How to get FREE licence-Free music and Sound effects from Youtube

I get an awful lot of messages from people asking about where they can get hold of copyright free music and sound effects for use in their video productions. Which is understandable because appropriate sound effects and music can add a whole new dimension to a video.

The reason they need licence-free music is because they know that the use of unauthorised music in their videos could lead to their video being pulled by Youtube for copyright infringement. What's more, they could be laying themselves open to a legal challenge from the music's owners.

It seems that it is not generally known that Youtube have a library of copyright-free music and sound effects that are available for free download by anyone with a Youtube account. These downloads are all absolutely safe to use in all Youtube videos (and indeed, any other videos for that matter).

So this video shows you exacly how to go about accessing these great freebies - Courtesy of Youtube. Check it out. You'll be glad you did.

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If you like this sort of stuff, then why not subscribe to Meejah's Youtube channel - It's free!

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How to make Fake Blood

Halloween is nearly upon us, and now is the time when the world and his mother will want to get their hands on the Film-Maker's favourite prop - Fake Blood!

Theatrical blood isn't cheap, costing many pounds/dollars for just a small 25ml bottle, so if your ambition is to produce a low budget zombie movie requiring gallons of the red stuff, you may find it quite expensive

Ordinary red stuffs don't cut the mustard - Red fruit juice is too thin and runny and ketchup isn't going to fool anyone. You need something viscous, deep red and slightly opaque - and cheap!

Luckily such a substance is not difficult to produce - In fact you may well already have in your larder all the ingredients you need to make very convincing fake blood.

So if you are looking for a way to make cheap, convincing (and edible) fake blood - Look no further, just check out the video below.

Ghostly Orbs and Spooky stuff
 
Hello again. Following my last video,which showed an extremely simple way to fake UFO footage, I have been getting emails asking me if  I could show how to do some more Easy-Peasy special effects.

Your wish is my command, and so this time I thought I would show you an Extremely simple way to reproduce those videos which puport to show "ghostly orbs" floating around darkened empty rooms.

I have based the effect on a stage effect known as "Pepper's ghost".  This is an effect which produces the illusion of a semi-transparent ghost for live stage productions and although the effect can be breath-taking, the principal is very simple.

I think you would be hard pressed to find a simpler "in camera" special effect. If you can't pull this one off you may as well give up. It requires no special equipment, or fancy SFX editors like After effects. In fact, if you have a video camera, and a stable platform to rest it on, then you can do this effect. -Try it!
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How to fake your own UFO clips - Easy!

We have all seen them - the slightly suspect UFO videos that abound on the internet. The ones where you think "Hmmm.... is that real"? No doubt there are real UFO clips available at any number of places all over the interweb, but there are also a helluva lot more fake ones.

Now in these days of sophisticated computer graphics and awesome computer power, it is not unusual to see perfect videos of alien craft wafting through the skies. The problem is their perfection - These special effects are too perfect. We immediately suspect them of being fake because of their perfection.

The clips we really believe are the ones that appear to have been snatched by chance, recorded on a flip camera or iphone when the opportunity presented itself - No fancy camera work, but simple visual documentation of something that actually happened. - Er... it did actually happen didn't it?

But surely such gritty and "of the moment" video documentary must be real mustn't it? Well, no. Not necessarily.

Fake footage like this is incredibly easy to create and it uses the simplest of equipment. If you own a video camera or iphone, then you too can fake your own UFO's. No special skills or fancy editing programs needed.

So if you have always yearned to create  a "UFO flap" in your home town, just grab your video camera and take a look at this video - and may the force be with you.

Easy animation FX

I was checking through my Youtube video messages the other day (as you do) and came across one that referred to a video I had made some time ago. The video was about how you can make videos with even minimal equipment and as an example of what can be done, I had included a clip of a very simple stop-motion animation that I had made with my grandchildren, and depicted a wooden toy train running down a wooden track and colliding with a wooden bridge creating a big explosion.

The message sender wanted to know how I had created the animated explosion - was it difficult? Well, in fact, creating simple special effects with stop-motion animations is actually very easy. Stop-motion animations are basically a sequence of still images (usually taken with a digital still camera), that are strung together to create the impression of movement.

Because they are still images, it is a simple matter to individually open them in a photo-editor, and literally paint the effects you require directly onto the photos, and this was exactly how I created the explosions in the video. Working through the images one-by-one I painted a blast, followed by a cloud of steam, then smoke, which eventually dispersed into nothing. When run together, they gave a pretty good impression of a cartoon-like explosion.

In the video, I also give a basic overview of how to make a stop-motion animated video. It is incredibly easy (if a little time-consuming), to do. If all you have is a digital still camera, and Windows Movie maker, then you have all you need to begin making your own Youtube videos - Why not give it a try?

Happy new year! - How to make things Appear and Disappear in your movies

Happy new year one and all.
As you may know, The Meejah Youtube Channel is a pretty young channel, and the whole idea is to provide ideas and guidance for new video makers, showing them how to make the best best videos possible even if they have minimal equipment and cash.

This latest video goes back to basics, and shows how to pull off one of the easiest, and yet one of the most used and versatile video effects - The disappearing (or appearing) effect. This effect is a staple of TV and the Movies - you will have seen it thousands of times over the years.  This effect is really incredibly easy to pull off. It requires no special equipment and yet there is no end to the fun you can have with it.

Once you have got your head around how it works, you can let your imagination run riot, but use it with care. Most people, when they discover how easy it is to do, go a bit mad at first, and use it in everything they make - whether it is appropriate or not. lol.

I know that many of you will already know how this works - It's so simple that many people discover the principal by accident whilst editing their videos - But we all have to start somewhere, and there are many newbies out there for whom all this editing stuff is a black art, and a simple, effective technique like this is just what they are looking for, so this is for them.