When you're working on a video alone, it can be hard to push through a create on demand when you're traveling too much, overwhelmed by client work, or just not inspired. 

In the video production process it might be super fun when your filming, perhaps with different people involved in front and behind the camera, at a fun event, in a new location, but once you get back home or to the office and need to edit that video, it can get really lonely. It is just you, the footage, and an empty timeline in your video editing program. 

In this podcast episode I break down how to stay on track by pushing yourself to create, what to do with your downtime to make your creation time better, and how to stop procrastinating on those large video projects. I share four ways cure artist lonliness and the five steps for coming up with and then executing on great ideas.

Video editing already takes long enough, so let's speed things up with some of my favorite keyboard shortcuts and save you some time.

In this video I show you 37 different keyboard shortcuts I use while editing videos.

Also, I've created custom keyboard shortcuts that I've pulled from other video editors I've learned from in-person and online, so these aren't the default shortcuts built into Premiere, but if you're just getting started, practice learning the built-in shortcuts first by hovering over buttons before clicking them or seeing the command to the right of the action in the drop-down menus.

I've basically spent the past three months traveling for either client video projects, video conferences, or vacation. Through all the flights and carrying my camera gear to five countries in three continents I've compiled nine of my lessons learned from traveling while shooting video.

In this podcast episode I break-down in detail why you want to invest in proper storage and image stabilization gear, why you need a pocket-sized camera, how to use tools like reflectors when you don't have lights, and why wireless audio may be the best option.

It takes a lot of work for a video to go from what what's recorded on a memory card to a finish video that someone can watch online.

In this video I show my video editing process and post-production workflow for the videos I make for this site and for my clients.

Over the past two months I have had an insane schedule filled with trips and client shoots. 

And instead of releasing crappy podcasts and video shows along the way I decided to live by my favorite Ron Swanson quote: "Don't half ass two things, whole ass one thing."

In today's video show I'll explain where I've been and what's next for DVG. (Hint: season two of the video and audio shows start next week.)

Last week I spent a few days wandering the show floor at the National Association of Broadcasters conference & trade show in Las Vegas while my team was there filming Pat Flynn's keynote at New Media Expo.

While there I checked out some of the newest tech for making videos and got to interact in person with a lot of the companies whose gear and software I use to run Caleb Wojcik Films day in and day out. 

In this video recap you'll see the Canon XC10, SmallHD 502, BlackMagic Micro & Video Assist, RED Weapon Dragon 8k, and more. I recap of the trade show floor, what gear I'm most excited about, and see some of the newest tech out there.

Early mover advantage. Being in the right place at the right time. Luck.

These are all excuses in my book. Pick something, do it well, and keep showing up.

That's what Austin Evans has done on YouTube since 2007. He has nearly 1,200 videos live, almost a million subscribers, 117,000,000 views, and has become one of the biggest tech channels on the platform.

In this episode of the podcast I pick Austin's brain on how he got started making YouTube videos in high school, why it is important to connect and collaborate with other YouTubers, how he plans out and shoots his videos, and whether or not your competitors are good or bad for you.

YouTube annotations have been both good and bad.

They help direct viewers to watch other videos, start viewing playlists, subscribe to a channel, donate to fundraising campaigns, visit an external website, and more.

But they also are poorly designed, extremely intrusive, and don't work on mobile devices.

Enter YouTube cards, the newest feature to YouTube. Think of YouTube cards as the better looking, younger sibling to annotations.

In this video I'll show you how to start using YouTube cards, what you can use them for, how to set up an external website on your channel to link to, and my 301 re-direct hack for linking to any possible URL from YouTube.

We brush off new apps coming out all the time that claim they'll change the way we live and communicate.

But when there are two that involve live streaming video from your phone that quickly grow a following, I definitely start paying attention to them.

Meerkat, which launched a few weeks ago, and Periscope, which just went public a few days from being in a closed beta, both allow for people to instantly stream video from their phone and post a link to it on Twitter.

In this video I show the two apps in their current state, how their different, and why you'd actually want to consider using them.

I've been planning this for over a year, talking about it for a month now, and the moment is finally here.

Version 2.0 of the DIY Video Production Guide is now live and ready for purchase. 

For this update, the course has been completely remade from scratch.

There are 50 new video tutorials and lessons, spanning over four and a half hours.

Whether you don’t like to edit video, you’ve shot so much you don’t have time to get through it, or you’re just trying to outsource and focus on what you do best, hiring a video editor might be just the thing you need to consistently create and ship videos.

In today’s episode I talk with my video editor, Tim Krupa, about ten things you should consider before hiring a video editor.

We talk about the best ways to communicate before production about scripting and b-roll, what to expect in regards to contracts and payments, what web apps we use for video revisions with clients, and more.

I've spent A TON on video and audio equipment over the past three years and there are a handful of purchases that have saved my tail a few times.

In this episode DIY Video Guy TV I share five different pieces of video gear and equipment that I never leave home without (and are worth investing in if you haven't already).

You'll learn how to make sure your gear doesn't get damaged while traveling or shooting, how to quickly change your camera from a tripod to monopod to slider, and more.

The last five months of "flying solo" have been an insanely busy juggling act of client work, launching this podcast, shipping YouTube videos weekly, my wife's two rounds of surgery and recovery from cancer, trips around the Holidays, and more.

I figured it was time to share a bit of behind the scenes on how things are going internally at my video production studio and what's next for DIY Video Guy.

In this episode I talk with my editor Tim about what gear investments we've been making (and why), what our workflow is (including all the programs and web apps we use), how video podcasting downloads have compared to YouTube viewers for the weekly video show, talk candidly about how video production for clients has been going, and tease version 2.0 of the DIY Video Production Guide (which comes out March 24th).

There are a lot of different places online to host your videos.

In this video I walkthrough five different video hosts. I explain why you'd want to host on a free site like YouTube, give you the two best options for private video hosting, explain why iTunes video podcasts are an untapped market, and cover why video analytics and privacy are important factors in your decision. 

If you're shooting tutorial style videos, especially of a tangible skill like crafting, building, or anything else that uses your hands, you won't want to miss this episode.

In it I talk with Josh Smith of Cook Academy about what they've learned building up a library of training videos for people learning to become better cooks.

We discuss how to set up multiple angles properly, find a better locale than what you already have available to you, how to cut down on reflections from glass surfaces, and how to best teach using video.

If you sit down to edit your video and it looks too dark or too bright, you can usually fix it in post.

In this video I'll describe how to fix the your video's exposure while editing in Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro and iMovie.

And if you're using different video editing software than the ones I'm showing, the fundamentals are the same, so watch and then apply them to your app of choice.

If you're looking to hire a video person or team to come shoot videos for you, there is plenty to know beforehand and a lot to do that will help the project go as smoothly as possible.

In this podcast episode I chat with Wes Wages of Armosa Studios about what it is like to work with a videographer.

We cover everything from what to expect process wise, how to prepare to get the best result from your video team, whether or not it makes sense to make them travel to you or you to them, and tips on dissecting proposals and contracts. 

It can be really frustrating to record an entire video and then realize it is too dark or too bright.

Luckily, fixing this is pretty easy when you know what to do. 

In this video I'm going to show you how to fix exposure while shooting videos and which settings you need to change on your camera to do so.