Neil's ThunderCats Lair news channel idea... :)

13 REPLIES · 75 VIEWS · STARTED JUL 6, 2011
#1
Hi gang,

The other day, Neil came up with an idea that I really like and would like us to actively explore! :)

Neil's proposal was that, embedded somewhere on the front page of our site like a YouTube video, we could have a "ThunderCats Lair news channel" - to quote Neil's original post (originally from the "YouTube login details" thread):

"blackiecats, post: 0" said:

Thats similiar to an idea I had....a ThunderCatsLair news channel, with a video on a loop or plays when clicked (it could cover reviews, convention footage, cartoon clips etc...) and takes care of my concern of content being lost within the site sections :(

We could put it where the current BBTS ad is and move that down the page slightly. We could even use the video player/news channel for ads as well! :D


This is EXACTLY the sort of cutting-edge stuff our site should be doing, and I'm 100% behind it! :thumbsup:

So, I'd like to use this thread to formulate some concrete plans on this idea - proposals such as:

- Content
- Format
- How to make it work technically
- Who's able to do what

For myself, I would say that content could include quick items of ThunderCats news (literally presented as a "bullet point"), which itself could include everything from upcoming broadcast dates, new ThunderCats toys and products that have been sighted, to new additions to this site. It could also include brief adverts from some of the companies who are advertising on this site (particularly BBTS). It could also include the latest toy review videos to make it to our YouTube channel.

Another suggestion would be that we could add excerpts from any new audio interviews that we obtain for this site - and also ads for new episodes of ThunderCast! :)

In terms of format, I would say that a particular news item or advert should really be a maximum length of about 30 seconds - whereas, obviously the toy reviews and other such content would be whatever length they end up being. Interview / ThunderCast excerpts could be a bit longer IMO. :)

In terms of making it work technically - we would need to figure out a way of making the video loop through the various segments, the easiest way would be to edit the segments together into one video and then embed that, updating it as we go along and re-uploading the updated version each time. We could also upload it to our YouTube channel, both for added exposure and an easy way to embed - but, we might need to be careful with things like blatant adverts for BBTS, and also use of copyrighted material. But we could certainly explore that idea. :)

In terms of who would be doing what, I can record my voice with my headset and could do a bit of voiceover work, although IMO the best person for doing that would be Nick! Perhaps it would be good if we all did some though, so that different voices appeared at different times? :)

In terms of editing any footage - I do have iMovie on my computer which is a lovely piece of kit and should allow for basic video editing without too much sweat, the worst thing is that there are certain file formats it can't import - but again, that's a bridge we can cross when we come to it. I'd love an excuse to learn more video editing skills, so don't mind having a bash at this as best as my spare time allows. :)

Anyway, this has turned into quite a long post so I'll leave this one for you guys to mull over! ;) Thanks Neil for this excellent suggestion! :thumbsup:

Take care... :)
#2
Im all up for making the site a better place and have more interactive material/ This is needed to keep the site fresh and prevent things being lost within. Im not experienced by any mean and really would have no way to even help on it but FWIW i think it is a great idea:thumbsup:
#3
I'm game. Voice-over wise, just a matter of sending over the lines and I'll record them and send them back to you.
#4
Chris here...

That's awesome guys, thanks so much! :)

I'm all for ploughing ahead with this idea, really what we need to make it work is some more multimedia content and a concrete plan! I wish Kyle had more free time as he's a bit of an expert at stuff like this - I might shoot him an e-mail and see if he has any good suggestions! :)

Looking forward to (hopefully) making this happen! :thumbsup:

Take care... :)
#5
Chris here...

Just to let you know the wheels are rolling on this front - now we all have access to the TCL YouTube channel again this suddenly becomes easier! :)

I've already put together some test footage for this and it seems to work great so far, I'm going to try and get a brief roundup of SDCC news together before the end of this week! :)

I also have a couple of tricks up my sleeve which I've spoken to Nick about, I don't want to say anything in case I jinx it but suffice to say that if all my plans work out, this will surely rock the casbah! :thumbsup:

Oh, and just as a side note, after boasting on TCatsNOW about how he'd be providing tweets and coverage of the ThunderCats panel from SDCC as it happened, MannyF couldn't get into the panel because the queue was so long! Me, gloating? Ne-ver...! ;)

Take care... :)
Merged Post:
Chris here...

Just an update to let you guys know that, at great personal risk to my mental health after iMovie went pear-shaped and needed me to spend 3 hours talking to an Apple tech support guy this afternoon...the raw footage for this SHOULD now be completed! :)

I've had to be very careful what I use because of treading on folks' toes with copyright - I've tried to use a tiny amount of footage from Gamestop and WB's own video in a "If you like this check out the links below" kind-of way, leaving out any meaningful content, I think between the two things I've used about 13 seconds of footage, all of which Nick should be talking over - the entire thing (from start to finish) is 1:35. Hopefully WB will see it as an advert for their product! :)

The end result is (if I say so myself) VERY cool! :thumbsup:

Take care... :)
#6
Can't wait to see it guys! My projects are coming along too. Hopefully we will also have classic LJN reviews too (as well as Jasons Bandai ones) ;)

Not sure how they will work out yet though with me at the helm... :D
#7
Chris here...

OK, here's a link to the footage without the voiceover - you guys will see what I've done. The video description will contain links to all the source articles and videos (again you'll see what I mean when you play it). :)

Obviously this all looks a bit random without Nick's voiceover but just wanted to show you a WIP - as I improve using iMovie these will get better and better! :)

http://www.thundercatslair.org/youtube/thundercats-news-cast-no-voiceover.mov

I've created a folder on the site called "youtube" which I've uploaded this to - my idea being that any raw footage or WIP's for our YouTube channel that we want to share can go in there. We will (myself very much included!) have to be quite meticulous about "spring cleaning" this though, as these are massive files and will make backing up the site a real pain! :D

"blackiecats, post: 45739" said:

My projects are coming along too. Hopefully we will also have classic LJN reviews too (as well as Jasons Bandai ones) ;)

Not sure how they will work out yet though with me at the helm... :D


Neil, if you need any help with the editing side of things, LMK - if you want to upload any raw footage I'd be happy to take a stab at editing it in iMovie. I can't wait to see the classic LJN figure reviews, I'm sure they will be brilliant! :)

Take care... :)
#8
Chris, hate to be a pain, but can you put the raw footage 'youtube' folder in the staff folder?

Basically where you have placed it, it is publicly viewable and Google bots will pick it up ;) Thought I'd mention this before a pile of WIP items get loaded there.

EDIT: Just watched the video so far and it looks excellent! Well done Chris!
#9
Chris here...

Hey Neil, you're absolutely correct, a very silly mistake on my part - I work with websites on and off all day, so I should have thought of that! :duh:

I'm just re-uploading this into the staff folder, the link will be:

http://www.thundercatslair.org/staff/youtube/thundercats-news-cast-no-voiceover.mov

Once it's up, I'll delete the "youtube" folder (and thus all its contents) that I created earlier. :)

Thanks Neil for pointing this out, apologies again for my silly mistake! :(

Take care... :)
Merged Post:
Chris here...

Just an update - officially this is finished, complete with Nick's awesome voiceover! :)

...HOWEVER, Nick & I are working on something that will add a little magic dust to this, and I should have this in my hands within the next few hours - once this is finished, if no one has any objections I'm going to go ahead and upload it to this site's YouTube channel! :)

Take care... :)
#10

"He-Fan, post: 45815" said:


Chris here...

Just an update - officially this is finished, complete with Nick's awesome voiceover! :)

...HOWEVER, Nick & I are working on something that will add a little magic dust to this, and I should have this in my hands within the next few hours - once this is finished, if no one has any objections I'm going to go ahead and upload it to this site's YouTube channel! :)

Take care... :)


Feel free to add it on the front page too. However I'd get this up asap as your kinda losing your audience for it as the clock ticks (remember its been a week now since Comic Con started ;) )
#11
Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 45988" said:

Feel free to add it on the front page too. However I'd get this up asap as your kinda losing your audience for it as the clock ticks (remember its been a week now since Comic Con started ;) )


I agree - however, the magic dust will pull that audience right back in again...it's relevant to the events of tomorrow evening's premiere too! :)

I'm slightly reluctant to say what it is in case I jinx it because it would be very cool...suffice to say that it's something that will be unique to this news cast! :)

Nick should hopefully have it by 2:00am at the latest, I'm hoping he'll shoot it right over to me, and then I'll edit it and upload it before I get into bed! :)

Take care... :)
#12
Guessing its a voice over then.... Matthew Mercer or Larry Kenney ;)
#13
Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 45993" said:

Guessing its a voice over then.... Matthew Mercer or Larry Kenney ;)


The Force is strong with you... :)

Take care... :)
#14
Chris here...

I'm really thrilled to report that the first ThunderCatsLair.Org news cast has passed 1,000 views on YouTube!! :thumbsup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usB2Gy5Yma8&feature=channel_video_title

I guarantee this wouldn't be doing so well without Nick's amazing Larry interview, so again, thanks so much Nick for securing that! :thumbsup:

Take care... :)

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