Welcome to Freevlog 2.5
A step-by-step guide to setting up a videoblog for free.

Why is this cool?
---> It's free! What else do you want?

Wait a minute!
---> What's a "vlog" and why do I want one?

A vlog is a videoblog and you want one because, let's face it, they're not going to put you on TV. Besides, not playing that game is what makes this so much fun. You can do whatever you want.


Watch the video

Download the video

Watch this video and we'll say "hi" and show you how to use this tutorial. It's not done yet but you can give it a shot anyway (things keep changing so it may never get finished). Or you can skip the video and do it your own way. Either way, if you run into problems, send us an email.

Step 0.5:
Before You Start, Make A Video And Load It On To Your Computer!

Disclaimer:
This tutorial assumes you have access to a computer, a camera and that you can make a video. That part of the whole videoblogging chain isn't free (we wish!). Depending on what kind of stuff you have, there are a zillion ways that whole process can go. Maybe after we get some sleep we'll think about doing some of those tutorials.

Remember, without a video, step 2 where we make a screen shot of your video and step 4 where we publish your video are not going to make much sense.

Here are some links to get you started in the video department:

Using iMovie (Mac)

Using Movie Maker (PC)

Now once you've made your masterpiece, you have to compress it.
---> Check out our compression tutorials

As we make more tutorials we'll post them on the Freevlog Vlog. You can subscribe to our new tutorials here.

 

Text versions:

iMovie.pdf
Final Cut Pro.pdf
Windows Movie Maker.pdf

Using
iMovie
Final Cut Pro
Windows Movie Maker

Now a lot of Windows users email us asking how they can create QuickTime movies with Windows Movie Maker. What are you crazy? Do you think Microsoft would let you do that? (To be fair you can't make a .wmv with iMovie.) So here's a tip. If you have the free QuickTime player for Windows installed on your system you can use Avid Free DV ($0) to edit and compress Quicktime movies. Plus you get some editing software with more features than Movie Maker. Don't worry Mac users. Avid didn't forget you. Avid Free DV is also available for Mac. Tutorial coming soon(ish).

Step 1:
Set Up A Free Blogger Blog

Why is this cool?
---> Free customizable blogs! Come on, everyone's doing it! Even Steve's Mom has a blog.

This tutorial will walk you through getting yourself a free Blogger blog. Go to blogger.com, create an account, set up your blog and you're ready to turn the blogosphere on it's rear.

Here's our completed example.

Step 2:
Make A Screen Capture On A Mac

Why is this cool?
---> Geeky computer tricks.

Next you want to take a little picture of your video when it's displayed in you video player so people who are looking at your blog will know right away that there is video on the blog! "Hey Martha, take a look at this! There's some of that there video on this blog! I can tell because there's a picture of a little TV on here!"


Watch the video

Download the video

View Text Version

Step 2 (this time for PC users):
Make A Screen Capture On A PC

Why is this cool?
---> It's a geeky computer trick in another language.

Let's do it one more time for all of the PC users in the room! How's this for a trick? No PCs we're used in the making of this video. Also, no PC users were used so if the info is wrong, that would be the cause.

Step 3:
Sign Up For Internet Archive & OurMedia Accounts

Why is this cool?
---> Free media hosting; Huge community for trading original media. Did I mention that people usually pay for this hosting stuff?

Your Blogger blog doesn't actually store and host your media. You could pay for storage from a hosting company (roughly $80US a year, more if you get a lot of hits and use a bunch of bandwidth, which you will if you're hosting videos), but this is all about doing it for free. The partnership between The Internet Archive and OurMedia makes it easy as pie to upload and host your media for free, forever. How cool is that?

Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a public nonprofit that was founded to build an "Internet library," with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format.

OurMedia
A branch of the Internet Archive.We provide free storage and free bandwidth for your videos, audio files, photos, text or software. Forever. No catches.

Step 4:
Publish Your Video

Why is this cool?
---> Do you have to ask?

Get your videos on the internet so you can share them with the ENTIRE WORLD. It's about time to let yourself shine. Be your own star, be your own news anchor, heck, just be yourself.

Note:
Usually this all works as described but once in a while it doesn't. It's been getting better over time but you're doing this for free and it's in alpha so cut them some slack.

Having endless Ourmedia trouble? Try Blip.tv as a reliable alternative. They're free and they'll even post to your blog for you. Tutorial coming soon!

Also uploading video from the Ourmedia website works for files up to 20MB (We know it says 10MB but we generally have success with larger files). So what do you do if your video comes out bigger than 20MB? Well, If you're using our compression settings this should give you about 4 - 5 minutes to tell your story. If you can't get it done in that amount of time, we suggest you quit your rambling and make that video shorter. Really. Shorter is almost always better. If you really must go on and on and on - then lower that bit-rate. This will also lower the quality of your video but by this time only your Mom will be watching you so it won't be too much of a problem.


Watch the video

Download the video

View Text Version

Post With Blip.tv
click here to download

Step 5:
Post Video & Images On Your Blog

Why is this cool?
---> This is the moment you've been waiting for! It's time for your 15 minutes of fame.

Use these simple steps to post your video and your photo to your blog. WARNING: Some HTML required! Don't worry, it's easy but you can go ahead and tell everyone it was really complicated.

Wow, this is now so easy, even you can do it!

Step 6:
Get An RSS 2.0 Feed w/ Enclosures

Why is this cool?
---> People can subscribe and download your videos automatically.

This is the trickiest part (and the longest video) but it's so worth it. Just set this up one time and people can automatically find out about your new stuff. This is much better than spaming all of your friends every time you make a new post!

What is RSS?

Step 7:
Join The Community

Why is this cool?
---> Because videobloggers are cool people!

Okay, really, we're not that cool but we are pretty smart and can probably help answer most any question about videoblogging you can come up with.

New Vlogs Click here to download

Okay, we're going to try something a little different with the way we feature new vlogs. Check out this video and if we haven't featured you here yet (even if you've already sent us a link) please pick out a post that you really love - one that you think best represents what you're all about (we know that can be a tough choice) and send it to us here: newvlog@freevlog.org and we'll feature you on the Freevlog Vlog.

Next, join the Videoblogging Yahoo Group and introduce yourself. Also, go to VlogMap.org and click on "submit vlog" to claim your spot. We'll use this info to list you in our videoblogging directories at Vlogdir.com and Videoblogging.info.

Don't forget to subscribe to all of your favorite videoblogs with FireAnt and Mefeedia.

Don't forget to take the videobloggers' oath:
I _________ do solemnly promise to post video regularly. I promise to post video even if I don't really have time to or even if I really need to get some sleep. Also, I promise to teach others to videoblog or at the very least, point them over here when they get inspired from watching my videos.

Step 8:
Link Love

Why is this cool?
---> You'll be sporting this hot little badge in your sidebar and helping us out at the same time.

See this is how the Internet works - if you like something you link to it. The more people link to something, the higher it shows up in search engines like Google. So if you link to us you'll be helping us get the word out. Plus it'll only take you like 5 freakin' seconds so what's to lose?

Help us keep the ship afloat!

While you're following all of our instructions, why not click our donate button just because we told you to?

And if all of this isn't enough Freevlog for you, why not buy our book too?

 

Need Help?
email us!

English
Español
Português
日本語
Italiano
Deutsch

Interested in translating Freevlog?
Email us, and we'll get you started!

Free Services

Free Tools

Community

 Subscribe to our tutorial feed!

Shameless Plugs

Steal this Badge

copy and paste this code into your template

now you have this:

now you have this:

Get our Widget

see new vlogs instantly!

Dashboard

Konfabulator


Freevlog 2.5 was written and created by Ryanne Hodson & Michael Verdi.
It was made possible with the generous support of Outh!nk. We'd like to give a big high five Dave Toole, Markus Sandy,
Jay Dedman, & Josh Kinberg for being our partners in crime. And one day we'd love to meet and give a big hug to all of our volunteer translators: Pepa (Español), Miguel (Português), Takayuki (日本語), Richard (Deutsch), Fabio, Enrico, & Alessandro (Italiano). Freevlog is a project of NODE101.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.