Hello fellow people of the world!
I assume you're here because you either are currently making let's play videos, have made let's play videos in the past, or are planning on doing so in the near future. Well guess what? So am I. It's really hard to gain subscribers isn't it? Yeah, it is, I know. But the purpose of this post isn't to whine! It's to encourage, and have discussion. Something I'd like to clear up as well is, I'm not claiming in anyway to be a pro or anything, as I said, I'm struggling just as much as you are! I'm merely posting my thoughts, hoping to possibly help some people like myself out there and get a discussion going! So, tell me about your channel in the comments down there below! And / or read what I have to say as far as tips and thoughts!
First off I'd like to discuss my thoughts on getting more subscribers:
The number one thing you need to have is....Quality content! (obviously..) Why do I say this? Well, look at all of the pros out there, (e.g AntVenom, CaavemanFilms, ChimneySwift11, SeanNanners, CaptianSparklez) what is one thing every single one of them have in common? The quality of their content. It's all top notch -no pun intended - their video quality is excellent, their microphones all sound great, and they're good at talking while they play games and still manage to be entertaining. You might being saying now, "Well hold on sir! I don't have a good computer! I can't record good video without lag!" or, "I just have a bad microphone and I don't have the money!" and.. Yeah, I know. I was there too. But if you're trying to get popular on YouTube.. You have to have those things. It's just a fact. So if you have too much lag on your videos, then don't expect to get popular and don't wonder why you aren't getting popular. Or, if your microphone volume is too low and no one can hear you.. Well no one is going to watch you then! Or if your microphone has a ton of static in the background.. That just gets annoying to listen too! So, what is the solution to this? I waited to start making videos until I knew I could make at least medium quality videos. If you want to easily get popular on YouTube for free... I don't think that's possible! I had to spend money and I'm still not popular, so spending money doesn't necessarily get you popular either. But back to the solution: get a decent microphone search "usb microphone" on google and you'll be on the right track. If your computer lags: figure out how to stop that from happening (there are plenty of helpful guides with tips on that) or.. Get a different computer!That's what I did. Also, you need your videos to be put together well. If you want a soundtrack or something, use a video editing program to put on there and make sure the levels are balanced! You don't want it to be over powering. I personally use Adobe Premiere and Windows Live Movie Maker but there are many great programs out there for doing this. Oh, one more thing regarding audio quality.. I suggest you record it all separate! Meaning you record your commentary in a program like 'Audacity' (which is free by the way) you can then add effects you may need such as amplifying it if it was recorded too quiet, or noise removal which will help with the static. And then you record the game sound using your video capturing program (e.g fraps, bandicam, camtasia). If you do some of these things you will then start making quality content I do believe! Well.. quality audio and video anyway. Which brings me to my second point: Quality audio and video are super important but there's more to quality than that! Again, looking back on my previous examples, what else do they have in common? They are entertaining and engaging! So, find anyway you can to be entertaining and engaging. How you might ask? Well.. Be yourself! Think about why people like you in real life, and then try to project that into what you're making and recording. Get over the fact that you're just talking to yourself in a room. (this has been a bit hard for me, if you watch any videos, you'll notice I'm sure) So... if you can't talk to yourself very well and still be entertaining. My suggestion to you is to practice before you upload, just to make sure you can actually do it. Not everyone can be a commentator. But yeah! These are my thoughts on quality.. If you have your own thoughts be sure to post them below, I'd love to hear them! And now my third point:Be diverse! Don't only upload a single type of let's play and expect to get famous.. Upload all sorts of different content. Anything you're good at that has to do with what your channel has to offer. Upload it! That's what I believe anyway.
Secondly I'd like to discuss what and what not to upload:
Well! If you think what you've made sucks a ton and you really hate it.. Then don't upload it. Start again, do it over. Don't upload something unless you're at least a little bit proud of what you did. If you're not sure if what you've made is good... Then show your video(s) to your parents and friends or some other third party. Get their input. If they get bored really fast or they think that the audio or something is bad, then ask them how they think you could improve! Don't upload something that you know is going to bore people. Also, if you're sick or something, or you're aware that your quality isn't very good.. Make sure you note that! Tell the people watching the video that you're aware of the issue. Always try to improve. In my videos, I try to always be talking or engaging and stuff, and if I do that and I like the video then I feel confident that there is at least someone out there who will also like my video. Which takes us to my fourth main point: Be confident! And that's all there is to say about that. If you, in your video, you lack confidence in what you are doing and saying... That will show through and no one will watch it! So, BE CONFIDENT. But not over confident to the point of where you're cocky and insulting people and being overly sarcastic, that's just lame and nobody enjoys that. At least, that's what I think.
Thirdly and lastly I'd like to just talk about a few things:
If I ever were to become at least semi-popular on YouTube, I would love to continue to hear from those who are subscribed to me. Which would include checking out peoples channels who asked me to check out there channel, like, I can't promise I would subscribe or that I would give a shoutout.. But, I would most certainly take a look, and if I liked the content I would then let others know about it. But since at the moment I'm not famous.. I will most definitely do that still! It's just that me giving a shoutout wouldn't do too much good at the moment But, if you'd like me to check out your channel and let me know what I think of it.. Post a link in this thread and we'll talk about it! As that is the whole point of this post; to get discussion going on YouTube pages who are struggling to get subscribers! Another thing I'd like to touch on is... I know how hard it is!! Trust me. At times I feel like totally spamming popular videos begging people to watch my videos. But.. I don't. And I encourage you not to do that either! Please. Please don't spam popular YouTubers with comments like: "I'm just a new youtuber trying to gain recognition!" Because really... Nobody actually likes spam, and although doing that can work.. It will also give you a negative reputation. Which no one wants! So, avoid spam!! AND NEVER DO "SUB FOR SUB". Hmm... And another thing:YouTubers need to interact with their community. I try to reply to ALL my comments and PM's, and I generally check out video responses and video PM's. The people like it when you talk back to them, and encourages potential subscribers to go ahead and click that gray button on your channel or your video. Oh yeah! And, when titling your videos, try to make them look professional and avoid all spelling and grammar errors! Those don't help you at all. Make your descriptions appealing as well. And I think that's about all I have to say for now! I hope you found this helpful and such.. My closing words to you are... Good luck! I hope to see you around. Also, check out my channel if you like! And let me know what you think of it. If you'd like me to check out your channel, tell me so! If you have any tips for me, or to add to this then tell me about those as well! Oh and, don't give up until you've given it all you have! Any support you'd like to give me is welcome as well (e.g subscribing to my videos or other feedback!) Thanks for reading this!
(if you want me to add your channel here, again, tell me about it, be sure to check my channel and then! If I enjoy your content I'll add it)
What do you think of what I have to say? Let me know!
Thoughts added by others I found notable:
"Another thing is that a lot of people try to do a monotonous lets play. either they go full-on humor or full-on informative (unless it's a tutorial channel or series which in that case is fine). truth be told, if you look at the popular people on youtube, yes they are funny, but they also have other traits. Tobuscus creates stories on the fly some of which can be quite sad and such, this captivates the audience, yet he doesn't overdo it. the yogscast have a big ongoing story going on which also captivates people. Totalbiscuit states things in a way that yes makes people mad but also makes others think. and etc etc etc. basically what I'm trying to say is that "unique" thing MCFilmers was talking about isn't being just extraordinarily funny or informative or w/e, it's blending things together nicely in your commentary in a captivating way that gets people talking and/or thinking."
~Akinon93
"Here is my advice - and it relates to audio specifically.
Make sure your recording is clean. I don't want to hear the sound of saliva in your mouth as you open your mouth to talk. That 'gliick' noise? No one likes it. And it can be the most annoying thing to hear. Try and practice talking without making that noise. It is possible, just takes time to learn.
Depending on your microphone, you might notice a deep rumbling noise from movement or the background. If that is the case, open up an equalizer plugin and subtract around under 100Hz. In Audacity you select all the audio you wish to be processed, and under effect there is a plugin called equalization. Click on the frequency on the blue line (e.g. 100 Hz) and then click again somewhere under that line somewhere to the left. Click preview to see if it has worked, and if so, press OK. If not, either drag the white dots created, or create additional white dots to move around.
If you constantly find your audio to be very quiet, use 'Normalize'. However, if your audio is very dynamic, (i.e. very loud at some places, and soft in others) you might find this wont work, in this case use the 'Compressor'. This plug-in may be at bit advanced, but ill try cover the basics, but with it you can set a more level dynamic range. The threshold adjusts when the compressor will start working according to how loud it is. The ratio will set how much the audio will become level with the rest, and the attack time will tell the compressor how fast it should act when the audio gets above the threshold. Just remember with this tool, if you use it too aggressively, it will destroy the audio, making it sound even worse. So use it sparingly, the less, the better. Since it is a free plugin, it *WILL* destroy the quality of the audio, so no setting everything to full. You have been warned.
Lastly, if someone watches the video and has nothing negative to say about the quality, it means you have done your job. If one person picks up on something, everyone will pick up on it, distracting them from the video itself. Don't overlook audio quality." ~Furcas
"Ok. To be perfectly honest, this is an example of something you DON'T want to say if you want viewers/subscribers ----> Hey come check out my channel! I put a bunch of work into my videos and don't think I get the recognition I deserve... Now I'm bringing this up because I receive way to many messages like that from people on YouTube. And I'll tell you what's so wrong it. Let's say I'm the average person on YouTube and I get that message. My first instinct is not to check it out and here's why, I DON'T CARE. Nothing that was mentioned in that message is something that I care about. I want subscribers too. I want recognition too. So why would I even care about your channel...? And even if I did check you out, I would be much more inclined to dislike your content. Even if it's not even that bad.
By now you probably think I'm a jerk, but read on. Believe it or not, I wrote this reply for your benefit. So now we have the issue of what actually SHOULD be said in a message like that if you absolutely have to write one. Reread this post and try to guess. I'm sure you guessed it correctly, which brings me to my most important tip - MAKE ME CARE. Make me like you by the time I'm finished reading your message. Make me laugh. Make me want to visit your channel or hit the subscribe button. DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN ASK FOR SUBSCRIBERS WITHOUT ACTUALLY ASKING???? But we'll get to that later... So how do you make me care? Well what does the average person on YouTube want? You guessed it, subs, likes, views and even encouraging words. Offer me something that I want and I'll like you and If I like you, I might subscribe even if you have crappy content.
Now you may be wondering if you actually can ask for a subs without actually asking and I assure you that it is possible. It's not fail safe and the person won't always subscribe but here's what you do. First, watch a video or two from the person you are messaging. Then point out all the good things in the video to them and the highlights and things that made you laugh. Drop a like and a fav. on a few of their videos and tell them you'll subscribe to them and that if they ever want to contact you then leave a comment on your channel because you don't usually check your messages. Don't subscribe, that'll prompt a reply. Then I'm sure you can figure it out from there. This is just my advice because I'm so done with reading stupid messages from people. And if you take at least one thing from this it should be MAKE ME CARE AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO GIVE A LITTLE BEFORE YOU RECEIVE. Thank you for reading this and I hope this wasn't absolute crap advice." ~MrZEeBourne
"YouTubers need to interact with their community. I reply to ALL my comments and PMs, and I always check out video responses and video PMs. The people like it when you talk back to them, and encourages potential subscribers to go ahead and click that gray button on your channel or you video." ~EnigmaticMiner
Unless you all skipped my OP I said that it used to work fine at the highest settings at a solid 40-60 fps without lag.
Also, my laptop has a feature called switchable graphics. It is a hardware button that toggles between Nvidia and Integrated Graphics, it's been on the Nvidia for the past few weeks. :0
EDIT: Hold on... how the HECK did it get from Nvidia to Integrated? I haven't touched for the past few weeks!? Anyways... all fixed now lol... runs at a beautiful 80 fps :']
I'm the biggest n00b.
/thread.
Yaayyy! :biggrin.gif: At least you got it fixed :smile.gif: Someone else may read this now and never have known you had to do that and then be extremely happy that you figured it out so as to help them too! :smile.gif:
1
I assume you're here because you either are currently making let's play videos, have made let's play videos in the past, or are planning on doing so in the near future. Well guess what? So am I. It's really hard to gain subscribers isn't it? Yeah, it is, I know. But the purpose of this post isn't to whine! It's to encourage, and have discussion. Something I'd like to clear up as well is, I'm not claiming in anyway to be a pro or anything, as I said, I'm struggling just as much as you are! I'm merely posting my thoughts, hoping to possibly help some people like myself out there and get a discussion going! So, tell me about your channel in the comments down there below! And / or read what I have to say as far as tips and thoughts!
First off I'd like to discuss my thoughts on getting more subscribers:
The number one thing you need to have is.... Quality content! (obviously..) Why do I say this? Well, look at all of the pros out there, (e.g AntVenom, CaavemanFilms, ChimneySwift11, SeanNanners, CaptianSparklez) what is one thing every single one of them have in common? The quality of their content. It's all top notch -no pun intended
Which brings me to my second point: Quality audio and video are super important but there's more to quality than that! Again, looking back on my previous examples, what else do they have in common? They are entertaining and engaging! So, find anyway you can to be entertaining and engaging. How you might ask? Well.. Be yourself! Think about why people like you in real life, and then try to project that into what you're making and recording. Get over the fact that you're just talking to yourself in a room. (this has been a bit hard for me, if you watch any videos, you'll notice I'm sure) So... if you can't talk to yourself very well and still be entertaining. My suggestion to you is to practice before you upload, just to make sure you can actually do it. Not everyone can be a commentator. But yeah! These are my thoughts on quality.. If you have your own thoughts be sure to post them below, I'd love to hear them!
And now my third point:Be diverse! Don't only upload a single type of let's play and expect to get famous.. Upload all sorts of different content. Anything you're good at that has to do with what your channel has to offer. Upload it! That's what I believe anyway.
Secondly I'd like to discuss what and what not to upload:
Well! If you think what you've made sucks a ton and you really hate it.. Then don't upload it. Start again, do it over. Don't upload something unless you're at least a little bit proud of what you did. If you're not sure if what you've made is good... Then show your video(s) to your parents and friends or some other third party. Get their input. If they get bored really fast or they think that the audio or something is bad, then ask them how they think you could improve! Don't upload something that you know is going to bore people. Also, if you're sick or something, or you're aware that your quality isn't very good.. Make sure you note that! Tell the people watching the video that you're aware of the issue. Always try to improve. In my videos, I try to always be talking or engaging and stuff, and if I do that and I like the video then I feel confident that there is at least someone out there who will also like my video. Which takes us to my fourth main point: Be confident! And that's all there is to say about that. If you, in your video, you lack confidence in what you are doing and saying... That will show through and no one will watch it! So, BE CONFIDENT. But not over confident to the point of where you're cocky and insulting people and being overly sarcastic, that's just lame and nobody enjoys that. At least, that's what I think.
Thirdly and lastly I'd like to just talk about a few things:
If I ever were to become at least semi-popular on YouTube, I would love to continue to hear from those who are subscribed to me. Which would include checking out peoples channels who asked me to check out there channel, like, I can't promise I would subscribe or that I would give a shoutout.. But, I would most certainly take a look, and if I liked the content I would then let others know about it. But since at the moment I'm not famous.. I will most definitely do that still! It's just that me giving a shoutout wouldn't do too much good at the moment
Here's some YouTube Channels I suggest you check out:
Well mine of course: http://www.youtube.c.../MakesNoDollars
A good friend of mine's: http://www.youtube.c...ser/MrZEeBourne
If you like British people: http://www.youtube.c...er/CobbleCraftt ;P
A guy who's pretty funny!: http://www.youtube.c...r/WTFridgerator
And another fine fellow!: http://www.youtube.com/user/sneakywalrusTG :]
(if you want me to add your channel here, again, tell me about it, be sure to check my channel and then! If I enjoy your content I'll add it)
What do you think of what I have to say? Let me know!
Thoughts added by others I found notable:
"Another thing is that a lot of people try to do a monotonous lets play. either they go full-on humor or full-on informative (unless it's a tutorial channel or series which in that case is fine). truth be told, if you look at the popular people on youtube, yes they are funny, but they also have other traits. Tobuscus creates stories on the fly some of which can be quite sad and such, this captivates the audience, yet he doesn't overdo it. the yogscast have a big ongoing story going on which also captivates people. Totalbiscuit states things in a way that yes makes people mad but also makes others think. and etc etc etc. basically what I'm trying to say is that "unique" thing MCFilmers was talking about isn't being just extraordinarily funny or informative or w/e, it's blending things together nicely in your commentary in a captivating way that gets people talking and/or thinking."
~Akinon93
"Here is my advice - and it relates to audio specifically.
Make sure your recording is clean. I don't want to hear the sound of saliva in your mouth as you open your mouth to talk. That 'gliick' noise? No one likes it. And it can be the most annoying thing to hear. Try and practice talking without making that noise. It is possible, just takes time to learn.
Depending on your microphone, you might notice a deep rumbling noise from movement or the background. If that is the case, open up an equalizer plugin and subtract around under 100Hz. In Audacity you select all the audio you wish to be processed, and under effect there is a plugin called equalization. Click on the frequency on the blue line (e.g. 100 Hz) and then click again somewhere under that line somewhere to the left. Click preview to see if it has worked, and if so, press OK. If not, either drag the white dots created, or create additional white dots to move around.
If you constantly find your audio to be very quiet, use 'Normalize'. However, if your audio is very dynamic, (i.e. very loud at some places, and soft in others) you might find this wont work, in this case use the 'Compressor'. This plug-in may be at bit advanced, but ill try cover the basics, but with it you can set a more level dynamic range. The threshold adjusts when the compressor will start working according to how loud it is. The ratio will set how much the audio will become level with the rest, and the attack time will tell the compressor how fast it should act when the audio gets above the threshold. Just remember with this tool, if you use it too aggressively, it will destroy the audio, making it sound even worse. So use it sparingly, the less, the better. Since it is a free plugin, it *WILL* destroy the quality of the audio, so no setting everything to full. You have been warned.
Lastly, if someone watches the video and has nothing negative to say about the quality, it means you have done your job. If one person picks up on something, everyone will pick up on it, distracting them from the video itself. Don't overlook audio quality."
~Furcas
"Ok. To be perfectly honest, this is an example of something you DON'T want to say if you want viewers/subscribers ----> Hey come check out my channel! I put a bunch of work into my videos and don't think I get the recognition I deserve... Now I'm bringing this up because I receive way to many messages like that from people on YouTube. And I'll tell you what's so wrong it. Let's say I'm the average person on YouTube and I get that message. My first instinct is not to check it out and here's why, I DON'T CARE. Nothing that was mentioned in that message is something that I care about. I want subscribers too. I want recognition too. So why would I even care about your channel...? And even if I did check you out, I would be much more inclined to dislike your content. Even if it's not even that bad.
By now you probably think I'm a jerk, but read on. Believe it or not, I wrote this reply for your benefit. So now we have the issue of what actually SHOULD be said in a message like that if you absolutely have to write one. Reread this post and try to guess. I'm sure you guessed it correctly, which brings me to my most important tip - MAKE ME CARE. Make me like you by the time I'm finished reading your message. Make me laugh. Make me want to visit your channel or hit the subscribe button. DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN ASK FOR SUBSCRIBERS WITHOUT ACTUALLY ASKING???? But we'll get to that later... So how do you make me care? Well what does the average person on YouTube want? You guessed it, subs, likes, views and even encouraging words. Offer me something that I want and I'll like you and If I like you, I might subscribe even if you have crappy content.
Now you may be wondering if you actually can ask for a subs without actually asking and I assure you that it is possible. It's not fail safe and the person won't always subscribe but here's what you do. First, watch a video or two from the person you are messaging. Then point out all the good things in the video to them and the highlights and things that made you laugh. Drop a like and a fav. on a few of their videos and tell them you'll subscribe to them and that if they ever want to contact you then leave a comment on your channel because you don't usually check your messages. Don't subscribe, that'll prompt a reply. Then I'm sure you can figure it out from there. This is just my advice because I'm so done with reading stupid messages from people. And if you take at least one thing from this it should be MAKE ME CARE AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO GIVE A LITTLE BEFORE YOU RECEIVE. Thank you for reading this and I hope this wasn't absolute crap advice."
~MrZEeBourne
"YouTubers need to interact with their community. I reply to ALL my comments and PMs, and I always check out video responses and video PMs. The people like it when you talk back to them, and encourages potential subscribers to go ahead and click that gray button on your channel or you video."
~EnigmaticMiner
1
Yaayyy! :biggrin.gif: At least you got it fixed :smile.gif: Someone else may read this now and never have known you had to do that and then be extremely happy that you figured it out so as to help them too! :smile.gif: