Sweet, sweet YouTube Money

[KallDrexx]

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.

[apocrypha]

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

Track 3 will blow your mind!

[Sky]

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. 

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.

[Paelos]

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.

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.

[KallDrexx]

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.

[Paelos]

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.

[Azazel]

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.

[Trippy]

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) 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 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.

[Furiously]

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

[NiX]

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

Or screaming needlessly.

[Merusk]

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.

[Sophismata]

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

K-Wings?

[Merusk]

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.

[HaemishM]

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

[Yegolev]

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.

[schild]

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.

[Merusk]

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.

[Evildrider]

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

[Kail]

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.

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.

[Yegolev]

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.

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

[Merusk]

Yes, troll keeps money.

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

[Evildrider]

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.

[Yegolev]

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.

[Azazel]

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.

Que?

Here’s my normal schedule: it takes days to a couple weeks to research and write a video (usually have a few going at a time). It takes a day to film, and 8-10 hours (spread out over 3 days) to edit. Overall, I'd say each video takes 40-50 hours to make. Every dollar given to this projects frees me up a little more to focus on making the best content I can.

[schild]

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.

Que?

Here’s my normal schedule: it takes days to a couple weeks to research and write a video (usually have a few going at a time). It takes a day to film, and 8-10 hours (spread out over 3 days) to edit. Overall, I'd say each video takes 40-50 hours to make. Every dollar given to this projects frees me up a little more to focus on making the best content I can.

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.

[MahrinSkel]

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/

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.

[Trippy]

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.

[MahrinSkel]

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