This is something of an extension to the 'About the Site' section. I'm still in the building phase, but I have started posting content and figure it would be interesting to track the status of various projects in my blog. There's not much to talk about right now! As mentioned in the AtS link, this is a passion project. Time and resources are at a premium. But hey, that's everybody's life, and if I'm going to do this, I want to do it right. Or as right as I can.

 

Videos

 

I've got a few ideas for video content. I've already posted one episode of I'd Try That for a Dollar (ITTFAD), where I look at the weekly Steam sales and pick out a few games to play that cost $.99 or less. I've also got a game backlog going back to the original Playstation (...and Dreamcast, Gamecube, original X-Box. Not to mention your typical pile of Steam and GoG games), and I would like to record some gameplay of those as well. I especially like horror games, and want to dedicate some time specifically to them. Plenty of videos like that out there already, but hey! It's fun.

So let's talk production resources:

Gameplay capture: An Elgato capture kit and a PC into which I can plug it. Open Broadcast Software (OBS) for PC games. A camera with terrible macro to get 3DS screenshots. My shocking lack of knowledge and experience when it comes to using these tools.

Sound: A microphone, a cheap mixer, and a bunch of freeware audio tools that I have no idea how to use. The microphone also has a pop filter! This is as much as I know about properly setting up microphones.

This happens to me all the time, whether or not I'm recording anything.

 

Video capture: A Logitech HD Pro C920 webcam. My winning smiling and/or ferocious glare, which are often very similar (see above).

Video editing: More freeware (VLC, Windows Movie Maker). Somehow even less knowledge of this than of any of the other tools.

When I don't understand the tools, I have to get creative.  This is me trying to get GIMP to do what I want.

 

Sick graphics: That awesome logo and video bumper? MSPaint and GIMP, baby. You can make anything with enough circles, 45 degree angles and separate layers. And lots of copy and paste.

Commentary: Made up on the spot (mostly). You be the judge of the quality.

So yeah, the tallest hurdle is my lack of basic knowledge in all of these categories. Let's just call it a work in progress, and not point fingers and laugh unless you really want to. I'm approaching this as a learn-as-you-go project, and I know that I've barely struck the tip of the iceberg.

So much to do! So much to learn! So much to learn, and then forget because I don't have time to revisit the project for a month! I'm going to try not to let that last one happen too often. We'll see how it goes!

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AuthorLeslie Post