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Casting is something that has taken a life of his own. It has launched games like Starcraft to a place where people who don't even play the game will watch. I believe casters help Blizzard make Starcraft what it is today and are at the forefront of its promotion.
With that in mind, with the little casting I have done, I find there are more and more people trying to be the next big thing in hopes to make tons of money. They start casting with little to no experience or knowledge and wonder why there are not tons of people running to their channel. In my opinion, there are a few things that make someone not a good, but a great caster. There are also some things that make someone not a bad, but a terrible caster.
Starting with the Terrible :
1. Kids trying to cast games
I'm sorry to say this, but I'm sure people will agree with me, that high pitched / slightly winy voices are annoying. If you have not hit puberty, just hold off on your casting career. Possibly practice some of the things listed below that make a great caster so once your voice comes around, you'll be ready to go.
2. Copy Cats
If its already been done the EXACT same way, stop while your ahead. There is no way someone will want to listen to you cast if someone has or is doing it that way. There MUST be something unique about your casting.
3. No energy
"so... today we are going to... watch a game... between blah and blah blah...zZzZzZ." If you aren't exciting and into the game, WHY WOULD YOUR VIEWERS BE. They might as well just download the replay and watch it without a commentator. Make it convincing! Make us dive into the game!
Though there are plenty more things, I see those 3 as the quickest killers to someone watching a video of starcraft.
On to the Great :
1. Entertaining
Husky Starcraft
I believe it is safe to say there is a reason why Husky is where he is. He is flat out ENTERTAINING. His high energy mixed with his small comedic bursts draw you in and make you want to watch another video right that one finishes! Are you entertaining in real life? Do you have the vigor and comedic ability required for people to "buy in" to your casting?
2. Professional Casting Voice
HD Starcraft
Though there is nothing terribly profound about a cast by HD, its his voice. He just has that great "radio voice" that is soothing to listen to yet still draws you into the game. When things are calm, you are calm. When the action starts, you are on the edge of your seat. There are a few things you can do to work on your "Casting" voice, but sometimes you just have to be born with it. Sorry... Practice, fluidity between your words. Make them clear, its the only way talking fast will work. MUST BE CLEAR!
3. Innovation
Cricket Starcraft
This goes back to one of the terrible things on doing everything the same. And yes, this is a shameless plug for myself. Regardless, I have plenty of people asking me to check out their channel, but all I see are the same things over and over. I have a Bachelors in Music for Guitar, so I put guitar solos at the beginning of my videos. There are multi-pronged attacks, so I use PIP or Picture in Picture to capture it all. I give advice about the game changing events through providing an End Game Recap to almost every game. These are things that people have already done, but never committed to constantly doing on a regular basis. Its different and innovative. Find what will make you're channel different! If you spend time on anything, spend the most time on this!
4. Knowledgeable
Day9tv
It is obvious that this what separates Day9 from almost everyone else. He knows so much about the game and how it functions! Sure, this is Husky's downfall, but he makes up for it with entertainment. Day9 definitely has his comedic moments, BUT, people mainly come for the information. KNOW YOUR STUFF! In watching a bunch of small casters, I hear them saying things that are completely wrong. This comes from a lack of understanding in the game. If you are wanting to cast, take a lot of time to be familiar with the game. You will never be a good caster if you yourself can't get past the platinum league because you just don't know enough about the game. Study hard, practice up!
I hope this has been helpful to anyone thinking about jumping into the ever crowded world of Game Casting. Here are a few things to think about before you jump in.
- It takes some start up money (programs, proper equipment, computer upgrades)
- HUGE time investment (finding replays, recording them, editing, rendering, uploading)
- tons of effort with LITTLE return (you will put months of time into it before anyone notices you and even then, you shouldn't expect much)
YOU MUST HAVE A LOVE FOR THE GAME. Honestly, that is the only way you will make it in casting. If you don't have it, people that are watching won't have it, and then they won't be watching you because they really want to have it!
BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR CASTING CAREER!
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You have to talk about the strategy in the game. Don't just tell us what's going on, we can SEE what's going on. Tell us what's good about the strategies the players are doing, what options they have for transitions, who is ahead and why, etc.
Every youtube commentator I've heard has just told me what's on the screen. So yes, you must be knowledgeable. Well, you don't have to to get views, as evident by HEY EVERYONE THIS IS D TO THE DERPSKY DERPSKY, but imo it is a must to be a good commentator. I know I don't enjoy commentaries by commentators who aren't.
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Without raining on your parade too much, the majority of which you're speaking of as your own innovations have been done a lot by other casters i've seen for a long time, Hydra comes to mind as one.
Edit: I disagree on it taking start up money, I didn't need to purchase anything for quality sound and 1080p recording.
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Yeah, mostly because of #3 and somewhat #2, I have not really started into casting SC2 games. I planned on it at one point, but not only could I not find any replays that weren't already used of the player I wanted to cast, I had very low energy and would probably have been monotone for most of the cast. (I am becoming more and more monotone recently, i need to start doing voice stretches and stuff.)
Good guide, this should help newer casters in what they need to really start up and get popular.
And as a bonus, I will include examples of each of the four things needed to be great as a caster, for minecraft.
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Entertaining - Seananners, X, Myselfoverwhelmed - They all are very dynamic with their casts, never monotone, always something interesting going on in their videos, and they cut out what is boring.
2. Professional Casting Voice - Coestar - His videos may not all be interesting, but his voice is very calming and he is constantly praised for having a great voice.
3.Innovation - (unsure here) - It is very difficult to be innovating in a game like minecraft, and other than video editing, there is not much difference you can have in seperate videos.
4. Knowlagable - Avydia - Tnlike most minecraft series, Avydia packs his series full of useful information for the watcher, like how to make compact cactus farms and such.
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I think someone that fits under all those categories is PsyStarcraft... He doesn't play as much anymore, but he's still hilarious to watch, crazily knowledgeable, plays games with his fans and his voice is orgasmictastic. If you want to be a good caster, watch and learn from this guy.
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On May 03 2011 23:58 57 Corvette wrote:Yeah, mostly because of #3 and somewhat #2, I have not really started into casting SC2 games. I planned on it at one point, but not only could I not find any replays that weren't already used of the player I wanted to cast, I had very low energy and would probably have been monotone for most of the cast. (I am becoming more and more monotone recently, i need to start doing voice stretches and stuff.) Good guide, this should help newer casters in what they need to really start up and get popular. And as a bonus, I will include examples of each of the four things needed to be great as a caster, for minecraft. + Show Spoiler +
1. Entertaining - Seananners, X, Myselfoverwhelmed - They all are very dynamic with their casts, never monotone, always something interesting going on in their videos, and they cut out what is boring.
2. Professional Casting Voice - Coestar - His videos may not all be interesting, but his voice is very calming and he is constantly praised for having a great voice.
3.Innovation - (unsure here) - It is very difficult to be innovating in a game like minecraft, and other than video editing, there is not much difference you can have in seperate videos.
4. Knowlagable - Avydia - Tnlike most minecraft series, Avydia packs his series full of useful information for the watcher, like how to make compact cactus farms and such.
Innovation belongs to BlueXephos. Simon, Lewis and their crew creating a story using "NPCs" is probably the most innovative thing you'll get in Minecraft. They are also hilarious.
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KaelSC - I know other casters have done these "innovative things", but few do it on a regular basis. Also, many people such as myself, didn't have the computer to create high quality casts. It does require a decently updated computer to run your game on high graphics and record in 1080p.
These are not absolutes, just obvious things people will need to consider before leaping in.
Jermo - I amost threw Psy in the mix, but frankly a good bit of his commentaries are dirty jokes after dirty jokes. Not that I don't think they are funny, but I do believe you lose the professional touch with him. Is it picky, sure. But PsY's casts are definitely not for everybody.
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I would agree that Day9 is knowledgeable, but that's only part of what draws people to him. He is entertaining as hell. Husky is entertaining for bringing new people to the game, but his entertainment value drops off as you progress, I think. Day9's wit keeps you coming back. I don't mean that to minimize Husky, I just find over time I've lost interest in his casting. Still enjoy the Banelings song, though.
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I like HD's voice the most. But this guy seems to forget how to play the game already. Completely lacks of knowledge that gave me palm face so many times. I've stop watching his vids for months now.
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- Do games that haven't been done.
- Don't fake enthusiasm (at least, that's something that bugs me.)
- Like someone else said, discuss strategy rather than tell us what's in front of out eyes. If you don't actually know what you're talking about, you probably shouldn't be casting anyway.
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Canada1637 Posts
My advice is just do it if you like it, do it for the love of the game, do not go into it with expectations to get famous, become rich or to become super popular, or to even become moderately popular, it won't happen, this isn't the beta anymore, there is tons of content everywhere, people will no longer flood to your channel and get you 5356236 viewers. Don't worry about getting tons of viewers, just enjoy the ones you get and try to interact with them somewhat.
In terms of more practical advice, before you put your first cast up, make sure there is no FPS problems, sound balance problems, and so on, the first impression is the most important.
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HD and Husky are awful and if you're in any league outside of Bronze listening to them you should be ashamed.
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On June 10 2011 15:41 piskooooo wrote:
HD and Husky are awful and if you're in any league outside of Bronze listening to them you should be ashamed.
But credit has been given to them where it is due.
My perception would be to save your time and produce for a website already in use, and not launch a new site all of its own. Nerdyshore.com, Stratbunker, sc2gg, starcraft2videos...
Use a common site as your platform, don't build a site outside of your social networking homesite.
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One other thing I think is important as a caster is this: Good English, if you repeat the same words over and over again, it can sometimes get annoying.
For example: Crota.
I like his casts, but he repeats the same words over and over again, which are often actually quite wrong.
"Player A is upgrading his building armor as muta's fly over the map and pick of a lot of things"
This is just an example. These 2 things have nothing to do with eachother, so don't say that sentence. Or at least not in this way.
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On June 10 2011 17:03 Grendel wrote:
One other thing I think is important as a caster is this: Good English, if you repeat the same words over and over again, it can sometimes get annoying.
For example: Crota.
I like his casts, but he repeats the same words over and over again, which are often actually quite wrong.
"Player A is upgrading his building armor as muta's fly over the map and pick of a lot of things"
This is just an example. These 2 things have nothing to do with eachother, so don't say that sentence. Or at least not in this way.
I don't think you realize how hard it is to sometimes get out of the habit of repeating a specific word/phrase over and over during a cast or series of casts. I mostly don't do it anymore, but for people starting out it can be an absolute plague, one which, after having a lot of casting experience, you can sympathize with to a certain extent. A great example would be Incontrol's feelings toward it that he's previously state on SotG, if you're a man who likes references.
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On June 10 2011 15:39 Adebisi wrote:
My advice is just do it if you like it, do it for the love of the game, do not go into it with expectations to get famous, become rich or to become super popular, or to even become moderately popular, it won't happen, this isn't the beta anymore, there is tons of content everywhere, people will no longer flood to your channel and get you 5356236 viewers. Don't worry about getting tons of viewers, just enjoy the ones you get and try to interact with them somewhat.
In terms of more practical advice, before you put your first cast up, make sure there is no FPS problems, sound balance problems, and so on, the first impression is the most important.
I agree with this.
There's lots of casters starting out, and I watch a lot of random casters just from what I see on sc2casts.com. PiP is great, analysis is great, excitement is key. Each caster needs to play to their strong points. Look at TotalBiscuit, weak game knowledge, incredibly popular caster because he focuses on what he does best, bringing excitement and entertainment.
Also, once you get a few casts out, ask minor tournaments if you can cast for them. I'm sure they'd appreciate it and getting events under your name makes you look fancy.
I think the two best up-and-coming casters right now are Adebisi and Wyrd, that's my personal opinion. Crota is good too but I just dislike his accent, it's kellyMILKIES syndrome I suppose.
Also, if any aspiring casters are reading this, stop doing Spanishiwa games. He has an interesting style, it's nothing special, and he's not a top tier player. I am sick to death of looking and seeing Spanishiwa vs RandomLadderNoob flooding sc2casts, it's damn sad. He's popular, have him in showmatches and stuff because of that, but it's just not entertaining to see him over and over and over...he has a stream for that.
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I plan on getting into the casting business myself soon. I can't say I took much of your "advice" to heart. I've been listening to casters and watching starcraft for awhile. I have a pretty good idea of how I want to do most of my casting and really the only limiting factor is due to technology.
How to overcome that obstacle is a lot different than being a well rounded public speaker. Emulating day9 is the easy part.
Also if anyone would be interested in sending me replays of them and hearing commentary and analysis or any games in general i'd be happy to do them for you: homiegmente@gmail.com
I am a master's league terran and a D+/C- terran bw player. I can guarantee you it won't be a play by play at all.
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Personally I think energy is overrated in casting, infact alot of casters are annoying to me because they try too hard to bring energy by overhyping everything going on. The most important traits for a caster are excellent knowledge of the game and the gaming scene as well as a genuine interest, you can´t compensate lack of gameknowledge with energy.
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EPT
