Video Review: Fantasy Craft

On the weekend I finally sat down and tried to record a video review of Fantasy Craft. I am using the word “try” because the result is probably not the best review possible but it works as a proof of concept.  The text I have spoken was pretty much improvised on the spot, there has been some glaring editing errors and after watching the video several times I noticed how many cool things about Fantasy Craft I actually forgot to mention. But basically I think if I prepare things better the next time, video reviews may be an alternative to classic reviews in the future.

As hosting platform I switched from YouTube to blip.tv. While YouTube may be the best-known video hosting site, blip.tv has certain advantages. You can watch my Fantasy Craft review and the WFRP Unboxing video at our new blip.tv site.

For editing the video I used the free VideoSpin software which is actually pretty powerful and easy to use compared to the Windows Live Movie Maker I used before, BUT it’s still not really what I would call proper video editing software. I guess I am just spoiled by Adobe Premiere which I am using at work.

Without further ado, here are  the results of my efforts:

So, how do you like it? By the way, the noise in the background is caused by my cooling fan, which is running all day. I hope the next time I do a recording, it’s cool enough to shut it off. And if there’s enough interest, I might upload a few outtakes. 🙂

Michael Wolf is a German games designer and enthusiast best known for his English language role-playing games blog, Stargazer's World, and for creating the free rules-light medieval fantasy adventure game Warrior, Rogue & Mage. He has also worked as an English translator on the German-language Dungeonslayers role-playing game and was part of its editorial team. In addition to his work on Warrior, Rogue & Mage and Dungeonslayers, he has created several self-published games and also performed layout services and published other independent role-playing games such as A Wanderer's Romance, Badass, and the Wyrm System derivative Resolute, Adventurer & Genius, all released through his imprint Stargazer Games. Professionally, he works as a video technician and information technologies specialist. Stargazer's World was started by Michael in August 2008.

2 comments

comments user
Andrew Girdwood

I think this is really good. I wish I had the time/courage/skill to do some video reviews as I might start to review again.

I thought this was an extremely pleasant and easy way to learn about FantasyCraft and that you'd cut and edited the video well. I'll have to check out VideoSpin but it was clear that you've had experience and practise with video editing before.

    comments user
    Stargazer

    Thanks for the kind words. It was a fun experience to record that video and the editing process using this free software worked better than I expected. But I will definitely try to improve things in the next video. 🙂