Tips for Adapting YouTube videos for Facebook
- Iegor Bakhariev (Unlicensed)
Most of the videos that we eventually make we publish on both platforms. The problem is that it is not the same video and usually, we need to adapt the YouTube format to Facebook, trim the video, or make other changes.
In order to make your (and your colleagues) lives easier in the future, it is important to edit the videos in a way that will streamline adaptation.
TIP #1 Export a separate version of the video on Facebook
After you rendered your master, you should export a separate version of the video, that will later be used when creating a Facebook adaptation. Save both versions in one folder, and name them accordingly.
The version for Facebook, should have:
No background music
For an editor to cut out portions of the video in the future (without wonky overalls of music), it is important to have a separate version WITHOUT the music. To do that, you have to structure your timeline. so that you have a separate audio track for: 1) main audio. The interview for example, but if you have a separate audio for each interviewee, save it on a separate track; 2) background music; 3) sound effects.
This habit will also help you while editing your videos.
The timeline should look something like this:
When saving the version for Facebook, the video should have NO background music.
No subtitles
If you create subtitles over your videos, all the same, the version for Facebook should have NO subtitles. This will make cropping the video later so much easier.
No visual effects
We will talk about that just in a second. However, if it’s impossible for you to always fit your visual effects within the 1:1 or 4:5 frame when coping the video such effects will be sticking out of the frame. Therefore, in case you have VFX at all, it’s better to save the Facebook version without them.
TIP #2 Framing and gridding
Regardless, of whether you do or you don’t have subtitles, when adapting our videos for Facebook we crop them to either 1:1 or 4:5 ratios (1080x1080 or 720х1280 pixels). To make cropping easier later, you should make sure that the main action in your videos is happening within the “Facebook frame”, in other words within the 1:1 or 4:5 square.
One way to see that is to:
Create a grid (box) on your timeline of the necessary ratio
Place such a grid (box) on top of all of your video and VFX tracks
Depending on the editing software, such a grid can look something like this:
DON’T FORGET to delete the grid, when exporting master.
When editing with the grid, you’ll be able to see what is sticking out outside of the grid and adjust the shot accordingly: zoom in, and move the frame right or left, move VFX.