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TwitchCon San Diego canceled

Yesterday, Twitch announced on Twitter that TwitchCon San Diego will be canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions and safety concerns. Earlier this year in March, they also canceled TwitchCon in Amsterdam. While many restrictions in California are being lifted, mass gatherings are still prohibited.

“We are gutted that we won’t be able to see you all of you in person to connect and show you what we’ve been creating for you over the past year.”

In 2019, upwards of 28,000 people attended TwitchCon at the San Diego Convention Center. This year, the event was scheduled to take place September 25-27. While Twitch cannot hold the convention, they imply there may be other ways to “join forces,” perhaps something such as an online event.

When announcing the cancellation of TwitchCon in Amsterdam, Twitch tweeted “TwitchCon is the best weekend to be a Twitch fan.” It is evident that fans are saddened by the cancellation of both conventions, but they are also understanding.

Facebook Gaming level up monetization tools

Facebook Gaming is expending its monetization tools to attract streamers to the platform

Facebook Gaming is expanding it’s key monetization tools, hoping to increase the number of streamers that create content on the platform.

The key tools Facebook Gaming is focusing on is Fan Subscriptions, Live Ads, and Live Breaks. The platform plans to release its Fan Subscriptions to creators in the Level Up program. To have access to this feature, streamers must have at least 250 returning weekly viewers. Facebook chose the 250 returning weekly viewer threshold because “creators who hit this benchmark have built a strong community and are more likely to be successful on Fan Subscriptions.”

Essentially, Fan Subscriptions allow viewers to support creators with recurring monthly payments of $5. In return, they’ll receive exclusive perks. To be in the Level Up program, creators need to have at least 100 followers and stream gaming content for at least two days for four hours within a 14-day period.

Fan Subscriptions availability

Currently, Fan Subscriptions will only be available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, the U.K., and the U.S. If you want to see if you’re eligible for the feature, you can check your status in Creator Studio under the ‘Insight’ tab and then going to ‘Loyalty’.

Live Ads

Facebook is also releasing Live Ads to all of its partner gaming creators. In Facebook Gaming’s partner program, creators sign a contract agreeing to a set streaming quota in exchange for money from Facebook. Live ads refer to pre-rolls that run before a stream, images that appear below a stream, and a new mid-roll format that runs in the main player which plays while the stream is in picture-in-picture window. Additionally, Facebook is currently beta testing ways for partnered creators to monetize old streams with pre-roll, image, and mid-roll ads.

Live Breaks

Lastly, Facebook is working on a new ad format: Live Breaks. This feature will allow creators to run an ad break in the middle of their live stream, allowing the creator to step away from the stream for a moment. Live Breaks are manually triggered by creators and can be 60, 90, or 120 seconds in length.

Facebook is looking to attract more gaming creators to their platform with this move. In recent times, Facebook says they’ve seen 700 million of Facebook’s 2.5 billion monthly active users watch gaming content on their platform. This move to attract more streamers with better monetization options is likely in hopes of satisfying the clear demand for gaming content on the platform.

Image courtesy: Facebook Gaming

Apple finally removes the sketchy TikTok ripoff: Zynn

Zynn app has been taken down from the App Store

Zynn, the app described as a TikTok copycat, remained atop the App Store charts since May. However, this Monday, Apple removed the app from its store.

The app has been controversial since its release. Many influencers claimed the app operators took their content from other platforms and published it on Zynn without their permission. There are accounts of fake profiles of people who never even signed up for the app. While Google hasn’t commented on why the app was removed, it’s likely the plagiarism claims were a major factor in the decision.

A spokesperson from Zynn claimed the fake accounts were not created by the company itself, but other users. However, many doubt this claim.

Zynn did more than plagiarize

In addition to making fake accounts and uploading creators’ videos without their permission, Zynn offered a shady reward system. Described as a pyramid scheme, the app promised to pay its users for watching videos and inviting their friends to the platform. However, many users said they faced trouble in receiving their payments from Zynn.

This scheme was hurting competition

Considering how huge Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and now arguably TikTok is, it’s important to have competition in the social media areas of the market. Otherwise, these companies would have a monopoly over their spaces. Zynn’s scheme to pay users to watch videos on its platform was a calculated ploy in attempt to take over the market and drive its competitors out.

The app was popular despite its shadiness

Surprisingly, Zynn gained a lot of popularity. While it failed to rake in the same numbers as its competitor, TikTok, Zynn managed to reach the number 5 spot in the app store, according to Sensor Tower. It reached number 1 on May 27 and stayed in the spot until June 1. It then reclaimed the top spot from June 5 to June 10. In total, Sensor Tower says the app was downloaded 5 million times on iOS and 700,00 times on Google Play.

While Apple is usually quick to remove scam apps, Google beat them to the punch this time around. Regardless, Zynn has been removed and can no longer scam its users.

Image courtesy: TechGenyz

Twitch will start deleting Clips with copyrighted music

Twitch will start deleting copyright claimed Clips

For the past few weeks, Twitch creators have struggled with copyright claims demanding they remove all Clips containing copyrighted music. Problem is: creators have hundreds, if not thousands, of live stream Clips linked to their channels. To make it easier for these creators, Twitch plans to automatically scan Clips of live streams containing copyrighted music and delete them.

Creators are frustrated with the recent wave of takedown requests of years-old clips. To make matters worse, many of the creators didn’t even create the Clips, their live stream viewers did. The creators would receive a copyright strike for them, which could lead to a channel being permanently deleted. However, Twitch says they’ll begin to scan and delete these clips without any penalty to the creator.

Twitch expands scanning deal with Audible Magic

As it is, Twitch scans streams for copyrighted audio and music and mutes the stream in 30-minute groups to remove anything copyrighted. However, it appears the scanning algorithm wasn’t used on Clips. So, creators have amassed years of steam Clips with copyrighted music.

Audible Magic performs the scanning for Twitch. The company works with rights holders like Universal Music Group, Disney, and Warner Music Group to scan platforms like Twitch for copyrighted content. Twitch’s partnership with Audible Magic dates back to 2014. Now it’s expanding its partnership to focus on Twitch Clips, too.

Twitch is allowing Twitch streamers to delete all Clips at once

In addition to their plans to scan Clips with an automated system, Twitch also plans to roll out a feature that’ll allow streamers to delete all of the clips on their channels. Many streamers recently resorted to individually delete every Clip hit with a copyright claim. This feature is sure to make it easier for creators if they want to delete their Clip archives.

Currently, Twitch hasn’t revealed a feature for creators to appeal automated clip deletions. Though, the platform offers an option to appeal audio muted due to the Audible Magic scanning. That could indicate Twitch will eventually release a feature along those lines for Clip deletion.

Image courtesy: Breakonacloud

Soon you’ll be able to customize your YouTube channel

Soon creators will be able to customize their YouTube channels

YouTube is finally loosening the reins on channel customization, and its been a long time coming.

According to Tome Leung, YouTube’s director of product management, YouTube is “launching the ability to customize your channel’s look and feel directly within YouTube Studio.” Soon, YouTube will release complete channel layout customization so creators can better reflect their brand and identity.

Additionally, we can expect a reduced Featured Channels tab and the ability to change “basic info to match your creative style.” Likely, Leung is referring to the About page on channels, which usually features a barren design.

Video courtesy: Creator Insider

When is the channel customization coming?

The launch of these channel customization features is unclear, as Leung only stated this update will drop in “the future.”

Despite the unclear release date, we already see one of the aspects discussed. Previously, creators could use the Featured Channels tool to pick channels to feature on their channel. It’s a neat feature, but it was only viewable for desktop users. Those on mobile couldn’t see the column.

Now, the Featured Channels column is a Channels tabs that comes alongside the Home, Videos, Playlists, Community, and About sections on Youtube channels. So now desktop, iOS and Andriod users can see the feature.

Creator Mixes makes YouTube’s algorithm work for creators

Creator Mixes was also announced. They are “algorithmically generated playlist of any given channel’s content.” The feature will appear in the Up Next column. “If you’re watching a given video, we nominate, like any other video we might recommend, a Creator Mix, which would appear as ‘Mix – Name of Channel,’” said Sam, a member of the platform’s recommendations team.

Sam claims Creator Mixes perform better than playlists made by creators or users because “those playlists are static, and are the same for every user, whereas a Creator Mix is tailored for each viewer.” Mixes intend to show viewers a snapshot of what a Youtube channel has to offer and not contain videos a viewer has already watched.

As we stated before, we do not know when most of these features will be out. We just have to wait for YouTube to update us.

Twitch will attempt to give creators more control over Clips

Twitch Clips are being claimed for using copyrighted music

It’s been a tough few days for Twitch creators. There’s been a “sudden influx” of copyright claims on their older videos, forcing creators to rush to delete years old Clips. Twitch is looking into ways to give creators more control over their Clips.

According to The Verge, Twitch streamers currently face a ton of copyright claims due to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) listed as the complainant. These claims are forcing Twitch creators to take down the Clips. Primarily, the Clips facing copyright claims are Clips of broadcasts that contain copyrighted music from 2017 and 2019.

Streamers, however, don’t create Clips; Twitch viewers do. Clips are very short as well, running no longer than 60 seconds. It’s a clip to highlight some memorable moments of a stream. Twitch creators are facing legal trouble for videos they aren’t even making.

Who is this affecting?

Many creators, regardless of the size of their channel, are facing challenges with copyright claims. For instance, Fuslie (298,000 Twitch followers), EpicNameBro (83,000), and JakeNBlake (481,000) have all received takedown notices from Twitch.

During the claims process, the Twitch support team contacts creators suggesting they remove the Clips in question. That seems simple enough on paper, but it’s much more complicated than that. Many creators have over 100,000 Clips linked with their channels. Also, Twitch currently doesn’t offer bulk deletion, so each Clip has to be deleted individually.

Also, the Verge points out that these claims could potentially lead to a copyright strike. When a creator receives three strikes, their channel is permanently deleted from Twitch.

What is Twitch doing about this?

Right now, Twitch is working on ways to give creators more control over their Clips.

“This is the first time we have received mass DMCA claims against clips,” Twitch wrote. “We know many of you have large archives, and we’re working to make this easier…including examining how we can give you more control over your clips.”

Currently, we don’t have specifics on what Twitch plans to do. Regardless, we hope Twitch gives everyone an update soon.

YouTube releases a transparent guide to monetization

There's now a clear guide to YouTube monetization

YouTube has released a very detailed guide for creators to better breakdown its monetization guidelines. This is the most transparent YouTube has ever been about its monetization system.

The guidelines come as an update through YouTube’s Self-Certification program. By releasing these guidelines, YouTube hopes to help creators “understand more clearly the types of content that advertisers may not wish to appear against.” In many cases, creators are left bewildered when YouTube demonetizes their videos, especially when they are certain that their videos are advertiser-friendly. This creates a lot of confusion in the community, so more transparency will hopefully clarify things for everyone.

Will YouTube monetize hateful content?

According to the guidelines, YouTube allows advertising on videos that contain “hateful content.” So, for instance, YouTube will continue to run ads on news videos about topics like homophobia. Additionally, “artistic content” like music videos that use “sensitive terminology in a non-hateful way” will still be able to monetize. Also, “comedic content that includes jokes at the expense of marginalized groups in a non-hurtful manner” can monetize.

To clarify, topics that YouTube considers sensitive include topics such as wars, suicide and terrorist attacks. Many times, videos that center around those kinds of issues will be unable to monetize. News channels are often exceptions to that rule, though. However, YouTube says that “fleeting references” to sensitive subjects are acceptable. So, if a creator references a sensitive topic, but does not focus on the topic for the majority of the video, advertisers are likely to be okay with that.

What is and isn’t acceptable?

YouTube provides a full chart of what is acceptable for monetization and what is not on Google’s Support forum. Some of the things listed are obvious, like sexually explicit videos and heavy profanity. Also, any video that glorifies dangerous acts, including pranks that can lead to a person’s death, is not acceptable for monetization. However, some sections are in a grey area that will be determined case by case. You can see the full list of what is acceptable for monetization and what is not on the support forum.

New video skills to work on during quarantine

No matter where you are, you’re likely impacted by the Stay-Home Orders that have been delivered during the pandemic. If you’re an aspiring creator, chances are also good that you’d rather be out in the world making videos and expanding your audience. While it may feel like a travesty to be stuck at home and deemed non-essential, this is the perfect time to develop your skills in video production. Regardless of your niche in the industry, ensuring that you have a strong grasp on general filmmaking techniques will elevate every project you tackle.

There are several technical and artistic roles in the video creator realm. Most people are passionate about perfection in a few of these roles while simply muddling through the others or enlisting an expert. You can sharpen the skills that are lacking by combining your goals with a solid plan, and self-challenges. Short films are often created on limited budgets with fewer resources, so it’s a great way to challenge yourself during isolation.

We’ll show you how to set effective goals and get organized for successful at-home learning. Additionally, we’ll give you ideas for online resources, practical exercises and insights to ensure your time is used wisely. Follow this strategy so that when you do get back to work, your work can be better than ever.

Step 1: Create effective goals.

As with setting any kind of goals for yourself, this will require reflection on your own skills and talents. Consider your overall goals as a filmmaker or video producer. Where are you now and where do you want to go from here?

Assess your current capabilities in writing, pre-production, directing, lighting, filming, editing and graphic design. When do you need the most help? Which areas would your productions benefit the most from improvements? Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. Where do you excel? Which aspects of production use up the most time? Where do you need to develop more confidence in your abilities?

Once you have a good idea of your overall goals, you can start zooming in. Be specific and create attainable goals with realistic timeframes. When you think about the practices and steps you’ll need to take, be sure to keep them relevant to your goals. For example, let’s say you need to boost your lighting skills and your big goal is to host a talk show. Practicing lighting in the dark or outside won’t bring you closer to your goals because talk shows are usually filmed in a studio setting. However, polishing your three-point lighting applications and modifications could make a big difference in your finished work.

Having your goals and practice steps in writing serves a few important purposes. It can keep you on track during self-learning sessions and encourages you to keep pushing forward. Moreover, it gives you milestones to track your progress and successes.

Step 2: Gather your resources.

Even with libraries and schools closed, learning is as accessible as ever. Undoubtedly, the internet is bursting with resources and experts creating their own content with the purpose of helping you reach your goals and elevate your skills. There are endless articles and videos to be found in the form of gear reviews, expert opinions, real-life experience stories and instructional courses. Spend some time searching for sites that cover the areas you’re focusing on. Then, add these fresh ideas and techniques to your goal notes. Bookmark the websites so they’re easy to find when you need to refer back to them.

Whether this is your first solo project to create a short film or you’ve done it a few times before, watch this video on how to create a short film. Pre-production is the planning stage for your film which is vital to the success of any film but it is especially important for short films. This tutorial covers refining the script, casting actors, finding your crew, sourcing equipment and scouting locations. It’s everything you need to know about pre-production to help your quarantine projects shine. 

Next, take a quick inventory of the equipment that you have available at home. Determine what you have and what might be easily acquired. This might limit which skills you can work on right now but don’t let that deter you. Work with what you have and improvise where you can.

Obviously, using a dedicated camera is ideal. It will give you a wide range of features and options to adjust for achieving various results. You’ll have a lot of opportunities to learn and practice different techniques with a camera of any sort. In the absence of that, though, your phone camera can do the job.

What options are at your disposal for lighting and audio? You might be lucky to have professional lighting gear and mics on hand. If not, table lamps can be useful. Also, learning to use natural light well is definitely a technique you can practice at home. For audio, you can focus your energy on learning how sound changes with the size of the room, the type and placement of the mic and more. You’ll be able to find DIY hacks online for both lighting and audio so don’t be afraid to get creative.

Your most valuable resource, though, is your network of peers and mentors in the creator community. Most video professionals love to geek-out about their work. You can learn from their stories and get great advice from their experiences. Ask the people whose work you admire most to look at your projects and allow them to give creative or technical critiques. Whenever possible, add “get feedback from a mentor” and “try recommendations from the feedback” to your exercise list.

Step 3: Practice with practical exercises.

Now that you’ve set clear goals and assessed your gear, we can figure out which steps you can take to support your goals. We’ve curated a variety of do-at-home exercises in several aspects of video production. These are the steps to include with your goals. Pick and choose through the categories and ideas that are relevant to your objectives. Write them down and refer to them often to stay on track.

Writing

A good script is the foundation of your work. When you’re creating a screenplay, even if it’s a short, your storylines and dialogue should be clear and meaningful to your audience. When your goals include better scripts, we recommend these ideas:

Join an online writer’s group. You’ll gain a supportive network to collaborate with. Often, they host online workshops and assignments that will stretch your creative muscles. Getting thoughtful critiques and comments from other members can push you to do better and build up your confidence to take risks.

Make one-sheets for all of your main characters. Start with the basics and then dig deeper into their personality. Make them a truly believable, unique character with a history. Our histories shape us so this is important even if it won’t come into play in the script.

Find something you wrote in high school or college and revise it. Doing exercises like this will help you see your own work from the outside. You’ll be able to learn from your own missteps. What’s more, it gives you a view of how much you’ve already grown.

Directing

Even if you don’t plan to become an actor, learning about acting and seeing things from your actor’s perspective makes you a more effective filmmaker. Plus, chances are good that you’ll at least occasionally find yourself in front of a camera for announcements, presentations or commentary. These ideas can broaden your directing skills by embracing the role of the actor:

Demonstrate something on camera. It can be anything. Try demonstrating how to make a cup of tea or how to make a paper airplane. The point of this exercise is to be comfortable delivering the material without stumbling over your words. Get out of your comfort zone and have fun with it.

Make practice audition tapes and send them to your mentor contacts. Ask for honest reviews and accept their critiques with grace. Direct feedback can feel negative but remember that these are people whom you admire and who agreed to help you hone your craft. Then, use their advice to create a new audition tape and compare the results.

Rehearse a poem or short story and present it to the camera in character. If you created one-sheets for your writing technique, try it as each of those characters. Otherwise, record it channeling your favorite actor or your best friend. Get creative with the delivery and explore the same reading in different emotions. Pay attention to how each reading feels in the playback.

Practice repeating an action on camera for continuity. For example, try to pick up and set down a coffee cup at exactly the same time and in the same way. Repeat for several takes while delivering dialogue. The objective is to capture the exact same scene perfectly for a few takes. These different takes are very helpful in editing.

Shooting

Knowing your tools will set you up for a more successful shoot. Take the time to explore, test and practice with your camera and its accessories. The intention here is to build a broad knowledge of its capabilities. Great shooting can save time in post-production. For this category, we suggest the following exercises:

Practice camera moves and using your stabilization gear. Imagine various scenes and how to capture them most efficiently and then most creatively. When you’re confident in your capabilities, try to recreate movement shots from your favorite movies.

Create your own shooting challenges for whatever areas you need to improve. Shoot a one-minute short film using a single focal length or shoot something in motion without losing focus. You can use things around the house like your pet chasing a ball or a wind-up toy rolling across the floor.

Shoot the same shot with various camera settings. For instance, use different apertures, shutter speeds and frame rates. Be unconventional and experimental in this exercise so that you see the visual results of various combinations. Keep good notes as you work so that you’ll have a record of what works well for different effects.

Lighting

Control over your lighting gives you control over the mood and tone of your scene. Since this defines the emotions and the emotions help convey the story, it really must be mastered to achieve your best results. A strong fluency in lighting will open opportunities to give your viewers a great experience. More importantly, though, you’ll be able to problem-solve when the lighting isn’t working. Here are some ways to practice:

Set up a proper three-point lighting and film a short bit of dialogue. Next, remove one light from the setup and film it again. Repeat to create examples of each variation of two lights and each single light. Notice the differences in shadows and backgrounds. Determine when you might want these lighting setups for various scenes.

Try to light the same scene in multiple ways to convey different moods. Imagine how the lighting for a light comedy, dramatic noir, intense horror and other genres vary. With practice, you’ll learn how to pull that mood in with your lighting. As always, get creative and experimental, make adjustments and film it again.

Light only one subject in the foreground, allowing the background to be natural/ambient. See if you can match the character of the ambient light. Explore what happens when the subject is overlit and underlit. Notice how each variation changes the mood.

Audio

Clear, intelligible audio is critical for the success of any video. Poor audio can be distracting to the audience and undermine the entire project. Cleaning up audio in post-production is difficult and time-consuming. Your best bet is to capture it well and prevent potential headaches altogether. To get the best audio, try these exercises:

Experiment with your microphone. Record a short piece of dialogue with and without background noises. Repeat it in different rooms, outdoors and at variable distances from your subject.

If you have access to more than one type of microphone, record the same sound with each different mic and then listen for differences in each recording. Try to predict what the differences will be and see if you’re correct.

Editing

Editing shapes raw footage into a story worth watching. Most filming is not actually shot in the story’s sequential order and it’s best to have several good takes of each scene. Then, in the editing phase, you’ll take all of these pieces and cut them together in the right order with the best takes. You’ll also adjust colors, audio, speed and more to polish the final cut. If honing your editing skills made your list, you’ll want to practice these ideas:

Shoot a bunch of random footage and turn it into a story. You can incorporate stock footage from the internet or even compose it entirely of random stock footage. Incorporate some music tracks to practice editing rhythm, timing and volume. Use a variety of music styles and observe how it affects the overall tone of the scene.

Edit the same set of clips into several different stories. Using the same set of random footage, rearrange them to create an entirely different story. When you’re finished, sharing these can be worth a few much-needed laughs with your peers and mentors.

Graphic Design

Titles and graphics are used in nearly every production. You’ll see them in opening or closing credits, subtitles, preface storylines and even incorporated into the story to inform or entertain the audience. Whether your end goals are in large-scale movie production or in growing your YouTube channel, you’ll be using titles and graphics. Use these ideas to be on top of your motion graphics game:

Find a few tutorials on YouTube to learn new software techniques. Follow along to practice your skills and take notes. You can save the final results for use in future projects.

Now, find some of the oldest tutorials and be amused by the really bad graphics that were cool in bygone eras. It’s important to know when a font or design has fallen out of style. Using outdated graphics can quickly discredit your project so be sure to keep up with the trends and lean on the classics.

Make a title sequence or trailer for your YouTube channel or an imaginary movie. Or, better yet, create a title sequence for any of the other practical exercises you’ve completed. Then, do it again in different ways to see what makes the most sense for your piece.

Step 4: Keep track of your results.

Consider keeping a filmmaking journal. You can begin with this set of goals and exercises. Include each of the steps that you experimented with as well as what worked and what didn’t. Also, add your general observations and lessons learned. You’ll be able to refer back to these notes for future projects. If you ever find yourself in a situation with extra time on your hands, you can do some of the same exercises again to measure your progress.

Apart from any sharing you’ve done with peers, remember that you can expand even more by sharing what you’ve learned with others. Social media outlets are perfect for starting conversations within your own circles and expanding your network. Professionals, hobbyists, amateurs and enthusiasts can all offer new perspectives and insights. When we collaborate, everyone learns and can be inspired. Just because we’re quarantined, that doesn’t mean we have to be disconnected.

Comedy, Community and Survival: a Conversation With Neebs Gaming

There’s no shortage of gaming creators on YouTube. In order to truly stand out, you have to do something unique and special. Neebs Gaming has undeniably found that niche. From animation roots in the early days of YouTube, the group have become one of the preeminent gaming channels with 1.9 million subscribers. We recently spoke with team member Tony Schnur about their approach to content, dealing with a major hack, and the secret to their success. 

Early beginnings and gaming transition

Neebs Gaming as fans know them today include Brent Triplett, Bryan Mahoney, Nate Panning, Tony Schnur, and Jon Etheridge. The group started as a comedic trio (even before YouTube existed) known as Hank & Jed. They made short films for festivals and even Public Access TV. 

With the advent of YouTube in 2006, Hank & Jed went online, bringing their brand of humor to internet audiences. As the crew expanded, they began making a name for themselves as they developed animated series in conjunction with Machinima. One thing has never changed, however, and that’s their approach to creating stories. 

“Everything we’ve done has been improv,” Schnur explains. “[Even] going back to our animated series Doraleous and Associates. That was kind of a parody of Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings. There was no script and we found [in] doing that, there’s much more gold there with the interaction with our group. We know each other and we really knew our characters and how they would react to one another.”

This loose style has formed the core of their content ever since. Even their acclaimed animated series, Battlefield Friends, utilized the approach. “We never had a real script…It’s messy a bit, but it works. So we’ve been doing this from the beginning.” 

Illustration credit: https://www.facebook.com/rjdraws

While animation was their main bread and butter for years, the crew formed Neebs Gaming and shifted their focus entirely in 2014; even quitting their regular day jobs to handle it full time. “We weren’t making much at the beginning,” Schnur reminisces, “but enough to get by. I had a pretty good corporate job at the time [and] my last day at work I was sick to my stomach! I was like please, oh my God, this is the biggest leap of faith that I’ve ever taken. [But] it paid off!”

With backgrounds in animation and filmmaking, the jump into a pure gaming focus seemed odd. Schnur explains the decision was relatively simple; boiling down to risk versus reward. “YouTube doesn’t reward animation anymore. Back in the day, you’d make pretty good money off of animation on YouTube…Not so much anymore. The amount of time, energy, and money, all the stuff that goes into animation…You’re putting all this work into it and you’re getting very little. 

With backgrounds in animation and filmmaking, the jump into a pure gaming focus seemed odd.

Doraleous and Associates, and I think Battlefield Friends as well, was two weeks turnaround time for everything. That was a big credit to Brent Triplett (or Neebs) because he animated most of those. It’s like 110 hours a week…he was a nightmare to deal with when he’s animating! We joke all the time, we never want him to animate again…I just want him to be happy. 

“Gaming is very much the opposite, even though we do put more work into it than anyone we’ve seen, as far as gaming videos. You get a much larger reward out of it, monetarily, and you still get to be creative.”

A combination of factors has allowed them to grow beyond their animated roots; between being able to develop more content as well as being able to craft longer videos. “With that long-form content we’re able to put mid-roll ads in there [and] those are going to perform way better than any five minute animated thing we do. Even if we brought back our biggest series, Battlefield Friends…A 20-25 minute ARK video would make more money at a fraction of the time [to create].”

Setting themselves apart

Even with Neebs Gaming, the goal was to bring their same brand of improvisation to audiences. They wanted to make sure they weren’t like other gaming channels and leveraged their prior skills to deliver on cinematic gaming content: 

“[There are] content creators [who] play a game for thirty minutes, and that’s what they upload. They don’t do anything with it and they’ll get ten times more views than we will, but we put a ton of work into [ours]. I almost equate it to like decorating a birthday cake for a dog sometimes. We almost overwork it, but at the end of the day you have a really good product…even though the dog is just gonna eat it!” 

Schnur is quick to emphasize he’s not “dissing” other gaming channels and respects what they’re able to do. For Neebs Gaming, however, this is what works for them. It’s also is a major factor in how they choose the games to build content around. 

“We don’t go with what’s popular,” he adds when asked about how the group picks titles. “We just keep an eye out for open-world games. Games where you can build, or you can manipulate the world, or just have fun. If we can [make] a narrative while also having fun, then you’re going to get something good out of us.”

Open world games like ARK: Survival Evolved, Conan Exiles, and even Minecraft form the brunt of their content. They’ve dabbled in more linear games before, however, “God of War is a good example. It’s an amazing game that had such a fantastic story, score, everything was perfect about that game. And we just played it…It’s like a ‘Let’s Play.’ 

Some of Neebs Gaming’s best storylines come from ARK: Survival Evolved. How could dinosaur wrangling not be entertaining?

“[Those videos] do fine but it’s not the content we like to sink our teeth into, because we can’t control a lot of it. Once we can control things (camera, story) then we’re like kids in a candy store.” 

Regardless of the game, Schnur and the team know their own personalities are what keeps viewers tuned in. As such, they don’t change characters depending on the game they’re playing. “We’ve been working together for so long, our personalities—I guess the characters’ personalities—which are just very heightened versions of us as real people, interact the same way. We argue the same way and we do things wrong the same way.” 

Making it work

When discussing the logistics of crafting videos, the process isn’t dissimilar from making any other kind of video content. “It’s funny because people think that it’s scripted, but it’s just us improv-ing the situations and reacting….We’re not that good at playing these games, so usually bad things happen which makes good content!”

Making narrative-driven content without a script seems difficult. Over the years, however, they’ve developed a system that works for them. “Whenever we go into a video—say it’s Ark—we’ll have some goals. We don’t really have a beginning and end, [instead] it’s like ‘I wanna do A, B, and C’ and we just kind of play and see what happens.”

The free form nature of the content itself doesn’t mean there’s no structure to capturing it. As Schnur describes, the team normally divides into two groups (an A and B group) while playing. There’s also a Spectator who bounces around the map without actually playing, which allows them to get cinematic shots; giving their videos that movie or television show quality.   

They aren’t locked into any specific role, however, as they all wear multiple hats throughout production. Schnur himself handles all the music on top of dealing with social media, but “Whoever’s running spectator is the showrunner, in a way. They’ll let us know, ‘Okay, I’ll probably cut right here, you guys hold, we’ll move on to [the next] group.’ So whoever’s running the Spectator cam is usually acting as the director.

“We each have our strengths in certain areas. I sort of ducked out of the Minecraft world, I’m not a big fan of playing it. That’s the nice thing [in our group]; if you don’t have fun playing something you don’t have to play it. No one’s forcing you. We want to be very authentic and not fake it, because our audience can tell.” 

All five are involved in each recording session, lasting roughly an hour and a half to two hours. All this footage is used to develop 20-25 minute videos. Unused content winds up on the cutting room floor rather than being turned into additional videos. It’s not the norm for gaming channels and speaks to their desire to ensure only their best makes it into an episode. “Sometimes you just don’t have that great of a recording,” Schnur says candidly, “which you rely on the editor to punch up a few things to make it better.’”

Cutting episodes together, adding in the cinematic elements and sound design falls to the crew’s three editors: Alex, Anthony, and John. “Patreon pays for our editors, so those three are being supported by our patrons who have been awesome. We have a very, very solid and supportive Patreon group and we try to take care of them the best that we can.”

The “Hackening”

Managing a major YouTube channel with millions of subscribers brings plenty of challenges. Their biggest, and scariest, hurdle, however, came earlier this year in the form of a giant hack to their channel. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for many creators, but as one of the bigger gaming channels out there, Neebs Gaming treats it as something of a cautionary tale. 

One of their editors, “I’m not throwing him under the bus!” Schnur quickly remarks, “Has his own channel and somebody reached out to him with a sponsor deal that seemed a little bit too good to be true.”

The “offer” was to review a new photo-editing software, which he jumped on quickly. The company sent a link to download the software…A link that contained malicious software. Unfortunately, he was logged into the Neebs Gaming account at the time of download, “It was like a Trojan virus that took over our account and all our credentials. They were able to log in, get rid of all the account managers, and transfer partial ownership over to whatever company that they had.”

The company in question, posing as CoinBase Pro, changed the channel’s name and banner. Then they started live-streaming a Bitcoin scam video on both Neebs Gaming and the original Hank and Jed channels. Fans on social media were quick to notice and brought it to Schnur’s attention, “Our community jumped right on it and was like, ‘Hey, what’s going on? I think you guys were hacked. All your videos are gone.’

“They didn’t delete the videos that were there thank God, but we do have a backup of all those, which…You should. If you’re a creator, have a backup of everything.” From there it was a matter of getting into direct contact with YouTube/Google to take back control of their channel. Neebs Gaming had signed on with the Creative Artist Agency (CAA) in 2019 which gave them a much-needed leg up on sorting through the mess: 

“[Our] agent has a contact over at Google, so he was able to get me some sort of communication within 24 hours, which is rare. In the past when we’ve tried to contact YouTube it’s been hard to get a hold of them. From the time we spoke with somebody at Google, it took about four days to gain complete control back.”

They had to deal with a number of copyright strikes and reports (due to the scammers) which prevented them from uploading. It took another two days after regaining control of the channel before they could start posting new content. 

Despite everything, Schnur praises the overall response from Google. A response boosted by the pressure and support of their community, “It’s easy to complain about [stuff[ when something goes wrong, but you have to take into consideration the other guys. Google is a huge company; they have a lot going on. We tried to be patient with them and work with them as best as we could. And they were pretty good considering how many people they have to deal with, you know?”

Sandbox games like Minecraft provide a setting perfect for improvised storytelling and character building.

Even though it was a scary experience, the team has tried to turn it into something beneficial. “It seemed like a catastrophe at the time,” Schnur says, “but I figured we could probably turn a negative into a positive by informing others of what not to do. Don’t open certain software, make sure you have a lot of…you know, dual authentication.

“You have to maintain some sort of composure. Rally your community, yet don’t go in there with pitchforks and torches demanding that YouTube do whatever you want. Just like, ‘Hey, bear with us, don’t click on any links, don’t watch these videos…we’re gonna be back.’” 

Creating more than viewers

Beyond helping in the fight to regain control of their channel, Schnur credits the Neebs Gaming community as the secret to their overall success. “We stay very engaged on all social media,” he remarks. “That’s one of the biggest reasons we have such a positive community; because we interact with them. We know their stories and they know ours. The communication is constant, regardless of content going up or not, we’re always wondering what they’re doing and asking about things they [want] to see from us.” 

If Minecraft doesn’t provide the thrill you’re looking for, titles like 7 Days to Die offer more structure while still leaving room for improvisation.

Schnur encourages creators to take the time to develop this approach with their audiences, “I see people upload videos all the time and I don’t see any comments from them within the [video’s] comments or on Twitter [and] Facebook…When you’re engaged with your YouTube comments, that is going to really solidify your community. If you can build a community—if you can build a culture within your channel so they’re not just watching content, [but are] a part of the community, then you’re going to have more success.”

It’s one of the primary reasons they didn’t see any real loss of subscribers during the “hackening.” In fact, they’re social audience even grew during that period of time, which in turn created more subscribers once they were back up and running!

He adds one more tidbit of advice for other YouTubers out there. Whether they’re getting started or trying to get a big break: do what you do best and don’t sacrifice on quality: “I’ll say this right now, I stay in my lanes. I am the worst editor out of the whole team. I can still do the cinematic stuff but the other guys are so good at it and they have it down.

“Just do your best work [even] when you think no one’s looking.” Schnur emphasizes everyone on the Neebs Gaming team works toward this goal, constantly checking on one another, “We want everything to sound right, it’s gotta be perfect…and this keeps everybody on their toes.”

With over 700 million channel views, there’s no denying their approach to content is working for them and their community. Combining passion, dedication, and a strict adherence to their style, they’ve transformed into a channel that can not only survive hard times but manage to thrive. 

The new culture of live video is here to stay

To those of us who live on the internet live streaming video is nothing new. Yet for the majority of society — certainly for traditional institutions like churches, schools and businesses — live video hasn’t been a communication tool they’ve had to rely on. The COVID-19 pandemic changed that.

Since the pandemic began, organizations across the globe have been forced to embrace live video or face certain doom. Educational institutions have been forced by the public to continue educating a student body forced to stay at home. Meanwhile, churches, who rely on the tithes of their parishioners, have been using live video in place of in-person weekly services.

When the pandemic subsides and things begin to go back to normal, the culture of live video will be here to stay.

The most obvious argument for strengthening society’s live video capabilities is this: A citizenry that can continue to communicate effectively during a pandemic is more resilient than one that goes dark. Organizations are learning that effective use of live video is enough to keep them afloat if they’re unable to see people face to face.

It’s possible that as students go back to school, workers go back to the office and houses of worship open their doors, some will stop streaming. However, once these muscles are developed, there is little downside to exercising them frequently. Even without a pandemic, live video can add value to many organizations. For example, small churches are learning that they can reach far more people with live video than they can in person. Why would they choose to dial back the reach of their services as well as the tithes that go with it?

Without students, universities can’t collect tuition. Without parishioners, churches can’t collect tithes. In both cases, a remote experience may not be the best experience. But for the most part, live video functions well enough in a pinch. For some students and worshipers, remote attendance is the only option, even when society is open.

As the barrier to entry lowers, live video will only continue to invade our lives. Churches and schools without live video capabilities will struggle to compete. Live video is already becoming a ubiquitous tool, and this trend will only continue, bringing more professionals and amateurs alike to Twitch, YouTube and other live streaming platforms.

People who would never have been on Twitch may take the plunge after they learn how to livestream video to their customers for their day jobs.

Conducting an effective livestream has been dead simple for a few years, but now even conducting a sophisticated stream is attainable for any organization willing to put in the effort. Just as online video began growing slowly in the late nineties, then took off as consumers obtained inexpensive video cameras, desktop computers and fast internet connections, live video is democratizing at a similar rate.

Currently, the major technical hurdle for live streamers is the ability to switch between multiple video sources in real-time. While doing so is far easier and cheaper than it was 10 years ago, the process is still relatively complex. But that’s changing rapidly. Within a few years, the grandmas and crazy uncles of Facebook will be able to set up a couple of smartphones and conduct a multi-camera livestream relatively easily.

Just as recorded video became a ubiquitous communications medium after the turn of the century, so will live video after the pandemic.

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