I did the exact opposite that is recommended for when first starting out on YouTube. I went and brought several items, most of which could have waited until I had myself properly established.
Did I need to spend money? No, I did not. So why did I do it? I’m in a finical position that I can spend a bit of money each pay going towards something that I don’t need or at least just yet. I have always loved new technology, and these have been my first purchases of the kind for a few years. I have found most of them useful for other things outside of YouTube.
My purchases so far have been:
● Adobe Suite subscription
● Elgato HD60
● Blue Yeti Microphone with boom arm
● Acer Predator Helios 300 laptop
● Canon EOS 1500D camera
● Overhead camera tripod
Out of all those items the only one that turned out to be an actual need was the Acer laptop. A few months after buying my laptop, my desktop computer stopped working. One power surge too many fried the power supply and motherboard. I was hoping it was only the power supply and that I could get that computer back up and running. Sadly it wasn’t. The power supply didn’t go to waste, it’s now in my Windows XP computer, replacing a power supply that sounded like a helicopter taking off. Because I already had my laptop, all I needed to do was transfer everything that wasn’t already on the laptop.
The least useful has been the Elgato HD60s. Every time I want to use it I have to change the sound settings using the Elgato software and on the computer itself. Sometimes it works. Sometimes I have to restart the computer before getting the sound to work. Other times I have to uninstall and reinstall the audio side of the Elgato software. I have not been able to get the Elgato to play sound via an analogue which is what I need to work to record gameplay footage from my XP computer which had reverted back to being my gaming PC. Something that isn’t an issue since majority of my game collection work better on an older PC than anything new.
I don’t know if it’s just doing something wrong. The Elgato HD60s has been more trouble than it’s worth when I attempt to record my gameplay for more channel.
The Adobe suite I would have eventually got even without the intention of using it for YouTube. I have a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS3 on my XP computer which I wanted to upgrade for a while before I got the subscription to the Adobe suite.
The Blue Yeti microphone, I love the microphone itself one I worked out how to make it stop buzzing. The boom arm that came with it doesn’t sit how I want. I’ve watched videos on how to adjust it multiple times, and no matter how I adjust the tension on the arm, it just collapses on itself. I end up having to use other items to prop up the arm to a level that I can actually use it.
The most recent purchase is the Canon EOS 1500D camera. I have wanted a Digital SLR even before I started YouTube and my blog. It’s the first one I have purchased. The overhead tripod had made some of my video footage that I want to record easier to record while keeping me out of the footage. I was previously using two rulers propped on a bookcase which limited where I could record. This was something to make everything else for me.
All these purchases were not made at once, they were spread over a couple of years because it has not been an overnight thing for me getting my YouTube channel operational.
Do I recommend doing what I did? No I don’t. Do I regret any of my purchases? No I don’t. They’ve been fun to play around with in my free time. I have found other uses for everything, even if it’s not towards my YouTube channel or blog. Even the Elgato HD60s has been useful for outside of YouTube, I used it to convert a PowerPoint presentation to video from an older version of PowerPoint that didn’t have the option to convert to video.
