5 MAJOR Mistakes To Avoid When Creating Music Videos! (Music Video Tips) 

Giving away digital products to a handful of people who post GOOD tips to help other creators make better visuals! Comment below and include your IG!

Excellent tips YC. My tips: Do NOT get sucked into the trap that you need to buy loads of gear and an extremely expensive camera (like a RED...) to shoot a good music video. Focus on find a good location, mastering composition of your shots and THEN worry about upgrading your gear. Also...make sure you've got ample batteries for your shoots. This is the one thing I'd suggest investing in right away. Going on location with 1-2 batteries isn't going to last you long. Final tip is, even if you've got a shot list in hand, don't be scared to ask the artist if you can spend some more time getting some experimental shots.

damn, those stock transitions nearly killed me. Dope tips man!

Lmao. The page peel is a classic 😂

Tip 1 Shoot at 25fps or 50fps or 100fps in Europe . A base frame rate of 25fps is visually the same as 24fps and eliminates light flicker which can ruin your video (especially in slow motion). Tip 2, shoot with 2 cameras at the same time - then you will have more footage to cut to of the performance. Tip 3 if you want stabilized footage then you need to shoot it in camera (gimbal, tripod, steadycam, slider, dolly) post doesn't give you the same look! Please don't say that you will fix an un-stabilized shot in warp stabilizer -> 75 percent of the time it won't give you the results you want. Tip 4. Often forgotten... make sure to record at least 5 seconds of footage before the singer starts singing the song and after when the singer finishes the song. You might be stuck without a leader or an ender for your clips otherwise. Tip 5 always record reference sound in camera otherwise you are going to have a very difficult time syncing your footage to the original studio track. Tip 6 BIG ONE -> Make every shot count. Try and shoot less takes 1 or 2 takes per shot for basic stuff... instead of shooting endlessly. For specialist shots it may take more than 4 takes but for most stuff if you know how to operate a camera you can shoot an angle in 1 or 2 takes. Tip 7 BIG ONE -> get coverage / cutaways don't only record the artist -> if you see or can plan out additional cut aways go for it.

Those tips can be applied to ANY type of a film/video production except for maybe over-shooting but number one on my personal opinion should be: get as much clear idea as possible about your story (if there is any :)

Good Tip!: make sure your batteries are fully charged before hitting set. Many times we get some amped for the shoot, that we totally forget the small things, batteries, SD card is in camera, the small things. How about we make a Checklist before every shoot, so we can be fully prepared.

One neat tip I learned from "This Guy Edits": When editing Music Videos or cinematic films.Take time to STUDY your clips BEFORE trying to edit. When you know exactly what you're working with you can shave off literal HOURS in the process.

im still EXTREMELY NEW too shooting vids , but you have no idea how much you've helped me along the way ..your a huge inspiration yc, thanks for everything you do

So glad someone else is preaching against those stock transitions. They may be okay for graphic overlays, but not for footage. -Adam Wisdom

never stop creating the more you work on your craft the better you become, so days you're feeling uninspired or unmotivated keep going because one day your gonna make it big

Also, to add to #5, there are a lot of people who think you need a LUT to color grade your footage. A Look Up Table is merely a starting point or reference for the grade, not necessarily the end-all-be-all. I would say when beginning to color grade (if you’re using premiere pro), start by using the Lumetri Color sliders, then gradually work your way to grading incorporating curves into the mix. Then, you can start to mess around with your input/output LUT’s to add a more creative flare to your image. Also note: Premiere pro has a very weird problem when using the Lumetri Color sliders. When pushing your footage in extreme cases, say for instance for shadows or blacks, you get insane amounts of artifacts and blocking in your footage. But when using curves, and pushing the footage in the same regard, I don’t see those same artifacts or blocking.

I felt everything but the 24 frames. While most cinema is at 24, RU-vid/internet streaming works best at 30. Six less frames per second will not make your footage cinematic and will not be noticed by the viewer. In fact, as a trick of the trade, for non performance scenes where you aren't doing slow mo, shooting in 30 but working with a 24 timeline, gives a sick smoothness that does make footage look more cinematic, especially for run & gun scenes. So I'm definitely not saying to always work in 30. 24 is cool, but for the right reasons. For example slower paced video like r&b. If the vibe is "turn up" or "hype" for hip hop or rock, 30 will provide that feel better and play nicer with the interwebz.

Very good points, couple things I would add. For the three angles: wide medium and close, I always like to change the camera angle along with the size of the subject. Don’t just crop a 4K shot down to 1080, Although that can work. Also I like to get a lot of people who may not be the star involved: bystanders, onlookers, people having fun in the scene. Great work, many thanks!

Super nice tips I wish I knew before filming my 7 months travel across Asia lol. Can't wait to go back traveling to film with the new equipment and with all the knowledge I acquired in post prod. and with tutorials. Those were really great tips man.

Great tips. Best one was shoot more of everything!! I would also recommend to get a workflow of backing SD cards on site. Either to a external or your laptop. I've had sd cards fail, lost or broken. Backup backup backup

I learned its all about your editing too!!1 Starting off with a very cheap camera i learned how to make my videos pop with improving my editing skills!!!!! By time you get your new camera you will be wayyy more advance than other videographers , starting off with high tech cameras. Basics matter!!

Hahaha when you used those cheesy transitions had me laughing lol

I brand new at this. First time doing individual shoots. This was super helpful

The exporting at 24p is a lot more complicated than that. Output framerates are there to comply with national standards: NTSC and PAL. PAL uses 25p for both cinema and television; NTSC uses 30p for television and 24p for cinema. Since I'm in Australia, any projects that I do for distribution in Australia must be 25p, any stuff that I do overseas may be different (I recently did sports broadcasting at NTSC 30p). Shutter angle will also play a role in the frame rate you output to. Most DSLRs will not allow you to get the perfect 180degree angle (but it's close enough for most). But if you shoot 30p at 1/60th, you shouldn't export that footage to 24p as there will be frame jumps, the 180degree angle will be lost and you're simply losing more footage. A good tip is to shoot at the frame rate you want to deliver in. I shoot 25 or increments of 25 to deliver a final product at 25. The same with 24, and 30. If you want to shoot slow motion, shooting above the base framerate is fine if you slow it down to a multiple of your base framerate. But if you're shooting something at 30p and you'll deliver at 24p without slowing down the footage to match, it's gonna look kinda janky.

Yo YC, solid stuff bro. One fundamental thing I learned that I never did starting out was nailing establishing shots. Really crucial to show people where you'll be in relation to your main scenes. And next time warn people before doing those transitions. Damn near gave me a seizure. Ha! Just playin'. Keep up the legit work.

Totally into that overshoot vs undershoot concept!! It might take more time but it's necessary to make sure you have enough coverage. My rule is that even if there's a narrative, to always shoot enough performance that if all else fails, the entire music video can be interesting JUST with the performance shots. A big safety net and always helps the edit. I've totally been in situations too where the artist decides that they don't like certain shots because they don't like their makeup in that scene or they don't like their outfit or whatever, so it's good to shoot a lot and have options in case something like that happens as well.

Great tips bro, like always man!!!! #salute 💯 Another tip I would add, since you asked, is to set custom white balances. This way your footage from scene to scene doesn't like different as far as color temperautre goes.

Great video, man. I highly appreciate your tips. It all makes sense. Those are things you somehow have in the back of your mind. You just sometimes need to hear these things to basically unlock them. Thanks for that.

Shoot close enough to what you want it to be and avoid "will fix it in post". Manage a client's expectations in pre-production, do not overpromise. keep it manageable.

Hey man just letting you know you’re my favourite youtuber. Your calm demeanour and honest approach just give me so much confidence and hope. Thank you!!

stopped here looking for tips while editing my 1st video - wishing I'd over-shot for sure. thanks for the tips! great stuff! subscribed & look forward to learning more!

Two things that have helped me; one, being mindful of frame rate... it helps to write shot lists; you follow that with the frame rate written down.. it’ll keep you on the right track and remind you to swap frame rates. Another thing is turning on the guides on your camera. After you put it in the program, and want to add black bars, you’ve filmed your shots for that aesthetic. It looks cleaner in my opinion.

That green lighting in the back is dope

I've only started shooting music videos this year, but one thing I've learned is that I like to start my shoots with a wide lens and work my way into the more tight lenses with shallow depth of field. It helps me to get a good understanding of how the performer moves, and I know I have good coverage of the whole song before I get the closeup insert shots. @brendanpmccann1

Thanks for the awesome tips once again YC. I think another tip for beginners Is avoiding shooting in the middle of the day when the sun is crazy harsh on the skin. Try and Utilise the sunset and sunrise hours as much as possible to get those beautiful lighting conditions.

This has become my new favorite channel. You have an awesome presence/personality and each video has really helpful advice. Thank you!

Can you make a video on what you need in order to make decent quality videos, (ie. computer specs, camera specs, lenses, etc.) for low, average and big budgets?

I'm expecting a tutorial on those transitions at 4:15

Another great video man, One thing I like to do personally is break my locations down into video timelines. For example, if the artist wants a party, solo exteriors, white room shots and say some other shots in different locations, I usually play through the whole song for each one a couple times. Then, in post, I'll assemble a timeline for each location and then begin cutting it up in the best way it works. This helps a lot if you have many different locations you wish to constantly go back and forth with in the final video. Of course this isn't always applicable but if it gets to complex this always helps the process

One of the best pieces of advice was getting wide, medium, and close up shots, hands down agree with that! Another great tip along with that is to change up the distance from your subject with each focal length as well. Just adds another layer! @life_of_jamesy

I love it. Don't use cheesy transitions, while you do a cheesy transition. Awesome..

Always have good lighting boost quality

What is a good camera to start with? Something not crazy expensive but still gets quality shots

Awesome tips! A few tips I have are to plan out locations, wardrobe, and style before showing up to set. Many musicians like to just go with the flow but if you plan ahead you're setting yourself up for a better shoot.

I really like your footage, especially your eye for a subtle color grade. The look is clean and classic, but just hyped and vivid enough to still come off sleek.

Dude. Im in a band and we do everying ourselves which usually means Im learning how to do it. I just got into videography so I can shoot music videos for us and maybe some other local bands. This is all GREAT advice. Gonna check out more of your videos now.

I would love to see a video on camera suggestions that are best for both photography and cinematography within a reasonable budget

there's a video on here somewhere with a demonstration, but if you're cutting to a beat, make sure the video cuts a frame before the beat. visual processing is a few milliseconds faster than audio processing and if you don't do this, all your beat matching cuts feel just a tiny bit "off". it's a wacky thing

My tip is to think foreground subject background. use them all to tell the story. also the art department is your best friend.

Man! I love your calm n composed demeanor! It's classy tbh!

I agree with you 100%, I recently watched a video with good content but had cheesy transitions every 10 seconds from iMovie and I just gave up. I do appreciate using the close, medium and long shots for variance as well as changing info. So good of you to share your knowledge for all of your subscribers. Best to you on your musical journey. Cheers, Pete

Exporting in 24 isn't a hard fast rule. It really depends on what you are doing. For instance when I shoot commercials for TV, Comcast requires 29.97; nothing else. T.V. is generally 30fps while film is 24. But true that most RU-vid creators run 24fps.

Pure and honest advise brother... I don't think any other RU-vidr is as honest as you are...keep it up brother...god bless you

YOUR QUALITY IS AMAZING..

Subscribed! Definitely helpful info not enough film is the worst getting home not enough footage

nicely done. Great warm and fuzzy feel.

Appreciate the vid YCImaging, always learning new things when I check out your material. Thank you so much brother have a blessed one 🙏🏾💯

My tip is to always put your spice on your project. People always try to copy other people and end up killing their own vibe. If you add something in you’re video that reflects your work as a creator, then you’ll get something way more interesting and unique.

Excellent tips. Especially the ones about the transitions.

Man I definitly made the mistake of under shooting and not getting enough b-roll either. Went into editing and it was a nightmare and then I realized I was missing footage that would connect shots to other shots and create interest and variety. Now I have to go back out and shoot. Oh yay

Amen on the transitions i see it all the time makes it a amateur video

This is really helpful I go to full Sail University and I’m in month 4 and getting a lot of paid gigs to do music videos and it’s the projects are getting better but I really needed this I don’t have much for equipment but finding ways to make it work

I am NOT a pro by any means. I make music videos on my own simply because I enjoy it. This may not be the best way to record, but my trick is to shoot the entire performance beginning to end with each camera angle I use, whether it be on a tripod or handheld. That way you will always have a shot from a different angle to replace any that don't work for whatever reason. Is this a dumb way to shoot?

Plan out your shots, run and gun is fun but a shot list helps you in the long run. Dope vid once again Yc.

thank you so much for this video. it has really given me a vivid idea what to steer clear of while embarking on my first music video

5 ERRORES AL HACER UN VIDEOCLIP: 1- 0:22: No exportar el vídeo a 24 fps. 2- 1:02: No grabar lo suficiente. Grabar tres ángulos en cada zona que grabes el videoclip. Y B-roll de cualquier cosa llamativa en la zona. 3- 2:20: Usar el plugin de estabilización en cualquier toma. Grabar pensando en que planos usar el plugin en post. Porque queda mal cuando estabilizas algo que no debería ser estabilizado. 4- 4:05: No hacer transiciones raras si eres novato, quedarse en lo simple y clásico y mejor. En 4:38 pinnea un vídeo de 5 transiciones guapas. 5- 4:53: No abusar de los lens de color grading. No suele quedar bien ponerlos al 100% de intensidad. Darles simplemente un toque ligero.

YCimaging, Thank You for what i just keepon learning from you. You're the best

is it just me ore did the unplanned warp stabilisation actually look like an interesting shot to play around with

I shot my first music video yesterday and just found this. Really wish I would have got some b roll now that you mention it. I somehow didn't think of that at all. But hopefully the narrative portions of the video will be enough to fill out the performance takes. Great stuff here.

Great tips! Keep production simple, try to use as few lenses as possible, maybe just one zoom lens.

Thanks for this, been asked to shoot a music video out in Dubai but have Zero experience other than my vlogs. Very useful tips

Just discovered your channel! Thank you for all your tips.

bgm and lighting in your video are awesome! wanna know about lighting! (and bgm)

Thanks for the reminder. It took me a couple months to fix those mistakes. You made a good points. Stay blessed

You’re definitely a professional now 👑 you gain a sub

Getting enough coverage is such a good point! Great video bro.

When shooting do you pull your focus manually or rely on auto focus? Seems to be hard for me when my camera is on a gimbal and the artist walks forward or moves around a lot. Any tips on that?

How about that! I'm a total amateur and I don't make any of those mistakes. I have however thought I was rolling only to discover I forgot (somehow) to hit record. That or I didn't fully press the record button to engage it. Not sure which it is, but it only happens the times I forget to check if I'm actually recording. That's how amateur I am. But I'm working to get better.

Thanks all your input/information you give here it helps a lot

IT WAS GREAT MEETING YOU AS WELL AS YOUR BROTHER ..MET YOU AT THE PALACE ATL FOR A RALO LIL BABY SHOW THEN YOUR BROTHER AT ESCOBAR FOR A RALO LISTENING PARTY BLESS UP AND THANKS FOR ALL THE TIPS ..AND YES IM LOVING MY GH5 #KSMMG

You know your story man, an your tips are easy to understand; thank you!

Thanks dude.Super helpful. The lighting on this is dope. Dig the green backlighting. 👌

Thanks for the motivation!

ahh, this is so good - love how you went to town with the cheesy transitions to prove your point.. haha - awesome!! :)

Man thank you so much for this video. I just shot my first video in LA and these tips saved me. I really appreciate you making this and I love your channel! 🔥

hi so after scrolling through this comment section and seeing all these talented producers, I decided here would be the best place to ask. I am looking into maybe doing music video production as a side job. My plan was to mess around with my sister and have her pretend she was the artist or talent and then I’d work on it like it was a pseudo project - just to get practice in and learn what it’s like. I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations to what equipment I should begin to look into (cameras, editing software, etc.) Any tips can help and I’m just going to take it one step at a time :-)

Just found your channel earlier this week, you're supremely talented and very confident. I appreciate what you're doing. It makes it seem like you've got it all figured out lol! If you're ever shooting in Chicago, let me know, would love to help out!

guilty of 2 of these mistakes but I'm getting better and better

I like how you added the transitions while you were talking about them. Funny my dude🤙

You have a lovely voice btw. Thank you for your wisdom.

Just found your channel a few days ago. LOVE your content! I'm starting to get into more video work and I really appreciate you demistifying pro techniques

With regards to the first tip, what if the client wants to submit the video to TV and the standards require 25fps?

Basic CORRECTION, lots of videographers in my area don't even touch the contrast knob. Let alone the Shadows, Highlights, Blacks etc.

4:03 is the best part of the whole video dont @ me

My biggest tip would be... Tell a freaking story! You can be a beginner videographer and not know a lot of the technical in’s and outs. But if your video is interesting because there are things happening and there’s a beginning a middle and a end. The watching experience is a hundred times more interested and people will stay to watch the inter music video and remember it. Often times the song is telling a story it self so the work is already done for you. Don’t only just shoot the artist standing around singing and rapping or throw up money 💰 they don’t have. Tell a story ‼️

I agree with everything. I often under shoot. My suggestion, as crazy as it may sound because it's so basically, a lot of beginner don't set the correct exposure for their camera's color profile. I'm sure anyone using GH4 vlog can agree, set the wrong exposure and vlog will eat you alive, lol! Also, white balancing and accurate color corrections. Yellowish, brown muddy videos is not a style, lol. You didn't white balance your footage 😆! That's all I got.

please do a video on your export settings

i’m a filmmaker too and this video really helped me bro. really appreciate it👌👌 i can also use this tips in other types of videos too

This video shot in Hopewell??? Nice!!

After about halfway through this video, I found myself setting up for a timelapse. After which I was motivated to do other film-related tasks I had to do! (Which were oddly unrelated to the timelapse)

I died laughing when the page Pilled back 😂😂😂🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️

And you mentioned LUTs... Id say you have to make sure the LUT youre using coresponds with the picture profile you're using as well. If you're shooting the default out-of-box, dont expect majority of LUTs out there to work on your footage for the same reason you gave (it looks like its too much)

@ycImaging Iwould love to see your GH5 settings and workflow.

Thank you for the great tips man! Your channel is awesome, ive been learning alot. Most people keep secrets when it comes to being skilled, glad your willing to help anyone who as a interest.