# How to get faster at the 3x3 Rubik's Cube (updated)



## nalralz (Apr 3, 2015)

This is a spin off of Fazrulz1's series he did almost 6 years ago. Even though it is mostly the same thing, it has more recent facts and ways of doing things. Be sure to subscribe if you want to be notified of them. New videos will come out every week and sometimes more than 1 in one day.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 7, 2015)

nalralz said:


> Part 3 is here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbIAPekTHfk&feature=youtu.be



Dangit. I just turned off my computer... will watch tomorrow.


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## theROUXbiksCube (Apr 7, 2015)

nalralz said:


> Part 3 is here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbIAPekTHfk&feature=youtu.be



Awesome c: Good stuff


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## nalralz (Apr 7, 2015)

If you have any questions on the series, don't hesitate to ask!


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 7, 2015)

nalralz said:


> If you have any questions on the series, don't hesitate to ask!



Great work, but what is the point of talking about obsolete cubes like the cubeforyou and type whatevers?


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## nalralz (Apr 7, 2015)

Those are also great speed cubes for beginners and that is what lots of people still start with. I started out with the Type a and then I got the dayan zhanchi 2 months later.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 7, 2015)

nalralz said:


> Those are also great speed cubes for beginners and that is what lots of people still start with. I started out with the Type a and then I got the dayan zhanchi 2 months later.



Im pretty sure begginers would prefer a guanlong over a type a.


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## theROUXbiksCube (Apr 7, 2015)

nalralz said:


> If you have any questions on the series, don't hesitate to ask!



Not really a question but some constructive criticism if i may:
Wouldn't it be easier for beginners to be recommended to start completely color neutral not just start with one color (you said white in the video)


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## nalralz (Apr 7, 2015)

It is better to start on a slower cube because your fingers will get stronger. Y0u still can start on one though.



theROUXbiksCube said:


> Not really a question but some constructive criticism if i may:
> Wouldn't it be easier for beginners to be recommended to start completely color neutral not just start with one color (you said white in the video)



It is easier to start on white and yellow because those colors are easier to track because they are bright colors. You also can fully focus on those 2 colors so you can improve faster. After about 6 months of using 2 colors, it is not very hard to transition to also using blue and green. Red and orange are the hardest in my opinion.


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## TDM (Apr 7, 2015)

nalralz said:


> It is easier to start on white and yellow because those colors are easier to track because they are bright colors. You also can fully focus on those 2 colors so you can improve faster. After about 6 months of using 2 colors, it is not very hard to transition to also using blue and green. Red and orange are the hardest in my opinion.


... no. This is horrible advice. It's so much easier if you start out colour neutral from the start.

Also, I haven't watched the videos, but do you really recommend a Type A...? Again, no. The GuanLong and the Aurora are both cheap, good cubes for beginners, especially if they aren't willing to spend much.


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## nalralz (Apr 8, 2015)

What is wrong with the type a and cube4you? Feliks got sub-20 with the type a and sub-10 with the cube4you!


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## Randomno (Apr 8, 2015)

nalralz said:


> What is wrong with the type a and cube4you? Feliks got sub-20 with the type a and sub-10 with the cube4you!



Yes, when nothing better was available.


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## nalralz (Apr 8, 2015)

But that proves that they can be very good speed cubes!


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## TDM (Apr 8, 2015)

nalralz said:


> But that proves that they can be very good speed cubes!


They aren't. He didn't have a choice back then since those were the best options, but now there are so many newer, better cubes that these cubes are terrible in comparison.


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## CriticalCubing (Apr 8, 2015)

nalralz said:


> It is easier to start on white and yellow because those colors are easier to track because they are bright colors. You also can fully focus on those 2 colors so you can improve faster. After about 6 months of using 2 colors, it is not very hard to transition to also using blue and green. Red and orange are the hardest in my opinion.


Horrible advice. I always recommend to solve any colour cross. Nothing is tough or easy. Everything is easy after some practice. It will be very easy to start being CN from start than change down the road. And also, in the current speedcubing market, anybody will go for the GuanLong. Type A or Rubiks brand are horrible advice again. If you want strong fingers, then tighten it to max and make the cube overlubed and gummy. Even cyclone boys cubes would be better than Type A.

PS: 1 year ago I also made similar mistakes but that allowed me to grow. Just take it as constructive criticism and dont let it get to your heart.


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## nalralz (Apr 9, 2015)

Ok. It is just in my opinion though. 



CriticalCubing said:


> Horrible advice. I always recommend to solve any colour cross. Nothing is tough or easy. Everything is easy after some practice. It will be very easy to start being CN from start than change down the road. And also, in the current speedcubing market, anybody will go for the GuanLong. Type A or Rubiks brand are horrible advice again. If you want strong fingers, then tighten it to max and make the cube overlubed and gummy. Even cyclone boys cubes would be better than Type A.
> 
> PS: 1 year ago I also made similar mistakes but that allowed me to grow. Just take it as constructive criticism and dont let it get to your heart.



Is that what most people think?


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## Chree (Apr 10, 2015)

nalralz said:


> Is that what most people think?



Yeah, I think the whole idea of "beginners should use older/inferior cubes" is pretty well debunked. Cubers like Kennan and Lucas have reached ridiculous speeds without it. I'm sure there's a loooooong list of people that never had anything older than a Guhong as their main.

Finger "Strength" is a bit of a misnomer in this context. But high levels of Finger Dexterity can be achieved using any modern cube.


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## theROUXbiksCube (Apr 10, 2015)

Chree said:


> Yeah, I think the whole idea of "beginners should use older/inferior cubes" is pretty well debunked. Cubers like Kennan and Lucas have reached ridiculous speeds without it. I'm sure there's a loooooong list of people that never had anything older than a Guhong as their main.
> 
> Finger "Strength" is a bit of a misnomer in this context. But high levels of Finger Dexterity can be achieved using any modern cube.



Pretty much ^^


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## nalralz (Apr 10, 2015)

theROUXbiksCube said:


> Pretty much ^^



I see. So is it bad that I got my first speed cube when I was at 41 seconds with my Rubik's store-bought one month after I learned how to solve a Rubik's Cube?


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## theROUXbiksCube (Apr 10, 2015)

nalralz said:


> I see. So is it bad that I got my first speed cube when I was at 41 seconds with my Rubik's store-bought one month after I learned how to solve a Rubik's Cube?



Not at all, people just know now it doesn't make a difference what cube you should use when you are a beginner, but it doesn't help if it is something inferior to popular cubes today


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## Chree (Apr 10, 2015)

nalralz said:


> Is that what most people think?



As for the whole White/Yellow vs CN thing? I think it's completely subjective. There are absolutely benefits to being CN, there's no disputing that. But there's also no reason that you HAVE to start with White/Yellow either. Antoine Cantin and KCIII are Red/Orange. Mats is Green/Blue. And there are plenty of fast people that are exclusively White Cross.

CLL_Smooth once put it to me this way (and I'm paraphrasing here): If you're stuck with white cross, it means you'll be faced with harder cases more often. But those tough cases will force you to think about how to solve the cube differently. So, in the long run, it can be beneficial in its own way.


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## chronondecay (Apr 11, 2015)

nalralz said:


> I see. So is it bad that I got my first speed cube when I was at 41 seconds with my Rubik's store-bought one month after I learned how to solve a Rubik's Cube?



From personal experience I'd say there's a definite risk of RSI; before I got the Guhong v2 late Feb, I got to sub-30 after three months with my storebought. However, at a few dozen solves a day, I developed pain in my wrists that took a couple of weeks to sort itself out.

You can definitely get decent times with the storebought - between the first and second World Championships, there were some sub-16 cubers IIRC - but they would probably do better with access to corner-cutting and fingertricks. (If Jessica Fridrich had an Aolong to start with, would she be a sub-10?...) With better cubes now, I think there's no convincing reason to stick with XYZ 'beginner's cube' until you're sub-ABC.


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## nalralz (Apr 11, 2015)

I see. But the cube can have some effect on making your fingers stronger of you use a tighter or slower cube right?


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 11, 2015)

nalralz said:


> I see. But the cube can have some effect on making your fingers stronger of you use a tighter or slower cube right?



If you dont use fingertricks, the cube doesnt matter. If you do, tighter cubes help with control, finger strength, and turning accuracy.


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## nalralz (Apr 11, 2015)

So using slower cubes to start can help your speed.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 11, 2015)

nalralz said:


> So using slower cubes to start can help your speed.



depending on whether u fingertrick. I learned fingertrikcs on my rubiks brand, and could barely 2 TPS. When I got a guhong, my times dropped 20 seconds immediately.


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## Chree (Apr 11, 2015)

I repeat: Finger "Strength" is not an applicable term. But speed and dexterity come with time and practice. If you wanna practice lifting weights with your fingers, have fun... but it won't help you with cubing in any way. Think of the amount of force it takes to turn a good cube: like... none. None force.

It's the ability to flick faster and use fingertricks that will serve you in the long run... practice, practice, practice.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 11, 2015)

Chree said:


> I repeat: Finger "Strength" is not an applicable term. But speed and dexterity come with time and practice. If you wanna practice lifting weights with your fingers, have fun... but it won't help you with cubing in any way. Think of the amount of force it takes to turn a good cube: like... none. None force.
> 
> It's the ability to flick faster and use fingertricks that will serve you in the long run... practice, practice, practice.



You need strong flicks not necessarily strong fingers. Starting out, it was very hard for me to double flick U with my index then middle, but with practise, I can now get it to turn the full 180.


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## nalralz (Apr 12, 2015)

Ok. I see. Hey, people say that I am not fast enough to teach people how to get faster at the Rubik's cube and make a good series because they say I am slow myself. Are they just joking or are they serious and do you agree?


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## OkinawaSolver (Apr 12, 2015)

^^^ First if you're incredibly fast I'm going to follow the series because I've been stuck at 35-45 second averages for 3yrs I hope your videos help and thanks for reading. "Haters gonna hate." 
-Yoda


...Okay maybe it wasn't Yoda


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## TDM (Apr 12, 2015)

nalralz said:


> Ok. I see. Hey, people say that I am not fast enough to teach people how to get faster at the Rubik's cube and make a good series because they say I am slow myself. Are they just joking or are they serious and do you agree?



They could be serious but not know what they're talking about. Speed isn't that important - You don't need to be fast to have knowledge. You do need some experience though, since it's a bit pointless to recommend anything you've never tried.


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## Randomno (Apr 12, 2015)

Chree said:


> As for the whole White/Yellow vs CN thing? I think it's completely subjective. There are absolutely benefits to being CN, there's no disputing that. But there's also no reason that you HAVE to start with White/Yellow either. Antoine Cantin and KCIII are Red/Orange. Mats is Green/Blue. And there are plenty of fast people that are exclusively White Cross.



Pretty sure Antoine is orange only.


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## nalralz (Apr 13, 2015)

Ok. So, why is my video getting so many dislikes?


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## theROUXbiksCube (Apr 13, 2015)

Thumbs down? Or just negative feedback?


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## nalralz (Apr 13, 2015)

Thumbs down.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 13, 2015)

Haters gon hate, but ur vids are great.


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## BrianJ (Apr 13, 2015)

In my opinion, it doesn't matter. The different options (CN, only W, W/Y, etc.) have their own benefits and drawbacks. If anyone cares, I was white only until about 20 seconds, then switched easily to a 16 second average using CN in like 2 weeks. I do white a bit more than other colors, but I can get better times on other colors.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 13, 2015)

CubeCube said:


> In my opinion, it doesn't matter. The different options (CN, only W, W/Y, etc.) have their own benefits and drawbacks. If anyone cares, I was white only until about 20 seconds, then switched easily to a 16 second average using CN in like 2 weeks. I do white a bit more than other colors, but I can get better times on other colors.



Its personal preference. If ur CN, u can use any good scramble. If you are 1 colour, you focus inspection on 1 colour and like plan cross and 3 f2l pairs or something ridiculous. If ur good enough u do both anyway...


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## nalralz (Apr 14, 2015)

I have decided to possible discontinue the series because of the dislikes, comments, and the similarity of fazrulz1's series.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 14, 2015)

nalralz said:


> I have decided to possible discontinue the series because of the dislikes, comments, and the similarity of fazrulz1's series.



No ur tips are great!


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## OkinawaSolver (Apr 14, 2015)

nalralz said:


> I am at around 13 seconds and below and I have been cubing for just over 1 year. I think I know what I am doing. What do you mean by "Haters gonna hate"? (by the way, your times are what the series is mainly aimed at and subscribe and like the videos if you want to go back and refer to the videos. Also you can then see them as soon as the next video comes out)



By saying haters gonna hate I meant haters will do what they do best and hate or be mean but you just gotta ignore them and move on


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## nalralz (Apr 14, 2015)

I can't anymore. They have taken over my series.


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## OkinawaSolver (Apr 14, 2015)

Bro your vids are more helpful than the ones made by fazrulz to me the tutorial fazrulz made was way too advanced and he talked fast but yours are the perfect pace for me you explain everything with the perfect amount of detail in my opinion.


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## nalralz (Apr 14, 2015)

But I basically am just rewording everything he is saying and it doesn't seem right to just copy off of his series and just update it.


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## OkinawaSolver (Apr 14, 2015)

It's your choice man but in all honesty I like your videos better I can't keep up with what feliks says I'm not that advanced but your cross tutorial is really understandable to me.


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## Rocky0701 (Apr 14, 2015)

Yes.


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## penguinz7 (Apr 14, 2015)

Does no one know how to make polls anymore?


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## DeeDubb (Apr 14, 2015)

I need to make a video debunking the horrible myth about beginners needing slower cubes, and the whole idea of cubes being too fast for someone. Basically, it comes down to this:

People who say a cube is "too fast for them" have become accustomed to a cube that is more difficult to turn to the point where getting an easier cube will "feel" faster. It just takes less effort to turn, which they aren't used to. This can happen to anyone at any speed. Beginner or advanced. My friend said my AoLong is too fast, and he averages 15, and I've been using the AoLong since I averaged 25. Personally, I would try to learn on the easier cube and let my muscles adjust to it over time. This does not apply to a cube being so loose that it feels unstable, that is a different topic. But I would love the fastest cube that is still stable, and I would recommend that cube to anyone at any level.

I believe (though I don't have a ton of evidence to support this, which is why I preface with "I believe") that most RSIs come from using cubes that are too tight and/or too difficult to turn. I've never had RSI even averaging a hundred plus timed solves per day during my peak of practice, and I believe this is due to me using a WeiLong or better from 50 second average on.


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## Dene (Apr 14, 2015)

3.


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## Berd (Apr 14, 2015)

Just go for it!


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## TDM (Apr 14, 2015)

I'll take a look at the videos when I get home.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 14, 2015)

DeeDubb said:


> I need to make a video debunking the horrible myth about beginners needing slower cubes, and the whole idea of cubes being too fast for someone. Basically, it comes down to this:
> 
> People who say a cube is "too fast for them" have become accustomed to a cube that is more difficult to turn to the point where getting an easier cube will "feel" faster. It just takes less effort to turn, which they aren't used to. This can happen to anyone at any speed. Beginner or advanced. My friend said my AoLong is too fast, and he averages 15, and I've been using the AoLong since I averaged 25. Personally, I would try to learn on the easier cube and let my muscles adjust to it over time. This does not apply to a cube being so loose that it feels unstable, that is a different topic. But I would love the fastest cube that is still stable, and I would recommend that cube to anyone at any level.
> 
> I believe (though I don't have a ton of evidence to support this, which is why I preface with "I believe") that most RSIs come from using cubes that are too tight and/or too difficult to turn. I've never had RSI even averaging a hundred plus timed solves per day during my peak of practice, and I believe this is due to me using a WeiLong or better from 50 second average on.



This is right, to an extent. I got an aolong at 45 second average, and I liked it. The speed didnt mess me up, but the excellent corner cutting did. To this day my turning is pretty sloppy. Now the aolomg is slow for me and I use a weilong, which is getting sorta slow. Im gonna try weight 1 in it, and if its not as fast as I want, I wanna try guangying and 356/357. The series is good and informative, but the hardware part seems a bit outdated/subjective.


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## TDM (Apr 14, 2015)

TDM said:


> I'll take a look at the videos when I get home.


Here's my thoughts.
First video:


Spoiler



The intro is a solve which you can't actually see because there's text in the way
It sounds very rehearsed and not very natural - it would be easier to listen to if you talked normally
This doesn't tell you how to get faster at 3x3, it tells you how to get faster at CFOP
... your PB Ao12 is less than half a second faster than your global average, and your PB Ao100 is slower than your global average? Don't mention times if you're not going to be consistent.


Second video:


Spoiler



The Rubik's brand isn't great for any beginners - it's more expensive than most speedcubes and is _much_ worse
Gans? FangShi? ShengShou? You've completely missed out 5+ great cubes.
Half the "MoYu" cubes you mentioned were YJ
All the DIYs you mentioned are all outdated and not very good. They're not even worth mentioning.
Have your cubes ready to show if you're going to show them
Don't talk about cubes you don't know about
The GuHong v2 isn't a "pure speed" cube
"widely known as a great beginner's speedcube", definitely not. Like I said before, Aurora or Guanlong
This is a guide on how to do things. You should show taking off a centre cap so people know how to do it
MoYu cubes aren't hard to disassemble at all. Try disassembling a ShuangRen.
Aside from Cubezz and SpeedCubeShop, those aren't good websites. What about TheCubicle.us?


Part 3.1:


Spoiler



Tell people to hold their cross colour on D throughout the solve. Don't tell them to build it on U and then rotate.
You gave almost no information whatsoever on how to get faster at cross, just what times people should be achieving. This video doesn't really have any use.
That last thing you said was completely wrong. It's best to start colour neutrality from the beginning; it's much harder to start being not colour neutral, and then to learn other oclour neutralities.


3.2:


Spoiler



You're talking at a cube. This might as well be a text tutorial.
You finished with a complete example solve... in a cross video.
Mentioning the rotationless F2L wasn't necessary - you just got lucky.


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## nalralz (Apr 14, 2015)

TDM said:


> Here's my thoughts.
> First video:
> 
> 
> ...



So should I delete them and start over or should I delete them and just go back to solving videos and competitions regularly?


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## nalralz (Apr 14, 2015)

Do you know why I am doing this? Over 75% of people who see the videos don't agree or dislike the videos. And, it is basically what Feliks says in his series.


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## TDM (Apr 14, 2015)

nalralz said:


> So should I delete them and start over or should I delete them and just go back to solving videos and competitions regularly?


Your channel, your choice.


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 14, 2015)

nalralz said:


> So should I delete them and start over or should I delete them and just go back to solving videos and competitions regularly?



I would say you should redo them and make them your own. Talk about how begginers should get a guanlong for 30 seconds, then start talking about how to practice, splits, what to practice, look ahead, and other tips that everybody can use mlno matter their speed.


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## jms (Apr 15, 2015)

I have only seen up to 3.1, and I am a 35 second solver.

No offense but there was nothing in there apart from a basic overview of not much at all.


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## Dene (Apr 15, 2015)

nalralz said:


> Do you know why I am doing this? Over 75% of people who see the videos don't agree or dislike the videos. And, it is basically what Feliks says in his series.



Welcome to the real world. No one knows who you are nor do they care, so they'll just be mean because they can.

People know who Feliks is, and they want Feliks to like them, so they'll do whatever they can to get his attention.

My point is, the content just doesn't matter. It's all just a popularity contest. I mean, how else would Justin Bieber be so popular?


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## nalralz (Apr 16, 2015)

PenguinsDontFly said:


> I would say you should redo them and make them your own. Talk about how begginers should get a guanlong for 30 seconds, then start talking about how to practice, splits, what to practice, look ahead, and other tips that everybody can use mlno matter their speed.


I will start it over brand new!

Done. I deleted them so now I can start a brand new personalized updated series! I will start it in the next month or so. Please bear with me subscribers! I will upload other solve videos in the mean time.


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## Chree (Apr 16, 2015)

Excellent! I'm glad you're gonna give it another go. And yeah, definitely personalize it! Try to remember the little things you did to practice each step, and how that helped you get to where you are. And show lots of examples of different tips and tricks.


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## nalralz (Apr 17, 2015)

How many videos should be in the series or should it be one video on beginning to get under one minute? What should the title be called? should I talk about how to practice, splits, what to practice, look ahead, and other tips that everybody can use as a beginner? Anything else I should add? how should I do it?


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## PenguinsDontFly (Apr 17, 2015)

nalralz said:


> How many videos should be in the series or should it be one video on beginning to get under one minute? What should the title be called? should I talk about how to practice, splits, what to practice, look ahead, and other tips that everybody can use as a beginner? Anything else I should add? how should I do it?



don't split it into parts based on steps of the solve. Split it into steps based on how to practise. Maybe you can start with talking about un-timed solves, getting used to the method of solving the cube, and learning how to do things more efficiently. Title should just be "how to get practise to get faster at 3x3".


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## Chree (Apr 17, 2015)

I think splitting it into "steps of the solve" is fine. But I agree that a portion of each video or of the whole series should be dedicated on how to practice, what to think about during each step, etc.

Edit: But another thing... don't worry about having a script the whole time, either. You can talk about your own experience and what you know others have experienced as well. One of the most legit complaints I saw from before was: you reading from the script sounded really unnatural. It might take a thousand takes to get a single video out, but as long as you cover the important bullet points, I think it'd be worth it.


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## nalralz (Apr 18, 2015)

Anything else I should add in them about the hardware ect.?

I still feel people will hate this just as much...


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## DeeDubb (Apr 18, 2015)

nalralz said:


> I still feel people will hate this just as much...



The more you worry about this, the less likely you are to make videos. Just make them. If people love it, great. If people hate it, then it's a learning experience. You already got a lot of feedback for your first set of videos. We aren't gonna make your videos for you. Just make them, and hope to get some feedback.The bad thing is when people don't say anything.

However, I will say you should ask yourself these questions (Don't answer me, because I don't care, these are for you to consider internally):

Are my videos offering something to the community that is currently lacking?

Is my video editing ability good enough to provide watchable content?

Am I able to express the information in a way that's easily absorbed and enjoyable to listen to?

These are things I generally ask myself before taking on any tutorial/walkthrough solve video.


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## nalralz (Apr 18, 2015)

Ok, thanks. I will find out what people need help with the most right now.


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## nalralz (Apr 18, 2015)

How about how to practice different things? No order but just random stages? (not completely random)


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