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Hi everybody! Iv recently started up a YouTube for all hobby related content. The question is what is the ideal length battle report that people would like to watch?
Thanks!!

depends entirely on the battle, for me a report should cover

- introduction, this should be short, who the players are, where they are from if another channel etc
- the game, cover the scenario to be played, show the table and any significant features (no wobbly camera!) and then show both forces, ideally with the lists on screen and able to pause to read - describe the key points, 2-3 for each side
- then the actual game, you want an image of the start of the turn, and start of second players turn and the end, then maybe a graphic overview showing where stuff moved - following the video of the actual turn as a clear recap, the video can then focus on the bits that actually mattered and skim the bits that don't
- anything weird that happens or especially heroic break out and show specifically
- show scoring, either per turn or at the end

then at the end show a wrap up, what were say the top three key moments, what went especially well or especially badly, maybe a "unit of the game" score

followed perhaps by a few minutes of conclusions, what the players thought of the game, what they would do differently next time and maybe high/low of the scenario itself

done badly 20 minutes is too long, done well an hour isn't enough

also keep in mind you need to describe things, not everyone sits and watches, some will be listening while painting, make it work for both

leopard wrote:
depends entirely on the battle, for me a report should cover

- introduction, this should be short, who the players are, where they are from if another channel etc
- the game, cover the scenario to be played, show the table and any significant features (no wobbly camera!) and then show both forces, ideally with the lists on screen and able to pause to read - describe the key points, 2-3 for each side
- then the actual game, you want an image of the start of the turn, and start of second players turn and the end, then maybe a graphic overview showing where stuff moved - following the video of the actual turn as a clear recap, the video can then focus on the bits that actually mattered and skim the bits that don't
- anything weird that happens or especially heroic break out and show specifically
- show scoring, either per turn or at the end

then at the end show a wrap up, what were say the top three key moments, what went especially well or especially badly, maybe a "unit of the game" score

followed perhaps by a few minutes of conclusions, what the players thought of the game, what they would do differently next time and maybe high/low of the scenario itself

done badly 20 minutes is too long, done well an hour isn't enough

also keep in mind you need to describe things, not everyone sits and watches, some will be listening while painting, make it work for both

Hi man! some great advice there!
Yeah basically i am tyring to cover all them points currently but have had different suggestions about making it shorter and making it longer and would like to find the sweet spot by the majority. Obviously shorter I think might take away the character from the video abit and longer might put alot of people off. Obviously like you say it's completely down to the game itself, points, mission etc but in general how long would you like to sit and watch a bet rep for if it was a channel, points and mission you enjoyed watching?
Also would love you to check out my channel although being very new there will be a nice flow of hobby content on the way. Iv posted a link in the battle report section of the forum!
Thanks,
Sam.

well I've sat down to videos an hour to two hours long, but have clicked off some in under a few minutes - biggest turn off being shaky cam (gives me a headache)

helps to have a voice thats not irritating, this is highly subjective

a battle report with a run time of sub 45 minutes I'd likely not bother with unless I knew the game concerned played very fast as its not likely to actually tell me anything

other way is to have say an hour or so "overview" and maybe a follow up on specific points in more detail

don't usually watch battle reports for the sake of them, tends to be more trying to learn the game and the tactics here so obviously there is a focus on that

if you have people saying both "shorter!" and "longer!" I'd go for both and have maybe two edits of any given battle, people watch what they like and you please both

leopard wrote:
well I've sat down to videos an hour to two hours long, but have clicked off some in under a few minutes - biggest turn off being shaky cam (gives me a headache)

helps to have a voice thats not irritating, this is highly subjective

a battle report with a run time of sub 45 minutes I'd likely not bother with unless I knew the game concerned played very fast as its not likely to actually tell me anything

other way is to have say an hour or so "overview" and maybe a follow up on specific points in more detail

don't usually watch battle reports for the sake of them, tends to be more trying to learn the game and the tactics here so obviously there is a focus on that

if you have people saying both "shorter!" and "longer!" I'd go for both and have maybe two edits of any given battle, people watch what they like and you please both

Yeah the shaky cam is something iv been very careful with as I'm exactly the same when watching battle reports! Over time the camera work and equipment should progress.
Iv pretty much got an idea of what I'm going for for the likes of video layout but definitely needs some tweaks to suite the audience.
The overall channel will be a hobby channel so not just battle reports, but discussions about the hobby, painting tutorials, vlogs etc.
As for the voice Hahaha hopefully mine isn't to annoying otherwise there's not much I can do there lol.
Cheers for the advice anyway and I'll definitely keep some of that in mind going forward 👍

Ones that you read.

However, I typically never watch a video that is over ten minutes long.

I'm not the best youtube judge either, I prefer written ones too. But I think showing major highlights rather than all of the action would be preferable to me.

Thanks for the input, it's great to see what people's preferences are!

Thanks for the prompt.

I'm with easy e & amazingturtles in that my preferred format is written.

I did try your battle report, and thought the presentation was actually much better than I had anticipated. I didn't last, but I was pleasantly surprised. Good luck!

I tend to avoid Battle Report videos online specifically because they are too long. I watch the occasional Tabletop Tactics one because I like the presenters, but those are few and far between.

I am subscribed to two Battle Report channels in YT - WintersSEO and Dakka's own Priority Orders Discarded.

In the case of the former, I watch the table explanation and army overview bits... and then do not watch the rest of the 1-2 hour video. Play by play, roll by roll just isn't interesting. POD on the other hand, his videos are sharply edited, quite funny, and rarely exceed 15m. They're a great little watch and I'm always excited to see the next one.

But overall I prefer non-narrative written reports with good photos.

stroller wrote:
Thanks for the prompt.

I'm with easy e & amazingturtles in that my preferred format is written.

I did try your battle report, and thought the presentation was actually much better than I had anticipated. I didn't last, but I was pleasantly surprised. Good luck!

Ah thanks for the watch man! Really appreciate that! As long as you enjoyed the bit you did watch haha



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I tend to avoid Battle Report videos online specifically because they are too long. I watch the occasional Tabletop Tactics one because I like the presenters, but those are few and far between.

I am subscribed to two Battle Report channels in YT - WintersSEO and Dakka's own Priority Orders Discarded.

In the case of the former, I watch the table explanation and army overview bits... and then do not watch the rest of the 1-2 hour video. Play by play, roll by roll just isn't interesting. POD on the other hand, his videos are sharply edited, quite funny, and rarely exceed 15m. They're a great little watch and I'm always excited to see the next one.

But overall I prefer non-narrative written reports with good photos.

Ah nice, yeah I probably should have explained abit better in the initial write up, but basically I'm a long time hobbyist, played in lots of tournaments and have tons of fun fluffy games in my spare time, I'm subscribed to the likes of winters, art of war and follow tabletop tactics on demand and have been watching battle reports as long as I remember. aswell as that i paint for a living as a comission painter and was recently a finalist at golden demon to my disbelief haha and follow the likes of maniac, squidmar etc.
I'm basically in the middle of trying to grow the hobby channel which will be a mix of everything, tournament style games, fun narrative games, painting tutorials, 10th talks and basically just an all round hobby hangout for like minded people and to just record my hobby journey along the way I guess.
The reason for the question was to really just gather information on game length and weather I need to cut bits or add in more.
As far as battle reports go I really like winters raw down to earth attitude mixed with tabletop tactics easy to follow and tactical advice type of game style which is definitely what I'll be going for. Thanks for the info tho dude and any constructive criticism is always taken on board 👌

samrobo1234 wrote:
and was recently a finalist at golden demon to my disbelief haha

Hot damn, that's great!

Congrats on the placement.

 JNAProductions wrote:

samrobo1234 wrote:
and was recently a finalist at golden demon to my disbelief haha

Hot damn, that's great!

Congrats on the placement.

Aww thanks man! Really appreciate that.

20-30 Minutes

 Stevefamine wrote:
20-30 Minutes

👍👍

 Stevefamine wrote:
20-30 Minutes

Spot on!

Cyel wrote:

 Stevefamine wrote:
20-30 Minutes

Spot on!

Thanks, I think by the feedback iv had of this forum the hour mark is slightly too long.

I tried to make a few YouTube videos and I have plans to do battle reports in the future. My idea was:

1) 15-30 second Intro

2) 1 Minute setting the table, explaining the mission, narrative ramble

3) 4-5 minutes showing the armies off

4) 20-30 minutes of gameplay, with only showing dice rolls for some key combats/game changers. Each turn is about 5 minutes, 2.5 for each player.

5) 2-4 minute recap at the end, followed by shouting out your social media handles

6) 2-3 minutes: Ending with credits/patreons/Music with a photo slideshow of the game

 Stevefamine wrote:
I tried to make a few YouTube videos and I have plans to do battle reports in the future. My idea was:

1) 15-30 second Intro

2) 1 Minute setting the table, explaining the mission, narrative ramble

3) 4-5 minutes showing the armies off

4) 20-30 minutes of gameplay, with only showing dice rolls for some key combats/game changers. Each turn is about 5 minutes, 2.5 for each player.

5) 2-4 minute recap at the end, followed by shouting out your social media handles

6) 2-3 minutes: Ending with credits/patreons/Music with a photo slideshow of the game

Ah thats awesome! Yeah seems like we are on a similar level with the format, layout and time scale! Good luck with your channel mate