He's back

Dear Patrons,

My old friend DPT is at it again. Previously, we had this: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31004592

Now this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-h3jdD3bF0

His points:

- I make two videos a week because I have my students do all of the research and grunt work on each video. Then complete the other "50%" and take the credit.

- My top 7 videos are all copies of other videos.

- The 'programming' video was plagiarised from another video because I didn't have the knowledge to make it myself.

- Anyone who disagrees with him is biased. Prusa pays people to be critics of him and they congregate on my channel.

- I've never touched a Prusa.

My conclusion is his whole style is to make drama videos to bring traffic to his channel, which is why I don't publicly bite and respond. It's exactly what he wants. Therefore, I will only reply here. His video is very poorly researched, embarrassingly so.

- I make two videos one week, one the other. It has been this way for quite a while now. In my first year of the channel I lasted 9 months making three a week. They were generally easier to make videos, screencasts on a topic I was familiar with with an intro and outro added. In the second year I frequently had two a week, because I was working four days a week as a teacher instead of full time and it gave me a smidgen more time. There were periods where I had only one due to being so busy with teaching and in particular readying my team for the F1 in Schools world finals.

- Workload wise, I'd love to do just one video a week. The trouble is I would never get through my queue of videos. They come from manufacturers sending me something to review, Patreon/comment requests and other topics I am interested in. I know people are waiting on things, and this is one of the most stressful parts, trying to find the right order and time frame to produce videos.

- To think that students are motivated and organised enough to happily take on research for 3D printing videos on behalf of their teacher, as well as juggle their own social, sporting and academic commitments is one of the craziest things I've ever heard. If working out this stuff was easy enough for the average school kid to do it then myself and many others would be redundant. Any teacher would be outraged at the lack of understanding of the teaching profession and how hard it is to get students to care about their work and complete to to a satisfactory standard, let alone manage a classroom.

- I've never copied another video. I always give credit to designs I've printed, documentation I've used, existing videos on a topic I have watched. When he contacted me a couple of years ago he specifically pointed out that he liked that I gave credit. My approach hasn't changed, the evidence is there in my videos and their descriptions, so why has his opinion back flipped?

- He previously claimed I copied his CNC video. I've never watched this video, I got bored by the extended talking and quit early on. Sainsmart contacted me and asked me to review the CNC. I like CNCs, it was affordable, so why not? I reviewed it like I normally would. I didn't invent the format and neither did he. The contents of a review for almost any product are going to be similar. Show people what the product is, what comes with it, setup, how well it works, give a summary. It's not rocket science.

- The idea that the first person to review product x means no one else can is flawed. Take for example the Artillery3D X1, I was one of the first to have a review on that. I don't therefore claim that everyone after me is copying. It is important for viewers to watch multiple reviews to get a good impression. I'm not afraid of other channels. There is no competition on YouTube in my opinion. A viewer is not locked into just one channel. If they are interested in a topic they will watch videos from multiple sources. It's not like TV where shows are competing against one another for ratings.

- The programming video, I assume the Phonegap build phone app in 10 minutes, was made from my own knowledge and experience. I released an app on Google Play called Athletics Tracker back in 2014 using this platform. Around this time I also made an app called Soccer Coach (not published) to help me coach my school soccer team. I didn't follow any videos for this, just the documentation on the Phonegap Build site. I have seen in the comments the video he claims I copied is in Hindi, a different platform and therefore a different programming language and system. It shows how little knowledge he has in the area that he thinks they are the same thing.

- I actually watch very little 3D printing content in my spare time. Doing this full time can make it like work and I tend to keep my distance somewhat to remain passionate about the topic. Like most people, I only watch something that pops up as a suggestion if it takes my fancy. I watch a lot of YouTube: mainly cars, Formula 1, NRL and NBA and sim racing, but rarely 3D printing.

- The Prusa thing says a lot about the way he sees the world. I would suggest if Prusa dislikes him, it's because he's made outrageous accusations about them in the past. The idea that they pay people to troll him is just insane. Every public figure will always have people who don't like them and also have trolls. It goes with the territory and you need a thick skin. I see in his comments he has already accused someone who politely disagreed with him as being a paid troll.

- I have two Prusas: an i3 MK3 and a Mini. Both purchased with my own money. When I was a teacher, I facilitated my school getting a MK3 and also recommended some Minis before I left. I have been positive about the MK3 because it deserved it, and quite frank with the Mini because it didn't perform as I had hoped. I don't know what his point was in saying I've never touched one, but it reflects poorly on him to make a claim that could have been checked in seconds.

In my opinion, the reasons for the success of the channel success are a concise, easily digestible style, a structured teaching format like I used to use in the classroom, being honest and unbiased, putting in ample time to research a topic, and consistency of work ethic. My videos certainly aren't perfect but I try to keep the what the viewer wants in mind, stay humble and improve based on feedback.

The first two years of the channel were incredibly hard, trying to get it going on top of being a teacher. It only happened because I was willing to trade in time with my family, 90% of my hobbies and a lot of sleep. It put an incredible strain on my life and family, and I'm so grateful that this year I've been full time on YouTube, made possible by generous Patrons past and present.

I wish he would just put his energy into making the best videos he can rather than blaming the world for his perceived failures and resorting to click bait to gain views. I see he's close to 50K subscribers. It's a tremendous achievement and I'm sure he could get a lot more if he just makes good videos.

Thanks for reading and allowing me to get this off my chest so that I can get on with working on the next video: a first impression of the BIQU BX (Octoprint integrated 3D printer now on Kickstarter).

Michael