MapleStream
I've Got It
I would like a review when you get the time 
Allow me to gaze upon your channel...
- Thread starter Klink
- Start date
- Status
The Black Mastadonte
Liking YTtalk
Sign me up bro!
TheTNGMen
I'm Just a Meme Machine
If you have free time I would like a channel review as well.
I really enjoyed your Australia RTX review. It was really neat to see a lot of what goes on during those events, especially since I was considering going to a local con for the first time. The interviews with the developers were really neat, and you have a friggin awesome beard! *If you were the one doing the interviewing ^^
I really enjoyed your Australia RTX review. It was really neat to see a lot of what goes on during those events, especially since I was considering going to a local con for the first time. The interviews with the developers were really neat, and you have a friggin awesome beard! *If you were the one doing the interviewing ^^
Klink
I've Got It
@sodaholiczir
I like the logo in your avatar. If it's something you created you should use it as the basis of your branding - put it in your channel header, end card, thumbnails etc. I also love the font/typeface used for 'SODAHOLICZIR' in your channel art and end card but you need to think about using it in your thumbnails as well. Keep everything consistent so your 'brand' is recognisable.
It's good to see high-fps gameplay footage and the quality of your mic is fantastic, however the microphone is sitting way too close to your mouth. I can hear a lot of vocal sibilance (lots of emphasis on the 's' and 't' sounds), a bit of plosives creeping through and a lot of bass with minimal treble in your voice. Keep the microphone further away from your mouth and try a few test recordings to hear how it turns out.
Work on your branding, try recording with the mic further away from your mouth and you should be good to go!
@Zuvio
Starting from your avatar and channel header, I know what you're trying to accomplish (hologram projection) but it looks incredibly cheap. If you can't afford or haven't budgeted for a copy of Adobe Photoshop, you can always download the free program, GIMP, which is incredibly similar. There's even a tutorial on YouTube to show you how you can accomplish the effect:
You also need to work on changing the colours of the text in your channel header as it blends too much with the sand in the image.
I can't make a comment on the font/typeface you're using since it is a 'Star Wars' themed channel and you are keeping it consistent across everything you do. That being stated, your thumbnails need a hell of a lot of work as again, they look cheap. Since a lot of the videos on your channel are product reviews, you should consider investing in a high quality DSLR camera and a tripod to not only record video but to also take high quality photos you can use as thumbnails.
The logo sting you have at the moment can work although you need to work on using a better alpha channel for your green screen. You can see the stick that the Milenium Falcon is stuck to and the Falcon image itself is transparent, letting you see the 'Jakku Review' text behind it.
You should also consider investing in a condenser or even a lavalier/lapel microphone to help give more clarity and quality to your voice. On camera audio should only ever be used as a last resort or to help sync up audio captured from an external mic recorder if you haven't got a means to sync up the timecodes.
@WillDP
Of course I have the time.
I love the simplicity of your channel art - the font/typeface is great and the colours are striking. The problem is that it doesn't carry over to your avatar, thumbnails or logo sting. As I've mentioned several times in this thread, the key to good branding is consistency - colours, fonts/typefaces, logos etc.
It's good to see you using your logo in your thumbnails although I don't like how it's just slapped in there. Consider making 2 variants of your logo - one white, one black, both with a transparent background. That way for darker thumbnails, you can use the white logo while for lighter coloured thumbnails you can use the black one.
On the topic of thumbnails and to continue the thought earlier in this review, your thumbnails aren't consistent with your brand. They share none of the colours, fonts/typefaces etc. I do like the style of your thumbnails in the 'Madden 16 Connected Franchise' series of videos so you should think about expanding that and applying a similar style to your other thumbnails.
As for the videos themselves, you need to invest in a higher quality condenser microphone for voice overs and fix up your audio mixing. In certain videos the music you've used is overpowering compared to your gameplay sessions with your mates and with your mic quality, I can hear background noise and plosives creeping through.
Hope this helps.
@MapleStream
Your branding is all over the place. The font/typeface you're using is very futuristic but you're using anime images for your channel art, avatar and thumbnails. At first glance I can't tell what your channel is about; the name implies something to do with MapleStory but your font/typeface suggests something 'sci-fi' oriented, however you also have League of Legends and Minecraft videos. You need to think about a brand - colours, style, fonts/typefaces etc - that represents you and the content you make that is eye catching and easily recognisable.
The biggest issue for your channel content wise is your audio mixing. Everything is extremely loud, from the music to your voice overs. It sounds like you have a decent microphone but it's positioned way too close to your mouth and it's lacking a pop filter. I can hear a lot of plosives and peaks.
You have a lot of subscribers already and I know you can gain more provided you clean up your audio mixing and find yourself a brand that represents you.
@Squaremis
Right off the bat I'm loving your logo and font/typeface choice. It's extremely simple but incredibly effective and eye catching. I'm also glad to see it being carried over into your end cards.
Despite your fantastic branding your audio quality is terrible. You need to save up some cash and invest in a high quality condenser microphone and pop filter to give some more clarity and quality to your voice.
@The Black Mastadonte
You're signed. Welcome to the thread, brah!
The logo and font/typeface in the thumbnail for the 'Welcome to the Black Mastadonte Channel' is fantastic and it's a shame to see it not being used more prominently. Yes, you've used it in most of your thumbnails and logo sting but at times it's hard to see or it's rendered transparent. More to the point, the font/typeface isn't carried over into the channel art or avatar.
In your "#LIFE: An AWESOME guide to Tumblr", the audio mixing is incredibly loud, causing a lot of peaks and popping. For the rest of your videos where you're providing commentary in front of your camera, again the audio is peaking a hell of a lot which is distorting the audio completely. I've always said on camera audio sucks and this is proof why.
You might also consider saving up and investing in a decent quality camera or at the very least, stay away from the automatic settings on your camera. It's always constantly trying to adjust with the changing lighting and focus which is distracting.
I definitely enjoy the variety you have on your channel. Work on some of the issues I've pointed out and you should be good to go.
@TheTNGMen
Glad you liked the video and thanks for the comment and kind words. The one doing the interview is the creator and project lead of 'Experience', Indy (and yes his beard is magnificent). In my introduction thread here on YTTalk, I briefly mentioned that I'm pitching 'From the Mind of Klink' as a 'Creator First' network, although it'll still be years before that goal is obtainable (from a monetary perspective to pay creators). For now we're all working on a volunteer basis and sharing resources between shows as neccessary. For instance, Indys' show is 'Experience', my show is 'iNTERACT' and we have several more shows coming (hopefully) soon made by other content creators. Even though we all have seperate shows, we share resources between us and help each other out whenever and where ever we can. Example: even though I do voice over for 'iNTERACT: The News' (and more upcoming gaming reviews/commentary) I'll also help out with camera work, editing and motion graphics on 'Experience'.
Back to the topic at hand. I already gave a review to your channel earlier in this thread but you probably missed it. I'll repost it here and add additional thoughts with the new videos you've added:
"Sempai notices you again! You fixed the link in your profile so now I have gazed into your channel.
Audio mixing is all over the place. In your Perfect Dark videos, one voice is clear while the other is quite muffled (I take it you only have one microphone?). The Perfect Dark videos in general seem extremely soft compared to the Battlefield video you did, while the NFL Blitz video sounds like you used a lower quality microphone. For Let's Play channels that feature more than one person playing locally like yours, I recommend you get seperate microphones for each person. This however will become relatively expensive as you cannot use 2 USB condenser microphones of the same type at the same time without some heavy driver modification.
Ultimately the ideal setup for your videos would be to have either seperate shotgun or XLR condenser microphones for each person and a USB interface or mixer depending on how many people you expect to have in your channel. If it's just 2 people, look into something like a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 or USB interfaces similar to its kind. Anything above 4 and you might want to look into USB mixers like the Mackie ProFx series. It really all depends on how dedicated you all are to making your channel work and how much money you're willing to part with.
Thumbnails could use some work as it's difficult to tell what is written on it. Flat colours for the text is great but choose a colour that is easily distinguishable from the background and at the very least apply either a light stroke or a drop shadow to seperate it and make it clearer. Your ending title card also needs work as it's not centred."
Most of what I wrote still holds true although I would like to add an additional. Your new end card looks incredibly cheap and is not consistent with your logo in your avatar. You have a decent logo so use it as the basis of your branding and make sure to keep it consistent with everything.
Overall I'm glad to see you're still uploading consistently. It shows dedication and persistence, two traits that are neccessary to succeed on YouTube. Good luck!
I like the logo in your avatar. If it's something you created you should use it as the basis of your branding - put it in your channel header, end card, thumbnails etc. I also love the font/typeface used for 'SODAHOLICZIR' in your channel art and end card but you need to think about using it in your thumbnails as well. Keep everything consistent so your 'brand' is recognisable.
It's good to see high-fps gameplay footage and the quality of your mic is fantastic, however the microphone is sitting way too close to your mouth. I can hear a lot of vocal sibilance (lots of emphasis on the 's' and 't' sounds), a bit of plosives creeping through and a lot of bass with minimal treble in your voice. Keep the microphone further away from your mouth and try a few test recordings to hear how it turns out.
Work on your branding, try recording with the mic further away from your mouth and you should be good to go!
@Zuvio
Starting from your avatar and channel header, I know what you're trying to accomplish (hologram projection) but it looks incredibly cheap. If you can't afford or haven't budgeted for a copy of Adobe Photoshop, you can always download the free program, GIMP, which is incredibly similar. There's even a tutorial on YouTube to show you how you can accomplish the effect:
You also need to work on changing the colours of the text in your channel header as it blends too much with the sand in the image.
I can't make a comment on the font/typeface you're using since it is a 'Star Wars' themed channel and you are keeping it consistent across everything you do. That being stated, your thumbnails need a hell of a lot of work as again, they look cheap. Since a lot of the videos on your channel are product reviews, you should consider investing in a high quality DSLR camera and a tripod to not only record video but to also take high quality photos you can use as thumbnails.
The logo sting you have at the moment can work although you need to work on using a better alpha channel for your green screen. You can see the stick that the Milenium Falcon is stuck to and the Falcon image itself is transparent, letting you see the 'Jakku Review' text behind it.
You should also consider investing in a condenser or even a lavalier/lapel microphone to help give more clarity and quality to your voice. On camera audio should only ever be used as a last resort or to help sync up audio captured from an external mic recorder if you haven't got a means to sync up the timecodes.
@WillDP
Of course I have the time.
I love the simplicity of your channel art - the font/typeface is great and the colours are striking. The problem is that it doesn't carry over to your avatar, thumbnails or logo sting. As I've mentioned several times in this thread, the key to good branding is consistency - colours, fonts/typefaces, logos etc.
It's good to see you using your logo in your thumbnails although I don't like how it's just slapped in there. Consider making 2 variants of your logo - one white, one black, both with a transparent background. That way for darker thumbnails, you can use the white logo while for lighter coloured thumbnails you can use the black one.
On the topic of thumbnails and to continue the thought earlier in this review, your thumbnails aren't consistent with your brand. They share none of the colours, fonts/typefaces etc. I do like the style of your thumbnails in the 'Madden 16 Connected Franchise' series of videos so you should think about expanding that and applying a similar style to your other thumbnails.
As for the videos themselves, you need to invest in a higher quality condenser microphone for voice overs and fix up your audio mixing. In certain videos the music you've used is overpowering compared to your gameplay sessions with your mates and with your mic quality, I can hear background noise and plosives creeping through.
Hope this helps.
@MapleStream
Your branding is all over the place. The font/typeface you're using is very futuristic but you're using anime images for your channel art, avatar and thumbnails. At first glance I can't tell what your channel is about; the name implies something to do with MapleStory but your font/typeface suggests something 'sci-fi' oriented, however you also have League of Legends and Minecraft videos. You need to think about a brand - colours, style, fonts/typefaces etc - that represents you and the content you make that is eye catching and easily recognisable.
The biggest issue for your channel content wise is your audio mixing. Everything is extremely loud, from the music to your voice overs. It sounds like you have a decent microphone but it's positioned way too close to your mouth and it's lacking a pop filter. I can hear a lot of plosives and peaks.
You have a lot of subscribers already and I know you can gain more provided you clean up your audio mixing and find yourself a brand that represents you.
@Squaremis
Right off the bat I'm loving your logo and font/typeface choice. It's extremely simple but incredibly effective and eye catching. I'm also glad to see it being carried over into your end cards.
Despite your fantastic branding your audio quality is terrible. You need to save up some cash and invest in a high quality condenser microphone and pop filter to give some more clarity and quality to your voice.
@The Black Mastadonte
You're signed. Welcome to the thread, brah!
The logo and font/typeface in the thumbnail for the 'Welcome to the Black Mastadonte Channel' is fantastic and it's a shame to see it not being used more prominently. Yes, you've used it in most of your thumbnails and logo sting but at times it's hard to see or it's rendered transparent. More to the point, the font/typeface isn't carried over into the channel art or avatar.
In your "#LIFE: An AWESOME guide to Tumblr", the audio mixing is incredibly loud, causing a lot of peaks and popping. For the rest of your videos where you're providing commentary in front of your camera, again the audio is peaking a hell of a lot which is distorting the audio completely. I've always said on camera audio sucks and this is proof why.
You might also consider saving up and investing in a decent quality camera or at the very least, stay away from the automatic settings on your camera. It's always constantly trying to adjust with the changing lighting and focus which is distracting.
I definitely enjoy the variety you have on your channel. Work on some of the issues I've pointed out and you should be good to go.
@TheTNGMen
Glad you liked the video and thanks for the comment and kind words. The one doing the interview is the creator and project lead of 'Experience', Indy (and yes his beard is magnificent). In my introduction thread here on YTTalk, I briefly mentioned that I'm pitching 'From the Mind of Klink' as a 'Creator First' network, although it'll still be years before that goal is obtainable (from a monetary perspective to pay creators). For now we're all working on a volunteer basis and sharing resources between shows as neccessary. For instance, Indys' show is 'Experience', my show is 'iNTERACT' and we have several more shows coming (hopefully) soon made by other content creators. Even though we all have seperate shows, we share resources between us and help each other out whenever and where ever we can. Example: even though I do voice over for 'iNTERACT: The News' (and more upcoming gaming reviews/commentary) I'll also help out with camera work, editing and motion graphics on 'Experience'.
Back to the topic at hand. I already gave a review to your channel earlier in this thread but you probably missed it. I'll repost it here and add additional thoughts with the new videos you've added:
"Sempai notices you again! You fixed the link in your profile so now I have gazed into your channel.
Audio mixing is all over the place. In your Perfect Dark videos, one voice is clear while the other is quite muffled (I take it you only have one microphone?). The Perfect Dark videos in general seem extremely soft compared to the Battlefield video you did, while the NFL Blitz video sounds like you used a lower quality microphone. For Let's Play channels that feature more than one person playing locally like yours, I recommend you get seperate microphones for each person. This however will become relatively expensive as you cannot use 2 USB condenser microphones of the same type at the same time without some heavy driver modification.
Ultimately the ideal setup for your videos would be to have either seperate shotgun or XLR condenser microphones for each person and a USB interface or mixer depending on how many people you expect to have in your channel. If it's just 2 people, look into something like a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 or USB interfaces similar to its kind. Anything above 4 and you might want to look into USB mixers like the Mackie ProFx series. It really all depends on how dedicated you all are to making your channel work and how much money you're willing to part with.
Thumbnails could use some work as it's difficult to tell what is written on it. Flat colours for the text is great but choose a colour that is easily distinguishable from the background and at the very least apply either a light stroke or a drop shadow to seperate it and make it clearer. Your ending title card also needs work as it's not centred."
Most of what I wrote still holds true although I would like to add an additional. Your new end card looks incredibly cheap and is not consistent with your logo in your avatar. You have a decent logo so use it as the basis of your branding and make sure to keep it consistent with everything.
Overall I'm glad to see you're still uploading consistently. It shows dedication and persistence, two traits that are neccessary to succeed on YouTube. Good luck!
sodaholiczir
Active Member
TheTNGMen
I'm Just a Meme Machine
Thank you very much for your words and I can't believe that I missed the earlier comments ><
I do agree that the outro does look pretty cheap, and I'm still trying to figure out the best look/design we should strive for. Pretty make it up as I go along so reviews like this really do help, and I thank you for taking the time to do so~
WhisperOfGod
Active Member
Klink
I've Got It
@WhisperOfGod
It's a decent start to your channel. Your voice is clear although I'm hearing an audible low hum coming from your mic. It might be due to your microphone itself or by you boosting the audio in post.
I like the art in your channel header except for the black/dark grey gradient as the background. It looks incredibly plain. Your avatar, channel header and thumbnail don't match at all in terms of branding so think about logos, colours and styles that you can use across all the art assets on your channel.
As I mentioned above it's a decent start and what I've brought up can be easily worked on and solved. Good luck with your channel and above all else, remain persistent.
It's a decent start to your channel. Your voice is clear although I'm hearing an audible low hum coming from your mic. It might be due to your microphone itself or by you boosting the audio in post.
I like the art in your channel header except for the black/dark grey gradient as the background. It looks incredibly plain. Your avatar, channel header and thumbnail don't match at all in terms of branding so think about logos, colours and styles that you can use across all the art assets on your channel.
As I mentioned above it's a decent start and what I've brought up can be easily worked on and solved. Good luck with your channel and above all else, remain persistent.
WhisperOfGod
Active Member
Tnx a lot would have never seen it like you! Much appreciated.
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