shaunjs
patreon
Patreon Credits Test - Feedback requested!
🕑 Added 2021-05-06 16:21:35 +0000 UTCSo I talked a little while ago about how I wanted to find a way to streamline producing the credits sequence on my videos. How the number of $20 supporters means that recording all of the names, while hand removing the ones that don't wish to be explicitly mentioned and having to re-do this process with every video has started to get to a point where it's hard to sustain if I want to increase the rate at which I make videos.
I both want to improve the quality of my credits sequence, make it take less time at the end of a video (reading them out as fast as I can still takes about a minute usually at the moment) and also make it simple for me to produce and re-use across many videos each monthly cycle.
This template I've cooked up above is doing just that. It currently lists all the $20 patrons and then thanks "hundreds of others at Patreon.com/shaunjs" instead of including all supporters in the credits.
I know this a step back in terms of how I thank my patrons in video and steps backwards are always the hardest ones to take or swallow but I really think if this became the standard for my videos then my work would significantly improve. Both from the time saved in work to the reduced dead time at the end of my videos that most viewers do not watch, which affects my aLgOrItHm. I know in a sense Patreon has 'freed' me from the whims of the algorithm but I still ultimately rely on my YouTube audience to bring you guys here in the first place. Unfortunately one way or another I still have to respect at least *some* of its built-in incentives or my audience would eventually decay.
Listing top supporters, thanking everyone else (and probably pairing this with a one time recorded voiceover thanking people for watching etc) and leaving space for a patreon/recommended video link feels like the most streamlined I can get this sequence. Dropping it to about 30 seconds. I could go less (and might still) by speeding up the typewriter effect but I wanted to give the names a little bit of time on screen rather than just whizz by in an unreadable way.
This still offers a recognition of my top supporters, frees me of the nightmarish challenge of actually pronouncing peoples names correctly and while I *could* include everyone elses name here too if there's a big demand for it, it would occupy so much space at the end of the video to make them all readable unless I came up with another creative solution.
The poll indicated that most people are not that bothered about this either way, so if you have strong feelings on the matter I invite you to make them known here below as I'm not committed to this yet.
There is also the idea of the daft pixel art "battle royale" I did at the end of one of my videos. A longer term solution might be to do something like that as a regular credits sequence with maybe fancier sprites for top supporters. But that involves a lot of work to set up at least to get to the point where it is efficient enough to use in regular videos. But it is something I'm thinking about for later down the line.
Comments
Redspark
What if you just dropped the lengthy thanking at the end to just quickly scrolling the credits and making a short intro video that always plays on your Youtube homepage that contains a lengthier version? You can change up the homepage version every once in a while but keep the regular fare nice and trim.
I would focus on the most practical and realistic approach so you can concentrate on the quality of your content. People will understand as it is the quality of your tutorials that we enjoy.
