Forums · Let's talk Let's Plays.
Aha! First vids recorded, LP starting soon
Well. I have finally come to a decision. I want to try my hand at Let's Plays. (Video game recordings done with commentary) The thing is, I don't know much about actually making LPs, which is why I'm coming here for help. I own a Macbook v.10.5.4, BTW. I own a couple of emulators (SNES9x, VisualboyAdvance) and have access to a couple of freeware games. (notably Cave Story) I'm planning on probably starting with a run of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages for the Gameboy Color. I would like to start with Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube, my favorite game of all time, but I currently don't have access to recording software for console video games. What I need to know:
1. What recording software can I use for emulators and freeware games on my computer? (Remember, commentary is a must. Also, I'm thinking it should be free and downloadable. I don't have dough floating around at the present) I'm hoping this kind of software actually exists.
2. How to use this software. (Not as necessary. I could read about it myself... >_____________>) (But seriously, answer this only if you want to.)
3. If any of you have experience in this kind of area, I'd like to know about it. What to watch out for, how to improve, habits I should get into, etc. etc.
If any of you could help me out, I'd be so grateful. Thanks in advance!
1. What recording software can I use for emulators and freeware games on my computer? (Remember, commentary is a must. Also, I'm thinking it should be free and downloadable. I don't have dough floating around at the present) I'm hoping this kind of software actually exists.
2. How to use this software. (Not as necessary. I could read about it myself... >_____________>) (But seriously, answer this only if you want to.)
3. If any of you have experience in this kind of area, I'd like to know about it. What to watch out for, how to improve, habits I should get into, etc. etc.
If any of you could help me out, I'd be so grateful. Thanks in advance!
All I can give are a few pieces of general advice that not everyone seems to follow:
-Play a game you know like the back of your hand, or rather test run a segment a few times so you don't do too much aimless wandering or otherwise failing a certain task (unless of course said task is just that hard.)
-Some people take "commentary" too loosely and spend a bit too much talking borderline drivel that won't do much for the viewers. Quips are fine, and make them entertaining to watch, but try keeping things advice oriented. Particularly when you're doing something that doesn't need explaining for a while, but will be coming to a room of importance that DOES take a lot of explaining, start talking about it once you start doing your simple or menial task/exploration. Why? Too often people will just stop in front of a door for a few minutes and talk, when they wasted a good chunk of time before that. It keeps things moving and your viewers will see as much gameplay as they hear commentary.
-If you're playing an RPG or in your case Zelda, if you're going to be doing some backtracking without a shortcut, or generally anything the viewer has already seen by watching your video, feel free to cut those segments out and pick up once you reach your destination. It keeps the mundane content out while letting you stretch your video length out a bit longer.
-Try to have your boss fights all on one segment rather than end a segment during one. Not always that simple for final bosses, but it helps the presentation.
-Play a game you know like the back of your hand, or rather test run a segment a few times so you don't do too much aimless wandering or otherwise failing a certain task (unless of course said task is just that hard.)
-Some people take "commentary" too loosely and spend a bit too much talking borderline drivel that won't do much for the viewers. Quips are fine, and make them entertaining to watch, but try keeping things advice oriented. Particularly when you're doing something that doesn't need explaining for a while, but will be coming to a room of importance that DOES take a lot of explaining, start talking about it once you start doing your simple or menial task/exploration. Why? Too often people will just stop in front of a door for a few minutes and talk, when they wasted a good chunk of time before that. It keeps things moving and your viewers will see as much gameplay as they hear commentary.
-If you're playing an RPG or in your case Zelda, if you're going to be doing some backtracking without a shortcut, or generally anything the viewer has already seen by watching your video, feel free to cut those segments out and pick up once you reach your destination. It keeps the mundane content out while letting you stretch your video length out a bit longer.
-Try to have your boss fights all on one segment rather than end a segment during one. Not always that simple for final bosses, but it helps the presentation.
[QUOTE USER="repto" TIME="1221659507"]All I can give are a few pieces of general advice that not everyone seems to follow:
-Play a game you know like the back of your hand, or rather test run a segment a few times so you don't do too much aimless wandering or otherwise failing a certain task (unless of course said task is just that hard.)
-Some people take "commentary" too loosely and spend a bit too much talking borderline drivel that won't do much for the viewers. Quips are fine, and make them entertaining to watch, but try keeping things advice oriented. Particularly when you're doing something that doesn't need explaining for a while, but will be coming to a room of importance that DOES take a lot of explaining, start talking about it once you start doing your simple or menial task/exploration. Why? Too often people will just stop in front of a door for a few minutes and talk, when they wasted a good chunk of time before that. It keeps things moving and your viewers will see as much gameplay as they hear commentary.
-If you're playing an RPG or in your case Zelda, if you're going to be doing some backtracking without a shortcut, or generally anything the viewer has already seen by watching your video, feel free to cut those segments out and pick up once you reach your destination. It keeps the mundane content out while letting you stretch your video length out a bit longer.
-Try to have your boss fights all on one segment rather than end a segment during one. Not always that simple for final bosses, but it helps the presentation.[/QUOTE]
-Yes, I intend to do so. I've played through OoA several times, and twice recently, it being one of my favorite childhood games. That's one of the reasons I want it to be my first Let's Play. I'm not the best player around, of course, but I can easily get through the entire thing without dying.
-Thanks for this tip. I do tend to wander off on different trains of thought, but I will try to keep the commentary down to game-related stuff. I plan to make an intro video for each of my LPs, which describes the general story of the game without revealing spoilers, shows some highlights, and explains why I chose the game, etc.
-Yeah, I plan to cut some stuff out. Using an emulator, though, I have the ability to abuse the fast-forward button. On top of that, Gale Seeds are implemented in the game as a warp system.
-Boss fights might be tricky. I may just include them in one video if I deem it appropriate, but the boss battles in OoA are very short for the most part. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
OK. I downloaded something called "Jing", which is free software that records videos and my commentary. However, I am still waiting on a test video to be processed on YouTube. I am worried that the format won't be accepted, it is a .swf file. YouTube's help files don't list anything for recording stuff directly off of a computer as far as I can tell, and I can't seem to access the forums. Also, if this does happen to work, I don't know how to edit the videos. I am looking more into this "Jing" as I speak. (Err... Type.) I think I may need some other type of software to edit the video, something like WMM, except for Macs. Jing seems to be very basic. Once again, if anyone has any ideas, I'll accept and try anything.
-Play a game you know like the back of your hand, or rather test run a segment a few times so you don't do too much aimless wandering or otherwise failing a certain task (unless of course said task is just that hard.)
-Some people take "commentary" too loosely and spend a bit too much talking borderline drivel that won't do much for the viewers. Quips are fine, and make them entertaining to watch, but try keeping things advice oriented. Particularly when you're doing something that doesn't need explaining for a while, but will be coming to a room of importance that DOES take a lot of explaining, start talking about it once you start doing your simple or menial task/exploration. Why? Too often people will just stop in front of a door for a few minutes and talk, when they wasted a good chunk of time before that. It keeps things moving and your viewers will see as much gameplay as they hear commentary.
-If you're playing an RPG or in your case Zelda, if you're going to be doing some backtracking without a shortcut, or generally anything the viewer has already seen by watching your video, feel free to cut those segments out and pick up once you reach your destination. It keeps the mundane content out while letting you stretch your video length out a bit longer.
-Try to have your boss fights all on one segment rather than end a segment during one. Not always that simple for final bosses, but it helps the presentation.[/QUOTE]
-Yes, I intend to do so. I've played through OoA several times, and twice recently, it being one of my favorite childhood games. That's one of the reasons I want it to be my first Let's Play. I'm not the best player around, of course, but I can easily get through the entire thing without dying.
-Thanks for this tip. I do tend to wander off on different trains of thought, but I will try to keep the commentary down to game-related stuff. I plan to make an intro video for each of my LPs, which describes the general story of the game without revealing spoilers, shows some highlights, and explains why I chose the game, etc.
-Yeah, I plan to cut some stuff out. Using an emulator, though, I have the ability to abuse the fast-forward button. On top of that, Gale Seeds are implemented in the game as a warp system.
-Boss fights might be tricky. I may just include them in one video if I deem it appropriate, but the boss battles in OoA are very short for the most part. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
OK. I downloaded something called "Jing", which is free software that records videos and my commentary. However, I am still waiting on a test video to be processed on YouTube. I am worried that the format won't be accepted, it is a .swf file. YouTube's help files don't list anything for recording stuff directly off of a computer as far as I can tell, and I can't seem to access the forums. Also, if this does happen to work, I don't know how to edit the videos. I am looking more into this "Jing" as I speak. (Err... Type.) I think I may need some other type of software to edit the video, something like WMM, except for Macs. Jing seems to be very basic. Once again, if anyone has any ideas, I'll accept and try anything.
I'll also accept some sort of file converter that can convert .swf files to .mov or other accepted files by YouTube. I'm getting desperate... I might need to spend money on this one, so I might have to wait a while... Does anyone have experience with iMovie? That might work, I don't know. $80, though... Also, uploading. Does it really take that long to upload? One file I recorded was 144 MB, just for a 45 second clip. Apparently that would take several hours to upload, according to YouTube. Anyway, I'm holding off on any more testing until I get an answer.
[QUOTE USER="shadianvise" TIME="1221737535"]Ah, I see. Yes, I know to do that. I thought you meant keep a boss in a separate video.
Any news on the cost of the audio recording device, HH?[/QUOTE]
well i think you miss understood me I said a hypercam which records the picture and sound of the game, not your voice.
The hypercam normally costs 20 bucks but i can get you one for free.
Anyways go to circut city by a speech recording headset for 5 bucks and record your voice.
Any news on the cost of the audio recording device, HH?[/QUOTE]
well i think you miss understood me I said a hypercam which records the picture and sound of the game, not your voice.
The hypercam normally costs 20 bucks but i can get you one for free.
Anyways go to circut city by a speech recording headset for 5 bucks and record your voice.
Update: I've been experimenting with a program called IShowU. It creates videos very well, and I can upload to YouTube with ease. I'm probably going to be buying the program. I've done a test video and uploaded it, here it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcdyeR8DKBo
Since I haven't bought the program just yet, there's a watermark over the screen. There's also an issue with the audio. The in-game music is incredibly loud on the actual video, while my voice is quiet. Hopefully, getting a headset will solve this problem somewhat. I'll experiment a bit more, probably buy the program, and get a headset to help with the audio. In the meantime, I'd like feedback on the test video. It was nothing special, just me randomly running around, abusing the turbo button, and rambling. It's actually a lot harder than I thought it would be to talk while I'm trying to play, especially when I'm trying to give commentary on stuff other than actual gameplay. Anyway, check my video out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcdyeR8DKBo
Since I haven't bought the program just yet, there's a watermark over the screen. There's also an issue with the audio. The in-game music is incredibly loud on the actual video, while my voice is quiet. Hopefully, getting a headset will solve this problem somewhat. I'll experiment a bit more, probably buy the program, and get a headset to help with the audio. In the meantime, I'd like feedback on the test video. It was nothing special, just me randomly running around, abusing the turbo button, and rambling. It's actually a lot harder than I thought it would be to talk while I'm trying to play, especially when I'm trying to give commentary on stuff other than actual gameplay. Anyway, check my video out.
Thanks, HH, but I'd rather go about getting something like this the legitimate way. It may not be any worse than using an emulator, but it would certainly help me sleep better at night. (The way I see it, I'm not cheating Nintendo out of money by using an emulator, because I'd never buy the games I emulate anyway. I would be cheating SWB out of money by using a illegitimately obtained code) The money wasn't really an issue anyway. I bought the program, and am testing again.
My test video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb27vWaDSc8
I'll be getting a headset in a couple of days, then I'll start recording.
My test video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb27vWaDSc8
I'll be getting a headset in a couple of days, then I'll start recording.
Yeah, thanks. Anyway, I got a headset, but discovered it wasn't exactly compatible with Macs, even though it said it was. I'll keep it since it's a good pair of headphones, though. I figured out a way of making my built in microphone work, so that'll be fine. Check out my channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ShadianVise
I uploaded a couple of introduction vids, and I'll be starting my first LP soon.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ShadianVise
I uploaded a couple of introduction vids, and I'll be starting my first LP soon.
OK, OK. I got a new Logitech USB Headset, and it seems to eliminate sound lag pretty well from the tests I've done. Hopefully, I can start my OoA Let's Play within the next few days, barring homework and other crap that'll get in my way. I'm actually pretty excited. ^_^ I've gone through several headsets, trying to find one that eliminates sound lag, but I ran into a bigger problem: Finding headsets that actually work with Macs. Anyway, I found one. I'll bump this again when I get a few parts done.
EDIT: ... I seem to be having some trouble with YouTube. My video, Pre-play #1, seems to be gone from the My Video list on my profile. Could someone shine some light on what happened?
EDIT: ... I seem to be having some trouble with YouTube. My video, Pre-play #1, seems to be gone from the My Video list on my profile. Could someone shine some light on what happened?
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