I recently wrote two blog posts that explained how I created my YouTube videos using MS PowerPoint and NCH VideoPad video editing software. I decided that it would be a good idea to use these methods to create a YouTube video about how I make my YouTube videos ... and that is exactly what I have done!
The video lasts approximately eleven and a half minutes and can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.
After cutting my teeth creating YouTube videos using MS PowerPoint, I decided to try out some video editing software. After looking at what was on the market and that seemed to be reasonably easy to use (and which allowed users to 'try before you buy'), I ended up selecting NCH VideoPad video editing software.
To show how 'simple' the process is, I have created a short video using this software and this is how I did it:
When I opened the program, I chose to create a 'New Project'.
The opening page then appeared on screen ...
... and I selected the 'Add File(s)' option.
I then selected two video files that I have previously shot on my bridge camera and used in an earlier YouTube video and added them to the 'Media Bin' on the left of the screen.
I wanted to add a title page and did this by selecting the 'Add text' option and choosing to add a 'Single text overlay'.
I then typed in the text of the title page ...
... and this was automatically saved in the 'Media Bin' on the left of the screen.
I then dragged the title page down to 'Video Track 1'.
I then dragged the first of my video files to 'Video Track 1' so that it abutted the title page ...
... and then did the same with the second video file.
I then dragged the title page to the end of 'Video Track 1'.
Because I wanted each section of the final video to seamlessly transition from one to another ...
... I used the 'Add transition option' and selected ...
... 'Dissolve'. I did this for each transition.
I then tested the video using the 'Play' button.
I decided that the video need some music, so I added a copyright-free music track to the 'Media Bin' on the left of the screen.
The program had already created an 'Audio Track 1' as the two pre-existing video files had soundtracks. I therefore created a second audio track (;Audi Track 2') and dragged the music file into it. I placed it so that it would start just after the title page ended and before the end page started.
I then set the track's volume to 25% ...
... and set the 'Fade In' ...
... and 'Fade Out' to five seconds.
I then tested the complete video again, using the 'Play' button.
I was satisfied with the result and chose the 'Export' and 'Video File' options ...
... before giving the video a file name and file destination before pressing the 'Create' button.
When the creation process was complete, the 'Export Queue' showed '1 of 1 Complete' message.
The end result of this process can be seen here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.
I am sure that I’m not alone in issuing a sigh of disappointment when the word PowerPoint enters the conversation. I suspect that we’ve all experienced what is termed ‘Death by PowerPoint’ and sat through long and tedious presentations … often where the presenter has read out loud what is on their slides on the assumption that the audience is too numbed by the never-ending slide show to be able to read it for themselves.
However, like some many Microsoft Office programs, most users only utilise a small percentage of the programs features … and one of these is converting a slideshow into an MP4 format that can be uploaded to YouTube.
So how does it work? To misquote Mrs Beeton, first create your slideshow!
Stage I: Create a presentation
I began by opening PowerPoint ...
... and creating a title slide ...
... before adding additional slides that suitably display the visual information and images I wanted to include in my video. (In this example, I used 'Design Suggestions' to format the slides.)
I always end with an exit slide. This is often based on the title slide.
Stage 2: Add Transitions and Animations
I then added the 'Transitions' (i.e. how each slide transits into the next) ...
... (In this case, 'Morph' 'Words') ...
... and any 'Animations' of text and/or images that I wanted to use.
These helped to make the video a bit more interesting to watch and helps maintain viewer engagement/interest.
It made sense to save the file at this stage and then test it by using the 'Slide Show' function.
Stage 3: Record the voiceover
Once I was happy with the slide show and I had my script or notes ready, I began the process of recording the voiceover.
I selected the 'Record' function ...
... and when I was ready to record, I pressed the red button at the top of the recording screen.
I used headphones with an attached lip microphone to record what I wanted to say (it helped to reduce the possibility of unwanted background noise being picked up) and the mouse to advance each slide as and when necessary. When I did this, it automatically saved the timing for each slide transition and how long each slide was displayed.
When I had finished recording the voiceover, I pressed the red button to stop the recording process.
It was important to remember that when I moved from one slide to the next, there was a slight recording delay and it was important to allow for this otherwise the end of a word and the beginning of the next might be inaudible.
If I made a mistake, I cleared any recording I had made on an individual slide or slides by using the 'Clear Recording' button on the toolbar.
Once I was happy with the recording and the timing of the presentation, I saved the file and tested it using the 'Slide Show' function.
Stage 4: Save as an MP4 file
Now that I had a PowerPoint presentation that had a voiceover and had the timing of each slide transition in place, I then exported it as a video.
The end result of this process can be seen here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.
As I wrote in a blog post some days ago, over the past few days I have been trying to produce a YouTube video that explains how I create the gridded maps that I use for my wargames ... and it has not turned out to be as easy as I expected.
The program I was using to create the maps is MS Paint and it is essentially a rather simple and uncomplicated one to use ... BUT trying to explain how to use it has turned out to be far more difficult that I expected. So far, it has taken me sixteen MS PowerPoint slides to describe the basic tools on the toolbar and how to use them to create a simple one-off hexagon and I haven't even started the process of drawing an exemplar map!
An example of one of the MS PowerPoint slides that I created for this project.
Another example of one of the MS PowerPoint slides that I created for this project.
Long ago I learned that trying to teach someone how to use a computer program is far more complicated than one might expect. You can never make assumptions about the ability, prior knowledge, and experience of one's students ... and that those who seemed to know what they were doing could not always be relied upon to be doing things the right way. I well remember one student who knew all the shortcuts that normal users could use in MS Excel and would produce apparently well-functioning spreadsheets very quickly ... but when one looked at them in detail, there were full of errors that were generated by the inbuilt programing assumptions included by the software designers but that would not have occurred if he had used a slightly slower but more accurate method.
At the moment, I am going to put this project on the backburner. I may resurrect it at a later date, but if I do it will probably be in the format of a PDF booklet that users can print off and go through at their own pace.
I recently wrote a blog post about the problems I had experienced when writing some workable logistic rules for my HEXBLITZ rules. As I cannot do any work on my FUNNY LITTLE WARS/PORTABLE WARGAME ARMY KEPI ROUGE until I have primed the figures, I thought that I would occupy my spare time by starting a fundamental rewrite of HEXBLITZ … but when – after a couple of day’s work – I looked back at what I had written, I realised that the rules were gradually evolving into something quite different … an operational-level version of the PORTABLE WARGAME that – with a few minor adjustments – should be suitable for fighting wargames over quite an extensive time period.
I suspect that writing my recent PORTABLE BALKAN WARS WARGAME rules and reading Mark Cordone’s and Ion Dowman’s big PORTABLE WARGAME battle reports on Facebook may well have subconsciously influenced my thinking. What I have ended up with is a draft set of rules that I want to play about with over the next few weeks. Rest assured I’ll write more about my ‘new’ rules as they continue to evolve.
