YouTube have published 150 tracks online that you can freely download, cut to and then upload back to YouTube. Is this the start of YouTube providing more free assets for the video editor?
Ever had a third party content claim on YouTube? We have and we know how annoying it can be as it locks out the ability to modify certain data on a video and of course immediately puts third party ads in, on and around your freshly edited masterpiece. This can happen even when you have all the commercial rights to use a music track. (We have to thank a great music company for responding to this problem we had recently and immediately whitelisting our channels.)
So what if your video really needs music to bring it to life? You have always been able to add music from a selection of 150,000 tracks to videos after the upload, but this is rather clumsy and blitzes any audio that was on the video in the first place. Now there is another option which we stumbled upon during our copyright troubles.
YouTube have published 150 audio tracks that are free to download, use in an edit and then upload the finished video back to YouTube. All for free. The tracks can be searched by genre or mood for example and get downloaded with one click as an mp3 file. Not a huge library to start off with, but they are actively asking music creators if they would like their tracks to be made available.
We will skip around the thorny problem of musicians not being paid to comment that this is really good news for us video editors. The tracks might stop the arguments with corporate clients who won't pay for music but insist on using it and they also sound perfect for those family or event videos that need a music bed underneath.
So are there any restrictions? Not many.
We are also pleased to report that the tracks are actually not bad and we can see the ones already on offer being used in a wide variety of productions. Their usage also means that uploaded videos that feature the track are guaranteed not to have a third party content match or copyright claim against them. Very welcome if you are editing a corporate video that needs to be published quickly and it 'has to be there.'
Is this a start of YouTube offering more tools, tracks and clips for the video editor? The Audio Library is one menu in the Creation Tools heading within YouTube. What might be next, a stock library?
YouTube have published some of the tracks with placeholder videos online.
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
