For all you Youtubers Out there

[Saber]

Excellent points @Vanhelzing , and I would like to add that some of the critiques that have been posted in the thread have been very good points. One of the biggest things to learn from doing graphic arts, or really anything, is to be able to take constructive criticism as it will help you improve greatly and also to listen to your audience's wants and needs. But I think that the "youtubers" or content creators viewing this thread are seeing a bit too much negativity because they're wondering how many of the critiques apply to their channel.

That said I do think it would help for people to show good examples of things they really like from various channels/videos. That way it isn't just a thread of "don't do this" but also "we really like this".

We do all appreciate the feedback, as it is something very personal to us, and content creation is a constant game of evolving your channel/content to suit what the audience wants (to a degree). We do this for the audience, so want to make our content as good as possible, it isn't something which we do just for ourselves. For instance I never planned to get into it, I just wanted to share what I had created, but then I discovered all the great things others were doing and wanted to share that with everyone. So keep up the constructive feedback, in threads, in comments, anywhere we can see it because it is highly appreciated. Just keep in mind we all come from different backgrounds, it's a LOT of work, and is a constant learning process.

Thanks for helping us improve! =)

 

[Criss]

it's a LOT of work

Can confirm. A single ship release episode takes about 3 hours of editing total. It ends up being a 2 minute video.

If I want to ensure optimal quality, I have to rewatch what I just recorded. There goes about an hour of my day. I have to agree with the OP on one thing. Sometimes I will get to the end of a long video and the dialogue takes a wrong turn on my part, something that is entirely confusing and unnecessary for the video. After already recording for ten minutes I stop it all, and restart it. I'd rather do that then jump cut the footage that I put together. If I know I did a good job recording, I don't have to rewatch the episode. On top of that I am at this point expected to post daily for my channel. And now I have a real life job. It kinda sucks when I have to keep putting off my content.

I cannot imagine the life of someone in the yogscast. Every member of their team is recording batches of multiple series a day and then editing multiple viewpoints together to make a video. They can play games all they want, but that is still a lot of work to do.

 

[Saber]

I cannot imagine the life of someone in the yogscast. Every member of their team is recording batches of multiple series a day and then editing multiple viewpoints together to make a video. They can play games all they want, but that is still a lot of work to do.

I haven't watched them consistently in a LONG time, so I could be wrong. But as I understand it, for the majority, if not all of them, that IS their job so the limited time we experience probably isn't something they have to worry about as much. I also believe that they have some people on the team who are solely dedicated video editors, so the work load gets split up fairly evenly. I mean if I was able to just spend all my time making content and living off those earnings (at which point I'd consider myself a "youtuber") then I wouldn't think it would be too bad of a deal. =P haha

 

[Criss]

I haven't watched them consistently in a LONG time, so I could be wrong. But as I understand it, for the majority, if not all of them, that IS their job so the limited time we experience probably isn't something they have to worry about as much. I also believe that they have some people on the team who are solely dedicated video editors, so the work load gets split up fairly evenly. I mean if I was able to just spend all my time making content and living off those earnings (at which point I'd consider myself a "youtuber") then I wouldn't think it would be too bad of a deal. =P haha

At least half of them know how to edit. In fact I would even say all the "main" members know how to edit as at one point or another I've seen or heard them talking about it. That must be nice however since it splits up that work load real nicely.

 

[ltmauve]

point #3:
Raiben I have experienced more inconvenience from you talking about accidental background noise in your videos than from accidental background noise in your videos.
also point #7 applies to you. Your quick tips are a bit long.

 

[Nauvran]

one reason that I do not like some videos are mainly:
1. loud random noises, (try to edit them out if possible)
2. extreme differences in sound coming from multiple persons (this is hard to fix, I know)
3. terrible editing, cutting mid sentence or removing the last bit of a sentence.
4. too many fancy overpass from one clip to another
5. insane rapid movement with the "camera" (I dont want to get seasick or anything)

I know the few starmade videos I have uploaded are terrible, they are mostly just raw footage without any or very little editing.
I was a bit lazy yes, and Im sorry if it was so terrible it made your eyes bleed :p

 

[NuclearFun]

I'll try to be honest: Some positive and some negative stuff that i noticed watching starmade videos
Zanaten : i really liked your ship reviews, you seem to know your stuff and do not hold back on constructive criticism, although you might want to get an update on how ship systems work. I understand you have not much time lately but i hope you restart your reviews soon.
Vanhelzing : Mostly the same as above just with stations, very good work. Your ship presentation videos are a little bit slow though.
Raiben : very slow videos, a bit more condensed would be good.
RedstoneNightmare: Pretty good and friendly, the informative (update) videos are some of the best. although i do skip a lot of the survival stuff.
Tomino_sama : A lot of videos, some are very fun to watch, but... i unsubscribed (2 months ago?) after being flooded by very strange short movies...
tenk11kamikaza : reading point 9 your stuff came to mind, just with "amazing" instead of "interesting"... often it just feels like you are bragging. Asking for (5 stars) votes is a no go! Also your music selection does not seem to be very copyright "friendly", you might want to think about that if you want your channel to grow.
CoalitionOfRamblers (last vid 8 month ago): not that bad but they clearly lacked the knowledge others (Saber) brought to a review.

 

[Criss]

Vanhelzing : Mostly the same as above just with stations, very good work. Your ship presentation videos are a little bit slow though.

Ship presentation videos as in regular NEF episodes? Or the ship release cinematics?

 

[NuclearFun]

Ship presentation videos as in regular NEF episodes? Or the ship release cinematics?

The cinematics are really nice, i was talking about your regular episodes, sometimes you spend a lot of time talking about small details. (also after 20min the music gets kind of stale).

I hope no one is now mad at me, this is supposed to be just some (hopefully) constructive criticism from a watchers perspective.

 

[SkylordLuke]

I'll try to be honest: Some positive and some negative stuff that i noticed watching starmade videos
Zanaten : i really liked your ship reviews, you seem to know your stuff and do not hold back on constructive criticism, although you might want to get an update on how ship systems work. I understand you have not much time lately but i hope you restart your reviews soon.
Vanhelzing : Mostly the same as above just with stations, very good work. Your ship presentation videos are a little bit slow though.
Raiben : very slow videos, a bit more condensed would be good.
RedstoneNightmare: Pretty good and friendly, the informative (update) videos are some of the best. although i do skip a lot of the survival stuff.
Tomino_sama : A lot of videos, some are very fun to watch, but... i unsubscribed (2 months ago?) after being flooded by very strange short movies...
tenk11kamikaza : reading point 9 your stuff came to mind, just with "amazing" instead of "interesting"... often it just feels like you are bragging. Asking for (5 stars) votes is a no go! Also your music selection does not seem to be very copyright "friendly", you might want to think about that if you want your channel to grow.
CoalitionOfRamblers (last vid 8 month ago): not that bad but they clearly lacked the knowledge others (Saber) brought to a review.

lol,yeah hahahah,i do kinda say "awesome" too much,i will fix that problem
but i dont see a problem with music? only 12 videos are copyrighted out of my 152 ..and that almost all halo music on my halo ship videos,and few star wars vids

 

[Criss]

The cinematics are really nice, i was talking about your regular episodes, sometimes you spend a lot of time talking about small details. (also after 20min the music gets kind of stale).

I hope no one is now mad at me, this is supposed to be just some (hopefully) constructive criticism from a watchers perspective.

Honestly thats just me being lazy. The episodes vary in length and the music is all short so I usually never have tracks there that fill the entire thing perfectly.

 

[Neon_42]

I'll try to be honest: Some positive and some negative stuff that i noticed watching starmade videos
Zanaten : i really liked your ship reviews, you seem to know your stuff and do not hold back on constructive criticism, although you might want to get an update on how ship systems work. I understand you have not much time lately but i hope you restart your reviews soon.
Vanhelzing : Mostly the same as above just with stations, very good work. Your ship presentation videos are a little bit slow though.
Raiben : very slow videos, a bit more condensed would be good.
RedstoneNightmare: Pretty good and friendly, the informative (update) videos are some of the best. although i do skip a lot of the survival stuff.
Tomino_sama : A lot of videos, some are very fun to watch, but... i unsubscribed (2 months ago?) after being flooded by very strange short movies...
tenk11kamikaza : reading point 9 your stuff came to mind, just with "amazing" instead of "interesting"... often it just feels like you are bragging. Asking for (5 stars) votes is a no go! Also your music selection does not seem to be very copyright "friendly", you might want to think about that if you want your channel to grow.
CoalitionOfRamblers (last vid 8 month ago): not that bad but they clearly lacked the knowledge others (Saber) brought to a review.

I completely agree with the above. I would also add:

Zanaten and @ Rabien: Uhh and uhms, and announcements about formatting choices and personal life. I'd try to get this down to 10 seconds and not include formatting choices and personal stuff.
Raiben : Sometimes your 'quicktips' are not at all quick.
Vanhelzing: Your videos are short, sweet, and to the point for the most part. This is what all amature videos should aspire to be. Maybe script yours a bit better. You do say um and get bogged down with what you want to say sometimes.
Tomino_sama . The mushroom fleet intro is a bit longer than 10 seconds sometimes. In itself being a bit longer than 10 seconds is not bad, but your intro shows too much. I get that I am watching mushroom fleet at second 5. The additional information might take an extra 5 seconds. You could easily shave off 6 seconds of stuff in your intro.

Everyone above however could improve their videos by scripting them. For let's plays this doesn't matter so much, but for reviews and tutorials much improvement is needed.

 

[Criss]

Vanhelzing: Your videos are short, sweet, and to the point for the most part. This is what all amature videos should aspire to be. Maybe script yours a bit better. You do say um and get bogged down with what you want to say sometimes.

I would honestly rather not script videos. Release videos are scripted however. I want to avoid missing information that I need to talk about during a video which, if scripted, doesn't really help. If I suddenly plug in another subject then it kind of defeats the purpose. This happens all the time while I record and often times I re-record videos that get convoluted. I'd say full scripting involves lots more time and a lot of cuts in the episode, which IMO only lends itself in a useful sense to tutorials. Most of what I post is general showcases and progress.

Also, it is actually really difficult to avoid saying "uhm" for anyone that has to continuously talk about any subject for 10~ minutes. I've tried. It is easier with another person there.

 

[MossyStone48]

at least everyone is being mature about this. as for my two cents, i think this is largely futile. people are going to run their channels however they like no matter what anyone says. period. and that channel will stand or fall based on its own merits. the end. no turn to page 32. no pre-order book 2. done.

if someone's channel sucks it will die.

 

[Neon_42]

I would honestly rather not script videos. Release videos are scripted however. I want to avoid missing information that I need to talk about during a video which, if scripted, doesn't really help. If I suddenly plug in another subject then it kind of defeats the purpose. This happens all the time while I record and often times I re-record videos that get convoluted. I'd say full scripting involves lots more time and a lot of cuts in the episode, which IMO only lends itself in a useful sense to tutorials. Most of what I post is general showcases and progress.

Also, it is actually really difficult to avoid saying "uhm" for anyone that has to continuously talk about any subject for 10~ minutes. I've tried. It is easier with another person there.

It is really difficult to not say uhm for long presentations. However, as someone who gives hour long presentations alone for a living I can say with certainty it is possible to do. You are not gonna get every uhm out ever, but you can minimize it so it isn't noticeable. This is the goal. Not to get everyone uhm or mishap or stall out. If I can do an hour almost every day live. You can do 10 minutes every few days or weeks recording and editing. 10 minutes is actually really easy.

Furthermore, the students who I've had adlib their presentations always get lower grades than those who practice them. If you don't like scripting because you might forget something, then you've missed the point of scripting and have done it wrong. I suggest practicing it once or twice. You'll see that if you practice your video before you actually make it, the quality of your presentation will increase by a few orders of magnitude. By the way, your videos aren't bad. Just a few tweaks here or there.

 

[Lecic]

Personally, I like how Vanhelzing has both long, detailed videos where he goes over the building process and all sorts of things, as well as short cinematic trailers. It gives something for both people who crave lots of content, as well as something for people who are just there to know when he's released a new ship and don't have much time.

 

[aceface]

:3

 

[Tomino_sama]

What's this thread?

1600 releases later, thanks for watching is all I will say. I release so much I do not expect anyone to watch it all, but those that do are Space Bros for life. I have to serve many demographics that simply do not overlap and while everyone might have been happy with me releasing 1000 more ship reviews, it gets a little old when I do this for my own interest.

I will always do collaborative works and everyone in the above list are channels I will actively promote or recommend. This is not just because I get to speak to them all daily/weekly, but because they have proven they are willing to give the time to this game for free to try and get the word out.

I invite any newcomer to Starmade to contact us so we can give your channel a shout out, those that already did that - you now know well and like to comment upon.

NuclearFun I love your reason for unsubscribing - i think I will frame it. It shows the classic, "there was too much content I didn't understand/like", however you failed to actually say why you were subscribed in the first place. I like constructive criticism, I really do as I can learn from it and adapt my releases, this is few and far between.

Please link me to your channels I'd love to watch your own releases on this or other games, if you have not done any starmade content yet.

I created a Universe for Youtubers to record their content without having to pay for a dedicated server themselves, or deal with angry admins they do not know and trolls who can end a let's play series easily. I actively reached out to and had a good time playing and filming with all of the 35 Youtubers that record here promoting this game we all love to play for free - voluntarily :D

That means that most of the video s you see will be from us. I let anyone in that wants to try it. Many of us do others games too. I try to focus Starmade primarily, but I don't tell anyone to do anything. They all do it anyway, we just give a place to make it easier, cheaper and better quality for the viewer.

I repeatedly asked factions and server owners for information and video to promote that they do, but over the last 18 months - no responses.

SHOUT OUT TO THE MUSHROOM FLEET CHANNELS

Saber
Apex Aurajin
Raiben EFSF
Skylord Luke
Omegacybran
IamKyleMe
gregsplays
legoassassin57
yelby2
Joe Dehler
jason kenney
Mincrafystyle
4plains
BCEbezzer
R3493R
Anthony Marmont
Richarod Builder
BarnyardBanditz
Auriga City
Raging Potato
IncredulousMe48
Cameron McCloskey
MrdevinGaming
ghostliger2
profwaldone
NHG
KingsCubed
MineRaid
GeneralBLT13
LegoRobot17
CrazedNaly
Aceface
JathTech
Crimson522
Scooterify
Jérémy Brolak
jacemachine
Surgeplus
MineRaider
DJ metis

I tried to get links to all the channels, there are many more so I am sorry if I did not mention you!

 

[NuclearFun]

What's this thread?

1600 releases later, thanks for watching is all I will say. I release so much I do not expect anyone to watch it all, but those that do are Space Bros for life. I have to serve many demographics that simply do not overlap and while everyone might have been happy with me releasing 1000 more ship reviews, it gets a little old when I do this for my own interest.

I will always do collaborative works and everyone in the above list are channels I will actively promote or recommend. This is not just because I get to speak to them all daily/weekly, but because they have proven they are willing to give the time to this game for free to try and get the word out.

I invite any newcomer to Starmade to contact us so we can give your channel a shout out, those that already did that - you now know well and like to comment upon.

NuclearFun I love your reason for unsubscribing - i think I will frame it. It shows the classic, "there was too much content I didn't understand/like", however you failed to actually say why you were subscribed in the first place. I like constructive criticism, I really do as I can learn from it and adapt my releases, this is few and far between.

Please link me to your channels I'd love to watch your own releases on this or other games, if you have not done any starmade content yet.

I created a Universe for Youtubers to record their content without having to pay for a dedicated server themselves, or deal with angry admins they do not know and trolls who can end a let's play series easily. I actively reached out to and had a good time playing and filming with all of the 35 Youtubers that record here promoting this game we all love to play for free - voluntarily :D

That means that most of the video s you see will be from us. I let anyone in that wants to try it. Many of us do others games too. I try to focus Starmade primarily, but I don't tell anyone to do anything. They all do it anyway, we just give a place to make it easier, cheaper and better quality for the viewer.

I repeatedly asked factions and server owners for information and video to promote that they do, but over the last 18 months - no responses.

SHOUT OUT TO THE MUSHROOM FLEET CHANNELS

Saber
Apex Aurajin
Raiben EFSF
Skylord Luke
Omegacybran
IamKyleMe
gregsplays
legoassassin57
yelby2
Joe Dehler
jason kenney
Mincrafystyle
4plains
BCEbezzer
R3493R
Anthony Marmont
Richarod Builder
BarnyardBanditz
Auriga City
Raging Potato
IncredulousMe48
Cameron McCloskey
MrdevinGaming
ghostliger2
profwaldone
NHG
KingsCubed
MineRaid
GeneralBLT13
LegoRobot17
CrazedNaly
Aceface
JathTech
Crimson522
Scooterify
Jérémy Brolak
jacemachine
Surgeplus
MineRaider
DJ metis

I tried to get links to all the channels, there are many more so I am sorry if I did not mention you!

Your videos where extremely messy and badly edited (to the point where the video ended in the middle of a sentence), also you often dump a lot of videos at once, after one of this floods i unsubscribed. This was the second time this has happened. I subscribed a long time ago, unsubscribed after (while?) a ship review marathon, then after so much shiny stuff was unveiled on your channel (remember the shitstorm after that?) i subscribed again...
Also: i did not like your intro (it is better now), i do not like people filming themselves when playing (i just took a quick look - it seemed you stopped this, very good) and i do not share your kind of humor. Is this enough constructive criticism for you? Initially i did not write more because a lot of the above has been already said.
You seem to favor quantity before quality, i do not. I do wish you good luck with your channel, have fun!

 

[Tomino_sama]

Like many of you, I watch Starmade tutorials, reviews, etc. on youtube. Unfortunately...

1. Do not take 2 minutes to get to the point of the video. Introductions should be short and to the point.

Some people prefer longer videos. I get requests for 15 minute videos all the time. However most people click off to something else by 3:40 average, so I split videos up into parts and always get to the point in under 3:40. if they are longer there will be some bonus clips of interest to reward those that actually watch the full video. These days its concurrent sessions you want not just playtime per video. look into the partner guides for monetisation on youtube and twitch to learn more. ~I try to advise people inside of what i have direct experience with.

1. Do not spend longer than approx. 10 seconds on an intro. This is is not saturday morning cartoons I don't need to be pumped up with a 1min theme song. Shorter is better.

Some people like a different intro every time, some people think arbitrary numbers work. I like 8 seconds or 12 seconds. Why? the reasoning is that the music tends to work in pairs or fours. you can't just cut audio because you are up to 10 seconds. It depends on the source footage used and audio. It's never an open and shut case. Typically a cartoon will have an intro of 1 minute 30 seconds so please do over exagerate this non-issue.

1. Do not apologize for crappy quality in sound or video. If you know its crappy quality then fix it or don't make a video. Nobody is giving you props for doing what you're supposed to.

Sometime we have technical problems and the audience understands we are not working on a serious budget. as volunteers this means no videos until they can afford a new mic, which most cannot afford. I know most of us save for motnhs to get the equipment we need to run streams and edit.

1. Do not say ' I thought X might be interesting so I made a video about X'. Of course you did. Stop wasting my time telling me you made the video I am watching.

This is just presentation lingo, it is used often in professional broadcasting and youtube/twitch are personality based. You could go watch this content on any channel - its the presentation that keeps you coming back in most cases not the quality.

1. Do not talk about editing your videos.

If you do not like this, try not to clikc on those videos, I have done releases on the editing process to help others advance, most people are self taught. I even stream editing on a regular basis - people like to see the effort and time that goes into each release. This bring s the audience closer to the host.

1. Stop saying 'yeah, um, so, like, you know, okay,' with long pauses after. Long pauses in general are bad. You are not William Shatner. Do not speak like him.

I AM WILLIAM SHATNER

1. Do not make a 'short' video longer than 5 minutes!

that is short! 8 minutes is a short video. 3 hours is long. perspective can be a trick? I think my shortest videos are 30 seconds to 2 minutes but these are not consuidered "full releases" often they are used for quick updates and projects updates.

1. Edit your videos down.
   -If you are just speaking for the sake of speaking, cut it out. Your audience doesn't love your voice, even if you might, we certainly don't care about a random thought that just entered your head, and we don't care about your personal life.

You would be surprised how many successful personalities there are out there on Youtube right now, who exist because of the personality they have and the personal life they lead conbined with an active community following there ever move. That's fact. Viewers and followers do care about who they are watching. They do want to be able to interact with the broadcasters. Intrigue in that character or characters and the fact that person cares about the viewers gives rise to those genuine interests.

1. -If you are just building or editing or doing any task repetitively, skip to the end. I dont need to see you remove all the wedge blocks on your titan. I get how to remove wedge blocks.

Some people do not know everything in the game, some people are in fact first time watchers. This means that often a broadcaster will make a point of demonstrating many basic things every time. This is not for you, this is for newcomers. They do not know and would love to be shown these simple tasks. It may seem repetitive for you, but a Host must be aware of more than just one minor demographic of older more experienced players. Noobies are the grassroots of a small game like this so we need to encourage them and expect the older hands to know they not being told how to do simple things.

1. Stop using the word 'interesting' so much. If everything is interesting , nothing is interesting. This is particularly important for ship reviews. Use other adjectives. Buy a thesaurus if you need to.

Interesting you say that, because the word is the most apt for the situations it is used. That You do not like to heer the word means you are annoyed by it and nothing more. I find it incredibly interesting, one might say Thrilled by the notion you are annoyed by such a benign word - while used in correct context no less!

1. PRACTICE and EDIT your videos! The odds of you getting a perfect 20 minute video in one take is 0%. Really I can't think of any Starmade video that should be longer than 10 minutes.

I do all ship reviews as a live broadcast, these are edited down into seperate per ship videos before being uploaded to youtube. I must record between the hours of midnight and 5am up to three times each week. That means I do 25 ships reviews in one take and then split them. The idea I would need to script someone else telling me about there ship is pretty funny. In others words I have had a lot of practive I run over 10 other channels.

Please tell me more about your ideas.[DOUBLEPOST=1417038752,1417038598][/DOUBLEPOST]

Your videos where extremely messy and badly edited (to the point where the video ended in the middle of a sentence), also you often dump a lot of videos at once, after one of this floods i unsubscribed. This was the second time this has happened. I subscribed a long time ago, unsubscribed after (while?) a ship review marathon, then after so much shiny stuff was unveiled on your channel (remember the shitstorm after that?) i subscribed again...
Also: i did not like your intro (it is better now), i do not like people filming themselves when playing (i just took a quick look - it seemed you stopped this, very good) and i do not share your kind of humor. Is this enough constructive criticism for you? Initially i did not write more because a lot of the above has been already said.
You seem to favor quantity before quality, i do not. I do wish you good luck with your channel, have fun!

dude. just stop. its too funny. Thanks for re-subscribing, again :D