So yesterday I tried a little experiment. Kurtz has been using a service called UStream to broadcast his desktop while he draws the comic. It sounded like a really cool idea so I decided to give it a shot. As a test I posted a link to the stream in the forums yesterday and ended up with about 130 people watching me draw today’s comic. The service includes a built in chat room so that users can talk while watching the show. The response I got from theforumers was really positive. The only down sides seem to be that the chat room gets pretty crazy and the process does generate a little lag on my end. Normally a half second or so of lag for the person broadcasting is probably not even noticeable but when I’m using theWacom tablet to draw even a little bit of lag can be awkward.
I think over all it was really fun though and I’d like to do it more. I’ve set up a page called Penny Arcade TV that has the video stream as well as the chat client. I don’t have any specific schedule but I’ll make a post here next time I decide to broadcast a strip. I may also just turn it on from time to time if I’m not working on something top secret. I’m not sure how the service will handle a front page link but I guess we’ll give it a try.
New York comic con is this weekend and while Tycho and I will not be attending, Robert is. In fact he’ll be on a panel called “Webcomics: Threat or Menace?” which I think is a super funny title. In case you don’t know, Robert is the Business guy here at Penny Arcade. He’ll be on a panel with people from both webcomics and print discussing the effect that the internet is having on the world of comics publishing. If you want to check it out it’s on Saturday at noon in Room 1E09.
-Gabe out
