One of the things I have been researching this week is how Filmora Pro compares to Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing.

If you’ve been following me for quite some time, you would know that one of the things I always teach is to cut down unnecessary fixed costs (recurring expenses) of your coaching business.

I am a great fan of Adobe Premiere Pro and have been using it for the last 4 years.

I love it so much that if Adobe came out with a Premiere Pro themed stuff toy, I’d buy it and sleep with it every night.

But it also costs Rs.1675/month in India.

To be frank the price is totally worth it because it’s a fantastic video editing software.

But the tempting thing about Filmora Pro is that it costs $149 for lifetime, thereby eliminating a fixed cost.

If a one-time purchase eliminates a recurring expense, you should always choose it even if the one time fee is costly.

But I knew I had to research things first because video editing is no joke.

Not having the correct software can mean you’ll end up pulling your hair out in frustration.

So I actually downloaded the free version of Filmora Pro. Yes, it has a free version. Unlimited too. But it leaves a watermark.

But I still wanted to try out the software.

Here’s what I learned:

• Its interface is very similar to Premiere Pro
• Its extremely easy to use
• It has more built-in effects and social media presets than Premiere Pro

BUT..BUT..BUT..Here are the downsides:

When I was editing, the playback video lagged a lot and that was SO FRUSTRATING THAT I BANGED MY COFFEE MUG ON THE TABLE!!!! Luckily there was no coffee in it! Phew! And the mug did not break! Phew *2!

This one downside was enough to make me dislike this software.

Then I went on YouTube and saw a detailed review video and the woman who made that review was talking about the same issue.

Plus another thing I noticed was that in the comments section, someone mentioned that Filmora crashes when exporting longer videos.

That again is a deal breaker for me since sometimes I export videos that are more than 2 hours in length.

So final verdict as of now- I’m sticking to Premiere Pro.

If you want to learn how to use Premiere Pro, you can check out my full fledged Premiere Pro course on Udemy.

I regularly post these kind of experiments on my Instagram account so do follow me there so you don’t miss out.

Regards,

Kush Sharma

Click Trainers

The post Filmora Pro vs Premiere Pro for Video Editing appeared first on Click Trainers.

I have finally upgraded my webcam.

I just purchased the ever popular Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam​

But here’s the important thing.

I have made this purchase after running Click Trainers for 15 months.

For these 15 months I have used the humble Logitech C270​

I did over 40 webinars and created two full fledged courses with the C270.

But never ever did any of my customers ever complain about the video quality.

In fact even most of my own students had better webcams than me.

So what is the learning from this?

The learning is that tools and software should never hold you back.

A lot of times we think we need to have the perfect equipment or tool to get started.

That’s not true.

You can get started with the absolute basic.

As a coach, your main focus has to be on providing value in your content.

If you do that, nothing else matters.

Always remember, perfectionism is often our biggest enemy.

And taking imperfect action NOW is always better than waiting for the perfect time.

“A good plan violently executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week.” – General George S.Patton

Regards,

Kush Sharma

Click Trainers

The post I finally changed my webcam appeared first on Click Trainers.

I recently pre-launched my new course called Online Course Launchpad, which is a full fledged course that teaches you how to launch your first online course in 5 weeks which is capable of generating over Rs.1.5 lakhs/month.

Here’s the thing – Even though the planning of this course took me around a month, the video creation part took me only around 21 days (last section is left which will be completed within this week too).

So how was I able to create almost 20 hours of video content so fast?

I changed one thing.

I stopped using webcam overlays.

When you are screen recording, webcam overlays are are those little windows where you can be seen.

Now webcam overlays are usually fantastic because your audience is able to see you continuously.

But they come with the problem of decreased productivity.

Because every time you have to make sure you are presentable and so is your background.

So when I used to use webcam overlays, I used to perform the following tasks:

• Make sure I am wearing a nice t-shirt
• Make sure I am clean shaven
• Make sure my hair was gelled (yeah, I have HORRIBLE alien hair)
• Make sure the background clutter was removed

All this was too time consuming and frustrating.

So for this course I decided to ditch the webcam overlay for good.

I already knew it was not such a big deal because in almost all of my photography courses at Creative Pad Media (my photography education business), I had never used webcam overlays and my students still loved it.

So now I was only recording the screen and my audio.

The advantage of this was HUGE!!!

My video creation productivity almost went up 5X.

I could be looking like a homeless man (which is my default state) and my room could be a complete mess (again the default setting), but I could still make videos with ease.

That’s the keyword – “With Ease“.

It’s like the stress of video creation just vaporized into thin air and I started enjoying the process so much.

And since my pre-launch 2 weeks back, more than 100 people have already signed up for this course and I have only received praises for the video quality. Not even a single person has complained about me not being present in the webcam overlay.

Why?

Because people focus on the quality of the content. If that’s there, they won’t mind other things not being perfect.

But I did make sure that I was seen in some videos like the Intro videos for each module, the Welcome videos, the Conclusion videos and some of the videos in between too. Because a bit of you coming somewhere is important too.

But in majority of the videos it’s just me and my voice.

When your video creation process is easy, you will be more motivated to quickly complete your course.

Remember, the ability to finish a product is a habit which must be developed and then turned into an addiction.

And the easier the whole production process is, the more you will get addicted to this habit.

A lesson that I keep on learning again and again in business – Easy is right, difficult is wrong!

Regards,

Kush Sharma

Click Trainers

The post How I made my video creation EASY appeared first on Click Trainers.

But conducting a successful webinar depends on a lot of things like having strong valuable content, a clear sales pitch (if you are selling something), correct promotion methods to make sure you get attendees and lastly, the usage of the correct tools, equipment and software.

For this article, we will concentrate on the last part – using the correct tools.

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word webinar is little windows where people are being seen. That means one of the most important tools is going to to be the webcam. So let’s start with that:

Which is the best webcam for a webinar?

The truth is that it depends on you and your budget. As with anything else, the more you are willing to pay, the more the number of options.

But here’s the thing – Many people think they need to have the most expensive webcam out there in order to do a successful webinar. This is not entirely true and I’m a living example of this.

As of now (11th August 2021), I use the Logitech C920 HD PRO (Around Rs.11,000 at the time of writing) to conduct my webinars and it’s never caused me any problems at all.

But since it can be a bit expensive, I’ll start off this list with a budget webcam that I used for a very long time:

Logitech C270 (Good Budget Friendly Option)

The Logitech C270 webcam is so popular that during the COVID lockdown and in its aftermath, it was not even available anywhere including Amazon because literally every working professional who had to rely on Zoom meetings had purchased it.

Why is it so popular? Because it’s cheap and does the job well. No rocket science here.

What is the downside? The downside is that it only offers a HD (High Definition) resolution, which means a resolution of 1280 X 720 pixels. That basically means you have lesser pixels in the output which in turn means that you don’t get the most clear picture.

But is the clarity enough to get by? I certainly think so. Have a look a short clip from one of my webinars where I teach my students how to create and sell online courses:

You’ll see that it’s not too bad at all especially considering the fact for most of the duration your webinar, you’ll actually be appearing in a small window since most of time you will be sharing your screen to show a presentation or something else.

Appearing in a small window means that resolution doesn’t play such an important part since the pixels aren’t getting stretched.

Till now I’ve never even had a single student who has complained during the webinar about the video quality. In fact what you have to realize is that your students are more interested in how good your content is. And as you’ll see later on, using a good quality mic is more important that the webcam.

Also, I’ll tell you one more benefit about using this webcam which NO ONE TALKS ABOUT!! But I’m going to talk about it because that’s what Click Trainers is all about. Talking about the real life things that no one else talks about.

So here’s the thing – A lot of us are slightly shy in appearing in front of an audience. For example, my webinars are usually for 100 people. Imagine 100 people looking at you virtually. We can get really conscious about our appearance. The fact that this webcam has a lesser resolution actually helps in this case LOL! Yes, the slightly lesser clarity that you get can actually make you look better by hiding your facial flaws. I know because I have too many of them (LOL again). It just comforts me to know that my webinar audience is not getting a microscopic FULL HD view of my amazing rashes, unkempt facial hair strands, milia, pimples, scars and what not! For some of us, FULL HD resolution may even stand for FULL HIDEOUS! Talking about Full HD, let’s move on to the next recommendation:

Logitech HD PRO C920 (The Most Popular Option)

The Logitech C920 is probably the most popular webcam for webinars and screen recording. I am currently using it myself.

This webcam has stood the test of time and is very reliable. Don’t get confused by the name though. It offers FULL HD resolution and not HD. You can use this webcam for anything, right from webinars to creating videos.

It’s very sharp,produces great colors and contrast and the 78 degree field of view I feel offers the perfect amount of width.

You can use the Logitech Capture software (free) to make any sort of adjustments you wish.

This webcam currently has over 22,000 reviews on Amazon so you really can’t go wrong with this choice.

Though a point to note is that its successor, the C922 is also getting good reviews everywhere. Though I haven’t used the camera myself.

Logitech C930e (Another good option but with a wider view)

The Logitech C930e is also a good choice especially if you want to have a very wide field of view. I should point out that you can always zoom in too in case you feel the default width is too much.

This is priced slightly higher than the C920 and is branded as a business webcam and it’s wider field of view implies that it is geared towards webinars in which an entire group has to be seen.

One thing you cannot obviously ignore is its looks. At one point, I was tempted to get this webcam simply for the unique white and black finish.

Final verdict: It’s perfectly fine to go for a cheaper webcam if you don’t have the budget. When you are doing webinars, it’s initially more important to focus on audio, content and the promotion side of things. Once you know you have a winning webinar formula, you can always upgrade to a better webcam. But if budget is not an issue and you want a better video quality, then expensive options are better for sure.

These days there are a lot of cheaper FULL HD webcams available too which cost 1/4th the price of the webcams mentioned above. You can go for those too but keep in mind they may not always have a software to tweak the default settings of the webcam. Whenever you buy a webcam, one thing I always recommend you do is to go to YouTube and check reviews around it to see the actual output it produces.

Which is the best microphone for webinars?

Like I mentioned before, audio is more important than video when you are conducting a webinar.

NEVER use the built-in microphone of your laptop or your webcam for your webinars. The sound will be terrible. You HAVE to use an external mic. Before we go any further, hear the two sample audios below. The first one has been recorded by the built-in mic of my laptop. The second one has been recorded by an external microphone. You’ll be able to hear a massive difference in quality between the two. Make sure you are wearing headphones to notice the difference clearly.

Good quality mics are very important for webinars because when you are creating a normal video for your online course, you can still make modifications to the output by removing noise and adding other enhancements in post processing. But during a live webinar, you are completely dependent on the real time output of the mic.

I always suggest my students to go in for a USB microphone as it’s easy to use. You simply plug it in the laptop/PC and you’re good to go.

Now here’s the thing about USB mics. There are a crazy number of good USB mics (put amazon link page) out there and one search on Amazon will prove that. So before I go on and name a specific mic from a specific brand, let’s first talk about the some of the factors that you should pay attention to so you also know what to look out for generally:

• First of all, the USB mic you choose should not be very cheap. When it comes to audio, there’s a very simple rule. The more expensive the mic is, the better quality output it will produce. Cheap mics (especially those costing less than Rs.2000) will be very sensitive to noise (the hissssss sound). For example, when I use my Blue Yeti mic (an expensive USB mic which I’ll talk about later on) for my webinars, the fan in my room above me is going on at full speed and yet the output it produces is amazing. In fact many of my students always mention how clear my voice is during the webinar.
  
• Secondly, make sure you get a USB mic which has a built-in stand. Otherwise you’ll have to purchase a separate stand/arm which is actually better than using the built-in stand but I would not recommend it for complete beginners since buying an external stand requires a bit of research to make sure it’s of good quality and that it fits your mic.

Let’s look at some well known USB mics that have stood the test of time:

Blue Yeti USB Mic (Most Popular Option)

Blue Yeti is one of the highest selling USB mics in the world. I have been using this amazing mic since 2016 and it’s never disappointed me. I use it both for my webinars as well as for screencasting videos for my online courses. The second sample audio that you heard above was from this mic.

One of my favorite features about this mic is that it offers different pick-up patterns. That means you can set it in such a way that it only picks up the sound mainly from the front side (your voice) and ignore the sounds from the back and the sides. This is called as the Cardioid pick up pattern, which can be set up just by using a knob on the mic, as show in the image below:

It’s also a pretty heavy mic and the stand is very sturdy. And since it’s a USB mic, it’s basically plug and play. Definitely my first recommendation since I have first hand experience with it and the best part is that you don’t have to really break the bank to get it. I know it’s not the cheapest mic too but like I mentioned before, you will NEVER regret spending slightly more on a good quality mic because good audio is super important for an online course creator, whether that’s for a webinar or for video creation.

Blue Snowball USB Mic (Good Budget Friendly Option)

If you have a tighter budget, then the Blue Snowball USB mic is the one for you. It comes with a Cardioid Pickup pattern so it’s great for voice-overs/webinars.

Honestly speaking, I would not recommend that you go lower than this. This is probably the cheapest good quality mic that you should be going for.

Rode NT-USB Mic

You can never go wrong with a Rode mic. The Rode NT-USB might be expensive but if you really want the best audio output, then don’t think twice. Rode has recently come out with a mini version of the NT-USB which is also slightly cheaper.

Final Verdict: Since audio is the most important thing, spending money on a good microphone is a great investment. Good quality mics last for a very long time so it will eventually not turn out to be that costly if you go for an expensive option. Since I have personally been using the The Blue Yeti for quite some time and been impressed with it, that would be my recommendation. If budget is an issue, then go for the Blue Snowball.

What type of lighting is best for a webinar?

First of all, lighting is not an absolute essential for a webinar but it can definitely improve the webcam video quality since more light means the cameras sensor doesn’t have to do too much work which can otherwise result in an increase in the ISO value which basically means more noise and lesser clarity in your video.

This is especially true for cheaper webcams which don’t perform very well in low lighting situations.

Better lighting can also make you look more presentable.

I always suggest you go for flat lighting. Which basically means that you need to place a light source directly in front of you.

In the room where I do my webinars, I actually got an extra tube light fitted in the direction in which I am looking when I’m doing my webinars. You can see this in the image below:

If you don’t want to get an extra light fitted in your room, then you can go in for an external LED light like the one below:

Which software is the best for conducting a webinar?

Simple answer here. ZOOM. I’m assuming you are a beginner in the webinar world and for a beginner, Zoom has literally changed the webinar game.

The funny part is that Zoom isn’t actually meant for webinars. It’s just a software for team meetings (though they do have an expensive webinar add-on too).

But because they allow 100 attendees and a maximum of 40 minutes on their free plan, a lot of people naturally started using Zoom for webinars.

When you see the costs involved with using proper webinar software like GotoWebinar, Webinar Jam, Demio, etc, you’ll realize why Zoom is so popular.

Now the 40 minute time limit is definitely less so in all probability you’ll at least have to go for the basic paid plan which allows you to host longer meetings (webinars). But that’s still only Rs.1300/$14.99 per month which is nothing as compared to the monthly costs involved in the other webinar software I mentioned above. For instance, currently, GotoWebinar costs $109 for their basic plan which allows you to host 100 participants.

But here’s the best part about Zoom – Just because you are paying less does not mean Zoom’s quality is any lesser than other webinar software. In fact Zoom’s reliability (chances of freezing/crashing) and video/audio quality is even better than some of the more expensive options out there.

The downside of using Zoom is that unlike the dedicated webinar software, it doesn’t come with some of the important marketing features like built-in email marketing integrations, landing page templates, ability to make one-time offers during a webinar, etc. That’s because it’s not meant for webinars.

But this is not a deal breaker at all especially if you are a beginner. All of these missing tasks can be done manually. What’s more important when you are a beginner is that you don’t end up spending crazy amount of money which can be put to better use like in promoting your webinar and growing your online course business. .

What you have to remember is that one of the most challenging parts of doing a webinar is actually not related to the software or the platform you are using. The real challenge lies in knowing how to promote a webinar so you get as many attendees as possible. Once you’ve mastered that skill and are comfortable doing webinars using Zoom, you can always decide to make the upgrade to a more advanced webinar platform.

I hope you liked this post. If you have any questions or would like to know more about webinars or webinar related resources, do leave a comment in the comments section below and I’ll be happy to assist you.

The post The Best Microphone, Webcam Camera and Other Tools for Conducting a Webinar appeared first on Click Trainers.