I'd like to start a youtube show, but I have some concerns...

[Juste Goose]

Hello Escapees. In this gap between the summer and fall semester, have a lot of free time and creative energy. I've given thought to creating a youtube show in which I review/discuss games, but I have a few hangups.

First, I'm nervous about the sheer amount of competition. Not so much "I'll never get as many views as these guys," so much as "This guy is such a AVGN/JonTron/PBG/ProJared/BrutalMoose/Caddicarus/SpaceHamster ripoff." While I'd love to review games as they come out, I'm a full time student on a budget, so I'd have to review older games I already own. The 'retro review' isn't exactly an original concept, and it only seems to be getting more and more popular. Shy of using puppets, I feel like no matter what format my show takes, people will accuse me of trying to rip off someone else.

My second issue is audio and video quality. For video, I have a pretty low budget capture device. You can see what's going on, but i'ts far from HD. I suppose I could use fraps and emulators, but if that's something that will get made fun of just as much, I'd rather not spend the $40.

As for audio, I have a snowball mic, but my voice isn't that great. I don't have much narrator experience, so maybe I just need to mumble less and move closer or farther from the mic, or maybe it's just a case of everyone hating the sound of their voice. If it's as bad as I think it is, I could always get a friend to narrate I guess.

Spoiler: Here's an example of my video and audio capture capabilities.

My first priority is to treat it as a hobby, not to make a living off it. Still, I want people to enjoy my work, not make fun of it. So, if any of you have any input on preventing naysayers or improving audio/video quality, or just think that the last thing the internet needs is another 20 something white guy talking about old games, I'd like to hear your opinions.

 

[Lionsfan]

I dunno, your voice sounded pretty normal to me. I mean the only guy I've ever watched has been TheRadBrad, and his voice has kind of a weird twang to it.

And to be honest, someone somewhere is always going to make fun of your work, because people are dicks.

I would say just go for it, see how *you* like it, and if you want to keep on doing it

 

[Zhukov]

Your voice is fine.

I've heard a lot of nasal, whiny nerd voices on Youtube that make me want to claw my ears off, but yours isn't one of them.

As for being accused of ripping people off, you could always have credits on your videos with "inspired by such-and-such" on there. Then when someone comes along and accuses you of ripping of such-and-such you just say, "Duh, it's in the credits" and they end up looking like an idiot.

It's not really anything to worry about anyway. Youtube commenters accusing folks of ripping of Personality X are a dime a dozen.

 

[Plucky]

Copy pasted from a post i made on the FP Forums, some tips are alright for general YouTube use, though some might be more better for Let's Players.

Good
- Slight comedy is always good, however it shouldn't become the prime focus, comedy should evolve organically and should avoid screaming, image splicing or whatever.
- A nice intro is something to welcome people to the show, if going by a Season format, do it once per season, try to use some sort of transition rather than just "blipping" video about, to make it more pleasurable to people's eyes.
- A nicely decorated Youtube channel is important, nothing too bright or dim, avoid using autoplay because that's just adding unnecessary load for your viewers in fact artificially bloating their viewcount which is bad...
- Sort your videos into either Genre or Season from oldest to newest.
- Videos shouldn't be blind, it's slightly bad taste to milk view count by stretching segments over numbers of YouTube videos before getting Partners, or however people gets extended time.
- Maintain some sort of schedule, if possible, try to inform people watching the channel for breaks sometime, or if possible try to have some sort of buffer backlog of videos, to give them something to look forward to in their afternoons.
- Aspect ratio is important, older console's footage might not look at great on modern connections, thus it may be wise to use things from their period in time for creating footage though having a converter that attaches straight to the PC could be nice for capturing footage, if aspect is thinner, add some boarders to fill it out, preferable a mid-tone colour rather than something overly dark or bright.


Bad
- Screaming and whining.
- Fart jokes, obvious rude jokes and whatever, obscure references might be shrugged off...
- Using extremely long introduction sequences.
- Not marking a video as a longplay.
- Using Autoplay in profiles.
- Using excessive amounts of tags+the description to tagspam, seriously it's just scrubbing for views.
- Pandering to the base, then having the cheek to constantly mention to "like and subscribe".
- Asking for people to send in games, because that just seems a bit milky on their pseudo-celebrityship within YT's community.
- Don't alienate your original fans; it's wise not to overstep your genres too fast, grow a familiar audience before expanding.
- Selling out, don't try to lay emphasis on merchandise, sure there's a fanbase of sorts, but not many people are going to run about wearing shirts.
- Ads, can people choose what sort of ads they have, or is it down to the developers?

Side effects and other wise things.
- If really popular, try to avoid the extremely mainstream titles such as Mario and try to play relatively unnoticed yet slightly revered titles. if Retro, try to aim for campiness instead of playing genuinely great but obscure games from inadvertently fuelling online market places, generating a hatebase from other Retro collectors.
- Also, try to avoid Minecraft or what other Prize Plums other channels are latching on, there's just too much competition there, plus the nature of mods mean that anyone could make videos, try to stand out on your own merit by playing games you like and not by what's grossly popular.
- However, if you're in a region that has a game's release in a major Territory before others then it may be advantageous to go in blind, even if it's Mario.
- Make sure the game you're playing is a game you actually like, if you're a comedy series it would be a shame if you stopped midway since it might be likely they went though a bad game just because of the comedy.
- If something special is happening, try to use it to stir up viewerbase, nothing campy such as "the 12 days of Xmas" but something weird and unusual, like the Xth birthday of LucasArts or something.
- You're a troupe? Have a rotation of friends/relatives, let them form their own personality, just make sure they're gamers.

 

[MajorTomServo]

Not the worst voice I've heard. If you go through with it, you'll fall into a more theatrical voice. Like anything else, you'll improve with practice.

As for the video quality, it's not great, but you're just starting out, few people expect 1080p.

And regarding naysayers, you'll get them. All those heavy hitters you mentioned get them. It's part of the internet. Just make an effort to be as original as you can be.

 

[Weaver]

Why would you get made fun of for using FRAPS?
I use Open Broadcast Software for my videos and it works fine. 1080p@30fps recording, and unlike fraps, it's free. It also does compression on the fly and uses LESS cpu than fraps does. Also, you can stream with it.

My biggest gripe on youtube is non HD video (for video games). Please consider going HD.

 

[Juste Goose]

Why would you get made fun of for using FRAPS?
I use Open Broadcast Software for my videos and it works fine. 1080p@30fps recording, and unlike fraps, it's free. It also does compression on the fly and uses LESS cpu than fraps does. Also, you can stream with it.

My biggest gripe on youtube is non HD video (for video games). Please consider going HD.

The joys of freeware.

Thanks for showing me this, it takes a load off my toad.

 

[Weaver]

Why would you get made fun of for using FRAPS?
I use Open Broadcast Software for my videos and it works fine. 1080p@30fps recording, and unlike fraps, it's free. It also does compression on the fly and uses LESS cpu than fraps does. Also, you can stream with it.

My biggest gripe on youtube is non HD video (for video games). Please consider going HD.

The joys of freeware.

Thanks for showing me this, it takes a load off my toad.

No problem! Anything that gives OBS more exposure is great. It even has a microphone noise gate built in and configurable if you want to use it. It's main competitor is XSplit which I feel costs WAY too much for what it offers. So, OBS all the way for me! You can even allow OBS to record at very high bitrates if you want super duper high quality. My upload is crap so I compress mine relatively heavily.

My channel link is in my user profile if you want to see the kind of video you may be able to get .
The mods are a little bit picky sometimes with "advertising" so I'll play it safe and not post a video lol.

EDIT: Also, your voice is fine, don't worry about it
It actually reminds me a bit of JP McDaniel (itmejp) and he's pretty popular.

 

[King of Asgaard]

OP, if you want to do this, don't let potential bastards online mocking you for something inconsequential hold you back.
Having good recording equipment is definitely important, but not essential as of yet, especially if you don't intend on monetizing your content.
If I may offer a piece of advice, courtesy of The Jesse Cox: "Advertise like a shameless whore."
When you make a video, go to forums about the game you're recording, or gaming forums in general (like the one you're in now ) and post the link to your video (but don't spam, that's a bannable offence). You'll get guys who hate your guts and will let you know about it, and you'll get subscribers who like the stuff you're doing. I recall an Escapist, Overusedname I think it was [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Overusedname], who did just that on this illustrious site of ours, and built up a following of users here, myself included.
Oh, and just be yourself in your videos. There are enough Pewdiepies and Tobuscuses on Youtube; we don't need another.
Other than that, good luck with your channel.
Oh, and your voice is fine . Surprisingly inoffensive, considering all the whiny fools that exist on Youtube.

 

[hutchy27]

That voice is fine, man. If you want some practice before you start uploading videos just do some test commentaries when you're playing to get the hang of it.

 

[Weaver]

OP, if you want to do this, don't let potential bastards online mocking you for something inconsequential hold you back.
Having good recording equipment is definitely important, but not essential as of yet, especially if you don't intend on monetizing your content.
If I may offer a piece of advice, courtesy of The Jesse Cox: "Advertise like a shameless whore."
When you make a video, go to forums about the game you're recording, or gaming forums in general (like the one you're in now ) and post the link to your video (but don't spam, that's a bannable offence). You'll get guys who hate your guts and will let you know about it, and you'll get subscribers who like the stuff you're doing. I recall an Escapist, Overusedname I think it was [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Overusedname], who did just that on this illustrious site of ours, and built up a following of users here, myself included.
Oh, and just be yourself in your videos. There are enough Pewdiepies and Tobuscuses on Youtube; we don't need another.
Other than that, good luck with your channel.
Oh, and your voice is fine . Surprisingly inoffensive, considering all the whiny fools that exist on Youtube.

Except, make sure to post your videos in the user review section or you're thread will be closed and you'll be given a warning

 

[Risingblade]

Sounds like you just need some practice. Do a few recordings so you can start feeling comfortable talking while playing.

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

Hello Escapees. In this gap between the summer and fall semester, have a lot of free time and creative energy. I've given thought to creating a youtube show in which I review/discuss games, but I have a few hangups.

Your voice is fine, and you'll get better with practice, but I have to say: you may not want to hear this, but the world does not need any more guys doing commentaries while they play video games. Isn't there something more unique and interesting that you could dedicate your time and creative energy to? At the very least, you should try to come up with something to set you apart from the tens of thousands of other people doing the same thing. Using puppets isn't a half-bad idea. Or you could set yourself interesting challenges, instead of merely playing through the game normally.

 

[KingBlackToof]

As a Game Youtuber myself I have some experience I can try to share.
(I do Fighting Game commentary & Guides - Street Fighter, Injustice etc. Luckily a genre which is 'repeatable' meaning every match is something new to be commentated and new 'tech' is being developed for characters.)

First off, I think you're voice is good, in fact, just from that short video. I liked it.
It's the type of voice I would enjoy listening to, It kept me listening.
I guess everyone hates their voice - I feel the same way about mine.

Secondly, About the content, Everything has been done before, and everything new will be done before you will get chance to do it. For example: A new comes out on Sep 3rd, you plan to buy it and let's play it on release.
You can bet your backside there's a handful of people who got that game a month before release to play because their channels are huge.
For me, A new piece of DLC comes out for Injustice, on release Day 1 Combo video's are up, matches and professional players that got it before release are already showing off their pro new char. Not to mention, Xbox get it 1 day earlier.
And that's barring the fact that others will have better layouts for recording, editing and publishing. Whole rooms / PC's dedicated to it.

So point 2 summary: Play what you want, especially since it's a hobby. Its better if you can add something new to the run; such as informative lore, tricks & tips, funny commentary or just an enjoyable personality.

Recording software I use FRAPs, 720p 30fps is enough for me. Quality looks great.
Audio is an annoying beast but like I said i liked your voice and sound level there.(Audio levels is what worries me the most)

And it's true you wont get many views at all when you first start.
I mean you'll likely be around 0-20 views per video.
Because no one knows its there, and I think people wont subscribe to a guy with 1 video or even like 10.
When they see it's a regular thing, they'll begin to join up.

I probably missed alot.
I recommend just do it. Although it's harder than it seems it is to the outside world.
Let's Players get a bit of flak, folks occasionally thing it's just playin GAEMZ!

 

[Juste Goose]

Hello Escapees. In this gap between the summer and fall semester, have a lot of free time and creative energy. I've given thought to creating a youtube show in which I review/discuss games, but I have a few hangups.

Your voice is fine, and you'll get better with practice, but I have to say: you may not want to hear this, but the world does not need any more guys doing commentaries while they play video games. Isn't there something more unique and interesting that you could dedicate your time and creative energy to? At the very least, you should try to come up with something to set you apart from the tens of thousands of other people doing the same thing. Using puppets isn't a half-bad idea. Or you could set yourself interesting challenges, instead of merely playing through the game normally.

I don't want to do a Let's Play, I want to do a structured review show. Like, "Here's what works, here's what doesn't, modern games should do this but this is why I think they don't, here's an out-of-context clip played for laughs."

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

I don't want to do a Let's Play, I want to do a structured review show. Like, "Here's what works, here's what doesn't, modern games should do this but this is why I think they don't, here's an out-of-context clip played for laughs."

I've never really understood the distinction between "talking about a game while playing it" and "talking about a game while footage of it plays", but that's beside the point.

I'm saying, I think you should come up with some sort of fresh angle.
Is there some sort of unique insight you could give? Or a new spin on the reviewing format?

 

[Evil Smurf]

I'm interested to see what you do. I watch a lot of youtube, so I can give you some hints:

Don't abuse jumpcuts
Don't yell, its not funny
Adverts are horrid, people like me will magically not see adverts on the internet ;D
Don't use misleading thumbnails
Just have fun man.

You'll be fine.

 

[soren7550]

Like everyone else has said, your voice is fine. Likewise, I too am planing on starting a YouTube review show, but review material will be expensive, I need a camera, and an editing program. Seeing as I'm unemployed, it will be quite some time until I can get it started.

Good luck to you though!

 

[Wickatricka]

Voice is fine. Idea is fine. No one is going to think your trying to ripoff someone else. People will make fun of you that's just the way it is but don't worry about it so much.

 

[Jux]

I really like the puppet idea. Sock puppets in particular. Cheap enough that you can do new ones for each review, where the socks are parodies of characters from the game. Make it happen!