YouTube : Trying out games and sharing them. Questions.

[Green1]

Last year, I set up a YouTube channel and put one video on it just to see if I could do game playing and commentary. Did not touch it after that much.

Lately I have had an urge to start pumping videos. I have a registered copy of FRAPS, which is a video recorder. I also can fake knowing my way around Windows Live Moviemaker, though I realize it is not the best tool.

I have decided to begin with Age of Wonders 3 patch 1.10. After recording one full game already, I decided to not upload that because I had the difficulty setting a bit too low for my current ability and I did not feel after listening to myself that I explained things in the detail I wanted to. I also thought the video ran too long.  As soon as I get off my forum kick today, I am going to fire up FRAPS and record again. Preferably upload this weekend.

question is...

I am missing something. When I did AARs, I used to MS paint over the battlefield so I could better illustrate strategy. I am not sure how to do that in video. Sure, I could stop video, screen shot, open up paint and insert painted screen shot  as a frame in video but that is A LOT of editing. This would also mean recording video and audio separately.  Any programs you know of that has an overlay that lets you draw over active screens? Football game coverage in the US does this, so I am sure there is a way to draw over video. If it is too expensive, I will cope.

Thoughts?

[Green1]

First video is a wrap. Will begin uploading tomorrow. Watched it, seems pretty okay. A few umms and ahhs, but I think I did okay.

((18 GB!!!! in AVI format wtf???))

[Buster's Uncle]

Jesus.  All the computers in 10 Radio Shacks when I was a kid put together couldn't run that - or even hold it.

We are living in the future.

[Green1]

Jesus.  All the computers in 10 Radio Shacks when I was a kid put together couldn't run that - or even hold it.

We are living in the future.

.avi is a very uncompressed format. I may wish to convert to .wmv. Got to be careful about artifacts in the video if you do that. Still, converting to .wmv will be around 6 to 10 GB. And, that is only 45 mins of video.

For video makers, even a large hard drive can be used up VERY quickly.

We are in the future. Now if the internet could speed up to match what must be uploaded and downloaded.....

[Green1]

Did not do much editing at all. At some point I should probably put a title screen on these things. Windows Moviemaker can do that, but it looks... well Windows Moviemakerish if that can be a word. I need to do this in baby steps. Some of the more advanced stuff you see in Youtube videos have a bit of a learning cliff. At least for a nublet. Maybe for a next project.

Now, I see some folks put their own title screens for each that looks sharp. I suppose it is as easy as drawing these graphics on a program like Gimp or MS Paint and just dragging them in front of the video. Some get snazzy and put custom audio in the intros, too. However, I have a personal time frame goal that I wanted to churn this out by, and I am past that. It is time to publish. Plus, I have limited artistic ability.

I am using Windows Moviemaker as a kind of poor man's format converter. FRAPS, the software I used to record puts out in .avi. Avi format is high quality, but eats up hard drive like a fat dude in an ice cream parlor. As much as folks malign MS Windows and anything associated with it, .wmv (Window's native video format) is much more lightweight. Sad thing is YouTube will further convert it into a .flv format. This can cause artifacting.  Flv is a flash player and is very lightweight. I have searched for ways just to convert straight to flash inexpensively. Unfortunately, the good editing software is expensive. The shareware and free versions of stuff is either loaded with bloatware or only converts and is not an editor, at least for .flv formats. Even with Windows Movie Maker, it is taking 15 to 30 minutes to convert 18 GB of .avi video! This is with a low end newer quad core laptop. Maybe not an ideal editing rig, but it is what I have.

[Buster's Uncle]

Mylochka is very into this YouTube video thing, and has even taught it as part of graduate-level classes.  I'll try to get her to look in and talk to you.  She may or may not know how to do on the cheap...

[Green1]

That is awesome, but I think I am doing it about as cheaply as I can. The most annoying is converting and uploading. Editing is a whole different beast.

There is a dude named quill that does these LPs that have like 20+episodes. Each episode is around an hour. To make that more impressive, he may have 4 of these games going on at once. His computers probably are compressing video 24/7. Not to mention probably several TB hardrives. You would need that storage capacity...

Still converting..

[Geo]

Mylochka is very into this YouTube video thing, and has even taught it as part of graduate-level classes.  I'll try to get her to look in and talk to you.  She may or may not know how to do on the cheap...

Is she thinking of making her own Valjiir video?

[Buster's Uncle]

Several, five years ago.  Cher makes them, too.

[Geo]

I assume they're a collection of poser still's?

[Green1]

Mylochka is very into this YouTube video thing, and has even taught it as part of graduate-level classes.  I'll try to get her to look in and talk to you.  She may or may not know how to do on the cheap...

Is she thinking of making her own Valjiir video?

I had to Google Valjiir.... seems interesting. I will have to see some of her video work when I get a chance. If is  as good as her art,  I am sure it is way out of my league and very polished and good.

Anyways, they seem to have changed things around a bit under Windows 8.1. Windows Moviemaker now converts by default to mp4. That is GOOD news. The file is 1.4 GB. That means it will not take till time for me to retire to upload to YouTube.

[Buster's Uncle]

Mylochka sez MovieMaker is powerful and good...

I assume they're a collection of poser still's?

Mostly, yes, set to music and all the standard things.  At least they do it well. 

Poser IS an animation program, though nobody much uses it for that...

[Green1]

Mylochka sez MovieMaker is powerful and good...

Delving a bit further, I am seeing that. I need a tutorial. They changed a bunch of things with the Win 8 release. Not that I knew my way around the previous versions, either. I may need to watch several hours of tutorials to get more competent and a bit braver.

I will attempt to upload shortly.

[Geo]

Poser IS an animation program, though nobody much uses it for that...

Too difficult to animate posers?

[Buster's Uncle]

The animation kinda sucks.  You've noticed how all the men tend to look rubbery and gay in stills?  The animation is a little that way, too.