Graphics for Youtube Video

Can't be worse than those folks posting songs with just a stock image, which regularly ticks me off when I'm looking for an actual video clip... What was the question?

Oh, right.

Yeah, I feel ya. I'm currently working on a promotional clip for my Patreon campaign, using my webcomic panels 'cause that's what I want my would-be patrons to back and there's no way I'm getting in front of a camera if I don't have to.

Legally, make sure the license for the clipart covers free use in YT videos. YT isn't non-commercial, even though its use often is, so a Creative Commons NC license might not be enough.

Technically, nothing wrong with having an animated slide show rather than actual moving pictures.

'Culturally', it depens on what graphics you use and how you use them. Kirby Ferguson, Tony Zhou and Adam Westbrook have done some amazing stuff with pre-existing images and footage, but in each case it had to be that material. So there are ways to do this that aren't tacky and unprofessional.

Ask yourself, though: If you don't really have a visual message, is video really the right medium for you? Maybe you should be going for pure audio, maybe with some credit stills, subtitles or whatever to make it YT-worthy?

Oops, just saw it's for promotional clips. Well, there's always the book cover (if it's that kind of promotion) and stuff like that. Gotta revise my previous point, though. You wnat that imagery to be connected with your product. And for that, it's better to use exclusive stuff, imho. (Unless it's a historical novel or something. Totally okay to use familiar images then.)

GirlWriter said:

Hi, I'm new to making videos and to Youtube, but I'd like to start using it as a promotional tool. I ablsolutely refuse to be on camera and I can't even draw stick people. I was wondering if I could use some royalty free clipart from the Internet and some photographs as the visual part. Would that be tacky and unprofessional? or perfectly acceptable?Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.Elizabeth

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Hey!

I'd be happy to brainstorm with you on this. I had a short ebook published and had a video trailer or promo made that a few media outlets posted/ran. I'm not sure it was a runaway success, but I definitely learned a lot about this area. I had some inimitable home video footage (my ebook is memoir, after all) and actually hired a video guy to do the editing even though I do have some skills in video-editing and as a hobby/semi-pro photographer I'm good with photo editing as well (but the video guy's credentials included showing a short film in the official competition at Cannes, so how could I resist? lol).

I'm pretty familiar with finding royalty free art/images (as a result of my ebook trailer and other projects) and even though you didn't mention this, I also have some experience with licensing music or finding royalty free audio. I even went into a super tricked out recording studio (my friend worked for the place as luck would have it) to do a voiceover.

Anyway, w/r/t your question: it's very easy to make something tacky and unprofessional. but if you dig around, you'll find some royalty free visual content that looks pretty good. one problem might be that the good free stuff might have already been used a lot. just be creative. and don't rule out stuff you have to pay for. there may be some services that offer cheap memberships and give you access to a lot of stuff. and you may even be able to collaborate with a visual artist. perhaps if you sell your project well enough, you can entice them to work for free or reasonable compensation if the project might look good in their portfolio.

anyway, i'm dropping you a PM with my email address. i simply enjoy brainstorming these types of projects and am also looking to connect/network with other writers. i'm not a professional graphic designer or videographer, but i do some paid photography work and am a total adobe creative suite/photoshop geek, so I may even be able to help you create stuff for your project. same goes for anyone out there reading this....drop me a PM!

On stock photos, that part will cost a small amount, unless you get creative. I saw some expensive online sites, but I also know family friends with nice cameras who would probably get some great photos for a price that I could afford (especially parent friends who have college-age students) so if I could not find what I needed online, I was going to see if my own younger kids could, and if not, look at those other options.

But, for a book, I think you could make a great trailer and might have fun with it, even if you don't want your portrait as yourself for whatever reason.

If you are a Mac person (or know someone with an iPhone or iPad of some sort), you can use an app called Toon Camera (Android may have this too?) which allows you to make a picture or also a video become cartoon or pencil sketched. I'm sure there are others out there too. I got this one free (Apple has each app free for a day each year), but I think it is usually only $2 or something.

And, for video promos such as a book trailer, iMovie (which now comes free with ios 8) has trailers you can use with several themes. My elementary school child created mine in a few minutes with no tutorial, and it looked amazing (for an academic thing). The concept would work for anything- and they have preset templates for creepy, romance, family fun, etc.

I would imagine you could also ask someone on Fivrr (not sure how that is spelled?) to create a unique promo from After Effects or similar program- I had considered that before my children showed me what I could do with what I already had through iMovie.

Or connect with others here. Just letting you and all readers know that so much is changing in the digital world that it is really easy to have a great book trailer ready on the cheap (with or without your face in it).