Author Topic: Behind the Scenes  (Read 5923 times)

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Josh

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Behind the Scenes
« on: March 15, 2009, 05:33:22 PM »
One of the things I hate to see is people promise something and then have it show up late or not at all.  So we don't do that as much as possible.

However, people can't see what we are doing behind the scenes here at BG so this thread is to just let you know whats going on.

Cohort - We are interested in the Cohort and similar projects however Zeke does not want to do them.  So we are shuffling things around and hope to come up with a solution.

Reviews - I have been working on a new format for reviews that by hook or by crook will be done in time for Origins.

Food for thought - In my attempt to keep up with new material for the show I have started a series of discussions on gaming.

PbP - I have started a play by Post game.  Bigger than that, we have been interested in all kinds of internet gaming from the beginning of the podcast.

Whats to Come?  More Community Content, More Gaming Commentary, More Reviews, Better Reviews, Online gaming, and more!

The reason for the delay - Meg does the last step of the show, so when she gets busy in the real world the show cant get out.  To alleviate that I have started editing some episodes.
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Kai

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2009, 10:41:54 PM »
Thanks for letting us listeners know what's up. :D Looking forward to lots more content.
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DMParagon

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2009, 10:10:29 AM »
I love the BG Podcast! I would marry it if congress would give us the same rights as the other married folk! :):) Thanks for all your hard work. I am a huge fan, can I stalk someone?  :lmao
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I have a crush on Meg, but I am sure that's not original :)

Kai

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2009, 12:29:32 PM »
I am a huge fan, can I stalk someone?  :lmao

Absolutely. I suggest choosing Josh.  ;)
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Meg

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2009, 06:17:46 PM »
    Josh definitely needs stalkers!

    I want to add in the behind the scenes:

    Josh spends 5-10 hours per week on content for the show. 

Recording:
  • We get together once a week after work.  Each time we say "this one has to be quick, ok?"
  • Approximately 1 hour goofing off as Josh finishes the notes and prints.
  • I then groan and say my studio isn't accessible.  1/2 an hour spent moving laundry baskets so we can get into the room and clear off the table.
  • About another hour looking for warm up material.  Each of us individually having to go potty just as we are ready to go.
  • Wrangle the dogs and convine my brother to watch them (20 minutes)
  • Hit record
  • More going potty
  • Record again... wait- what was the "Brilliant Gameologists is... going to be? The Warning?"  Debate.  10 minutes.
  • Record.  Get into the icebreaker/news.  Get too into it.  End up stopping recording and just talking about the topic on our own.  Another 20 minutes wasted.
  • Now we've forgotten the actual content.  Re-read the outline Josh wrote.
  • Of course when I have a problem with anything on the outline, this is when I bring it up.  20 minutes wasted.
  • Hit record. Get into good groove.
  • My computer crashes.  30 minutes spent recovering files.
  • Re-listen to what we've done because we forgot.
  • Record.
  • Trivia!  What was the question we were going to ask?  Wait, what was last week's question?  Relisten.  20 minutes wasted.
  • Record- good groove.
  • Need to potty.  Or need something to drink.  15 minute break.
  • Realize we forgot to say something important in the beginning.  Spend 20 minutes finding where to cut it in.
  • End the episode.

I spend 5-10 hours a week for post production work:
  • Editing- requires approximately 2-3x the show length for first pass.  Then I listen again and find the more minute details that I missed.  1.5x show length.
  • Convert to .wav
  • Levelate
  • Add music
  • Convert to .mp3
  • Write show notes (can take .5-5 hours depending on the graphic)
  • Upload episode
  • Publish

I work approximately 50 hours a week in my day job.  When deadlines come up, like there are now, that turns into 60-70.  Which means I go home to sleep and that's it. 

What we are working on now is what shortcuts can we take that have minimal impact on the show that will have major impact on getting the time down. 

My votes:
  • Keep the episodes to 30-45 minutes.  I think it is easier to listen to personally and all of those show time modifies will drop the overall time significantly.
  • Get tighter in our recording
  • Ask for help from the community.
    • The opener "Brilliant Gameologist is... either have you all help come up with ideas or let us know if it should just be a standard every time?

    • The trivia questions- we have to break the show up throughout- every 15 minutes there should be a change.  The trivia is relatively easy, but what is actually useful and entertaining?
      • What else could we do, looking at the time above, to get tighter?  Besides the things that are obvious like being prepared. 
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Justice

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2009, 06:25:01 PM »
That is really interesting insight...

We do things way differently :P

Meg

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2009, 06:38:36 PM »
I'd love to hear specifics!

I think one of the things that screws us up is the ultra causal feel.  I'm sure it helps too, but whereas you guys record in a gaming store, a lot of the general logistics will be different.  If we had schedules that were someone else's I wonder if that would cut out the time waste?
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Justice

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2009, 06:49:56 PM »
In general this is how our sessions go:

Noon: Arrive at Meta
Noon-1pm: Setup gear, hit Record as soon as gear is setup, eat lunch, bullshit, etc.
1pm-2pm: Start the show, do introductions and launch straight into banter. Our banter also serves as a bit of a warm up for us.
2pm-3pm: Hit main show topic. Continue on with casual conversation.
3pm-4pm: Hit Stop button, clean up all the gear, re-locate out of our private room, bullshit more.
4pm-10pm: Gaming!

You'll notice that I don't stop recording from when I first hit the button. About every 45-60 minutes I do stop and save the project but other then that EVERYTHING that is said is recorded. I then pull our intro from something that we cut out of the show. If I ever forget to mention something earlier, I just say it and deal with it when I go to edit. If Audacity crashes, we restore and go on after listening to the last 30 seconds. If someone has to pee, they hold it until one of the pre-determined segment breaks. That first hour is when we make all of our decisions and from there out its unscripted. We don't even have an outline. We just talk.

I edit on Mondays after work. Typically from 5pm-9pm is spent editing, compiling, and publishing. Mike, Matt, or Art do show notes at some point in the week. Typically takes them 1-2 hours. Then we wash our hands of the abortion that is our podcast until the next Sunday.

Meg

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2009, 06:59:37 PM »
The post production sounds fairly similar.  Though I do a couple of passes, so that may be why it takes longer.  Some shows are quick.  Some are a huge pain in the ass. 

I have a question though Rob- if you have 4ish hours of audio, how do you only spend 3 hours editing?

The during- our agenda is one of our unique features.  I feel we are more about information than just banter and opinions. I like shows that are the latter like yours and The Podge Cast, but that's not what we are.  So that part isn't going to go and everything associated with that won't go.  I feel like we come up with our own theories and analysis each time.  We have ordered lists and our preparation is what makes us us. 

Every now and then we don't though- our fluff episodes have taken significantly less time in the set up though editing can be even harder at times.  But overall they are much less time.  I think my goal would be that every 3rd episode is fluff and fun, but we can't forget the actual nitty gritty that puts the "ologist" in our name.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2009, 07:01:12 PM by Meg »
All of my updates are on twitter! 

This is my angry voice.  Text written in red, by me, is  an official moderator "suggestion"

Want to meet me or the other Gameologists?  Check out where we'll be on the Conventions, Meetups and Events board!

Justice

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2009, 07:30:44 PM »
I have a question though Rob- if you have 4ish hours of audio, how do you only spend 3 hours editing?

Because I know where the garbage is. The first hour of our recording is almost always throw away crap. I'll pull intros outta there, but for the most part I scan it and then file it away. Then I listen over the show once and make edits and changes where needed. I have a pretty good short-term memory so I can just mentally file away where I need to move bits to and be fairly accurate with that. I know where the hour-ish of audio I want is at and thats the only chunk I REALLY pay attention to. Mind you, I have three and a half to four hours of audio but our shows are normally only 60-80 minutes.

The during- our agenda is one of our unique features.  I feel we are more about information than just banter and opinions. I like shows that are the latter like yours and The Podge Cast, but that's not what we are.  So that part isn't going to go and everything associated with that won't go.  I feel like we come up with our own theories and analysis each time.  We have ordered lists and our preparation is what makes us us. 

Every now and then we don't though- our fluff episodes have taken significantly less time in the set up though editing can be even harder at times.  But overall they are much less time.  I think my goal would be that every 3rd episode is fluff and fun, but we can't forget the actual nitty gritty that puts the "ologist" in our name.

The biggest problem is how in-organic your show can feel from time to time. I notice when you jump back to your outlines. Now, it might just be my perception but *shrugs* Thats my opinion. Honestly, I consider you're show to be as much banter and opinion as any other gaming podcast I listen to. What I'd consider the information of your podcast is subjective so it becomes an opinion to me.

Josh

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2009, 05:56:27 AM »
In other news we are getting the cohort back up and running.

If you have any ideas or pre written stuff, send me an email: Josh@BrilliantGameologists.com
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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2009, 05:25:02 PM »
Your show needs more me on it.

--

I'm afraid you're going to burn out with a schedule like that, Meg. If I were in charge of the universe, you'd record for a hard hour and no further, and edit linearly in one pass.

Josh

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #12 on: May 19, 2009, 04:04:14 AM »
I had to rebuild wordpress to get the last episode to post.  So, some things may not be working correctly, for example the player is kaput. 

I also installed 2 antispam modules on the message board.  They should be invisible to people already registered.
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Kai

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2009, 01:01:19 AM »
Thanks for the antispam, Josh.  :clap
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Josh

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Re: Behind the Scenes
« Reply #14 on: May 31, 2009, 10:13:48 PM »
Just Did a bunch of internet stuff at about 8:10PM let me know if anything wacky happened.

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