait contains several effects that help you make the human element of the video separate from the background and make it more obvious. We can also use the AI Portrait effects to make beautiful and attractive thumbnails for your Youtube. Follow these steps to create a stunning thumbnail for your Youtube videos.

Step 01: Open Filmora X. If it is not already installed on your computer, download and install its latest version from here .

Step 02: Make sure that the aspect ratio of your project is 16:9. To do that, click on a screen-shaped icon below the preview screen and select “Change Project Aspect Ratio.”

Step 03: Change the Aspect Ratio to 16:9 if it is not set to it already. 16:9 aspect ratio is the standard size of Youtube thumbnails that represents the best possible results.

Step 04: Choose a background of your choice for your thumbnail. You can choose a background from the sample colors provided by Filmora.

Step 05: If you want to use your custom background, you can import it into the Filmora by clicking import or dragging and dropping it in the media section.

Step 06: Import your video the same way into the media folder of Filmora and drag it into the timeline and place it above your background.

Step 07: Select your footage, go to the Effects tab and click on AI Portraits. It will open up all the effects related to AI Portraits. These AI Portrait features help you separate the human from a background without using a green screen or anything else.

Step 08: Double click on any of these effects to see how they will look like on your footage.

Step 09: To make a thumbnail for your Youtube, we have to remove the background of your footage first. To do that we have to apply Human Segmentation to the footage first. It will separate the human from the footage. Drag and drop the Human Segmentation effect into the footage in the timeline. Once you drop it into the footage, it will ask you to purchase this feature to export the footage. Since we are not trying to export the footage, we are only creating a thumbnail, click on “Try It”. Once the background is removed, you can add other effects as well. Drag and drop the “Human Border” into the footage. It creates an outline around the human in your footage.

Step 10: The effect will be applied to the footage. Now the background has been removed from the footage and ready to be used on your custom background. You can adjust the human accordingly where it looks perfect.

Step 11: Now it is time to add a title into your thumbnail to highlight what the video is all about. Go to the Titles, and select lower thirds. You can also select any of the titles types which best suits your needs. Drop the title into the timeline above the footage and adjust it accordingly. Now double click on the header to edit and rename it.

Step 12: Once you are satisfied with the final results, click on the Camera icon below the preview screen or press “Ctrl+Alt+S” to take the screenshot.

Conclusion

This is how your Youtube thumbnail will look like after applying all the above-mentioned effects and settings.

This article on making a thumbnail for your Youtube is just an idea for you, and you can use your creativity to create amazing thumbnails using other features of Filmora. These cool thumbnails will help you attract more viewers and click, which will ultimately help you grow your Youtube Channel. Unlike all other articles and tutorials that show you how to make a thumbnail for Youtube, this method is free and doesn’t need any technical skills to be implemented.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

How to Record Good Audio Without a Microphone?

How to Record Good Audio Without a Microphone?

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Audio quality is more important than video quality on YouTube. You’ve probably heard that before – viewers might forgive sub-par video quality if they’re interested in what you’re saying, but if it’s hard to understand what you’re saying they’ll click away.

Getting an external mic (even a $10 one-off Amazon ) is one of the best ways to improve your videos. That said, maybe your budget is $0. Or, maybe you just don’t happen to have a mic now and don’t want to wait to make videos. It could even be that you just don’t want to bother with an external mic.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy, free, things you can do to protect the quality of your audio recording even if you’re not using an external mic. Here are a few tips:

• 1. Keep Your Camera Close
• 2. Shoot Somewhere Quiet
• 3. Pick a Good Room
• 4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind
• 5. Use a Free Audio App
• 6. Do a Sound Check

1. Keep Your Camera Close (like, really close)

The biggest problem with the mic built into any camera or phone is just that, since it’s with the camera, it’s usually too far away from you. Built-in mics can record decent audio up close, but usually, your camera will be set up farther away from you than an external mic would be.

For example, your camera’s mic might be just as good as a clip-on LAV, but that LAV is right by your mouth and the camera is a couple of big steps away.

Moving your camera/smartphone physically closer to you will make it hard to include anything besides your head and shoulders in your shot, but it will get you significantly better audio.

2.Shoot Somewhere Quiet

The best way to limit the amount of background noise you pick up in your sound recording is to shoot somewhere where there’s no background noise. That probably seems really basic, but it’s something a lot of people just don’t do. It’s easy to default to recording in your home office, even though it’s right next to the kitchen where your family is bustling around, or in your bedroom even though there’s a busy street right outside your window.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your audio is simply to scout out a quiet room in your house where the sound recording conditions are better. Speaking of recording conditions…

3. Pick a Good Room

There’s more that goes into picking a good room than how quiet it is. If you try to record in a room that’s too big your voice might sound to distant, and if you try to record in a room that’s too small your audio will be too echo-y. You need a room that’s just right.

You should also pay attention to what’s in the room you’re recording in. Avoid hard, reflective, surfaces like appliances and mirrors which your voice will bounce off of. The same conditions that make you sound great when you sing in the shower will – like recording in a small space -make your voiceover unpleasantly echo-y.

Look for a room that has a lot of soft things in it, like beds and sofas.

4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind

If you shoot outside, then the wind passing over your built-in mic will do terrible things to your audio. You can do a lot to counter-act this problem by physically blocking the wind.

There are a few ways to do this. If you’re doing hand-held shots you can partially cover your camera or phone’s mic with your finger. You don’t want to completely cover it/press down or your audio will be muffled. What you’re trying to do is create a barrier blocking out the wind.

On movie sets, they block out wind by covering the microphones with big fuzzy things called ‘dead cats’. You can also block out wind noise by attaching something fuzzy to your microphone. If your camera’s built-in mic is on front of it then you just need something big and fluffy you can loop around the lens. You can use a piece of a boa, a fuzzy novelty scrunchie – you can even murder a fuzzy stuffed animal! Do you have an old coat with a fuzz around the hood? That fuzz would do nicely.

The pompom used in this video cost $2, but you might already have something that would work!

If your built-in mic is on top of your camera you can get something called a ‘micromuff’. A micromuff is essentially a circular or rectangular piece of velcro with long strands of fluff on top. It’s open in the middle so it doesn’t actually cover your mic, but the surrounding fuzz blocks out the wind.

You use the adhesive backing to attach the base velcro to your camera. The other side of the velcro has your fluff attached to the back.

The only thing about a micromuff is that it costs about $30, and if you’re going to spend $30 on audio equipment then you could just buy yourself an inexpensive LAV mic. I only bring up the micromuff because it’s a very simple design you can probably DIY – you just need velcro with adhesive backing and any of the fluff-sources we just discussed.

5. Use a Free Audio App

If you’re recording on a smartphone, you can download a free app that will let you make adjustments to your audio as you record it. With the right app, you can adjust your gain (volume is how you control ‘output’ audio, and gain is for ‘input’ audio. By turning up your gain, you can make your mic more sensitive), tempo, and more. A lot of the time, your audio recording app will also let you edit your audio afterward.

Even if you’re not recording video from your smartphone, it might be a good idea to use your phone as your mic and record a separate audio file. You’ll be able to use an app to fine-tune your recording, and you can set your phone up closer to you the way you would an external mic while keeping your camera back a bit farther.

Free audio apps: Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder (Android), RecForge II (Android), Smart Voice Recorder (Android), Audio Memos (iOS), and Recorder Plus (iOS).

6. Do a Sound Check

Once you think you’ve got good audio set up – test it! You don’t want to do a whole video and find out when you play it back that your audio doesn’t sound good.

Do you have any of your own audio tips to pass on? Leave them in the comments!

This topic was suggested by RS Beauty over in the forums. Thanks for the idea!

Polish Your YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora allows you to record voiceover and edit the recorded audio with mixer, equalizer and provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Audio quality is more important than video quality on YouTube. You’ve probably heard that before – viewers might forgive sub-par video quality if they’re interested in what you’re saying, but if it’s hard to understand what you’re saying they’ll click away.

Getting an external mic (even a $10 one-off Amazon ) is one of the best ways to improve your videos. That said, maybe your budget is $0. Or, maybe you just don’t happen to have a mic now and don’t want to wait to make videos. It could even be that you just don’t want to bother with an external mic.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy, free, things you can do to protect the quality of your audio recording even if you’re not using an external mic. Here are a few tips:

• 1. Keep Your Camera Close
• 2. Shoot Somewhere Quiet
• 3. Pick a Good Room
• 4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind
• 5. Use a Free Audio App
• 6. Do a Sound Check

1. Keep Your Camera Close (like, really close)

The biggest problem with the mic built into any camera or phone is just that, since it’s with the camera, it’s usually too far away from you. Built-in mics can record decent audio up close, but usually, your camera will be set up farther away from you than an external mic would be.

For example, your camera’s mic might be just as good as a clip-on LAV, but that LAV is right by your mouth and the camera is a couple of big steps away.

Moving your camera/smartphone physically closer to you will make it hard to include anything besides your head and shoulders in your shot, but it will get you significantly better audio.

2.Shoot Somewhere Quiet

The best way to limit the amount of background noise you pick up in your sound recording is to shoot somewhere where there’s no background noise. That probably seems really basic, but it’s something a lot of people just don’t do. It’s easy to default to recording in your home office, even though it’s right next to the kitchen where your family is bustling around, or in your bedroom even though there’s a busy street right outside your window.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your audio is simply to scout out a quiet room in your house where the sound recording conditions are better. Speaking of recording conditions…

3. Pick a Good Room

There’s more that goes into picking a good room than how quiet it is. If you try to record in a room that’s too big your voice might sound to distant, and if you try to record in a room that’s too small your audio will be too echo-y. You need a room that’s just right.

You should also pay attention to what’s in the room you’re recording in. Avoid hard, reflective, surfaces like appliances and mirrors which your voice will bounce off of. The same conditions that make you sound great when you sing in the shower will – like recording in a small space -make your voiceover unpleasantly echo-y.

Look for a room that has a lot of soft things in it, like beds and sofas.

4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind

If you shoot outside, then the wind passing over your built-in mic will do terrible things to your audio. You can do a lot to counter-act this problem by physically blocking the wind.

There are a few ways to do this. If you’re doing hand-held shots you can partially cover your camera or phone’s mic with your finger. You don’t want to completely cover it/press down or your audio will be muffled. What you’re trying to do is create a barrier blocking out the wind.

On movie sets, they block out wind by covering the microphones with big fuzzy things called ‘dead cats’. You can also block out wind noise by attaching something fuzzy to your microphone. If your camera’s built-in mic is on front of it then you just need something big and fluffy you can loop around the lens. You can use a piece of a boa, a fuzzy novelty scrunchie – you can even murder a fuzzy stuffed animal! Do you have an old coat with a fuzz around the hood? That fuzz would do nicely.

The pompom used in this video cost $2, but you might already have something that would work!

If your built-in mic is on top of your camera you can get something called a ‘micromuff’. A micromuff is essentially a circular or rectangular piece of velcro with long strands of fluff on top. It’s open in the middle so it doesn’t actually cover your mic, but the surrounding fuzz blocks out the wind.

You use the adhesive backing to attach the base velcro to your camera. The other side of the velcro has your fluff attached to the back.

The only thing about a micromuff is that it costs about $30, and if you’re going to spend $30 on audio equipment then you could just buy yourself an inexpensive LAV mic. I only bring up the micromuff because it’s a very simple design you can probably DIY – you just need velcro with adhesive backing and any of the fluff-sources we just discussed.

5. Use a Free Audio App

If you’re recording on a smartphone, you can download a free app that will let you make adjustments to your audio as you record it. With the right app, you can adjust your gain (volume is how you control ‘output’ audio, and gain is for ‘input’ audio. By turning up your gain, you can make your mic more sensitive), tempo, and more. A lot of the time, your audio recording app will also let you edit your audio afterward.

Even if you’re not recording video from your smartphone, it might be a good idea to use your phone as your mic and record a separate audio file. You’ll be able to use an app to fine-tune your recording, and you can set your phone up closer to you the way you would an external mic while keeping your camera back a bit farther.

Free audio apps: Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder (Android), RecForge II (Android), Smart Voice Recorder (Android), Audio Memos (iOS), and Recorder Plus (iOS).

6. Do a Sound Check

Once you think you’ve got good audio set up – test it! You don’t want to do a whole video and find out when you play it back that your audio doesn’t sound good.

Do you have any of your own audio tips to pass on? Leave them in the comments!

This topic was suggested by RS Beauty over in the forums. Thanks for the idea!

Polish Your YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora allows you to record voiceover and edit the recorded audio with mixer, equalizer and provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Audio quality is more important than video quality on YouTube. You’ve probably heard that before – viewers might forgive sub-par video quality if they’re interested in what you’re saying, but if it’s hard to understand what you’re saying they’ll click away.

Getting an external mic (even a $10 one-off Amazon ) is one of the best ways to improve your videos. That said, maybe your budget is $0. Or, maybe you just don’t happen to have a mic now and don’t want to wait to make videos. It could even be that you just don’t want to bother with an external mic.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy, free, things you can do to protect the quality of your audio recording even if you’re not using an external mic. Here are a few tips:

• 1. Keep Your Camera Close
• 2. Shoot Somewhere Quiet
• 3. Pick a Good Room
• 4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind
• 5. Use a Free Audio App
• 6. Do a Sound Check

1. Keep Your Camera Close (like, really close)

The biggest problem with the mic built into any camera or phone is just that, since it’s with the camera, it’s usually too far away from you. Built-in mics can record decent audio up close, but usually, your camera will be set up farther away from you than an external mic would be.

For example, your camera’s mic might be just as good as a clip-on LAV, but that LAV is right by your mouth and the camera is a couple of big steps away.

Moving your camera/smartphone physically closer to you will make it hard to include anything besides your head and shoulders in your shot, but it will get you significantly better audio.

2.Shoot Somewhere Quiet

The best way to limit the amount of background noise you pick up in your sound recording is to shoot somewhere where there’s no background noise. That probably seems really basic, but it’s something a lot of people just don’t do. It’s easy to default to recording in your home office, even though it’s right next to the kitchen where your family is bustling around, or in your bedroom even though there’s a busy street right outside your window.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your audio is simply to scout out a quiet room in your house where the sound recording conditions are better. Speaking of recording conditions…

3. Pick a Good Room

There’s more that goes into picking a good room than how quiet it is. If you try to record in a room that’s too big your voice might sound to distant, and if you try to record in a room that’s too small your audio will be too echo-y. You need a room that’s just right.

You should also pay attention to what’s in the room you’re recording in. Avoid hard, reflective, surfaces like appliances and mirrors which your voice will bounce off of. The same conditions that make you sound great when you sing in the shower will – like recording in a small space -make your voiceover unpleasantly echo-y.

Look for a room that has a lot of soft things in it, like beds and sofas.

4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind

If you shoot outside, then the wind passing over your built-in mic will do terrible things to your audio. You can do a lot to counter-act this problem by physically blocking the wind.

There are a few ways to do this. If you’re doing hand-held shots you can partially cover your camera or phone’s mic with your finger. You don’t want to completely cover it/press down or your audio will be muffled. What you’re trying to do is create a barrier blocking out the wind.

On movie sets, they block out wind by covering the microphones with big fuzzy things called ‘dead cats’. You can also block out wind noise by attaching something fuzzy to your microphone. If your camera’s built-in mic is on front of it then you just need something big and fluffy you can loop around the lens. You can use a piece of a boa, a fuzzy novelty scrunchie – you can even murder a fuzzy stuffed animal! Do you have an old coat with a fuzz around the hood? That fuzz would do nicely.

The pompom used in this video cost $2, but you might already have something that would work!

If your built-in mic is on top of your camera you can get something called a ‘micromuff’. A micromuff is essentially a circular or rectangular piece of velcro with long strands of fluff on top. It’s open in the middle so it doesn’t actually cover your mic, but the surrounding fuzz blocks out the wind.

You use the adhesive backing to attach the base velcro to your camera. The other side of the velcro has your fluff attached to the back.

The only thing about a micromuff is that it costs about $30, and if you’re going to spend $30 on audio equipment then you could just buy yourself an inexpensive LAV mic. I only bring up the micromuff because it’s a very simple design you can probably DIY – you just need velcro with adhesive backing and any of the fluff-sources we just discussed.

5. Use a Free Audio App

If you’re recording on a smartphone, you can download a free app that will let you make adjustments to your audio as you record it. With the right app, you can adjust your gain (volume is how you control ‘output’ audio, and gain is for ‘input’ audio. By turning up your gain, you can make your mic more sensitive), tempo, and more. A lot of the time, your audio recording app will also let you edit your audio afterward.

Even if you’re not recording video from your smartphone, it might be a good idea to use your phone as your mic and record a separate audio file. You’ll be able to use an app to fine-tune your recording, and you can set your phone up closer to you the way you would an external mic while keeping your camera back a bit farther.

Free audio apps: Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder (Android), RecForge II (Android), Smart Voice Recorder (Android), Audio Memos (iOS), and Recorder Plus (iOS).

6. Do a Sound Check

Once you think you’ve got good audio set up – test it! You don’t want to do a whole video and find out when you play it back that your audio doesn’t sound good.

Do you have any of your own audio tips to pass on? Leave them in the comments!

This topic was suggested by RS Beauty over in the forums. Thanks for the idea!

Polish Your YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora allows you to record voiceover and edit the recorded audio with mixer, equalizer and provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Audio quality is more important than video quality on YouTube. You’ve probably heard that before – viewers might forgive sub-par video quality if they’re interested in what you’re saying, but if it’s hard to understand what you’re saying they’ll click away.

Getting an external mic (even a $10 one-off Amazon ) is one of the best ways to improve your videos. That said, maybe your budget is $0. Or, maybe you just don’t happen to have a mic now and don’t want to wait to make videos. It could even be that you just don’t want to bother with an external mic.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy, free, things you can do to protect the quality of your audio recording even if you’re not using an external mic. Here are a few tips:

• 1. Keep Your Camera Close
• 2. Shoot Somewhere Quiet
• 3. Pick a Good Room
• 4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind
• 5. Use a Free Audio App
• 6. Do a Sound Check

1. Keep Your Camera Close (like, really close)

The biggest problem with the mic built into any camera or phone is just that, since it’s with the camera, it’s usually too far away from you. Built-in mics can record decent audio up close, but usually, your camera will be set up farther away from you than an external mic would be.

For example, your camera’s mic might be just as good as a clip-on LAV, but that LAV is right by your mouth and the camera is a couple of big steps away.

Moving your camera/smartphone physically closer to you will make it hard to include anything besides your head and shoulders in your shot, but it will get you significantly better audio.

2.Shoot Somewhere Quiet

The best way to limit the amount of background noise you pick up in your sound recording is to shoot somewhere where there’s no background noise. That probably seems really basic, but it’s something a lot of people just don’t do. It’s easy to default to recording in your home office, even though it’s right next to the kitchen where your family is bustling around, or in your bedroom even though there’s a busy street right outside your window.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your audio is simply to scout out a quiet room in your house where the sound recording conditions are better. Speaking of recording conditions…

3. Pick a Good Room

There’s more that goes into picking a good room than how quiet it is. If you try to record in a room that’s too big your voice might sound to distant, and if you try to record in a room that’s too small your audio will be too echo-y. You need a room that’s just right.

You should also pay attention to what’s in the room you’re recording in. Avoid hard, reflective, surfaces like appliances and mirrors which your voice will bounce off of. The same conditions that make you sound great when you sing in the shower will – like recording in a small space -make your voiceover unpleasantly echo-y.

Look for a room that has a lot of soft things in it, like beds and sofas.

4. Protect your Built-In Mic from Wind

If you shoot outside, then the wind passing over your built-in mic will do terrible things to your audio. You can do a lot to counter-act this problem by physically blocking the wind.

There are a few ways to do this. If you’re doing hand-held shots you can partially cover your camera or phone’s mic with your finger. You don’t want to completely cover it/press down or your audio will be muffled. What you’re trying to do is create a barrier blocking out the wind.

On movie sets, they block out wind by covering the microphones with big fuzzy things called ‘dead cats’. You can also block out wind noise by attaching something fuzzy to your microphone. If your camera’s built-in mic is on front of it then you just need something big and fluffy you can loop around the lens. You can use a piece of a boa, a fuzzy novelty scrunchie – you can even murder a fuzzy stuffed animal! Do you have an old coat with a fuzz around the hood? That fuzz would do nicely.

The pompom used in this video cost $2, but you might already have something that would work!

If your built-in mic is on top of your camera you can get something called a ‘micromuff’. A micromuff is essentially a circular or rectangular piece of velcro with long strands of fluff on top. It’s open in the middle so it doesn’t actually cover your mic, but the surrounding fuzz blocks out the wind.

You use the adhesive backing to attach the base velcro to your camera. The other side of the velcro has your fluff attached to the back.

The only thing about a micromuff is that it costs about $30, and if you’re going to spend $30 on audio equipment then you could just buy yourself an inexpensive LAV mic. I only bring up the micromuff because it’s a very simple design you can probably DIY – you just need velcro with adhesive backing and any of the fluff-sources we just discussed.

5. Use a Free Audio App

If you’re recording on a smartphone, you can download a free app that will let you make adjustments to your audio as you record it. With the right app, you can adjust your gain (volume is how you control ‘output’ audio, and gain is for ‘input’ audio. By turning up your gain, you can make your mic more sensitive), tempo, and more. A lot of the time, your audio recording app will also let you edit your audio afterward.

Even if you’re not recording video from your smartphone, it might be a good idea to use your phone as your mic and record a separate audio file. You’ll be able to use an app to fine-tune your recording, and you can set your phone up closer to you the way you would an external mic while keeping your camera back a bit farther.

Free audio apps: Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder (Android), RecForge II (Android), Smart Voice Recorder (Android), Audio Memos (iOS), and Recorder Plus (iOS).

6. Do a Sound Check

Once you think you’ve got good audio set up – test it! You don’t want to do a whole video and find out when you play it back that your audio doesn’t sound good.

Do you have any of your own audio tips to pass on? Leave them in the comments!

This topic was suggested by RS Beauty over in the forums. Thanks for the idea!

Polish Your YouTube Videos with Filmora

As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora allows you to record voiceover and edit the recorded audio with mixer, equalizer and provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface, which saves much time. Download the free trial version and get started now.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

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