How to Make a Music Video: The Ultimate Guide
When MTV first came on the scene, it was hard to make a music video. Video cameras were expensive, good ones were even more expensive, and editing equipment was something that only major studios could afford. The answer to "How much does it cost to make a music video?" was, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." Now, musicians of all types have almost everything they need to make their own music videos available to them at affordable prices.
What is a music video?
Everyone has seen a music video. Musicians take their tracks and lay them over top of some sort of video. Some bands like to focus on their own playing, usually against a much more interesting backdrop than you would get at a concert. Others prefer to have a video that illustrates the story or moral of the song. Still, others go with something abstract and completely unrelated to the music itself. Regardless, music videos are a way of combining the audio appeal of music with the visual appeal of video.
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How to make a music video
So, how do you make a music video? One article can't possibly replace film school, so we'll leave the creativity up to you; it's what you do best! But we can tell you how to get started, so you'll have an outlet for those creative juices to flow into.
What you'll need to make a music video
While it's more affordable than ever to make a music video, you still need to gather some equipment and do some preparation if you are going to learn how to make a music video at home. Most of these are obvious, be let's go over them just to make sure you have everything you need to get started:
Equipment
- A video camera — It's clear you can't make a video without a way to record it. Although you can use any camera, one that allows you to mount it on a good tripod and take some manual control over the focus will produce the best results.
- Video editing software — There are some unique demands for editing music videos, which we'll discuss later. You'll need a good video editor to create a quality music video.
- Lighting — The biggest difference between amateur video and professional video is lighting. To make a good video, you'll want a good lighting setup.
- A decent sound system — In music videos, musicians lip-sync to their vocals because the vocal is recorded separately. If any musicians are playing or singing in the video, they'll need good speakers, so they can keep in sync with the recorded audio.
Preparation
- Prepare the music track — If the music changes, then there may need to be changed to the video. For that reason, you should wait until you have a final cut of the song before shooting a video for it.
- Get the tempo of the music track — Editing music videos is trickier than editing regular videos. The cuts and transitions must sync up with the tempo of the song, or it won't look right.
Picking the right music video maker
You'll need decent video editing software in order to make your music video. The video editor needs to allow you to have multiple audio tracks and to have visible waveforms for the tracks. That way, you can add a click track set to the tempo of the song to the video, and it will provide you with a visual reference of when it might be okay to make a cut or how long a transition might need to be. As long as you mute the click track so serves as a visual aid only; this is a great way to keep the video and the music in sync.
Conclusion
It takes a lot of practice to perfect the art of the music video. It also takes software that's up for the task, like VideoStudio. With the right tools at your disposal and the creative energy of everyone involved, you'll be cranking out view-worthy videos in no time. Suppose you came here to learn how to make a music video for YouTube. In that case, VideoStudio also allows you to export directly to popular video sites, taking the guesswork out of the equation. Now all that's left is to start planning your video shots and get to work filming.
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