097: The SoraRabbit Update #5

And we’re finally back! Has it really been two years since my last Update post? I don’t know where the time has gone! You may have noticed that in addition to this update post being delayed, I also haven’t put out many posts this year. The reason for that was that I kicked my YouTube development into high gear. And I’m here today to proudly announce that the channel is launched!

The banner is a placeholder.

That’s right, The SoraRabbit Hole has expanded to videos! I’ve been wanting to make this move for a very long time but it was a lot of work in between family obligations, this blog, and a full-time day job. I’ve been chiseling away at it in between other things and finally, with the help of an 11-day vacation this summer, I’ve managed to get it off the ground.

My office is getting crowded.

I said last time that I had all my equipment. Well, that turned out to be not quite true. I had to buy several more lights, a new and better mic, and a teleprompter.

Some of my costumes.

I also bought some costumes and several props. I wish I had a better camera and a computer that wasn’t constantly running out of space and memory, but that’ll come a little further down the road.

My set for Manga Corner.

For two months or so leading up to my vacation, I did as much prep work as I could. I worked out the sets, wrote several scripts, and actually managed to film 12 full videos… got them edited and everything. I wanted to have a stockpile so that I could space out my uploads and not have a crunch shortly after starting.

There’s been a steep learning curve. Learning how to properly sync voiceovers, changing the format of a couple of my videos, revising two videos I thought were complete. One fun moment was learning (the hard way) that my camera has a 29 minute limit for recording. I lost a lot of footage that day because the camera was no longer recording and I had no idea. Lighting has been a huge challenge, and I need a lot of work to refine my oral presentation skills.

The other thing that had to be done before launch was the completion of my cohost.

RabbitSora!

Say hi to RabbitSora! He’s been living in my head for years and now here he is, finally made real. My wife, Cocoashade crafted the puppet, doing the majority of it while I did the little details like the eyes, nose, teeth, and trimming up the fur. I don’t remember where the idea came from to have a puppet cohost on my vlog, but he’s been a central element of the channel ever since conception. I’m very happy with how he turned out.

I’m good at thumbnails.

So what sort of content can you expect from the channel? Well, the Vlog is the centerpiece, containing an ongoing storyline and several characters and plotlines. It will also be in a season format with overarching story arcs for each season.

I also have shorts up that are mostly used right now for promotion. (I have to get better at promotion for sure.) Two of the many ongoing series featured will be SoraRabbit’s Manga Corner and Journey Through the Forgotten Comic Book Bin. Regular readers of this blog should know that one since I have two posts already out for that series. I decided a while back to expand to video as a way to compliment the posts. This is why in the previous Update post I mentioned that I was delaying the next Comic Bin post for a bit. I wanted to wait until the channel was up and running so that I could work on the posts and the videos at the same time. There are many, many more ideas in development for the channel, so stay tuned.

Also, if you’re a fan of this blog, don’t worry. It’s not going anywhere. I likely won’t update as much as I have in the past, but I plan to keep it going for the foreseeable future.

Vlog set.

And that’s the update! Short and sweet, since I still have a lot of work to do. At the time of this writing I have three and a half days left on my vacation and I still need to type up three scripts and get footage for the next three Vlog episodes. The YouTube channel is @Sorarabbithole and you can find it here. If you like my stuff, please consider liking and subscribing. Every sub helps, since YouTube has raised their requirements in order to monetize the channel. My ultimate goal is to make a living doing this so that I can focus all my attention and energy on creating the best content I can for all of you.

Thank you for reading my update and thank you in advance for supporting The SoraRabbit Hole as we begin the next leg of our journey! I appreciate you all and will be back soon with a few more posts before my regularly-scheduled holiday posts.

SoraRabbit Hole Vlog: Out now!