TF2maps Youtube Channel Video Submissions

Turbo Lover

Fight me under Glasgow Central Station
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Feb 15, 2011
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I think the target audience is just "players". Targeting server owners specifically seems really niche, like the kind of thing we'd get less out of than the effort we're putting in. Targeting mappers would probably attract more people but I don't really know what content we'd produce for that demographic without becoming a tutorial channel, which is a saturated market. Look at me using fancy words! People want to put map showcase videos on the channel so that it gets played by people who saw the video, right? Sure, maybe the owner of a TF2 server will look at the map showcase and think, "Yeah, I like the look of this map, I'm going to put it on my server." but it makes more sense to me to advertise towards the players of these servers, as it should be what the players on a server want that dictates what the server owner does with it. If the players of a custom map server all start getting hyped for koth_sandstone because they saw that video of it, it seems more likely the server owner'd add it to the maplist.

When I think of what the TF2M YT channel should be like, what comes to mind is KritzKast. KK's audience is just regular TF2 players, and they talk about a wide range of interesting and current topics within the realm of TF2. I don't see why we can't be like that but exclusively within the realm of TF2 mapping.
 
Sep 19, 2010
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When I think of what the TF2M YT channel should be like, what comes to mind is KritzKast. KK's audience is just regular TF2 players, and they talk about a wide range of interesting and current topics within the realm of TF2. I don't see why we can't be like that but exclusively within the realm of TF2 mapping.
Is there really room for another podcast-type thing? I'm not sure there is really enough to talk about on a weekly basis in the TF2M world, but monthly could work.

I've mentioned the Hammer Times a few times already, but maybe we could focus it around that? Have set topics and then expand on them a bit? The only problem is finding a group of people who have the time and are willing to commit to this sort of thing. I've seen too many projects fizzle out because people simply lose interest.

I think maybe the real question we need to be asking ourselves is: Is anyone actually interested in hearing about custom TF2 maps?

To me, it just seems like something not a lot of people care about. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel our audience is already quite limited.
 

Turbo Lover

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Feb 15, 2011
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I think maybe the real question we need to be asking ourselves is: Is anyone actually interested in hearing about custom TF2 maps?

Yes.

I would lap up a monthly Hammer Times video and I'm sure there are people out there interested in the goings on of our community. Map showcase videos would be great for the mapper, the TF2M community and TF2 community. The mapper gets recognition and publicity for their map, it demonstrates what TF2M is capable of producing, and all those players looking for custom maps to play get exactly that, custom maps to play. I dunno if Egan and the other dudes still make those map feedback videos, but those were cool too.

I'm not saying become KritzKast 2: Electric Boogaloo, I'm saying that I think a similar format would work well for the TF2M channel, albeit on a smaller scale.
 
Sep 19, 2010
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It's fine that you would enjoy a monthly Hammer Times video, but that doesn't really expand our audience. As for the feedback videos Egan was in charge of, those were way too time consuming. You have to set aside time to record the audio, edit the audio, and put together a video. For the one I was involved in, it took several hours and there were three of us working on it.

I don't want to sound like I'm shooting down ideas, I just want to make sure there are people who would watch this sort of thing before someone pours hours into it.
 

fauks

L2: Junior Member
Jul 7, 2013
68
17
You could just stream gameplay and voice chat. Load a map, talk about who made it and specific things you like. No need to be too formal about it. If you want to cut pre/post-production time down to about the 10 minutes it'll take to organise it.
 
Sep 19, 2010
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Alright, so Rubbishy and I gave the Hammer Times idea a go. Here's what the end project turned out to be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4M2umSZC1c

First time we've really done something like this, so any feedback is appreciated. We felt it would be hard to keep someone's attention for 20 minutes, so we decided to go more podcast-y, where the focus isn't really on the video. Any ideas to help us improve are greatly appreciated!
 

Freyja

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Jul 31, 2009
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It was pretty good! The only feedback I have is that it would be nice to change the background footage to be a bit more relevent. You talked about alex's map, redplanet all while having inari footage on. And then mapleridge too! Even screenshots would be fine :p
 

Fantaboi

Gone and one day forgotten
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Mar 11, 2013
892
1,050
Use bandicam to record game-play at better FPS, sorry for not being able to pump out a showcase video for you guys to use. But 2 minutes in, seems like the presentation is great.

Edit: Is it ok If I work on an updated version with a more relevant video? Using the audio and redoing a lot of the video.
 
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Harribo

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Nov 1, 2009
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I would just take form what you've learnt from this video and use it to help make the next video better Fanta, it's a fine 1st go at it but move on to next month.

Oh also, i hope to keep running a Gameday on Thursdays with me livestreaming them and then hopefully sticking the VODs up on my YT channel. I've figured out the Live part but editing video, even just stitching videos together i have no clue about so idk when the latter part will be sorted.
 

Turbo Lover

Fight me under Glasgow Central Station
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Feb 15, 2011
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I felt like there was a lot of talking without really saying anything and I found myself losing interest at about 8 minutes in when we were only just beginning to get on to the second topic. A snappier delivery that cuts the video time down to the 12-15 minute mark may be more appropriate - much like how ExTV delivers their competitive news segment.

I do still think there is promise in the video series, though, thanks to both Grizzly and RubbishyUsername for putting the effort in to get this started and I hope to see these videos improve and become a regular thing from TF2M.
 
Sep 19, 2010
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Some people in chat suggested we cut down the time to around 5 minutes if possible. Would you guys rather see a short, informative video or a somewhat longer one where we discuss our opinions?
 

Acadium

Playtest Extraordinaire
Apr 20, 2013
116
11
Some people in chat suggested we cut down the time to around 5 minutes if possible. Would you guys rather see a short, informative video or a somewhat longer one where we discuss our opinions?

Here's an idea: Make a few videos, all taking as much effort as one big one (as long as you're comfortable making the big ones)

Have the short, 5 minute video going over all the topic, including a little bit of detail to capture some interest. Then, post another video (unlisted) going into the depth you did in the video you just released. At the beginning, link to all these videos on individual topics, resulting in about 4 videos per release. Do the same at the end with annotations.

Basically here's the format:

"Hi this is [Host] for the TF2Maps news. This week we will be covering [Topic X, show annotation with screenshot of video], [Topic Y, same as X with screenshot for topic] and [Topic Z, same as X and Y]. Click on the annotations, or the links in the description to go to the individual videos.

[Small intro to Topic X] "Short detail about Topic X, annotation linking to direct video the whole time. To find the full story, click on the annotation to go to the full video." (Same for Y and Z)

"Thanks for watching! Here are the links for all full stories, and we hope you have a good month!"