5 YouTube Video Effects & Features for Kids & Teens [Tutorial]

It’s easy to feel like a little fish in a very, very big pond on YouTube, especially as a young streamer. But by diving in, kids can find a voice, an audience, and an incredible outlet for self-expression on the site, and many have found amazing success.

So, how can kids create vlogs, tutorials, gamecasting videos, and other channels that stand out in this proverbial “big pond”? Really, it’s more of a vast ocean of content, which makes knowing how to create quality videos all the more important.

It’s no secret that hundreds of kids are already masters of this, as evidenced by the growing number of young people making serious money and building follower bases (and annual earnings) well into the millions. And with plenty of inspiration from pros like Dude Perfect and other influencers, there’s no shortage of role models to learn from!

But for those just getting started, getting the hang of all the bells and whistles of video production can seem intimidating. Fear not!

You’re just a few short tutorials away from helping kids take their videos to the next level. By exploring Adobe Premiere, they can add really cool elements to videos with a few clicks, and it’s amazing to see the difference these effects can make in each production.

5 Cool YouTube Video Effects for Awesome Content

In these step-by-step tutorials, we’ll show you how to add effects and features to YouTube videos using Adobe Premiere. They’re sure to add pizzazz to any video project! Pick and choose what’s right for your child’s channel, or give all of them a try for highly polished, engaging content.

Animate an Image

Adobe Premiere makes it easy to animate logos, pictures, and other images that will enhance videos. Follow these easy steps, and you’ll be able to zoom in and out to give images life, and to build your channel brand.

How to animate an image in Adobe Premiere

1. Click on your image file in the Timeline to select it.

2. Click on the Effect Controls panel. It should be in the top-left, but if it's not, open it through Window > Effect Controls.

3. Click the arrow next to Motion. Then, click the arrow next to Scale. You’ll use a keyframe for your animation, which is a picture that defines the starting and ending points of any smooth transition. (It looks like a diamond shape in the Effect Control Timeline.)

4. Click the circle next to Scale to create a Keyframe. Then, click another spot at the end of the Timeline in the Effect Control panel. You will see the play head will move to where you have clicked.

5. Last, click the circle surrounded by arrows to create a new keyframe. Change the size to 100, or a smaller number depending on your first keyframe's number (this one should be different).

Voila! Your logo can now be animated using keyframes and Effect Controls. If you chose to zoom into your logo, try creating a new one but zooming out this time. Compare the two and see which one you like better!

Add Music to Your Video

Going for something mellow, suspenseful, or upbeat to accompany your video? You'll definitely want to add some music. For right now, think about what kind of music you can play in the background of your first video to convey added emotion!

Once ready, choose your music: There are many ways to find music for your video, and you can find free songs online; Free Music Archive is a great place to start.

Be sure to save music files to your desktop folder so that you can find them later. If the browser automatically saves them, they'll be found in “Downloads.”

With the perfect track in hand, you can add the tunes to your video! (Just remember to give credit to the artist and follow licensing requirements.)

How to add music to a YouTube Video using Adobe Premiere

1. Choose File > Import.

2. Choose a music file.

3. Drag the clip on top of the Timeline via the Selection Tool. Boom!

Did the audio clip overwrite your original audio? If so, you can always undo, but pay attention to the different layers of audio so that they don't overwrite each other.

How? They should be stacked one above the other, and if you want to remove the audio from your video file, you can right-click the clip and choose “Unlink.” Once unlinked, you can delete just the audio file.

Experiment with with Adobe Premiere Preset Effects

There are so many easy-to-use preset video effects included with Adobe Premiere. Once you’re familiar with this part of the software, you’ll be able to experiment with dozens of cool features!

How to add Preset Effects with Adobe Premiere

First things first, you’ll want to locate the Effects & Presets panel. In the composition window, open the Effects & Presets panel—it’s to the far right of the window. Then:

1. Find specific effects by either using the search bar (i.e. typing "blur") or manually clicking through them.

2. In the menu, choose Effect. This menu has the same options as the Effects & Presets panel.

This will serve as “home base” as you experiment with different effects to make your videos awesome! Presets are a quick way to achieve your desired result—luckily for us, the software already did the heavy lifting!

To use the Presets:

1. Go to the Effects & Presets panel.

2. Click the drop-down triangle next to *Animation Presets.

3. Browse through the folders to find a preset (you’ll have so many to choose from!)

4. Drag the preset onto a layer and watch your video transform.

From here, the sky's the limit. Check out all the effects you can experiment with; the cell panel effect is one of our favorites!

Plus, did you know that you can layer Adobe effects?? Customize your sequence to include multiple layers. If you discover any cool combinations that could be reused, they can be saved as their own custom preset.

1. Click the Create Animation Preset icon in the Effects and Presets panel.

2. Save the Preset in the folder it started in.

3. Hold the Shift key and click the effects to highlight all of them in the Effect Controls panel.

4. Click the Create Animation Preset icon in the Effects and Presets panel. Save the Preset in the folder it started in. Try combining any of these effects together to see what you can do!

Add Transitions to Your Video

Video transitions can be used to turn one video into another more smoothly. You can also use video transitions with only one video, where it can fade into transparency instead of into another video.

How to Add Transitions with Adobe Premiere

1. Click on the Effects panel. It should be in the top-right, but if it isn't, open it through Window > Effects.

2. Click on the arrow to the left of the folder titled Video Transitions.

3. From here, you have a variety of choices. Click on the transition that you want to use.

Add a Donation Card

YouTube has a feature where you can create donation cards; a special feature with a purpose!

Donation cards allow you to select a charity or cause that you care about and advertise them right on your videos! 100% of the profits go straight to the charities, so you don't have to worry about YouTube or any other company gaining money from your donations.

How to Add a Donation Card

1. Go to your Video Manager.

2. Click the video to which you want to add a donation card.

3. On the Editor tab, click Get Started.

4. Click Add Card > Donation > Create.

(If "Donation" is not an option, make sure to double-check that your YouTube account is using an email address that's @gmail.com. Also, make sure that your country is set to the United States in Channel > Advanced > Country.)

5. Type the name of a charity you support, and click the charity when it pops up. Then, type the Card Title and Teaser Text that shows up on your video.

6. Click Create card, and drag the cursor to choose where it will start in your video!

Create and Learn with YouTube

If your child loves watching YouTube streamers, they’re just a few steps away from creating their own content! Our tech rockstars can help guide them to the next level with expertise, and of course, the legendary fun we are known for.

Summer is just around the corner; get creating today!