Making the video

When making the video on 10 shortcuts that people who use Windows can use to make every day motions quicker and easier, I was unsure of exactly how to go about recording what I am doing on my keyboard to control what is happening on my screen, while I am talking over it. I wanted to use my DSLR camera to record my keyboard and have a little picture in picture video of my keyboard actions while my screen is being recorded. After some thinking, I just figured using a keyboard input monitor was an easier and probably cleaner way of showing my keyboard input live and on screen as I am using it to maneuver around my computer. This software that I use to record my keyboard input is called NohBoard and it is a trusted software among content creators. Furthermore, to capture my screen and record the audio for the tips section of the video, I used a software called Streamlabs Open Broadcast Software (Streamlabs OBS, SLOBS). For the audio recording, I use an Audio-Technica microphone and use XLR cable for my microphone interface. To edit the video, I used Davinci Resolve 16, which is a free non-linear video editing platform that can be used across all operating systems. The intro and beginning music for the video was found by doing a quick google search of free no copyright music on YouTube. This is the song. I then downloaded a song that I liked. For the second half of the video, I use a song that I made myself on FL Studio 20. I show a short clip at the end of the video of the FL Studio project. All rights have been reserved for that song.

One may notice that my desktop does not look like any normal windows desktop that you might see at work or at your school. However, I am using the latest up to date version of Windows. The reason why the background in the beginning was able to respond to the audio is because it is a dynamic wallpaper using the software wallpaper engine, which can be bought through Steam (digital distribution service for software and video games). Furthermore, my desktop icons are hidden, and I have created a few custom icons in another software called Rainmeter, which is a free desktop customization utility for Windows. I keep the 5 main ones on my main monitor, and any other program that I want to open up, I simply press the Windows Logo key on my keyboard and type in the name of the program I want to open up. One more thing; I am using a dual-monitor setup but am only recording my main monitor. So at some points in the video, I might reference or talk about another webpage that the viewer might not be able to see because it is on the second monitor. However, in the description, I mention that all the necessary visual information is provided on the recording of the main monitor.

About the contents of the video; these are shortcuts that I have come to learn over the past 15 or so years using Windows based computers. I use every single one of those shortcuts countless times every time I am at my computer and it makes moving around my computer super easy and quick. Moreover, I tried to model my video around how some of my favorite YouTubers would make a video that I truly enjoy and would watch the whole thing.

Lastly, I have include a bunch of relevant tags in the tags section of the YouTube Studio that I think my intended audience might end up searching YouTube to find my video or at least some video like it. Also, the title of my video captures what I intend to discuss in the video and furthermore, I think that my thumbnail stands out while still looking somewhat professional and trustworthy. I wanted to make the content of this video easy to learn and incorporate into day to day tasks; Christine Wolf discusses this in her article on firstmonday.org, “Videos were seen as helpful, even if participants ultimately did not attempt the DIY work depicted…The practice of watching videos was a way for participants to configure who they are, who they might be, and who they want to be.” (Wolf 6). I want my viewers to find this very helpful because of the ease with which these shortcuts can be applied and also, I want them to gain confidence in themselves after watching this video.

References:
Wolf, Christine T., “DIY videos on YouTube: Identity and possibility in the age of algorithms” First Monday, vol. 21, no. 6, 2016, pp. 6, doi: https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i6.6787