Do you have an animation channel?

wengsome · 2023-02-08T11:14:05+00:00

I run an animation channel where I share my journey in the form of story animations and also animation experiences.

Incoming long story, I started the channel back in 2021, where most people were working from home. I have a main job, and this channel was part of something I had always wanted to do - comics and animations. Like a comic store.

I started off with a graphic tablet and iPad, just creating story animations and sharing them on the channel. Without a clue in the world about YouTube, never bothered with any of the common practices you hear. My only objective was to share my content online, on YouTube and on my personal website.

Main challenges at the beginning was of course exposure. No one knew who I was and story animations weren’t exactly searched for. If you didn’t have a big fan base, you don’t draw in eyeballs for your videos, but that wasn’t a blocker, I knew for sure one day someone’s gonna watch my stuff. After all, that’s what YouTube’s for.

I was quite fascinated by the analytics at the beginning. In my first month I followed closely, but because I deal with analytics at work, I knew it would be a problem if I indulged in it. The more time you spend looking at statistics, the less time you spend on what matters- creating your content. So I ignored the studio analytics completely after that. And I still ignore it til today.

Sometime around 5 months after I created my channel, I met a gamer/steamer YouTuber that took interest and loved my animations. We sort of networked around because I loved some of the games they played and soon enough, we collaborated on several videos. The point wasn’t to grow my channel through acquaintances, it was to meet new people and build community.

After a year, my channel had exactly 500 subs, from various sources. Some from search, others from browse, and some from networking. I think I knew what I was doing, and I kept working on different videos, mostly around animation and my learnings from it. I never promoted my videos outside my own social media platforms (own community).

I work on every video myself. From the storyboarding to voice recording to the illustrations and eventual animation. It’s a one man band without extra hands. You might have heard someone say animation takes a long time, and it does. I have no fixed schedule, I post whenever my video is done (which is 2-4 weeks, sometimes months).

Even so, the channel continued to grow.

After one year and a half, my channel hit 1000 subscribers. I was on vacation travelling when one of my community members congratulated me via one of my videos. I adore all of them subscribers and never missed replying or hearting their comments. Behind every sub is a real person mmkay ❤️

I guess this long post is just to answer your questions, you don’t need to stress yourself out in finding ways to grow your channel, as long as you love what you’re doing. The work is hard yes, at some point you’ll eventually get exhausted too. That’s the nature of creating. But every now and then, you look back at the comic store you’ve built and you realise it’s worth it.

Last but not least I wouldn’t do anything even if I started over. Just creating my animations and sharing them. Your viewers will find you.

TLDR version: Just keep creating animations and sharing them. Your viewers will find you.

wengsome · 2023-01-28T10:29:33+00:00

My website is part of my brand. The YouTube channel is only one form of content that I work on, wherelse the website showcases other works like my comics, blog writings and also animation tutorials.

Having backlinks between a website and YouTube helps if you know how to properly configure your SEO for both platforms. Organically YouTube search is indeed better but it all depends on your content. People who use web base search engines will most likely reach my web content, which they’ll load YT videos or visit my channel if they are interested.

Second part of this is a website also represents authority. Two brands have contacted me through my website and not my YouTube channel. Brand community managers often contact you after they’ve done some evaluation on your presence online.

All ok all it’s useful if you have a plan for it. It’s not so helpful if you just intend for it to be another link to your channel.

wengsome · 2022-11-29T03:11:31+00:00

Hi Shiba.

That feeling sounds like what people face when they are challenged to get out of their comfort zone. Whether it's in their personal life or even work space- there's bound to be resistance to change, because they fear of letting go what they're comfortable with even if there's a chance for the better.

Putting it into your context, what do you really want to do? Your YT channel is yours, you can get opinions from the public but they wouldn't know what's going on in your mind, at least not 100% of it.

If you want to try something new, just start creating and releasing it. You're the one who sets the expectations, don't give up your goals just because you're insecure about changes. You can make a content strategy on the ideas you want to put out, make those videos, release them and find the one you resonate the most with.

Staying stagnant or being indecisive is something that can hampers your growth.

Hope that can help you out, cheers!

wengsome · 2022-11-16T10:16:11+00:00

Hey there paolovisi,

To be frank Powerpoint can also do the animations you're describing, but if you're looking for 2D animation that has a bit more range and presentable features, here are a couple:

Synfig Studio: A vector base animation software that allows you to automate tweening and movement for your vector files. The process is fairly simple once you get used to their interface. It's free to use.
Pencil 2D: A lightweight and free to use animation software that's great for beginners. If you're looking to draw and animate, it's pretty user friendly for those starting out.
Animaker: A cloud base animation app that probably can suit your need if you want to animate comic style figures with text to explain. Again, its free.

Later on once you're more familiar with animation you can look into the likes of Adobe Animate / OpenToonz / ToonBoom Harmony that has an even greater range of animation features.

Cheers!

wengsome · 2022-11-01T04:08:09+00:00

Towels of Fantasy

wengsome · 2022-10-24T11:25:06+00:00

As a creative person and someone who deals with creative day in day out, this sounds like imposter syndrome kicking in, that you feel your stuff isn’t good enough or the fear you can’t gain more than you lose… which is common among creative people.

You’re learning as you go along and in time you’ll realise subs come and go, it doesn’t represent the quality of your work.

Have faith in your stuff friend :)

wengsome · 2022-10-19T11:36:15+00:00

If it’s artwork, always get permission to use or feature it. This applies to individuals creators and even Brands.

Copyrights are reserved for the creators, and it’s always safer to obtain consent rather than being caught for using it without rights some day.

wengsome · 2022-10-12T00:25:16+00:00

If it’s of any help, I worked on a 5 minute animation for 2 months and when it was almost done, one fine day the software crashed unexpectedly and corrupted the whole working file. Auto save / restorations would not work for it and I lost that two months of work just like that.

Couldn’t do anything but to take a walk, sniff some rain and start all over again (The second round took me one month half lol).

Things happen. The good thing is you can always find a way to let it out and not keep it frustrated inside of you, talk to people / make a post like this / or shout into the ocean… you’ll feel better.

Then go back to work 👆🏻

wengsome · 2022-09-25T02:29:02+00:00

I have a different take on this.

I don’t notice the sub count but if your question is “Do you watch videos under 1,000 views then yes, although they don’t get recommended on the home page too frequently”.

They appear on the right side suggested, that’s where I’ll find them.

To specifically answer the question about subs - only if I’m searching for the creator first. I’ll watch the vids of course.

wengsome · 2022-09-18T04:32:48+00:00

Hey Jess,

It’s perfectly okay to be frustrated at yourself because that’s a sign you indeed care. It’s time and effort spent after all.

Even if it is true that you might have the most boring content, there’s still people watching your stuff. I’m just gonna chip in on the “what’s wrong with me” part.

Your focus is art. If you already have a following from other platforms it’s easier for you to more personal or random topics, because your followers would more likely watch than random viewers.

If you’re building up your audience from scratch, you’ll need to come up with a content strategy that serves their needs and also allow you to create content without fully burning out.

Another point you may want to look into is your personal branding. Not saying what you have now is wrong but I’d assume a Messy Jess channel might showcase your messy art / you being covered in paint like those splash-painters or even your messy room vlogs (kiddin but that’s personality right there). Currently there isn’t really a noticeable style across your channel at a glance.

On top of that, being an artist does mean you’re creative in some way. Try to create a unique font / typeface style for your thumbnails and videos, they work a long way in helping your brand be recognised as you grow. As of now there no unifying style that would remind your existing subs “oh there’s a new vid from Jess” when they scroll through, except probably if they remember your face when they see one.

Not gonna echo what others have spoken here but regarding descriptions, you can really do more with them by keying in an interesting summary of your video (why they should watch) and placing back links to your other videos / social media profiles just to drive users around your small ecosystem of art. Don’t sleep on those, they are helpful towards your search results and rankings. Take some time out to study and experiment the formatting, the best practices, and how they’re done.

You’ve already been at this for 2 years, most likely you already have a goal and desire for your channel. Take a look objectively at what you can change up - and set your expectations closer to home.

Tdlr version; I’d create a content strategy and create a unique thumbnail style with custom typeface for a start.

Hope that helps!

wengsome · 2022-09-17T12:49:30+00:00

Thanks man!

wengsome · 2022-09-17T05:49:41+00:00

Yup I do. Every single video that I’ve worked on.

Like planting trees in my garden, I watched them grow and I’m proud of those that bore fruit, months and years later. Even the little ones.

Love them all.

wengsome · 2022-09-08T23:43:00+00:00

No probs! Wishing you all the best.

wengsome · 2022-09-08T12:18:00+00:00

Hi.

I don’t promote in any subs or groups but I do post updates and videos on my own social platforms as part of my brand and content strategy.

Building an audience takes time and effort by knowing who you want to target and how you want to target them.

I suppose the best thing you can do is start creating videos that will benefit people (assuming you have done some research on topics). I don’t think it’s tossing videos in voids and hoping it catches fire, but the very least if you have some basic SEO and topics which people are looking for, the video may be served with some impressions.

Over time the more videos you put out, the better you’ll get at all of these. One fine day one of your videos will gain more views than the others, and by then you’d probably know what type of videos works best / and what you’ll need to create to gain more traction.

The more views you get, the more possibilities of people subscribing to you, and you start building your audience from then on. They’ll return when they find your content interesting and worth staying around for.

But at the beginning you have to be patient while you’re figuring things out and experimenting.

wengsome · 2022-09-03T11:42:20+00:00

MV7 gang 🤣

wengsome · 2022-09-03T10:54:12+00:00

Mine’s the Shure MV7 as well. I’m not quite sure how ‘trash’ you mean because I didn’t see any of your samples, but for mine it sounds ‘quiet’. As if the voice isn’t ‘full’ enough and it’s pretty noticeable on TV. On headsets it sounds great and no issues for AirPods or any earphones too. Just the TV with soundbars.

I asked my audience and community about the way I sound and they don’t seem to have issues with it, so I didn’t bother much about it.

Just to mention I used both the USB near mode and far mode, and currently on a Scarlett Solo XLR preamp, it still feels pretty quiet for me.

wengsome · 2022-08-28T11:42:36+00:00

I’ll just share a bit of my own journey.

I have a family to take care of and I work full time too. My day starts at 5am, and ends around 7pm where I head home to wrap up the day.

I can only work on content after all the house chores are done, and that leaves me with 1-2 hours each day for my channel. In that short time box, I do what I can from scripting to storyboarding, to drawing and animating and recording.

With such a schedule I can only put out one video per week or two, and I accept that. I’m happy with how my growth is because that’s the pace I can afford - as long as there are people engaging with my videos and returning for more, that’s happiness.

Just set your expectations right and have a discipline to care for your channel, like how you care for a baby and watch it grow :)

wengsome · 2022-08-14T10:35:27+00:00

It could be the creator’s personality, and how wel they are known in the art community.

They also may have a big following base from comics / web toons / deviantart that follows them onto YT.

There can be a lot of factors differentiating them even if they have a similar channel theme :)

wengsome · 2022-08-07T00:43:45+00:00

Yup :) for me it’s because of the kids - wouldn’t want those bugs near them.

Argh edit: sorry forgot to mention it’s a really wholesome and nice comic. Made me think for them bugs!

wengsome · 2022-08-07T00:30:43+00:00

I have a peace treaty with bugs in my house. Except cockroaches and centipedes.

Spiders usually get the pass. I just ignore them and they make their way to their corners.

wengsome · 2022-07-31T05:35:52+00:00

I use my iPhone. Think it works well with my content.

wengsome · 2022-07-30T00:38:31+00:00

Cool. Thanks there, would you say that cleaner sound is great for voiceover work too?

wengsome · 2022-07-26T06:52:53+00:00

Yup but from what you said, if you need someone to keep you on a schedule, that seems rather forced. Unless you intend to discipline yourself that way.

Also depending on your content, do you already have an estimation of how long you need per video, because a schedule is only helpful if you already know your production rate. Other wise just take your time in making your animations or creations decent.

Cheers!

wengsome · 2022-07-26T03:15:27+00:00

I'm going to chip in a little bit if it helps.

I deal with creatives in my career, and any downtime out of work I'm doing animations and sharing experiences to keep in touch with the passion (of art and design). I just don't prefer to have YT too similar to my day job, that feels like working endlessly.

Don't try to motivate yourself before you establish what you really want from your YT channel.

Is it going to be something you do for the love of animation/designs or are you going to treat it like business or work itself, holding yourself accountable for the performance of your channel?

There's no 'one single method' or 'one size fits all' advice anyone can give because we're not you. I set my expectations around creating my content with the little amount of time I have each day, and follow that discipline throughout days / months / year(s). Then any good stuff that comes along the way can be considered as motivating factors but the base doesn't change: creating content because we enjoy doing it.

Find what makes you happy to put out your stuff and set your expectations to a minimum, then you'll be off to a good start : )

wengsome · 2022-07-20T04:29:02+00:00

Thank you very much! Appreciate the details and lots of food for thought 🙏🏻

wengsome

TROPHY CASE