Daniel
YTtalk's Juicy Lemon
Introduction
Hello there everyone, I thought I would do a sort-of tutorial/how-to post on how to plan a video for commentators. For those people who are new to commentary, it may be a daunting idea of talking to yourself about a particular topic. But hopefully this should help all of you with starting out or looking to improve your commentating skills. I'm going to explain this step-by-step and in different sections covering programs to use, microphones, editing audio as well as researching what topics you want to talk about.
Microphones
Now I won't go into full detail about this. But if you would more information please feel free to check out Tarmack's post about guides to finding the right microphone, it will cover everything you need.
It can be found on the YTTalk forums under Video Editing, Recording, Software & Hardware
I cannot post links yet I am afraid.
What I did want to bring up though, is that you should be looking to purchase a decent microphone which is clear and easy to use. You may also look to purchasing a microphone stand, shock mount and a pop filter. These will help with the quality of sound overall, reducing background noise and a shock mount will protect from falls or knocks, keeping the microphone in place.
As I said, please ready Tarmack's post as it goes into a lot more detail and will help you much better than I can.
Programs
To record commentary, I would recommend using Audacity. It's a free audio editor and recorder which I use to record a lot of my commentary and then editing it. There are of course, other programs you could use, but Audacity is free and it is probably the best.
Planning - Live? or Post?
When planning a video, you always want to decide whether you want to do live and post commentary. You may ask what are the differences between the two? Let me explain.
Live commentary is where you talk as you play a game. For example, you are playing battlefield 3 and talking about the topic at the same time.
Post commentary is where you talk over footage of a game or other video.
You need to decide this before you even plan to do the video. Its pretty much about preference, many people tend to stick to post commentary because you can make cuts where there is mistakes, but many people like live commentary because they like people to talk about the game as well.
Planning - Choosing a topic
Also, when planning you need to decide on what topic you are going to talk about. Choose a topic which is either relating to the content which you create or that is about you. Don't do topics off topic from the content that you post as subscribers would want to see related content.
Bear in mind when choosing something to talk about. Don't look at old news. It's dull and boring. Talk about recent subjects which haven't been talked about much, this will also help gain exposure for your channel.
Planning - Choosing footage
When choosing footage which will play with you commentating, like the above, choose something relevant to you. Gamers may decide to post Battlefield 3 for example. As I previously said don't go off topic as your subscribers will be looking for content relating to you.
Planning - Creating a 'script'
A good idea is to produce a set of notes in chronological order, starting from what you want to talk about first to what you want to say at the end. This makes sure you do not get things mixed up.
Also, write things in note form, don't have huge paragraphs on the exact things you want to say. It takes too much time otherwise. Also, when talking spontaneously, it makes you sound better and you sound less like your reading off a sheet or screen.
A few final tips before you begin
1) Don't sound particularly bored or uninterested. It will affect how people will view your video. Soon they would begin to feel bored as well. So show some enthusiasm while speaking and talk clearly so they can understand you.
2) Remember that it all comes with practice, don't expect to be great at commentating when you begin. It will come to you as you continue to produce new commentaries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I can post links I will update this thread.
PART 2 including editing audio as well as settings for Audacity will come in the future. Possibly the next couple of days. Thank you for reading.
Hello there everyone, I thought I would do a sort-of tutorial/how-to post on how to plan a video for commentators. For those people who are new to commentary, it may be a daunting idea of talking to yourself about a particular topic. But hopefully this should help all of you with starting out or looking to improve your commentating skills. I'm going to explain this step-by-step and in different sections covering programs to use, microphones, editing audio as well as researching what topics you want to talk about.
Microphones
Now I won't go into full detail about this. But if you would more information please feel free to check out Tarmack's post about guides to finding the right microphone, it will cover everything you need.
It can be found on the YTTalk forums under Video Editing, Recording, Software & Hardware
I cannot post links yet I am afraid.
What I did want to bring up though, is that you should be looking to purchase a decent microphone which is clear and easy to use. You may also look to purchasing a microphone stand, shock mount and a pop filter. These will help with the quality of sound overall, reducing background noise and a shock mount will protect from falls or knocks, keeping the microphone in place.
As I said, please ready Tarmack's post as it goes into a lot more detail and will help you much better than I can.
Programs
To record commentary, I would recommend using Audacity. It's a free audio editor and recorder which I use to record a lot of my commentary and then editing it. There are of course, other programs you could use, but Audacity is free and it is probably the best.
Planning - Live? or Post?
When planning a video, you always want to decide whether you want to do live and post commentary. You may ask what are the differences between the two? Let me explain.
Live commentary is where you talk as you play a game. For example, you are playing battlefield 3 and talking about the topic at the same time.
Post commentary is where you talk over footage of a game or other video.
You need to decide this before you even plan to do the video. Its pretty much about preference, many people tend to stick to post commentary because you can make cuts where there is mistakes, but many people like live commentary because they like people to talk about the game as well.
Planning - Choosing a topic
Also, when planning you need to decide on what topic you are going to talk about. Choose a topic which is either relating to the content which you create or that is about you. Don't do topics off topic from the content that you post as subscribers would want to see related content.
Bear in mind when choosing something to talk about. Don't look at old news. It's dull and boring. Talk about recent subjects which haven't been talked about much, this will also help gain exposure for your channel.
Planning - Choosing footage
When choosing footage which will play with you commentating, like the above, choose something relevant to you. Gamers may decide to post Battlefield 3 for example. As I previously said don't go off topic as your subscribers will be looking for content relating to you.
Planning - Creating a 'script'
A good idea is to produce a set of notes in chronological order, starting from what you want to talk about first to what you want to say at the end. This makes sure you do not get things mixed up.
Also, write things in note form, don't have huge paragraphs on the exact things you want to say. It takes too much time otherwise. Also, when talking spontaneously, it makes you sound better and you sound less like your reading off a sheet or screen.
A few final tips before you begin
1) Don't sound particularly bored or uninterested. It will affect how people will view your video. Soon they would begin to feel bored as well. So show some enthusiasm while speaking and talk clearly so they can understand you.
2) Remember that it all comes with practice, don't expect to be great at commentating when you begin. It will come to you as you continue to produce new commentaries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I can post links I will update this thread.
PART 2 including editing audio as well as settings for Audacity will come in the future. Possibly the next couple of days. Thank you for reading.
