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Mainpage » Gay Youth Blogs & Vlogs » QA Vlogging Guide

QA Vlogging Guide

Guide to Vlogging on QA

The QA Staff would love to see more Video Blogging on QA. The internet is becoming as dynamic as the people who inhabit it, and we want to embrace that. Let's tell each other who's out there! This how-to document will help you put your Vlog together and post it online for us to see, and provide a few content guidelines.

Creating & Uploading a Video

On a Mac

  • If your Mac doesn't have a built in iSight camera (small black square above the screen) then you need to plug in a compatible camera. Any camera that connects via FireWire will work. USB cameras may need a bit of fiddling - consult Google.

  • Choose a video capture method. If you just want to straight record the video, skip ahead to "On YouTube" section ... however if you might want to trim and edit it, read on here. If you have QuickTime Pro, this is simplest (just press New Movie Recording and go). If you don't, iMovie is ideal and offers more useful editing options.

  • Once you've captured your vlog, and edited it to your satisfaction, you need to export it. YouTube can understand almost any video format, but will always change the video to something small first, so there's no need to spend time making a huge file that will take you ages to upload.

  • In iMovie 08 (icon that looks like a black star), you can press Share --> YouTube to create a file especially for YouTube use. In previous versions of iMovie (blue clapper board icon), Press Share --> QuickTime, then select "Web" from the list. In QuickTime Pro, Press File --> Export for Web and make sure only Desktop is selected (this will create multiple files ... make sure to select the M4V file when you upload).

  • Go to www.youtube.com and press "Upload Video". This will take you through the options step by step. Make sure to add the following tags before your own: qa queerattitude.com. Remember to leave embedding enabled, otherwise you will not be able to put your video on to QA BlogBase.

On Windows

QA is taking applications from writers who might know how to wrangle Windows in to correctly doing this most basic of tasks.

On YouTube

YouTube can directly record video straight on to the website from your webcam. The features this offers are limited, but it's possibly the simplest way to go. Simply go to www.youtube.com and press "Upload Video," selecting "Quick Capture" as the method on the next screen.

All methods - adding to QA

If you have not already, you might want to press "My Account" to set a few details like your blog's name and a picture. Once it's ready, you can press "My QA Blog" on the top left of any QA page. The page this will take you to has a link, "+ Add an entry to your Blog". Press this. You might want to include a bit of normal text explaining your blog.

To embed the YouTube video you've created to the page, go to the page of the video on YouTube itself and select all the text in the "embed" box. Paste this as it is in to the main box on the QA BlogBase page. Once you press Submit, it'll be there.

Some Tips & Tricks

  • Have something to say. You need to know the basic idea of what you're going to say to your audience before you start to say it. Hesitation is an annoying thing to see on a video. Unlike a traditional blog, you can't go back and correct & refine little bits of it as you go. It might be helpful to keep a few "topic sentences" on the screen as you go - but not a whole script!

  • Look at the camera! It's tempting to look at the video preview of you on the screen (assuming there is one) but that means you won't be making eye contact with your viewers. They wanna see your eyes!

  • Make a point. Just like on traditional blogs, no-one wants to see a vlog that's there just for the sake of it. Your message can be whatever you like about anything you like, but there should BE a message!

  • Be yourself. People can tell when you're "acting," even if you think they can't. If that works the kind of vlog you're making, go for it ... but if you want to be sincerely yourself, don't "try" to ... just be yourself.

Content Guidelines

Content rules and T&Cs still apply to video entries here just as much as written ones. Check the Terms and Conditions for more details ... here are some important ones to be aware of when making your vlog...

  • No personal details! Nothing should be seen or heard in your video that reveals information like your surname, where you live, phone number, et cetera. Also nothing identifying ANY other person (even members of your family) unless they've given expressed permission.

  • Safe Space content. Bear in mind our younger members. Anything that belongs in DYMK should stay in DYMK in text form. As if it wasn't obvious, no pornography or nudity of any kind should be on videos posted to QA (they'll probably be removed from YouTube as well).

  • All vlogs should be posted to your own blog and not the forums. The only exception to this is any new members who may wish to introduce themselves with a video, in which case these should be posted to Introductions (BlogBase is not to be used for introductions in any case).

You should also be aware of the QA Blogging Guide, which applies to vlogs. The key points are that entries should have a message "worthy" of being imparted, and that while forum topics are intended to start discussions, blogs\vlogs are there for you to express yourself. As always, if you want to start a discussion about something, do so in the forums without a video.

Happy Vlogging!