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Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 12:59 pm
by topazg
Ok, I'm only KGS 1d or thereabouts, but I've been asked by some people, and thought I'd try my hand at an audio + video review. It's my first one, so expect plenty of umms, aahs, etc, but comments and feedback always appreciated :)

http://www.livestream.com/topazg

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 1:26 pm
by Jordus
nice job. I have to admit though, I didn't expect you to sound like that from your avatar lol. But yeah... hope to see some more in the future.

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 1:49 pm
by Li Kao
Hmm video died after 5 mins. Looks like mogulus doesn't like me today :(

But at least I learned that showing the mouse cursor is an important feature for reviews.

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 2:04 pm
by fwiffo
Anyone else have a lot of trouble just getting livestream.com working? The video will always cut out on me, and so I'll restart it, but it'll freeze up if I try to fast-forward to where I was. And if I pause it at any point in time, it'll always restart the video from the beginning.

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 2:05 pm
by topazg
fwiffo wrote:Anyone else have a lot of trouble just getting livestream.com working? The video will always cut out on me, and so I'll restart it, but it'll freeze up if I try to fast-forward to where I was. And if I pause it at any point in time, it'll always restart the video from the beginning.


Me too, seems better for me now though ... Weird :S

If anyone knows how I can maximise reliability of the stream, let me know ;)

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 2:28 pm
by lorill
Yay, that's my game !

I had the same problem with livestream (very frustating to see this kind of video in 1mn chunks), but it got better and I managed to see the whole video.

Very instructive, lots of mistakes, even more than I thought :oops:
Not so many umms and err, don't worry about that. The voice also surprised me, but the speech is clear and understandable even by a non native speaker, so that's good!

I'll send this link to my opponent too.

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 2:33 pm
by topazg
lorill wrote:Yay, that's my game !

I had the same problem with livestream (very frustating to see this kind of video in 1mn chunks), but it got better and I managed to see the whole video.

Very instructive, lots of mistakes, even more than I thought :oops:
Not so many umms and err, don't worry about that. The voice also surprised me, but the speech is clear and understandable even by a non native speaker, so that's good!

I'll send this link to my opponent too.


Bah, humbug about the voice - even my fiancee said it doesn't sound like me ;)

Glad it was helpful though. Now I'm going to carry on using this game to try things on Li Kao's new software!

Best Regards,
- Graham

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 2:48 pm
by fwiffo
Livestream seems to have cleared up for me now. But my first reaction was "Holy crap, David Attenborough does go videos?" Why does a British accent always make things sound clever and authoritative? I mean, I know you're a 1d, but you sound like a 4d! That's gravitas, my friend. :lol:

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:51 pm
by freegame
nice job.

You made a lot of use of the mouse pointer which was nice to see.
I give a lot of lessons myself on KGS, but then the student(s) obviously can't see my mouse pointer :razz:
I tried recording a few, but then I would log on to KGS with an extra account and join the lesson specially to get rid of my mouse movements in the recording. :mrgreen:

a couple of teaching tips:
1) not only introduce the players but also yourself, your level, and the target audience. ;-)
2) try to use the F1-F8 key for the tools instead of using the mouse and the drop down menu
I use the tools that way all the time and specially if you record the lessons like you did I think it works well.
3) don't use coordinates, they are not legible in the video.

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:28 pm
by EdLee
freegame wrote:3) don't use coordinates, they are not legible in the video.
Even if the coordinates are clearly readable, you still don't want to use them.
There are no good reasons to use coordinates in a lesson/review; always use the markers.
Teachers and reviewers should always disable coordinates on their own computer,
so that they are forced to use the markers to communicate with the audience,
so that people never have to stray away from the board
to the edges just to work out some coordinates.

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:36 am
by The Pilgrim
Very impressive work Topazg :) I've linked the video in an other forum (as one of the reviewed player is a member ;))
The video went well for me, no problem seeing it.

Could you tell me (and maybe others :D) how you made this video ?

I'm very curious about this and I would like to try it :) I find the review more interesting for reviewed people this way.

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:45 am
by Chew Terr
fwiffo wrote:But my first reaction was "Holy crap, David Attenborough does go videos?" Why does a British accent always make things sound clever and authoritative? I mean, I know you're a 1d, but you sound like a 4d! That's gravitas, my friend. :lol:


I always joked with my girlfriend that she wasn't allowed to be in the room when I took lessons from you, for just this reason. She has a thing for British accents, which is funny because she gains one after a few drinks...

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:16 am
by topazg
The Pilgrim wrote:Very impressive work Topazg :) I've linked the video in an other forum (as one of the reviewed player is a member ;))
The video went well for me, no problem seeing it.

Could you tell me (and maybe others :D) how you made this video ?

I'm very curious about this and I would like to try it :) I find the review more interesting for reviewed people this way.


Thanks for the feedback!

I registered on Livestream (free), and used their Procaster software with a relatively cheap Logitech headset+mic :)

I've got some good constructive criticism here and elsewhere, so I'm probably about ready for the next one - any volunteers?

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:42 am
by Actorios
topazg wrote:I've got some good constructive criticism here and elsewhere, so I'm probably about ready for the next one - any volunteers?


I do volunteer, Graham ! ;-)
You could have a go at my tournament game or maybe mast last lost ranked game on KGS (not that I am very proud of it as I felt I played it a bit fast).

Re: Attempt at audio/video reviews

Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:59 am
by serapis
Although I disagree with some of what you said, it's nice to see that you finally managed to work out the problems you were having with livestream.

However, when you go live with procaster, you have a bar at the bottom of your screen giving you a preview of your recording area, how long you've been broadcasting, as well as a + and - button. You may wish to use these to zoom in on your board to use your recording space effectively.