How To Record PC Gameplay Series – Part 4

Welcome to part 4 of our “How to Record PC Gameplay” tutorial series. We are going to deal with post processing and how it plays an important part in producing entertaining videos. Most if not all of the gaming videos or any videos you’ve watched on Youtube will have gone through post processing of some sort.

Post processing helps to create a more entertaining experience because you can add effects and add and remove parts of your original video. No one really wants to watch plain PC gameplay, they want to see something funny, informative or entertaining.

What is Post Processing?

Post processing is any editing or effects added to your video after it has been recorded.

Video Editing Software

You can make a few edits with Windows Movie Maker, but to really start doing serious editing you will need a full-blown video editing program such as Adobe After Effects or Sony Vegas. Video editing software is a bit difficult to learn and takes a while to get use to. However, there are tons of free online resources to teach you how to use one of these programs. Once you learn the basics you can figure out how to do a lot of things.

Record PC Gameplay and Then Edit

When you record PC gameplay, you should aim to do all the filming before you start any editing. Only start the post processing stage when you’ve filmed and captured everything you need. Most of the creation of videos and audio should be done elsewhere and then brought into your program. All you are really doing in your video editing software is adding effects and putting together the final video.

Make Your Video Enjoyable to Watch

The whole point of post processing is to make your video more enjoyable to watch. Whether that’s cutting out all the repetitive and boring bits of your video or adding in special effects, it’s all about making an awesome video.

Maybe you would like to make a video tutorial for new gamers, or share a funny experience you had while playing a game. If you think back to all your favorite gaming videos, you will notice they often do a bit of editing to make it more entertaining or funny.

Online Resources

Here is a list of resources to help teach you more about post processing and video editing:

http://ae.tutsplus.com/
http://www.lynda.com/Editing-training-tutorials/82-0.html

There are tons more on Youtube and you can find a lot of free tutorials by doing a Google search. And visit Videohive.net for templates and other video files.

What Next?

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to experiment and keep learning. You might end up enjoying creating videos for others to watch. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work you could also make some money from Youtube. Or you could just keep it as a hobby you really enjoy.

Thanks for reading our “How to Record PC Gameplay” tutorial and stay tuned for the final part of the series where we cover how to upload your videos to Youtube and how to avoid copyright issues.