7 essential tools for video creation

Deposit counteract the decline in reach on Facebookthe most effective way (and the unexpressed goal of the social network) is to monetize Facebook Ads campaigns. However, there are post formats that generate more engagement than others. First of all, if you want to gain greater visibility, it is better to propose your content directly on Facebook. If you share a video for example, host it directly on Facebook instead of sharing a video on Youtube. The same goes for your articles, don’t hesitate to use the format Instant Articles that Facebook favors.

Facebook wants users to be «prisoners» of its platform and therefore favors content offered live. Finally, a post without an image will have no engagement, a post with an image will be seen more, but what works best currently is video. The problem is that creating videos requires more equipment, resources and skills. Also to make your life easier, I will offer you some tools to improve your daily life as Community Managers, content creators and budding videographers and above all, at the end of the article, free and open video banks. This is a gift for you!

Some rules of use

• First of all, unless it’s a short film, music video or documentary, create short videos. If it’s too long, people will skip.
• Don’t try to say everything in one video. If you limit yourself to a short format, under 3 minutes, keep it simple: one video/one idea. By getting straight to the point, your message will be even clearer and more understandable.
• Regarding the videos you will send to Facebook, choose mov format instead of mp4. The latter often appears too compressed when sent to Facebook.

Applications to easily edit videos

Before starting, in this article we talk about editing short videos, to illustrate a thought, present a product or announce an event on social networks. For any other more ambitious project, I generally resort to Adobe After Effects et Adobe Premiere OR Final Cut Pro. I also won’t make lists X ToolsI prefer to select only a few that I actually use and of which I am sure of their usefulness.

Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark exists as a website, but also in three distinct applications:

With Adobe Spark you can create videos composed of background images that you draw from the Unsplash library, icons, texts and voices that you can record directly from your smartphone. You can start a Spark video on your smartphone and continue it directly from the site (or vice versa).

What’s interesting about Spark is that it offers scenario templates:

• Promote an idea to engage your audience towards action
• Tell a story
• A heroic journey
• A descriptionReport something important to you that your audience might be interested in. A product presentation, for example
• Personal development
• Teach a lessonto make your audience understand an idea
• Invitationto talk about an upcoming event
• Or start from scratch.

From then on you will be guided step by step to tell your story, with a common thread and an emotion. It’s a great way to practice video storytelling and organize your idea at the same time.

However, I regret the inability to add background videos. While it’s possible to animate background images, everything remains a little too frozen for my tastes. However, the capabilities to animate text, icons, etc. they are truly amazing for those who don’t master Motion Design. Plus, just like Adobe Post, the application guides you so your production holds up graphically. You will then get this type of video

VidLab

I’ll immediately announce the main limitation of this application: It is not possible to produce videos longer than 15 seconds. It’s like this, it’s said. So I know, it seems ridiculous today, but remember that Instagram didn’t allow more just a few months ago. I hope the publisher is able to renew their application by removing this limit.

Vidlab is a really well designed application. You have an editing bench, with multiple tracks, the ability to add music, titles and modify them (fonts, colors, transparency, shadows, animations, etc.) and finally filters and special effects (some of which are paid).

VidLab offers the possibility ofuse videos in the background and concatenate them with transitions. Ok, 15 seconds is a short time, but for me it’s more than enough to create visually interesting posts on Instagram, to spread an idea or a quote. You will get videos like this:

Junction

Splice is a GoPro application that allows you to film, edit, and edit videos. Reserved for the moment for iOS (iPhone and iPad), it is my favorite of this selection. Super complete and intuitive interface, without duration limits.

The features are rich: transitions, voiceovers, animations, text overlays, filters, speed management, movements, etc. You also have a bank of music in various styles: cinematic, RNB, soul, reggae, ambient, world music, folk, rock and many more.

Once your creation is finished, you can share it directly on social networks

Where to find free and open videos?

If you want to illustrate an idea, it’s sometimes helpful to use an existing video. In fact, not all of us are videographers, we do not always have the necessary equipment (video and light) to obtain quality videos. Fortunately, free, quality video banks exist.

Mazwai

All videos on the site are in the public domain or under Creative Commons 3.0. You can download, edit and share them without any constraints. Remember to cite the original author, for the rest do what you want!

Over a hundred videos are available in HD and quality. Just like in Unsplash’s photo library, there are no categories, the videos are placed one below the other and you will have to scroll the screen to find what you are looking for.

Video

Videvo is the equivalent of Pixabay for videos. The categories are numerous and the quality is generally good. Just as Pixabay highlights photos from paid banks, Videvo features video inserts from Shutterstock, yet easy to identify.

Finally, you are offered three licenses:

• “Standard Video License”: you can use these videos as you wish, without mentioning the author or the site. However, you cannot offer them for download in their original form on your site.
• “Standard Video License (Editorial Only)”: You can use these videos if you don’t integrate them into commercial campaigns. Basically, perfect for a personal blog.
• “Creative Commons 3.0 License”

Mitch Martinez

Mitch Martinez is a professional videographer who films with a professional RED camera. It offers professional quality rides (definitely the best offers on this page) for free on its site. What you are not allowed to do:

– Resell the clips;
– Resell clips modified in any way;
– Present these clips as your personal work;
– Redistribute clips on your site.

For commercial use, there is a page to contact the author. He doesn’t necessarily ask for money, he just wants to make sure everything is ok from a legal perspective.

Coverr

Coverr is a site that offers videos to put in the background of a website. Additionally, when you download a video, the site offers you the code (HTML, CSS, Javascript) to put the video in the background.

Of course, you can turn these videos into something other than wallpapers! Additionally, Coverr’s license is the least restrictive. You can make any use of these videos, without ever mentioning the author. The COverr library is enriched over time and begins to offer a substantial choice.

I hope these few tools help you daily in designing short videos for social networks. Sometimes I take quotes from my articles and make short videos for Instagram or Facebook, for example.

Visually, it is eye-catching and generates more engagement on Facebook. On Instagram it works quite well, but people rarely watch videos to the end, hence the interest in producing short content.