Captions Or Voice Over?

[Matt Leech]

For a while on our youtube channel I'd been adding interesting captions and animations to provide thoughts and additional information to vlog posts. However, just recently I had a go a doing a voice over instead, and immediately thought "Ugh! This is so much quicker!".

So other than maybe a caption/title at the beginning of a video, can anybody give me a good reason not to switch from text to audio?

 

[Hippo-Drones]

as long as the voice over adds to the video then I don't see why not and as long as the volumes match it shouldn't be annoying.
Not sure I see the value on adding them to already posted videos though as folk won't rewatch old content generally

 

[2WV]

I think its a good idea. It reminds me of tv programmes. Where they narrate over what's actually happening. But as Hippo said, it needs to be same volume etc... to not be annoying or off put the viewer. And like you said previously yourself, a good desktop microphone. will be interesting to see what you come up with

 

[SighBored]

I'm not good at doing voice-over, so if I can't do the live commentary thing, then I'll resort to putting captions.

 

[scooterwuf]

When I've done voice-over I've had to go into a recording booth, or a closet with my helmet on and the mic wired inside. It was the only way to match the quality, and to mask room tone. My first vlog had a long text caption intro, that I later regretted. At the time any thought of using my own voice was pretty frightening. Now, not so much.

- Wuf

 

[kryten]

No one wants to read a video. At the very least get yourself a Blue Snowball microphone. If you have them on the right setting they can cut out most if not all background noise. You still need to be in a quiet place with no fans or anything that make a lot of noise.

I use a Blue Snowball for voiceover on my other channels. I do a tech channel and a channel where I make things and almost all of the spoken content is voice over work done in post and the Blue Snowball has been great. They're also relatively cheap.

 

[Matt Leech]

I've just realised something: I must have phrased my original question in such a way that made you all think my voice-over would substitute the original audio, that's why there are comments about audio levels, ambient sound, mic quality, etc. Actually, my intention is to leave in the original audio at a reduced volume, so the importance of voice-over audio quality is reduced vastly when exhaust/engine noise is still present.

 

[2WV]

Hey!, i don't mind reading videos!

 

[Hippo-Drones]

I've just realised something: I must have phrased my original question in such a way that made you all think my voice-over would substitute the original audio, that's why there are comments about audio levels, ambient sound, mic quality, etc. Actually, my intention is to leave in the original audio at a reduced volume, so the importance of voice-over audio quality is reduced vastly when exhaust/engine noise is still present.

I didn't, I just meant that your voice over should match the volume of your on bike voice so it didn't sound odd.

 

[2WV]

I'm going to make my next sunny bear with text and see what it's like

 

[LoneWally]

I prefer having voice over but I did used to use captions. A bit of both is probasbly best to go. If you have a lot to say then captions would work. Where as if you had a lot than I would say voice over

 

[Undead MV]

I think that both are valid, you can talk over videos while you´re not talking in the same momment, if not you can add texts to remark something, please consider that some people´s brain work better while reading than hearing.

 

[Hippo-Drones]

After an amazing day out, and possibly one of the most awesome of my future English Heritage vlogs, I've gotten home to find GoPro have screwed me over again.... I now have 25 flippin videos with no audio and I now have to try and salvage them.... am finding it really hard as I am proper upset, I put so much feeling and emotion into each of those 25 videos which can now never be recovered, I am trying to edit in a voice over but it doesn't have the heart and wonder that viewing something for the first time ever can. I hope I can do it some kind of justice but just salvaging a video from it I can post will probs be incredibly hard to do.