Issue 2 - YouTuber Special

Hey Heads,

since dayZ-mod hyped not only the youtuber world but the whole gaming community, many new channels about that topic were born 
and Arma recieved a lot of attention with "LetsPlays" and "Commentarys".
After a while you could see how the new breed of arma players recognized that they didnt just bought only a zombiegame but a whole 
military simulation sandbox.
Many questions come up if you want to tame this beast of software and thats the point where some good explenations are worth gold.

The ammount of work behind a tutorial is hidden for the viewers who only have to make one click to enjoy instant support for thier urgent issues. 
Concept, scripting, art design and video editing are just some of the many steps that have to be taken to produce a single tutorial.

Lets listen to what the youtubers say!


#####
Channel:       SwissMAVERICK Productions (link)
Game:          Arma 2 + Arma 3
#####

  

1. How did you get the initial idea for your YouTube-Channel "SwissMAVERICK Productions"?

I first started video editing with real footage in the ARMY back in 2005. After i finished my service in 2011, i really had time for gaming and got into recording and editing in game ARMA 2 footage for the Wrecking Crew UK Clan. We had a common channel where a few members were sharing their gameplays but i was the only one uploading regularly. After i while i decided to create my own Channel because i really loved making those vids and i knew i wanted to go deeper into this hobby.
As you know my channel name is TheSwissMAVERICK. SwissMAVERICK has been my gamertag for many years on PC as well as PS3. I had to add "The" because YouTube said so :-). The "Productions" was added by me a while later when my vids started getting kinda popular and i wanted to create a brand that's represented on Facebook, Twitter and Steam.

2. How do you choose a topic for a new tutorial?

That's actually pretty random. I often get the ideas for topics while i work on something in ARMA. I think to myself, that would be cool to have in this mission, go online and search for info on how to do it. Hours later, when i finally got it working, i make a Tutorial so other people don't have to go through the same s*** i did :-).
I also create Tutorials based on frequently asked questions by the community or if i hear or read about a new addon/mod or script i like.

3. Please, tell us about the preparation of a tutorial video and the time it takes to make one.

This process has actually changed a lot in the last few months in order to create higher quality content that's more appealing for the viewers and therefore attract a larger audience. In the first Tutorials i made for the ARMA 2 Mission Editor i recorded video and audio at the same time and pretty much made it up as i went. Nowadays i right up a small script with the content i wanna cover in this video, think about the setting of the scene, prerecord the footage and add the commentary later. This more advances and professional way of editing allows me to create better content but is way more time consuming than before. But if you take a look at the finished product i`d say it's worth the extra effort. Average time i need to make a 15min Tutorial is about 4 hours. Larger productions such as the A2 ACE Artillery Tutorial or the A3 Mission Editor Guide took me about 30 hours each for roughly 1 hour of footage. It very much depends on if i already know the content i wanna make a tutorial about, or if i have to do research and test it myself first.

4. What about the feedback of the audience? Are you happy with it?

The Feedback i get on YouTube and all the other social platforms i`m on is great! The comments as well as the like/dislike ration is about 95% positive. Even though i also create non ARMA content most of my viewers have subscribed for just that. The good thing about this is that i get a lot less hater comments and dislikes because the ARMA Community as a lot more mature than other ones are. According to my stats on YouTube a large part of my audience is between 30-50 years old. Let's face it, they have better things to do in their life than sitting at home and hating on other people all day. They watch the video and leave a like or nice comment because they actually appreciate the work others do in order to help the community. So right here and now i wanna thank you all for your support and i`m proud to be a part of the great ARMA community!

5. Mods like DayZ and the visual attraction of Arma3 recently made the Arma-Community a lot bigger.

Whats your opinion about the future of the community?

 
As you said, specially DayZ has attracted a lot of new people to the ARMA Series. In my opinion, a lot of them are not of the same breed as the long time Armaholics that make the Community as great as it is. The amount of hacker attacks and other immature behaviour on DayZ Servers are proof of that. Unfortunately shortly after that, the problem spread also on ARMA 2 which made it almost impossible to play a decent session on a public A2 Server. Even players who bought the game because of DayZ and then tried do get a grip in actual ARMA 2 got pissed off and left before they even had a chance to experience the full potential of this game. Now, pretty much the only way to play ARMA as a MilSim is on an A2 ACE Clan Server with a good leadership and regular maintenance.
ARMA 3 is still in it's Baby Shoes, hard to predict it's future. I'm pretty sure though that it's gonna be a great ride! Longtime fans are getting a new game of their beloved series that features a lot of improvements and new players will just be blown away by the variety of gameplay possibilities this title has to offer. Once you got the ARMA fever it`s almost impossible to get rid of it. Hell, i got it ever since OFP came out back in 2001! Bohemia Interactive proves, with the open Alpha and Beta, that they`re open to the community's opinion and they work very hard to make A3 as good as it can possibly be on release.

 

#####
Channel:       Jester814 (link)
Game:          Arma 2 + Arma 3
#####

1. How did you get the initial idea for your YouTube-Channel "Jester814"?

I put out videos occasionally for my youtube channel about my ArmA unit and other random things. When DayZ released my friend who knew that I already made ArmA videos and played DayZ said I could capitalize on it and possibly make a successful YouTube gaming channel. He was right.

2. How do you choose a topic for a new tutorial? 

I hadn't made an ArmA mission in a couple of years when A3 came out. I had a big list of all the things I thought people needed to know from ArmA 2 experience and things that I had to look up myself when A3 first released.

3. Please, tell us about the preparation of a tutorial video and the time it takes to make one.

I make my tutorial videos in one take. I go into game and make the mission talking myself through it. Then I clear the map and start the video.

4. What about the feedback of the audience? Are you happy with it?

 I get primarily positive feedback. I am happy with it. I deal with trolls with one of two methods. I either delete their posts and noone ever knows about them, or I publicly confront them. I love some of the reactions of the people that try to post negatively on my channel once I call them out.

5. Mods like DayZ and the visual attraction of Arma3 recently made the Arma-Community a lot bigger.

Whats your opinion about the future of the community?

DayZ did nothing but help ArmA overall. It got the ArmA name known and a LOT of people switched to ArmA 2 once they got bored with DayZ. My ArmA unit experienced a huge boost in numbers a while after DayZ was released. Since ArmA is a moddable game, it will always have a large, active community.