Wednesday, February 3, 2016

So you want to become a digital content creator?

So are you ready to become internet famous?  Do you plan on vloging during your upcoming vacation to China or simply blogging about your day to day life?  Maybe you would prefer to play video games and upload them to Youtube or better yet live stream on Twitch.  Well prepare your buns for the long haul, because it's going to be a bumpy ride!



Many people with this train of thought see the world of digital content creation as something more simplified than the daily television shows or movies they have already been exposed to when the truth is creating digital content can be every bit as complex.


The above image includes the settings menu for x-split gamecaster(My personal choice for live streaming due to its simplicity) and OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) which I use primarily for recording video.  This only covers the beginning of your adventure.  It helps to have some experience with Photoshop and you will probably need a good video editing software such as Sony Vegas, because anyone who has ever worked with the Microsoft movie maker will most likely suffer from sporadic outbreaks of nerd rage.

The process of editing and rendering a single video often takes hours.  When you're finished editing and rendering your video its time to upload.  This also takes a long time.  Finally you get it on Youtube and get a copyright strike.  This is usually an attempt by another company to take any revenue you may have gained from the video.  It is possible to dispute these, but be warned Youtube always sides with the persons claiming copyright and it is up to you to prove your innocence. Youtuber and Twitch Streamer W92Baj recently received two claims on his series of the puzzle game Ben and Ed.  Both companies claimed the same segment of his video for music violations.  The music in question was Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata Movement 1 and not the music either company claimed it to be.

With the growth of the internet and websites such as Twitch.tv and Youtube, many people have turned producing content for their chosen platforms into part or even full time jobs.  However this is rarely achievable, and often times starts as only a hobby with no intentions of taking it any further. So what motivates these people to make content?

While watching the Technophiles podcast #280, an important question came up that many people would think of as trivial.  That was if the casters could see themselves still podcasting in the next few decades.  There were no anguished shouts of "Inconceivable!" on the contrary, for the majority the answer was yes, although they assumed the format and the way the podcast was recorded would most likely change during this time frame, it was still a possibility.  This is not do to shadowy business persons discussing plans to milk their audience for ad revenue.  It is because they enjoy what they are doing and want to create an open dialogue with their viewers to better understand their community. The majority of my friends and acquaintances that got into Youtube and Twitch did it because they were growing board of only playing games or had social anxiety problems and thought Twitch would be a good medium to socialize with others without the fear and awkwardness that can come with a face to face conversation.  A few of these people now are either full or part time content creators.  Most of them have stopped altogether because of the time-sink  that producing content usually is.  I personally got into live steaming hoping it would help my own social anxiety and it has even though I am not a popular streamer and can count all of my followers on my fingers and toes.

After reading this if your still interested in content creation then I have a few suggestions for you. First of all find something you are passionate about.  After watching the Technophile Podcast, Joe Rogan Podcast, N3rdFusion Podcast, and various others; it is quite clear that all the casters are invested in their individual sub cultures.  They enjoy producing said content and their excitement to discuss their topics bleeds into the audience.  Secondly, produce regular content.  If you don't create the content and do it regularly, then no one will follow you on a significant basis.  Finally, stick with it and don't let the negativity of others convince you to stop.  Remember often times there is a reason why so and so has this many views or subscribers.  It is not something usually achieved overnight.

No comments:

Post a Comment