technicalninja

Well I've be doing it wrong...
Last year I invested right at 6K at the end of February to gain the ability to work on late model R1234YF equipped vehicles.
I made about $1500 on this equipment and it was not a very good investment.
It will "pay for itself" someday but I could have spent that money better.

I've been watching many many DIY vids on YouTube and with a very few exceptions I believe I can produce technical videos FAR better than what is the current crop available.
If you think I'm intense in my posts on this forum wait till you talk with me in person...
From a very early age (18) I was able to talk "Car" better than anyone else I know.
I placed 2nd in nation 1983 DECA petroleum marketing category (30K entrants in this category) and that final question that the last 21 people hit was a question that I knew EXACTLY 50% of the correct answer.
I still smoked the other 19, I just didn't beat that ONE guy...
This actually started my credit history as I received $500 Chevron stock as a prize and Chevron sent me a credit card (no application needed back then for "stock holders").

What I am VERY best at is describing a complex mechanical issue in language that lay people can understand.
I would have made a STELLAR Service Writer followed by Service Manager if I was a bit less moral than I am.
I find it very difficult to sell something I don't believe people need to those same people.
You have to be focused on the dollar ONLY in these positions to excel and move upward and I am far more "fix it right" than "fix it just to flag hours"...

This hurts me in my repair shop, I'm far more prone to just do something right, add that one additional part the problem needed without calling the customer and make it "work" into the original estimate...
This is my shop, I'm God here and I can charge what ever I want. I usually take the customer's side when push comes to shove.
I'm a "good guy" that is poorer because of this tendency.
This is actually stupid...

I need to try my hand at making Vids and go after the big dogs on YouTube.
I don't have to make any money initially and I am going to be doing AC videos first to help advertise my shop and maybe bring a few more customer in.
If I can make 1/20 of what Scotty pulls in I would be ESTATIC.
I'd like to be able to hit decent numbers 18-24 months in.

What I need help with is the basic equipment I need to start this endeavor.

I'm looking for recommendations for main camera, aux camera (go pro), microphones and audio, video editing capable computer, and editing software.
I'm a PC guy but have often wondered if Mac is the better way.
I like Apples set fee more than Adobes monthly service fee.
I prefer to be stand alone versus cloud based.
Right now I need "easy and intuitive" over complicated and persnickety even if complicated is better.

Most of the vids will be in my shop and I do have access to photog equipment as my sister was big into "stills" and has a bunch of lighting and camera mounting fixtures (tripods etc...)

I'm way behind the power curve here and know that I do not know enough yet about this stuff to even be able to ask the proper questions.
This is not even the proper forum to ask for these recommendations on but for the most part I trust you guys and those that have ideas or opinions I would really appreciate your input.
If I dropped into a vid forum (do they exist?) I'd be run out pretty quickly I believe.

I have 5-6K that I could invest in this equipment. It would be nice to get it done cheaper but I understand good tools cost money.



I do have two hooks that will draw folks to my vids.

I'm going to follow Mr. Beasts lead and give stuff away.

I'm going to give cars away, appliance cars that will have hopefully been donated, have been "gone through" tip to tail with vids on all the major jobs.
Tested and verified far more accurately than ANY "factory certification" regime. The "test drive" will be at least 500 miles of daily use. I'm really leaning towards 2K worth of test miles.
They will be vehicles that I will have no issues with driving them "as far as roads go". I've sent cars to Denali (Alaska) from here (Texas) before, 13K round trip.
And then cars will given to needy families that I will have absolutely ZERO input on. I don't get to chose.
A Church, an Assembly, a School, maybe even my subscribers will be making the choices on just who that 12 year old Explorer or Odyssey is going to.
Skies the limit here. You might have a good idea how to give these puppies away, share them please.

I'm hopeful I can get local automotive providers to donate (or discount pricing) parts, tires, fuel cards, insurance, etc...
It would be cool to not only give away the car but also the registration money, some months of insurance, new kids car seats, fuel for a few months, the whole "shittery".
One instant fully paid for transportation unit for a truly needy person/family with good videos of the reveal.
Think a budget "Overhaulin" without Chip Foose.

And then the second...
If I can do it I'm going to try use "Newbies" or beginning techs to actually do most of the work.
One of the single most common remarks below Scotty's vids is "training the youth."
I'm going to try and do just that.
This is something else that I excel at.
Let the Ninja be the Master but let the apprentices do the work...
Make training vids as well as fix and give away car vids.

I'm getting old, it's time to be smarter than I have been.
This MIGHT lead to me turning the shop into a non-profit organization.
Non-profits still pay their employees.
The CEO of United Way earns 800K+ last time I heard.

Well, I type too much,
If you wanted to start producing automotive vids and you had 5 grand to spend how would you spend it?