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Hi,
some time ago i started to cast to train my voice, get more comfortable with speaking and learn to better show my emotion (think of me as a vulcan with round ears... i usually show less emotions than spock).
Since i usually don't advertise my channel i get no feedback at all - except for a single comment that said "you suck". After around 60 cast games i now wonder if i made any progress at all or if i'm so bad that there is no hope of me ever becoming a "good" caster (in terms of "people actually would watch my casts without a gun to their heads").
As i cast in german, the casts will probably be uninteresting for most of you, but if you want, i'd appreciate some feedback.
The youtube channel is http://youtube.com/SCMorfildur
PS: I think about doing a few english casts, but my pronounciation is usually horrible (i can't get my tongue around the "th" :p)
PPS: If one of the mods sees this as too much self-advertising, please delete this post. I really just want feedback.
 
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-Do not speak German, so I can't comment on your actual spoken information-
However, I would say that casting is what you sculpt it to be and there isn't a single-defined means of casting, but you should try to pick one particular style and stick with it; if you're true to it and good at it people will love you for it.
I'll explain what I mean;
A caster such as Totalbiscuit whose general game knowledge is rather low (obviously he knows the game, the units etc, but he will not be able to give you a 5 minute preview on the game based on the positioning of a pylon) but his excitement levels at action points are high, and make his commentary personally extremely fun to listen to. The hyping of the drama and action in the game is his personal style and that's what wins him fans, he's true to that style and doesn't try to pretend he knows more about the game than he does, because he knows himself his general game knowledge is limited.
In a great contrast, a caster such as Idra (lol at comparing the two in one post ;DDDD) whose speaking tone is rather mono-tone, but his game knowledge ability to give an extremely insightful view of the game with a ton of information that diamond and above level players can REALLY benefit from. It may not suit the casual viewer, but again I love his style which is basically the complete other end of the spectrum in casting.
You seem to be somewhere inbetween the two ends, I'd say closer to the analysis side as you don't do the play-by-play high emotion/excitement stuff that someone like Totalbiscuit does at climactic points in the action, but your voice definitely isn't monotone. You do have some breaking in your fluency of speach (as in keeping a consistent rhythm, using "umms" and breaks as you think quite often) but that will just work itself out over time. Personally, I don't find a problem with your speach, but like I said I cannot comment on content as I don't speak the language ;p
P.S.: Please do some in English, I'm sure people don't mind some bad pronunciation, hell if Whitera went into casting no one would have a problem :D
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Don't give up.
But don't put all your money on it either.
Just do it for fun now and keep putting them up.
Keep trying to improve when you feel like it.
I wouldn't treat it as a job if you feel you have little chance at succeeding tho.
I hope one day people are commenting saying "you rock"
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if you personally enjoy it, why stop?? maybe it puts a dent in your dream of becoming a pro at it, but if you get satisfaction from it, that's all you need
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On June 23 2011 23:06 ComaDose wrote:
Don't give up.
But don't put all your money on it either.
Just do it for fun now and keep putting them up.
Keep trying to improve when you feel like it.
I wouldn't treat it as a job if you feel you have little chance at succeeding tho.
I hope one day people are commenting saying "you rock"
Pretty much this, also try to ignore haters. Can't remember who said it but for every 10 nice comments you get, 1 hater will ruin them all if you take it to heart. Take all comments with a pinch of salt and judge your own performance based on what you want to be.
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don't do it for them. if you love starcraft and this is how you want to contribute to the community, then you are doing a great thing. i remember on sotg once JP was saying that when you start casting, the people that like you aren't going to say anything. and the people that don't like you are the only ones who are going to speak. as long as the video quality on the vods is good and you love starcraft you will get fans
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Netherlands45349 Posts
Giving up is for losers
You are a winner
now get yours
In seriousness, if you want to appeal to a broader audience you really should consider English.
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On June 23 2011 23:08 Hawk wrote:
if you personally enjoy it, why stop?? maybe it puts a dent in your dream of becoming a pro at it, but if you get satisfaction from it, that's all you need
I don't plan on becoming pro and it does give some satisfaction, but i wonder if it actually makes sense that someone like me tries to cast or if i should rather spend my time doing stuff i'm better suited for.
+ Show Spoiler +
Well, and in the end it's just my insecurity hoping on some "well... it's not _that_ bad, at least you are improving" :p
On June 23 2011 23:00 Zanti wrote:
-Do not speak German, so I can't comment on your actual spoken information-
However, I would say that casting is what you sculpt it to be and there isn't a single-defined means of casting, but you should try to pick one particular style and stick with it; if you're true to it and good at it people will love you for it.
I'll explain what I mean;
A caster such as Totalbiscuit whose general game knowledge is rather low (obviously he knows the game, the units etc, but he will not be able to give you a 5 minute preview on the game based on the positioning of a pylon) but his excitement levels at action points are high, and make his commentary personally extremely fun to listen to. The hyping of the drama and action in the game is his personal style and that's what wins him fans, he's true to that style and doesn't try to pretend he knows more about the game than he does, because he knows himself his general game knowledge is limited.
In a great contrast, a caster such as Idra (lol at comparing the two in one post ;DDDD) whose speaking tone is rather mono-tone, but his game knowledge ability to give an extremely insightful view of the game with a ton of information that diamond and above level players can REALLY benefit from. It may not suit the casual viewer, but again I love his style which is basically the complete other end of the spectrum in casting.
You seem to be somewhere inbetween the two ends, I'd say closer to the analysis side as you don't do the play-by-play high emotion/excitement stuff that someone like Totalbiscuit does at climactic points in the action, but your voice definitely isn't monotone. You do have some breaking in your fluency of speach (as in keeping a consistent rhythm, using "umms" and breaks as you think quite often) but that will just work itself out over time. Personally, I don't find a problem with your speach, but like I said I cannot comment on content as I don't speak the language ;p
P.S.: Please do some in English, I'm sure people don't mind some bad pronunciation, hell if Whitera went into casting no one would have a problem :D
Thanks for the feedback and hints. I will do the next games of Sen vs TT1 in english and upload them today or tomorrow so you can see that WhiteRas pronounciation is probably twice as good as mine 
I try to be more in the direction of TB, since i'm just a diamond player with not enough knowledge to really be analytical while it also helps me more on the goal of learning to speak more fluently and relaxed, without thinking too much about each sentence. I still catch myself often doing some analysis which often turns out to be correct - though in some cases also horribly wrong.
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I just hope you dont get too wounded by those who dont appreciate your work.
Cheer up man.Also if you want to get more views doing it more professional try interviewing players,live event footage,like Askjoshy.
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I don't speak German either, but I just watched one of your casts from a few weeks ago. Its not bad. I can't speak to what you were actually talking about, but you were always talking about something and there weren't as many stutters and awkward silences as..."other"...casters I've seen. You're not monotone and you're not screaming into your microphone. So long as you're giving good information on the strategies and what is happening then your casting is a nice, chill stream!
In general, you can treat each cast like improving a game of starcraft. Focus on your goal and improve something each game (something specific, not "do better").
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On June 23 2011 23:26 Morfildur wrote:Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 23:08 Hawk wrote:
if you personally enjoy it, why stop?? maybe it puts a dent in your dream of becoming a pro at it, but if you get satisfaction from it, that's all you need I don't plan on becoming pro and it does give some satisfaction, but i wonder if it actually makes sense that someone like me tries to cast or if i should rather spend my time doing stuff i'm better suited for. + Show Spoiler +
Well, and in the end it's just my insecurity hoping on some "well... it's not _that_ bad, at least you are improving" :p
Show nested quote +On June 23 2011 23:00 Zanti wrote:
-Do not speak German, so I can't comment on your actual spoken information-
However, I would say that casting is what you sculpt it to be and there isn't a single-defined means of casting, but you should try to pick one particular style and stick with it; if you're true to it and good at it people will love you for it.
I'll explain what I mean;
A caster such as Totalbiscuit whose general game knowledge is rather low (obviously he knows the game, the units etc, but he will not be able to give you a 5 minute preview on the game based on the positioning of a pylon) but his excitement levels at action points are high, and make his commentary personally extremely fun to listen to. The hyping of the drama and action in the game is his personal style and that's what wins him fans, he's true to that style and doesn't try to pretend he knows more about the game than he does, because he knows himself his general game knowledge is limited.
In a great contrast, a caster such as Idra (lol at comparing the two in one post ;DDDD) whose speaking tone is rather mono-tone, but his game knowledge ability to give an extremely insightful view of the game with a ton of information that diamond and above level players can REALLY benefit from. It may not suit the casual viewer, but again I love his style which is basically the complete other end of the spectrum in casting.
You seem to be somewhere inbetween the two ends, I'd say closer to the analysis side as you don't do the play-by-play high emotion/excitement stuff that someone like Totalbiscuit does at climactic points in the action, but your voice definitely isn't monotone. You do have some breaking in your fluency of speach (as in keeping a consistent rhythm, using "umms" and breaks as you think quite often) but that will just work itself out over time. Personally, I don't find a problem with your speach, but like I said I cannot comment on content as I don't speak the language ;p
P.S.: Please do some in English, I'm sure people don't mind some bad pronunciation, hell if Whitera went into casting no one would have a problem :D Thanks for the feedback and hints. I will do the next games of Sen vs TT1 in english and upload them today or tomorrow so you can see that WhiteRas pronounciation is probably twice as good as mine I try to be more in the direction of TB, since i'm just a diamond player with not enough knowledge to really be analytical while it also helps me more on the goal of learning to speak more fluently and relaxed, without thinking too much about each sentence. I still catch myself often doing some analysis which often turns out to be correct - though in some cases also horribly wrong.
Diamond is plenty enough to be half analytical half play by play. TB is in gold league, Kelly was gold or platinum (think she is diamond now?) JP just recently got into Masters. Game knowledge isn't why you are in diamond, it is mostly macro and mechanics.
Just research some of the general builds so you actually sound intelligent when trying to help your audience understand how the game should play out. Is it a macro map>if so talk about the implications of it...aka, this is a decent map for a Terran player to do a 1 rax expand or this is a good map for forge expand for Protoss because of the small choke and easily defendable ramp. Is he taking two early gases, talk about the tech heavy options that particular race could potentially pick.
General analysis is always nice for the casual player, talk about that until the game starts to pick up around 6-8 minutes, then go into your play by play style. If the game doesn't pick up talk about general unit compositions for the matchup, improv a story that something ingame reminded you about, etc. Just entertain, have fun with your commentary and eventually more and more people will follow and like you if you are getting better.
P.S. Becoming pro takes a ton of time and dedication. If you aren't putting in a ton of effort don't expect to become the next big thing. Playing or commentating isn't easy, but just remember that every view you get on youtube is someone who sat through your video and atleast gave your content the time of day. Just think how cool it is that other people are even watching your commentary and spending time on content you produced (that should give you a rewarding feeling)
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I think the fact that you cast in German is a big reason why youre not getting feedback, as a lot of people dont speak it and thus cant comment.
At the same time, casting in German gives you something that distinguishes you from the other casters. Lets be honest, there are a thousand "casual" casters like you on youtube and if you want to be more popular, you have to have something different or something that simply makes you more attractive than the other guys.
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Since your goal is to train your voice/become better at speaking, all you need to do is watch your first video and watch your last video and ask yourself if you've improved. Whether you are good or not is irrelevant if you are just trying to get better. It's also not completely necessary to upload every video to the internet or stream if you're feeling like they're not good enough yet. Speaking well is a skill that is developed. It might take conscious effort to improve, or extra exercises to get better. If someone said "I've tried playing piano 60 times for 15 minutes at a time and I'm still not good" I would tell them they maybe need to work on fundamentals and realise it is a lot of work. It might be the same for you. You will be better for having done it those 60 times, but you will not necessarily be good yet.
Good luck~ Speaking well is a skill worth developing, it's not a waste to do this.
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Keep fighting the good fight homie and fuck all the rest.
That said some minor feedback I can give you right now since I do speak a little german(hehehe high school is actually useful!)
1:You sometimes have small pauses in your speaking at the beginning, don't do that unless something happens like a drop you didn't notice or some giant attack or awesome harass.
2.Don't talk so much about the rocks or map, just let the game unfold naturally and talk about what you see. Sure to fill up some time in the beginning I'd talk about 1 to 3 key positions on the map for the match up but instead fill time more with well anything, some minor advertising for yourself, talking about the players recent performances in tournaments(IE not the most recent ones which would spoil) and the players themselves.
3.Your mouse movements are a little jerky but nothing that won't come with more practice. Also if you highlight something and click the portrait the screen auto centers on that selected thing(unless you have a huge selection of units and then it just centers on a random one)
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A few things.
Firstly, your audio quality is low, but by the sounds of it this is because you're clipping, not because you have an awful mic. Clipping is when your gain is too high, you hit 0db on the levels, lights flash red, a warpcore breach begins (may not actually happen) and you get a harsh, unpleasant to listen to sound. This is the first thing I noticed as soon as I turned on your cast, so that's a BIG problem to eliminate. Turn down your mic levels. To give you other advice on that regard, I'd need to know what your audio setup is.
Secondly "Since i usually don't advertise my channel i get no feedback at all" - You will never succeed if you don't do this. Think of Youtube as a crowd of 1 million screaming people all jockeying for position. The guys who get noticed are the guys with the big hats, the colourful signs and the loudest voices. Market, Market, Market.
Those two basic things are two big hurdles holding you back.
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No, don't give up.
I cast every week for the CraftCup and try and get more opportunities. Naturally, I get very little or none. The most feedback I get it the occasional 'you sound weird" and my usual viewers (12 if I'm lucky and nothing better is on ^^)
But honestly, if you like it and enjoy it as Hawk says, no reason to stop.
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On June 24 2011 01:04 TotalBiscuit wrote:
A few things.
Firstly, your audio quality is low, but by the sounds of it this is because you're clipping, not because you have an awful mic. Clipping is when your gain is too high, you hit 0db on the levels, lights flash red, a warpcore breach begins (may not actually happen) and you get a harsh, unpleasant to listen to sound. This is the first thing I noticed as soon as I turned on your cast, so that's a BIG problem to eliminate. Turn down your mic levels. To give you other advice on that regard, I'd need to know what your audio setup is.
Secondly "Since i usually don't advertise my channel i get no feedback at all" - You will never succeed if you don't do this. Think of Youtube as a crowd of 1 million screaming people all jockeying for position. The guys who get noticed are the guys with the big hats, the colourful signs and the loudest voices. Market, Market, Market.
Those two basic things are two big hurdles holding you back.
I'm honored to get a reply from the Master himself 
My setup is:
A generic 30€ Phillips Headset directly connected to a generic onboard Soundcard, recorded by Fraps on Win7, then converted with ffmpeg to mp4.
I noticed that i had mic boost to full, i will play around with it and check if reducing it improves the audio quality. I didn't really notice this until now since my own voice always sounds very wierd and wrong to me
About advertising it's probably because i still think too much about the reasons why people would not care about the channel anyways and how useless advertising would be because of that :p I'll probably start advertising when i feel confident enough in my casting (i.e. probably never), but since i don't want to go pro and already have a well paid job it's not such a big deal if i never get more than a few subscribers. Might be a flaw in my personality though
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On June 24 2011 01:07 Torte de Lini wrote:
No, don't give up.
I cast every week for the CraftCup and try and get more opportunities. Naturally, I get very little or none. The most feedback I get it the occasional 'you sound weird" and my usual viewers (12 if I'm lucky and nothing better is on ^^)
I watch your stream becuase you post so much.
so @OP that's good advertising ;p
If you have a comment from a hater then you have at least 5 more fans than all the other people that never got a single comment.
I think the most important thing people said was judge your performance on your own expectations. And set reasonably high expectations for yourself. You will improve.
There is also a lot of high quality content out there so you will need to do something special to stand out.
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i watched a few minutes of sen vs tt1 g3 and i didn't like it tbh. you speak extremely slowly and you seem to be breathing a lot inbetween your words, which makes the whole thing hard to listen to and makes me personally feel uncomfortable, as in, it kind of gives me trouble breathing myself. i would give you the advice to just try to be a bit more outgoing and just be relaxed and have fun while you cast. don't try to say everything 100% right or whatever, just chill and be yourself. it just sounds like you're not really comfortable talking.
also, you need to vary your speech a bit if your cast is supposed to be exciting. as a solo caster you won't get many people to watch if you're not exciting (or if you have some incredible insight, learned that myself) because it just doesn't get people hooked.
if you just do all this for your own enjoyment and because you think it's right, keep doing it 100%. if you want to broaden your audience then realistically you have to be pretty talented (day9, totalbiscuit, khaldor) or you have to make your mind up in how you can be unique and worth while watching.
i hope this doesn't come across too harsh, but i feel i'm being pretty realistic and i'm definitely honest here.
gl!
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On June 24 2011 07:27 drooL wrote:
i watched a few minutes of sen vs tt1 g3 and i didn't like it tbh. you speak extremely slowly and you seem to be breathing a lot inbetween your words, which makes the whole thing hard to listen to and makes me personally feel uncomfortable, as in, it kind of gives me trouble breathing myself. i would give you the advice to just try to be a bit more outgoing and just be relaxed and have fun while you cast. don't try to say everything 100% right or whatever, just chill and be yourself. it just sounds like you're not really comfortable talking.
also, you need to vary your speech a bit if your cast is supposed to be exciting. as a solo caster you won't get many people to watch if you're not exciting (or if you have some incredible insight, learned that myself) because it just doesn't get people hooked.
if you just do all this for your own enjoyment and because you think it's right, keep doing it 100%. if you want to broaden your audience then realistically you have to be pretty talented (day9, totalbiscuit, khaldor) or you have to make your mind up in how you can be unique and worth while watching.
i hope this doesn't come across too harsh, but i feel i'm being pretty realistic and i'm definitely honest here.
gl!
Thanks for the honest response.
I know that the breathing is a big problem in my casts (to the point where i thought about removing the breathing sounds in post-processing). As i usually only talk as little as neccessary (and, where possible, less than that), i'm not really used to speaking a lot - which means my breathing is not really adjusted to this (yet). I'm working on that and hope to improve it just by casting more, though i fear it will never really go away.
I will try to follow your advice on the other points and hope to improve some day
PS:
For the others: i uploaded 2 english casts (and 2 more in the queue which i will upload when i'm back home today), though i'm not really happy about them as i speak even slower in those videos. I can read, write and listen to english without any problems, but when it gets to speaking english i have some trouble and it takes a lot of concentration away from the game.
PPS:
I will continue casting for now and hope to improve some day with the help of the suggestions i got here. At least i didn't get a "you suck horribly, don't ever touch a microphone again" :p
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EPT
