Opening a YouTube or Twitch channel is simple, but then there is the part of content creation, which includes both the initiative at the thematic level and the essential tools. Reaching the crowd is not simple, and what is worse, there is no magic formula that guarantees success.. Probably the creator or author, based on glibness and charisma, becomes their subject to carry out content, while other people will prefer to focus on certain points or specific fields and not on themselves.

But if one starts from the beginning, much more if the understandings for the creation of videos are few to none, it is essential not to have illusions and to be realistic. Every path begins with the initial step, but standing out is not easy and to make matters worse it has nothing to do with a walk governed by meritocracy. A stroke of luck can help a channel take off, even without deserving it if we adjust to the quality of its content. Yes, the planet is unfair. What will we do to him?

Having a clear concept of what you want to offer the public is probably the first step to being a video builder.. But once that initial initiative has been clarified, what program tools are essential to carry out the videos? Do not be impatient, that at this moment we will mention an account published as a free program and free to use to get you started in this world.

OBS-Studio

We start with a traditional from the field: OBS Studio. This program does not require any introduction at this point, while we are talking about among the colossal content in video format, both for recording and transmission.

We are facing an app that proved its worth much more than more in the professional field. Although its work platform can be scary, the truth is that using it in a basic way is simple, beyond the fact that it is just as necessary to have certain previous understandings about resolution, colors, image quality and audio quality.

When starting it for the first time, we recommend having each and every one of the gadgets that are going to be used connected in order to have an initial configuration that is much closer to the one that is then going to be used in production.

kdenlive

Probably the most common non-linear video editor among Linux clients and those released as freeware and free to use. A member of the KDE enterprise, he stands out in front of several of his opponents for having a much slower study curve coupled with the ability to provide enough quirks for low profile expert projects.

In other words, if you don't know how to modify videos, Kdenlive is a wonderful starting point. KDE has extreme utility and customization in its spirit, 2 virtues that are transferred to the app to make it much simpler to use.

A user can end up creating easy videos based on trial and error, but if you don't like to offer a lot of blind shots, you have our predisposition basic kdenlive tutorial, where we expose how the much more elementary parts are used (covering each and every one of the peculiarities would give for a thick encyclopedia).

Shotcut

Another exponent of free video editing, in this case with much more consistent support through Windows, Linux and macOS.

Shotcut is a video editor with expert claims which has among its specifications “detailed media features, recent files with search, playlist with thumbnail view, filter panel, history view, encoding panel, job queue and melted server and playlist. It also allows you to drag and drop assets from the file manager”.

Its work platform is not as malleable or obvious as Kdenlive's, but it is probably much more familiar to those who have successfully dealt with a non-linear video editor. Its evolution is incessant And he has more and more followers.

GIMP

And another app that needs no introduction. GIMP is among the greatest exponents of free software and free to use for image editing, although its critics criticize its slow evolution.

Beyond everything, we are faced with an image manipulator that covers much more than more than the pretensions of a newbie or low-profile content builder. With a bit of imagination it can be used to enter signs, put logos, images on the video, etc. For this you have to make an image with exactly the same resolution as the video and then export to PNG by choosing the option “Store the values of the pixel tones with transparency”. Of course, the box with the alpha channel must be apparent so that the PNG is transparent and not opaque after exporting.

Krita

Among the projects published as free software and for free use that had the greatest progression over the previous decade, going from a situation of certain marginality to being a leader in its segment.

Being much more specific, Krita is a noted drawing app that also has powerful image manipulation options, although the options for the second task are not as "obvious" as in GIMP. Said with other expressions, you have to dig a bit through the app to squeeze Krita for image manipulation, but even with those several choose it before GIMP.

Krita can be useful for making thumbnails/covers and also inserting much more imaginative/artistic images into videos. That now is dependent on what you want to do.

Audacity

Beyond the fact that we are encompassing video creation and editing, it is possible to find yourself in the situation of having to deal particularly with audio. Although video editors have options for audio manipulation, sometimes it is preferable to treat it with a solution focused on that.

Audacity is an audio editing veteran advertised as freeware and free to use. It has debugging options; recording at the same instant; MIDI playback; multitrack capabilities with controls for browsing, zooming, single-track editing, and destructive and non-destructive effects processing; import of WAV, AIFF, MP3, AAC, WMA, ARM and OGG Vorbis; apart from noise reduction.

Audacity proved its worth in real production environments.

VLC

Although it is popular more than anything for being a video player, being the most notable for many, the truth is that VLC is a strong multimedia suite, since it not only has the ability to play video and audio, but also has recording options, so for many it is probably still an alternative option to OBS Studio depending on what you intend to do.

To all of the above is added a modular design with the ability to support plugins, which transforms VLC into an enormously customizable app that can be adapted to the user's wishes and purposes.

As we have seen, VLC is not only used to play the previous and final material of the video editing, as it integrates countless options.

It is preferable to sacrifice image quality than sound quality

If one begins in a self-taught plan to study to modify videos (as is the situation of this server), it is logical to continue giving blind shots.

Although the way to modify depends on what you want to do (and there may even be different ways to do the same thing), there is one aspect that is partially universal, and that is the means through which the content is consumed. .

For a few years now, smartphones have become the preferred interface for consuming Internet content, even those in video format. This situation suggests that quite a few people consume YouTube, at least for part of the day, using the flat fee of their smartphone, which invites us to reduce the resolution to avoid high data consumption.

Consequently, it is preferable to have excellent audio quality than image quality, more than anything because several low-end smart mobile gadgets do not offer much quality in that regard. If you have no idea whether to sacrifice image or sound quality since you cannot cover both or you are not sure what to prioritize, the answer is clear for most situations: it is preferable to sacrifice image quality.

Other apps that could be useful in creating videos for YouTube

LMMS

LMMS, which was formerly the initials for Linux MultiMedia Studio (at the moment it is not this way to emphasize its cross-platform nature), is a digital audio station published as a free program and free to use and supports Windows, Linux and macOS.

It is possible to use it to generate music by organizing samples, synthesizing sounds, playing a MIDI keyboard and mixing the functionalities of trackers and sequencers. It is with the ability to read and write custom themes and presets and export audio in OGG, FLAC, MP3 and WAV formats. It has effects mixer, piano roll and song, rhythm and bassline editors.

mixxx

mixxx is a app of disc jokey for various platforms. It can be mastered with MIDI and HID and timecode vinyl records, as well as accepting use of a PC keyboard and mouse.

At the level of formats, it supports MP3, Vorbis, Opus, AIFF and FLAC and since version 1.8 it includes a plugin system that opens the door to being able to read other formats, among those that are certain patented ones such as AAC, whose free distribution is not tolerated. In addition to this, via PortAudio it supports an extensive selection of sound chips via the ASIO, WASAPI and DirectSound frameworks on Windows; OSS, ALSA and JACK on Linux; and CoreAudio on Mac OS X.

blender

the archiconody 3D graphics creation and rendering solution It is not only a pride of the free program and free to use, but it was consolidated within the professional field having been used, to serve as an example, for the EVANGELION production:3.0+1.0.

Blender can assist in the creation of entries and completions as well as has your video editor. Beyond the fact that it is not an app particularly suitable for the second purpose mentioned, there are those who dare to use it for that purpose.

Remember to grant money

Have you become a successful content builder and earn money from this? In the case of using several of the projects mentioned for your productions, it would be advisable that you donate some money to help in its advancement and care, since now it is known, it is well born to be pleased.