New YouTube channel: Overtime Arcade

cool, i love repair vids. i find that watching them nonstop, even ones for games I don't own is extremely beneficial. Many times I will be working on something and then think back wait, didn't I see this before? Then it's a challenge to remember which video and where, but nonetheless it's a shortcut to getting stuff fixed.

I do the same thing!
 
Just finished episode #2. Enjoyed it! Nice work troubleshooting the missing sounds on your Robotron. I was missing all sounds from my Joust and replacing the PIA chip fixed mine. Good to know that the CPU can also be the culprit.

My only suggestion so far would be to use a tripod on wheels a little more often to avoid the "shaky cam" syndrome.

Episode 3 coming up!
 
My only suggestion so far would be to use a tripod on wheels a little more often to avoid the "shaky cam" syndrome.

Thanks! A wheeled tripod is definitely on my shopping list. I've got an inexpensive gimbal that helps with handheld filming (although I'm still getting the hang of it), but yeah, tripod wheels that work well on both carpet and concrete would help too!
 
Ok, episode #6 (part 2 of the Ms. Pac-Man restoration project) is now live! I had this ready to go last night, but it took YouTube 12+ hours to fully process a measly one-hour 4K video!

 
I rarely watch arcade vids, and I'll tell you why. almost always, the very first imagine you see is the creator, which is where I stop watching, I glanced at your vid and in the first few moments I didn't see you, so bravo. I just want to view the subject of the vid and not the creator, I will actually watch some of yours.
 
I glanced at your vid and in the first few moments I didn't see you, so bravo. I just want to view the subject of the vid and not the creator

Thanks, that was intentional! I want the games to be the stars of these videos -- not some out-of-shape dude in his 40s!
 
Subbed! Spent the weekend watching all your vids and really enjoyed them. You also reminded me I've always wanted a football helmet in my nerd room so I scored one on eBay Sunday night. You the man!
 
Subbed! Spent the weekend watching all your vids and really enjoyed them. You also reminded me I've always wanted a football helmet in my nerd room so I scored one on eBay Sunday night. You the man!

Thanks! That's my own football helmet from high school in the 90s. In a display cabinet above my bar, I also have my wife's grandfather's leather helmet from when he played high school football in the 40s!
 
Yeah, I'm working on my camera work too :) It's sometimes "Blair Witch" style... shaky cam!

I'm starting to do 2 cameras now so it's a little easier to see what I'm doing too. One video someone complained all they could do was count the hairs on my arm. :ROFLMAO: They were not wrong.

Camera is always pointed at the subject, which is the PCB or what ever I'm working on, not me. I also try to keep as much as I can in the video. I've cut some stuff out from time to time if it was just a complete waste of time, but I still try to leave some of that in so they can see how the hot dogs are made.
 
I thought it might be fun (and only slightly humiliating) to start filming my repairs and restoration projects. The first few videos are up on YouTube now at Overtime Arcade: https://youtube.com/channel/UCeGkF_wnQrblQaK8ZHY9E-g

I'd truly appreciate any feedback you'd all care to share — good, bad, or otherwise — either here or in comments on my channel. I'm no expert when it comes to fixing arcade machines, nor would I ever claim to be. But hopefully these videos can help demonstrate the basics of arcade game collecting and preservation to people who are new to the hobby, and the real experts can chime in to help correct any mistakes I make.

I'm also still just learning how to shoot and edit videos. I used to review cigars on YouTube, but that was quite a few years ago and things have changed a lot since then. So please don't hesitate to make any suggestions on how I can improve the quality of my videos. I've already ordered a new microphone setup to help address some issues with audio consistency. I don't plan on going crazy with production values, but I'd like to make these videos as entertaining and informative as possible.

Thanks!
First of all, I LOVE the name. It's perfect... Most of us have full time jobs and working on games is like a second job. Hence the "overtime" nod. Second: Kudos to you for documenting your repairs! Starting up a channel is no small feat! It takes dedication and patience. Speaking for myself, it takes twice as long to do everything arcade related since you need to shoot it on camera. It's tempting to cave in and just do a quick repair without filming, but don't give in! Keep at it.

Lastly, I have a couple of close friends who just started their own arcade related channels, (@DLP and @Jlitowitz - links below). They used to poke fun at me when I took forever to release videos. However, since they started doing it themselves, they now mention that they never realized how much work it takes to make a Youtube video. They finally understand what I've been saying all along, now that they are experiencing it for themselves. Ha! Ironically, BOTH of them have also upgraded their audio with wireless mics, so I'm confident they will only get better with time.

@DLP - "What Would Jeff Kinder Do?!" (Arcade Restorations and such) https://www.youtube.com/user/jkinder1969/videos
@Jlitowitz - "Kapow's Arcade Adventures". (Travels all over the U.S. doing public arcade walkthroughs) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH2boiQ6SbL2UpHy-6YMe_g/videos

Also, let me know if you need help with anything. Been doing it for years and I'm always looking to pay it forward!

Del
 
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Camera is always pointed at the subject, which is the PCB or what ever I'm working on, not me. I also try to keep as much as I can in the video. I've cut some stuff out from time to time if it was just a complete waste of time, but I still try to leave some of that in so they can see how the hot dogs are made.

I've enjoyed your repair videos too!
 
Thanks so much, Del! Your videos are great, and I watched your entire Ms. Pac-Man restoration series twice before starting my own project.


First of all, I LOVE the name. It's perfect... Most of us have full time jobs and working on games is like a second job. Hence the "overtime" nod.

Thanks! I actually chose the name "Overtime Arcade" for several reasons:
  1. Working on these games is like a second job, as you said.
  2. In a sense, we're giving these machines a second life -- essentially sending them into overtime.
  3. I'm a sports fan, so I liked incorporating that in too... plus it let me use the voice sample from the original NBA Jam announcer in the intro.
  4. I couldn't really find anyone who had used "overtime" together with "arcade" in the past, plus the domain was still available.
  5. It made it a lot easier to adapt the BurgerTime marquee artwork into a channel logo given that 75% of the letters were already there. :ROFLMAO:

Second: Kudos to you for documenting your repairs! Starting up a channel is no small feat! It takes dedication and patience. Speaking for myself, it takes twice as long to do everything arcade related since you need to shoot it on camera. It's tempting to cave in and just do a quick repair without filming, but don't give in! Keep at it.

Yes, I've found that filming my repair work doesn't take that much more time, but editing all of the footage into a releasable video definitely does!


@DLP - "What Would Jeff Kinder Do" (Arcade Restorations and such) https://www.youtube.com/user/jkinder1969/videos
@Jlitowitz - "Kapow's Arcade Adventures". (Travels all over the U.S. doing public arcade walkthroughs) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH2boiQ6SbL2UpHy-6YMe_g/videos

I'd already been following Jeff's dual Konami series (it's great!), but thanks for the pointer to Kapow's channel -- I'll check it out!


Also, let me know if you need help with anything. Been doing it for years and I'm always looking to pay it forward!

Believe me, I won't hesitate to ping you with questions!
 
I've enjoyed your repair videos too!
Thanks!

I'll probably break YouTube with my next one... It's currently at around 12 Hours :) Might have to break that up into a 2 parter since my video editing software seems to be a 1:1 when creating the video (i.e. a 1 Hour Video takes 1 hour to process) and then YouTube has to process it at a minimum of 2 times (one SD and and one HD)

I am currently doing all the main video (and audio) on my Phone (Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra) and I have a Web Cam sitting on my monitor pointing at the bench. The second camera is fixed focus and doesn't have zoom though. I need to try using my old Kodak Camera too since it has Zoom and such, but it's a slightly lower resolution.

I've contemplated doing more editing, but I do like videos that show everything. I hate going "Ok, how did you figure out that that chip was bad???"

Another cool concept I like is what doktorzett is doing with his "You Fix It!" repair videos he just started where he takes all the comments as advice on what/how to troubleshoot the board in his next video.

Here is Episode 1:

He has put up 2 others.
 
I'll probably break YouTube with my next one... It's currently at around 12 Hours :) Might have to break that up into a 2 parter since my video editing software seems to be a 1:1 when creating the video (i.e. a 1 Hour Video takes 1 hour to process) and then YouTube has to process it at a minimum of 2 times (one SD and and one HD)

😲 Per YouTube: "The maximum file size you can upload is 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less."

And forget it if you're filming in 4K... I'm seeing 1:12 processing times for 4K uploads, with one hour 4K videos taking YouTube 12 hours to process after uploading. Even that 60-second "shorts" video I did as an experiment tonight took 12 minutes to process. That was my first one released in HDR though -- my iPhone records in HDR, but only the iOS version of iMovie supports HDR export... the Mac version of iMovie doesn't (perhaps because Apple wants you to upgrade to Final Cut Pro?).


I am currently doing all the main video (and audio) on my Phone (Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra) and I have a Web Cam sitting on my monitor pointing at the bench. The second camera is fixed focus and doesn't have zoom though. I need to try using my old Kodak Camera too since it has Zoom and such, but it's a slightly lower resolution.

I've been filming everything on my iPhone 13 Pro Max with a DJI OM 5 gimbal stabilizer. The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't change the zoom level while filming in 4K 60fps (i.e., I have to stop recording to adjust the zoom). So far, I've just been using a cheap wireless lavalier mic for audio (or just the built-in iPhone mic for shorts), but I'm dissatisfied with the recording quality/consistency so I ordered a DJI Mic wireless system (which should arrive any day now).


I've contemplated doing more editing, but I do like videos that show everything. I hate going "Ok, how did you figure out that that chip was bad???"

I personally want to see every gory detail when I'm watching videos like these, but I do worry about the pacing for more casual viewers. For example, would they really want to see all 78 capacitors swapped out by someone doing a D9200 cap kit? 😅


Another cool concept I like is what doktorzett is doing with his "You Fix It!" repair videos he just started where he takes all the comments as advice on what/how to troubleshoot the board in his next video.

That's super cool -- thanks for the link! But what could possibly go wrong? "Needs a little percussive maintenance..."
 
And forget it if you're filming in 4K... I'm seeing 1:12 processing times for 4K uploads, with one hour 4K videos taking YouTube 12 hours to process after uploading. Even that 60-second "shorts" video I did as an experiment tonight took 12 minutes to process. That was my first one released in HDR though -- my iPhone records in HDR, but only the iOS version of iMovie supports HDR export... the Mac version of iMovie doesn't (perhaps because Apple wants you to upgrade to Final Cut Pro?).
Yeah, I can record up to 8K if I wanted to but I find that 1080p (1920x1080) works pretty well. Still eats up a ton of space though. The Mic on my phone works really well, so I don't think I need a separate mic at this time. Who knows, down the road I might change my mind :)

I've been filming everything on my iPhone 13 Pro Max with a DJI OM 5 gimbal stabilizer. The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't change the zoom level while filming in 4K 60fps (i.e., I have to stop recording to adjust the zoom). So far, I've just been using a cheap wireless lavalier mic for audio (or just the built-in iPhone mic for shorts), but I'm dissatisfied with the recording quality/consistency so I ordered a DJI Mic wireless system (which should arrive any day now).
Yeah, changing zoom while recording is nice. Not sure if I can if I recorded at 4 or 8K or not.

I personally want to see every gory detail when I'm watching videos like these, but I do worry about the pacing for more casual viewers. For example, would they really want to see all 78 capacitors swapped out by someone doing a D9200 cap kit? 😅
Well, they can skip ahead in the YouTube player, so those that do want to see it can, and those that don't can skip ahead :p

On the really long videos, I also try to put out a Long and a Short version of the video.
 
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