@AnsellPlays
Right off the bat you need a strong visual brand. Having an avatar and thumbnails consisting of nothing but screenshots isn't doing your channel any favours. Think about logos, colours, typefaces and styles that best represents you and the content on your channel. Use it for your entire visual brand and make sure it's cohesive across the board. For thumbnails you're free to experiment with different styles per playlist/series but make sure they remain consistent with each thumbnail in that list.
I won't comment on the audio for your videos thus far as we both know it needs improvement. It's great to read that you've already purchased a new microphone as it will help you out immensely. Make sure to remember to record at least 10 seconds of room noise (microphone on, hit record, stay silent) so you can use that as a sample to cut the noise out of your final recording. You also need to be mindful of your audio mix; make sure your voice isn't drowned out by the game or that your voice recording isn't too loud that it peaks.
Good luck with your channel!
@FunkyFreshFood
For a 2 month old channel you've got some incredible production values, not to mention you're making me hungry you b*****d.
Obviously what you need most is an external microphone, either a shotgun or a lavalier/lapel microphone you can hide under your shirt. You can notice this with the distinct lack of bass within your voice. Which microphone is best really depends on the amount of people helping you out (your 'crew' so to speak), the kind of sound you're after (personal preference) and how much you're willing to spend.
A lavalier/lapel microphone is small and discreet that you can hide it almost anywhere and with a simple wireless kit, you can hook it straight into your camera ensuring you only need a crew of 1 (excluding you as the host). However since the lav mic is omnidirectional you'll pull in a little more background noise than other mics. This might not be a bad decision as you'll get to hear the sizzle of some of your meals.
If you have more than 1 person on your crew then a shotgun microphone and boom pole might be a better option. The shotgun microphone will only pick up what it's pointing at, so if there's a boom pole above you pointed straight down over your mouth and towards your chest, you'll get a nice head resonance sound (treble) and deeper bass vibrating from your chest.
Again, the type of sound you're after, your crew size and your budget will ultimately determine which mic is right for you. I'd recommend hiring out a few microphones to test out if such as place is available in your area. Hiring out equipment is relatively cheap and it'll give you hands on time with the mics so you can make the best informed purchasing decision for the future of your channel.
Branding wise I love it; it's simple but it's effective! Try using the font/typefaces to describe the meal within the thumbnail. What you can also try, to keep consistent with your channel header, is to split the thumbnail into thirds and have a different photo angle of the meal; one close up, one mid shot, one long shot. Feel free to experiment and see what works for you.
Overall I'm both impressed and hungry. Excellent work and good luck with your channel!
@Sir_Reyz
Unfortunately, unless you can find a way to sound proof your room, you can't yell while not disrupting your family. There is something you can do to increase the volume/bass of your vocal recording and that's to bring your microphone closer to your mouth. With the microphone positioned closer to your mouth, you get more bass in your voice, you won't have to speak as loud and even when raising your voice slightly (not to the point of yelling), you'll get a louder sound. The catch of course is that even with a pop filter, having it positioned too close to your mouth will still cause plosives and breathing to creep into your recording. It'll also mean that you're much more likely to peak your audio causing massive amounts of distortion.
In your spare time, do a few practice recordings with different microphone positions to hear which option is right for you. I can't give you an exact, perfect measurement or distance as everyones' voice has different projection qualities and sounds and more to the point, I don't know what style of sound you'd like for your videos. It's really down to personal preference.
As for breaking the chain, the best way to do it is to just talk/speak/yell as you intend to/want. A good practice is to find a time when no one is at home and do some practice recordings and vocalisations. Better still, talk with your family and see if you can organise an hour each day (after finishing studies/work) where you can let loose and record videos how you want. They might not (read: probably won't) understand the entire point of YouTube content creation but if they support you in this endeavour, I don't see why they can't work out something for you.
For your thumbnails, start by looking at your Undertale ones. Currently you have 4 videos for Undertale and each thumbnail is designed completely differently. Example, thumbnail one has a pixel/retro font with you shooting lasers out of your eyes, thumbnail two has the Undertale logo positioned too high so it's cut off by the frame and the episode number positioned on the opposite side, thumbnail three has Undertale logo in frame but the episode number is in a different colour and finally, thumbnail four has the Undertale logo stretched, no episode number is visible and you have a background and not a black solid colour.
The problem is that each of these videos belong within the same playlist, yet the thumbnails are giving the impression they don't belong at all. How you design your thumbnails is entirely up to you but you need to make sure that if they're all part of the same series, they all share a common design element.
Let's talk Undertale (since we're going with this example) - Say you have a photo of yourself in each thumbnail. Make sure the position of the photo is exactly the same throughout each thumbnail (the left hand side for instance). They can be different photos with different reactions but the position of the photo will always be on the left hand side. You could also keep a consistent background for each video of the series - the purple/blue flame you're referring to. You could also completely scrap the Undertale logo and episode sub-title all together and use a collage of screenshots from the episode itself. As long as each thumbnail in that respective series has a common design element or theme, the content within the thumbnail can change dramatically while still remaining consistent.
Another option is to scout for an artist and have them design title cards/thumbnails for you. Example of a channel that does this (looking at thumbnails specifically):
https://www.youtube.com/user/ThatOneLaserClown/videos
Again, it's something you'll need to spend a weekend or two just experimenting and finding out what works best, what doesn't and what represents your channel overall.
