This Article should give you a comprehensive idea on what casting is, how its done, how to get into it EVERYTHING!
NOTE
: If you disagree with me on this thats fine you have your right to an opinion, but i have spent the last 6 months doing more work than anyone in SEA in regards to commentating sc2 and this is what i have learned to be true, call me up myself all you want i dont care.
Before going into specifics of what make casters good i want to touch on a few points
Lesson 1:
It is ALOT harder to be a good caster than you think
It really is a hard thing to do, especially by yourself without the backup of a studio EG tastosis with dedicated observer/producer in their ear incase they miss something. Not only do you need to understand the matchups, and talk during dull moments you also need to keep the camera focussed on important areas in the middle of the screen, while ALSO constantly scanning the map for drops etc, while cycling the production tabs and workers on top of all of this you are having a conversation with someone about whats going on as well. too many people writeoff casters from the start because they might miss something every now and then or they get a detail wrong. lighten up, i would love to see YOU do it better.
Lesson 2:
YOU CAN NOT PLEASE EVERYONE DONT EVEN TRY
You just cant, do you best to improve and learn from mistakes and dont take it too harshly when you get bad feedback.
HOWEVER
DO NOT. IGNORE LEGITIMATE COMPLAINTS. things like accent, pronunciation, strategy errors etc. look at them understand you need to improve and do your best to do it.
A perfect example of this is a caster who shall remain nameless. refused to take any feedback from a certain source, and just called them trolls and ignorant fools and dismissed their issues out of hand. DO NOT DO THIS. yes majority of it might be trolling, but man up and read through it anyway. because there are usually diamonds scattered throughout the crap there. that are very useful
Lesson 3:
always try to improve your STRONG points not your weak ones. find a co caster who blends well and you can work off each other
Better to cut your losses on your weak areas and focus on your strengths.
Lesson 4:
expect harsh criticism and mass berating regardless of how good you are
Believe it or not, every caster has haters, day9 has his haters tastosis have theirs, they are just the silent subset due to the rabid fanfare that involves. So understand this and just move on.
Lesson 5:
Get yourself a good streaming rig and internet connection
As crappy as it is, 720p is the standard for any real stream these days, you will find yourself not able to keep anything but the fans you already have without it.
Now this next part is more a word to the community about casting.
STOP BEING SO ******* PICKY, NOBODY IS PERFECT
I say this because there is only so long someone can put up with abuse. 99.9% of casters do this for fun, for a hobby, why would they continue to do it if they constantly get berated about it?
Understand that what you want out of a stream is not the same as the person sitting next to you or even in your group of mates. I can tell you from experience FXOpen understands this and does its best to accommodate all, EG: different languages types of casting etc etc.
and the question you need to ask yourself is this "
what happens if/when the casters who are here now give up"
The casters we have atm around the place are the hardcore fans of star craft they are paving the way for SC2 commentary, they are the most devoted to their craft. once they are gone the quality goes downhill FAST. and what will this do? it will bring down viewer counts, which brings down sponsorship money which KILLS esports.
So finally onto what it takes to be a caster!
You should get into casting if you are like this:
- Love starcraft
- Have a passion for your craft
- are dedicated to improving under the most harsh circumstances
- have natural talent to begin with
- be prepared to spend thousands of $$ on a streaming setup
You should avoid casting if you are like this:
- cant afford internet or a pc capable of 720p streaming (it sucks but its true, 90% of ivewers will tune out for less than that quality stream)
- just want to get your name out there
- are in it for the fame
- arent willing to spend 10+ hours per week practicing while not streaming/
So not for the nit picky parts
First and foremost. 50% about being a caster is NATURAL TALENT. you need to be able to communicate your sentences and thoughts efficiently and clearly. the following is not beneficial and without putting it harshly, do not waste your time if you have these.
- Strong accents outside of english (unless you cast in a different language)
- Pronunciation that is not spot on
- Cannot clearly form sentences
These 3 things are instant downpoints that you cannot come back from.
The second most important thing is your co-caster and your defined roles. casting works best with 1 analytical caster and 1 play by play.
Analytical casters responsibilities: - Have a high game knowledge and practices regularly
- Can recognize niche builds to explain them in detail, their pro's cons etc
- Should know the style of the players who are playing at that time.
Play by play casters responsibilities: - Have a well tuned ability to express things very fast
- be able to make the viewer feel excited
- the ability to quickly disect whats happening on the screen and describe it
Both casters must be able to:
- Be able to play off each other in conversation
- Know the subtleties of each others thought patters so there is no overlap
- be able to have idle conversation during downtime.
Now something that every caster, and viewer has to keep in mind is there are 3 main (but not limited to) types of viewers. they are
The Pro:
The pro is a grandmasters or high masters player who most likely understands the game as well as the analytical caster if not more so. this unfortunately brings in situations where they disagree with the casters causing friction, they also don't like the fact that they are not learning anything or just hearing things they already know on the stream. These players will most likely mute you, and put music on. this is why OBSERVING SKILL IS PARAMOUNT. to keep this type of viewer, nothing you do play by play or analytical wise will likely make them like you.
The Learner
This kind of viewer, LOVES starcraft wants to be better, watches pro matches to get an idea on how they think, the analytical caster plays into their wanted attention, explaining builds will make this player happy, however there are alot of this demographic that you cannot please. EG TERRAN OVERPOWERED STFU etc.. just ignore these and do your best. they only want to watch the most high level matches.
The Kiddy/ The casual (cant think of a better name, they like big explosions and loud noises)
This Viewer is by far the easiest to satisfy, this is where the play by play caster comes in. it is his job to keep the attention of these players and make them feel apart of the cast. Doesnt really matter what type of game this is. it will keep them entertained regardless! macro games make these types of viewers tune out, but keeps the learners and pros in the game.
All in all, the biggest misconception alot of people think about casting is this.
It is not the casters responsibility to GET viewers.
- the tournament
- the players
- TL featured
will get you the viewers. it is KEEPING them that is what you need to work for. dont worry about how many you have at once on the stream. worry about how long they are tuned in for. a good target (i think anyway) for a tournament is 1 hour. thats 3 games. most people will tune out after that long and take a break etc. any less than that and you arent keeping thier attention. things like the casting quality, downtime between games etc all work against this so your production comes into play aswell.
could not agree more with everything that has been said
i especially like lesson 1, people always just focus on the negative when they have no clue how tough it is to put up a good show.
i also feel alot of people are into casting for the wrong reasons such as wanting to make money or make a name for themselves. that last part is natural i guess, who doesnt wanna be more known? but it should be at most the secondary reason kinda like a "bonus" with your passion for casting and love for starcraft being the primary ones driving you.
yea i mean look at day9, i bet when he started he never even thought on how much money he would end up making, he was just a nerd in his room, okay a sexy nerd i mean - doing the thing he loved and his success ended up being a bonus (albeit a very large one) but i bet that even if he made nothing he would still do it everyday cause that kid just loves sc2 so much you can see practically see it glowing in him and his passion shows when he casts thats why his show so amazing
I don't think Day[9] racks in as much as everyone thinks. His said before that he is only surviving with the basics, and only JUST got a new computer, and that was only because he started a donation thing for himself to get a new computer, so it's not as good as everyone thinks.
But he loves doing it, he enjoys doing it too otherwise he wouldn't sit in front of a webcam 5 days a week talking to his monitor.
I'm live-casting my games for two reasons. First: I myself can improve when I say the things out loud, they might not make much sense to viewers but at the time I understand what I'm saying, this is because I think about it in my head, pausing speech for a second then continue saying what I was thinking essentially skipping the part I was thinking, I think I only do this while playing live, so I don't think it's the same as the "avoid casting" section.
The second is, my friends enjoy sc2, they enjoy watching me play and even if they're better/as good as me, They still watch just because they know I love sc2, and they enjoy supporting my other friends and myself.
I really think "avoid casting" is a very very de-motivating read. I would put it down to 'practice before releasing your first cast'
I mean look at kelly, everyone who wasn't a racist dickhead all said 'The only thing she lacks is game knowledge and stutters' which is reasonable, her accent wasn't as thick as everyone made it out to be and she definently is a very successful caster in my eyes. So I don't think you can just outright say it's a waste of time for those people, and if the person is motivated to cast sc2 games then they can definently improve on these so called "natural talents"
Then you said that casters responsibility isn't to get viewers, I would say compare NASL to IPL
NASL: Better players, Better tournament, only two casters
IPL: Good players, A test tournament, a range of casters
IPL got 20k viewers on the finals night, I don't think I've seen NASL get any higher then 13k(on the first day).
Why you ask? Because of the casters. The casters were good and you never got your ears droned out by the same two unenthusiastic voices, so they bought in the viewers. I don't believe any of this shit that you have to be TL featured, cast tournaments or cast good people playing to be a successful caster. Look at TB, a lot of people hate him because he talks fast, but a lot of people love him because he has a passion for the game, and he gets excited. Wait.. what? His not TL Featured, he doesn't cast "GREAT SUPER OMFG" players unless he is asked to cast a tournament. He just sits and casts his ladder experience, and he is entertaining in the process, thus keeping the people watching.
My point is: No matter how good the tournament, no matter how good the players, no matter if you're the only TL featured, if the casting is crap then people will leave or just mute it and only glance at it every 5-10 mins. It's the quite opposite in my eyes, great casting with mediocre players with a mediocre tournament will bring a lot more people then some half-assed mediocre casting with good players and a good tournament.
I think they're the only part of the "tips" that is complete crap, and very de-motivating for any newcomers that came here for tips on how to begin casting.
I don't think Day[9] racks in as much as everyone thinks
No he earns much, much more than you think. Dont be ignorant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
I'm live-casting my games for two reasons. First: I myself can improve when I say the things out loud, they might not make much sense to viewers but at the time I understand what I'm saying, this is because I think about it in my head, pausing speech for a second then continue saying what I was thinking essentially skipping the part I was thinking, I think I only do this while playing live, so I don't think it's the same as the "avoid casting" section.
Ok let me be clear, everything that i wrote was in regards to commentating tournaments. not solo games.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
I really think "avoid casting" is a very very de-motivating read. I would put it down to 'practice before releasing your first cast'
I'm not here to kiss your ass, it's demotivating for a reason. because its true. ANY Business that comes in spending money on esports looks at the casting as equally as the games itself. they will see through your bullshit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
I mean look at kelly, she definently is a very successful caster in my eyes. So I don't think you can just outright say it's a waste of time for those people, and if the person is motivated to cast sc2 games then they can definently improve on these so called "natural talents"
You say that "if not for X,Y,Z" well guess what buddy, those same X,Y,Z have a right to their opinion. SC2 streaming/tournaments are a CUSTOMER SERVICE industry. and the customer gets what it wants. if they dont want a specific commentator then the business will cut them. You will find as more Business models like the EG masters and liquid fiasco, like GSL and swapping out commentators who get bad reactions. like NASL who do exactly what the community wants. that this will be more and more standard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
Then you said that casters responsibility isn't to get viewersI would say compare NASL to IPL
NASL: Better players, Better tournament, only two casters
IPL: Good players, A test tournament, a range of casters
IPL got 20k viewers on the finals night, I don't think I've seen NASL get any higher then 13k(on the first day).
Again do your research. NASL had over 25k day one. and also you are comparing a FINALS of an event. to regular group play.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
Why you ask? Because of the casters. The casters were good and you never got your ears droned out by the same two unenthusiastic voices, so they bought in the viewers. I don't believe any of this shit that you have to be TL featured
I can easily show you a report from Sheth's stream that shows EXACTLY where all the viewers came form and their URL's 95% are from TL. Also the SEA events that werent featured 50 ppl. featured 400+ again. do your research.
And you just agreed with my point? People tuned into NASL and then stopped tuning in because the casting and more importantly the production was sub par. (side note) IPL was played MONTHS ago. so if they didnt get it all perfect they would be the laughing stock of the community
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
Look at TB, a lot of people hate him because he talks fast, but a lot of people love him because he has a passion for the game, and he gets excited. Wait.. what? His not TL Featured, he doesn't cast "GREAT SUPER OMFG" players unless he is asked to cast a tournament. He just sits and casts his ladder experience, and he is entertaining in the process, thus keeping the people watching.
TB is a great play by play caster, its unfortunate he hasnt had the oppertunity to cast with more analytical casters.
However casting ladder experience is not feature worthy for a commentator. TL Feature has specific rules and are available on TL. Casters dont need to be featured since the event itself should be in TL calander.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
No matter how good the tournament, no matter how good the players, no matter if you're the only TL featured, if the casting is crap then people will leave or just mute it and only glance at it every 5-10 mins
This is how it works. the tournament and players GET the viewers and its up to the casters to KEEP them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
It's the quite opposite in my eyes, great casting with mediocre players with a mediocre tournament will bring a lot more people then some half-assed mediocre casting with good players and a good tournament.
You will never find this happening as all the good commentators will not waste their time with an event like that, same way any business would never sponsor an event like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
I think they're the only part of the "tips" that is complete crap, and very de-motivating for any newcomers that came here for tips on how to begin casting.
This is not a tutorial on how to cast. it is a factual article. As I have said multiple times through this reply. go and DO research. and you will find answers. Commentating at the professional level is a hard job, it is not for everyone. if you just want to do it for fun and dont care, then reading this would only gives you ides on where to improve.
This is such a well thought out post man. Props for posting it. You should add a section on "recruiting for casting" or some such thing like a newb school for training. Just a thought.
Great post Unstable although I am a little confused because I compared this guide to the one followed by said 'nameless caster' which read:
Quote:
1. Self-promotion
We do this job to satiate our needs for attention so it is paramount that we self-promote no matter how shameless. It does not matter how this promotion occurs as long as it does, because it's important to satisfy personal needs at the expense of the gaming community.
On a more serious note I think attitude is a key point which I was discussing with a pillar of the gaming community a while back. Although casting in the past was predominantly about passion and a love for gaming, now that it's gone mainstream there are people in it for various reasons (fame and fortune baby!) and I think it's generally frowned upon by the community if it's obvious that those are the reasons you are in it.
It's not to say that you cannot be in it for the fame, fortune and power, it's just a little disappointing if it's too obvious.
Thanks muchly Unstable - loved your casts and was sad to see you move away from SEA but hey, it worked out ^^
I'm doing casting for fun/hobby and this will help me a lot
Though sad to say some people not in a position to do anything about the internet thing (namely everyone in Korea) as since the quake in Japan have had all sorts of net problems across all 3 ISP's here TT
Well I keep trying though haven't had much in the way of feedback thus far (apart from benji telling me not to cough when i had chest infection - i muted when i felt like I would cough in the future so thanks for that benji ^^)
Well done and good luck in malaysia
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