Hi guys.

I made a tutorial for making cheap 6mm bases on my youtube channel. I don't know if this is the right place to post it, or if people would even be interested in it here.

I'm hoping to do some 6mm battle reports at some point in the future too. But I need to learn the rules first

Let me know what you think: http://youtu.be/WN_PkzE0NI4

_________________
Check out my youtube channel for Tutorials, Battle reports and other stuff in both 6mm and 28mm

www.youtube.com/user/ManticMoments

Hi,

Just watched your video and was very impressed with how professionally it has been put together, not to mention very clearly narrated. If this is your first attempt I really look forward to seeing your battle reports!

My one criticism isn't actually with the video but the idea. I'm just not sure I personally would use it. You're spot on that it is a cheap way of creating bases but it seems like a lot of work and I'd be certain if I were to do it that I'd end up with a lot of wonky looking bases which wouldn't look too great on my battlefield.

Personally, if I was going to try and base cheaply I'd use 2 pence pieces. They are pre-cut for you and always exactly the same shape. Of course, that would involve criminal activity as it is illegal to destroy money!

Anyway, I don't want to dwell too much on the negative as I thought it was a well put together piece and I do look forward to seeing more!

Out of interest, which ruleset will you be using?

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Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules

Interesting option for bases. Great tutorial.

I'm with the Bissler on this one, the bases weren't for me, but I liked the video. I'm working on my first vids at the moment and I appreciate how much work goes into making them look/sound good.

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Options gentlemen . Make your own, wood , plastic , metal are all different price options.
That's what it is all about.
Not everyone has access or can afford produced bases.

I used to something similar to yourself, but I used two layers of plasticard, the top layer hole punched so that they resembled GW bases (40x15). Now I prefer round bases and I use Fenris games for my infantry/heavies and coins for everything else.

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Mickey's Minis Painting Service: http://www.mickeysminis.com
Mickey's Minis on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MickeysMinis
Mickey's Minis Blog: http://mickeysminis.blogspot.co.uk
My Personal Blog: http://mickeysminishome.blogspot.co.uk

Hi guys.

Bissler, I have to admit that my job is in video making. I'm making this wargame youtube channel to practice the skills I'm not getting to practice with my corporate work. Normally I just edit stuff captured from a computer screen, or do some intricately planned project.

With this I'm trying with this is to test my skills that I'm out of practice with, and to also speed up how long it takes me to make a video with only a little planning.

I also have been trying out little things. For instance this was made with just one 60w lightbulb behind me, which I would normally never do. I tested myself to see if I could make the lighting seem normal.

I actually filmed this video about a year ago when I first bought some 6mm minis. Since then I've figured out a few things about the filming to make it much more succinct. You'll notice that the other tutorial I have is much shorter, and to be honest has much more useful information. It's for cobblestone bases.
http://youtu.be/FnrFsUg2aEI

My 'uses for Sprues video is probably even better still in terms of information per minute.

Also, I have no idea what system to play. I will probably try a couple of games of warpath at 6mm, and after that I'm open to suggestions. I would prefer a free ruleset, but right now I only have one opponent so it doesn't matter what one.

If I have time I think I will also try out a few different rule sets and maybe do a comparison video.


Sims and Bissler,
I really appreciate that feedback. It's good to know that the video isn't that useful(because of a lack of content). I will stick to the other filming method, which took me less time to film, but more time to edit, since it is clearly a better video format. Part two, I think, is much more useful. In fact, I thought I had come up with that hole puncher idea myself and was really excited to surprise people with it, but alas you guys already know it

lylekelm,
thanks! I totally agree, even if it isn't that relevant for most people. We don't need to spend that much on bases. They should be cheap, and I love to recycle old things like DVD cases.

_________________
Check out my youtube channel for Tutorials, Battle reports and other stuff in both 6mm and 28mm

www.youtube.com/user/ManticMoments

Hi,

I just wanted to apologise if my criticism came across a little stronger than I intended, I was being more honest than manners maybe should dictate. I'm sorry about that.

I watched your other two videos about the cobblestones and best uses for sprues. I thought these were great and cannot find fault in them at all! I'd recommend others to check these out in particular.

One quick question about the sprues for fencing; I did exactly the same trick when I created a small ammo dump last year but the big problem I had was getting the sprues to glue to the wire mesh. Can I ask what type of glue you used?

If you are looking for free rules, by all means check out Net Epic under that section, everything you'll need is there. Im sure the same is true for Epic Armageddon but it don't play that so I'm not up on that game.

If you ever do try out Net Epic, let me know if you are interested in my patch for the rules known as Net Epic Evolution. You can see Evolution in action on this video battle report:

http://youtu.be/leaEfH26GZc

...which I was going to post anyway. Please feel free to return the favour and go to town about the problems with the video! I am a complete novice at this and I know I have plenty to learn!


Cheers and please keep these great videos coming!

_________________
Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules

Please don't apologise. It really wasn't harsh, I found it quite useful. I'm actually quite glad that I now know I can post these videos to a 'safe place' where I'll get honest feedback without rudeness.

After having watched it myself, I don't think it is as good as my other videos, especially in terms of content per minute. For watching a video of 10 mins you don't get much of a payoff, unless you love the idea. It's good learning for next time, and since I'm trying to practice my skills audience relevance and retention are important.

Thanks for the compliment on the other videos. I'll definitely use the process I used there in the future.

I was actually still playing around with the different ways of sticking the sprue to the fence while I prepare the tutorial for it. Your problem is not necessarily your type of glue used, but the surface area. The wire has a low surface area, so you need to find a method to either pin it in place, or increase the surface area, unless you have fantastic glue. I'm playing around with the best way to do that now(as the video just had it glued with super glue) and I'll let you know when I figure it out.

I'll definitely have a look at NetEPIC. What do you do for a rulebook? On screen, or printed, or something else?

I think I commented on your video before when you posted it. The thing about how taking pictures from the same angle made it easier to follow than a lot of other battle reports.

Are you editing on windows movie maker? I think you are and it would help to know for feedback, because there are definite limitations to what you can do with that.

_________________
Check out my youtube channel for Tutorials, Battle reports and other stuff in both 6mm and 28mm

www.youtube.com/user/ManticMoments

Gah! Sorry about that, I must have missed it when I was reviewing my old thread.

Here is the thread where you'll find all the rules:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=16938

I have them on my laptop and refer to them when playing. I've got hard copies of stats sheets from a previous version of NetEpic. It really comes down to preferable preference as to whether you think it would be better to have hard copies. There are times I wish I did, but most of the time it's ok, mostly because I have a good knowledge of the rules.

It is Windows Movie Maker I'm using. I know it is basic and that there is better out there but I think it does the job for me. I'm really not any good with computers so not looking for anything more complicated than this...

I look forward to hearing how you get on with the sprue fences! It was superglue I used to stick them together but it didn't stick that well.

_________________
Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules

I'll have a look at that once the summer starts. I have a busy work schedule for the next month, so wouldn't have time to read them till then.

I don't know how I'll end up doing it. I intend on trying out a fe w6mm games if I can. It ll depends on who I can find to play and what time I have available. But I think I'll definitely check out NetEPIC soon, because it seems to be the gold standard from the little I've seen now.

Well, Windows Movie Maker is frustrating when you want to improve certain things. I don't remember everything it does, as it's been a long long time. I would say that if that's what you're doing then the areas you need to focus on for quality is getting your sound right when you record it(as you can't do a lot with it in WMM). I would also see if you can add in some pictures or something instead of those plain red and blue backgrounds that come with WMM. They are ok, but since they are the first thing people are going to see in your video, I would try to make those be the best images you have available. You could put the text over the video where you took the whole army shots. If you can do that on WMM it would at least mean that people are being shown exactly what the report will be about in your first images, instead of this weird WMM red and blue screen stuff.

I'd also see if you can at least add a black border to the text, or change the font of the text to something like an Impact font http://www.graphic-design.com/Type/2011 ... impact.jpg

The times New Roman font is less exciting, and when layered over a video or picture does not stand out as well. Even over a red or blue screen it makes the text seem less important.

I'll wait till I see your next vid before commenting more on how to wrangle with WMM. Partially because I don't remember everything it can do, and partially because I think when you try to make a few improvements each video you can learn far more about how to make a good video than changing everything at once.

In fact, you'll notice in my next video I'll actually take my own advice, and have an interesting opening title for my videos, which I never had before. I could have done it with my first video in April, but I just felt I was overloading myself and at the time I didn't know yet what a good opening title would look like for that particular channel.

In fact everything I'm doing on the channel editing wise is kind of pushing my own taste limits (like weird and quirky fades and wipes) to see what ones I can actually get away with using, and which ones just should never be used in any video ever.

_________________
Check out my youtube channel for Tutorials, Battle reports and other stuff in both 6mm and 28mm

www.youtube.com/user/ManticMoments

Cheers mate, that is very interesting feedback and definitely food for thought!

The red and blue screen is my homage to Stanley Kubrick's title credits from "A Clockwork Orange". I probably should have tried to copy the font and put some Ludvig Van over the soundtrack... Anyway, I'll have a think about changing that. My worry is that if I do put pics up, the information at the start will be missed because there is too much information on the screen at once. The main thing I want to get across here is what battle it is, what size it is and which sides feature. Yeah, and also vanity notes like who made the video - I have no shame! I also don't want to push the title sequence any longer, I know 36 seconds is probably pushing it as it is.

I record the sound separately using Audacity and then drag that into the video footage. It's near impossible for me to get a clean recording as I live on a main road...

At the very least though I will take a look at other fonts and see if anything looks better. Thank you for the feedback!

Please give me a nudge when your next video goes up, I'll be interested to see what techniques you are using for your latest videos!

_________________
Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules

OK, sounds good.

So for your intro why not go whole hog and do the clockwork orange theme? I think that I would not put it over a very detailed picture that is full of colour.
If you want to see how I got around it look at my first battle report from a couple of years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pNnQsKbKrQ

I used a bright red text with a black and white image of the battlefield.

I'm going to try something different for my next report that I'm working on now. I'm not sure what yet.

You could also get an image symbol of each army and have them next to the name of the army. So Chaos marines, with an 8 pointed star beside it. It would jazz things up, but if you do this on a red or blue background it could easily clash.

Is there a back room you can use for audio. Sometimes I can record audio at my computer (which is usually best) but if my wife is in the living room I have to go find a hidey hole to record in.

You have to let me know when your next one is up too. I'll definitely let you know. They'll be a bit rushed over the next month though as I have a lot on my plate at work.

_________________
Check out my youtube channel for Tutorials, Battle reports and other stuff in both 6mm and 28mm

www.youtube.com/user/ManticMoments

I'll be honest, the music will not change! I'm too much of a Faith No More fan, and I wanted something that was quick, punchy and grab the attention - I hope the Gentle Art Of Making Enemies snippet achieves that. Plus the Ludvig Van music from C.O. is a bit too much of a dirge.

Nice report - although walking into your own trap was criminal!

I see what you mean with the subtitles though, they are helpful and bring clarity to the action. While I can obviously put text on the screen, I don't recall there being any function to put in arrows or even the cool idea you had for the army insignias.

What I think I will do with future army shots is show the overall horde & then separate close up shots unit by unit with text so everyone is clear about which unit is which (non-Epic fans who have watched the videos said that knowing what is what was their biggest problem).

I may put text over the video also explaining who is firing at who.

Sound wise I have no options as there is no quiet room! I just have to make the best I can with what I have!

I don't have any immediate plans for future battle reports but there will be a few videos over the coming weeks (hopefully)! I'll be sure to let you know when I do!

Cheers!

_________________
Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules

Well I've put up the second part of this tutorial today. I have it here http://youtu.be/Me7Q0n2VWz4
and while it is improved from the last one, there is still more that can be done, especially in terms of relevant information.

Hi Bissler.

With the army insignias what I suggest is getting them online and copy pasting them either into microsoft paint, or a text document. You should have the background be black, with the insignia and some white writing. It takes time to do, but if your intention is to do reports regularly then it is worth getting pics of all the insignia and making a folder where you save them, then making a text/picture for each time. It isn't that important though. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it on my next report yet or not.

I think that separate shots are good if you can't do the rectangles around them. Just be careful you don't spend too long on showing the army. I am worried I'm going to be guilty of this, but I have seen so many battle reports where describing the armies takes over 5 minutes. This is only useful if you're a painting studio trying to advertise your product, and even then I find it annoying.

The text explaining who is firing at what is good, although I just figured out another trick. Do you have a range stick, like you could get in GorkaMorka, or some other kind of pointer? I cobbled one together for my latest battle report and just lay it down pointing at the unit I'm shooting at from the direction of the shooter to show what is happening. It only takes a few seconds and I feel really helps the clarity at the 6mm scale.

Also takes less work in the long run as there will be less editing.

Sorry to hear about the sound issues, but I look forward to more anyway. I think that using audacity well will be fine.

I hope this recent tutorial is more useful.

_________________
Check out my youtube channel for Tutorials, Battle reports and other stuff in both 6mm and 28mm

www.youtube.com/user/ManticMoments