Minecraft Forums

I really like this discussion, I've condensed the basics of it into more advice for the Main Post. I can't put it all in because some of it is personal preference, but I have added a fair amount of it. I also upgraded it to V1.4 since it was a sizable update.

Thank you guys for your help, I appreciate it.

I've found the source for the choppiness in my latest vid... It's you-tube that causes it... the vid runs at a nice smooth 24fps when i play my local copy. when it's streamed from YT it plays at a variable frame-rate. often with sudden random jerks in the image. can someone verify if this is the case for everyone trying to watch them? it may have something to do with the uploaded format. if so then we need to find out so that we can make a recommendation to others about upload formats.

I've noticed that Youtube runs jerkily for all videos for me. I think it might just be a problem with Youtube/internet browser trying to run too many things at once and forgetting frames or somesuch other thing. Which internet browser do you use?

Quote from GrimSkellington »

I've noticed that Youtube runs jerkily for all videos for me. I think it might just be a problem with Youtube/internet browser trying to run too many things at once and forgetting frames or somesuch other thing. Which internet browser do you use?

I just noticed this too. This problem appeared after i reinstalled my computer after my hardware meltdown.
I went into the youtube help section and it's apparently a known issue with some graphics cards and their drivers. I'm trying to fix it by upgrading my gfx drivers now. I have a NVIDIA 9500GT card. the same card type that has those memory leak issues with Java 32 bit. So it appears that my vid's should appear just fine. unless i make more goofs like letting my taskbar show up on the bottom of the screen again

I'm begining to think we need to make a centralized topic for LP recruiting and requesting. This forum is getting flooded by people looking to join LPs (Half the time without any information/equipment. At least post a link to your channel so we know if we would want you in our LP.

Anyhow, bump to the top again. I'm still hoping for a sticky at some point.

Quote from GrimSkellington »

3. Break the mold
Why would someone watch your video over another? This is part advertising your video and part content. You have to be able to make your videos sound appealing before they click and after. Episode titles work wonders for this, but they won't help you if your video is boring once they are watching it. Try to think of a building that hasn't built before that would be interesting to build/watch being built. Pick different shapes for those buildings as well, squares rarely hold as much appeal as other shapes would. Do something different or fall under the heels of others.

This should be in bold in a font 10x the size of the rest of the post. Almost all the lets plays are exactly the same and people wonder why they have 0 views. Lets plays in SMP are usually pretty interesting if done right but I haven't found many. I think viewers like it when you start from the beginning and explain exactly what's going on, rather than seeing you start halfway through a game. I also prefer to see videos with the default texture pack, not because I like it that much but because with custom packs it's sometimes hard to tell what's what and it's off-putting.

Another bump for the group of new LPs.

Some people get so caught up on originality that they forget quality though. I don't care how original your idea is, I'm not going to watch it if you don't commentate well.

please add something about recording voice and syncing it too, I know a lot of beginners have trouble with this.

I have a question. How do I get rid of the sound of my keyboard? Or does it really matter that much, for me when I watch let's plays, it just assures me that it is live commentary. Since I am recording my commentary live, you hear my keyboard and mouse a bit.

Also, what amount of compression/loss is best. I am still playing around with this, but I seem to compress it and on the PC it looks fine, but after uploading to YouTube it looks horrible. Note, I used like 80% on one.

Oh, and I wanted to mention Adobe Premiere elements 9, comparable price to Vegas. It is more suited for someone use to the Adobe suite interface, and seems to give you all the edit capability of Vegas, think the main thing I saw as a difference was the lack of free soundtracks.

I haven't found the keyboard noise to be much of a problem as long as it isn't overly loud. Getting a headset microphone can help in lowering the sound (I hardly ever hear my keyboard in my LP). Definitely never use a built in mic though, as then it will be obnoxiously loud and poor quality. Placing your mic further away would also help of course, but that may be inconvienent. I've never seen anyone complain about it though, so I don't think it ia much to be concerned about personally.

I'm afraid I can't help with compression, I always just use WMM (Which I assume compresses for me).

I've updated the main post with a section on LP Duel commentary requests, it is at the bottom of the manners section. I've seen a lot of request threads lately, so I am adding what I feel is the best way to handle them. Please let me know if any others have differing opinions.

Another bump for the new batch of LPs

Would it be too pretentious to add a section on how to be a good viewer? Just things like giving a reason for a thumbs down or how to properly criticize a LPer?

Quote from riddler251 »

Also, what amount of compression/loss is best. I am still playing around with this, but I seem to compress it and on the PC it looks fine, but after uploading to YouTube it looks horrible. Note, I used like 80% on one.

I just finished a YouTube uploader because I record with Kazam and upload the raw .mkv file. My files have been as big as 2.5GB and the YouTube java uploader app does not work for me. My software is free and GPL. It allows for multi file uploading, and you can queue files to upload after all other uploads have taken place.

It uses Python and PyQt, it's open source, and you can modify it however you want. It also contains an updater so if I update the source code you can easily update your software.

You can download it here: http://www.assembla.com/wiki/show/mfytu

It should let you reduce the compression so you can upload better quality videos. If you see a bug, just put a ticket in on the Assembla page. I wrote it in just a couple days work, counting sleep, so I wont guarantee it's results. And you might want to change the Video extensions it looks for to fit your needs.

I hope that helps. :smile.gif:

Thanks for this guide. Something to think about. I do have a question though. I have been uploading in 1080. How much faster does 720 load, and is there that much difference in quality? Thanks.

To be honest, I'm not sure how noticeable the difference is, or how much faster it is (I also always upload in 1080p). Does anyone else know how much the difference is?

the difference in quality is negligible unless you use super high resolution on your desktop.
Minecraft is rendered in your desktop res when in full screen mode. so lowering that to say 1024 will cause 1024 to be the perfect match. (no resize artifacts) That being said. lowering your desktop res or running minecraft windowed allows you to record the window natively in 720. if you do that then 1024 will start to look fuzzy. and indeed. 720 will look just as good as 1024 did when that was the best match.

While resolution has a fairly noticeable effect on file size, bitrate levels on compression does even more.
when you upload to YT it's going to be compressed into an MP4 no matter what you do. I've noticed that when i upload in MP4 YT processes a lot faster than it does with *.AVI, *.FLV and a few others i have tested. I use 4048 as my bitrate when i compress tho. that way there wont be any nasty artefacts at least on my version of the file. YT sometimes does cause some artefacts. especially if you upload as *AVI

This guide is AMAZINGLY TERRIFIC, I've been thinking about starting a Lets Play, even though there are hundreds, and this is allowing easy access to the tools for creating one.

@Grimskellington: remove debut video capture from the list. I've found that it's got a fatal flaw when recording. it's impossible to record without undue lag even on a high end system. Even tho it reports 30+ fps it's compressor drops frames in such a way that when you upload to YT the movie get's broken. Also. you cant record to MP4 anymore once the trial period ends. MP4 was the one feature that made it marginally easier to use than fraps. (saves a TON of disc-space while recording).

Alright, I removed it.

Normally I would just put a warning next to it until I get multiple reports, but since you were the one to suggest it, I went ahead and removed it.

Thank you for the updated information.

Bump because the forum is active and a lot of LPs could use the advice.