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Getting into casting!
 

I'm [mGG]MueX, an ex-master league random player. I've been looking to get into casting, because I love Starcraft and all its different strategies and want to get more involved in the community. I've been doing some streaming of my casting, mainly just 1v1 custom games between people from the metaGameGods and noobschool channels. The biggest struggle I've had with casting, though, is how to speak clearly and continuously. Watching over my recordings I see I have a tendency to say a lot of "um"s and pause a lot, as well as tending to be very monotone. Does anyone with more casting experience have advice for how to fix this, other than just doing more practice?

Re: Getting into casting!
 

Coming from a background of casting FPS games, where there is a little less downtime however, maybe try looking at co-casting with someone so you have someone to talk to, I know that when ever I have casted I have found it more enjoyable within myself to cast with a co-caster as well.

Also watch your casts back, see if you miss anything or you could have elaborated on things more, remembering that some of you audience may have never played the game before and are watching for the first time, I know it seems silly but sometimes the best thing you can do when you have trouble trying to think of things to talk about is maybe to elaborate on the reasons behind why someone is doing what they are doing instead of expecting the viewers to see and note that even if it is something that generally seems like its obvious.

But most of all keep at it, ask people for ways to improve and keep practising which are all things you are doing and you will be great

Best of luck with it all

Re: Getting into casting!
 

I'm gonna lurk here and learn a thing or two about casting myself C:
I've wanted to get into it, but I'm just bronze and don't know shit T_T

Re: Getting into casting!
 

Get a partner/ co-caster if you have trouble with the monotone/stumbling thing, after a while of prac casting with them, you should be able to solo without to many "um's", also, expand your knowledge base as much as possible, knowing many strats for all races will allow you to see and understand what each player is doing or going for, and why they do it, which allows you to convey to the viewer the pace and scope of the game at hand.

Best of luck Mu

~Thoth

Re: Getting into casting!
 

I'm going to do a self-plug and link you this guide I wrote a while ago (PDF) on casting :

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Guide%20v2.pdf

It's far from perfect but hopefully you might be able to find something useful in there.

Re: Getting into casting!
 

Its just going to be practice that will help with finding things to say
Some things you can talk about are the player's history, even if its from experience you can say that when I play this guy he tends to favour aggressive all in builds like... etc etc
You can tell funny stories totally unrelated if a players name reminds you of something like that
You can talk about the map but that should be a last resort unless its a new map or uncommon map (ie not in ladder pool)

Don't try to be someone you aren't. If you are a dull guy with strong analytical abilities focus on being a great analytical caster (also going to help you significantly when co casting)
Otherwise its much the same as public speaking you just gotta accept the fact that you will suck for a while
Also you should be watching the minimap 99% of the game

Re: Getting into casting!
 

Hello, got a few pointers!

1. Read zepph's guide

2. Don't pretend to be something you're not. Meatex brings up a good point, if you are the analytical type, find yourself a hype play-by-play co-caster and get some chemistry going together or just pump out some great analysis content on youtube or stream.

3. With the "um" or pausing thing. That only comes when you're not really comfortable or unsure of what you're saying. Confidence is a big part of that and it only comes with practice. There is no other shortcut, sorry. If you're analytical feel free to talk about basically anything during a cast. You've got the viewer(s), keep em there by talking about the game or the matchup or the current meta or ANYTHING. Do some research if you don't know the players. You really can't be silent at any time.

4. Read zepph's guide she's the best omg.

Re: Getting into casting!
 

I'm gonna agree with reading Zepph's guide, it covers a lot of things that can get you off to a great start.

Best of luck!

Re: Getting into casting!
 

5. Don't be a ******* muppet

Re: Getting into casting!
 

^ Spook best helpful information SEA 2013

Re: Getting into casting!
 

I am not a caster but I used to do a lot of YouTube. One of the best ways of improving your speaking is just to keep speaking and thinking to not say um or like. This helped me a lot and I rarely say that even in normal conversation as it became unnatural. Also try getting hyped about speaking and start using your voice to convey emotion during streaming. Considering you have a lot of past experience with Starcraft I do not have to tell you to make sure you understand the game and all mechanics. With the pausing thing just make sure you are talking also about the players and their play styles while also talking about the build they are doing and why this will be detrimental to their opponents but also why it is a plus to them and then see if the enemy has anything to counter it etc. This should help a bit buddy. BOL casting man!

Re: Getting into casting!
 

Thanks everyone, Zepph's guide looks really useful and I'm going to read it after I make this post.

I'm going to be an analytical caster, the strategy is really what draws me to this game and I'm constantly trying to learn new builds and plays. I'll try and learn more about prominent SEA players' styles, also I can focus on casting players I know so that I can make comments on their playstyle.

Re: Getting into casting!
 

gl hf with your casting muex! Than you can cast for mGG!