I've been creating content for quite some time and when I say content I'm talking about things like YouTube videos, blog posts, live-streams, and similar. I thought it'd be a great idea to show you what goes into the Poké Trainer Nic content production.
In this article we're going to look at things like the hardware I'm using, the software I'm using, and any tips and tricks that I've picked up that will make your own content production easier and cheaper.
Let me start by saying that I've been creating content long before I started the Poké Trainer Nic channels. To give you an idea, check out my other content network, The Polyglot Developer. However, don't think you need many years of experience to start creating your own content. You just need an idea and the willpower to see it through.
The Hardware Used to Create YouTube Videos and Live-Streams
You don't need extravagant hardware to start creating YouTube videos. Essentially you need a camera, microphone and something to edit the video on, whether that be a tablet or a computer.
However, your videos can get significantly better in quality if you invest into other hardware aspects.
Here is the hardware I use:
To break things down, the Logitech BRIO has been my web camera of choice for a few years. It isn't a great camera, but it's plenty good if you don't want to spend the money on a DSLR camera. The AT2020 is a solid condenser microphone and great for the price point. I use the XLR version with a Focusrite pre-amp, but there's also a USB version.
While the Logitech BRIO has a built in microphone, it's never a good idea to use the built in web camera microphone due to quality and distance from your mouth.
Since I'm using a consumer-grade web camera and not a DSLR, I need to put a lot of energy into proper lighting. I use two (2) Elgato Key Lights positioned on each side of my desk. This puts a lot less stress on my camera and gives a much better picture quality.
I use an Elgato Stream Deck for my macros and shortcuts when streaming and recording. As you'll see further in this article, the recording and streaming strategy that I use is pretty much the same.
Finally, since I do a lot of Pokémon card openings, I use my iPhone 11 as my desk camera.
Now for the hardware advice!
Like I said, you need at minimum a camera and a microphone to create video content. However, if you were looking to invest in one thing and one thing only, I'd say invest in a solid microphone. Viewers can usually live with poor video quality, but poor audio quality will result in the viewer leaving immediately.
Think about what would chase you away from a YouTube video and work to eliminate that from your own videos.
The Software Used to Edit On-Demand Videos and Broadcast Live-Streams
The software is where most of the magic happens when it comes to live-streams and on-demand videos. The good news is that most of the software can be obtained for free!
Here's what I use for my video content:
That's right, I only use three (3) pieces of software for recording, broadcasting, and editing my on-demand video.
OBS is the gold-standard when it comes to streaming to places like Twitch and YouTube. The great thing is that you can also use it to record without broadcasting. The better thing is that it's free!
With OBS, I configure numerous scenes with numerous components per scene such as a camera, display, microphone, etc.
Speaking of cameras, remember how I said I used my iPhone 11 as my desk camera? With Elgato EpocCam I can use my iPhone as a wireless web camera and add it to OBS. This allows me to control both my Logitech BRIO and my iPhone 11 in my recordings rather than having to worry about editing numerous video feeds in post.
This brings us to the post-processing side of things.
Once I record my videos with OBS, I need to do some minor editing. My minor editing includes cutting out any flubs and improving the audio.
To edit my videos I use Davinci Resolve, a free and extremely powerful video editing tool. I import the video that OBS dumps out, make my edits via the timeline, and then use the integrated Fairlight Audio tooling to boost my volume and clean up the audio.
Building and Hosting the Poké Trainer Nic Website
If you're just looking to produce video content, you can probably disregard this next section. However, I believe that having a website improves your brand and as a result will improve the results you get on your video content.
Remember, I'm a developer, so websites come naturally for me. There are plenty of free tools out there with drag and drop interfaces that you can use.
What I'm using for the website is the following:
This website, the one that you're on right now, was built with Eleventy which is a static website generator. I can use simple Markdown to be automatically converted to a static HTML, JavaScript, and CSS website. Of course there's more configuration involved, but that's kind of the gist of it.
To host my website I use Netlify and I actually don't pay a dime. Netlify allows me to host my static website with little to no fuss.
If you're not too technical, you might look into something like Wix instead.
Conclusion
You just got a taste of what I'm using to produce Poké Trainer Nic content, primarily YouTube videos. At a high-level, I have a microphone, camera, some lights, and my phone. I also have some software for recording videos and some software for editing some videos.
I want to reiterate that you don't need anything fancy or expensive to record your own content! Find a camera (it can be your phone), a decent sounding microphone, and the free software I mentioned in this article. Once you have the basics, do a lot of practice and upgrade your setup over time.
If you want a visual tour of my setup and the impact each of the pieces have, check out the video I recorded.
This article contains affiliate links. If you order any of the products through my links, I'll receive commission and you might receive a discount.