Early access for forum members!

[Grant Lamontagne]

As I mentioned, EDC-TV won't launch until November 1st, which is about a week away.

We have three episodes, plus an intro episode (short) all ready to go, so there's lots to binge right off the bat. 

And, it's time to stop teasing you all, and start getting some feedback.  The rest of the world gets to see it next week, but you guys get to see it (or hear it, depending on your choice!) now.

There are both audio only and audio/video versions depending on your preference.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD47uQA_7xkncvAi9dQf08ogICh-krODW

Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/edc-tv/id1844345319

Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/2PYNjqMZwX3q3y3CgJWMBN

Amazon:  https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/ee5ed110-87dd-4d95-b0ee-e601ef07326a/edc-tv

The plan is (subject to change of course!) is to release the audio on Wednesdays and the video on Fridays.

I look forward to your feedback, and remember, we are getting better so go easy on us!   

Def

[Farmer X]

Just finished watching the first episode. Some constructive criticism: Inky was very hard to understand. I'm thinking he had his microphone volume turned down too low. Other than that, I have no complaints. I'm interested to see what this podcast develops into.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah we had some equipment issues initially.  I had it turned up in the mix to hear him better but if I put it up too loud we got a lot of static.

As I said, it gets better!

And will continue to get better!

I'm glad you like it so far.   

Def

[Vidar]

I've watched the two first ones. One thing that is sticks out is that your camera has far less resolution/ sharpness than theirs. And I don't suggest the solution is making their worse.

(Logitech at least used to have some good USB Webcams, C920 or something (?), with some video processing actually done in the camera so the computer wouldn't need to do much. Avoid any conference version as they are just very wide angle). Once you get going you can no doubt do a full Cinema cam studio setup for just a fraction of the cost of a jet plane. 

The first one was a bit slow and insiderish, but I think the second one really got going! Look forward to checking out the rest later.

Watching that, and just thinking of cheetah printed tights in episode 100, I'm actually developing a brand new disorder - pre stress trauma.

[Grand_Banana]

Grant I gotta say I didn’t think you’d have the radio host voice you do here in the mix. Compared to some of the older MTO videos you’ve really got that radio voice down. Sounds great!

I’d agree I think the overall sound mix and your resolution is a little off in the video. And the only audio is a hard to hear Inky.  The cuts on the video do feel a bit awkward but it’s not obvious at all for the audio. 

I like it overall! 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah I have been working on my lighting.  The webcam on my laptop says it's 1080 but the results definitely appear to contradict that, and the low light isn't helping.

I have a new webcam on my To Do list, and it will probably be a Logitech as I have always had the most faith and success in them.  The mic I use is a Blue Yeti Snowball, and Blue Yeti is now owned by Logitech.  Mine is a bit older though, but I feel it does a great job anyways.

As I said, this podcast has been years in the making and I bought this setup long ago.   

Since the early days both Abe and Inky have upgraded their setups as well, and I don't imagine that trend will continue, at least until we all have proper setups that work with a minimum of editing.

The cuts in the video are interesting- Inky described it as "the Max Headroom effect" and I don't think he's far off.

I have been using AI to help the editing process and it automatically cuts out empty spaces and fillers like um and ah.  I tend to say that a lot, so my parts get cut up a lot.   

It is more noticeable in the video and less in the audio, I agree.  I'm going to see about taking it down a level, leave in a few more um's and have less cuts so it's not quite as distracting.

And yes, I agree the first one was kind of slow and silly.  I had in fact spent a while editing that to about 15 minutes long and then somehow lost the edit and uploaded the original by accident.   

That's why there are no subtitles etc on that one.  By the time I realized what I'd done (or didn't do) it was already uploaded, and it's a fair bit of effort to pull it down, re-edit and replace, then it's in the wrong order.....

For an intro short I figured it was good enough, and makes the rest look better by comparison! 

Keep the feedback coming guys- as you can see, we need all the help we can get!   

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Grant I gotta say I didn’t think you’d have the radio host voice you do here in the mix.

I've been trying really hard not to go too "radio host" on these, but apparently it's just slipping out!

Megan says she doesn't even recognize my voice on these, and with the beard... Well she says she doesn't know who that guy on the video is!

Def

[Vidar]

Yeah I have been working on my lighting.  The webcam on my laptop says it's 1080 but the results definitely appear to contradict that, and the low light isn't helping.

Sensor resolution is just a part of the package, and if the camera lens doesn't have the contrast, clarity or optical resolution then no sensor behind it will help. Some big light sources, or smaller ones coming indirect by bouncing off big white/silver/gold surfaces will certainly help. A wide light on the background will also lighten the mood a bit? Cameras love light.

I tried checking and they are still selling the C920. It must have been on the market for over a decade. Tried and true and still doing well. Logitech also seem to have some Brio Ultra 4K with bigger sensor and noise removing microphones. I guess that is their new top model.

I watched the steel one too. I think you are off to a good start!

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have a C920 on order.  It won't be here until Tuesday though.

Hopefully you will see a difference when we get to that episode.

I'm glad that you are enjoying them!

Def

[Vidar]

Somebody listen to me?  What a strange feeling! Now I'll feel responsible, and with responsibility comes great power.  I'll see if I can finally manage to knock down those old wooden pillars!

[Grand_Banana]

I've been trying really hard not to go too "radio host" on these, but apparently it's just slipping out!

Megan says she doesn't even recognize my voice on these, and with the beard... Well she says she doesn't know who that guy on the video is!

Def

It’s not bad at all! I’ve always liked the radio host style of speaking. I still listen to the radio every day in the car and in the old paint and dust covered boombox outside. 

I honestly get a little annoyed with some podcasts I listen to when the host is a little too informal.  You guys have a done a great job of keeping the conversation professional sounding and yet I still felt like I was listening to a normal conversation between friends.  Good balance there.

I think the AI removal of gaps is a good idea to start to learn a flow. I have faith it’ll feel more natural and you won’t need it soon. 

There’s a trick we learned in public speaking training that I’m pretty sure Obama used because I fist heard him talk it matched the cadence.  I don’t think you want as long of pauses as him, but it’s similar to his public speaking style.  Romney does it a bit as well. 

You have practice thinking about your next statement while delivering a statement all while possibly listening to someone else deliver a statement.  It’s bloody hard to not lose your train of thought and just go “um” every other word. But once you get the hang of it the “um’s” just sort of disappear.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I will keep that in mind! 

I'm not much of a public speaker, which is largely why the podcast has grown from my original plan of me rambling on for half an hour by myself to the current format of the three of us.  I am aware that I do have a tendency to drone on seemingly endlessly and often looping over and over the same bits of info over and over again.  I have left a lot of my stuff on the cutting room floor and concentrated largely on Abe and Inky's input- after over 19 years on the forum I feel like you all know my feelings on things quite well!

We also record about an hour's worth of material and I try to cut them down to about 45 minutes (ish) although the latest episode came in at 53.  In the early days it was easy to cut out a lot of time with the awkward silences and each of us talking over the others etc, but we are definitely improving.

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

EDC, should be every day crises, with Barbie, lol..
JR

[Grant Lamontagne]

You never know who may show up in a guest spot.   

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

Who Barbie, lol,, then you guys better start talking nicely, lol..
JR

[Grant Lamontagne]

You never know....

As for speaking nicely, this is as nice as Inky gets!   

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

I could care less, I mean come on, I used to be in the construction field, and a plumber never the less, talking on this forum has seriously played a roll on childproofing my language!
JR

[Grant Lamontagne]

Inky has asked if we can do an EDC-TV Afterdark edition where he's free to say what he wants, how he wants! 

Anything is possible!

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

lol,, EDC-TV / NC-17 
JR

[Farmer X]

EDC-TV / NC-17 

That would be me. If you hang around me long enough, you'll hear totally new words, words you haven't heard since about 1995, and words that you didn't know could be combined in quite that manner.

[pfrsantos]

That would be me. If you hang around me long enough, you'll hear totally new words, words you haven't heard since about 1995, and words that you didn't know could be combined in quite that manner.

Can't wait to see/hear the first SMURF! on the show!

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

There may be worse than that on there.  I have tried to cut some of the bad words out, but some slip by.

Def

[pfrsantos]

I'm going to watch the videos and try to come up with some notes on them. I awlready have a few, I'll try to keep a log.

I'll probably be too ODC, too picky, too "critical". Just try to find anything you might find useful/helpful in my ramblings. As a friend of mine says, feel free to disregnore.

Some early notes:
- Try to watch some videos on how-to make a podcast/show, or even ask some of the podcasters around for tips/ideas/notes on what to do/avoid. It's time consuming, but might be worth it.

- Try to get a script of the show, even if it's just a few pointers. It'll help the conversation flowing and help you guys keep pace without interrupting eachother and/or awkward silences.

- Try to get some "even" backgrounds, in terms of colours. Maybe try some backgroud images, like you can get in Teams.

- Make a "rehearsal" before starting shooting for real, so that everyone is the same "size" in the image (moving closer/away from the camera).

- Any chance of an animated logo? Like having the letters appear one by one and then the "TV" stamped on top at the end? (*)

- Some intro music as the sign on for the show? Maybe some public domain tune or "just" a jingle.

- Wearing some MTo apparel (t-shirts, caps, tattoos...). Getting some mugs with the MTo logo would be nice.

- Don't show any other brands on the show (unless they sponsor you), like bottles/cans. Use the MTo mugs from the previous line.

Please, don't see this as pointing out the negative, but as trying to give suggestions on getting (even) better.

Thanks for giving us first access to the show, hope it gets as big/good/successful as the forum!

 

(*) I'll try to work on this one.

[MadPlumbarian]

You need something to just go BEEP, although you might as well get telegraph tapper, lol..
JR

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'm going to watch the videos and try to come up with some notes on them. I awlready have a few, I'll try to keep a log.

I'll probably be too ODC, too picky, too "critical". Just try to find anything you might find useful/helpful in my ramblings. As a friend of mine says, feel free to disregnore.

Some early notes:
- Try to watch some videos on how-to make a podcast/show, or even ask some of the podcasters around for tips/ideas/notes on what to do/avoid. It's time consuming, but might be worth it.

- Try to get a script of the show, even if it's just a few pointers. It'll help the conversation flowing and help you guys keep pace without interrupting eachother and/or awkward silences.

- Try to get some "even" backgrounds, in terms of colours. Maybe try some backgroud images, like you can get in Teams.

- Make a "rehearsal" before starting shooting for real, so that everyone is the same "size" in the image (moving closer/away from the camera).

- Any chance of an animated logo? Like having the letters appear one by one and then the "TV" stamped on top at the end? (*)

- Some intro music as the sign on for the show? Maybe some public domain tune or "just" a jingle.

- Wearing some MTo apparel (t-shirts, caps, tattoos...). Getting some mugs with the MTo logo would be nice.

- Don't show any other brands on the show (unless they sponsor you), like bottles/cans. Use the MTo mugs from the previous line.

Please, don't see this as pointing out the negative, but as trying to give suggestions on getting (even) better.

Thanks for giving us first access to the show, hope it gets as big/good/successful as the forum!

 

(*) I'll try to work on this one.

All are excellent pointers, some of which I'd already considered.  We have the Multitool.org Song that someone had written and recorded for me many, many years ago when I first started this idea, but I haven't managed to use it successfully in the software I am using.  It came across too loud and I couldn't seem to fix it.  I have been intending to record an intro that I would then tack on to the beginning of each episode and not have to do it each time myself- as you will see in Episode 004 when it comes out, no amount of rehearsing can prepare me for... anything.   

I have recently taken up listening to other podcasts (I was never a podcast guy myself, and now I have a few that I listen to- an hour long commute each way helps with that!)  I have also been watching many YT videos on how to improve podcasts and I am trying to implement them as we go.  I've adopted a Ready Fire Aim approach, as I have been prepping for the perfect show for over a decade and nothing has happened.  Things are never going to be perfect, so start the ball rolling with the best you've got and improve it along the way.

Don't believe this has been a thing for over a decade?  Here's a thread from 2012 where it was mentioned:  https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,36503.0.html

As for the script, the challenge is getting these guys talking- once you have the ball rolling it's then hard to stop them.  And, as Inky and Abe get to know each other (they'd never met prior to this) it's becoming more natural and with less silence.  It's really coming together well.

A rehearsal is a bad idea with these two.  Trust me.   

We did a few "test" episodes to practice this, get used to the software and so on, and there is still a HUGE difference between recording and not recording. 

Each recording session starts with 20-30 minutes of these two talking about tools, knives, flashlights etc in ways that you only wish they would do when recording.  Then the recording stops and they both stare into the cameras like deer in headlights, and then when recording stops I can't get them out of the studio because they are talking knives and tools again!

One night I decided to go walk the dog and left them in the studio, not knowing they were being recorded.  I feel like a smurf for having done that, but the results are great.  Maybe someday you will see some of that footage, maybe it will just be my dirty little secret.   

I have fooled with a few animated intros using AI, but while some are kind of neat, there's not really much worth using.  If you want to give it a shot I'd be happy to see what you come up with!  I had thought about going to Fiverr and seeing, but pricing has really shot up on there lately, and so far we don't have much (any) budget to play with.

There is EDC-TV and MTO swag coming, don't you worry your pretty little head about that.  I have already cut out a few teasers of that stuff because we don't really have it ready yet.  There is also likely going to be a return of the MTO Store, but this time around it will largely concentrate on our own in house merch rather than buying and selling tools.

And there is nothing negative about your input.  I think you have been around long enough to know that I welcome this kind of thing.  Inky, Abe and I may host the show, but it's YOUR show.  It's for the viewers (listeners, whatever) just like this forum is for the members.  I like it when you all tell me what you want to see.   

And, if you don't believe me, my new Logitech C920X arrived yesterday, so from Episode 005 on you will all get a good look at my ugly mug.  If that's not proof that you should be careful what you wish for I don't know what is!   

And as for backgrounds... well that's definitely a thing.  Just be glad I turned Abe around so you aren't looking at his kitchen anymore!   

Def

[pfrsantos]

Just watched the videos on YouTube. Well, I got the last one on right now. Seems we now get to look at your kitchen, instead of Abe's, Def.

 

Quite an improvement on the screen distribution on EDC-TV EP 002- Talking About Steel. Everyone is visible, but the focus is on the speaker. Awlso, the lighting has improved significantly.

 

I got another suggestion, about the length of each episode. When I first saw the list, I was like: "Hum, under 20 minutes. Let's watch it right now."

Then I saw the second video: "Whoa, 45 minutes?! I'll save this one for later. Wait, the others are just as long? Ok, I'll save them for tonight."

If the videos/audios were shorter, it would be easier for people to watch/listen to them right away. After I started them, I didn't noticed the time going by, but the initial reaction was to postpone viewing them. This could "cost" you some audience.

You could cut the videos/audios in two (three?) shorter episodes. Make an introduction, saying what the topic is going to be and then on with the show. At the end, make a small recap of what was said and announce what the follow up will be about. You get more episodes, easier to watch/hear, and you create a cliffhanger for the next one, keeping the audience interested.

In the intro/finale, you could have a small message, asking for people to follow/subscribe and visit MTo and thanking them for their interest.

Thanks for making these videos, I quite enjoy them, lengthy or not!

 

P.S.: when I was watching episode 001, when you guys talked about becoming blood brothers with knives, I remembered a similar thing that happened to me.
A long time ago, I had just bought a Ka-Bar Dozier folding Hunter (pic below). I was still very "green" (just like I am now) and trying to open it as fast as the guys did in the YouTube videos I watched. The knife was new, the blade a little stiff, I had very little experience with thumbstuds... yadda yadda yadda, I managed to flick it open so fast it fell from my hand. Straight down. Point first. It was a good thing I was at home, where the floor is made of cork tiles. It wasn't a good thing I was at home, where the floor is made of cork tiles, because I was barefoot.
The blade was fine, the tip went throught the cork tile and it just stood there, upright. Maybe what helped it stay upright was being 3mm inside my big toe. It took me a while to understand what happened. That smurf was (is) as sharp as a scalpel, I felt nothing. I didn't even bleed at first, 'cause the blade was so thin and kept the flesh pressed agains it. Well, it took me a few days, with very tight pressing bandages to get the wound to close but it was so clean cut that it's barely visible today.

Show content

Not my actual toe, just to give you an idea...

 

P.P.S.: Kudos on the beard, Inky!

 

[PitCarver]

Enjoying the videos.
Don't do the podcast thing.

Have a question that I can't figure out...  How can I put a direct shortcut to the YouTube channel on my android phone?   I've checked the help center and can't find any answers.

Anyone?

[pfrsantos]

Enjoying the videos.
Don't do the podcast thing.

Have a question that I can't figure out...  How can I put a direct shortcut to the YouTube channel on my android phone?   I've checked the help center and can't find any answers.

Anyone?

What, like an icon you touch and opens up the YouTube channel page? You could put a bookmark on the internet app you have in your phone, I think.

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I don't know if I said this in the beginning or not, but I have never been a podcast guy until now.  I've always wanted to do one, but I really don't listen to (or watch) other podcasts, at least not until the last month or so.

The few other podcasts I listen to are over an hour (like Carried Away, from the folks at Everydaycarry.com) or like half an hour like the Mythfits, starring Tory and Kari from Mythbusters.i also did a lot of research and figured 45 minutes (ish) was the perfect mix of too long and too short.

I can cut them into 15 minute segments- I hadn't considered that, but it is definitely worth looking into.

I am also planning to create shorter 1 minute segments to promote it on the socials, so a 15 minute version is probably not a bad idea.

It was always supposed to be about 45 minutes- Episode 000 was supposed to just be an intro and that's why it's shorter.  It was actually supposed to be pared down to 15 minutes (ish) but I screwed that up.   

As of Episode 004 I am starting to ask people to like, share, subscribe etc, and I ask people to comment here on the forum and support the community since the billionaires don't.

I've been thinking of recording a message and then inserting it at the end of each episode, but for now I think I'll just keep saying it live and hope that me screwing it up is funny enough to get people to actually do it! 

Def

[pfrsantos]

Another thing I like is how you started numbering each episode with 3 digits!