I'm thinking of getting into game commentating... Baby steps first...

[Aron Times]

Hello,

In the middle of December, I decided to build a brand new computer so I could play the upcoming RTS, Grey Goo. However, in the meantime, I've been using it to play Team Fortress 2, which runs like a dream. And then, after a few days thinking about it, I've decided to try my hand and video game commentating, and I've uploaded a few test videos to gain some experience:

This is the first video where I recorded my voice along with my gameplay sound. I used Fraps, and was unaware of a specific Fraps quirk that makes your mic voice sound really low. I've managed to fix it in the two videos below by setting my Fraps volume in the volume mixer to 40% of my system volume (I set my system volume to 50%, so I set Fraps volume to 20%). I also boosted my mic slightly (bringing its boost to halfway in the Windows sound control), which also helped.


The following two videos are from two consecutive rounds on ctf_turbine. I played as a Spy and actually wanted to do a live commentary, but forgot to disable push-to-talk in Fraps. This meant that I could only be heard in the video while I had MOUSE5 held down (which was also my TF2 push-to-talk key).

Apparently, I'm limited to one video per post, so I'm going to post the other two videos in succeeding posts.

I have a few issues with trying to do a live commentary:

I speak with a clear and confident voice in real life because I can see the person I'm talking to, and more importantly, I can hear my own voice much more easily. I use a Logitech G35 headset which cover my ears, so I can barely hear myself talking. I can't tell if I'm speaking too loud or too soft. However, listening to myself suggests that I lower my voice if I can't hear myself well. Should I just practice speaking into a mic more often and in a louder voice?

Another thing is that my online voice seems so... dull and lifeless. It's like, subconsciously, I feel like I'm all alone and the people I'm talking to aren't real, so I don't convey enough emotion through my mic. It doesn't help that most people don't have mics, and a significant minority of those who do are mic spammers and griefers and squeakers. I feel a lot of awkwardness when I'm the only one talking, which results in me becoming less expressive than in real life, which results in me slowly talking less and less over the course of the game.

Do you folks in the Playground have any suggestions based on what you see in my videos?

[Aron Times]

Here's part 1 of my second test video. I split my second video into bite-sized chunks for easier viewing. I found that several people I asked to look at the video I posted in my OP were intimidated by its sheer length (45+ minutes).

[Aron Times]

And here's part 2 of my second video:



Thanks in advance for your feedback!