Everything I Use to Create Videos for My YouTube Channel | Filming Gear, Software, Music, Memory

YouTube has changed so much since it first popped onto the scene. Gone are the days of recording a low quality video on your phone and uploading it directly to the platform. YouTubers are practically running film studios now with fancy equipment, editors, script writers, and marketing teams.

I'm still a small YouTuber (I just hit 700 subscribers a few minutes ago! 🎉) and have a long way to go before reaching film studio status, but I've gathered several tools to improve my videos over the years.

Me and my GoPro off to film some content in Joshua Tree

Today I'm going to share the gear and software I'm currently using to create my YouTube videos, along with recommendations for people just starting out. There's nothing too crazy -- maybe I'll do an updated list when I reach MrBeast status.

I have a full page dedicated to my Filming Gear that I currently use and have used over the years if you're interested in a more in-depth look. In this article, I'll share a brief summary of my current setup and my reasoning for sticking with that gear.

Keep in mind that I built up my gear over the years and didn't splurge on everything at once. It's also completely unnecessary to have any specific gear! You can still have a successful YouTube channel with the bare basics of a camera and a way to upload your videos. The content of your videos is key; having a few extra tools just makes the process more fun. Plus, it gives you a ton of options for customizing your work to really bring your vision to life!

Here are the tools I'll be going over today, as well as some information about each so you can decide which ones would be right for you.

• Epidemic Sound

• Notion

• Rize

• Canva

• VidIQ

• TubeBuddy

• Dropbox

• iMovie

• Filming Gear

Let's dive right into the tools starting with...

Epidemic Sound

Sign up for a 7-day free trial (*referral link)! Signing up for Epidemic Sound through my link will give you full access to their huge music library (over 40,000 songs and 90,000 sound effects) for a full week. Any content you create during that trial period will be fully safe from any copyright claims -- no expiration after the trial ends.

Everyone loves music and knows how much it can change and enhance the mood of a video. Perhaps surprisingly, finding songs for my music videos is one of the most challenging parts of creating on YouTube for me. It's such an important part of video creation that I worry about choosing the wrong song!

Epidemic Sound has made it super easy to get the right tunes to set the mood for my videos. These are my favorite features:

• Search by mood or genre. I love to search for the general vibe I'm going for and see what comes up. Some good ones are: adventure, chill, upbeat, funky, folk.

• Find similar tracks. This feature has been a game-changer for me. When I want to keep a consistent feel throughout a video, finding similar songs to ones I've already used makes the editing roll flow so much more smoothly.

• Recommendations for your channel. After you've created some content with Epidemic Sound, it learns your style and the types of songs you use. At the top of the home page, you'll find song recommendations based on what it has learned about your specific channel.

I've used free music services in the past for my videos, but struggled to find quality songs that suited my needs. I wasted so much time listening to snippets of songs that just didn't fit. I'm happy to pay the subscription fee for this service that saves me time, gives me quality music and sound effects, and gives me peace of mind from copyright claims.

Not a sponsored share, I've truly found a lot of value in this tool and use them for every video I make!

Notion

Notion (*affiliate link) has been my organization tool of choice for years now. I use it to keep track of everything from recipes to my content schedule for April Adventuring. Anything that needs to be remembered gets thrown into my Notion, which acts as my second brain.

I'm a fan of the Kanban board method for tracking my tasks (here's a good summary), which I learned through my tech job and have now adapted for my video creation. My video board has columns for Planning, Filming, Ready for Editing, In Progress, Scheduled, and Published. It might be overkill, but I prefer a detailed look when I have videos at many different stages at a time.

My recipes page is more of a spreadsheet but better. Notion makes it super easy to add tags (Meal, Drink, Baked, etc.), links to recipe pages, and notes.

Staying organized and customizing each page exactly how I need it is something that keeps me in Notion everyday. I'm constantly adding more parts of my life to it and can't imagine how much would fall through the cracks if I stopped.

I'd be happy to go over Notion in more detail if anyone is interested in how I use it. There are plenty of awesome YouTube tutorials for getting started and playing around in it is one of the best ways to learn!

Rize

Speaking of staying organized and productive, Rize (*referral link) is a tool I've been trying out recently. Use my link for a whole month free of the paid version!

The main purpose of this application is that it tracks your time spent on different activities throughout your work day (on your computer). It does this by "seeing" what programs and websites you're using and for how long. It then sorts those usage sessions into categories such as Video Editing, Messaging, Email, Documenting.

Here's a snapshot of a half-day of work I did yesterday where I focused on finishing up my Capitol Reef Vlog.

Rize dashboard example.

As you can see, the purple blocks tell me what I was working on during those times (as automatically labeled by Rize) and the blue/turquoise blocks tell me when I was in a focus session versus taking a break. I don't currently use the Projects or Calendar features, but am planning to start using Projects to track hours spent on each video or larger project!

If you're looking for a tool that will tell you exactly how you're spending your day and where all those hours are going, Rize is the perfect choice.

Give it a try with a free month using my link!

Canva

Canva (*referral link) has become ubiquitous in the digital design space. It's used for creating any type of graphic: YouTube thumbnails, Instagram stories and reel covers, ebooks, and more. It's intuitive to use and has tons of features, even in the free version.

Canva is my tool of choice for my YouTube thumbnails. I love the wide selection of fonts and the ease of editing images. A couple of my favorite features are:

1. The ability to edit just the foreground or background of an image. I use this all the time to make my subject pop off the background better, making it stand out more on the thumbnail.

2. The ability to duplicate a page. I started doing this recently and now cannot stop. I used to create one thumbnail for each video, download it, and pop it into YouTube. 🙈 I'm happy to say I now make many options and choose the one I like best. Duplicating a page makes it super easy to adjust the font, word placement, image brightness, phrasing, and everything else in many iterations.

If you're doing anything in content creation, you have to be on Canva. There's no easier way to create the graphics you need and bring your visions to life.

VidIQ

VidIQ is a YouTube tool that I've been using for years. The free version has a couple cool features I make use of regularly.

At the top of the YouTube studio, VidIQ gives nifty snapshot of some of your channel's key stats. Currently, I have:

• Hours watch in the last 12 months

• Views in the last 48 hours

• Subscribers

Keeping track of my watch-hours and subscribers is especially relevant for me right now since I'm working on monetizing my channel with the restrictions of 4,000 watch-hours in the last 12 months and 1,000 subscribers.

Another feature I use for every video I upload is the scorecard. This feature gives me a score out of 100 on my SEO and gives pointers for places that can be improved, such as adding at least one card to the video.

I haven't tried out the paid version yet, but have seen many YouTubers using this tool and have already found the free version to be helpful!

TubeBuddy

I downloaded TubeBuddy the same day I started using VidIQ. These two browser extensions have given me tons of extra insight into my channel and how to improve my videos.

One of the main features I love about TubeBuddy is it's ranking tool. Searching on YouTube (not in the YouTube studio anymore) pops up a card on the side that gives information about that keyword or phrase. You'll see how good of a choice that keyword is for creating a video based on its search volume and competition. There's a bunch of other info, including popular channels for that topic. This is super helpful for coming up with video ideas and choosing keywords to use in scripts, descriptions, and titles.

Here's an example using "backpacking for beginners:"

TubeBuddy ranking analysis

This makes it clear that there are better options for keywords to target when creating videos. Keyword and competitor research are much easier with TubeBuddy!

Dropbox

Get a bonus 500 MB of storage when you sign up for any Dropbox plan through this link! (*referral link)

Dropbox is my safety net for all my footage backup. I always move my footage from my camera's memory over to my SanDisk first (super fast), then onto Dropbox (much slower). Having two copies of everything saved is crucial when working with digital content!

I currently have the 2 TB plan and have used about 1.2 TB. I haven't yet had to dig into these files for anything I've lost on my SanDisk, but having it all saved in the cloud gives me great peace of mind.

iMovie

Hey, I told you there wasn't going to be anything too crazy on my list and the humble iMovie still holds its spot as my video editor as of now.

Most Mac users will be familiar with iMovie, if they aren't already using it. I remember first learning the program in a computer class in junior high. I can't remember much from then, but I don't feel like a whole lot has changed.

It's basic and covers what you'll need for talking head or other simple videos. If you're making serious film-quality productions with the need for lots of color grading and fine-tuning, then iMovie isn't for you.

It's worked great for me so far and I'll continue to use it until I outgrow it. Right now, I don't have the time or desire to learn a new software, but I know that day is coming. I'll probably try out Final Cut Pro when that time comes.

Do you use iMovie or have you moved onto something more robust? Would you be interested in an iMovie crash course from someone who's been creating YouTube videos with it for a few years now? Let me know in the comments!

Filming Gear

For my full gear list, check out this blog post!

Now onto the hardware that makes April Adventuring function. My filming setup is pretty minimal since most of my recording happens on the go and in the wilderness. If I had a filming studio at home, I'd probably have very different equipment.

So far, I haven't seen much of a need for upgrading what I have -- except my microphones. Sound quality is super important and this is honestly something I'm still working on. My next upgrade will likely be a better mic!

Again, remember that none of the fancy gear is necessary. I've been finding myself recording more and more on my iPhone, especially now that the front camera can record in 4K.

Equipment that makes your life easier or fixes an issue you're seeing may be worthwhile investments, but buying expensive stuff just for the sake of it is never a wise choice. 😌

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. That means I may get a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

GoPro HERO9 Black

GoPro Hero9 - the bane of my existence.

The GoPro HERO9 is the camera I use most consistently when I travel. While I love this camera most of the time for its video quality and size, it has been buggy for me on many occasions.

Honestly, there are days that I leave it at home and opt to film on my phone because of how many issues I have with it.

The ability to shoot 5K UHD quality and the wide angle of this camera make it a great option for landscapes and larger scenes. Talking head portions and more day-to-day filming can easily be accomplished with any modern smartphone.

iPhone15

This requires no explanation. My phone is always with me and it has a great camera. Phone cameras have some such a long way in recent years and the quality now competes with most travel and non-professional cameras.

Since I also use a MacBook for editing, moving my footage into iMovie is a seamless process. I'll likely be relying heavily on my iPhone for day-to-day filming until I invest in a much nicer camera!

Movo VXR10 Universal Video Microphone with Shock Mount

Movo Universal Video Microphone.

This Movo mic has become my go-to microphone for all my voiceover work. I love that it doesn't require a battery, is super compact, and comes with a windscreen.

I'm still figuring out the best way to use this mic for extra crispy quality. It seems like the angle and distance from my face make a big difference to how the audio sounds. It's also pretty sensitive and picks up all sorts of background noise when I'm recording at home (I have noisy neighbors that are the bane of my existence).

This was definitely a decent upgrade from my super cheap lavalier mics I was previously using. I'm excited for the next upgrade, so I'll keep you posted when that happens!

Kaiess 62" Tripod, Selfie Stick, & Phone Tripod Stand with Remote

Kaiess tripod.

This is the best tripod I have owned (yet), but honestly it works best indoors and on flat surfaces. I'm also looking to upgrade my tripod situation at some point, but am making due for now.

I love how compact this tripod is, yet it extends to over five feet tall.

What I don't love is that it's a little unstable when fully extended (wind makes it shake side to side) and that the legs aren't independently adjustable.

Tripods can be surprisingly expensive, so this is a great budget option for those that are looking for something above the bare minimum in terms of quality.

SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD

SanDisk Extreme Pro

I'm a SanDisk Extreme girlie through and through. I'm on my second one of these after maxing out the first and have had no issues whatsoever.

I use these to store all my footage and my iMovie library so it doesn't sit on my MacBook itself taking up precious memory. This is my first round of footage backup and it usually only takes a couple minutes to move all my recordings from my GoPro memory over to this.

The only downside I've noticed is that they can sometimes unexpectedly eject from my laptop while I'm working. It started to happen more frequently as my first one got older, but was mostly mitigated by keeping it super stable on a desk and not keeping it plugged in for extended periods of time.

Either way, these have worked great for me and I'll definitely be purchasing more in the future unless something drastically changes my mind!

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I hope this list gave you some insight into the types of tools and gear you'll want to consider when you're starting out your YouTube channel. There are practically infinite combinations of gear that can be used, but having some key items makes the journey much more fun and organized.

Don't worry if you're just starting out with your smartphone's camera! Upgrade items slowly as you go and you'll be creating masterpieces in no time.

Have fun and reach out if you have any questions about creating videos or being on YouTube. I'd love see anything you post!

Happy adventuring (and filming),

A