Motor City Musings - My new YouTube channel. Please watch, like, subscribe, and give me feedback.

Hi folks.  Welcome to Motor City Musings, my new automotive opinion channel.  With reviews, opinions, events, and hopefully competition.  Friends, family, associates, and even our financial advisor have urged me to start a podcast or YouTube channel for years.  Now, I doubt there's a person on this forum who hasn't had a Walter Mitty moment watching old Top Gears, and figured they could do that.  Well, now I'm having a go.  I'm not trying to emulate any one channel or subject.  I want to give my opinion, experience, and thoughts on cars and events.  MODS, I hope this is OK.  The channel isn't monetized, but if this is inappropriate let me know.

Below is my first video.  A couple of weeks ago I went up to the Empire Hillclimb in, surprisingly enough Empire Michigan, and shot some video, put it together, and posted it.  I plan on another video this afternoon, and then again on Friday.  I want to go with a two videos a week format and try to keep it consistent.

I realize I've got a long way to go.  I haven't taken any kind of art class in nearly 40 years.  I've never tried talking to a camera, although I'm perfectly happy talking to large groups of people.  I have almost no equipment.  But that's the great thing about today, you can try it with whatever you have, and build from there.  I've started with one iPhone, a few year old iPad Pro, an old tripod, a selfie stick, a stick on window camera mount, and a couple of cheap remote mics.  About $50 worth of stuff on Amazon.  Before last week I'd never tried editing anything, and I'd never even opened iMovie.  I see people talking about one hour of editing per one minute of finished content.  Honestly, for this first video, it's more like 10 hours per minute of film.  But that was learning every step from importing the files onwards as I worked.  I realize that the sound isn't very good, again I did what I could with the editing abilities of iMovie, and my nonexistent experience, but honestly I'm quite proud of the result.

I'm looking for feedback on content, presentation, and how to do things.

A quick question for those who may know.  I'm trying to understand fair use when it comes to copyrighted material. You'll see in the first video I have some vintage pics of events from over a century ago.  I searched for images that I could find used in several places, without any attribution, then used them as picture-in-picture to help tell the story.  I'm pretty certain that is OK. What I want to know is how far 'fair use' goes with copywritten images and music.  Obviously, I can't add a song by a famous artist or group.  What I'm not sure of is, whether I can use a short clip, say 2-3 seconds, as a hook that matches something in my video?  Or can I use a cover version in the same way?  I'm not trying to rip off a full song, just a tiny clip that would be relevant to storytelling.  Also a similar question on other people photo's.  I think I'm OK with the vintage ones I've used, can someone confirm?  Also, can I use another pic if it's not the main subject, say a couple of seconds of the image floating across the screen, if I have in big bold letters 'Image from XXXXXXXX, used under fair use'.  Again, I'm not trying to steal other people's work and claim it as my own, this is just for short clips to aid in the storytelling process?

I'm sure I"ll have a thousand other questions along the way as I learn. 

Anyway, here's my first effort.  And most importantly, don't forget to like and subscribe, even if you hate me and the content, just let it play through in the background!

https://youtu.be/AluC1yIEiEU?si=Yx4OWja9dWkFtAny

I just subscribed.  My channel is Things With Wheels.  I have roughly 50 videos up, lots of EV content plus a little on the Vette, my S197, etc.  I would appreciate a subscribe back (and anyone else willing to subscribe).

https://youtube.com/@thingswithwheels1?si=KrPfwto6aimmErnk

I'm currently about half the distance to monitizing.   If I can share any information with you to help you grow feel free to reach out.

In reply to Loweguy5 :

Cheers.  You are the first channel my new channel is following!  Would love to know about sound recording and editing.  I end up with hours and hours of footage I'm trying to get 5-15 mins out of and it takes me hours and hours to sort through it.

Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Loweguy5 :

Cheers.  You are the first channel my new channel is following!  Would love to know about sound recording and editing.  I end up with hours and hours of footage I'm trying to get 5-15 mins out of and it takes me hours and hours to sort through it.

I've never used iMovie, so I can't help with specifics, but I assume it's like most other video editing software that will show you the sound display along the bottom? 

If so, when I make a mistake I want to edit later, I always clap right near the mic so I get a nice spike on the sound meter.  That makes it easier for me to find specific mistakes to edit out. 

Well, video number two is up.  New problem.  It looks great in iMovie on the desktop, but the quality is crappy on YouTube.  I must have done something wrong, but after staring at a monitor for so many hours my brain is just fried.

M1 Concourse and the American Speed Festival.

https://youtu.be/mU2v5Pb0y8E

Just started watching your first video, 10 seconds in, first impressions:

- Looks well-made so far, other than font choice perhaps...

- Looks a bit fuzzy. I try to turn up the quality and...there's nothing higher than 360p available!?!?! You rendered your video at far too low of a resolution. Less than 1080p isn't great these days, and less than 720p is totally unacceptable. You might want to try some HQ re-uploads of these and definitely fix it before posting any more videos.

Finished watching the first video. Content-wise it was pretty good, most of the other problems I noticed were editing-related and a few that were recording-related.

- The tile-flip transition is pretty obnoxious, I'd avoid using that one.

- Back to fonts, I'm not a font snob but you could definitely find a better font for the first part of the opening sequence.

- On video quality, not only is the resolution at 360p PotatoVision but the compression is extreme. You want to upload the highest resolution video you can with moderate compression and let YouTube handle the downscaling. YouTube actually compresses videos a lot but your compression was even higher to start with.

- Get shots of details of the car being discussed, you can show these while they're being discussed, eg show the suspension or brakes while describing the mods to them

- Audio quality and volume was all over the place, volume can be leveled in editing, as for quality since you're out there one-man-banding it a good omnidirectional mic would be helpful, that way you'll only have to worry about distance to the microphone. From there you could graduate to a single directional mic you point at the person for interviews TV reporter-style.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

European Ford Es Cort on Panasports and a stack of Hella lights the first 9 second?  Subscribe....

Second video was pretty good in terms of content as well, you could've given a short description of each car on camera (perhaps even as a text bubble) to squeeze a little more out of what you filmed. It also had a bit of a double-intro that could be tidied up. Same resolution and audio issues as the first video, although it looked like compression was lower.

Loving the feedback everyone.  It's all accurate.  I'll investigate the resolution issue first.

Thanks all.

Some editors have selectable defaults for your export. DaVinci Resolve, for instance, allows you to select "YouTube HD" as an export setting and then it takes care of the encoding and resolution for you. I wonder if you're exporting 1920 x 1080, but in an encoding that YouTube doesn't handle? It's been a while since I've uploaded anything myself, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.

I can't watch now, but I will take a look later. But here's something to consider that may end up being relevant, or not.

I don't know if others feel this way, but talk about your production the way you want others to perceive it. I'd imagine that you're striving, ultimately, for TV quality production. If so, don't call your production a "channel", and don't refer to your products as "videos". To me, the channel is the media on which your production is carried--I'm not watching the airwaves or the specific time slot on the fiber, I'm watching your show. And videos are what you record when you're wandering around a park, watching a squirrel dig a hole to bury an acorn. Maybe you zoom in way too far with your camcorder, and now all we see is the squirrel's tail. That's a video. You watch that with your family later. Maybe once. You're making a show, with the promise of episodic release. Call your videos "episodes".

Fun fact: squirrels forget where they bury 80% of their acorns, and this is how new trees get planted!

In reply to confuZion3 :

Good points.  Thanks

Well with Prime days, or whatever Bezos is calling his current sprinkling of offers to the masses, I've just ordered a pair of wireless lav mics, some leads, a 4K GoPro knock off (Akaso).  

Looking forward to this Fridays release, I don't have any more cool events for now.  I'm thinking of introducing Project Beater Boxter, showing work starting on making my garage usable or something else.  But time is getting tight already for filming and editing.  

What software do people use for editing?  I've been using iMovie, as it's free on Apple products, vs having to pay for anything else.  Now, I'm happy to pay for something in the future, but right now I'm having to work with what I can find, beg, or borrow.

Thanks all.  Keep up the comments, and don't forget to like and subscribe!!

DaVinci Resolve. Pro-level software (they have a paid version), but the features you'd need are free.

GameboyRMH said:

Just started watching your first video, 10 seconds in, first impressions:

- Looks well-made so far, other than font choice perhaps...

- Looks a bit fuzzy. I try to turn up the quality and...there's nothing higher than 360p available!?!?! You rendered your video at far too low of a resolution. Less than 1080p isn't great these days, and less than 720p is totally unacceptable. You might want to try some HQ re-uploads of these and definitely fix it before posting any more videos.

You should render your videos at least at 1440p. Youtube has a very aggressive compression algorithm under that. My 1080p videos look terrible when they source footage looks fine. Rerender and upload at 1440p and the detail looks much closer to the native footage. I'd just shoot at 4k though. Its not the end of the world to mix in some 1080p footage when you need to, but I'd standardize your workflow for 4k output.

When it comes to creative commons things you can usually put something in the video description saying "vintage photos were sourced from website " and you're fine. Owners want to be credited. You can have both a link in the description and 'shout out' the resource during the video, either a link on screen or saying the resources name in a voice over.

I use the YouCut app on my phone for simple editing.  I bought a gimbal camera but so far nearly everything I've done has been shot with my Samsung S23+.

I'm continually amazed by what people watch and what they don't.  Sometimes it's the obscure things that get views.

I have gained a ton of subscribers relating to evs and my Lightning content.  Only one guy in Ohio seems to care about my e-Golf though.

Keep it up!  Looks like your channel is off to a great start!

Loweguy5 said:

I'm continually amazed by what people watch and what they don't.  Sometimes it's the obscure things that get views.

I started a show dedicated to racing.You know... show people how to get into it, take the car to some autocross events, then track days, etc. At one point, I did a demonstration of swivel-head ratchet extensions.... that that was 99.99% of the views my channel got. OK, nobody cares about racing Audi wagons. haha

All excellent points.  Excellent point about finding a content hook that resonates with viewers, not just stumble on one hit, then fade away.  I'd really like to find a PC based free editing software, that's what I'll look at next.

On content I've got a list of 40+ cars I know of to try and review.  20+ Im 100% sure of, up to and including a GT500, but all the true exotics I know of are more like acquaintances than friends, so I think I need some more, and better content before I try those.  Also, I have some great contacts in senior positions in the auto industry after 34 years, some well known names amongst enthusiasts, but before I approach people for interviews, I need some good content, with some decent production.  The first vehicles I'm thinking of reviewing are my wife's F54 MINI Clubman JCW, a friends GT500 (something like his 5th or 6th one, so there's a story there as well), and his wife's cool mild hot rod 39 Chevy pick up.  

General areas I'm planning on trying to make content about:

• Cool events and people
• Car reviews - there are so many out there I will concentrate on what they mean to me, and my perspective on how they fit in the general automotive world and hobby, as there's not much 'new' to say about the ride, handling, design, reliability, etc. of any car ever made.
• Interviews with senior industry people
• Ongoing projects:
  • Sorting out my disaster of a garage and making it into a functional workshop
  • Beater Boxster - Love the one your with - repair and prep on the worlds least desirable Porsche, and showing you can track, compete, play with anything and have fun.

Any thoughts on direction?

First I have to fix my video quality so it's watchable.  

On the font, people don't like the current opening credits.  What don't you like, why, and what do you suggest?  I was looking for something modern, well more retro modern tbh.  The colors are also not meant to be Gulf, although they are similar.  There's a story about the colors too for a later release.

I think you're taking too long to set the hook on this video. Starting with a table of contents is probably going to get a ton of people to click off if they found it by browsing. You probably have like 10 seconds to get them engaged. I would have led with the most exciting hill climb footage you can find and a description of what it is and why they should care.

The audio on the MI video throws me off. Your voice over is inconsistent on volume , and it's well below the car noise. I'd even it out and turn it up closer to the car drive-by level.

theruleslawyer said:

I think you're taking too long to set the hook on this video. Starting with a table of contents is probably going to get a ton of people to click off if they found it by browsing. You probably have like 10 seconds to get them engaged. I would have led with the most exciting hill climb footage you can find and a description of what it is and why they should care.

I agree with this. I make a lot of presentations, and one of the things we always try to do is have some kind of Limbic Opening, something to grab the attention of the audience or get them emotionally engaged in the topic. The excellent documentary series "30 for 30" on ESPN starts every episode by saying "What if I told you...." then giving some kind of surprising fact or point about what they are going to show. 

So, for your second video, you could start by saying "Did you know that there's a race track just outside Detroit?" or "Did you know that America has it's own version of the Festival of Speed?"

Also, please, PLEASE remove "480p SD" from your video title. You might as well hang a sign on the vid saying that the video quality is going to suck. Plus, it adds nothing that will grab attention. Youtube has thousands and thousands of car-related videos. A simple description of what the vid is about and some information about the resolution isn't going to help you rise above the pack.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

Liked and subscribed!