Easy, Zero cost, No budget Steady-Cam

Ever found yourself in a situation where you needed some sort of camera stabilisation? Wouldn't it be nice to have your very own steady-cam on hand for those occasions when your standard hand-held efforts just won't cut the mustard?

As we all know, Steady-cams are not cheap bits of Kit. Even those steady-cams such a the Merlin Steadicam which is specially produced for hobbyist movie makers, is an expensive item and most amateur movie makers find it hard to justify the outlay for the amount of times they see themselves using it.

Well, If you would like to be able to utilise some of the qualities of a steady-cam type stabiliser without incurring the costs, you are in luck.

In this video I show you how to utilise a bit of kit that you probably already have to produce a quick and simple camera stabiliser - and what's more, it doesn't cost a bean.

Ok, a Merlin steadicam it is not, but it costs nothing, takes seconds to implement, and with a little bit of practice can produce some very acceptable results. Bearing in mind what it costs, it's certainly worth a try so why not give it a go? Just check out this episode's video (below), and all will be revealed.

How to get Custom Youtube Thumbnails (No partnership required)
No doubt you have noticed when scanning through the thumbnail images on Youtube that illustrate the various videos, that whilst most of them appear to be random frames taken from anywhere in the video, one or two are obviously custom images often complete with channel logo and video title.

They certainly grab the eye. Relevant custom images that perfectly illustrate what the video is about surrounded by a sea of ... well... less than relevant random pictures.

You may think that the videos promoted by such images have a better chance of attracting viewers than the random pics have - And you would be right. No doubt, if you are a regular uploader of videos to Youtube, you would probably like to be able to do this yourself, and may be thinking "How do they do that"?

Well, the people who put up custom images with their videos are all "Youtube Partners"-  that is they are in business with Youtube and take a share the advertising revenues that accrue from their videos. Because they are business partners, they have a number of perks that are not conferred on the common herd - one of which is the ability to upload custom thumbnails.

So if you would like to be able to upload custom thumbnails with your videos, you will have to first try to become a Youtube partner - a long and often unsuccessful undertaking - Or, you could cheat. If you are planning on the latter, then just check out the video below :)



Enjoy...