Interesting Sudoku Video History and Facts

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Introduction

As of this writing there are 215 (now 349) sudoku primer videos on YouTube. This page is a history of the Sudoku Primer YouTube channel and how improvements were made over the years.

Getting the Channel Started

The first video was published on October 2nd 2016, a little over four years ago. At first the videos were short (about 3 minutes each) and only covered a single topic.

Video 10 was the first to solve an entire puzzle. Video 10 was a successful video with lots of views. It was decided to solve entire puzzles from then on.

Evolving Videos

Videos have improved over time. The video, audio and the creator (Harold Nolte) have gotten better – at least it is hoped that they have! Here are a few changes that were made. Some changes are subtle, others are more obvious.

The first few videos had a puzzle that was placed on a desk. You can see the wood grain behind the puzzles. The puzzle was held in the left hand and the pen in the right hand. Here is one of those early videos.

Starting with video 12 the paper was taped to the desk. This removed the need to hold the paper with the left hand. Only one hand is seen from then on.

A full sheet of paper was used in Video 25, and the wood grain of the desk was gone for good. Here is video 25.

Camera and Equipment

The video camera setup is “really high tech.” The camera is attached to a book with rubber bands. The puzzle is put on the desk and the camera is pointed down to the paper with the puzzle.

Improving the image and light

For a long time the camera was in front (at the bottom) of the puzzle, between the creator and the puzzle. This worked, but made it difficult to write in numbers. And the lights created shadows on the puzzle. Look at this video (below). Even the preview has a shadow on it -- it's really noticeable in the lower right hand corner of the puzzle grid.

The video below has no shadow. From video 150 on, the book holding the camera was placed at the top of the puzzle. Watch to see the improved lighting.

However, the sound quality of this video is very poor. We next talk about that.

Microphone Improvements

At first the camera’s microphone was used; later the audio was picked up by a separate USB microphone. Those two microphones didn’t have good sound quality. There was background noise and other sounds that could be heard. There was even one video where someone asked “Do you live above a nightclub?” See the comment below.

Of course, it didn't help that we had a really noisy dishwasher, which has now been retired.

A high quality microphone has greatly improved sound quality. A Blue Yeti microphone is now used to record in every video. You can see it in the picture of the camera setup (above).

Hear the difference

To hear the difference between the "old" microphone and the new Blue Yeti, listen to the sound in these two videos.

First listen to this video.

Then listen to the improved sound in this video.

Summary

A lot has changed over the four years since the Sudoku Primer YouTube channel started. It is hoped that the audio, video and content have improved during that time.

Subscribers, thank you for your interest in the videos. Your comments, likes and questions are appreciated. We hope this short history of the Sudoku Primer YouTube channel has been interesting.