I'm looking to do more battle reports. Absconded with my brother's GO Pro; picking up a tripod adapter for it tonight.

As I browse through the YouTube channels and watch battle reports, I'm trying to determine what makes up a good battle report.

I'm still relatively inexperienced with video editing. I've learned to add card images easily enough, and will do that. I'll see about adding dice results, though I imagine I'll need to write those down while I play to keep track.

What are you looking for in your battle reports? What elements do you feel are important to include?

Any advice on how to bring it to the screen is appreciated.

Find a way to add tokens so we know who's taken damage over the long haul. It's tough to keep track of so many ships and who got hit when and by whom.

I think the best thing is good narration / commentary. Additionally a sidebar that reminds you the condition of every ship in play, (Upgrades, shields, stress, etc). I generally am too lazy to go back through my batreps and add commentary, but I really like to listen to it when watching other reports.

Clear, concise commentary with good visual indicators... Not easy to pull off but if done well the results make far better viewing. Your previous videos are good, you've got the commentary part and it sounds like you're working on the visuals. Good luck!

Look at the team covenant videos. They my not be the best but they do everything well that you want to make sure you do well.

On top of what has been said I have a few points to add

No one wants to watch people pick dials. Cut that part.

Actual movement can also take a while. We want to see it, but it could be shown at x2 speed and still be great.

WE WANT TO SEE THE DICE ROLLS. Will it hit? How effective does (insert upgrade here) actual seem? You want to see the luck happen. Dice rolls= Exciting.

DO NOT SKIP DICE ROLLS

I would recommend a good voice over, to give the watcher something to listen to.

I'm a big fan of miniwargamings bat reps.

What video editing software are you using?

What video editing software are you using?

Adobe Premiere.

I'm surprised no one rolls with a dice cup/tower or into a bound space when on video.

It's so irritating to see asteroids (and even ships) moved, and dice fly out of shot.

Edit the bleep out of it. Assume most viewers have the attention span of a 6-year-old. Let the video run only when you need to narrate and explain some complicated tactic or strategy that isn't obvious. Then jump ahead again to the next interesting part.

Besides editing to keep it short, there's also the content. If the level of play is lacking I stop watching. I would rather watch unedited footage from Worlds with no commentary and muffled voices rather than watching an edited bland game.

From watching as many batreps on YouTube as I possibly can, I would comfortably say that the guys at Sanctioned are the best.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXKIDe1c4E0PbX7gEldG62Q

they have great commentary

great digital overlay with all ship stats tracknig damage etc

Great digital imagery during interactions (i.e. lasers actually firing from ship to ship and explosions when a ship dies)

and coolest of all the last few videos they have digital rolled die results.

as well as having high quality camerawork these I believe are the best video's to aspire to.

Sanctioned are very good especially with there new dice rolling mechanic. Although I do find they talk utter crap sometimes and don't actually talk about what's going on.

MNX are another great YouTuber although recently they've been doing Vassel. Which for me just isn't great to watch as a video because so much is going on that doesn't work for viewers.

Team Covenent are also good, if your reading this guys get some more videos up pronto.

Back to the OP give it a go, put some links in on this forum or on your signature

As listed above

1 skip setting the dials.

2 show the dial reveal and movement a 2x speed or more.

3 have a sidebar with current ship conditions

4 show dice rolls and actions.

I would add: If you are planning on a series of videos, start with core set and wave 1 then after a couple more videos add some ships from wave two ect ect ect.

I'm surprised no one rolls with a dice cup/tower or into a bound space when on video.

It's so irritating to see asteroids (and even ships) moved, and dice fly out of shot.

I just ordered an imperial themed dice tower.. I'm hoping it comes by end of week.. I also feel the same, I game with one guy who gets a little dice crazy sometimes..

Like has been mentioned before, you have the commentary down fine Mei, and you have the skills to add in cards and such, I think you'll do fine. Good luck with this, I look forward to seeing what you do with this..

Thanks for starting this topic!

I am noticing that very few people go to the "Battle Report" section of this forum. Taking pictures, recording the results, editing said pictures, uploading on the web and then packaging everything and posting on the forum takes a lot of time and few people ever see it. Non video battle reports just aren't that interesting!

But how do you get started? For example, how do you mount the camera over the game surface? Do you use a boom, a camera jib or a clamp and rod system?

What video editing software are you using?

Adobe Premiere.

If you have after effects (also in the adobe package) you can add in a lot of the extra features that it comes with (explosions, etc.) where you feel fit. However, the things others have mentioned here take precedence (simplicity over extra effects) so waiting for doing a couple with other's advice and then adding this in might be better than jumping in. Also, don't go overboard with them, as it will be distracting and will take away from the overall product if overdone (ie a simple explosion when a ship is destroyed will do nicely, multiple explosions for each hit makes it look like the special editions). Some extra tools for text are also available. Both after effects and primier are compatible, so you can transfer one file back and forth between the two programs without worry.

Also, since you're using a GoPro, be careful of the fisheye effect. Shooting from further away should help make this distracting effect to a minimum. A tripod adaptor will help keep it steady. A good tip would also be to take a five second clip of just the table before committing to an angle and then watching it to ensure that you get a the shot and angle you want, as nothing is worse than putting in a great effort and commentating an awesome report only to notice a huge 'blind spot' on the table that the camera missed.

When commentating, try to use a unidirectional mic (only picks up sound from one direction) or a lavalier mic (the type you clip on to your shirt) as these minimize background sound, which is often VERY distracting to a viewer. If using a lavalier mic, again test it to make sure its not rubbing against your shirt (or the shirt of whoever's doing the commentary). You can add in commentary in post, but if you do so be sure to make sure you're watching the video on very low level or mute as you commentate so you get timing right, and be careful not to give away what happens later, make it seem 'live'. Also note that recording later will take additional time.

Sorry for the lack of 'what put in the video' advice, but I have very little to add to the (very good) advice given by others, and as a former broadcasting student, I see a lot more potential techy issues

Also avoid "lens flare".

Just had to say it, sorry.

Thanks for the advice! I do have Ae but haven't used it before. I was browsing YouTube videos on how to scrum together certain effects. I think I'll begin on easy mode - I already float the cards as I use them, but now I will add in dice results. That will give the bulk of the game data without too much trouble.

I'm going to work on a splash page as well but that's not as important as getting the content right.

I do wish I had the budget for, well anything. I cannot afford microphones as of yet. I hope the sound doesn't suffer that much for now. I will check Craigslist for options.

Thanks for the advice! I do have Ae but haven't used it before. I was browsing YouTube videos on how to scrum together certain effects. I think I'll begin on easy mode - I already float the cards as I use them, but now I will add in dice results. That will give the bulk of the game data without too much trouble.

I'm going to work on a splash page as well but that's not as important as getting the content right.

I do wish I had the budget for, well anything. I cannot afford microphones as of yet. I hope the sound doesn't suffer that much for now. I will check Craigslist for options.

Thanks! I been just making expansion videos but rather than un-boxing or listing every card in the set, I focus on giving my take on it. Now that I've been playing more I'll do more of those. I had a brief hiatus while the sky was falling, but I'm really eager to get back to the half dozen concepts in the queue and regular battle reports.

I guess if I'm showing dice results on the screen, I ought to scribble them down on paper and then edit that, along with dials, out. I'll speed up the movement as well.

I find that the hardest thing about doing a good battle report is finding someone that is dedicated to playing AND making a good video. Typically when I've recorded games, I feel like I'm inconveniencing the other person because I'm essentially asking them if I can borrow thier gameplay and put it on youtube. The ideal situation would be for someone to come over, hang out in my garage for a bit, play a game where we are both focussed on pronouncing what we do very clean and clear, and then have then hang out so we can add commentary together after the game - talk about what we were doing, what we were thinking, etc. Actually finding someone to do that, and having the time to do all of that would be the real trick.

That's precisely what the boys at Sanctioned do. I agree with you, Crabbok.

I've got interest at my FLGS to permit the recording. I expect too much room noise without mics there, though, so it won't likely be an option until I win the lottery.

For now, I'll just do it from my coffee table like before. My brother declined to be in battle reports, which is part of why I haven't done very many.

Yeah wayy too much background noise at a store with other people doing their stuff.

I'll check to see if I can get a lead on lavalier mics. That'll help for in-store battle reports. I think the venue is better and lends itself to a "Live at X Planet Games" sorta vibe. It gives credibility beyond that of just filming me playing in my living room.