New YouTube Channel - Suggestions

[CampervanTime]

Morning everyone

My wife and I have just taken delivery of our second California and this time we thought we might have a go at doing a few vlogs and starting a new YouTube channel.

Our motivations for this are to help/give inspiration to others and give us a new hobby - nothing more than that from the outset.

We’ve got some ideas of what we want to do but we’d both love your suggestions as to what you might find interesting / helpful too.

There seem to be plenty of van review type videos out there, some accessory reviews, not much accessory fitting, some campsite / trip vlogs, maybe not so much about why a California Vs others or why a certain spec of Cali was chosen over others.

We are also thinking about a T6 vs T6.1 video (our observations after owning both, likes, dislikes etc).

We’d also love to do some live sessions when (if!) we get enough subscribers to do one.

So what does everyone think? All suggestions welcome.

(for side info, we both love cycling, walking etc we have a 15yo border collie, no kids, live in the East Midlands and go to Cornwall quite a bit, and had a T6 ocean before our T6.1 ocean, for 2.5 years)

Cheers,

Will.

 

[Borris]

Hello Will,
It's always interesting to watch a new video on the California. Your ideas on how to give your channel a different perspective are interesting, accessory reviews especially. There are so many things you can buy to enhance or improve a California. Some are almost essential but most are only nice to haves. Most owners have items which we have purchased that we no longer use. You could do worse than expand on what are the best accessory options.

As for the T6 v T6-1, that could be interesting. Vw have made numerous changes and not all might be considered improvements. So a good review of these differences could be useful to buyers and current owners.

There seem to be many videos on what the van is and how everything works so I'm not sure whether it would be a good idea to repeat that format. Using the van with the various accessories to illustrate their good and bad points would be a better way of show casing your new van.

Just my thoughts.

I look forward to watching your channel.

 

[sidepod]

Whatever you do, for the love of god, leave music off!!! Unless you’re prepared to pay for licenses to use decent music, forget it.
Just my op, obvs.
Good luck.

 

[CampervanTime]

Hello Will,
It's always interesting to watch a new video on the California. Your ideas on how to give your channel a different perspective are interesting, accessory reviews especially. There are so many things you can buy to enhance or improve a California. Some are almost essential but most are only nice to haves. Most owners have items which we have purchased that we no longer use. You could do worse than expand on what are the best accessory options.

As for the T6 v T6-1, that could be interesting. Vw have made numerous changes and not all might be considered improvements. So a good review of these differences could be useful to buyers and current owners.

There seem to be many videos on what the van is and how everything works so I'm not sure whether it would be a good idea to repeat that format. Using the van with the various accessories to illustrate their good and bad points would be a better way of show casing off your new van.

Just my thoughts.

I look forward to watching your channel.

Thanks for the feedback, very helpful and yes, we have bought and sold a lot of stuff over the years and now have a pretty good idea of what suits us, and that is a good starting point for others to critique too I think. They may think differently of course, but sparking the debate / thoughts is my aim here. A good example is toppers - I couldn’t find a review of the s2s camper self inflating mattress for the Cali anywhere. We have got one, so it’s an easy one to do. We’ve also had the zonesleep ultra for upstairs bed replacement before, comfortz roll ups and a standard zonesleep for downstairs. Now throw in to the mix the t6.1 froli springs upstairs and there is quite a bit to talk about!

Lots of great ideas…

 

[CampervanTime]

Whatever you do, for the love of god, leave music off!!! Unless you’re prepared to pay for licenses to use decent music, forget it.
Just my op, obvs.
Good luck.

Lol!! Well, I have been working on a small intro clip (10s or so) that has royalty free music on, but apart from that it wasn’t my aim to have a ‘no narrative, all music‘ type channel, I’m aiming for a bit of a blend. Maybe a bit of music where there are ‘b roll’ (whatever that is) but when there is the factual stuff or discussion then no backing track.

 

[sidepod]

This guy is very good, and he’ll explain what B roll is

 

[sidepod]

Oh and definitely invest in microphone/gimbal.

 

[CampervanTime]

Oh my word, have just watched a review of the DJI Osmo 4 and what an incredible bit of kit for not a lot of money. Wow.

I have a rode mic for my iPhone with a lightning plug on it (and deadcat) which seems pretty good, and a gorillapod tripod etc so I think…. I hopefully have most of the kit to do a reasonable first effort.

Ideally I’d like the wireless go 2 rode mics with lavalier mics, as both Sarah and myself are likely to do the videos together… but that can come later on..

I’m off to see if there is anything left in the piggy bank after taking delivery of the T6.1 this week so I can get one of those Osmos….

 

[sidepod]

I have the Zihyun smooth 4. Better in my opinion as it has some features the Osmo doesn’t. £60 on eBay should get you sorted.

 

[Trudi]

My favourite YouTube bits have been people like a bus and beyond when they show you what that have bought and fitted to their california (before they sold it) thinks like the strip lights, awning lights, table stickers etc.
Yorkshire poptop I also find useful as he shows what modifications he's done as a complete amateur. Although his is not a california.

I love watching how people use their vans, what they've added and how it works for them. With a little bit about where they stay.

 

[This Eva]

Morning everyone

My wife and I have just taken delivery of our second California and this time we thought we might have a go at doing a few vlogs and starting a new YouTube channel.

Our motivations for this are to help/give inspiration to others and give us a new hobby - nothing more than that from the outset.

We’ve got some ideas of what we want to do but we’d both love your suggestions as to what you might find interesting / helpful too.

There seem to be plenty of van review type videos out there, some accessory reviews, not much accessory fitting, some campsite / trip vlogs, maybe not so much about why a California Vs others or why a certain spec of Cali was chosen over others.

We are also thinking about a T6 vs T6.1 video (our observations after owning both, likes, dislikes etc).

We’d also love to do some live sessions when (if!) we get enough subscribers to do one.

So what does everyone think? All suggestions welcome.

(for side info, we both love cycling, walking etc we have a 15yo border collie, no kids, live in the East Midlands and go to Cornwall quite a bit, and had a T6 ocean before our T6.1 ocean, for 2.5 years)

Cheers,

Will.

Hello Will. My journey into a t6.1 ocean came about after digesting several YouTube videos. A bus and beyond being very useful. What I found missing as I waited the 16 weeks for the van to arrive was detail. An example would be an inside shot of the fridge what it holds and how to pack and what to be ware full off. Use of a bottom tray as an example to stop freezing down there. Line by line video and tips on installing kit. I have an iso top to fit and want to do the best job I can. Plus setting up the van to sleep at night. Alarms lights control panel and what happens if you do it wrong as well. This might add a bit of fun. Please ensure any products used are clearly identified for subscribers to make their own purchases.

As you can see I think there is a need !

 

[CampervanTime]

My favourite YouTube bits have been people like a bus and beyond when they show you what that have bought and fitted to their california (before they sold it) thinks like the strip lights, awning lights, table stickers etc.
Yorkshire poptop I also find useful as he shows what modifications he's done as a complete amateur. Although his is not a california.

I love watching how people use their vans, what they've added and how it works for them. With a little bit about where they stay.

Great, I think we will be covering quite a bit of all that, so that’s good

 

[CampervanTime]

Hello Will. My journey into a t6.1 ocean came about after digesting several YouTube videos. A bus and beyond being very useful. What I found missing as I waited the 16 weeks for the van to arrive was detail. An example would be an inside shot of the fridge what it holds and how to pack and what to be ware full off. Use of a bottom tray as an example to stop freezing down there. Line by line video and tips on installing kit. I have an iso top to fit and want to do the best job I can. Plus setting up the van to sleep at night. Alarms lights control panel and what happens if you do it wrong as well. This might add a bit of fun. Please ensure any products used are clearly identified for subscribers to make their own purchases.

As you can see I think there is a need !

You must have read my mind… I have just finished fitting our Isotop and I have filmed it all from start to finish, including then how to lower the roof once the front is removed etc etc.

We can do detail too - even if those videos might feel a bit geeky to start with, I agree with you, it’s hard to get real-world experiences of Cali ownership and usage and we all have our little individual ways. I feel a van tour video coming on, probably when we are actually camping somewhere too.

We’ve been through loads of accessories over the years and have some we love and some we have sold and replaced with something different. Plus some new ones we haven’t even tried yet !!

Watch this space

 

[westfalia]

Don't forget to like and subscribe

 

[CampervanTime]

Don't forget to like and subscribe

love it…

 

[This Eva]

Great news. I will be your first subscriber when I see the iso top install video.

 

[Pro moochers]

We document our travels but haven’t really recorded any reviews etc.
We discussed this possibility last week as we struggled to find any guidance when we were buying our van and were looking for videos showing us what to expect from all the features.
Link below if you fancy a watch

https://youtube.com/channel/UCA5m0hC-HW5aBv9-Ob5EtAA

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[couplands]

Hello Will. My journey into a t6.1 ocean came about after digesting several YouTube videos. A bus and beyond being very useful. What I found missing as I waited the 16 weeks for the van to arrive was detail. An example would be an inside shot of the fridge what it holds and how to pack and what to be ware full off. Use of a bottom tray as an example to stop freezing down there. Line by line video and tips on installing kit. I have an iso top to fit and want to do the best job I can. Plus setting up the van to sleep at night. Alarms lights control panel and what happens if you do it wrong as well. This might add a bit of fun. Please ensure any products used are clearly identified for subscribers to make their own purchases.

As you can see I think there is a need !

For this type of content, “California Chris” from Liverpool Van Centre has been doing excellent ”how-to” videos about using the vans functions as well as comparing the various models and options available in the various Californis.
eg…

 

[CampervanTime]

Ok, an update.

First video is done, uploaded (private currently) and it is the ISO-TOP install video.

I now can't figure out if I should just let it go live or if I should get another two or three ready to come out before I set anything going. I've got some more content filmed on a few bits (3-piece VW rubber mats, rear plastic bumper lip protector install etc), plus we also have video of us actually collecting out T6.1 too.

Sarah has felt a little under the weather today so not the right day to film more dialogue type videos discussing the T6 vs T6.1 etc.

We are having our first night away in the T6.1 next Saturday too, so that will give us some 'first night' content, plus the campsite we're at etc too.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Just out of interest.
What van did you have between Cali ownerships…?

 

[CampervanTime]

Just out of interest.
What van did you have between Cali ownerships…?

A Disco 3 !

We bought it during lockdown, love it to bits, and we're keeping it as well... !!

 

[Trudi]

Ok, an update.

First video is done, uploaded (private currently) and it is the ISO-TOP install video.

I now can't figure out if I should just let it go live or if I should get another two or three ready to come out before I set anything going. I've got some more content filmed on a few bits (3-piece VW rubber mats, rear plastic bumper lip protector install etc), plus we also have video of us actually collecting out T6.1 too.

Sarah has felt a little under the weather today so not the right day to film more dialogue type videos discussing the T6 vs T6.1 etc.

We are having our first night away in the T6.1 next Saturday too, so that will give us some 'first night' content, plus the campsite we're at etc too.

Let them go live.

I pick mine up tomorrow so will give me something to watch in anticipation

 

[Pro moochers]

Let it free!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CampervanTime]

HANG ON - EDIT....

Just noticed an error in the titles (it says ISO-TOP IV, not ISO-TOP VI...) just fixing and will re-publish. Give it a few hours !!


Ok ok, here is our first video then.

Now clearly this is our first go. Very limited (and poor) B roll, no gimbal (sorting that), no funky drone footage and very amateur titles etc. BUT... hopefully some useful content at least.

If you do find it in your hearts to 'like and subscribe' then that would be great and give us some encouragement that there is someone out there watching these!! Share away too if you wish.

The next few short videos will come quite quickly (probably the rubber floor mats and the rear tailgate protector) - and then I need to do some more filming next weekend.

Any tips, comments etc all welcome.

(my wife says I need to cheer up a bit... which is true. FAR too serious at the moment!!)

Thanks

Will, Sarah and Lucy, saying woof (a.k.a California Time)!

 

[66tim99]

Ok, an update.

First video is done, uploaded (private currently) and it is the ISO-TOP install video.

I now can't figure out if I should just let it go live or if I should get another two or three ready to come out before I set anything going. I've got some more content filmed on a few bits (3-piece VW rubber mats, rear plastic bumper lip protector install etc), plus we also have video of us actually collecting out T6.1 too.

Sarah has felt a little under the weather today so not the right day to film more dialogue type videos discussing the T6 vs T6.1 etc.

We are having our first night away in the T6.1 next Saturday too, so that will give us some 'first night' content, plus the campsite we're at etc too.

My favourite channel is Kinging it, showing you round their Mercedes bus conversion sometimes but mainly being funny, being themselves, showing you places. Would be great I think to focus on how you travel - campsite recommendations, days out (cycle rack?), lighting the fire pit, recipes for cooking on the fire, and now and again showcasing why the 6.1 Cali is the ultimate campervan.
Look forward to seeing your isotop video as I will be buying one!