f13.net

I assume there is a wide open field and so I'll communify this discussion, exploration, and hopefully implementation.  Let's just assume we are doing a channel on video games.

I think we all know basically how YouTube works.  Record a video and upload it.  What I don't know:
1. Toolset which gets the job done and doesn't get in my way.
   a. Recording.  A $20 webcam?  My MPB camera?
   b. Video editing.  I'm in the dark here.  I don't need the equivalent of PS or Gimp.  It needs to cut, stitch, and do some audio.
   c. Audio recording.  Is this even a concern?  Just the mic on my $20 webcam/MBP?
2. Video techniques.
   a. Show the actor?  If so, picture-in-picture or wipe?
   b. Actor lighting seems important, if we do 2.a.
   c. How Do The Kids Dress Today?  Or: Will actor appearance stir controversy (views)?
3. Console recording.
   a. I have a PS4, as does anyone who likes video games more than they like football, Doritos, and Mountain Dew.
   b. I really haven't explored this space.  Open discussion welcome.
4. YouTube monetization.
   a. An unexplored area but seems simple enough.  Interested in a focused discussion here.
   b. Advertising?
5. Personality.
   a. Obviously this is both a huge draw for a channel as well as a source of intense hate.  Hate is also good, since there is no bad advertising.
   b. I really don't know if I can manage a quality persona, but it's fucking YouTube so I'll give it a whack.  I'd like to gather some opinion and theory about what works & what doesn't.
   c. Another mention of appearance, in the context of generating attention.
   d. Voice only, or visual of the actor?

Well, #4 requires slipping past the Fine Bros (Fullscreen, Inc.) copyright claims.

That's where things tend to fall apart (according to Reddit).

As I understand it, these days most big youtubers are essentially working for a bigger media company that handles licensing matters, because Youtube handles complaints automatically and for the duration of the dispute all your money starts going to the complainant or Youtube itself. Then there's Twitch and whatnot where you get by through begging for donations.

 

Regarding 5.b, you might find this interesting: The Linguistics of 'YouTube Voice' (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/12/the-linguistics-of-youtube-voice/418962/)

Re 1: I do a lot of voice-over-screen stuff. I use Screenflow for the capture (Mac only). The go-to PC product is Camtasia. These tools have basic video editing built in, enough to cover most of what you'd want to do. Mic is very important. I use a Blue Yeti, for what it's worth. For high-end video editing, I use Adobe Premiere, which is ok but I don't love it. If you want to do simple stuff, MS MovieMaker (free) is actually pretty decent, but is no longer supported for Windows 10. For video compression and trans-coding, I use Handbrake (free.) If you want to do videos of yourself, prepare to learn a lot about lighting. Shooting off your phone with a simple tripod or a decent web cam works fine if you have good lighting.

Audio is the big thing keeping me from posting many videos myself.  It depends on your audience, I suppose, but there are a lot of people on the bigger channels who whine incessantly about sound quality issues even with mid-range mics.

Camera is similar.  You can get away with recording video on a low quality camera if it's going to be small (like the facecam for the average Twitch channel) but if you plan on putting the focus on that camera footage you'll probably want a real camera.  A bigger issue is probably going to be lighting, though, if you're not set up for it.

Depending on what you're looking for with video editing, Windows Movie Maker can do some simple editing for free.  If you're looking for advanced stuff (like effects or composite shots) then you'll probably need dedicated editing software, in my experience that runs about $100 for something like Camtasia or Magix.
(edit: actually, I'm not sure those programs can do that, either, now that I've checked...)

Honestly the term "a channel about video games" is a bit broad.  If it's just Twitch style streaming (like Pewdiepie or Game Grumps or whatever) then you can probably get away with less tech because you're generally just showcasing the game.  If it's supposed to be a show about video games (like JonTron or Angry Video Game Nerd) then the production gets a bit more complicated.  A lot of channels do a mix between the two (Jim Sterling, for example) but even there they usually have a focus or gimmick or something.


Pfft, that's soooo last week.  Fine Bros have already withdrawn the whole "React World" thing (though other companies are still trying to push similar BS)

A bigger problem, I suspect, is going to be discoverability.  If you're looking to monetize your videos that means getting views and THAT is not going to be easy given how much competition you have.  Even buying ads isn't a guarantee of views given how predisposed people are to ignore or block them.  I don't know much about how to get youtube views, other than put up a lot of content regularly and hope.

You might want to look in to Patreon, which seems to be where a lot of content creators are getting their money these days.  It requires an audience first, but once it gets rolling I guess it's more reliable than ad views.

5b. If you haven't done a lot of voice work please, please practice eradicating uhm-ing. This is the worst thing. Having a script helps.

2ac.5cd. Unless you're really attractive or there's a good reason to be in the video PIP that bad-boy or don't even show up except for an intro/outro. I don't watch too many YouTubers but your content and voice are way more important. This may not apply if you're sexy or you have guests (who are also sexy).

5b. Be more interested in what you're talking about than anyone else in the world. See Severian's link--that kind of speaking projects passion and engages the audience. You could have the most amazing things to say but a monotone will put viewers to sleep.

1b. A person who is not me would recommend getting a heavily discounted copy of Premiere or Final Cut Pro. Also seconding Baldrake: WMM isn't bad for simple stuff. You just have to get it running.

I'd also say Patreon seems to be the current best path to monetization. But you need to build the audience, so start with the tubes and if they like it, pop up a Patreon page.

WRT cameras, you don't really need an awesome camera unless your channel features a lot of camera movements. if you're mainly going to use the camera for footage of your head speaking then you can get away with a crappy camera. 95% of the limitations of your camera can be solved through good lighting and not making it refocus all the time (try not to move your head forwards and back). You can control the shooting environment and lights are much cheaper than cameras. If you need to take closeups of product and do a lot of panning or mobile shots then it will be worth using a better camera.

I think the biggest thing to think about is why you and not one of the million others who do video games. What's the one thing that will set you apart from the masses and keep the random viewer watching more than a minute or two?
(if it's scripted looking at something like angry video game nerd might be a good idea to get a sense of how someone might get a following especially if you watch the early episodes for what he was like at the start and then the later ones to see how he has progressed).

If it's just more or less gameplay with unscripted narration then you really need to be a good talker to keep any significant number of people interested in the long run.

For 4b: once you've got the killer concept, you'll definitely need marketing to get noticed. For a one person operation that requires a lot of social media presence and preferably contacts that can get your videos mentioned and/or linked by an established player. And then looking at your analytics page repeatedly so you can establish a knowledge of what kind of stuff works for you.

I'm with Sky, Patreon is the way to monetization. It avoids needing the million+ subscribers that Youtube needs before payout and the money goes directly to you instead of Google filtering it and skimming off your ad revenue.

Screencapping you can do with a number of devices. Coincidentally we just had to figure a way to use a camcorder for a webcam for our annual meeting. (Long story)
This guy's guide was great and the BlackMagic device he recommended worked perfectly.
https://ozar.me/2014/03/using-hd-camcorder-mac-webcam/

The company also makes a screencap device for XBOX called "Intensity Pro"  Here's a Youtube of how to use it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQsklRkL8G4

Camtasia by Techsmith is a very simple, light and easy-to-use Video Editing software.
https://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html

I use it to record Webinars and Web-based training as well as make user instructional videos. I also recommend their SnagIt program if you need to do more than Printscreen-paste into Word for booklets, or instructional PDFs.

Good start.  Me likey.

There is talk of copyright and Fine Bros, which leads me to two paths:

What sort of money is there in Fine, me, or anyone claiming copyright on other people's videos?

If I'm reviewing a game (let's keep this simple) is fair use enough?

Youtube's Content ID system is weird, there's a lot of to keep in mind.
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2797370?hl=en

Patreon is great in that it allows this to be bypassed. Jim Sterling for instance does not monetize his videos and thus has an easier time of it.

Blocker:

I'm not sure I follow. Blocker?

I won't be able to monetize other people's videos since I do not already have exclusive rights to a substantial body of original material.

Ah. However the big issue is that every media publisher does have that ability. So the higher your profile gets, and the more controversial you are, the higher the chance that you'll get hit. It's obviously manageable and things like fair use absolutely do exist. But it's a thing and has led to more things like Disney managing some of the biggest Youtube names like Pewdiepie and Totalbiscuit (he left though).

edit: gotta correct myself a bit. The systems are completely automated so you won't even need to be high profile.

You can never go wrong with a Shure SM58 and mic stand.  They're not expensive, they sound great, and they're durable as hell.  You could probably beat an intruder to death with it and still record just fine.

Now, if you're planning to record in a noisy room, consider a boom-mount shotgun or a lavalier.  Lav wins in extra-noisy environments, boom sounds a little more natural.

Lighting:  There are tutorials out there.  Watch them.  Bad lighting will make you look like some sort of half-witted serial killer.

Actually, aren't you still working for the weather channel people?  Go find a production tech nerd and wind him up; you'll hear way more than you want to about sound & lighting.

This is a very good point. You work, "in the industry," so leverage those contacts who actually do this shit for a living.

That's an interesting idea, but so far my biggest connection to the TV side is Jennifer Delgado flirting with me in the cafeteria.  Now I'm actually an IBM employee, and IBM did not buy the TV division.  This is at least as awkward as it seems.  Buuuuut... maybe.

It's a dense, hypersaturated market... so the big fat bylaw of word-of-mouth marketing applies: Promise the impossible, and then deliver it.

When I tell other people about your videos, why won't they believe me?

When I say "No seriously, check this out..." what will shock and amaze them?

This thread is being nowhere near as cynical as it should be.

As someone who watches too much YouTube.  You will struggle to get views and subs without doing cross promotion with other channels.   Also unless you manage to wrangle a shitload of viewers it is hard to make decent money off of it.  Especially since a lot of the internet uses ad blockers.  Which is why a lot of YouTube's have turned to Patreon, but a lot of viewers frown on that.  Also you need to steadily push out content.  Some of the lower end YouTuber's pump out 2-3 videos a day to make money.

You could probably do everything right and still get no where in the end too.

It's just as much about cult of personality then anything really. People latch onto whatever they latch onto with no real rhyme or reason. You can easily see this on twitch streams, where two folks with the same level of quality/humor/skill/production are both streaming, one consistently gets 5k views the other can't break into 4 digits... all because one managed to be in the right meme at the right time five years ago or whatever.

There's always that one video/clip/series/image that seems to set the spark... and you don't really get to control when or how that happens, if it ever does.

You really have to find a niche to make it worth it.

I was browsing Socialblade (http://socialblade.com/) for my job to try and get some information about some stuff, and I came across this toy collecter channel (http://socialblade.com/youtube/user/disneycollectorbr).  That channel is the #2 most viewed channel on Youtube, and all it is is some girl opening up every single toy she can find with the most monotonous voice ever.  But it's fucking brilliant because she does the videos in such a way that she gets massive SEO traffic when anyone tries to look for a specific toy. 

What kind of video game videos are we going to be making here? Walkthroughs with live commentary (live stream uploads)? Game reviews? Commentary of other people's games (casting)? Tip and tricks? Machinima?

The type of videos you'll be uploading will influence what your setup will be like.

Also is this mainly PS4 stuff like you listed above or we including PC games as well?

The format has been discussed a bit and the main problem with doing what I want to do is that it is basically the A/V version of the F13 reviews.  The what?  Right.  No one comes here for that.  We come here because it's sort of like if Seinfeld was written by apes and went on for double the seasons: character drama and comfortable "What's going on, Norm?" shenanigans.  Point to Fordel.

So, I'd need to do something on a thing that I do.  I do lots of things, though, which is a problem.  It's been done already with Idiot Abroad and that had both Karl Pilkington AND Stephen Merchant.  I'd need some asshole to film it, which I am so close yet so far to having.  Then it would be some of me sneakily burning construction debris just outside the master bedroom window, getting my truck stuck in the mud, finding a sleeping/dead possum in a stump in the yard, ranting about ___________, delivering philosophical nuggets, reviewing products, demonstrating what the kids call "life hacks", squirting a cat with water, etc.  I should probably focus on games.  I know too much (but not enough) about them.

I could include PC games.  I could include games on Mac, which I already plan to subtitle "Searching For Something Which Isn't Peggle".  Unfortunately this is still up in the air.




This post?  That's what the channel will be.
(http://static4.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/1550/15507091/2869157-3440163204-giphy.gif)

(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f27/taolurker/Popcorn-02-Stephen-Colbert.gif)

While I agree the apocalypse will be fought with Shure road mics, I think they're more appropriate to live situations. For recording voice, I'd recommend a MXL R144 Ribbon Mic (http://www.amazon.com/MXL-R144-Ribbon-Microphone-Shockmount/dp/B002LASBRG/). While it's more fragile, it's cheap and what the hell kind of flailing around are you going to be doing, anyway? Add a pop filter and boom stand. Will give you much better quality voice, and you definitely want to make listening to your constant inane rambling as pleasant as possible!

Personally, the only gaming stuff I watch on the tube is learning new minecraft mods (straight instructional vids). I don't know why people watch other people play games. Pretty much only instructional stuff (painting, music) or live music. And I'm super picky on my instructionals, there's so many people making shitty videos. I go only for the very best in the categories, I don't want to see Joe Schmuck painting chibi in his basement, I want to watch Jeff Watts spend a couple hours giving instruction.

Same reason I don't pursue a music channel, why watch me play decent classical stuff when you can watch actual professional classical players?

I'd watch this.

Don't spend a load of money on gear until you've made a couple of episodes. Cheap gear to start with, see if you like doing it and if there's any audience.

I think that's a lot of the appeal of Youtube, though.  There's a TON of personal preference in entertainment products, and a production with niche appeal can be more interesting to that niche audience than a "better" show with broader appeal.  On a network show, you're competing for a slot against shows with big stars, well paid writers, high production values, and so on.  On Youtube you've just got to find the audience that clicks with your style.

Yeah, amateur stuff always has potential for lots of clicks even if professionals would be available.  :grin:

Once you see what this crazy guitarist does with Bach, you'll never be the same again!

Part of the story with people watching other people play games is that it is kids doing it.  I personally think that it's super dumb to watch someone play most games instead of playing it yourself, but that is apparently just proof that I'm over 40 and not cool.  My son will pop off facts about games he has never played (even though I have them in the house) and he gets this info from YouTube.  He also seems surprised when I don't know or can't remember some trivia about games from my own childhood and I have to say "Look: it's been 30 years, and I have a job."

Really, people will watch any old shit.

I don't like doing it but I get it.  I have a friend who has gone to watch Dota tournaments.  It's really no different than watching Football on TV.

Track 3 will blow your mind!

Yeah, I actually am being a bit disingenuous...I work at a public library, after all. Kids and losers are always in watching gaming videos. I don't mean loser as a judgement, just shorthand for 'smelly unintelligent people with no visible income who spend all day at the library watching someone else play video games'.

I actually wish I could set up a server with the f13 modpack for these kids playing vanilla MC here, it would blow their fragile little minds. But I ain't takin' on no server admin grief issues. Nmmh-nmmh. Nope.

I watch people play games for two reasons:

1 - I'm considering buying this game and I want to see how the actual first few hours goes with combat and pacing.
2 - It's a story game I have absolutely no interest in playing, but I'm interested in how the story goes.

Is it different than watching sports? I mean I guess not. It's the same as watching The Bachelor really. It's entertainment for the purpose of wasting time. The only difference with sports in my mind is there's a massive community of gambling surrounding it.

Well, there are massive companies entering the paramutual and fantasy (real money) gambling spaces for e-sports, so that's one less difference.

Oh I'm sure there's money on it, but it's not going to touch the sports gambling money across legal, illegal, fantasy, and daily for sports right now.

I never understood the appeal of watching other people play games, but I stumbled on outsidexbox at one point while looking for reviews/gameplay of Sniper Elite III and have been watching their stuff ever since. The thing is though, I watch them because they're amusing, snarky and likably funny enough to be brainlessly entertaining as I'm falling asleep - I watch youtube stuff from the smart TV in my bedroom, small chunks of content rather than 22min tv episodes, etc. Now I watch them because habit, to see some footage of new games and stuff, and I enjoy the interplay between the three. Would I watch them with any regularity if they were three individual youtubers? Probably not.

I also watch Jim Sterling's videos, well, not all of them by any means, but the JimQuisition any any special rants. Even with Jim though, I can't be bothered with his Squirty Play or WTF they're called.

Alright I finally have some time to address some of your questions.

However your reply to my question about what sorts of game videos you want to create got me even more confused since it sounds like you want to make "The Adventures of the Man in the Orange Suit" but your specific questions are still about making gaming videos so I just stick to answering your questions about that.

First, I recommend watching lots of different Twitch channels. Streaming games is not the same as producing gaming review videos but a lot of the equipment and techniques are the same. I recommend Twitch rather than watching YouTube cause discovery on YouTube sucks donkey ass and its much more efficient to switch between Twitch channels to see/hear what sort of equipment people are using compared to YouTube.

On Twitch people's setups (not counting the pro eSports channels) range from the crappiest of crappy (i.e. cheap $20 headset mics with 480p Webcams) to near-broadcast TV-grade with actual sets and professional audio and video equipment and crews to handle them.

Generally, though, the most popular streamers try to use better-quality mics -- either a high-quality headset mic or a good quality vocal mic -- as they do make a big difference. People with crappy mics and poor audio setups are very difficult to listen to on Twitch and I personally avoid all those channels.

Though there are some good head set mics the best head set mic isn't going to sound as good as a good stand-alone vocal mic so you are better off going with the later.

On Twitch you can often see the mic setup that's used cause it will be in-frame in the overlay showing the caster. If you like the sound you can check to see if they have it listed in their info section or ask in chat.

Unless you are trying to blow all of your tax refund on audio/video equipment you should probably start off with an ~$100 USB vocal mic. Googling something like "podcasting mic recommendations" will get you lots of information about what sort of mics are good for recording voice given your inital budget. Just be warned there are more Web pages and videos about this sort of stuff than you can read/watch in a lifetime.

You will need a something to edit gameplay video with since you aren't streaming. PC has more choices, especially on the low end, than the Mac but either platform can do the job. Final Cut Pro X for the Mac is not that expensive at $299 as an example of a Pro-level editing package. If you are already using Adobe CC on Mac or PC you may already have access to Premiere Pro. On the low end on the PC I like Sony Vegas which is part of their Movie Studio packages (different than the Pro version which is more expensive and is a competitor to FCPX and Premiere).

You probably won't need a separate Digial Audio Workstation (DAW) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_workstation) package for audio editing initially since most video editors can do basic audio editing as well but if you start to get into improving the quality of your audio you may decide you'll need audio filters and effects that aren't available in your video editing package.

Whether or not you should show yourself is a hard question to answer. For streaming people expect to see you playing even if are a fat guy playing in your mother's basement. Of course not all the streamers show themselves but they do get asked regularly why they don't (even if they are male) so the expectation is there.

For game reviews on YouTube, though, it's not so clear-cut. Some popular game reviewers like TotalBiscuit and Yahtzee don't show themselves in their videos so its certainly possible to build a following without needing to film yourself.

If you do want to film yourself you'll probably want a decent Web/video camera that can do whatever the highest resolution you'll be recording your gameplay at. I.e. if you are recording your games at 1080p you'll want to be able to record yourself at the same resolution. This is because if you are showing yourself during a review, generally you'll show yourself in the main overlay at the beginning (i.e. at full size/full frame) with some gameplay running in the background in a smaller overlay and then either switch to just the gameplay or the gameplay with a smaller overlay of you talking (picture-in-picture).

If you are only ever going to do PiP with yourself in a small overlay you don't necessarily a high resolution Web/video camera.

On Twitch most of the popular female streamers have figured out that they should show themselves at full size in between games so they have decent 1080p Web/video cams so you can check some of them out to see what the quality looks like (for eductional purposes only, of course).

If you do end up showing yourself lighting does matter though most people on Twitch that show themselves don't bother lighting themselves properly. There are a handful that do use proper fill lights and such but they are rare.

A green screen setup is helpful as well. On Twitch it looks more "professional" if you are showing yourself in an overlay while you play if you are using one.

For capturing PS4 gameplay you'll likely want an HD capture device (http://www.highgroundgaming.com/streaming/best-capture-cards/) to capture it straight to your PC rather than dealing with the PS4's built-in video recording. This will also minimize any slow downs on the PS4 caused by having it record while you play at the same time.

In fact the ideal setup for PC game capture is to use the same sort of device to capture to a 2nd PC so that you don't slow down your PC running the capturing software on the same PC you are gaming on. On Twitch there are many people with these dual PC setups and run OBS or other capture/broadcasting software on the 2nd PC to prevent slowdowns and maximize FPS on their gaming PCs.

I don't think there are near enough family friendly broadcasters. Not dropping f bombs ever would be my suggestion.

Or screaming needlessly.

Or speaking in an overly-high-piched whiny voice thinking you're UBER CUTE.

When my son went through his "K-wings" phase I seriously considered disabling the soundcard on the computer.

K-Wings?

https://www.youtube.com/user/kwingsletsplays

They were the first ones doing Lego lets plays as far as I can tell. The boy was big into Lego Batman and kept watching their 2012 videos over and over and over. The wife's voice is grating.

See what you mean. I made it through 57 seconds of one of those videos before it was too much.

Great, great info from Trippy.

I'd already decided that I would need to cut the foul language simply due to my perception that more kids watch than adults.  My son, being a young Ned Flanders, appreciates clean channels.

I actually have a Hauppauge capture device but had forgotten that it existed.

Neither here nor there, but I discovered Nerdwriter today. Fantastic videos, but more importantly: https://www.patreon.com/nerdwriter?ty=h

Dude makes $2500 per video, takes him about 6 hours to make each video. Goddamn.

Learning more and more that YouTube is shit. Apparently there's copyright trolls who go around making claims in other people's names now. There's no affiliation with the people who they claim to rep, but they get the vid taken down and any ad revenue is pushed their way.

The sense I'm getting is YouTube is so automated on DMCA stuff now that it's nearly worthless to try to make money on unless you're already very well established. Too bad there aren't any viable alternatives.

The "fair use" policy that YouTube has is shit. 

I don't know about that.  Everyone I've seen who was making a living on Youtube before this recent wave of "Where's the Fair Use" videos is still making a living on Youtube, the only impact this seems to have is a couple complaint videos every now and then about how lame it is.  It seems more like an annoyance than an apocalypse.

That seems counter to what I read, but if it is automated, a troll gets money, ... then what?  Troll keeps money?  *rubs palms together*

Yes, troll keeps money.

Here's one guy it recently happened to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNZPQssir4E

Some of the Youtubers I watch have made videos about it, even those that do like beer/food reviews.  Basically one said that he was so tired of getting notifications he made it so that he doesn't get anything unless over 90% of his video is used.

I forgot to mention I suppose I'll have to look at Patreon, but I feel like I'll have to actually produce something for that to work.

Que?

I watched like 20 of his videos, in one of his videos he talks about getting proficient at things - like mastering an art form, and he said it takes him about 6 hours now. He may have been just referring to the editing, but there's no way to tell so I took it at face value.

Since this seems to be the "How do I Youtube?" thread, what are the opinions on this microphone?

http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Axx-BA-UM600-KIT-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B00478VTJW/ (http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Axx-BA-UM600-KIT-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B00478VTJW/)

I have a fairly good voice for recording, enough that I have gotten by in the past by just recording on my phone and transferring it to the PC for editing. But I have a side project planned that will require a lot more takes and editing, so I want something less awkward than my phone but still better than built-in microphones or the boom on a headset. That one appears to be the cheapest USB microphone with a shock mount.

--Dave

Edit: The alternative I am considering is the ATR 2500, which I would have to buy a shockmount ($10-20) for, and starts $20 higher than the Bad Axx, but I can't find much about the Bad Axx while the ATR 2500 is generally compared well with the much more popular and expensive Blue Yeti.

If you are getting a USB mic it helps to have a zero latency headphone jack. If you try to monitor yourself through the computer it's plugged into there will almost always be a delay.

I settled on the ATR 2500, partly for that feature, mostly because an audiophile friend on FB recommended them. Add in a shockmount, boom, and pop filter, and I'm going to have to do a lot of videos to justify the expense.  But I kept putting off the project because it was so cumbersome to use the phone (and the sound quality, although passable, wasn't great).

Now I'm sternly telling myself I will *not* buy a bunch of high-density wedge foam.

--Dave