Don't you love how creativity can take so many different forms? It's like there's a never ending pool of fascination to dive into and explore. This week I actually have some doodles that I can talk about directly as they're a realistic example of how useful a doodle can be.
Ages ago I was making a bunch of gaming videos and posting them on my YouTube channel. I eventually stopped because my internet connection was too slow to upload anything quickly, and I was spending too much time post-processing audio and editing footage. This made the whole process take a long time, which ended up being more of a pain than the fun of editing and mixing.
Enter a better internet connection and a new microphone, and I can now cut that time down by about two thirds. I no longer have to do much post-processing at all; and it takes five minutes to upload the same data that would have taken five hours in the past.
So this week I went about making some more videos and getting the channel rolling. I've changed the format and revamped how I think about it all, but it feels good to have access to this avenue of creativity once again. Editing videos has been a hobby of mine since I was in school and for a long while, all I wanted to do was go to film school. At the time I wanted to be a director or something grandiose, but since then I've learned that I really like messing around in Premier and Audition to see what comes out the other end.
Having a quick turnaround for a YouTube channel is pretty inspiring as it allows you to make a video and push it out to an audience with little interruptions. I'm not aiming for anything more than just being able to share the fun when time permits. The turnaround simply means that there are more opportunities for dipping into this area of creativity than there were before.
In addition to the video editing and audio processing, running the channel brings with it some other fun projects. The direct correlation with this week's doodles is the need to create thumbnail graphics for each video that gets posted. It's not a rule, but I find it aesthetically pleasing to have uniform thumbnails throughout a series; instead of random frames of video.
There's probably an easy way to make thumbnails, but I like to plan them out a little to try and get the most balanced and clean graphics I can muster. Sure they might not all be successes, but it's a good way to show the very first step of the process, which is common to almost every project I tackle.
It doesn't matter what the purpose is, I often start by doodling a simple stick-figure drawing of the first thoughts I have. Basically it's brain-storming, which we're all familiar with, but often discount in value. However, I find that a simple doodles of any layout can really help focus the direction it takes.
This is especially true for anything involving different elements that are to be laid out together. It saves a lot of mucking about with layers and having to change major parts half way through. Starting out with at least a broad doodles of the composition makes everything that follows a little bit easier.
So these are the doodles I penned of new thumbnails for the channel. If you're at all interested, it's like a sneaky look at what videos I have planned, but ultimately it shows the inception of an idea that has a specific purpose.
I value the directionless doodles I post here each week as simple brain dumps and practice for putting pen to paper. A lot of the time though, I forget that they could lead to anything substantial at all. I mean, they're just silly doodles, so there's nothing good to come from them. It actually helps to remind myself that these doodles are the same as every doodle I draw to start a composition. It's why I've included some of the final thumbnails along with the doodles to show the outcome and how different they can be.
Perhaps I forget what the point is to these humble beginnings all too easily. Perhaps this is more to remind myself of how valuable a doodle can be. Either way I'm pretty stoked to have an example of both ends of the spectrum; from inception to completion.
Oh, and there are links all over the place to my channel if you want to see anything in action. I don't promise anything special though; it's mostly niche gaming stuff for a niche audience.