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Why the observer is so important, and what it takes to observe
 

First off I'd like to say that it was an absolute honour and pleasure doing the observing for HD, Painuser and Tastosis while they were down in Australia (And super grateful to get a shoutout on the GSL), i definitely learnt a lot and had a great time and i loved being able to interact with them through the game and their cast. My goal for the event (WCS Australia/Oceania if you missed it You can watch the VODs at www.twitch.tv/aclprosc2) Was to give not only the casters every single piece of the action from our talented players, but the viewers as well (because hey, i like to watch the game too).


Lately there has been a lot of talk about observers, on reddit, casters talking about it and especially if you've watched Artosis' Real talk and afterthoughts where he says "Major tournaments should be looking to hire professional observers" and this is completely true - i totally agree, but i think there is more to it and here's why.

The way i look at the observer job is to be the silent caster of the (most likely) duo that you are casting for. The observer is the director of the game, he is the sole cameramen and the director to put out the end product (besides the overlays and the actual cameras, etc outside the game) to what the viewer sees. The observer needs to be on top of the action, get every play that happens in the game, and control the camera smoothly so you don't give people headaches at home. You can also use your mouse to highlight little things that the observers may have missed, or what higher level spectators would like to know about. (see shitty image below. The observer is all of those people)

Well, they can. It's a simple solution for smaller tournaments who can't get an observer (or online tournaments). The casters job is to watch the game and bring you the details of the game. If you've never casted then you should know that observing smoothly, catching plays as they develop and pointing out player visions can be quite tricky because you have to talk on top of it while providing the viewers with something good to watch, so it requires some good multitasking and even if you're the guy who can play guitar, harmonica, drums and keyboard at the same time you're still going to have a tough time because of one simple point.

Casters need to watch the actual game, the screen where everything happens, where all those epic storms, marine micro and all that good jazz goes on. The casters need to watch this to talk about it. Where as The observer needs to focus on the minimap almost 90% of the time. This is where his eyes should be glued. What if there was a drop in the main as well as a battle going on in the center of the map. Only the observer will be able to catch both of these plays because they are watching the minimap and the casters should be watching the game screen (but still should glance at the minimap every now and then)

As Artosis said in his afterthoughts from Real Talk having tasteless observe takes away from their flow and their style, which is why Tastosis are so great together (go watch this if you haven't already). Because tasteless has to actually focus on making sure the stream sees a product that is professional and presentable it can take away from their cast as they can't look at each other and talk with their hands like i've noticed how they like to communicate. Instead if one of the caster is observing then (as Artosis said) You will get two solo casters that don't talk, discuss and have conversations about the game.

Simply put you can place the position of your dedicated observer next to the director of the actual stream. I can't stress how much this is so helpful. You can communicate when you're going to drop the console (or if you're Blair you have Stream hax and know when to do it), when you want to highlight something and need some overlays hidden quickly, or even letting them know if theres a quick setting you may want to fix so they can cut to a camera while you patch it up.
The casters cannot do this. It's impossible for them to cast a game and talk to the director (unless they hint at them live on air) where as an observer has his voice and his hands free to notify anybody about of any issues.

Simply put you should just be like the casters. You need game knowledge, you need to be fluent with your actions and have a lot of hours clocked in the game, playing the game all the time, knowing the current strategies so you know what to look for that might happen during the game (aka key buildings and key units to be made), the timings and styles of each race.
Every matchup is different and to watch them effectively you need to know them.
Knowing the players styles can also help, when i watch players like Nv.Rossi i know his style and what to expect, and i need to be alert for his multi drop play.
I really get somewhat frustrated at upcoming casters who only solely cast and think they can get away with it. I feel that you need to play the game as much as you possibly can to be a good caster, this especially goes for observers too because you need to know how the game controls feel.
Knowing the casters style also helps quite a bit too, If you notice in the WCS videos near the end i was getting used to showing the Units tab when i feel they would ask for it (also is great to have the analytical caster to have their own controls of the game too that the stream doesn't see) It just takes time and practice to become that fluent 3rd and silent caster.

What can you do to practice observing?

Simply put just do it, it takes a while to practice, set your own hotkeys, and get used to the different style of moving the camera around smoothly, being aware of the minimap and knowing when to show different tabs.
Go play some 1v1 games (or find progamers), 2v2, 3v3, and even 4v4 and get the replays, load them up and observe them, the amount of stuff that goes on in team games can really help your ability to catch as much action as possible. Try a few games without putting on the production tab so you can get in the habit of showing the bases a bit more often to see their tech paths.

Watch the GSL. When i watch ST_Legend and i pick up things he does that others may not have noticed, but are so simple and effective, but i look for new ways to improve my Observing, where as you may just be watching the game (not many people watch to improve observing i guess :3)

Read my guides: http://www.sc2sea.com/showthread.php?t=4687
Read Adebisi's Guides: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/view...opic_id=296238

That about sums it up for now - Thanks for reading, i hope that having an observer is the norm in the future, especially for big tournaments, i really hope i'd get invited to do big tournaments in the future too! In the end, it's only going to improve the stream quality and the final product of the stream.

If you have any questions or want more tips Tweet me at www.twitter.com/infeza
P.S I am more than happy to help out tournaments and observe for them!

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