What do your kids need to produce gaming videos for YouTube?

Top of my kids Christmas list this year is all of the equipment that they need to produce gaming videos for YouTube. I tried to do my own research on exactly what that means but failed miserably. I decided to go to the best source of information, the people who actually create gaming videos. Luckily I was at Digital Kids Show a few weeks ago where I got the chance to speak with AshDubh, NettyPlays, SalemsLady and InTheLittleWood and ask them for their advice on what we need to buy.

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The first thing you need to decide is what platform your kids will be using. If they will be using a laptop or PC then using a screen capture software such as FRAPS (£27) or OBS (free) seems to be the ones recommended the most. You can also use your webcam for the face cam but you will still need a microphone, audio capture software and an editing suite but PC gaming is definitely the cheapest option.

If your kids want to produce videos from a console then you will need a capture card. If they want to product videos from a next-generation console such as the PS4 and the Xbox One then you will need a really good capture card. There are lots of cards on the market but all four of the YouTubers I spoke to suggested an Elgato Capture Card. I had a look at the website and there is a Capture Card Selector which makes it easy for you to find out which one is best for you based on your predicted usage.

For producing decent quality audio the recommended software is Audacity which is a free software and the microphones that are used tend to be the Blue Snowball or the more expensive Blue Yeti.

Face cams are where the answers really differed which makes me think that this is not as important as the other elements. Some YouTubers just use their webcams, others use point and shoot cameras and NettyPlays actually uses her phone on a selfie stick in a pen pot!

Editing software is where you will need to spend a fair bit of money to make it all worthwhile and the most recommended is Adobe Premiere Pro which does not come cheap. You can always download a free trial to see if you can use it before you pay out a lot of money. You could also look at the cheaper Adobe Premiere Elements which is good for those just starting out if you don’t want to spend too much.

It seems that getting all of the equipment that your kids need to create gaming videos for YouTube is not going to come cheap so I would definitely make sure that this is something that they really want to do before you invest. However, if you think that your child is the next YouTube star then make their Christmas wishes come true.

Huge thanks to AshDubh, NettyPlays, SalemsLady and InTheLittleWood for their help in creating this article and helping me to work out exactly what I need to buy to give my girls everything they need to create the videos that they want to create.