Creator Essentials

On this page you'll find all the software I use as a content creator. Check out the Youtube Gear for hardware recommendations.

🖥 Screen Recording

CleanShot X for Mac - Paid the 1-time fee then voluntarily upgraded to a subscription because I liked it so much. I can't do it justice here so check out this video I made about it. Don't think I can live without this moving forward
Downie - Lets me quickly download videos online (including Youtube videos obviously) and use them as B Roll in my own videos

Final Cut Pro - A no-brainer for Mac users. You can go with Da Vinci Resolve but the amount of high quality free (and paid) Final Cut Pro plugins made the choice very easy for me
MotionVFX - I started off using free plugins I found online (Ryan Nangle links to some free ones in his Youtube videos), but quickly realized paid ones like those from MotionVFX really really make a HUGE difference in both time-savings and production value

Canva.com - Surprisingly easy to use. I use the free version for the first 5-6 videos then decided to purchase the Pro version because I wanted to use my own color scheme and their "PRO" elements (some icons are only available for "PRO" users for example). You can check out my Canva tutorial here
Pixelmator Pro - I regret not using this sooner because it's so much more powerful than Canva. Get this only if you enjoy experimenting and creating thumbnails since it's a lot more complicated than Canva but well worth the effort

Ghost.Org - This website (www.jeffsu.org) is currently hosted using Ghost. I also rely on this platform to publish newsletters and grow my paid community. It's super user-friendly and I can't say enough good things about their support team (Bob and Sarah are MVPs who never get tired of replying to my stupid questions)
Haunted Themes - They're a Ghost-approved agency and they're the ones who put this website together! I can't recommend Cristi enough; he's professional, reliable, and always happy to answer my extremely basic questions

NameCheap - What sold me is their amazing support. They literally give you step by step instructions for any questions you might have so I'll probably be sticking with them...well, forever 😂

Epidemic Sound - Been using them since Ali recommended the platform in his Skillshare course and it's been great so far! Particularly like how they would recommend me music similar to the tracks I've been using, so I don't have to spend hours going through tracks and picking ones that "go" with my videos

Ali Abdaal's Video Editing Course on Skillshare - The 3 hour 16 minute course that arguably changed my life. Ali does an excellent job going over all the basics of editing videos on Final Cut Pro. Highly recommend for beginners
Serge M's Youtube Channel - Super underrated channel that provides step-by-step tutorials on tips and tricks for Final Cut Pro
Dylan John's Youtube Channel - An absolute beast at video editing. He's paid by MotionVFX to edit their tutorial videos (so you know he's legit). His tutorials are easy to follow and super fast-paced
Ryan Nangle - Awesome Final Cut Pro tutorials. He stands out because he shares a lot of the plugins he creates for free

(back to the main My Gear page)