doodley
patreon
An important question! (+ remainder of 2023 plans)
🕑 Added 2023-09-21 00:37:07 +0000 UTCHi! Just a simple post today. I wanted to get your lads input on some things and talk about some plans I have for the rest of the 2023.
Firstly, the most important question here is:
What do YOU want out of the Patreon?
I don't get a whole lot of interaction on Patreon (mostly just the Discord supporter channels), so it can be difficult to gauge what people think of the stuff I try to provide every week.
The only metric I have is video analytics, which...
Yeah.
So that makes me wonder: what specifically do you guys want out of the Patreon? Is it simply to support me and my work? Or do you sign up for something specific?
Mental health wise, I maybe worry a little too much about putting stuff up here every week than I should, hence why it's difficult to gauge what people want without interaction. It probably doesn't make much sense at the end of the day since it pulls time away from actually making stuff for the channel.
This makes me wonder if I should just focus on doing what I do best and not worry as much about making stuff weekly here
For anyone who doesn't use Discord, I can still provide monthly updates of everything I'm planning for the month, and provide as much behind the scenes stuff as I can and details in my process if people are into that. Those are a good way of processing my thoughts and tracking my progress for me personally.
I'll also occasionally do the extra videos I wanna do, like commentary, when I wanna do them. Those are fun, just not always in the mood for them.
Otherwise, if most people are here just to support me and what I do, then I can focus on four things:
- Video credits
- Discord exclusive channels with behind the scenes
- After-hours supporter streams
- Monthly newsletters with updates and behind the scenes (for non-Discord users)
What do you think? Is there anything specific you'd like to see?
Let me know in comments, or the Discord supporter channels, wherever! It'll be really important to me.
Remainder of 2023 Plans
Anyways, I wanted to mention a few things I have planned soon:
Rigging Video
I have finished the script and recorded voice over for the rigging video. The voice over is currently being edited by Jellybox, freeing me up to do other things. I will likely be onto editing that video next week.
I'm still deciding on a title -- I think if it's too "tutorial" like, non-animators won't click on it...I want to appeal to non-animators with something unexpected.
Even though it's still more or less a tutorial/explainer on 3D rigging...I might call it "3D Rigging is Beautiful." I think that'd be intriguing to people alone, so non-animators would be less scared to click on it.
Let me know what you think!
One Year Anniversary Video
The channel anniversary is Oct 7th! This was the date of the Animating Arms upload.
I plan on doing a short main video for it (3 or so minutes) and hopefully release it on the day, if not maybe a couple days after. Except some updates on that in the next couple weeks, likely the biggest one in the October newsletter.
The video will mostly just be reflecting on the past year and talking about some planned things, but it's mainly to announce something:
The Doodley soundtrack release date + "Starfruit" single!
Jayfoo is currently at work mastering an album of most of the music that has appeared in videos so far. We will be releasing "Starfruit", the ending track to all my videos, as it's own single the same day, as well as the release date of the entire album.
Look forward to that!
Halloween Video
After the Anniversary video, I'd like to do another Halloween video if I can get it done on time. In particular, I'm interested in checking out the old "Scary Godmother" films that aired on Cartoon Network.
I figured it'd be fun to look back on these since they aired every year on Cartoon Network, so they end up sticking in people's minds, including me. They have some charmingly dated CG I wanna take a look at.
I probably won't make it a long or complicated one so I can get it done in a reasonable amount of time -- just something a bit shorter and fun!
Two Other Videos In The Works
The video on Children's Animation is done editing! I originally commissioned editor JandroAlem to handle that, and I'll be reviewing it and making changes soon. It'll probably be released sometime in November, as I'd like to release the rigging video first.
I also have the video on the National Film Board of Canada, but it's in the same boat. Might be closer to a December/January release on that one (especially as January tends to be a quieter time on Youtube, so a niche topic will probably work better then.)
Jellybox
This doesn't really affect most of you guys, but I am getting Jellybox on for more help! If you missed that update, it's a brand new indie animation studio started by my friend and former coworker, Gene Goldstein. They run a tight, simple indie ship and have been excellent at communication, so I'm excited to grow alongside them.
If you were wondering what they'll be helping me out with, here's some things I'm getting them onboard for soon:
- Production tracking: I've already had them keeping my projects on track, which has been a big help. They've been creating schedules or tracking milestones for me, which has been preventing me from losing track of time and being able to juggle a bunch of different things at once.
- Voice over editing: This is my least favorite step of making videos, and now I don't gotta worry about it!! Often I dreaded this part so much it delayed certain videos by weeks. This allows me to work on other videos in the mean time while the voice over is being edited, which is great.
- Merch fulfillment: I'm changing plans with the Doodley plush a little -- I'll be funding the plush myself using funds leftover from my last job (a stock option plan I was putting money into that I no longer want) and then moving my shop over to Jellybox to handle fulfillment, freeing Mel and I up from handling merch shipments. They handle Qbomb's merch (an excellent band that Gene does vocals for) and some of their merch is pretty snazzy, so hopefully I can expand the offerings soon. I wanna do red/blue Gimberly socks.
- Main video to Tiktok conversions: Yeah, Tiktok is what it is, but it has been generally good for growth on the channel and getting more people interested in animation. This is a blind spot right now where my actual videos aren't on Tiktok yet, but I don't want to just open palm slam them down horizontal videos into a vertical format onto Tiktok. I'm hoping Jellybox will eventually be able to handle this!
Gimberly v2
Because of the help I'm getting from Jellybox, it frees me up to do housekeeping -- in particular, Gimberly v2, which I'll be working on this week. Maybe I'll actually make some decent progress on it for once!
Regardless of how far I make it, I'll show my progress here and in Discord.
Thanks for reading if you did, and again, let me know what you think about the Patreon exclusive stuff!
Comments
That's a great way of thinking about it, thanks!! The mindset of "they're just busy" is actually how I usually calm myself about DMs (something I often have anxiety about) but it's not something I realized could extend to something like this site, so you're right. Thank you, good to know!
Onff42
Yeah I definitely agree with Jes, but personally, I subscribed because I want to support Indie artists and creators like you, not mainly for the benefits that come from patreon. So just keep making videos, and streams (They dont have to be Patreon exclusive or anything). Your style of videos is what drew us all here so keep doing what you are so good at! We are just here to support your journey. Something to add is: I love your goofy little shorts that you make, they definity make ones day. I keep going back and editing this post but… also, as far as the analytics go, I think that it shows that people just want to support you even if they don’t have the time to enjoy all the benefits of doing so. Rather than stressing about people now wanting or liking it, they’re just busy, that’s how I think about it at least, I certainly have not watched every post but I do see them, and am glad you are able to make cool videos like them. …ok ill shut up now lol. have a great day :)
Thank you, this helps a lot! The text posts are the most relaxing for me to make and work the best on Patreon compared to other websites, so I can definitely lean into it. I love writing in general, it's something I only remembered how much I love doing since starting Youtube, and want to do more of it in the coming years.
Hiya! I recently subbed to your Patreon to gain access to the after hours stream. I really enjoyed the laidback energy of the stream, since I'm basically a lurker. I personally really enjoy reading your blog-post style content on here (like what you just posted now). I usually read these posts through the email that Patreon sends out because it's most convenient that way. Your posts really interesting and they are an easy read since you have a great writing style. I haven't been on here long enough to have any input on the exclusive videos you post here, and I probably won't go through the backlog because I never consider going through Patreon to access entertainment. I usually feel compelled to support someone on Patreon when I benefit from their educational content (which is what you put out on Youtube). Since your Youtube videos are so instrumental in my development as a creative, I want to support you. I don't really expect to derive more value from Patreon than I do from your Youtube content. Hope that helps! :D
