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I hope it works out for him. YouTube is a tough racket.

He'll be fine with Patreon and doing ad for Raid : Shadow Legend

Looking forward to see more masterclass/serious painting video from Duncan now that he's no longer limit to only using citadel paint.

If he got big GW might have him do their board game how to play instead of Becca, that'd be hillarious

 EnTyme wrote:
I hope it works out for him. YouTube is a tough racket.

He's making a bloody awful mistake if he's starting youtube now. He needs to do Twitch to get his feet set. And even then i hope he realises he'll need to be doing a good 6 day week for multiple hours to get anywhere near the subs he would need to actually get a living going.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

 EnTyme wrote:
I hope it works out for him. YouTube is a tough racket.

He's making a bloody awful mistake if he's starting youtube now. He needs to do Twitch to get his feet set. And even then i hope he realises he'll need to be doing a good 6 day week for multiple hours to get anywhere near the subs he would need to actually get a living going.

I don't really do Twitch much, but I'll do what I can to support him if that's the route he goes.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

 EnTyme wrote:
I hope it works out for him. YouTube is a tough racket.

He's making a bloody awful mistake if he's starting youtube now. He needs to do Twitch to get his feet set. And even then i hope he realises he'll need to be doing a good 6 day week for multiple hours to get anywhere near the subs he would need to actually get a living going.

Agreed, hasn't monetisation on YouTube fallen off a cliff in the past year or so? And is it subs or views that bring in the true money? I once saw a video where a million viewed video gained the creator about $400.

ListenToMeWarriors wrote:

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

 EnTyme wrote:
I hope it works out for him. YouTube is a tough racket.

He's making a bloody awful mistake if he's starting youtube now. He needs to do Twitch to get his feet set. And even then i hope he realises he'll need to be doing a good 6 day week for multiple hours to get anywhere near the subs he would need to actually get a living going.

Agreed, hasn't monetisation on YouTube fallen off a cliff in the past year or so? And is it subs or views that bring in the true money? I once saw a video where a million viewed video gained the creator about $400.

There's a reason why so many creators are abandoing it for streaming. And streaming can be very tempermental. Popular streamers who disappear for just a few days for a break can lose thousands of subs at a time. It is a very risky thing to bet your career on. Especially something as niche as paiting. He's got guts to give up a regular salary and be basically the face of the biggest mini company currently going to go it alone.

YouTube is where your Patreon videos get posted.

Duncan has a huge head start and I wouldn't be surprised to see him making more from this than GW. No perks, but no restrictions either.

I think a big part of it is going to depend on if he can get sponsership. if he's got to buy his own models it's going to eat into his earnings a bit (less so mind you as he'd use models he wanted to paint for his hobby time anyway) but if say.. some mini companies offered to give him models to paint, it might help.

 Chairman Aeon wrote:
YouTube is where your Patreon videos get posted.

Duncan has a huge head start and I wouldn't be surprised to see him making more from this than GW. No perks, but no restrictions either.

This. Youtube advertising income might be a risky venture and streaming services might well be very hit and miss in terms of viewership (likely because you've a lot using their 1 subscribe a month for free from Amazon); but Patreon seems to be going strong at present. Even if he does twitch he can easily setup a patreon as well with unique/early videos and material.

As others note he's also a big enough name that medium to smaller model companies would likely love to have him paint their models for the exposure. It might even do a lot to break some of the fantasy to historical barriers and expose more sci-fi fans to historical games.

I think he's also moving fairly fast and he's popular enough that he'll certainly get a lot of subscribers/hits/views/whatevers in the early days - as long as his content is solid in those days it will basically give him a huge jump-start over many others who have to start with family and friends viewers only. He'll start with a big fanbase.

He missed his window. He should have had this is up and ready to go immediately after his work with GW ended. 10% of his prior fanbase has likely already forgotten who he is/moved on.

That could well be a contractual clause though.
Similar to a non compete etc

 Gallahad wrote:
He missed his window. He should have had this is up and ready to go immediately after his work with GW ended. 10% of his prior fanbase has likely already forgotten who he is/moved on.

it's been less then a month since he offically resigned (and IIRC it was noted the inital plan was for it to be announced in the new year) if your attention span is that low I doubt you're a mini painter

 BrookM wrote:
From the Twitter: https://twitter.com/Two_Thin_Coats/status/1218188424873742336

Well, look what just arrived in the mail, a large amount of video filming equipment...! #paintingeverything #gonerogue #staytuned

Spoiler:

Calling it now: He's going to become an Instagram Influencer, taking selfies of himself during workouts and at cafes at breakfast.

 Gallahad wrote:
He missed his window. He should have had this is up and ready to go immediately after his work with GW ended. 10% of his prior fanbase has likely already forgotten who he is/moved on.

You really think 10% of people who were fans of Duncan have forgetten him? I think most people who preffered his videos are looking forward to hi doing something else, the bigger problem is getting the word out to everyone. But I would suppose threads like this help that effort a ton already.

It's holiday, store are closed and let the man have his break.

And as for being a youtuber, loyal fans are more important than the trendy boys who just follow him because he's trending.

For those who'd like to follow Duncan elsewhere, he's also on Instagram now: https://www.instagram.com/duncanjrhodes/

Love instagram, just got into it and it has big potential for galleries and quick vids... As for miniature painting YouTube videos do those gather enough views to justify living out of it? I mean its such a niche thing that does not seem a good venture to pursue.

I wish him success. I've really enjoyed his tutorials. It might be interesting to see what he can do with products beyond the GW realm (paints, finishing products, etc.).

There are youtubers that go full-time while averaging 30k-50k views per video. Most of their income isn't from views, but from affiliate links, patreon or merchandise. Youtube money isn't the main source of income for 98% (I'm making this up) of youtubers. Other sources may be added on top (instagram, sponsors, etc...).

I can easily see Mr. Rhodes doing so, and wish him the best.

VBS wrote:
There are youtubers that go full-time while averaging 30k-50k views per video. Most of their income isn't from views, but from affiliate links, patreon or merchandise. Youtube money isn't the main source of income for 98% (I'm making this up) of youtubers. Other sources may be added on top (instagram, sponsors, etc...).

I can easily see Mr. Rhodes doing so, and wish him the best.

"Two Thin Coats!" brand paint brushes?

BrianDavion wrote:

VBS wrote:
There are youtubers that go full-time while averaging 30k-50k views per video. Most of their income isn't from views, but from affiliate links, patreon or merchandise. Youtube money isn't the main source of income for 98% (I'm making this up) of youtubers. Other sources may be added on top (instagram, sponsors, etc...).

I can easily see Mr. Rhodes doing so, and wish him the best.

"Two Thin Coats!" brand paint brushes?

“Two thin coats!” Clothing line. You seriously get two thin coats

Duncan is interviewed on the latest Paint All The Minis Paint Ramble podcast.

http://patmramble.libsyn.com/website/ep-161-duncan-rhodes-hobby-content-producer

BrianDavion wrote:


"Two Thin Coats!" brand paint brushes?

He could totally exploit the whole two thin coats meme. Make his own "brand" by buying cheap stuff off China and strapping a sticker with his face on it for thrice the price. Instant hit.
That's what a lot of people do, I even think hobby companies like Green Stuff World did that before starting to develop their own products.

VBS wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:


"Two Thin Coats!" brand paint brushes?

He could totally exploit the whole two thin coats meme. Make his own "brand" by buying cheap stuff off China and strapping a sticker with his face on it for thrice the price. Instant hit.
That's what a lot of people do, I even think hobby companies like Green Stuff World did that before starting to develop their own products.

He's worked for GW... He knows he can charge 50 times the price.. common

 Chairman Aeon wrote:
YouTube is where your Patreon videos get posted.

Duncan has a huge head start and I wouldn't be surprised to see him making more from this than GW. No perks, but no restrictions either.

This is the nail on the head. Patreon is how must youtubers make money now.

Honestly, I think he's going to do fine. It would have been kind of poor form to resign and then launch his own business the next day, too...

I am much more interested knowing that he'll be painting a variety of miniatures. Very much looking forward to more details on this!

 RiTides wrote:
Honestly, I think he's going to do fine. It would have been kind of poor form to resign and then launch his own business the next day, too...

Does GW put non-compete clauses in the contracts of those who work at GW HQ? If they do, he may have to wait it out before announcing what he will be doing.

Honestly I can't see a painting channel actually competing with GW. GW doesn't really profit directly off painting videos at all. It's all secondary. If anything Duncan doing painting videos advertises GW's products whenever Duncan uses GW paint and/or models or any other supplies. Even something as casual as a painting handle will be GW advertising for FREE for GW.

Granted not being part of GW he can use whatever he wants now, however you can bet he'll follow much of his core and use a lot of GW stuff, esp early on. Likely dipping into other brands for exotic things (eg colourshift paints and such).

A non-compete clause could be a standard part of all contracts for GW HQ employees keeping them from working in the miniature gaming industry for a set amount of time after they leave GW, not something specific for painting videos but which may still be covered by a general non-compete clause (if it exists).

That would seem like a really unfair business practice, if so, given the narrowness of the field. Him painting other miniatures shouldn't hurt them at all, and seemingly he's free to given what he's teasing.