Recently money has been a topic of interest for me. And for the majority of my time having a YouTube channel I have never enabled ads of my own choosing. Most ads currently present on my channel are due to Content ID matches, or simply because I used a copyrighted song in a video. I'm sure some people who have checked websites like Social Blade to see my channel's potential would be surprised. But, there is some limiting reasons for it. So, this comes back full circle, and prompted an interesting question that some people over the years may have been curious about:
Why doesn't Barolb enabled ads on his videos?
YouTube for me has resulted in over 28 million videos views and over 10,000 subscribers, as of the time of writing. Given my regular view counts of over 130,000 a month, I should be able to make decent money off of that. The problem? It's a lot more complicated than you would think.
I have rejected probably 30 YouTube network partnerships over the years and have even been invited out to talk partnerships in-person at PAX East. So of course there were offers and interest. Less interest in myself and more interest in all those numbers my channel continues to crank out without me even doing anything though. And those sorts of things are what a lot of networks look for. They want easy money from high viewing channels with lots of viewer interactions. But what they don't like to look for are channels that could be coupled with legal issues such as mine.
This is mainly due to policies by Nintendo on content creation using their IPs in recent years. As they outline in their policies, they don't like people making gameplay only videos and cashing in on them. I'm also quite the bad speaker (I'm ok, but not that great), so commentaries are things that while I could do, I don't think I would do well. This is something a lot of people would expect better of because of the professionalism YouTube has turned towards. And on top of that I find that unless commentaries are insightful, they don't provide much to the user. So, let's put all this together.
You have a channel from a person who sucks at commentaries and doesn't do them, and has tons of gameplay-only videos from Nintendo games And those gameplay-only videos are largely what would bring in the revenue for his channel. So going the network route means that any old videos would need to be excluded when considering channel worth, so my actual channel's worth is inflated. And I wouldn't be able to make money off of the old videos without ending up in potential legal issues and content matching with Nintendo. Even if there were no legal hurdles, Nintendo could still claim the ad revenue I would make anyways.
I could begin doing videos again on other games, but it is important to understand the audience that has subscribed to my channel and the people that supported me years ago. It was all largely based around my channel being a Nintendo channel, with some Call of Duty and fps action. Some came from Animal Crossing, some from Wii Sports Resort, and some from Call of Duty. So it is understandable that introducing more variance might lead to fragmentation of interest. If the interest is not with me, but with the channel, then that is the sort of dilemma that this causes. It creates this weird scenario where I could have one day 50,000 subscribers, but have maybe 8,000 views a video, assuming all are active subscribers.
YouTubers whom have a following, or their YouTube persona, are the ones who are more versatile in doing these sorts of things. The interest in their activities are what drive the interest to view the video rather than someone like myself where the interest is in the videos I do, and not in the person (me). It's a strange way to put it, but such is the way in considering interest from an audience. I could be underestimating myself, and truth be told I probably am a little bit, but I do believe that there is more interest in the channel than that of the person when it comes to video games, unless you market yourself beyond that spectrum. And to me, this applies very heavily both due to inactivity and the way I posted videos.
So, at the end of the day the result is my channel maintaining homeostasis in the abyss. It's there, but not active, It gets views, subscribers and comments, but there is no momentary gain to it from networks or YouTube. A party that makes small amounts of money from it are Nintendo. From myself, there is the inability to set aside time to make videos, and I don't have a proper setup to record anything anymore, due to various circumstances that I'll maybe explain another time.
Maybe in the future I will consider posting videos again, and those videos, might have ads enabled. But that is something to decide at a later late. For now, all I can say is that something like 98% of all videos I have done previously are not something I could capitalize on with enabling ads. The other two percent? Sure, but they don't get views anyways. So, there's pretty much no point! It does sound sad to write it out like that, but while there is no gain, there is no loss either.
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Monday, August 20, 2012
For new users starting gaming channels on YouTube
This isn't related to my previous 2 blog posts, so don't mind it. This is something i've wanted to do for a while now. Basically, this blog post is directed towards users who start up new gameplay channels on YouTube. I kind of want to get this mushed down into some peoples brains since many think it's easy as hell to startup a gaming channel, earn thousands of subscribers etc. The fact is, is it that easy? No.
Let's begin.
First of all. When people complain about camera quality, they complain about it for a reason. When you're just starting out, most people won't go for camera quality gameplay mainly because the lighting in the background can cause the camera to overexpose the capture, or cause it under exposure and things can't be seen well either way. In addition to that, sometimes you'll notice black lines on your TV screen. This is caused generally by LCD screens, if i'm not mistaken. A picture on a Tv is a digital signal composed of pixels that create a large picture.... You know what, screw it, i don't know enough about this part to even talk like i'm a smart ass, but basically, camera quality generally isn't accepted. This reasons are the above, however i have seen camera quality so good that it almost looks like it's capture device/card quality. That however requires a semi good camera, good settings on the camera, good lighting, and of course you need a good angle, not to mention you'd also need something to hold the camera up. A tripod would be the answer, and you can find some for like 2 bucks, those small mini tripods. Larger tripods can be a bit more expensive, and can be as much as a PS3 or 360 game ($30-$120 i believe is the general price range, don't quote me on it). My tripod (by the way i like photography, but my tripod was originally purchased for YouTube videos) was $120 originally, but probably now it's worth $30. In eithercase, tripods are handy for camera capture and photography, but if you're going into gameplay capture, then going for something specialized for gameplay capture is better than going for something that isn't.
So, bottom line: If your camera quality looks as good as capture device/card quality, then you can settle with that for some time to come, but if not, then move up. You'll know if it's almost as good if you compare side by side, and of course don't BS yourself into thinking that yours is the best thing ever while you do that comparison.
The next step up is capture device/capture card quality. Now, let me get this out first. There's a fucking difference between a capture device and a capture card. They both do the same thing, but one is external and the other is internal.
A capture device is an external device that plugs into through (most commonly USB 2.0) a port on your computer. The device has (female) inputs for composite or component. This all depends on the capture device. Composite devices can be as little as $6 and as much as around $100. Pretty damn expensive, right? Well, there's a ton of capture devices out there so it's really hard to pick and choose and instead many go for the usual popular brand. Some include Dazzle by Pinnacle, EyeTV or Game Capture by Elgato etc. There are tons. getting the most expensive doesn't mean getting the best quality out there as there are some good ones that do a fine job. All it takes is a bit of research. Now then, let's go into capture cards.
To be frank, i don't know as much about capture cards besides the basics, but i'll try to give a somewhat informative post on it.
Now, capture cards are literally cards that are internal to a computer. When you hear about a person taking a part their computer after getting one of these things, then you can assume that's what they did to install the part. Capture cards are installed by inserting it into the computer as an internal part. That's the major difference between a capture device and capture card. As for how you connect the cables, i honestly don't really know. Look into it yourself, but i'm sure the input they accept can vary from being composite to HDMI, or at least something along those lines.
In any case, let's move on.
So, i talked a bit about component and composite, and even mentioned the word "female". So WTF does all this mean? Well, it basically has to do with the cord and input type. There are two types of input. there are male and female inputs. Male, as you can guess are what console composite and component use, and the female are the accepting input that takes the male input.... yeah... So, anyways. I apologize for the semi bad explanation, but i can't think of any other way to explain it at the moment. So, let's get to the real topic at hand.
Composite cables are the three cords you normally see. You'd normally see a cord with red, white, and yellow ends that plug into your TV. Well, that's composite. In these three cords, you have 2 for audio (left and right| red and white) and 1 for video (yellow). These then plug into your TV which give you the picture from your console. Generally, composite is in lower quality than component. It's pretty obvious if you plug in compoiete, then plug in component. if you get HDMI into the mix, then you'd notice higher quality from HDMI than component. Anyways, the component cables are indeed higher quality than composite. Unfortunately i don't know enough to explain the technical background as to why they're higher quality, but just note that they are higher quality, and generally they can be a bit pricy, to some extent over priced by some stores. I have a universal component cable that plugs into Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, and PS2. I got it for $12. That's what you call a good price, especially considering that i have a PS2, a PS3 and a Wii.
Now, component is basically the cords with red, white, red, green, and blue ends. You might be wondering what's for what, but just keep this is mind: One of the red inputs, well, likely the one that's either attached to the white inpute, or noted in the manual for how they did it to tell a person which is for what, is the audio. The other red, green and blue input is the video. Video is split up into 3 different cords this time around compared to composite. So, there's one major difference you'd probably notice.
There's quite a bit of technical information behind this, and unfortunately i don't know much about it. I said it above, and i'll say it again. I can't really touch on anything further about composite and component.
Whether you use a mac or a windows computer, or even linux, there are certain requirements to run the software and the hardware on the computer. If a 2.0 GHz processor is required, they say it for a reason. So try to abide by it if you can. If you have a computer lower than 2.0, make sure it's not below 1.7 or 1.8 GHz. I'd say that's probably the lowest you could run it without major frame drops. Major frame drops can affect the smoothness of your video, so if you have a processor that's less than the requirements of the capture device or capture card, be aware that it might not work out for you.
I wanted to give this heads up since some people have issues running their devices when they don't quite have the computer specs/requirements that are needed to meet the capture devices/cards working requirements. some people have found ways, but generally, if you have a computer well below the requirements, that's really tough luck.
Here's a nice list of capture card and capture devices: http://www.videohelp.com/capturecards
It's also a pretty informative website too might i add.
Gain the necessary equipment to startup your channel: This can vary a lot as there are different types of gaming channels. Let's players, walkthrougher, general gameplay commentator, strategist etc there are many different kinds so until you decide what you want to do, you'll have to hold off. If you want to do pc gaming, then this isn't necessarily the blog post for you. I have only some, but very little, experience when it comes to pc gaming, si i can't help you there. Only with consoles can i be of some assistance. Anyways, once you decide, get the equipment you need if you don't have already. This can be your capture device or capture card, and a microphone. Looking into good quality microphones for good prices is always something to keep in mind.
Advertise your channel: I'm not going to say spam comments. That's honestly annoying, but you know what you can do, look into other methods. send another youtuber a message asking to check out your channel. Don't use bots. I've received many by people using bots. I won't look if you use a freaken bot. That's just greedy and doesn't show you actually putting in the real effort. You can join community channels and post your content up on their to get a jump start, to help get your channel some exposure. I'm not going to tell you how to do commentaries and whatnot. That requires you to be a better public speaker, and for you to practice. Once you practice more you'll improve. So make sure to do some practices, and try to become better at doing something that you want to do. Don't take the fucking easy way out. There are too many people who do that. Now, you can also do duel commentaries with people to help gain some subscribers. That's another way of getting your channel noticed via some types of advertising without being annoying.
Don't promise shit: This is something i'm throwing in as a personal belief. Don't promise shit, just do it. Continue to post your videos and stop saying you'll do something and then not do it later. The fact is, you need to really tell yourself that you're going to do it, and then do it. Don't tell others you're going to do it. What if you end up having to not do what you originally planned on doing, and yet you 'promised' it so much? Makes you feel pressured, and very much unneeded pressure. So, just upload the content, and continue doing so like that. Don't make promises, and if you get a request, then think about it and see if you can do it, and not you have to do it.
There are many other ways, but i think this blog post is long enough. This should be fine. If you want to look into it more, do some more research yourself.
I hope you had a good read, and i hope this was somewhat informative for you. Good luck!
~Barolb
Let's begin.
First of all. When people complain about camera quality, they complain about it for a reason. When you're just starting out, most people won't go for camera quality gameplay mainly because the lighting in the background can cause the camera to overexpose the capture, or cause it under exposure and things can't be seen well either way. In addition to that, sometimes you'll notice black lines on your TV screen. This is caused generally by LCD screens, if i'm not mistaken. A picture on a Tv is a digital signal composed of pixels that create a large picture.... You know what, screw it, i don't know enough about this part to even talk like i'm a smart ass, but basically, camera quality generally isn't accepted. This reasons are the above, however i have seen camera quality so good that it almost looks like it's capture device/card quality. That however requires a semi good camera, good settings on the camera, good lighting, and of course you need a good angle, not to mention you'd also need something to hold the camera up. A tripod would be the answer, and you can find some for like 2 bucks, those small mini tripods. Larger tripods can be a bit more expensive, and can be as much as a PS3 or 360 game ($30-$120 i believe is the general price range, don't quote me on it). My tripod (by the way i like photography, but my tripod was originally purchased for YouTube videos) was $120 originally, but probably now it's worth $30. In eithercase, tripods are handy for camera capture and photography, but if you're going into gameplay capture, then going for something specialized for gameplay capture is better than going for something that isn't.
So, bottom line: If your camera quality looks as good as capture device/card quality, then you can settle with that for some time to come, but if not, then move up. You'll know if it's almost as good if you compare side by side, and of course don't BS yourself into thinking that yours is the best thing ever while you do that comparison.
Camera talk is done. Moving to capture device/cards.
The next step up is capture device/capture card quality. Now, let me get this out first. There's a fucking difference between a capture device and a capture card. They both do the same thing, but one is external and the other is internal.
A capture device is an external device that plugs into through (most commonly USB 2.0) a port on your computer. The device has (female) inputs for composite or component. This all depends on the capture device. Composite devices can be as little as $6 and as much as around $100. Pretty damn expensive, right? Well, there's a ton of capture devices out there so it's really hard to pick and choose and instead many go for the usual popular brand. Some include Dazzle by Pinnacle, EyeTV or Game Capture by Elgato etc. There are tons. getting the most expensive doesn't mean getting the best quality out there as there are some good ones that do a fine job. All it takes is a bit of research. Now then, let's go into capture cards.
To be frank, i don't know as much about capture cards besides the basics, but i'll try to give a somewhat informative post on it.
Now, capture cards are literally cards that are internal to a computer. When you hear about a person taking a part their computer after getting one of these things, then you can assume that's what they did to install the part. Capture cards are installed by inserting it into the computer as an internal part. That's the major difference between a capture device and capture card. As for how you connect the cables, i honestly don't really know. Look into it yourself, but i'm sure the input they accept can vary from being composite to HDMI, or at least something along those lines.
In any case, let's move on.
Capture device and capture card talk is done. Now moving on to component vs composite.
So, i talked a bit about component and composite, and even mentioned the word "female". So WTF does all this mean? Well, it basically has to do with the cord and input type. There are two types of input. there are male and female inputs. Male, as you can guess are what console composite and component use, and the female are the accepting input that takes the male input.... yeah... So, anyways. I apologize for the semi bad explanation, but i can't think of any other way to explain it at the moment. So, let's get to the real topic at hand.
Composite cables are the three cords you normally see. You'd normally see a cord with red, white, and yellow ends that plug into your TV. Well, that's composite. In these three cords, you have 2 for audio (left and right| red and white) and 1 for video (yellow). These then plug into your TV which give you the picture from your console. Generally, composite is in lower quality than component. It's pretty obvious if you plug in compoiete, then plug in component. if you get HDMI into the mix, then you'd notice higher quality from HDMI than component. Anyways, the component cables are indeed higher quality than composite. Unfortunately i don't know enough to explain the technical background as to why they're higher quality, but just note that they are higher quality, and generally they can be a bit pricy, to some extent over priced by some stores. I have a universal component cable that plugs into Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, and PS2. I got it for $12. That's what you call a good price, especially considering that i have a PS2, a PS3 and a Wii.
Now, component is basically the cords with red, white, red, green, and blue ends. You might be wondering what's for what, but just keep this is mind: One of the red inputs, well, likely the one that's either attached to the white inpute, or noted in the manual for how they did it to tell a person which is for what, is the audio. The other red, green and blue input is the video. Video is split up into 3 different cords this time around compared to composite. So, there's one major difference you'd probably notice.
There's quite a bit of technical information behind this, and unfortunately i don't know much about it. I said it above, and i'll say it again. I can't really touch on anything further about composite and component.
Composite vs Component talk is done. Now moving on to computer requirements.
Whether you use a mac or a windows computer, or even linux, there are certain requirements to run the software and the hardware on the computer. If a 2.0 GHz processor is required, they say it for a reason. So try to abide by it if you can. If you have a computer lower than 2.0, make sure it's not below 1.7 or 1.8 GHz. I'd say that's probably the lowest you could run it without major frame drops. Major frame drops can affect the smoothness of your video, so if you have a processor that's less than the requirements of the capture device or capture card, be aware that it might not work out for you.
I wanted to give this heads up since some people have issues running their devices when they don't quite have the computer specs/requirements that are needed to meet the capture devices/cards working requirements. some people have found ways, but generally, if you have a computer well below the requirements, that's really tough luck.
Here's a nice list of capture card and capture devices: http://www.videohelp.com/capturecards
It's also a pretty informative website too might i add.
Computer requirements talk is done. Now moving onto YouTube talk.
This is the last of this blog post, and i hope it was somewhat informative, but now it's time to finish it off. Here is the final piece, talking about YouTube.
YouTube can be a interesting place to be in. The community is pretty aggressive at times, but generally when you're starting out especially it can be difficult. Your experience on YouTube can vary greatly, and there are many gaming communities within this somewhat large YouTube community. I've watched a few videos that talk about getting yourself notice and the likes, and i'll give my take, as well as include some of them. Some of them really are good, and especially when it comes to goals: Most peoples goals when they start doing YouTube gaming videos is to gain a partnership with a gaming network. When you first start off, i don't think you understand in the beginning, so try to take it one step at a time. Don't rush into things, decide what your channel will revolve around and how you plan on making your channel work with your schedule of school and work and whatnot. Very, very few people can live off of their work, and that's a real look at it. It's not those with a few thousand subscribers that can do it, but it's those with half a million, well actually probably above that, or a million subscribers that can. So, don't come in thinking that you can live off of what you do so easily. Until you see a wider picture will you be unable to form a real debatable opinion and belief. Now then, let's get to the real tips.
Advertise your channel: I'm not going to say spam comments. That's honestly annoying, but you know what you can do, look into other methods. send another youtuber a message asking to check out your channel. Don't use bots. I've received many by people using bots. I won't look if you use a freaken bot. That's just greedy and doesn't show you actually putting in the real effort. You can join community channels and post your content up on their to get a jump start, to help get your channel some exposure. I'm not going to tell you how to do commentaries and whatnot. That requires you to be a better public speaker, and for you to practice. Once you practice more you'll improve. So make sure to do some practices, and try to become better at doing something that you want to do. Don't take the fucking easy way out. There are too many people who do that. Now, you can also do duel commentaries with people to help gain some subscribers. That's another way of getting your channel noticed via some types of advertising without being annoying.
Don't promise shit: This is something i'm throwing in as a personal belief. Don't promise shit, just do it. Continue to post your videos and stop saying you'll do something and then not do it later. The fact is, you need to really tell yourself that you're going to do it, and then do it. Don't tell others you're going to do it. What if you end up having to not do what you originally planned on doing, and yet you 'promised' it so much? Makes you feel pressured, and very much unneeded pressure. So, just upload the content, and continue doing so like that. Don't make promises, and if you get a request, then think about it and see if you can do it, and not you have to do it.
There are many other ways, but i think this blog post is long enough. This should be fine. If you want to look into it more, do some more research yourself.
I hope you had a good read, and i hope this was somewhat informative for you. Good luck!
~Barolb
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