So last week has been a panic attack for me as a new Let's Player. If you haven't been keeping up with things with the Internet, Congress was about to pass a new legislative law called SOPA that would have stopped Internet piracy. Unfortunately, passing that (though it would have stopped piracy of copyrighted material) would have made it impossible for people to post videos and blog pieces if they were using said copyrighted material. To completely stop the flow of information from being posted is bad news--- it means no more viral videos, no more opinions, and a strict repeal of every Let's Play, homemade dance video, or even a spoof of a certain music video. Basically, there would be no free sharing of information.
That being said, I was genuinely afraid that I wouldn't be able to make anymore Let's Play videos if it was passed. Therefore, I made sure to sign the Google petition to ensure that I wouldn't lose my chance to do what I've dreamed about for a year. The next day, it became a thing of the past--- support of the bill left quickly as discontent from the majority visibly showed.
Yet I'm still peeved that this would happen. The Internet is a place of information and interaction; if you take away the freedom of posting information that you want to share with the world, then how will we ever get to know the world around us. I would definitely see a drop in the sales of certain businesses, like the video game business and movies. I only say movies, though, because it's usually on Youtube that I find out when a movie I want to see is coming out.
In any case, I'm just glad that citizens know how to rally when something important to them is threatened. It's what has kept us from losing certain rights that are important to our survival in this country, and man, the Internet is all we have to keep the majority of us sane. Even though that sounds problematic, I like that we don't have "Manifest Destiny" attitudes about the world because of the Internet (at least, for the majority of us). Maybe it's because the Internet is the world we choose to live in more than the present, and that perhaps we're realizing that this entire world needs to stay as is naturally while we expand the informational network. Of course, Earth staying the way it is may be a stretch of an argument, but I want to believe that the Internet has somewhat made us all realize at one point that this world is much bigger and more precious than we have realized before it to be.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Video Editing is Tedious Work
Yesterday, I made four Let's Play videos in all and I'm so proud of myself. The fact that I managed to do it (with one major mess-up, but was expected) proves that I can do anything if I can set my mind to it. That being said, I should set my mind to writing stories soon and school when I think about it.
Still, those four videos clocked around 20 minutes each, and Youtube has a ten-minute limit on uploaded videos. Of course, I had to edit them in Windows Movie Maker and split the video in half to accommodate those requirements. The big problem with editing for me, though, was matching my audio clip with the video. Taking out and listening to all the video can be pretty tough, but it's all for the audience's sake (and mine as well; I'd go nuts if anything felt off).
It is really satisfying to see the finish product work so smoothly, mostly because it meant I cared a lot about the quality of my work. So even if it takes a lot of work to make a Let's Play, everything becomes worth it if people are entertained. That being said, I should start working on my commentary and speech problems...
Anyways, I'm back at my university and I'm figuring out how I could balance my grades and make Let's Plays at the same time. Maybe if I do them for half an hour each week I'd be fine, but that all depends. For now, I'm going to be on the top of my game.
Still, those four videos clocked around 20 minutes each, and Youtube has a ten-minute limit on uploaded videos. Of course, I had to edit them in Windows Movie Maker and split the video in half to accommodate those requirements. The big problem with editing for me, though, was matching my audio clip with the video. Taking out and listening to all the video can be pretty tough, but it's all for the audience's sake (and mine as well; I'd go nuts if anything felt off).
It is really satisfying to see the finish product work so smoothly, mostly because it meant I cared a lot about the quality of my work. So even if it takes a lot of work to make a Let's Play, everything becomes worth it if people are entertained. That being said, I should start working on my commentary and speech problems...
Anyways, I'm back at my university and I'm figuring out how I could balance my grades and make Let's Plays at the same time. Maybe if I do them for half an hour each week I'd be fine, but that all depends. For now, I'm going to be on the top of my game.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
At Last! My First Let's Play!
Today is a big milestone in my life.
I finally figured out how everything works program-wise, and established my new Let's Play channel under the user name AutumnRainXIII. Of course, it was frustrating to find out how to make a Youtube account on my laptop, but apparently, my PC is the only computer that can hold an account for that user name. So it would seem that I can't access my account with my own laptop, but with another computer. That, all-in-all, can limit how many Let's Plays I can do during the school year.
In the least, I put up my first (and second) Let's Play videos of Top Shop on that account, so I can breathe a sigh of relief. A whole week of planning this and I finally accomplish the first part of my goal. Now, the quality of the audio and video aren't exactly perfect, but they'll pass. I just wish it would stop doing that sometimes; I'll eventually figure out how to fix that.
For today, though, I have been making as many Let's Plays as I can do. I haven't edited them just yet, but I won't upload them immediately. So far I have two more 20-minute videos, but I plan to finish the first level of the game today. I don't know how long it'll take, but I'm finishing it. So I'll end this post here and maybe do a second post later on if anything new comes up.
I finally figured out how everything works program-wise, and established my new Let's Play channel under the user name AutumnRainXIII. Of course, it was frustrating to find out how to make a Youtube account on my laptop, but apparently, my PC is the only computer that can hold an account for that user name. So it would seem that I can't access my account with my own laptop, but with another computer. That, all-in-all, can limit how many Let's Plays I can do during the school year.
In the least, I put up my first (and second) Let's Play videos of Top Shop on that account, so I can breathe a sigh of relief. A whole week of planning this and I finally accomplish the first part of my goal. Now, the quality of the audio and video aren't exactly perfect, but they'll pass. I just wish it would stop doing that sometimes; I'll eventually figure out how to fix that.
For today, though, I have been making as many Let's Plays as I can do. I haven't edited them just yet, but I won't upload them immediately. So far I have two more 20-minute videos, but I plan to finish the first level of the game today. I don't know how long it'll take, but I'm finishing it. So I'll end this post here and maybe do a second post later on if anything new comes up.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Frustration, Frustration, FRUSTRATION!
As of right now, I'm trying not to hyperventilate or hit my laptop screen. I think I'll just start off with what happened first for today.
So this morning I decided to download Audacity to remedy my audio overlap problem on my Capture device. I have used this program before, so I have a understanding of how it works (at least, to a certain degree). After re-acquainting myself with the controls, I was set to try it out.
However, I was waiting for my new PSP A/V cable so I could try to play my PSP on my computer (or even my TV if it didn't work). So late in the day was when it arrived and I immediately opened it and tested it out with the Capture Card. It didn't work, but I have yet to test it out on my TV and I hope it works nicely.
Moving on, I tried to make my first Let's Play with the Audacity program and Capture Card running at the same time. Now, the first game I used was a Playstation (1) game called "Top Shop". It is a board game that very good friend of mine allowed me to have, and I've already beaten story mode in truth. So while I was doing it, both programs worked as smooth as I expected them to be (meaning the Capture Card got glitchy at times, but worked fine most of the time). Unfortunately for me, I did an hour's worth of commentary and it was pretty...nerve-wracking. But I did a good job.
Of course, when I finished I had no idea what to do exactly with all my stuff. I saved all my stuff onto a USB drive (because my laptop doesn't have Windows Movie Maker [WMM], but my PC does) and tried uploading everything onto Movie Maker.
Thankfully, the video uploaded easily as a MPEG-4 file. Unfortunately, watching the video showed me that the audio glitches out and slows down in certain parts...but that could have been fixed with the microphone commentary.
Unfortunately (again), the audio was in a format that wasn't compatible with WMM. And then I accidentally deleted the audio file and lost all my commentary. That was the first frustration I faced tonight (but fortunately, I figured out how to convert audio from Audacity to an MP3 file and that included downloading LAME for Audacity).
The second frustration I dealt with was with Youtube and Google accounts. I have two e-mail accounts: one for school, the other for personal. Now, I wanted to delete my Youtube for one of my e-mails, but I didn't want to lose everything and decided to use the other e-mail account. When I successfully did that (sort of; I had to activate it and that took a while), I tried signing up to make a Youtube account for my Let's Plays. However, it kept redirecting somewhere that was only a blank page. It keeps doing that even now, so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. In any case, I'm trying not to pound a hole in the wall after all I've done today. I just hope I can try this again without any hitches.
So this morning I decided to download Audacity to remedy my audio overlap problem on my Capture device. I have used this program before, so I have a understanding of how it works (at least, to a certain degree). After re-acquainting myself with the controls, I was set to try it out.
However, I was waiting for my new PSP A/V cable so I could try to play my PSP on my computer (or even my TV if it didn't work). So late in the day was when it arrived and I immediately opened it and tested it out with the Capture Card. It didn't work, but I have yet to test it out on my TV and I hope it works nicely.
Moving on, I tried to make my first Let's Play with the Audacity program and Capture Card running at the same time. Now, the first game I used was a Playstation (1) game called "Top Shop". It is a board game that very good friend of mine allowed me to have, and I've already beaten story mode in truth. So while I was doing it, both programs worked as smooth as I expected them to be (meaning the Capture Card got glitchy at times, but worked fine most of the time). Unfortunately for me, I did an hour's worth of commentary and it was pretty...nerve-wracking. But I did a good job.
Of course, when I finished I had no idea what to do exactly with all my stuff. I saved all my stuff onto a USB drive (because my laptop doesn't have Windows Movie Maker [WMM], but my PC does) and tried uploading everything onto Movie Maker.
Thankfully, the video uploaded easily as a MPEG-4 file. Unfortunately, watching the video showed me that the audio glitches out and slows down in certain parts...but that could have been fixed with the microphone commentary.
Unfortunately (again), the audio was in a format that wasn't compatible with WMM. And then I accidentally deleted the audio file and lost all my commentary. That was the first frustration I faced tonight (but fortunately, I figured out how to convert audio from Audacity to an MP3 file and that included downloading LAME for Audacity).
The second frustration I dealt with was with Youtube and Google accounts. I have two e-mail accounts: one for school, the other for personal. Now, I wanted to delete my Youtube for one of my e-mails, but I didn't want to lose everything and decided to use the other e-mail account. When I successfully did that (sort of; I had to activate it and that took a while), I tried signing up to make a Youtube account for my Let's Plays. However, it kept redirecting somewhere that was only a blank page. It keeps doing that even now, so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. In any case, I'm trying not to pound a hole in the wall after all I've done today. I just hope I can try this again without any hitches.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Big-Arse Headset and Technical Difficulties
Today's package in the mail had my headset in it, but something looked off about the package. It was relatively light to carry, but it was a pretty huge box for a measly headset. Or so I thought. Upon opening it, I saw this:
It was pretty huge as a headset, so I'm excited. Even as I type, I'm opening the plastic casing.
With this headset, however, I hope it solves a certain problem I have with my video capture device. See, I tested it out on my laptop and installed everything to see how it works. After reading the e-manual, I tested out the program with my integrated web cam to see how the quality of the video would be. It wasn't too good as a video, but the audio worked fined.
Doing those initial tests, I hooked up my Gamecube to the USB Video Capture Device and hoped it would work the way I thought it would. It did, and when it did, I flipped out in excitement and wanted to test the recording feature on it. Now, the video's audio slowed down, but that wasn't what made me upset. Apparently, I couldn't do a voice-over on the video, so that means no commentary. I fiddled around with the settings to see if I could change that, but to no avail so far. I'm not sure how the settings work, but I'll figure them out one way or another.
That being said, I'm currently testing out my headset and it's pretty cool. There's a mute button for the microphone I'm using and a volume control for my earphones, which can be helpful in the future. When I tested out the audio quality with my Capture Card program, I sounded really quiet. Now that either means that the headset produces low-quality sound, or my own voice is too quiet. For now, I'll give the headset the benefit of the doubt and say it's because I can't speak any louder right now due to it being embarrassing for me to talk really loudly in my own house.
For today's work, though, I'd say I'm about done for today. I managed to clean up my room, packed my clothes neatly for my return to college, made a dollhouse for a Lala Loopsy doll my boyfriend bought me at my request (if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a woman), and shook off glitter from my dad's clothes and folded them quickly. Today became the busiest day of my winter break, but it's at the right time since I'm going back to college on Sunday. I'm going to see if I should bring my game consoles and other Let's Play equipment, but if I have the time to test and fix it will be the bigger problem.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Got The Capture Card!
So late in the day I received a package containing the capture card I ordered several days ago and I am excited. Though the many wires and the fact that this USB HD Video and Audio Grabber is so small scared me at first, installing it was relatively easy. Looking at the screen and how it works, it doesn't produce good video recordings on my computer (but I suspect it's the dim lighting in my room for now). I bet I can get good quality Let's Play recordings as soon as I get an AV cord for my PSP, though.
Additionally, I like that the display bar tells me how many megabytes the video will be in the end. It'll be a very useful tool when I do start making Let's Play videos. It's also useful for me to see that the video output will be in MPEG format, but I think I can change that (hopefully).
Actually, when I think about it, I should probably use my Gamecube or Playstation 2 to test it out. I'm just a little worried that I'll need an HD cable or something to produce something of good quality. Yet I am certain that it will work just fine in the end.
However, I have been considering the idea of getting an external hard drive just in case something goes horribly wrong. Knowing my laptop, anything can become majorly problematic depending on how much space I have on my computer's hard drive. I know they are expensive, but it's never too bad to be careful.
Anyways, all I am waiting for now is my headset to come in the mail and I think I'll be set. Hopefully, everything will work as it should. For now, though, I'm going to figure out my Capture Card. Wish me luck.
Additionally, I like that the display bar tells me how many megabytes the video will be in the end. It'll be a very useful tool when I do start making Let's Play videos. It's also useful for me to see that the video output will be in MPEG format, but I think I can change that (hopefully).
Actually, when I think about it, I should probably use my Gamecube or Playstation 2 to test it out. I'm just a little worried that I'll need an HD cable or something to produce something of good quality. Yet I am certain that it will work just fine in the end.
However, I have been considering the idea of getting an external hard drive just in case something goes horribly wrong. Knowing my laptop, anything can become majorly problematic depending on how much space I have on my computer's hard drive. I know they are expensive, but it's never too bad to be careful.
Anyways, all I am waiting for now is my headset to come in the mail and I think I'll be set. Hopefully, everything will work as it should. For now, though, I'm going to figure out my Capture Card. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Microphone Shopping
In order to actually do quality commentary, I decided to look up prices for headsets (meaning headphones with a microphone attachment). I don't have a lot of funds with me, so the first thing I did was sort out the prices and quality ranges for headsets. I wasn't really looking for top-quality ones, so anything $15 and above was a no-no. Also, anything rated 3-stars and below by customer opinion was put out of the search window as well.
Now, it became really tedious to sort through all the technical details, like figuring out what boom microphones were and such, but I managed to learn a lot about headsets. For one, not all headsets have two ear pieces and the ones that don't have both have an annoying clamp thing on the ear you don't hear through. Also, a boom microphone should technically have an on/off switch so you can mute yourself when you need to, but sometimes the cheaper-costing ones don't.
In any case, I ended up not trusting anything under $15 because I settled on one that was $20. What sold me was the video rating a person gave and the quality of his video with the headset was very nice. So I bought it and any day it should be here. I'm hoping that I'll be able to use it right before I leave for college, but first thing I'll do is test it out with Skype most likely.
Now, it became really tedious to sort through all the technical details, like figuring out what boom microphones were and such, but I managed to learn a lot about headsets. For one, not all headsets have two ear pieces and the ones that don't have both have an annoying clamp thing on the ear you don't hear through. Also, a boom microphone should technically have an on/off switch so you can mute yourself when you need to, but sometimes the cheaper-costing ones don't.
In any case, I ended up not trusting anything under $15 because I settled on one that was $20. What sold me was the video rating a person gave and the quality of his video with the headset was very nice. So I bought it and any day it should be here. I'm hoping that I'll be able to use it right before I leave for college, but first thing I'll do is test it out with Skype most likely.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Starting Let's Plays: The Dream
It has been about a year since I've seen my first Let's Play. The site that got me interested in them was TV tropes (of course) and I ended up watching Youtube User BurningDogFace play American McGee's Alice. I really got hooked after watching him struggle against the game, yet provide very good commentary at the same time and it was really a treat for me...that became an addiction.
For me, Let's Plays are like those television shows that come out with new episodes each week that I can't get enough. Pretty much, if I wasn't watching Let's Plays, then I'd be watching cable television (which isn't as satisfying sometimes). I can't really get enough of certain Let's Players' commentaries, so I find myself subscribed to many of that community.
For me, I think I'm about ready to join the community. Of course, I haven't played but a select number of games, so it should be interesting if I can give a fresh opinion of them versus the people who grew up with these games. Also, I'm really curious about how popularity works on the Internet and see if I'm up for Youtube stardom.
Unfortunately, being a Let's Player is costly unless you have an idea on what you're supposed to buy. For me, I really want to play my console games, so a Capture Card is necessary...yet there are too many types and too little information about the set-up for some. I managed to get a cheap one ($20) that includes an instruction manual, so hopefully I can figure it out. If I choose later to switch to PC games, then it won't be as expensive (though my largest problem is my frustrating laptop, so that might be an expensive problem regardless). In either case, I still have to buy a microphone of some sort so I can record it without it sounding cr*ppy. That might be the harder part, because MMO headsets can range in price and quality and I'm going to have to research and ask around a bit.
However, my biggest problem is time: I'm currently a college student and really like getting good grades so I can get grants. Most likely I'm going start by summer, where I obviously have the most time. Of course, that could change if I decide to take summer classes again, but after taking that Thailand trip last year, maybe not.
Also, I have been debating with myself if I should delete my current Youtube account and make a new one. I'm not very satisfied with the name I made up about 5 or 6 years ago, and I think change is in order. I just hope I can link it up to my Google account as easily as my current one did.
But that's the score as of right now...I won't start until I get my equipment and the time to appropriate this plan. In the meantime, I guess I'll go ahead and start planning the games I'd really like to Let's Play first. Concerning this blog, though, I think I plan to update weekly on the weekends if I can get to it. We'll just have to see about that, huh?
For me, Let's Plays are like those television shows that come out with new episodes each week that I can't get enough. Pretty much, if I wasn't watching Let's Plays, then I'd be watching cable television (which isn't as satisfying sometimes). I can't really get enough of certain Let's Players' commentaries, so I find myself subscribed to many of that community.
For me, I think I'm about ready to join the community. Of course, I haven't played but a select number of games, so it should be interesting if I can give a fresh opinion of them versus the people who grew up with these games. Also, I'm really curious about how popularity works on the Internet and see if I'm up for Youtube stardom.
Unfortunately, being a Let's Player is costly unless you have an idea on what you're supposed to buy. For me, I really want to play my console games, so a Capture Card is necessary...yet there are too many types and too little information about the set-up for some. I managed to get a cheap one ($20) that includes an instruction manual, so hopefully I can figure it out. If I choose later to switch to PC games, then it won't be as expensive (though my largest problem is my frustrating laptop, so that might be an expensive problem regardless). In either case, I still have to buy a microphone of some sort so I can record it without it sounding cr*ppy. That might be the harder part, because MMO headsets can range in price and quality and I'm going to have to research and ask around a bit.
However, my biggest problem is time: I'm currently a college student and really like getting good grades so I can get grants. Most likely I'm going start by summer, where I obviously have the most time. Of course, that could change if I decide to take summer classes again, but after taking that Thailand trip last year, maybe not.
Also, I have been debating with myself if I should delete my current Youtube account and make a new one. I'm not very satisfied with the name I made up about 5 or 6 years ago, and I think change is in order. I just hope I can link it up to my Google account as easily as my current one did.
But that's the score as of right now...I won't start until I get my equipment and the time to appropriate this plan. In the meantime, I guess I'll go ahead and start planning the games I'd really like to Let's Play first. Concerning this blog, though, I think I plan to update weekly on the weekends if I can get to it. We'll just have to see about that, huh?
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