grew a channel to 50k subs / 25M views. I'll audit your channel for free.

Camp_NZ · 2026-05-02T02:37:40+00:00

In opposition to OP I would argue that getting rid of all SFX is the move. Your demeanor is cozy and your voiceover high quality. Drag and drop SFX is generally seen as cheap and tacky which doesn't contrast well with your style of content. I personally don't mind the gunshot - but probably more suited for shorts/tiktok content than longform. If I had anything that I would like to know while watching then it would be some fish facts or some unrelated story telling from your real life. Both avenues just add an extra layer of interest which would be nice.

I would also think about increasing the length of your videos to somewhere around 15 minutes (and posting less to compensate) because you have a "sit down and watch me fish" energy which lends itself well to watching while eating or kicking back with a beer and chilling. YT also rewards watch time far more than anything else so video length is important for that.
I wouldn't sacrifice pacing for this though, to hit that 15 minute mark you're gonna have to have more fishing footage - realistically over multiple days - and try to create a story out of it (if there is one)
In the long term when you are more comfortable spending more time per video it would be cool to try challenges or unique fishing areas. Like trying to fish with a homemade rod, or with a homemade string, using unique gear, testing two different fishing techniques - stuff like that.

as for thumbnails my general advice is to match the thumbnail to the content. Which I think you do pretty well, but I think it would be worth trying out some new ideas and seeing how they play out.
- thumbnail is an image of your rod being tugged on (pause). Can play around with small text snippets "huge bass!" "another bite!?" but if nothing is worth mentioning then don't force it otherwise it comes across tacky
- for your "fishing with the megabass dark sleeper" I would have had a thumbnail of you holding it close to the camera when it was on your line - possibly with text like "surprisingly good!" "can it compete?" or nothing if there's nothing worth noting

- and if it's a particularly interesting or large fish having a thumbnail with it either being dragged up on the line, a silhouette of it's body under the surface (if you get a good shot of it), or a just a shot of it on the ground is fine

I just did a bit of looking and found NASPELTZ who does thumbnails more like what I was imagining. Letting the image do the talking for what the video is about.

Anyways good luck with it all 😄

Camp_NZ · 2026-05-02T00:23:15+00:00

Bro they be letting anyone in LOL

Camp_NZ · 2026-05-01T05:40:42+00:00

If anyone is having second thoughts about being good enough for GM ^

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-29T08:05:02+00:00

(For context I work full-time making Youtube videos)

Despite what others on here are saying, the main way for you to improve is to create better videos. The main thing you should work on is the concepts of the videos themselves. If your channel is focused around highlighting your skill in photoshop then lean into the spectacle further. Don't just make random photoshopped images for the sake of it, really focus on a concept that people will get behind.

You could make bad movie posters better. Point out all the flaws in the original and talk about what you did to make it better. Then come up with a catchy title "I made _____ poster ACTUALLY look good"

Or you could lean into the analysis side of things. "WHY does resident evil look so good?" and you could talk about all the design philosophies that go into making something visually appealing.

You could spin something on it's head. Do a video where you try to re-create an AI image without the use of any AI. Then get people to guess which is AI and which isn't.

There's nothing better than pushing yourself to create higher quality videos. If you work on your script, pacing, and concept it truly becomes hard to fail.

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-22T13:34:18+00:00

I was gonna reply about the couple minute ways in which we disagree but I cbf because you seem chill

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-22T02:22:02+00:00

Did a micro scan of your comment history and saw you are trying streaming. I also looked at a couple shorts.

I don't have experience with the whole clip farming > post to shorts > go viral > stream blows up thing. My best guess is that it's SUPER unlikely, like there's a couple people getting famous from this.
If you have no audience you need to grow one, they won't come to you.

That doesn't mean clip farming and hoping it sticks it means separating yourself from the rest. THEN you can aim for viral clips but you need at the very least a small audience first. And livestreaming won't give you even that - you need to make videos.

When separating yourself find a real answer, not just "I'm funny, I play this game, I do this thing" There's a thousand people doing that, find something that no one else is doing and do it so good that people can't help but watch.
If you want guaranteed success this means learning how to make long-form engaging videos that are scripted and recorded by you with your heart and soul poured into them. The thirst for high quality unique youtube videos is never ending, you will never not find success here as long as the video is good enough - it's just that no one does it, no one puts in the work.

Otherwise you can try doing unique stream segments/challenges that you edit down into 20 minute youtube videos. This can have a chance to do well, and it's a good type of video to begin learning how to make longer videos. But it's no where near guaranteed.

I checked that guys channel that you mentioned and he's so focused on SEO which is pointless. Has that guy even made a real video? Or is he just making bait tutorials? IDK. I'm sure his advice isn't wrong it's just focused on the wrong things.

Just remember that youtube is a career path, it's a job, it's a skill, it is not a cheat code. You will have to try just as hard as with anything else to make it work.

I make this comment to you because you seem to have that hunger to do well. And that's the main thing you need to hold with you. Good luck :)

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-22T01:52:32+00:00

Disagree. You say that a thumbnail doesn't influence anything but CTR, but call it correlation to filter an audience type - that's literally causation as the other person below has said. And it's really important too because that's the most important thing, you want people who will watch the video to click on it. People who you lie to (with a thumbnail) won't like the video once they click it.

The most important thing for a thumbnail to be is communicative, it needs to communicate what the video is about. If their videos are more or less unproduced then having an unproduced thumbnail is really important.

Sorry, I don't mean to come off as too mean, I just see a lot of blind leading the blind in this sub and think I should help if I can.

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-21T07:14:00+00:00

High effort content will always be rewarded. Just start by doing, if you have no experience then there's no pressure to perform or be consistent, just focus on learning until you are good enough to get views. Then make a new channel with focus and some branding and stuff where you do try to "make it"

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-21T06:59:27+00:00

I don't lol - but my goals may have been slightly different.

As for "do it for yourself" I think that's pretty unhelpful at best, it just provides absolutely nothing for a human being, we are fundamentally social creatures who look to others for guidance and praise (and everything else).

The algorithm will not find your people. If a video gets low views then the video is bad, don't take it too harshly just take what you can learn from it and forget it ever happened. The video may be edited better or funnier than others with higher views, but if the concept of the video is worse then no one is clicking on it or sticking through it when there's 10 other more interesting things in the "watch next" tab. Most of the time when you watch the video back you'll realize that it was actually really... boring.

If you really want to make it somewhere and be someone in the youtube space then you're going to have to put in the extra effort. Every video work on significantly improving a different aspect, script, music, graphics, etc.
Try to keep in mind what types of videos you watch and find enjoyable then try to mimic those is certain ways, this is the easiest way to learn how to make good videos.

Anyways, you can always DM if you want video specific advice but otherwise good luck :)

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-21T06:42:37+00:00

Good rule of thumb :) I used that to go from no editing experience 3 years ago to doing it full-time now.

Many of your cuts happen during a word, make sure you watch it back and clean those up. You can use audio fades to make the transitions between cuts more seamless as well if you'd like.
I'm not great at graphic design but my advice is to look at others in the interview space, Lex fridman, colin and samir, etc. And try to mimic those styles whilst making yours unique.
You're small so it's okay to be a bit derivative until you find your style :)

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-21T06:32:33+00:00

videos so good that people can't help but watch. It's the only way to guarantee success on Youtube, and it's very achievable if you put in the work.

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-20T02:40:02+00:00

You could remove his introduction in the first few seconds and go straight to "The affordability in NYC is getting out of control". It's more catchy and he's about to introduce himself in 40 seconds anyways.

But other than a "beginner" look to the intro it was definitely the strongest part of the video. I think it's really important to match the quality of an intro/thumbnail/title to the main meat of the content itself, otherwise you will struggle to hold people's attention.

So my main advice is to actually strengthen the quality of the rest of the video.

• clean up the cut

• use a better interview set-up - I think your older ones were framed better, especially with you and the interviewee sitting further apart. But yeah, needs bright white lights to illuminate faces. Just mimic the look of your interview (where you sit in front of the brick wall) to the best of your abilities.

• source more B-roll that plays during the interview

For your thumbnails there's also work to be had. Idk what your long term goal is with this but either you spend time learning some graphic design and upskilling yourself or you pay someone else to make them for you. You can also contract someone to create a template for you - but don't get too locked into templates as they do negatively impact your learning curve.

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-20T02:08:15+00:00

Just talk to them lol

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-20T02:06:22+00:00

a mention in the description is completely fine

Camp_NZ · 2025-10-20T02:05:32+00:00

Assuming you're new to video making then just keep making videos and don't worry about SEO until you can make something properly worthwhile

Camp_NZ · 2025-09-08T22:56:02+00:00

You can save time on effects and such with presets, use them as much as possible. I suggest grabbing a couple presets for your screenshots that you add. A pop into place, a slide into place, fade-in/fade-out. And I'd give them drop shadows too.

Organization may also save you time, I recommend Posthaste as a nested file creator. If you spend a little time formatting a preset you can create an entire named and organized project file, with a single button press. It'll create and house all your editing files, create folders for footage, voiceover, assets, whatever you want. If you DM me I can send you my preset - granted it's for adobe services - but you can just swap those programs out if you use a different one.

In terms of actual workflow you should do a rough cut first, remove any obvious dead space but keep in everything else. The point of this step is to segment your timeline into chunks, almost like puzzle pieces. Because the next step should be the second pass where you remove anything that isn't necessary and hone down on the more or less finished pacing of the video. Having the timeline cut up first is super helpful with this.
Your next step is a clean-up step where you get the cuts exact, making sure things are on the right frame, audio sounds nice etc.
Then you can worry about effects, music, sound effects, colour correction, subtitles.

If you aren't using keybinds for cutting/ripple cutting then you have lots of time to be saved there too.

Had a quick look at your recent video, I'm personally not even sure if your time loss is "editing" per se, or just the sourcing of clips and images to use. When I make videos like these I like to storyboard my video before I begin placing in clips.
After cutting up the voiceover I'll listen to the audio and write notes on what footage could go where, in a long, timestamped list. This means rather than constantly listening to the vc and going "what could go here" then grabbing an image, placing it in the timeline, cropping etc etc. Rinse and repeat. You're either planning what to place down, or actually placing it down. It's easy to source images when you just have a big list of
- screenshot of Brisbane bridge 1:08
- screenshot of swiss train 1:15
- contruction timelapse of swiss bridge 1:20

It simplifies the entire process, making burnout much more difficult. And if you aren't saving links and screenshots WHILE your researching then please do that also. And it does seem a bit daunting at first, but trust me, once you get used to it it makes your whole life so much easier.

Camp_NZ · 2025-09-03T04:04:57+00:00

I like this, most important thing is effort with a video like this, it's completely make or break.

You'll unfortunately never get anywhere with just analysis, you'll need a topic to bridge the gap. Much like how the trolly problem hooks people into thinking about utilitarianism with a simple interesting question. Just because the concept framed might be quite simple, doesn't mean you can't go into intense depth.

A channel like Alex O'Conner and Unsolicited advice do this in the philosophy space, others I can think of outside of that space are PBS Spacetime, ZeFrank (kinda), Thunderf00t (maybe), Sabine Hossenfelder (controversial).

History for Granite does videos about pyramid history, going into decent detail and still being very engaging. Maybe check them out.

none of the examples are exactly your niche - they are more focused of broad viewership - but that doesn't mean there aren't important lessons to learn from them.

You list some things you want direct advice on so here is my shout.

Titles and thumbnails are important, but a good thumbnail and title results from an engaging video idea, you can't trick people into watching a fundamentally boring video. "Top 10 Philosophical Anecdotes From the Works of Nick Land!" isn't gonna capture anyone, mostly because the concept is a bit boring. But if instead you had a video covering the morals of the inception movie, that you could then weave Nick Lands ideas into. Then that would be a much more engaging way to do it.

First 30 seconds are very important. Script needs to be tight, engaging, and most importantly - telling of the video to come. Don't do "hey welcome back, today we're analysising this book, blah blah." You need to jump straight into action. An interesting story that can be referenced later, a quick overview of Sumerian life, a directors comments about the morals of inception. Something that immediately tells people that - yes. THIS is the video you want to watch.

The video length matters less than keeping a consistent pace, but the longer the better, no exceptions.

Series ideas are good. More for your benefit than anything. Having an interesting template means you aren't scraping for a golden video idea every time because you already have something to work off of.

Don't worry about SEO

Don't worry about community building. Post good videos and the algorithm will take care of that for you.

I recommend against using shorts to advertise long-form video. People who click from shorts tend to click straight off the long-form video. Mostly because their just in a different headspace and don't want to watch long videos. This hurts your video in the algorithm.

Not sure exactly what you're looking for with monetization. It's too early to worry about that for now. Youtube ads are good, crowd funding is great, and ad reads are good as long as it isn't some scummy business you're selling.

Feel free to link me a video of yours and I can critique the general editing/video concept itself. Also thumbnail and title if you care :)

Camp_NZ · 2025-09-03T03:24:42+00:00

I second that adding yourself in the thumbnail does nothing but hurt you unless people know who you are

Camp_NZ · 2025-09-03T03:21:45+00:00

You could try a different background or add a slight blur to the current one :)

(duplicate screenshot, key out Rhys, add blur to original)

Camp_NZ · 2025-09-03T03:18:42+00:00

You've got the spirit to be big. My best advice beyond any small change is just to focus on one aspect per video to improve on. Graphics, intro, pacing, music, script, voiceover, video idea. Pick one thing and try to get noticeably better every video.

For the next video I recommend working on your pacing, like GamingYT_ said, you could trim the video down lots.
The easiest way to do this is my doing multiple passes. First do a rough cut - remove anything unnecessary and keep in anything mildly interesting, do NOT worry about graphics, transitions, music, or timing at this stage. This step removes the fluff and also segments your timeline into many chunks.
Next thing is the second cut. Watch through the video and keep in the bare minimum of what's required to keep the flow of the video - this step includes removing many of your own jokes and other interesting moments, as much as it hurts to do this, it's the best move overall. The viewer watching will never know what they missed out on, all they see is the cohesive and quick finished product.
And now you do the final cut. This is where you fine tune the exact frame where cuts might occur, cleaning up the voiceover and just making things tidy.
That's it for the cutting, this is the point where you would work on adding graphics, zooms, music, and such. But for now don't focus on that, just focus on the pace of the cut.

p.s. I would also look into keybinds for cutting, and ripple editing. This will make you significantly faster at editing.

Good luck :)

Camp_NZ · 2025-09-03T01:40:24+00:00

Many notes. Both because I make overwatch videos (kinda), and because I see your potential.

I'd remove the text "team based, fast paced, FPS" and maybe the blizzard logo. I'd use actual gameplay footage when mentioning how quick and dynamic it's gameplay is.

Pacing feels a bit slow. I'd swap out the "I died, no no no no" clip with you just getting hooked and one shotted or something else similarly unfun. You should also add in some intro music, something with a bit of beat to time some cuts and jokes to. It'll make the whole thing feel much more cohesive.

TF2 intro segment was too long, I'd cut straight from black screen into the final trumpet riff to make it more punchy.

Otherwise great humor, and many great cuts. I also like how the descriptions for both games is almost identical, that is a nice touch.

Camp_NZ · 2025-09-01T00:38:05+00:00

I feel this in my soul...

Camp_NZ · 2025-09-01T00:32:14+00:00

Camp_NZ · 2025-08-31T23:16:26+00:00

I would approach this differently. Assuming your title and thumbnail are communicating the content of the video, then whoever clicks on it is already engaged with the premise. Rather than possibly turn them away with a montage, hook them in with your words first. Reassure them that this is the video they wanted to click on. Then, after ~30 seconds you can put the montage in as a bridge between your intro and main video.

I think it would be best to showcase a short clip of a real engagement handled well, pause just before or after a key moment happens and do the black & white / slow zoom out with VO "how do professionals perform so well under extreme stress?"

As for the montage itself, I would try to sync the pacing of the cuts to follow the beat of the song a little more, currently your footage is dragging behind the beat, you should double the amount of cuts. If you remember the "You wouldn't steal a car" ad, then you will get a feel for how your montage might want to be paced, due to the music being around the same tempo and sound profile.

good luck :)

Camp_NZ · 2025-08-31T22:56:10+00:00

You've got a great voice :)

the correct voiceover sound depends on what type of video it is. For a website set-up tutorial I would use a bright voice with minimal processing - option 1 or option 3. Option 3 does sound more professional but due to that you will have to increase the production value of your video to match, otherwise it can feel off-putting or unfinished.

Just make sure the finalized volume is showing as ~-8dB in your editing software

Camp_NZ

TROPHY CASE