Thumbnail advice for low CTR

[hard sphinx]

Well for the first thumbnail, there's not really anything to draw a viewer in
All you've got is essentially a glorified random in-game screenshot
The text doesn't say anything particularly interesting and is too long
There's no real centre of focus and I'm not even quite sure what that circle and arrow is pointing at
It looks like a player in a doorway, but it's so hard to tell, and it'll be even worse when the thumbnail gets scaled down

[proper fog]

Well all my thumbnails will be based on in game screenshot since I cant make up a whole event. Is the text size, font and color ok? I used white since it would contrast well with the dark green background. What would be a better way to word it?

In terms of attention grabber what would be a better way to do it like what could I display that would actually be magnitudes better? Also any thoughts on the 2nd?

[hard sphinx]

I'm not saying you shouldn't use in-game screenshots, but rather that you've just displayed an out of context moment in the game that doesn't sell your video in any way
Your video is about pvp tips, but the thumbnail doesn't display this concept in any way, like showing one of these tips

The text size and colour is fine, as for how you should word it, you need to first put a lot more effort into the concept of the thumbnail itself and think of a way to display the concept of your video in a thought provoking way
You've kinda just put text for the sake of it
What you need is the text to play a role in the presentation of the thumbnail, and because you've basically got no concept for the thumbnail, the text adds virtually nothing

I don't really have many thoughts on the 2nd video since idrk much about how you can make a good thumbnail and title for montages
Usually people just put some sort of screenshot with a bunch of effects

[proper fog]

Ok so lets look at the second thumbnail imagine which was for the montage video. But for the sake of argument lets say I used it for the tips video I am thinking I could of put arrows or something to try and display movement of the player moving from the door into the hall. Then something with the text to try and convey a tip of helping like "Punish Swings" or something like that idk thoughts?

The first one was trying to convey me peaking another person holding that door which would normally be hard to do. But I am not really sure how to convey that I was the one who swung. The red circle / arrow was trying to point to where he was but maybe I could of found a better image. I am not really sure the optimal images to base thumbnails on tbh

[proper fog]

Yea thats fair would you say it is decent since theres not much else I could do for a montage thumbnail? Like the I added the glow effect and the cross hair but you are saying I need more effects? I am not really sure what else I could do tbh.

[hard sphinx]

It's kind of difficult for me to help you with the specifics of the thumbnail like this because I'm not familiar with the game you're talking about
What I will say is that when you make thumbnails, you should be going through multiple ideas and iterations to find what works best
Take a look at thumbnails other people have made on videos similar to yours and try to figure out why they work and what draws in your attention

Also, practice more with the software you use to make thumbnails so you have more skills you can use to make them

[proper fog]

Yea the thing is most peoples thumbnails in the same genre are very similar like there just random screenshots normally with text only. So I am not sure why mine preform 5x worse.

[proper fog]

Ya I have been practicing for a while I use Paint.Net but its lmited on what it can do compared to a paid editor. What sort of things should I do to enahnce my thumbnails from a visual perspective?

Like my thumbnails are not amazing but sub 1% is basically the same as doing nothing at all which is sort of crazy

[hard sphinx]

Ok but you need to look past the surface of those thumbnails
Are they more polished than yours? What are they displaying in these screenshots? What titles do people pair their thumbnails? What is drawing you into clicking the video?

[hard sphinx]

Yeah I'd definitely switch to a better software
There's some good free ones out there
I personally use photopea which is a free alternative to photoshop

There aren't any super specific things that enhance thumbnails but just rather having good image composition
If you don't know much about it, it'd be good for you to learn some basics of composition, just look it up

[proper fog]

More polished yes but I would never click the video based on the thumbnail and title cause they are the same old same old I just clicked cause of the creator. But some grew from a tiny creator with random clipped thumbnails as well. Like I understand their videos may have better internal metrics but from a CTR I am slightly confused tbh.

[proper fog]

I heard about it I can look into downloading it is there something it can do that Paint.net cant that is useful?

It is sort of discouraging when a thumbnail does not beat an automated thumbail that YT generated from a random spot in your video

[hard sphinx]

Ok well you should probably look at thumbnails and titles that draw you in and see what they do well and not just fron creators you like
Or maybe you're just not understanding what makes those thumbnails and titles good
You might want to send some examples

[hard sphinx]

Well I haven't personally used Paint.net before, but it looks more geared towards making art than image composition so it likely lacks some of the tools for that

[proper fog]

Well can you name features on the app you use? In Paint.Net I can do the object drop shadow effect and masking which is how I made the gun glow effect. I can also change gamma, brightness, contrast, and hue of the image. I can import different fonts but idk of any better ones. Any other effects that I am missing out on by using Paint.net?

[proper fog]

Yea thats the thing I have no idea what would draw me in because I dont watch gaming content at all besides from a few creators from time to time. I really like playing but I dont do a lot of watching so I am not sure what would make a good thumbnail since I dont click any of them. Like when I do get recommended content I dont click them either so idk.

[hard sphinx]

Well I sometimes do cloning and masking
I often use effects like stroke, drop shadow, bevel, outer glow, colour and gradient overlay
I do colour correction and blurring

[hard sphinx]

Well if you want to learn more about what makes a good video, title, and thumbnail, you're going to have to do some research of your own and watch gaming content
It kinda sounds like you just like gaming rather than making gaming content though, so idk if you would really be all that passionate about making it

[proper fog]

No I have been making gaming content for years on other channels I enjoy it I just dont watch too much of it tbh. I like making and playing.

If we use my initial idea of trying to convey movement in the image how would you suggest I do that? Like if I wanted to try and show someone moving from left to right what would that look like? Any ideas?

[hard sphinx]

Well regardless, you should still probably do some research if you're trying to be successful

I would need more context to know what exactly you're going for when you mean convey movement
But my first idea that comes to mind is making an afterimage or like a speed blur

Like I said, it's better for you to do your own research and get inspiration that way
You should improve your thumbnail making skills through practice and observing what others do
I can only help you so much and it's a lot more important you take the time yourself to iterate on ideas

I also don't have the time to go through the thumbnail making process with you

[proper fog]

yea the ghost blur idea of past locations is honestly a great suggestions. Seem tricky though ill research it but is the general idea tracing out character then once you have it you can lower transparency and layer it on a higher canvas.

[proper fog]

Yea all good thanks for the help