My primary tools for creating self-study videos

I am often asked what I use to create the tutorial videos that I publish on my YouTube channel. With the exception of a handful that I published a few years ago, all instructional videos on my YouTube channel are recorded in the same way using two primary tools. The tools are Screencast-o-matic and a Blue Snowball microphone (I love them so much that I own two).

Screencast-o-matic is available in a free version and in a paid version. The free version is more than sufficient for most class settings, as long as you are willing to accept a Screencast-o-matic watermark on your videos. The paid version ($ 18 / year) gives you access to the Screencast-o-matic desktop tool, which I use. With the desktop version you can record and edit on your desktop instead of in your web browser. With the desktop version you can also edit videos that you have recorded with other tools. And the desktop version has many other functions, including editing green screens, video annotations and lighting adjustments. But you don’t really need those functions for the kind of self-study videos I make. So try the free version if you need a quick and easy way to create a tutorial video.

I use Blue Snowball microphones since two of my early podcast hero Jeff and Dan from Wicked Decent Learning recommended them. Blue Snowball microphones are an inexpensive way to dramatically improve the quality of the audio you record. As mentioned above, I own two of these microphones. One is the one who sets off with me and has taken more drops than I want to admit. (Travel tip, remove the microphone from your bag before going through a TSA scanner, otherwise you will spend a lot of time with a TSA agent looking for traces of explosives).

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