The Best of The Beat: PremiumBeat’s Most Popular Posts of 2016

In which your pals at PremiumBeat reflect on 365 days of film and video news, tips, talking points, hacks, freebies, and more. Did your favorite posts make the list?

Top image via Shutterstock

It was a big year for PremiumBeat’s blog. We wrote a ton of articles in 2016 — 445 including this one. We gave away hundreds of free elements, project files, a filmmaking book, and even added a Free Downloads category for you to find them all. The Beat also increased our full-time writing staff and brought in some great new contributors from across the globe. And that’s just on the blog side!

We can’t forget to mention all the high-quality new royalty free tracks and 100,000+ new SFX on the audio side of things. Our music team made major strides in curating more world-class songs, including the new Independent Collection. Plus, with you in mind, we simplified our licensing and now include loops and short versions with every purchase.

We promise 2017 will be even bigger — we have some massive projects in the works — but for now, let’s look back at some of the highlights of 2016. These blog posts kept people coming back, kept the conversation flowing, and hopefully helped keep you on top of your video-production game.

Best of The Beat: The Most-Read Articles of 2016

These are the articles that keep readers coming back to The Beat over and over again. Our Greatest Hits, if you will. It might not hurt to bookmark a few of these for future reference! Here are the most-read PremiumBeat articles of 2016.

1. How to Upload 60-Second Videos to Instagram
2. 10 Free Packs: Over 125 Must-Have Assets for Video Editors
3. Lighting 101: A Quick Guide for Lighting Film
4. The Basic Fundamentals of Lighting a Green Screen
5. How to Use a Third Camera on Interview Shoots

Best of The Beat: The Most-Shared Articles of 2016

Some of these posts blew up on social media, some were picked up by other blogs and filmmaking sites. Either way, these posts — the most-shared PremiumBeat articles of 2016 — got the community talking.

1. The Biggest Camera Flops of 2016
2. Favorite Focal Lengths of Famous Directors
3. The Basics of Building a Color Correction Suite
4. 26 Totally-Free Assets for Wedding Videos
5. Manipulating the Audience’s Emotions With Color

Best of The Beat: The Top Technical Tips of 2016

Finding solutions to common video workflow issues is something we talk about in the office every day. Next time you run into a problem on set or in an edit, take a second to search the blog — chances are, someone on staff has encountered the situation and shared the fix. If you don’t find an article that addresses the problem, shoot us an email, Facebook message, or tweet and we’ll see what we can do! Here are PremiumBeat’s top technical posts of 2016.

1. The Most Common Framing Mistakes in Cinematography
2. 12 Video Editing Tips for Cutting a Documentary
3. How to Create a Dolly Zoom With Just a Prime Lens
4. 9 Helpful Audio Tricks for Recording Documentary Interviews
5. Video Editing Quick Tip: How to End a Track With Reverb

Best of The Beat: The Top Video Tutorials of 2016

PremiumBeat increased our output of original video tutorials in 2016 — and you’re about to see a lot more, thanks to our new in-house studio that goes operational in early 2017. We want our video tutorials to be as helpful as possible, which is why we include free project files and assets whenever we can. Take a look at PremiumBeat’s top video tutorials of 2016.

1. Create a Spellbinding Doctor Strange Shield in After Effects
2. How to Create a Star Wars-Inspired Hologram in After Effects
3. Everything You Need to Create a Rad 80s Logo Reveal in After Effects
4. How to Create a Vintage Effect in After Effects
5. Easily Create Captions in Adobe Premiere Pro

Best of The Beat: Staff Picks

To finish up the list, we asked our blog staff to pick the articles they enjoyed writing the most. Here’s what they had to say about their personal favorites.

Caleb Ward: 20 Pieces of Film Gear You Can Print With a 3D Printer

“It seems like everyday there’s a new product that says it’s going to ‘change’ the film industry, but few innovations actually live up to the hype. I think that 3D printing is the future of film and video production. Gone are the days of buying gear and adapters online.”

Jourdan Aldredge: The Science Behind 4k Restorations of Classic Films

“This was an interesting article to research and explore. It’s really a fascinating process and, in itself, a great way to learn how films are captured, restored and digitized so they can be preserved for future generations to watch and enjoy.”

Lewis McGregor: How Focal Length Alters the Psychological Impact of Your Images

“I’m a huge advocate of exploring how various visual properties provoke different emotions. Focal lengths are prime for this topic. A quick switch from a wide-angle to a telephoto can give your image an entirely new meaning.”

Logan Baker: Cinematographers Who Establish an Instantly Recognizable Look

“Researching the ins and outs of the work of major cinematographers was not only eye-opening, but motivational to me as a filmmaker, demonstrating the importance of finding your own vision.”

Michael Maher: The Media Machine Behind the Dallas Stars

“As a hockey nut and Dallas Stars fan, getting to spend a whole day following the team and video crew was a blast. This was an experimental piece unlike the content you’d typically find on PremiumBeat, and its success allowed us to go behind the scenes in other industries — like visiting Atomic Fiction’s VFX house in Montreal and interviewing the robotics crew behind Microsoft’s Surface Pro commercial.”

And so we say goodbye to 2016 — but not before offering our heartfelt thanks to YOU, the faithful readers and loyal customers who make all of this possible. Sound off in the comments with your favorite articles, any feedback, or anything you’d like to see in 2017!

Oh, and since you made the effort to read all the way down to here, we’ve got a little treat for you as a token of our gratitude.

Send Michael Maher an email (mmaher@premiumbeat.com) with your name and physical mailing address and you’ll receive a free PremiumBeat sticker. He’ll keep sending them until we run out!

Thanks again. <3
Your PremiumBeat Staff