Audio Commentary - Platinum League 1v1

[Endrick]

I just posted my first audio commentary. I play in Platinum League Division 1 primarily as Terran.

This commentary is primarily meant to be instructional as well as hopefully covering an interesting game. I tried to provide both basic and high level tips and analysis on gameplay.


Commentary 1 part A:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm0_ivHwwLE
Commentary 1 part B:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObWtD6Sbpao


If this audio is well received, I'll make more. If not, then at least it was fun. Please post a comment and rating on the youtube page if you enjoy it.

[Yoichi]

lol looks like the commentary thing is becoming a fad,

i too am working on commentary for replays but im going to step outside of the normal boring drab you hear all over youtube into something more entertaining.
i want to be focusing on newb matches to show what not to do as well as good matches to show what you should do. instead of being biased and only showing my own replays, i will accept any replays from players to do my own comedic/mature commentary to appeal to the alternative crowd looking to actually to be informed and entertained instead of put to sleep!

but good job on yours! i wish you the best success!

[Sludge]

I really liked the commentary. Do more :P

[Tagospo]

I enjoyed it, for me mostly I am just watching the game but something about someone telling me whats happening makes it more interesting then just watching it lol.

[Purewasted]

Well receivement in progress. Please, do keep at it! :)

Back and forth games are definitely more entertaining to watch, so good call on picking that match. Highlights for me were the Psi Storm hit at the ramp, the EMP action at the end, and the spotter tactics in general.

Some constructive criticism (and I do realize this is your first, so kudos on that, I'm sure they'll get better over time):

-Try to be a little more visual. When your SCV was scouting his base, we didn't actually know about it until after we heard a blast off-screen (Stalker first engages it) and then it came up. Even if a single Marine running around in the middle of nowhere to a Xel'Naga watchtower isn't that interesting in theory, it still helps us get a sense of what's going on in the game.

-When you're explaining something like Snipe, don't forget you can mouse over it in the replay and we'll see the tooltip, to get any bits of info you might have forgotten.

-Don't advertise something like a "big battle" before it happens... in this case it was pretty inevitable and obvious that something was coming, but it still makes the action less "immediate" and exciting by reminding us that this was all in the past.

Anyway, great job on your first, I look forward to more.

[Falryx]

I enjoyed the commentary as well, also helped me figure out how to use emp more effectively :)

[Kilgoretrout]

Great commentary Endrick. Post more vs Zerg players with commentary plz!

[Bovi]

hey endrick good stuff. appreciate the commentaries and keep them coming. liked how you talked about timing - expo of you and your opponent - macro stuff. things that less micro talented players can do that will help our games.

would like to see each replay/commentary focusing on different strats / builds etc. explaining timing of when to attack / defend etc

[Kindlin]

This is all constructive criticism, so don't take it too hard. I'm also pausing the video and writing this post as I watch it.

Something that I noted throughout the entire video was the bias towards yourself is quite obvious. You are mostly focused on your base and only briefly glance at the enemy base, and when you do you don't give much info about what the toss is doing, just enough so that you can better explain what you are doing. If you want to comment on your own reply, I feel it's a must to pretend it isn't you and you don't know whats going to happen. The fact that you do know what is going to happen means that you just know where to draw our attention, as in you know what littler things end up matering and you can casually bring up that smaller bit of info so that when it maters later on you can say "and now that little decision has ended up being major" or whatever.

---

The first thing I noticed was the word "um." Never use the word um, just don't say anything if you must. Also, at the beginning, while most people get the jist of early game, commentating on it is important. For the first few minutes I felt like I was just listening to your thoughts on the SC2 and not on that match.

All the stuff about "make sure you do 720p" etc should be in little notes or text or something. The only thing your voice should comment on is the game.

something else that really kills the commentary is previous knowledge. "As you can see, I am teching quite quickly. I plan on getting banshees and ghosts." What should of happened was that "notice" the protoss player teching up and you say "the terran player saw that, he should be getting ghosts pretty soon, oh, yup theres the ghost academy going up! oh! whats this? hes getting a star port at the same! this terran player is trying to out tech the protoss! blah blah etc etc" Just keep the game flowing, do NOT talk about the future as tho you know what happens (speculate based off of current knowledge).

As you said "the protoss player is expanding" (4:58) you let out a very obvious sigh. Kind of distracting, something you want to avoid.

"At this point he has already researched psyionic storm" should of been called out a long time ago, something like "hes going for a quick templar build!" *1 minute later* "he instantly began researching storm, he must be [blah w/e that would mean, I'm not good enough at this game to know]."

"I'm just waiting to see what the protoss player will do" thats exciting. Start talking about what units are being amased, which team has the units that counter the other ones better, what the players are currently teching or researching, what they are doing. I am sure you can say more then "I'm waiting."

------

I think you might have been trying for a different kind of commentary, but I personally prefer a more battlereport type. A lot of the information presented was helpful/useful, it's just that the same information could presented in a different way and still keep the feel of 'real' commentary. For example, instead of saying "those two EMPs won me that battle and eventually the game" you can say "those ghosts really won [the terran player] that battle, massively exhausting the toss' forces, as he rolls up to assault the main base, does the toss have enough units to stop the advance?" etc. After my entire post I'm sure you get my point.

[Sodamuffin]

There weren't any ums that stood out to me. Then again, I tend to um as well.

[Andrige]

I enjoyed the commentary.

[engineer]

I also enjoyed it. I have a bit of constructive criticism as well, and I'll try not to retread some of the stuff that people above said.

- As a commentator, you generally should not let your interest flag. When the audience can tell that you're uninterested, then we become uninterested as well. This is what (i think) other people are reacting to when they say that it's distracting when we hear you sigh.

- On the other side of the coin from the above, you should let your excitement level rise and fall over the course of the game. Your excitement level was pretty flat through the whole game, even though there were some pretty climactic battles. Think about it like a hockey game -- the commentator is always interested, but he gets very excited when somebody takes a shot on goal, and even more excited when somebody scores. Your excitement is a cue for the audience (me) to get excited.

- If there aren't any imminent battles at some point, then there should still be useful things to talk about. There's a lot going on in SC2, even when there aren't any battles. You can talk about build orders, or building placement, or how one might defend a certain expansion, etc. You should generally avoid 'dead air,' where you're just not saying anything.

All in all, I thought it was good. If you want to do more commentating, you should try casting other matches that you haven't seen in advance, and that may help you pick up the excitement level.

[Kat]

Hey, nice job. I liked the commentary.

Good match too. It wasn't super fast, but it was well thought out by both players in interesting. Nice use of EMPs for sure.

Keep it up! :D

[Endrick]

It was my first audio commentary so I definitely have some things to improve.

Whenever I was talking directly about the action that was happening real-time, I had no problem following it with my mouse/screen. But I feel like I struggled when I was trying to click around the map following scouting action while I was talking in-depth about some strategy or tactic that wasn't directly shown on the screen at the time. At those points I was just absent-mindedly clicking around the map because I was putting all of my attention into the strategy or tactic that I was describing. That's something I'm going to try to improve if I do more commentaries.


It sounds like some people have become accustomed to Blizzard's SC2 battlereports, as far as focusing on shoutcasting the match as though it was a sports game. I think that's because their focus was to hype up their game and introduce new units and make them all sound exciting, whereas I was focusing on tactics and tips that can help players win games.


If more people are interested in a shout-cast style battlereport than a strategy/tactic/tip style commentary, then I can do that next. Which would you guys prefer?

[Raislin]

Strategies are good to talk about (you can talk about what you're opponent did wrong, too), but it's probably best to talk about a strategy when it's in progress.

I thoroughly enjoyed the match and, as a Protoss player, I was happy to see High Templar in action, as I have not utilized them myself. I'm also scared of Ghosts after seeing how you used them. I say keep it up.

[Purewasted]

I don't think you need to go overboard and completely revamp your style... Robert Simpson's enthusiasm can be a little grating as it tends to blow tiny things, like a single unit dying/surviving, waaay out of proportion and make them sound important. If you could find some balance between the two, that would be perfect... but if you stick mostly with what you know for now, while getting the hang of casting in general, I wouldn't mind.

[Learnmore]

What do you use to record your screen. I tried using CamStudio, but it blinks during the record.

[Lore]

There is nothing wrong with occasional "um"s or "ah"s. Most people just starting out doing this sort of thing will say it too much at first, but it goes away as you get more comfortable with what you're doing. I wouldn't worry about it in the slightest.

[Endrick]

There is nothing wrong with occasional "um"s or "ah"s. Most people just starting out doing this sort of thing will say it too much at first, but it goes away as you get more comfortable with what you're doing. I wouldn't worry about it in the slightest.

Thanks for the perspective. I hope to improve if I do more audios.

[Joeorange]

Thanks for the perspective. I hope to improve if I do more audios.

Don't worry to much about this first one. I am sure you'll knock out those ums in no time! Fun watching the video, I can't wait for more!

[Infected]

I enjoyed it! Continue making them ^.^

Just some quick things:

- If you commentate your own games, try not to be as biased concerning your own troops. Switch commentating from the perspective of either side

- Don't give the viewer information on an event before it happens, it ruins the suspense ;). Pretend as though you have never seen the game before.

- You didn't focus on the early game very much at all while you discussed the danger of probes running around your base. Although some of the things might seem obvious like scouting and the whatnot, it is still important to discuss them.

Overall however, I really liked it and it displayed how powerful ghosts can be versus protoss. Also a good choice as to the game.

[Greymason]

Honestly I really enjoyed your commentary and disagree with some of the feedback. I thought your style was good and wouldn't try to change it at all. Not all commentary has to be like others are describing. In particular you showed the power of EMP on protoss and talked about what was going through your mind as you had specific placement of your ghosts which really does help others understand the type of thinking that helps turn games.

Keep up the commentary. I'm lucky to be in beta now (2nd wave), but before that I was discouraged with the lack of commentary available - the more the better. I know others like me couldn't get enough.

[Mcp]

Well done, it was very fun to watch.. Great use of ghosts as well

[Jaerin]

What resolution is your screen?

What size is your monitor?

[Askelus]

I think it'd be helpful to the very new players who never played SC1 frequently if you did some basic mechanic and base setup strategies. Such as going over good build orders at the start (How many SCVs, when you get your first depot, etc.). I think that'd really help those people who are new. Just a thought.

[Divine]

Make sure you scream out more and yell

GEEE GEEEEEEEE when the game ends..

refer to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzBT-7F54Fc&feature=PlayList&p=36AF199E48D7B8AF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=38

oh btw totally went off topic but yeah I enjoyed the commentaries and subscribed .. keep up the good work

[Lynart]

I am a newbie Terran play on the Bronze league.

Post more, learned quite a bit.

[Adamu]

Really enjoyed the commentary. You sound kinda sleepy though, a little more energy would be nicer to listen to :)

I'd like to see a replay where your protoss opponent used Collossus, I'm having trouble with those.

[Sabin]

Just gonna start watching now. But keep the blackness surrounding the gameplay away! I want to be able to see this in full screen and have everything big and clear!

Looking forward to it though/

[Endrick]

Just gonna start watching now. But keep the blackness surrounding the gameplay away! I want to be able to see this in full screen and have everything big and clear!

Looking forward to it though/


Yeah I'm going to fix this for the next audio that I do.

[Shinosai]

Just some friendly advice: I've noticed a lot of people do the "um" thing when they are delivering speeches or trying something like this the first few times. The best way to get over it is to stop trying to constantly talk, and think about what you say before you say it. :) A person that pauses before they say something very succinctly sounds much smarter than the person that talks quickly and has many pauses in the middle of sentences. Good luck, nice commentary. Glad to see someone helping out the community.

[Hoticehunter]

It was my first audio commentary so I definitely have some things to improve.

It sounds like some people have become accustomed to Blizzard's SC2 battlereports, as far as focusing on shoutcasting the match as though it was a sports game. I think that's because their focus was to hype up their game and introduce new units and make them all sound exciting, whereas I was focusing on tactics and tips that can help players win games.


If more people are interested in a shout-cast style battlereport than a strategy/tactic/tip style commentary, then I can do that next. Which would you guys prefer?

For a first time commentary, it was very good. I especially liked when you slowed down the game during the first major battle to help us nubs see the micro more easily, I haven't seen anyone else do that, but I thought you used the slow down very well.

On the flip side, for the "boring building the army back up" phases you could speed the game up slightly.

A bit of constructive criticism though, the "ums" were a little too often imo. A few are acceptable, but in my opinion, you "um"ed a little too much. It also felt like your mind was wandering from time to time, most noticeably when talking about the Protoss's first expansion it almost sounded like you couldn't think of the word expo.

As for the other criticism about your "bias" towards yourself, I say, who cares? You play Terran, you're going to know Terran better and be more interested and better able to talk about Terran, which makes for a more interesting commentary. And as you said, you were focusing on providing strategy and tips, and while you did your best for the Protoss by explaining why you thought they didn't push your expo when they had the advantage, obviously you're going to know your own strategy much better and thus be able to comment on it in more depth.

I didn't mind you talking about the future, after all you weren't doing a battle report style shoutcast, you were doing commentary on strategy, and thus it was appropriate. Depending on what level of play your aiming your commentary at, you could even try to make the commentary a little more "interactive" by asking the viewers questions about what you should be doing after scouting.
Just as an example, say the part right after you scout and see he's going quick templar, ask what unit best counters templar. Try to get the viewer thinking and more engaged instead of simply sitting back and watching.

[Khalanil]

It sounds like some people have become accustomed to Blizzard's SC2 battlereports, as far as focusing on shoutcasting the match as though it was a sports game. I think that's because their focus was to hype up their game and introduce new units and make them all sound exciting, whereas I was focusing on tactics and tips that can help players win games.


If more people are interested in a shout-cast style battlereport than a strategy/tactic/tip style commentary, then I can do that next. Which would you guys prefer?

I enjoyed your commentary and liked the strategy tips that you included.

[Vincentblack]

I enjoyed your commentary very much, thanks for sharing.

You are far more interesting to listen to than some other commentators that talk a million miles per hour and only tell you what they see happening.

I like to hear the what/why/how about strategies and explanations of spells, abilities, and strategies. I know some self proclaimed "pros" might not want to hear that kind of stuff, but screw them, let em mute you.

Keep 'em coming!

[Endrick]

Just some friendly advice: I've noticed a lot of people do the "um" thing when they are delivering speeches or trying something like this the first few times. The best way to get over it is to stop trying to constantly talk, and think about what you say before you say it. :) A person that pauses before they say something very succinctly sounds much smarter than the person that talks quickly and has many pauses in the middle of sentences. Good luck, nice commentary. Glad to see someone helping out the community.

That's an articulate way of putting it. Thanks for the advice :)


Thanks to everyone who has responded constructively - I'm going to make some more audios.

[Bliany]

I really enjoyed part 1, but Youtube is saying the part 2 video is private. Anyone else having this problem or is it something on my end?

[net]

I really enjoyed part 1, but Youtube is saying the part 2 video is private. Anyone else having this problem ?


yea

[Propanemilo]

Kindlin.det on the first page suggested that you do the commentary as a quasi-third party. Do not do that. You know you are playing, we know you are playing, don't pretend otherwise.

He wants you to sound like Dustin Browder, basically. That would do terrible terrible damage to your commentaries.

Keep it up as-is, but with a little more confidence (which will come in time). I feel that for commentaries, it's okay to slow the game down so you can say what needs to be said.

[Lazz]

The second video is set to private?

[Endrick]

The second video is set to private?

Very sorry about that guys. It was public for 3 days, then somehow got set to private for a few hours. I switched it back to public when I saw a post about this.


If anyone is still having trouble viewing the second part, please post let me know.

[starcraft2n00b]

keep the commentaries coming, that wasn't to bad at all http://starcraftreplays.org/starcraft_replays.gif

[sc2scoorge]

everyone UMMMMMMMMMMMMSSSS with expection to super profession new anchor etc... but most people Ummm I'm really good at public speaking and I uma some times but atleast I notice when I do it