Our digital cameras capture video, YouTube is a great way to share it -- how do we get from point A to point B as quickly as possible? With QuickTime X.
QuickTime X is the slightly controversial player that shipped with Snow Leopard. Some people like this new streamlined viewer, others prefer (and keep using) QuickTime 7 because of its handy toolset. For this workflow, all you'll need is QuickTime X. It handles trimming just fine, and it does a great job of optimizing your large movie files for YouTube. Then, it actually manages the entire publishing process. If you share your work on YouTube, these features alone make QuickTime X worth hanging on to.
The Fast Workflow
This process is almost as simple as 1-2-3. First, capture your movie. For this movie, I used a Canon 5D Mark II at the PMA trade show that featured brutal lighting and lots of ambient noise in the expo hall. By using a custom white balance setting and an external lapel mic, I was able to record usable 1920x1080 video. Great to have a high definition master, but way too much resolution for YouTube. We'll get to that in a moment.
Next, open your movie in QuickTime X and trim off the yucky ends. Just go to Edit > Trim, and you get the now familiar yellow trim guides.
Finally, publish your movie. Go to Share > YouTube. Log in to YouTube, fill out the description and other basic metadata, then upload your work without ever leaving the player application. QuickTime X will take that gigantic movie, sample it down to the standard 360p/480p resolution, and place it right there in your account next to your other great works of art.
When you need to turn video around quickly, QuickTime X does a great job.
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