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[BW] First commentary

Blogs > FlaShFTW
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FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10241 Posts
April 27 2015 23:18 GMT
#1
So I finally set up my OBS so that I could record games from youtube or what-not and I wanted to do some commentaries (I've always wanted to do them ever since I got into the BW scene). I would love criticism and feedback about my style or how I did and I hope I will be able to learn from it in the future.



Please go easy on my butthole >_<

***
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
Psyonic_Reaver
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States4337 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-04-28 01:02:33
April 28 2015 01:02 GMT
#2
Try to mess around with your audio settings to isolate/remove that echoy/roboty sound that your mic is putting out.

Good job on limiting your um's and ah's. Most first timers struggle with that. Try to restrain from stating the obvious such as you see the stargate being built and then you say "Oh he's building a Stargate." We just saw him build it. It's better to try and follow through on what the player is thinking when you commentate a FPVod. Ok well I saw him open 2 gate I think he'll go stargate. Some people don't like commentator's "guessing" but try to put yourself in the player's shoes which you do from time to time but not consistently enough.

Good job overall. Still room to improve but you've avoided a lot of pitfalls of newer commentators.

Edit: I haven't commentated in well over 3-4 years now so take what I say with a grain of salt I guess.
So wait? I'm bad? =(
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10241 Posts
April 28 2015 03:04 GMT
#3
On April 28 2015 10:02 Psyonic_Reaver wrote:
Try to mess around with your audio settings to isolate/remove that echoy/roboty sound that your mic is putting out.

Good job on limiting your um's and ah's. Most first timers struggle with that. Try to restrain from stating the obvious such as you see the stargate being built and then you say "Oh he's building a Stargate." We just saw him build it. It's better to try and follow through on what the player is thinking when you commentate a FPVod. Ok well I saw him open 2 gate I think he'll go stargate. Some people don't like commentator's "guessing" but try to put yourself in the player's shoes which you do from time to time but not consistently enough.

Good job overall. Still room to improve but you've avoided a lot of pitfalls of newer commentators.

Edit: I haven't commentated in well over 3-4 years now so take what I say with a grain of salt I guess.

omg psy reaver i was a huge fan when you commentated back then! thanks so much for the feedback! :D

for audio, unfortunately i can only use my computer mic since i'm a poor college student who cant afford something better. ill probably buy one when i make more from my internship over the summer.

again thanks so much :D
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
Reptilia
Profile Joined June 2010
Chile913 Posts
April 28 2015 04:25 GMT
#4
i dont watch much bw commentary but man this was great! very insightful commentary! enjoyed it very much, I hope there are more to come
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10241 Posts
April 28 2015 07:12 GMT
#5
On April 28 2015 13:25 Reptilia wrote:
i dont watch much bw commentary but man this was great! very insightful commentary! enjoyed it very much, I hope there are more to come

thank you so much! ill try to get at least one out a week c:
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
Peeano
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Netherlands5192 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-04-28 18:16:44
April 28 2015 11:46 GMT
#6
I generally like your casting already; very good for a first time. I like it better than Sayle's first/earlier castings.

Criticism:
Cast it as though you haven't seen the game yet, don't spoil information beforehand. Doing this will take away the viewer's excitement.
Get a better mic.
I would have liked if you put the sound a bit louder, so we hear the in game sounds a bit better and this way you'll have the option to react with what Bisu is saying or guess/making something up from what tone he is using. Make a joke for example.
You talk a lot, which is great, but you're only talking about the game. It gets to a point where I feel like you are flooding your viewer with information. (Something which is great for radio, but not so much for television.)
Try to provide your viewer with some background info of the players/the game. A funny fact or some statistic information for example. A great way to release tension from your stream of information about the live game and a great way to learn together with your viewer. This way you'll create a bond.

Do you remember those teachers who just spam you with information for 1 hour straight? I think your commentary is comparable to that, the difference is that I love Brood War, so I don't really mind it.
FBH #1!
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10241 Posts
April 28 2015 19:03 GMT
#7
On April 28 2015 20:46 Peeano wrote:
I generally like your casting already; very good for a first time. I like it better than Sayle's first/earlier castings.

Criticism:
Cast it as though you haven't seen the game yet, don't spoil information beforehand. Doing this will take away the viewer's excitement.
Get a better mic.
I would have liked if you put the sound a bit louder, so we hear the in game sounds a bit better and this way you'll have the option to react with what Bisu is saying or guess/making something up from what tone he is using. Make a joke for example.
You talk a lot, which is great, but you're only talking about the game. It gets to a point where I feel like you are flooding your viewer with information. (Something which is great for radio, but not so much for television.)
Try to provide your viewer with some background info of the players/the game. A funny fact or some statistic information for example. A great way to release tension from your stream of information about the live game and a great way to learn together with your viewer. This way you'll create a bond.

Do you remember those teachers who just spam you with information for 1 hour straight? I think your commentary is comparable to that, the difference is that I love Brood War, so I don't really mind it.

The commentary was more of an analysis of how he played so I was more leaning to studied how he played. idk if that changes anything, because if i were doing a standard commentary of a game where we can see both players, i wouldn't spoil anything.

do you have any suggestions for cheap mics? I'm looking at like below 50 if thats even possible.

will do next time!

yeah, i felt that when i was getting about half way through but didnt want to change what i was doing to keep a consistent commentary.
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25989 Posts
April 29 2015 01:41 GMT
#8
I haven't thought about commentary for years, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

Overall, I think it was really well done. The flow was good, the thoughts were well-presented and quite accurate.

If I had to give two tips, they would be:

1. Don't take viewers out of the game. Hearing about the Korean commentary and it being very distracting is such a brick wall for the viewer. Suddenly I forget about listening to you and thinking about Starcraft, to thinking about the Korean voice in the background and eventually I'm thinking about you being distracted, etc. Don't be afraid to just be silent and gather your thoughts for a second or two. Which leads to...

2. Don't worry about being wrong or analysing incorrectly. If you're not sure about something, state that, make a guess, and then move on and focus on what you do know.

Once you got into the action, it got good and I have no feedback for that party. Really good job and I hope you post when you release more or I would have missed this one.
Moderator
TelecoM
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States10684 Posts
April 29 2015 03:00 GMT
#9
Hey great! I can't watch b/c of Data Cap, but it is always great to see more people casting BW, thanks for your contribution!
AKA: TelecoM[WHITE] Protoss fighting
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10241 Posts
April 29 2015 07:31 GMT
#10
On April 29 2015 10:41 Chill wrote:
I haven't thought about commentary for years, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

Overall, I think it was really well done. The flow was good, the thoughts were well-presented and quite accurate.

If I had to give two tips, they would be:

1. Don't take viewers out of the game. Hearing about the Korean commentary and it being very distracting is such a brick wall for the viewer. Suddenly I forget about listening to you and thinking about Starcraft, to thinking about the Korean voice in the background and eventually I'm thinking about you being distracted, etc. Don't be afraid to just be silent and gather your thoughts for a second or two. Which leads to...

2. Don't worry about being wrong or analysing incorrectly. If you're not sure about something, state that, make a guess, and then move on and focus on what you do know.

Once you got into the action, it got good and I have no feedback for that party. Really good job and I hope you post when you release more or I would have missed this one.

Thanks a bunch Chill. i remember when i first opened my youtube account, didnt have a single video but told people i would be posting things and you immediately closed my thread xD ill definitely keep posting more videos!
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
Peeano
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Netherlands5192 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-04-29 20:15:17
April 29 2015 20:01 GMT
#11
On April 29 2015 04:03 FlaShFTW wrote:
The commentary was more of an analysis of how he played so I was more leaning to studied how he played. idk if that changes anything, because if i were doing a standard commentary of a game where we can see both players, i wouldn't spoil anything.

do you have any suggestions for cheap mics? I'm looking at like below 50 if thats even possible.

will do next time!

yeah, i felt that when i was getting about half way through but didnt want to change what i was doing to keep a consistent commentary.

Aha. I'm looking forward to see you casting a VOD.

I'm using a USB logitech desktop mic. I can't give you the product number because it is nowhere to be found on the mic. Here it cost me like €20,- 3 years ago. My friend has the same one and in Skype calls the quality is really nice to me.
My previous 2 microphones have been 2.5 mm jack ones and the sound quality of those were terribad. From my little experience I'd say go for a USB one by logitech... Ask the community or doing some quick research should give you a better answer.

Take my criticism lightly. Just use what you want n discard the rest. I was just trying to give insight on how I'd do it.

I believe there is a post by 'Paul Chaloner (born 11 November 1971), better known by his pseudonym ReDeYe, one of the world's first professional electronic sports TV commentators' on TL or reddit where he gives a complete guide on how to cast professionally. I think it revolves around LoL, but it should be a great read for anyone who is looking to improve his casting skills.
FBH #1!
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