The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
2/1/2012
Posts:
773
Member Details
What are your system specs and budget? (for the hardware/software questions) - I will assume you use a windows system:
- I will likely recommend FRAPs or DxTory to record with (depending on system specs), these each run a bit under $50 USD.
- I will likely recommend Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD for editing (Home Edition is ~$50 USD, and it is your good econo-solution, there is much better software out there, but this will do most things you'd need for a video game LP, though not quite enough to do actual serious movies)
- Audio Recording: Audacity is great for recording your voice on a seperate audio track for easier editing (DxTory can do this natively, FRAPs does not), Audacity is free (there are a few 'pay' equivalents, but you likely wouldn't need them)
- Hardware: I cannot stress it enough - get a good microphone. A decent headset will set you back about $60-80, and will make moderate quality relatively easy to obtain. A decent stand alone microphone setup will set you back about $120 (Microphone + Stand + Pop Filter + Shock Mount - some of these are able to be omitted based on your recording environment). If you go standalone microphone it is much easier to get high quality audio, though you will also want to use good noise isolating headphones/earbuds so you don't get echo.
Video game channels are easily the cheapest option as far as youtube channels go, with the lowest end options not even breaking $100 total cost (though recommended startup is ~$200 for decent quality, which is dirt cheap considering the cost of other channel startup costs at equal quality).
As for the rest of it...
- Creating interesting content is up to you - but if you do what you are passionate about, it will be easier to keep people engaged.
- Getting viewers requires you to be active in the community (people -will- stumble across your videos randomly, but most your viewers will come in from comments, forum posts, or really good video tagging on your part to catch the search engine, though your results will only be higher when you get the views behind it)
- Don't worry about subscriber count... for example, I may only have 127 subs, but I have almost 11.3k views (only started in June, and I have been suffering severe hardware difficulties since october, which will finally be resolved in January) - there are people I work alongside that have 300-500 subscribers, but only just barely have broken 10k views (and have the same view rate as my semi-idle channel). Views are what get you money if you monetize, viewer retention helps you judge the quality of your content, and view sources tell you where word about your content is being spread. None of these require subscribers
Hope that helps a bit...
PS - also be sure to release regular content... even with my hardware issues, I try to keep my subscribers informed regularly, and release at least something (though the last 2 weeks, I haven't been able to do that because the issues have just gotten too bad to consider anything a real release candidate...)
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
2/1/2012
Posts:
773
Member Details
... I never said you 'buy' channels, it's called 'startup costs' - simply put, the cost to getting the equipment to start a hobby, business, or pursuit in general.
For example to started painting in acrylic, you're going to shell out between $30 (Canvas + cheap hobby brand paint set) to $90 (Basic colors of acrylic in a student grade brand, gesso, cheap synthetic brushes, and a couple canvas boards or masonite panels).
The cost of starting a gaming channel is generally: First game (I assumed you were doing minecraft and already had it), Hardware (Mic/Headphone/PC, if not already present), Recording Software, editing/rendering software.
The cost of starting a vlog channel (another cheap startup option channel-wise) is generally: webcam or camera, mic, pc, capture/editing/rendering software.
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I should note, I look at everything from the perspective of investment + reward vs risk. (The reward of doing youtube, is that it is a hobby that I enjoy greatly - anything else is superfluous, and it is worth the investment for me because of that...)
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- I will likely recommend FRAPs or DxTory to record with (depending on system specs), these each run a bit under $50 USD.
- I will likely recommend Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD for editing (Home Edition is ~$50 USD, and it is your good econo-solution, there is much better software out there, but this will do most things you'd need for a video game LP, though not quite enough to do actual serious movies)
- Audio Recording: Audacity is great for recording your voice on a seperate audio track for easier editing (DxTory can do this natively, FRAPs does not), Audacity is free (there are a few 'pay' equivalents, but you likely wouldn't need them)
- Hardware: I cannot stress it enough - get a good microphone. A decent headset will set you back about $60-80, and will make moderate quality relatively easy to obtain. A decent stand alone microphone setup will set you back about $120 (Microphone + Stand + Pop Filter + Shock Mount - some of these are able to be omitted based on your recording environment). If you go standalone microphone it is much easier to get high quality audio, though you will also want to use good noise isolating headphones/earbuds so you don't get echo.
Video game channels are easily the cheapest option as far as youtube channels go, with the lowest end options not even breaking $100 total cost (though recommended startup is ~$200 for decent quality, which is dirt cheap considering the cost of other channel startup costs at equal quality).
As for the rest of it...
- Creating interesting content is up to you - but if you do what you are passionate about, it will be easier to keep people engaged.
- Getting viewers requires you to be active in the community (people -will- stumble across your videos randomly, but most your viewers will come in from comments, forum posts, or really good video tagging on your part to catch the search engine, though your results will only be higher when you get the views behind it)
- Don't worry about subscriber count... for example, I may only have 127 subs, but I have almost 11.3k views (only started in June, and I have been suffering severe hardware difficulties since october, which will finally be resolved in January) - there are people I work alongside that have 300-500 subscribers, but only just barely have broken 10k views (and have the same view rate as my semi-idle channel). Views are what get you money if you monetize, viewer retention helps you judge the quality of your content, and view sources tell you where word about your content is being spread. None of these require subscribers
Hope that helps a bit...
PS - also be sure to release regular content... even with my hardware issues, I try to keep my subscribers informed regularly, and release at least something (though the last 2 weeks, I haven't been able to do that because the issues have just gotten too bad to consider anything a real release candidate...)
For example to started painting in acrylic, you're going to shell out between $30 (Canvas + cheap hobby brand paint set) to $90 (Basic colors of acrylic in a student grade brand, gesso, cheap synthetic brushes, and a couple canvas boards or masonite panels).
The cost of starting a gaming channel is generally: First game (I assumed you were doing minecraft and already had it), Hardware (Mic/Headphone/PC, if not already present), Recording Software, editing/rendering software.
The cost of starting a vlog channel (another cheap startup option channel-wise) is generally: webcam or camera, mic, pc, capture/editing/rendering software.
-----
I should note, I look at everything from the perspective of investment + reward vs risk. (The reward of doing youtube, is that it is a hobby that I enjoy greatly - anything else is superfluous, and it is worth the investment for me because of that...)