Just like that…
So ive not done a rather long write up in awhile so I thought I could do something I get questioned on a lot. How to take yourself from being a bedroom caster to sounding professional and being some what “attractive” to sponsors and casting at events.
To put things into perspective, I am not telling you this as if I’m the bee’s knees but I’ve gotten pretty far in a short amount of time and I feel that has generally happened due to damn hard work and the right advice from the right people.
To begin with I started shout casting in Wolfenstien Enemy Territory; this was for one of the cups run on .55 , over Winamp with no ETTV just people sitting in the server in spec. Rather humble beginnings if I say so myself. I enjoyed every moment of it but it was something to pass the time rather than anything id ever expect to be doing now. To be totally honest with you as well, I played ET while listening to the likes of TosspoT shout casting and I would never want to even think I could compete with the level of content he could bring. I can say in the most genuine way, listening back to some of the commentary TosspoT did all those years ago still makes me know I have a long way to go before I can consider myself anything more than average.
As mentioned above ONAIR|pANSY entertaining the 2.55 community
To move ahead I ended up switching over to CoD4. That was only due to a offer Robert “Morg” Black made me, that was to join infused.cryo a all female team with full sponsorship, PC’s, Lans etc and I took it. Coming from ET where getting a TS given to you was special I was in awe that this was possible. So I played and I progressed fast and ended up somewhere along the lines joining up with what was known as YYT CoD4 team, we eventually merged into infused and went on to place top 3 at several lans.
not so sober or professional Pansy
At this point, I was working a full time job and playing every single night possible to become better and by the end of it I was worn out. It’s not easy to dedicate your time everywhere at once so I had to take a backseat in what I was doing gaming wise.
The opportunity to start commentating again came in the form of one Dennis “Mennace” Fick at iseries. I was still attending LANs at this point so I was playing but in my spare time I drunkenly joined him in the press room to do some casting. I was rusty, sloppy and pretty damn awful but I loved it. The bug bit me again. I jumped in on any casting he would want me to join him in. Most of the old VoDs are on QuadV’s youtube channel, although I wouldn’t recommend them I was pretty dire.
At this point I felt I needed to really draw the line between playing and commentating there was something I had a passion for that would be able to fit into my time schedule so I took it with both hands. It came down to a few options… KaosTV were offering me up a great team of casters and streamers as well as Mennace with Quadv. I think by now you know I took the KaosTV route as I still felt I was no where near ready to go and try and cast to what quality I think the QuadV name carries.
With KaosTV I took every opportunity to improve and get better at what I did, the biggest turning point to me was casting with Leigh “Deman” Smith, taking it from something I thought could just come naturally with time to something I could genuinely work towards. He told me I had potential to be good at this but was honest too which is a rare quality within the commentary world. He told me to watch my vods back (yes of myself talking) and find the mistakes… find the moments I pause and leave dead air and remove it, find when I am repeating certain words and how I can throw something new into the mix, how to notice when I should try and mimic the pace of the game with my voice and create the correct tone to the actions happening.
He was 100% right, Deman was fantastic at casting CoD4. He had the ability that I needed to learn and I had the game knowledge that added to us casting together. We ended up casting a fair bit between us and his very last CoD4 event too (Epic Lan). What he told me during the time we did cast together has stuck with me and I will pass the same understanding on to anyone wanting to try and commentate.
- Watch yourself back
Yes it’s painful and can be embarrassing but how will you know what you need to improve on if you never do.
- Be honest..
Is this really for you? You have to address this question. The problem being that being a shoutcaster you are in the public eye everytime you open your mouth and EVERYONE thinks they know better, The first question really should be is this what I want to do with my time.
Down to the technical side of things, do you have a clear and understandable voice? Can you think on your feet? Can you create content rather than wallowing in dead air? Do you understand how to control pace with your voice and tone?
Now all that said okay, maybe you don’t have the above skills it doesn’t mean you won’t make a good colour caster but you won’t be the next TosspoT or Redeye, That doesn’t mean you cant work on it but it wont be easy to become “that kind of person”.
- So how do I improve?
The most common question I get asked…
To steal from Team Dignitas’ Manager Odee… (and his TeamSpeak)
“Fail to prepare … prepare to fail.”
Its my huge issue with some casters, they just think you walk into a game and you give it your best, no it takes planning. It takes work and dedication to improve and interest your audience.
So how do you do it? Listen to yourself, hear that VoD back and if at any point you hear yourself stumble, repeat words, leave dead air, swear, say “errrr” before every word or ruin the tone of the round by messing up the pitch and tone of your cast. Then change it make a conscious effort to change. Make a cheat sheet…with adjectives nouns or anything that might help you, I think ive even shown Nreo the cheat sheets ive made before… pages worth, all just different ways to say “Dave killed John” or “They pushed A” . IF the likes of John Motson can do it, so can you I assume he had some poor intern do his but this is all down to you now not only do I do descriptive words but I will put down useful facts, line up changes, possible previous results. PREPREPREP
Listen to other casters, there is a reason they are more popular than yourself and its probably because they are a damn site better but why? Is there phrases you like? Use them. Styles they cast with? Use it.
- Research
Do as much as you can, the biggest thing coming into CS:GO for me was making sure I am relevant and CS viewers love facts, strats and all the technical stuff and learning that isn’t easy. I have pages upon pages of players’ team history, facts about the previous lans they attended, where they are from who they don’t get on with etc. Creating some form of story to casts can make it so much more interesting (even if its more hyped up than it is).
- Being professional
I probably pick this up from the likes of Deman & TosspoT who I have had the pleasure of casting with, which being professional is an absolute must. Now I say this keeping in mind banter and fun are obviously fine but you never know who I listening and I keep that in mind at all times. Ive had people recently telling me how they enjoyed my “CoD4 Promod” casting who I never thought would stumble across it, the likes of TheGunRun, Riot, Alienware, Steelseries and more. In basic, I dislike swearing in stream, being biased and one of my huge pet hates is people being bored with what they are casting.
- Contacts
Something im still getting to grips with, knowing the right people. Im not saying you cant get anywhere without it but it helps. Be polite and presentable in most instances you can think of that could one day benefit you. This even applies to casting on webcam etc, you'll normally see me in a shirt or something of the such just because well, it looks smart.
- Enjoy the game you cast.
I have huge issues with fake casters, be yourself. Be honest…beyond anything in this be as honest as you can about what you are watching, people can see straight through people when they are just shouting because they think they should be rather than having that excitement that someone landed a insane shot.
To almost back track I have to say, keep it PG-13. I hate people swearing on streams, its unprofessional and reflects poorly on you. I make a real effort to keep my streams as accessible to as many people as possible, you should do the same.
- Promotion
A huge point that a fair few people seem to miss and I have no idea why, Promote everything you do. Reddit, crossfire.nu, Tek-9, cadred, hltv and more are all there to be used and if I get 10 more viewers from just putting up a post. I’m happy.
- Pre game Prep
So before you go into the game prepare again, make sure everything is working with your streamer, sound check, get the audio levels correct, you don’t want the mics so quiet that the gun sounds drown them…
Warm yourself up, vocal warmups sound so faggy but it helps and it works. You don’t want your voice dying when you have a whole day of casting because you didn’t warm up. Drink water, well sip it and finally prepare the facial muscles with some stretching.
So how does all of that help me go from being a bedroom caster to getting myself on stage and making the money!?
Well it doesn’t, it’s a path in the right direction… a path I am still walking but you do all of the above and you stay humble you get there. People take notice, the right people will always be there to take notice and if you are good enough and deserving it will happen.
I’ve helped people try and pick up casting and seen them get arrogant, lazy and sloppy and it’s rather shameful. So trust me when I tell you this whole casting jazz isn’t as easy as TosspoT makes it or Tastless or Artosis… its comes with so much work and dedication and not to mention a thick skin. So anyone wanting to try and pick it up don’t let me put you off, I would never want to but know its not all sunshine and roses.
I by no means want to imply I have made it as far as I can go, I don’t believe that for one second. The day I think I’ve got nothing left to improve on is the day I should walk away from casting.
Related links
Quadv Youtube Channel (has most of my VoDs on there)
https://www.youtube.com/user/quadvtv?feature=CB4QwRs%3D
KaosTV Youtube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/KaoSContingency/videos?view=0
Oh how I wish I had a video streaming internet connection.
Gotta have a good internet connection to be free to stream whenever you want. Unfortunately, my BT Infinity has been delayed 4 times this year :(
On the topic of preparation in terms of learning teams, particularly when it comes to backgrounds and personalities, what have you found to be the best resources for this kind of thing? And when it comes to learning the technical parts of the game, what would you recommend in that context?
Also, in terms of promotion, have you had any problems with people considering your posts as 'spam'? For instance, if you were to post every upcoming cast on reddit, have you had to moderate or limit the frequency at which you did so?
Thanks again!
Promotion, it can be classed as "spam" but generally posing it as a question to the site in hand they dont mind so much. "Reviews and thoughts" etc. Reddit is becoming a issues currently with the shadow bans that have been put out and deletion of posts for LoL its been up and down.
This has made me quite interested in maybe doing a shoutcast for one of the RTCW cup games, they'll only be 10 people listening max anyway! How would I go about finding the necessary resources to achieve such a goal? I honestly have no idea.
1- Do you want to Video Stream or just Audio
2- Is your PC/Internet good enough to use a Video Stream
3- Do you know any of the RTCW guys in the cup to allow for you to spectate
4- I can give you a own3d.tv channel so you could use that on a premium account to a extent, you would have to get your own xsplit/ffsplit account. (if you want to video stream)
5- Just audio casting you might want to find a old tutorial made by someone like TosspoT how to do it : )
Anything else i can help you with in specific, let me know.
Specing the games wouldn't be a problem I wouldn't have thought, the RTCW community is pretty close knit.
Thanks very much for you help!
you mean the "when the bear is hungry, the bear eats" content? :----d
for her, its called paradise
I'm glad you enjoy yourself as you do in the position you're in atm.
Getting there seems not too hard if you're willing to work on your accent and put in the necessary dedication. It's by no means easy I'm sure, but if you can improve your game in esports you can probably also improve something like shoutcasting as long as you really want to.
What exactly does such a cast on stage earn you if I may ask and is that at all necessary for you? Would you do it without getting paid for it (if you do)? I can imagine you'd like to get something for the hours you put in, but frankly I guess there are much better ways to earn a living with things you still enjoy doing. For me money in esports always seems somewhat of an illusion and on top of that a mental struggle. Can I really let esports take up such a big part of my life that I have to depend on it? As much as I like doing it, I think a regular job is always more "respectable" and trustworthy. Although I bet for you it's something on the side, where do you draw the line?
With becoming arrogant, do you mean the likes of 2GD? He's in my opinion a great caster albeit way too full of himself. Pretending like you're the man while shoutcasting a game seems a bit pathetic to me, although I do enjoy shoutcasters a lot.
I'll have to tune in sometime :)
About arrogant... 2GD is a great guy and he does his bits with a pinch of salt so i take it like that. I mean it as a general statement tho im sure i could point out some who are really arrogant but i don't like burning bridges :D
Pansy for president!
dat name
e: but im glad and also a bit proud that you came this far! Keep on your good work and try to be every day a bit better than the day before. I wish you the best of luck in the future pansybaby :) xoxo
OMG BULLET OMG
OMG deathtouch OMG
et died after .55 for me
I always enjoyed shoutcasting and it was thanks to TosspoT at cc5 when he let me and toxic take over for an hour that i had a few tries and more often than not thanks to Seanza, whenever i was bored i would jump on his shoutcast server and just cast a game (usually of a good standard). Fortunately as i mentioned above, it seemed that people enjoyed my analysis of the game just because i pointed the "rights and wrongs" of players' positioning/decision making etc and that i had a somewhat humorous side as it wasnt a professional cast and i wasnt looking to go anywhere with it, whereas i guess that you have to be careful what you do and dont say.
You hit the nail on the head there with being careful with what i do and dont say... in so many aspects. 1 at lan when your on stage players can hear you so calling places out is totally removed and it becomes so awkward and even in a online way i hope you remember the fact i swear like a trooper but god knows if the person on the other end is above the age of 12...
Will have to listen back to your casting :P