Thinking about starting a sims YouTube channel,any advice?

Yes... trolls. So uncool, just kind of want to squash those little cockroaches.

Glad these forums are full of nice, decent human beings.

"MissMuncha;15664917" wrote:
So many people want to start a Sims related youtube channel, woo ^-^ I would like to as well, but I probably wouldn't speak much... My idea is to just do plain house walk throughs from a Sim's perspective of things I build, instead of speed builds, those are everywhere. I doubt it'd work out well though..

I'd actually watch some of those xD

I've been thinking about doing the same thing! I started really exploring the idea this weekend. I haven't uploaded anything, but have been looking into microphones, software, etc. I currently only have a headset with a detachable boom mic; it's not very good audio quality.

1. Dunno either (for myself). I've watched a few TS3 Lets Plays and those players are pretty much talking the entire time. I don't know if that's good or bad. I think you'll eventually learn how to comment while playing and get better at it. I've also been recording my own TS3 videos and listening to myself commenting on my own gameplay. I'm not doing too well; not speaking what I'm thinking enough and often not speaking clearly enough. I've decided I should really practice recording and listening to my videos before I even think about uploading anything. I need to get more comfortable with commenting, and deciding what to show and what to later cut out, and develop my own style.

2. Don't hesitate to record yourself anyways (if you haven't already) and watch your recording to see how it goes. I was surprised that my voice sounded much better than I feared, although it's still quite tinny due to the microphone I'm using. I've seen the Blue Snowball iCE recommended for beginning YouTube gaming videos and that's about $50 or $60 on Amazon. If I decide to take the plunge I might try to pick one up on Black Friday. That's a bit away, but after watching several "how-to-YouTube" videos, doing them well is a bit of a learning curve.

3. Recording: OBS, or Open Broadcasting Software, is free. It's mainly used for broadcasting to Twitch, but can also be used to simply record to a file. It's fairly easy to adjust microphone volume vs. game volume and there are plenty of tutorials on how to use OBS. I've been using it myself to play around with. I think it's decent enough to start off with, and for voice practice you don't need to worry about final video quality.

Other popular programs (from what I've read) are FRAPS, Dtoxy, Bandicam, etc. They aren't free, but they have a trial version with some limitations. I happen to have purchased FRAP a while ago, it was $37 or so IIRC. FRAPs allows you to record game audio and mic, but you have to set the sound levels in Windows - which meant a lot of trial and error for me because the mic volume was much too low. FRAP is quite popular so there are tutorials on how to do this (but many are out of date). FRAP and Dxtoxy produce absolutely massive file sizes with little compression (to have as little impact on game performance as possible). You'll have to compress them before uploading to YouTube, and unless you have tons of hard drive storage I'd guess you'd want to keep the compressed video and delete the FRAP capture as soon as you are done with it.

Another option is Nvidia ShadowPlay. It's beta and only works on higher end Nvidia cards - the 660 might be one of them, you'd have to check. I haven't tried ShadowPlay yet, but I've read that it captures game and mic audio, and it's free. I don't know what kind of file sizes it produces. Look for some YouTube videos reviewing ShadowPlay (or any game recording software) to see it in action and hear some opinions.

You can also record gameplay with one program, and then record the mic using Audacity (free) and sync them later with your video editing software (again, so I've read). But that's 3 programs running on your PC (the game, the game capture program, and Audacity) which may impact game performance. The advantage seems to be that you can later alter the volume of the mic/game in your editing software if necessary, when you combine them into one file.

Video Editing: I haven't gotten to editing or encoding videos yet. I was looking for free video editing programs myself recently (yesterday, I think) and didn't find much. I downloaded a few to try out but I don't know if any are featured enough. I think Microsoft Movie Maker is popular, and it's free with MS Live Essentials, but I've read it very simple too. I will probably try it out at some point. I suspect that if I seriously got into making Lets Plays, I'll end up buying video editing software.

Making YouTube Lets Plays seems much more complicated and involved than I thought, lol. I even stumbled across a video on how to design a good thumbnail for your video.

The only thing I've actually done, is recording my own gameplay with commentary and listening to myself (with TS3 and another game). That itself has been a real learning experience. I think I'm going to have to practice a bit to find my own style, then learn how to edit the videos so they look nice, then maybe (if I get that far) think about investing in a nice microphone, video editing software, and start making stuff to actually upload.

Didn't mean to write a book here, lol, but you just happened to ask when I just started to look into it myself. Good luck! :D

Oh, lastly, I think your computer is probably good enough. You'll have to try different things and see how they work out.

I've been thinking about it too. Not sure how the viewers would react to me and my sometimes morbid and crazy sense of humor. I often get people saying I sound so sweet and innocent, yet I'm extremely morbid and have seemingly boundless energy. Not sure whether that's a good or bad thing. However, I can also be shy sometimes when I'm in uncomfortable surroundings. Due to having some sensory issues, that tends to be a lot of places. So I can relate to how sometimes you can't quite push completely through those feelings.

Your first few videos may show some of that shyness. But I think after a while you'll become more comfortable and your viewers may even feel a bit like friends and your shyness won't show so much. It's really about gaining confidence.

I think there are some YouTube videos on how to make the mic sound a bit better, making some homemade filtering and stuff. And there are people who aren't all that picky about your mic and video quality. If you're trying to use an ipod or something to film the computer screen, that might hurt your views a bit, but there are plenty of people who aren't very picky about the mic and stuff like that. If you're doing something you think is fun, chances are someone else finds it fun as well and video content is usually placed above video quality.

There is a free version of FRAPS one of my friends have that is safe. I don't know where they got it though, I'll try asking next time I see them.

Also, I'm sure you'll get better as you continue to do more videos. You usually don't just start making amazing videos, it takes some time to get them down. I'm sure you'll do fine, but good luck anyhow! :smiley:

thank you both :O i'm also concerned about my speech problem,some people cant understand me when i talk so that may be a problem

Haha! Boy can I relate. I was in speech class starting from the time I was four years old to fifth grade when I couldn't take speech anymore. I'm much better than I was then, but still have some problems when it comes to it. I tend to mumble a lot too. I have problems speaking loudly which may have something to do with my sensory issues. I hear my voice louder than others do. Sometimes people have to have me repeat what I'm saying, but after a while they just nod their heads and go along with it.

Sadly there's no easy fix to that. Although you probably already know that. Just try to remember to speak clearly and practice saying your words clearly, record it, then play it back for yourself to try to learn how it sounds coming out of your mouth. I would maybe stick a note somewhere to remind myself of speaking clearly while doing a video. Thankfully, some people are gifted with the awesome ability to understand what you're saying. Which is something I can't believe is even possible.

If you find a portion in the video that you feel may be hard to understand, maybe try sticking the words at the bottom of the screen. (I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called when you do that. I've gone brain dead again.) I doubt you'd have to do it for the whole video, but maybe every now and then if you feel it should have it.

I've also noticed that when you're actually seeing what's happening it can be easier to interpret what someone's saying if it's relevant. Like commenting on something that just happened in the game. Seeing it and hearing it verses just hearing it do make a difference.

I hate it when people tell me to remember to speak clearly, or walk on my heels, (I'm a toe walker. Yup, you read that correctly,) because if I could just always remember that stuff, I would. But they're saying that because it's the only way. Just practice and do your best to remember. And don't worry, I'm sure you'll get better at it. Practice makes perfect. :)

EDIT: Just a quick clarification.

@ARRensch how do you use OSB? I have it, but it just records a black screen !! :rage:

I did a test recording and I hate my own voice xP I did make a create a sim video though if anyone wants to see and give some advice https://youtu.be/mWDUFpyoaas

I've been thinking about it too. Did some research and am using OSB Studio to record and Microsoft Movie Maker to put it all together and do the narration. My mike is the one that came built into my laptop. It isn't the best but does the job.

I've now got about 9 or 10 videos on YouTube. Here's a link to my channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW44b3uCMtCSaq4gwC8EZg

I'm still in the beginning learning phase but there are lots of tutorials on YouTube and other places and that's what I'm using.

This tutorial might help anyone trying to work out how to use OBS Studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbYMEOYonbo

I also have NVIDIA card and went into NVIDIA Control Panel | Manage 3D Settings | Add - and I chose OBS Studio.

I have the video saving to a drive that is not the same as the drive my game is on.

There are lots of other videos.