AMV Meta-Review #44: AMV Critiques

[godix]

I also think that much of the amv review has been too "nice" with sheeple following the more experienced editors opinions instead of being thier own person.

Since you brought up group dynamics let me discuss why I started seeing this all as a problem. It's just natural that when you join a community you learn what is and isn't acceptable within it. That isn't sheeple, that's just human nature and everyone does it to some degree or another. Now as a community the org is very focused on the technical aspects. When a new person posts their video we'll crucify them for the wrong AR but ignore them if they just have a boring overdone concept. We have 10 different forums to get technical help and only one to get help with the artistic idea aspect (and even then amv suggestions is pretty weak on helping people develop ideas). Our op system has several different categories that are strictly technical in nature. When someone starts a MEP our first bits of advice are usually to set technical details and only later do we mention setting an idea or theme for the MEP. So it's no wonder people think we're a bunch of pricks who only focus on technical aspects. This is the face we present the outside world and it's the face we present new people. The first link quadir linked to specifically mentions the guy didn't give opinions on AMVs because of our op guidelines. Evilspider just gave a fairly blunt opinion of how the org looks to the russian community. These are just two outsiders examples I've seen within 24 hours of bringing this topic up. No wonder the noobs don't seem to realize there's more to an AMV than how clean the source is. No wonder actual creative videos and people experimenting beyond using a new effect is so unusual to see, by our actions we all but flat out tell people their ideas mean nothing. It's also no wonder the org audience skews so young, the older you get the more you realize how full of crap most of what the org focuses on is so people tend not to stay around a long time.

So basically I'm just standing up and saying hey, the ideas matter. Artistic merit matters. Creativity matters. We should try discussing those sometimes. You don't have to conform to the orgs technical above everything else ideal. Maybe the idea will get picked up and the org community will change in a way I think would be better. Probably not. Either way, I'm not asking for sheeple to follow me (it actually disturbs me quite a bit that some emulate me). I'm asking people to not be sheeple and decide for themselves what's really important in amvs and what they'll focus their comments on. Not everyone will agree with me and that's fine, it's a large community. We don't all have to play follow the leader. Unfortunately that's exactly what we've been doing though.

Note: This isn't to/about Autraya personally. Just she happened to be the one to touch on what motivated me to begin with so rant spewed out.

Also note: I'm fully aware of the hypocrisy of *ME* of all people talking about this stuff. But ignore that, the idea is the important bit not who is endorsing the idea.

[Bauzi]

21:08 <godix> If they were trying to be funny then focus your attention to is the video funny. If they were trying for a certain mood focus on that. If they were being effect whores focus on the effects.
21:08 <Kalium> godix: I agree.
21:08 <Driftroot> godix: That's how I approach my ops, I consider what the editor (or what I think the editor) was trying to do and evaluate their success from there.

After some while I stopped reading. I´m not really for reading hours in a chat log. I preffer articles and other stuff. Anyway this is a really nice chatlogs so I might continue reading it, but yeah godix´ sum-up is enough I gues.

This really surprised me. I thought #amv-review already is about beeing different in giving reviews, but in the end you just were some kind of stricter. Well as said: I´m not really for reading chatlogs so I didn´t really read one single review =P

People often forget what the video is trying to say. If I take my Different Realities amv as an example. I can have a good image about what people might think about it. It´s often the same shema: Effects, fast cuts with harder music. Therefore it has to be some randomn action amv with eyecandy. Well it is a part of it, but in the end it is much more focused to be a very intense character profile and definatly not random and I´m glad when I read in an opinion stuff like:

as stated after seeing it for the first time - the amv changed my view on FMP!

So what you and me might demand after reading this chat log is a new category for opinions! Often people tend to use the originality point in ops for the concept. That´s wrong, right? Look at this one:

I don´t see this one as really original, but in the end if he was out for this flashy style: He did a really good job even if I don´t really like it.
So what´s left to give him a score for his focus? "Overall"? No not really. It´s like a sum up of the opinion for me.

Let´s just introduce the new category: Concept. How good is the concept and how good turned it out? It is a difference if you let Sasuke and Naruto punch it each other in randomn amounts or if there is something behind the conflict. Sometimes you can say: If you get it about what the amv was going to say. The concept was there and it was good.

A few days ago I gave a beginner a preview on his work. It was really nice made for a first work. I took the simplicity of the vid and arranged my op to fit with it. It was good to give him feedback about his concept too. Like "I don´t think that this scene fits into your concept because of X". "If you might want to change this a little bit with X it might turn out much better for your content". He said that this will be his only AMV. Well... yesterday he released his second one. I think that my review was good and usefull.


Why do we tend to love sync-maniac-vids?
Maybe personal taste? *chough* Ok. That´s alright. Nor problem with that. I think that many new ones see: Oh look at it! He can sync much tighter with a higher skill as mine! I want to do that too. Than the sync goes more and more and real fanatics turn out. Same with effects. You all know the pointless effect overloaded amvs.

Streicher made a good point: "Across is eating itself."
It´s true. Higher, faster, tighter. New ones get forced to use pointless effects because of the rule of Across: If you worth it, you´re in. It drives people into one direction if you ask me. Of course there turn out great videos and opposites of pointless effect overloaded stuff like:


Of course we should never forget the editing and technical stuff, but we really shouldn´t overdo it and give the concept itself a higher priority in ops.

I still like qc and star rating. It gives me a feeling about how good the masses like it or not. It´s a nice feature.

Now as a community the org is very focused on the technical aspects.

hell yes. Ho much do you prefer to watch a new video from a new creator you don´t know if it is mp4 or wmv?

[Kionon]

Yeah, see, I don't get why this should be a category because that would imply that the other stuff is just as important when it's not.

*I* agree with you. I know there are others who do not. For me, heart is the most important, and I can forgive a lot with the presence of heart. However, there are plenty of videos that I will go ahead and op as the technical achievements that they are. Was I moved? Not really. So when the video is a technical achievement, I focus on the technical. When the video is an emotional or impact achievement, I focus on that. That is what I believe godix is saying here. A hate to take Koop as an example, but everyone will know his work, so might as well continue to inflate his ego:

Euphoria vs. Perception.

I'm not sure how many of you people know my favorite Koop video of all time is Perception, at least until Waking Hour. From the full length betas I have seen, Twilight kicks its ass too.

Why? Because Perception speaks to me. It fits in with my minimalist preferences. I simply believe it has more heart. Euphoria is clearly the "better" of the two by technical aspects. So if I must rate Perception by the current op structure, doesn't it automatically lose out if heart is not a category? Is that fair? It deserves a higher score somewhere, to me. It does a better job of moving me, and that deserves a higher score relative to other videos.

I watch a video mainly because of the heart of it I mean when it comes down to it all of the users here do. They say or think that "hey I liked that because it's in 1408x1234 resolution and had fancy rainbow effects" but in reality that's just their kind of heart. I mean where's the difference between someone that likes a video because it's romantic/touching and someone that likes it because it's got pretty colors?

Got an example for that one. SnhKnives' Static. Arguably the best technical video I have EVER seen on the org. Period. Review? 1. It was sooooo busy, I could barely make it through the first time! It actually made me physically ill. Heart? Maybe to Lee, but not to me. Everything else? 10s. Perfection. Pinnacle of technical achievement. Not something I have any intention of watching once more, let alone on a regular basis. I was so impressed I wrote him one of the longest opinions I've ever given. I went second by second explaining how awesome the video was... technically.

Is there a difference between a video I love because it's romantic/touching and a video I respect because of how well made it is? You better believe there is. Just because it made me physically ill didn't mean I failed to get Knives' concept. His execution was brilliant. Do I "like" the video? Mmm... I dunno. But I sure as hell think its amazing.

It's all about priorities yes, but every individual has different one's. And seriously, you go to a con and you see anime fans and then you show them a painting by Van Gogh and a cute kitty cat that says "I u" in macro text and you can guess which they'll prefer looking at. This isn't about how godix wants to remind people on focusing more on the less technical side again, godix just wants people to stop looking at pictures of cute kitties and that's just never gonna happen.

Eh. Uh. Isn't the image macro less technically proficient than the Van Gogh, not to mention completely devoid of artistic value by most serious studies of art movements?

So when they go on all about the technical details I really doubt that it's because of "the difference between how art lies in the eye of the beholder", I don't think even 5% think that much when giving out AMV feedback.

Yeah, that's kind of our point.

[ZephyrStar]

my $0.02

I think the key here is that our community has a whole bunch of different people with different reasons for doing what we do. To sum up a few:

Elitists - we really care about our work, and are very hard on ourselves, so we're very hard on others and tend to judge them as we would judge ourselves.

Praisewhores - hey, nothing wrong with tooting your own horn, but lots of people make vids for the sole purpose of becoming an internet god/goddess. Is there something wrong with this? With this territory sometimes comes "my video got more hits than your video."

The Casual - hey, we just make videos. So what.

The Recluse - makes videos for their own entertainment or the entertainment of friends, kinda doesn't care what the community thinks, might present a vid here or there.

At least these are some types I've run into. These all give and take criticism in their own kind of way. When giving criticism, I've learned that you need to try and present your fully honest opinion, despite what type of video or person or motive. Honesty means telling the person something they might not like, and in many cases they might see that as flaming, especially if they are not used to recieving criticism.

Things not to do: "you suck", "u fail" or whatnot. If you feel this way, tell them WHY and be really descriptive.

The great thing about criticism is, that someone might approach your work in a way you never thought about. When working on stuff, artists tend to get tunnel vision a lot of the time. You want something to be really well done, and you spend so much time on one aspect that you might overlook others. Criticism brings that out. Therein lies the importance of beta testing, I beleive. Even if you don't change your original idea, somebody might present an idea that gives you an idea on how to make it cooler or perhaps points out something that does not work as well as it could.

Even if the person looking at your video has no technical skill or knowledge in video editing, they may still see something they just don't like. And if they do, don't go "oh, well you don't edit, you wouldn't know" Try and understand their point, it might be a good one.

The key to TAKING criticism is to take it with a grain of salt. You're NOT being insulted, you're NOT being flamed. DON'T get married to your work, it might represent your skills, but in any artistic community YOU ARE NEVER DONE GROWING. Always keep that in mind. There should NEVER be a point at which you say "MY WORK IS DONE, I CANNOT GET ANY BETTER." Your work is done when you're DEAD. If you have to get pissed off about what somebody has to say about your work, go throw a temper tantrum and get it out of your system. Then come back and read what they said again. Chances are, even if they're harsh, or condescending, or troll like, that they MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE A GOOD POINT.

Example:

For daydream, I got a ton of "yeah, kickass!!!" kinds of comments, but only one that was something to the effect of "you call that 3d? it sucks, it's nothing like 3d, even the closest scene you have with the guitar is only approaching 3d, u fail hard"

Having recieved and given a lot of criticism over the years, I didn't feel the slightest bit of insult, but thought about this comment for awhile. During the process of making my video, I had lots of moments where I hated everything about it. It was extremely difficult to un-learn everything I know about fluid, smooth character animation, and try and make the Yotsuba character jerky and 2d-like on purpose. In this attempt, I feel I was only partially successful. This person summed up my frustration and feelings on the end result of my work. Do I hate my video? No, but I don't love it either. It was a growing experience, and this comment I have taken and applied to the project I'm currently working on.

Same with omgsuperlucky video, I had one comment on the video that was very negative, but the person constructed the QC well and pointed out why, and was not in the least bit condescending. And I totally agree with the QC

To sum it up:

CRITICISM is your BEST FRIEND. GET OVER YOURSELF and LISTEN to what people might have to say. Because regardless of what you make, or how good you get, or any of that, somebody will always have criticism. ALWAYS. Learn to use it, it is a powerful tool.

(sounds like a rant, doesn't it? not really, it's just constructive criticism...see what I did there? :p)

[ZephyrStar]

Eh. Uh. Isn't the image macro less technically proficient than the Van Gogh, not to mention completely devoid of artistic value by most serious studies of art movements?

Concept Art GOGOGOGOGO?

Yeah, people here are not well versed in giving artistic feedback...I guess I kinda skipped that in my rant, but when the community has little fine art experience (I say this just from what I've seen, could be wrong), technical aspects are about all they know about.

[omegaevolution]

first, thanks to quadir for inviting me here to express my opinion about this, even though it will be a simple one since I'm not that complicated in this aspect

Elitists - we really care about our work, and are very hard on ourselves, so we're very hard on others and tend to judge them as we would judge ourselves.

Praisewhores - hey, nothing wrong with tooting your own horn, but lots of people make vids for the sole purpose of becoming an internet god/goddess. Is there something wrong with this? With this territory sometimes comes "my video got more hits than your video."

The Casual - hey, we just make videos. So what.

The Recluse - makes videos for their own entertainment or the entertainment of friends, kinda doesn't care what the community thinks, might present a vid here or there.

I agree with this separation of people here, thats kinda the type of people I have run into here (I think there is one missing there, but I cannot remember). Anyway I would include myself in the last one

I also agree with Godix, in the later time the "quality-whores" have been bashing vids for wrong AR and stuff like that without giving anything constructive about the vids. It really pisses me off, but hopefully the people that has told me what I already know about my quality (which has never been good ) has always had something constructive to say, so I must be lucky or something.

Anyway someone said already that technical are the more simple stuff to critique on, but don't forget the editing, and I'm not talking concept-wise (even though they are relationed to each other), I always give critique focusing myself in the editing aspect, mostly beat/internal synch, mood and flow. I am of the opinion that a good editing makes it easy to grasp the concept of the vid. I don't like to bash people's concept since the editor has his/her personal preferences and motives to make the vid. I will admit that generally I don't understand what the hell people is trying to show in the vids, and thats not only a thing with other people, that happens with myself as well, there are points in which I really don't now what the hell I'm showing are trying to show/say in my AMVs lol. So yeah, I don' center myself concept wise, which makes my comments useless for some people, but this topic was about what do we critique, and even though this might be the worthless post yet here, thats what I do .

Now continue with the topic, its an interesting reading .

[quadir]

Thanks to everyone who have gotten the courage up to put their views out there so far.

Nobody is saying you always have to stick to non-technical. Like kionon elaborated, if the focus/concept/purpose of the video is to be technical, then by all means go there.

While we are obviously in a visual medium, so some technical aspects are shared by all videos, this is the least important part about videos, what is important is how they are different from each other, the parts that are not the same. Focus. Execution.

Some people have also been talking about the "new user" problems and feedback. I can't help but think of little league baseball... would you critique a pro the same way as someone in elementary? They both play competitively. It's true in both cases you should be honest, you should also be aware of their goals and the focus of their play.

We have a huge community here, it's obvious that we don't all fit in the same pegs. Also, I don't really think anyone is proposing we be pretensious, or even serious all the time; just the sometimes people want to be, and they should be able to do that and see peers in their community do the same. That was the idea for -review.

Not sure where I'm going exacly which each of those ideas, I'll let other people respond now.

[CodeZTM]

I have worked as an opinion giver for two years, and in those two years I think I've developed an idea of what proper critiquing is (though most of the time I'm too lazy to give a proper one with my opinion threads).

Video Quality

I'll be quite honest. Video quality is an important quality in critiquing AMV's. But it's not the most important by any means. If the quality is so poor that it takes away from the viewer's ability to enjoy the AMV, then I believe it to be an issue. If the quality is fine, and it does nothing to distract from the AMV, I don't bother usually with it. Sure, the gorgeous 5 CM full quality videos are nice, but most of them are mediocre in other areas as well. As for Aspect Ratios, I don't get too particular about that, to be quite honest. Like with quality, I will only comment if it takes away from the video. For example:



Was a great video, in my opinion. But, due to the lack of a correct aspect ratio, when it was announced, it got a lot of critiqueing issues and was, for the most part, ignored. Aspect Ratio and quality are both important, but not the most important.

Another important aspect that I think is horribly wrong is the issues most people have with compressions. I don't care (quite honestly) what kind of compression people use. I don't care if the codec is WMV, h264, Xvid, whatever. I especially don't care about containers, such as AVI or MP4. As long as the encoding is well done, and the video quality is passable in the aformentioned areas, then I personally don't care what it means. (Disclaimer: Though in my opinion threads, I usually ban .wmv, it is due to the overwhelming amount of sub-par videos that I have recieved in the past).

Perfect Example:





Both of these videos don't have the "required" MP4 Compressions, and they do lack in video quality, but are still two of my absolute favorite videos I have ever seen.

Sound Quality

I'll have to say that I'm actually pretty particular about this area. I like to hear nice, smooth sounding AMV's. Half of the purpose of the music in an AMV is to set a foundation for the viewers to enjoy and feel whatever emotion they are meant to be feeling. If the sound quality is poor, then I honestly cannot see how somebody is supposed to enjoy an AMV. HOWEVER! I really don't care about what kind of encoding an audio goes through, whether it be MP3, NACC, ect... as long as it sounds good. ^_^

Originality

This one topic right here is probably the most debated topic. We see too many "LinkenballZ" videos, that most viewers quit after seeing the same video over and over and over and over again. I won't lie. Unless it is a good friend on the site, I will not give an opinion about most DBZ videos that have a rock or action song to them. But! I think that people have an opportunity to redeem themselves with a unique storyline. Using an interesting storyline or creative song, with an overused anime can easily break any originality issues.

For Example:


For the most part, Naruto is an overused, overwhored source. But! Bakadeshi created a unique and powerful storyline with it, which took Naruto and created a really awsome AMV that I watch frequently.

The same thing goes for songs as well. An overused song can be redeemed with an interesting source or concept.

Digital Effects

Another rather large topic of debate. The infamous "effect whoring" VS "subtle effects". Here are three videos:


"Effect Whoring"


"Minor Effect Whoring"


"Subtle Effects"

In terms of video enjoyment and high level of achievement, I see no difference in these videos by any means.

Effects are meant to compliment the video's atmosphere. Sugardansen is a high-paced, hyperactive AMV. Therefore, it's high paced, hyperactive "effect whoring" is well done and well placed. Goodbye Beautiful Day uses a slightly slower song, with fast paced chourus segments. The digital effects in both areas match the flow of the song perfectly, which is the point. Maybe We'll Make it has little to no digital effects throughout the video, and it works well with the flow of its song and overall message. Therefore, the criqite of digial effects should be this: If it works well to enhance the overall message of the AMV, it is proper and should be scored accordinly.

Sync

The infamous sync. Beat sync. Emotional Sync. Lyrical Sync. How and why should we score these?

I'll be honest. I don't give a flying fart which type of sync sombody uses, as long as they use one of them, and they use it correctly.


"Beat Sync"


"Emotional/Lyric Sync"

I would score these videos identicaly. Bladebeat uses amazing beat sync, and is a great action video with an original concept. The music matches the atmosphere, and the beat sync is superb. Cherished Memories works well with emotional and lyric sync, which creates a capavating and emotionl message to the viewer. Both of these AMV's take the sync and make it match their message.

Personal Feelings

Editors will always have a preference over which videos they like and dislike. There will always be a bias, no matter how much you look at it. While I like the following videos:







Many others express their deep unseeded hatred of them. While other like the following videos:





I personally don't care for them all that much.

It's all about taste people! It is our duty as critiquers to try our best to ignore our bias towards certain areas, and attempt to give suggestitve critisisms based on what is "flawed" now what we think we see as "flawed.


OVERALL

I think the opinion-giving audience needs to take a better look at how things should be critiqued. Almost every aspect of the critiquing process should be subject to this question: Does the (insert category here) match what the AMV's message is supposed to be?

The obvious exception being video and sound quality, which I have already explained.

[Koopiskeva]

Hmmmmm....

I think.. I'm gonna be all over the place on this one..

I usually focus on the technical aspects of a video myself when reviewing a video unless an editor specifically asks me about a certain aspect that they would like me to focus on. This is one reason I'd rather review someone's video through a messaging system rather than on the opinion page, instant-feedback.

It's tricky (to make a music video) to properly make a review system when I believe that each video review should be treated on a case-by-case basis. Technical issues aside, I'm not even talking about the usual concept/focus/story/flow/timing/synch etc.. I mean its difficult because each video has the background of an editor to consider, without knowledge of the background, then its difficult to know what an editor was thinking when editing a video or coming up with the concept for the video.

What does this mean for me? It means that getting to know a person and talking with them about their idea first is better than a review system without instant feedback. If I'm talking directly to a person who can explain to me the how and why of certain aspects of a video then can I make a better critique and possibly help them direct their ideas better.

Sure, some would say that a video 'should' be able to tell you exactly what the editor's intention was - but that is almost never the case, as our own experiences and perception of the sources and editing shape the outcome - which will almost never coincide with that of the viewer. That video info page can only really say so much that a viewer can and is willing to understand.

I do believe that the org's review system does solely promote the technical aspect of reviewing a video, but thats all it can really do because most people don't really feel the need or want to have to explain what they did - and the rest of us are just going to take it upon initial impression. But that's not really a fault of anyone or by the system. It serves its purpose, and although it doesn't cover everything about a video that can be covered, it provides a good basis upon which to improve the technical quality of the videos - which isn't really a bad thing.

Also, a lot of people that ask for reviews have the vague 'how can I make it better' question. Which, like everyone has said, would only really lead to simple technical quality answers. On the other hand, how can one really put forth a proper opinion without knowing all aspects of a video - the reviewers themselves are flawed as well. For one to say a certain way of editing it 'better' than any other is not really the right way to review someone either. Sure, you could help someone 'improve' their video and make it more 'likeable' to the public and maybe even to that editor themselves, but does that really mean the video is actually 'better' than it had been? I don't necessarily think so - the reviewer may have just imposed their views on that editor and caused them to think that their original idea wasn't as good as theirs. The public liking it better is simply the public thinking that's the way it should be.

'Artistic feedback'? How can one even really define that? - that seems to me that it has more to do with experience and perception rather than anything solid. Even if an idea was generally accepted by the public to be something 'good' does not make it so.

We make what we like and what we want to see done. Reviews give us other people's views, but if we don't like our own views, then we can never fully appreciate what we make and what others make.

[Emong]

I like Kionon's "heart aspect" of videos because I tend to agree with heart being the most important aspect of a video. I deffinitely agree that there should be a score for heart in the opinion systems. How else will I score the emotional and also intellectual levels a video has? Or a better question yet (which has been talked about here on this thread a lot): why do the other aspects seem so much more important than heart in our AMV community?

I actually thought about making a thread about opinions so I'm glad you guys already did that (and in a pretty large scale~) I really like writing opinions because it's a way to put my thoughts about the video on paper and it's also equally important that the editor is getting feedback on his/her video. The scores seem quite easy to rate. Except for maybe the effects because there's a contradiction of the quantity and the quality of effects: a video might be effect-whored inside out but in an appropriate manner (let's say all chorus parts are spiced with effects for example) yet when I look at the quality of effects, they might not be so top-notch. A little cheesy or akward perhaps? In contrast, let's take another video with only one or two seconds of special effects, technically very impressively crafted and original but which still haven't been so much of an effort compared to the effects of the first example video I mentioned. Which one should I rate higher?

Anyhow, ranting about the effects score wasn't really why I'm writing this post O.o My main point is: are opinions about rating the video or rating the editing? They're not synonymous with each other, just like a movie isn't the same as how it is edited or even directed. There's a bunch of other stuff that affects it such as how the movie is written. The same goes for AMVs as well, imo. There's source music and there's source footage the editor isn't responsible of. Both are indeed very limiting in terms of what the editor wants to do with the video. And yes, I also talk about those combinations that seem random or inappropriate, or "bending sources" as someone could call it. What I'm trying to point out is that the editor is *very* dependant of the sources he/she uses.

I have already said this on some other thread I can't recall right now, but I've noticed there's a lot of things in an AMV the editor doesn't have much control over, most of it being about the clips' and the song's content. A lot of sentimental mood sync driven videos are like this. The emotional effect is created from what's happening in the clips and the song. The editor's job is to present this stuff in the most effective way possible, which is of course very important for the video's sake but in the end it just means making pieces fit the best way possible within the limits of the sources and the editor's concept/focus/theme/whatever-you-want-to-call-it (which also reduces back to the sources in 95% of cases) This leads into some kind of a conclusion that good editing is about appreciating the sources. I could agree with that =)

What good opinions should be about.... Let's say we're commenting on editing, not the video as a whole. It might be a good idea to line out what the editing actually does in a video. This, I think, plays a very important role here because a good opinion should tell how well the editing manages to do.. well.. what it does. It seems like stating the obvious but I can't really figure out an answer to that bolded question.. Anyway, try playing a mind game and take a video, any video, and remove the footage and the song from it. It should tell how much the editing has to do with it. Now better yet, try telling how well it does its job. It's a bit more peculiar thing, which is why I think those giving the feedback as well as those receiving it should pay more attention on this bolded question.

Hmm, this whole thing went into a weird direction O.o I apologize. To sum up what I think about opinions: editing does to equal to a video, it merely uses sources and works within their limits, making pieces fit the best way possible. A good opinion should describe how this is done without forgetting the part editing plays in a video (on a personal note: I think editors are actually quite overrated, not way too much but somewhat) It's a difficult thing to do right.. O.o

(hmm, I got a bit off the rails again.. Feel free to add the infamous "in my opinion" to everything I said)