What do I need to make youtube videos?

[Zachary-Sama]

Okay. I need some "Professional" help from you Iwakuvians. I want to start a YouTube Gaming Channel for myself so I can start making a name for myself in the online world. It wouldn't be for money, though I'd accept donations and Youtube money down the road, but I just mainly want to do this for fun. I really just want to get myself out there. I'm an introvert. I spend most of my time at my computer or on my PS3, and that's not healthy for someone like me who longs for a social life. The next best thing? YouTube.

I guess I could also consider streaming on Twitch, which would definitely get me more viewers faster and would make it a LOT easier to accept donations, but you've got to remember one thing. Live Streaming requires either a VERY good laptop, or a decent desktop. I have a laptop from 2010-2011, the Compaq Presario CQ62, with Windows 7. Add nearly two years of use on the internet and minecraft playing, and this laptop is NOT ideal for streaming. The Compaq Presario series is actually a business oriented computer. And, as such, cannot handle huge amounts of gaming or super high quality graphics without major modding. And I am nowhere near getting a desktop.

So, onto the actual subject of the thread. In order to begin a YouTube channel, set it up nicely, and start recording good quality gaming videos, what kind of Hardware/Software would I need?

Keep in mind that this is the kind of thing I want to be doing;
-PS3 Let's Plays/Walkthroughs
-PC Minecraft Let's Plays/Building Tutorials
-Vlogs
-Indie Game plays on PC
-Possible Fallout or Skyrim Machinimas (Would require PC editions)
-Lore Videos on my favorite series'

That's all I've got so far.

Oh, and a second question. My mom might be getting a new computer because her current one is "buggy". If she does, and I get her current desktop, would Factory Resetting the computer fix it completely or would it do nothing but get rid of all non-default programs and settings? She spent so much money on the computer when she first got it, and it's a nice all-in-one computer, it'd be a shame to let it go to the scrap pile.

 

[SacredWarrior]

There are videos from well-known YouTube gamers that can be pretty helpful :) here's a nice link:

Don't worry, making a gaming channel isn't that difficult :) BUT there is one warning for the Let's Play part: Make sure that your LP is high in demand and is popular amongst your viewers or you'll get the subscriber burn :(

 

[Zachary-Sama]

Lol well Kingdom Hearts and COD are pretty big in demand. Besides, IF and WHEN I start receiving donations, I'll put the $ towards new games

 

[SacredWarrior]

Lol well Kingdom Hearts and COD are pretty big in demand. Besides, IF and WHEN I start receiving donations, I'll put the $ towards new games

Well you won't have an issue with that then LOL!

 

[Zachary-Sama]

Well you won't have an issue with that then LOL!

XD Yup. With the announcement of KH3 being developed, every KH fan is looking for content. Especially with the .5 ReMIXes.

 

[SacredWarrior]

XD Yup. With the announcement of KH3 being developed, every KH fan is looking for content. Especially with the .5 ReMIXes.

Well some good KH Let's Players are Soraalam1Gaming, SkywardWing, Everglow, and Bizkit :) You should watch their videos! I'm subscribed to all of them ^_^ Do you want your channel to be dedicated to just one franchise?

 

[Sway]

I want to start a YouTube Gaming Channel for myself so I can start making a name for myself in the online world

Are you sure that this is what you want? Because it has some 'behind the scenes' requirements that might not be all that fun to tackle.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

In terms of the stuff you'll need...

• A chunky-ass hard-drive: Directly recording video games, even with codecs to condense file sizes, eats up gigabytes like you wouldn't believe. Most serious Tubers have an entire separate drive (usually 1TB at the least) devoted to recording footage entirely.
• Game Capture Software: For PC, FRAPS is kind of the most well-known capture capture software. It's not my favourite, though, due to the lack of customisation, the fact that it hogs processing power, and the fucking massive file sizes it produces. Programs like DXtory are less well-known but produce a far better quality video with less cost to your hard drive space. For consoles, you're gonna need a capture card. Even second-hand, look forward to having to shell out at least $100 for a half-decent one. Elgato is a popular brand that a lot of folks use, and I've heard good things about Hauppauge.
• Video-Editing Software: Yes, PCs come with WIndows Movie Maker but for god's sake don't use it unless you want to look like the biggest Youtube scrub ever. Adobe has the industry-standard video software, but unless you're minted you won't be able to afford the license; I've personally had a lot of success with Sony Vegas, which is easy enough to learn but also a pretty versatile program that won't break the bank.

 

[Zachary-Sama]

Are you sure that this is what you want? Because it has some 'behind the scenes' requirements that might not be all that fun to tackle.

Yeah. I know it may take some work, setting up, recording, and then editing. But I'll be able to do it. I'm a fast learner when it comes to using devices and software.

In terms of the stuff you'll need...

• A chunky-ass hard-drive: Directly recording video games, even with codecs to condense file sizes, eats up gigabytes like you wouldn't believe. Most serious Tubers have an entire separate drive (usually 1TB at the least) devoted to recording footage entirely.
• Game Capture Software: For PC, FRAPS is kind of the most well-known capture capture software. It's not my favourite, though, due to the lack of customisation, the fact that it hogs processing power, and the fucking massive file sizes it produces. Programs like DXtory are less well-known but produce a far better quality video with less cost to your hard drive space. For consoles, you're gonna need a capture card. Even second-hand, look forward to having to shell out at least $100 for a half-decent one. Elgato is a popular brand that a lot of folks use, and I've heard good things about Hauppauge.
• Video-Editing Software: Yes, PCs come with WIndows Movie Maker but for god's sake don't use it unless you want to look like the biggest Youtube scrub ever. Adobe has the industry-standard video software, but unless you're minted you won't be able to afford the license; I've personally had a lot of success with Sony Vegas, which is easy enough to learn but also a pretty versatile program that won't break the bank.

So, Elgato and Sony Vegas. That's the setup my friend has and he's doing good so far with his youtube channel. Though he mostly does WWE game stuff and Fallout 3 Machinimas.

 

[Windsong]

Find a niche audience.

Exploit them.

Don't be yourself, no one on YT is real, especially LPers.

Acquire niche bucks.

 

[Zachary-Sama]

Find a niche audience.

Exploit them.

Don't be yourself, no one on YT is real, especially LPers.

Acquire niche bucks.

Worst. Advice. Ever.

Okay honestly, what you said isn't true. Nobody does YT for the money. Do you realize how far you have to go just to earn a few pennies per subscriber/viewer? Pretty far.

YT isn't something you can do for a living (Unless you're pewdiepie, who has almost every person on YT subbed to him), it mostly pays you only a few hundred bucks every few videos, and that's after making it far enough to earn money.

The only thing that's fake about YT is when people have to hold themselves back because of the censorship rules.

Don't know if you were being a troll, or just ignorant.

 

[Windsong]

Worst. Advice. Ever.

Okay honestly, what you said isn't true. Nobody does YT for the money. Do you realize how far you have to go just to earn a few pennies per subscriber/viewer? Pretty far.

YT isn't something you can do for a living (Unless you're pewdiepie, who has almost every person on YT subbed to him), it mostly pays you only a few hundred bucks every few videos, and that's after making it far enough to earn money.

The only thing that's fake about YT is when people have to hold themselves back because of the censorship rules.

Don't know if you were being a troll, or just ignorant.

You've no idea how capitalism works then, I'm wagerin'.

Loads of people do YT for money. Don't you know how big of a stink there is because Nintendo basically shot let's players in the leg by demanding royalties for their games? How big of a deal that was for people that complained about losing their livelihoods? Tons of people go into making videos of something for money.

Go to Twitch, find the people that have been streaming for HUNDREDS OF DAYS IN A ROW, and tell me it's not something they can do for a living.

Do you think PDP really squeals like a manchild when someone jumps at him in real life? Do you think DSP screams "WOOOOW WTF GLITCHED" when he's not streaming or recording? Is AngryJoe foaming at the mouth constantly when he's being bad at a game while not recording/streaming? It's called a persona, they're actors performing a role.

Disagreement doesn't equal trolling. Just because you don't like the advice doesn't make it a troll either.

The Joke
----------------
Your head.

 

[Dervish]

Worst. Advice. Ever.

Okay honestly, what you said isn't true. Nobody does YT for the money. Do you realize how far you have to go just to earn a few pennies per subscriber/viewer? Pretty far.

YT isn't something you can do for a living (Unless you're pewdiepie, who has almost every person on YT subbed to him), it mostly pays you only a few hundred bucks every few videos, and that's after making it far enough to earn money.

The only thing that's fake about YT is when people have to hold themselves back because of the censorship rules.

Don't know if you were being a troll, or just ignorant.

Quite a few YouTubers made the entirety of income from their videos, and while you are right that it's certainly not everyone (you have to have partner status with YouTube, for starters), it's not just one guy. If you're seeing a channel that puts out a regular schedule of videos and you wonder how on earth they manage to do so, chances are the stuff they do for their channel is literally their job.

That said, other than the hardware and software stuff Grumpy mentioned, you're going to want to put out videos on a fixed schedule and get good at editing your videos, and you probably will want to commission somebody to do an intro and outro for you at some point. If people can recognize it's one of your videos by the first few seconds alone, you're doing something right.

As for content, pretty much the biggest thing I've heard a lot of YouTubers say is you need to have a personality and you need to stand out from the crowd; there's literally thousands of people trying to do what you're wanting to do, so if you want subscribers you definitely need to have something about your channel that stands out from the crowd. Playing super popular games also is a double edged sword; yes, people are looking for them because they're popular, but there's also countless videos and all sorts of Let's Play for stuff for Minecraft.

It's an uphill battle, so it's best to be ready before you even start. You need to be able to make people stay committed, and if your first few videos are mediocre, the people who watched it may not come back, and that's kinda critical. Honestly, I think a huge thing about people getting followers is if they can manage to get even a few people to return. Be friendly, be approachable, be fun, and do not get into big arguments in the comments with people.

Good luck, anyways!

 

[Zachary-Sama]

Quite a few YouTubers made the entirety of income from their videos, and while you are right that it's certainly not everyone (you have to have partner status with YouTube, for starters), it's not just one guy. If you're seeing a channel that puts out a regular schedule of videos and you wonder how on earth they manage to do so, chances are the stuff they do for their channel is literally their job.

That said, other than the hardware and software stuff Grumpy mentioned, you're going to want to put out videos on a fixed schedule and get good at editing your videos, and you probably will want to commission somebody to do an intro and outro for you at some point. If people can recognize it's one of your videos by the first few seconds alone, you're doing something right.

As for content, pretty much the biggest thing I've heard a lot of YouTubers say is you need to have a personality and you need to stand out from the crowd; there's literally thousands of people trying to do what you're wanting to do, so if you want subscribers you definitely need to have something about your channel that stands out from the crowd. Playing super popular games also is a double edged sword; yes, people are looking for them because they're popular, but there's also countless videos and all sorts of Let's Play for stuff for Minecraft.

It's an uphill battle, so it's best to be ready before you even start. You need to be able to make people stay committed, and if your first few videos are mediocre, the people who watched it may not come back, and that's kinda critical. Honestly, I think a huge thing about people getting followers is if they can manage to get even a few people to return. Be friendly, be approachable, be fun, and do not get into big arguments in the comments with people.

Good luck, anyways!

I'd probably just read the comments and keep my two cents out of it. Though if I got enough hate I'd do like most Ytbers do, make a vid about it XD

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Did a bit of the Youtubes before making the jump over to Twitch, so I'll chuck a couple more cents into this...

Don't Expect An Instant Response; hell, don't even expect a slow response either. Gaming on Youtube has kinda reached that critical mass where there's so much stuff, all the time, that it can be hard to get noticed. You're competing against guys who've been doing it for years, have a bigger budget, a bigger audience and more technical expertise. Youtube's grind to get noticed is far, far harder than Twitch.

Try to find something that other people aren't doing, capitalise on that, and don't be afraid to experiment with new ideas.

 

[Windsong]

Try to find something that other people aren't doing, capitalise on that, and don't be afraid to experiment with new ideas.

That's what I said!

People are too sensitive to advice they don't want to agree with. :c

 

[Zachary-Sama]

That's what I said!

People are too sensitive to advice they don't want to agree with. :c

No. Your advice was to change who I am and do everything in order to earn money.

Did a bit of the Youtubes before making the jump over to Twitch, so I'll chuck a couple more cents into this...

Don't Expect An Instant Response; hell, don't even expect a slow response either. Gaming on Youtube has kinda reached that critical mass where there's so much stuff, all the time, that it can be hard to get noticed. You're competing against guys who've been doing it for years, have a bigger budget, a bigger audience and more technical expertise. Youtube's grind to get noticed is far, far harder than Twitch.

Try to find something that other people aren't doing, capitalise on that, and don't be afraid to experiment with new ideas.

Well I said I wasn't doing this for money or popularity. I just want to put myself out there, and be the social peacock that I was meant to be.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

I'd honestly recommend Twitch, in that case. It involves a lot more audience interaction and just plain putting on a good show than Youtube.

 

[Zachary-Sama]

I'd honestly recommend Twitch, in that case. It involves a lot more audience interaction and just plain putting on a good show than Youtube.

But Youtube requires a lot less processing power. To stream on twitch I'd need to figure out how to set it up so I have a facecam, a fancy border on it, then I'd need to be constantly recording for long periods of time.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Programs like OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) make streaming pretty easy to do, and if you've got a half-decent upload speed (and are planning to use a console to play games from), you're halfway there already.

Though yeah, Twitch does require more focus on streaming regularly to get anywhere with it. So I can see where you're coming from.