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YouTube Channel Update #2
11 years ago
General
Okay, going to update once again on the status of the channel and the plans.
The status of the channel is still heavily in development. After seeing the doxxing issue of the GamerGate debacle, I want to try and remain as anonymous as possible, so I've put a stop on production. What I do want to do is start looking at FaceRig again, which I'll detail in a bit, or using static images to make the illusion of animation.
What do I mean by the "illusion of animation"? Think of the Sequelitis series by Egoraptor. He uses static images of himself and changes that image every so often to give the illusion of animation. It's a cheap, easy alternative to doing a fully animated figure. The way to get that done is by having me go out to an artist and commissioning about 8-15 chibi images of Oswald in various poses and emotions, like frustrated, angry, happy, enthusiastic, and introspective. And that's going to cost me a pretty penny.
The only other alternative is FaceRig, which is still in development. I've done a fairly deep look at FaceRig a couple months ago, but it's been going through the development phase pretty well with lots of new features but not 100% done yet. I even brought up the idea of commissioning a custom avatar for FaceRig on Reddit (there's a FaceRig subreddit), but since the program is still in early access not too many people are willing to go out on a limb and design too heavily for it. As of right now, FaceRig is slated as a full release in December, so I'll see how the full suite looks.
My only complaint with working directly with FaceRig is the complexity of producing a video. The process involves setting up my recording equipment (my camera, microphone, and laptop), then recording me talking for a bunch of takes, converting the video to a different format, inputting the video to FaceRig, saving the FaceRig output, syncing up the video and audio, and then editing it with the rest of the images and footage. If I do use FaceRig, I have a feeling I’ll only be able to upload one editorial-style video a week, if I’m lucky. The research alone on a video of that type could take days. That’s why I’m relying on let’s play videos to fill the gaps between editorial and review videos.
Speaking of let’s play videos, these will be the easiest to produce, probably getting about 10-15 half-hour videos done per week, and that’s just from recording for about 8 hours on a single day. Sadly, many games I play might be a bit of a slog with lots of “down time” of running around or grinding levels, but that’s why I want to do 25-30 minute segments as you can get through those boring times easily with commentary or by offering a button to skip to when things pick back up.
As of now, I have many games slated for play, most of them RPGs as they have deep stories and lots of character immersion. I will also do some platformers and action games, especially if it fits in with a holiday, like playing Alan Wake or Amnesia: The Dark Descent for Halloween or Little Inferno for Christmas (even though Steam Train already did it). I’ve already compiled a list of some games that would work well for the series, some posted in previous journals, but I’m going through my Steam library, my Origin library, and my physical catalogue of GBA, GameCube, and Xbox 360 games to find fun games to play that make for fun videos.
Another aspect of doing the let’s play videos is that having only one person can be boring. I’m going to try and have vici with me as much as possible, but my other roommate might also join in when we do stuff like play Mario Kart Double Dash while slightly inebriated. I’m also going to steer clear of newer releases as much as possible, unless it’s a review.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I’d love to get feedback on what games you guys want to see me play, what subjects relating to furry and nerd culture you want me to talk about, and generally get a feel for what you guys want, as you might be my audience. Also, I won’t be making an account on FA for the YouTube channel as of right now as I don’t want to burden myself with that sort of thing quite yet. I’m nowhere near ready to launch and it might be February/March before I feel comfortable posting my first few videos.
The status of the channel is still heavily in development. After seeing the doxxing issue of the GamerGate debacle, I want to try and remain as anonymous as possible, so I've put a stop on production. What I do want to do is start looking at FaceRig again, which I'll detail in a bit, or using static images to make the illusion of animation.
What do I mean by the "illusion of animation"? Think of the Sequelitis series by Egoraptor. He uses static images of himself and changes that image every so often to give the illusion of animation. It's a cheap, easy alternative to doing a fully animated figure. The way to get that done is by having me go out to an artist and commissioning about 8-15 chibi images of Oswald in various poses and emotions, like frustrated, angry, happy, enthusiastic, and introspective. And that's going to cost me a pretty penny.
The only other alternative is FaceRig, which is still in development. I've done a fairly deep look at FaceRig a couple months ago, but it's been going through the development phase pretty well with lots of new features but not 100% done yet. I even brought up the idea of commissioning a custom avatar for FaceRig on Reddit (there's a FaceRig subreddit), but since the program is still in early access not too many people are willing to go out on a limb and design too heavily for it. As of right now, FaceRig is slated as a full release in December, so I'll see how the full suite looks.
My only complaint with working directly with FaceRig is the complexity of producing a video. The process involves setting up my recording equipment (my camera, microphone, and laptop), then recording me talking for a bunch of takes, converting the video to a different format, inputting the video to FaceRig, saving the FaceRig output, syncing up the video and audio, and then editing it with the rest of the images and footage. If I do use FaceRig, I have a feeling I’ll only be able to upload one editorial-style video a week, if I’m lucky. The research alone on a video of that type could take days. That’s why I’m relying on let’s play videos to fill the gaps between editorial and review videos.
Speaking of let’s play videos, these will be the easiest to produce, probably getting about 10-15 half-hour videos done per week, and that’s just from recording for about 8 hours on a single day. Sadly, many games I play might be a bit of a slog with lots of “down time” of running around or grinding levels, but that’s why I want to do 25-30 minute segments as you can get through those boring times easily with commentary or by offering a button to skip to when things pick back up.
As of now, I have many games slated for play, most of them RPGs as they have deep stories and lots of character immersion. I will also do some platformers and action games, especially if it fits in with a holiday, like playing Alan Wake or Amnesia: The Dark Descent for Halloween or Little Inferno for Christmas (even though Steam Train already did it). I’ve already compiled a list of some games that would work well for the series, some posted in previous journals, but I’m going through my Steam library, my Origin library, and my physical catalogue of GBA, GameCube, and Xbox 360 games to find fun games to play that make for fun videos.
Another aspect of doing the let’s play videos is that having only one person can be boring. I’m going to try and have vici with me as much as possible, but my other roommate might also join in when we do stuff like play Mario Kart Double Dash while slightly inebriated. I’m also going to steer clear of newer releases as much as possible, unless it’s a review.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I’d love to get feedback on what games you guys want to see me play, what subjects relating to furry and nerd culture you want me to talk about, and generally get a feel for what you guys want, as you might be my audience. Also, I won’t be making an account on FA for the YouTube channel as of right now as I don’t want to burden myself with that sort of thing quite yet. I’m nowhere near ready to launch and it might be February/March before I feel comfortable posting my first few videos.
