YouTube Channel Art 2017

Those of us using social media have to deal with companies ‘improving’ things. Which means we have to redo… well, update work already done on THEIR schedule, not ours. Some of us just get to it when we get to it, shift it back to our schedule.

I procrastinate on some of this stuff because I don’t have what I consider important social media advertising. But, every so often I have to update a client. A recent update for YouTube had me digging out the latest on YouTube Channel Art.

The PITA is all the devices that will try to use the same art, desktop, tablets, phones… and then the TV’s. YouTube is competing in the cord-cutting marketplace. So, all sorts of screen sizes are the bane of those of us making channel art.

The Specs

A couple of years ago I wrote about streaming to YouTube’s Gaming Channel. See: How To Stream Second Life to YouTube Gaming. At the time I wrote the article I was interested streaming to YouTube Gaming. It wasn’t a guide for making channel art. Somehow I didn’t even get the template I made into that article. So…

There are two YouTube Channel Art formats currently in use. The old style and the current/new style. You know which you are using by whether you have an icon (new) that lets you edit the channel art or hover your cursor over the art (old) to get an edit option. But, the point of Channel Art is to promote your channel to OTHERS. What format are members of your audience using? We can’t know. So, make a choice. I recommend ‘new’ and that is what I’m writing about.

YouTube recommends using a 2560 x 1440 px image. The minimum size is 2048 x 1152 px. Within the image, the minimum safe text area is 1546 x 423 px. The maximum files size is 4MB.

YouTube Gaming Template 2017v3

YouTube Gaming Template 2017v3 – Download Full-Size from Flickr

This image is a template I use to make YouTube channel art. It shows the safe area, the area that will display on all devices, as 423px high. My testing shows it is currently about 320px high, in some cases. I haven’t figured out what makes it smaller or larger. I have art in a couple of places that displays as 320 and 423 high. Both are images that are 2560×1440.

YouTube: No Channel Content

This is a problem that some people have. I’ve run into it. They have uploaded videos to YouTube but their channel is showing no content. WTH!?!

Open your channel and see if you get the message, ‘This channel as no content.’ If so, go to your channel and look for the Customize Channel button. Click it. Now look for a gear icon near the bottom right of your channel art. Click it. Now look for a button labeled Add a section. Click it and add your content. Most of your content will be Video – Uploads.

You have lots of options here. So, you can experiment to get the look you want for your channel.

360 Video – Google’s Take

Google and their YouTube are moving toward 360 video. The site Voices of VR Podcast has an interview with Google reps. See the article: YouTube VR Wants to Find the Next Billion Dollar Genre That Hasn’t Been Created Yet.

This video is from the New York Times, taken in Falluja, Iraq August 2016. It is a 360 video. You can drag the view around as it plays. I think it works amazingly well.

For viewing on my 2D screen it is a bit of a pain. I can’t always tell what the point of the clip is and have to pan around to see what it might be. I suppose in VR with directional sound it would be more… useful? Enjoyable? I think as each scene fades in from black that a direction needs to be set so one is looking at the subject of the clip.

Second Life: Using YouTube for Media

YouTube is a fun site and offers lots of handy features. When we start to build things in Second Life ™ we run into some challenges. YouTube gives us some help.

Nkechi

Nkechi

See: YouTube Embedded Players and Player Parameters. As you scroll down the page you’ll eventually find the commands to add to a URL to get the video player to do what you want.

There are people that have figured out lots of tricks that can be done with the YouTube player. For instance, see: 10 YouTube URL Tricks You Should Know About.