JOURNAL: Arigatomina

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  • Top 10% 2010-02-22 07:28:31 http://www.animemusicvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=98285

    Only five ops needed to show? I like this.

    I still get ops. Not often, but one comes in every few months. And that's for vids that are at least 3 years old or older. Which means...this is to my advantage. It makes me want to toss something together and see how long it takes to hit the top 10 for this year. Or better yet, point some yaoi fans toward my 'less than 5 ops' vids and watch them rise. ;p

    3yrs back, my only 2007 vid shows. It's like down in the 400s, but it's on there.

    4yrs back, I did 5 vids in 2006 with 5 or more ops. The most popular, Sleepless, is #22. Ouch. The other four are on there as well.

    5yrs+ back, I did lots of vids from 2003 to 2005 with more than 5 ops. I'm not even going to count them all. But 31 of them show on the list now.

    I understand why newer vids would need a lower op minimum. But this really kills the older lists. Even the "all years" list pops up like 25 of my vids. All this does is reward anyone who actually made something before ops became an endangered species. There should be a way to find out what the average ops per vid was for each year and factor that into the "minimum" for those years. Or, better yet, keep the "5 minimum" just for the last two years. Two years should be long enough for a good video to accumulate 10 ops, even if ops are really rare now.

    But...yeah, I like this. It makes it look like I was damn good. I'm gonna go play with the creator and fan settings to see how many times my name pops up. Or, better yet, fan + reviewability. That's always good for an ego trip. ;p 
  • Crit & Dinos 2010-02-21 03:20:56 http://www.animemusicvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=98542

    "Most people aren't at the extreme ends like that of course, but I'd bet if you polled editors you'd find most fall into either the 'like scripting/hate editing' or 'hate scripting/like editing' groups."

    People who are good at writing suck at math. Philosophers can't change a flat tire. The stronger an animal is physically, the smaller the brain. Nature has a way of balancing things out so even if you suck in one aspect, you make up for it in another. It's nice.

    I actually found math as easy as writing. It was sciences, physics, statics, that proved to be beyond me. Scientists can't write to save their lives. Mathematicians usually can get by. Put into amv terms, a storyteller might handle basic avisynth usage, basic Premiere usage, but bring After Effects near them and they implode in a puddle of incompetence. With few exceptions. There's a cut off. After a certain point it takes them much longer to learn than it would scientifically/technically bent people. Even if they have the tenacity (and shere man hours) to learn the basics, they'll probably never live long enough to be amateurs, let alone masters. They'll always be fighting an uphill battle just to come out even with the worst of the people who accel at it naturally. It'll never come easily enough to catch up. What's the point of inching your way toward something you'll never be good at when you could be perfecting the aspects you already *are* good at? The first thing they tell writers is "write what you know." What do they tell amv editors? "Read the guides." ...right...

    Constructive criticism is supposed to note the good and the bad. This is how it starts. When you note the good, you're usually either looking at story/scene choice/reviewability or beatsync/effects/techquality. Rarely both. Right there you know what the editor is good at. One or the other. You can talk your head off and repeat the guides ad nauseum trying to make a technically inept editor master the basics. He might pick up something out of all that rambling. Or you can take what he's already shown promise in and help him improve that. If you're not good enough at what *he* is good at to give him advice, then at least acknowledge that. "I'm technically minded, so I can repeat the guides by heart, but don't ask me what I thought about the scene selection because my own vids are as random as they get. Sorry." I used to do that with my "constructive" ops. "I can't lip sync to save my life, so I can't say much about that. And I have no idea how the heck you made those shapes fly all over the place like that, let alone why you did it. But I can tear your scene selection apart and point out all the inconsistencies and confusion in this random-action trying to be a character-profile vid of yours. Not that you'd be interested since you're clearly getting the feedback you want from all the other effect+beatsync fans out there. Hm... Why am I writing you an op again? Boy, that was a waste of my time and yours. Sorry."

    I did a rant on this subject in another forum. Just replace the word "write" with "edit" and the word "readers" with "viewers." It's all the same.

    Don't tell me how to write:

    At what point are you allowed to write what you want without feeling guilty for not writing what your more intelligent readers want? I respect their opinions, but I'm not going to change for them. I'll change when I want to. For me. Why is that so wrong?"
    The response was the same as the thread here on the org, just with more people pushing the 'serious business' and fewer admitting they like being amateurs.

    Regarding obsessive critics:

    Critic: Your form is all off.
    Jogger: Um, excuse me, I'm just stretching my legs...
    Critic: If you run in public you have to expect people to correct your horrible running form.
    Jogger: Are you going to correct that six year old over there, too? The one playing tag?
    Critic: Of course. He's running in public.
    Jogger: But he's just having fun.
    Critic: It doesn't matter. His poor form is an insult to runners everywhere. If he doesn't want to accept criticism and improve his running, he shouldn't be running in public at all.
    Jogger: So the only way for him (and me) to avoid you is to create our own group where people are allowed to run for fun?
    Critic: Unless it's a public group, in which case I'll follow you and continue my lecture. If you really want to run for "fun" as you put it, stay home and do it in your back yard. Just be sure to put up a fence because if I see you, I'm going to correct you.
    Jogger: Nevermind. I think I'll switch to swimming.
    Critic: Oh! I also swim. I hope you're better at that than you are at running.
    Jogger: Crap...

    Regarding motivation and futile masochistic inching:

    My writing level increases the more I write just because it does and always has. I'll continue to inch along whether I try or not. It's just nature, I age, my writing improves, I age some more, it improves some more. I'd rather sit back and enjoy the ride as the current carries me along, rather than spend my time paddling my heart out in the hopes of getting there a few minutes earlier. It's a ride that will last a lifetime. Getting there a few minutes early isn't worth much in the long run.

    Regarding the neverending mountain:

    It's like a really steep hill. Everyone's pushing daily to get higher, helping each other, lamenting or lecturing the ones stuck at the bottom, and none of them notice that some people have created a village halfway up the hill and are living their lives out right there as happy as can be. They're not going to fall to the bottom and they're not going to hike to the top. They like it where they are so that's where they've settled. The ones at the bottom and those still climbing can't understand why they're standing still. If you explain, "Because I like it here," they'll tell you there's something wrong with you. You're not supposed to like it there. You're not supposed to be satisfied. Ever. You're supposed to keep pushing and pushing till you die. Because there's no peak to that mountain. There is no perfect writing. You can spend your lifetime climbing, you can turn your back on the mountain, but you can't find the level you're most comfortable and settle there peacefully.

    http://www.animemusicvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=98491

    How about One Piece's "Little Garden" arc set to Weird Al's "Jurassic Park"? None of those on the org.

    Or better yet, take the predators from the dinosaur "Fight Club" and "Walking with Dinosaurs" documentaries and have them eating and maiming random anime characters. Not so chibi things that kill. It would rawk. ;p
     
  • I made a MAD! 2010-02-10 03:11:57 Well, not really since I'm not Japanese, but I ran across this and it made me grin:
    http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/9Kk_qsdGstw/

    They put a [MAD] tag on my video. It reminds me of how "anime" in Japan just meant animation, but for us it's only Japanese animation. Is MAD just Japanese for AMV, yet for us it's only Japanese-made AMVs? In which case we're blatantly following along the otaku Japanese Is Better path? We build our own elitist circles from which we exclude ourselves. Does that make us respectful or fanboys? Or am I reading too much into simple classification? Who cares. I'm amused.

    Just thought that was funny. I've had vids pop up on foreign sites, including Chinese and Japanese, but always with the [AMV] tag. This is my first MAD and I had to share the amusement. ^_^ 
  • Forum responses 2009-12-28 07:22:44 Want to get your two cents in without actually participating? Do it in your journal. What are the chances anyone will read it, anyway?

    http://www.animemusicvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=96955

    Someone suggested an "Introduction" section. I said that when Phade deleted it along with the OT section. I said the intro section was the only place in the forum that was newbie friendly. I said I'd met most of my (then) friends in there. I was friendly, said come to me with questions, and they did. And I answered them and saved them from having to post in the forum and get responses from oldtimers sick of answering those questions over and over. I wasn't sick of answering them, and answering them in private kept the newbies from being embarrassed for asking them. All thanks to the intro section. All gone thanks to the "no chat allowed" theory that somehow linked the Intro with the OT. There's a big difference from a section where new members introduce themselves, and a section where suicidal preteens threaten to off themselves for attention two posts down from a "all about dimes" thread. OT had nothing to do with the site because it was an OT section. The intro section was all about the site - the members of the site, why they'd come, where they hoped to go. The members who were told to go put it in your journal where chances are good no one will read it anyway.

    I said fewer newbs would last on the org without the intro section as a place to find a nice helper - because they'd have to brave the lions and toughen up right away by posting in the wrong section because they're new and don't know any better. Well, if 2005 - 2007 were the peaks of the org, I was clearly wrong. We must have had a influx of new people. In fact, I remember the influx. Suddenly I didn't know anyone posting in the forum. Why? Because I wasn't reading the journals, which were the only place to meet the new people as they arrived. The Journal Buddies sprang up to introduce those newcomers to the forum and while some of us (me) complained about the chatting there (because Phade wanted no chatting anywhere, hence the OT and Intro deletion), it must have done some good. Now we're divebombing again. Can we blame it on the loss of the journal chatting? It's clear that new members must chat somewhere on the site itself in order for them to feel welcome (in large quantities). Clear to me, anyway. All the comparison to the tube, just try replying to someone's vid in a nice way. Suddenly they're PM'ing you wanting to be your bestest friend. Or emailing you to tell you how their day was as if you're supposed to give a shit. That's what the Intro section did when I joined. That's what the journal buddies did (for the whole site to see what they ate each day). That's what we're missing.

    Is that a bad thing? I don't know. Or care much. I'm bored and still have a chip on my shoulder. I recently realized I *can* use my editing programs on my new computer and that the errors I was getting were due - not to the programs or the computer - but to my own shoddy vob-making efforts. I want to edit. But where would I share it if I did? The tube has deleted the audio or video from every single vid I put up there. And from all the vids of mine other people have put up there. If I post it to the org I'm inviting criticism because as an org editor that's what we do - get criticism so we can improve because we GIVE A DAMN. But I don't...so I shouldn't post anything here. No point clogging the place up with another half-hearted vid, no matter how much fun I and other people might get from watching it. The editors won't approve and it's their website.

    I haven't finished a vid in years. I'm not an editor anymore. I'm a viewer. As a viewer, let me just say...you guys suck. You suck the fun right out of this. You're too tuff on yourselves, on others, and make casual viewers realize they're just ruining the hobby for everyone who GIVES A DAMN. Might as well go back to the tube. Except I can't because all the vids I want to watch have had the audio or video removed. And the streaming quality is *so* much prettier here on the org. Plus, I can actually review and know no one is going to see the mini-essay I wrote unless the creator wants them to.

    Make the review system like the tube? No, no, no. Have you actually read some of those reviews? They're chatting about OT crap, asking (for the tenth person in a row) what the song was even if it's written right there in the vid info, complaining that so-and-so isn't gay (okay, that only applies to the type of vids I watch over there, I know), and it's just a big stupid waste of time. Except vids are ranked by counting all those OT posts. Sort of like the way the org counts useless OPs...? Yeah. But that's not a problem these days since the QCs replaced ops. Just think, if only we could make those QCs visible we'd have exactly what the tube has. We just need to count those instead of ops in the search options and - BANG - tubeville here we come. No. Not when the few former-tubers posting are saying they came here for constructive feedback because of all the spammy crap on the tube. Instead of being more like them (aka worse), we should be trying to make our op system work *better* by eliminating spam.

    They come for constructive feedback? Make it easier to get by applying a penalty for nonconstructive spammy feedback. Yes, I know we love our OT random crack QCs. But they're useless. And since all we have now are QCs, we should be pushing useful ones, as boring as they are.

    Whatever happened to the reputation idea? I know that's probably not the term used at the time the idea was being thrown around. But something to reward people who do good things, useful things, helpful things. And I don't mean that contest where only one good person per year gets a reward. Punishing bad behavior doesn't work. We don't even bother anymore. I'm so numb and amused by it now I can't imagine being that "what's wrong with newbies" newbie I started out as. We're all assholes. That's what a few years on the org does to a person. It rewards the assholes. It's no wonder we're so content with the status quo. But something to reward non-assholes... Now that might give people a reason to...not be assholes. I'm not saying everyone would suddenly be nice, but I'm sure there are some suckup teacher pet types who'd jump on an excuse to do their stuff for a little simple praise. "You're nice. Thanks for being so nice." Is that hard to do? No. And it can really make a difference to someone teetering on the edge of becoming another asshole. Hell, give them buttons to "thank" people for useful posts. Make the list of people doing the "thanking" open so if someone is abusing it by thanking useless posts, the rest of the forum can report it and the mods don't have to worry about extra work on their end. Those with enough thanks can get a gold star or something. Or a "Nice Person" tag under their name. Maybe even a personal "thanks for not being another asshole" PM from one of the mods now and then. There are already some nice people on the org, and they're not getting thanked. Which is why they'll just be some more assholes eventually.

    GIVE A DAMN. Have to come back to this. I'm sorry. I don't. I used to. I tried really hard for a year or two. But it was pointless. All my friends left or turned out to be assholes. Without the intro section, I tried making friends through ops. I did, some really good ones who were so bad at editing that even someone like me could help them improve. Then they surpassed me and I was so proud. Then they quit, decided the place was too nasty for them, didn't like the assholes they were becoming, and it was just me again. I couldn't make friends by chatting in journals because that would make me a hypocrite. I follow the rules? Then I can't support breaking them by chatting in a place that doesn't allow chatting, even if it *is* the only way to make new friends. I couldn't make friends in the forum because thanks to google I found out my old "friends" were backstabbing assholes, after all. And the idea of making friends through ops is just dumb now. The people who want ops are already better at editing than me. They want another op, maybe some high numbers, and don't really care what I type in it as long as the site counts it as part of their total. They won't remember a word I said the next day, let alone my name. And I'll delete their vid and forget them, too. There's just no connection. And as far as editing goes, I was always below average. I cared when someone I respected told me to improve on certain things - I improved on those things because I respected them. But after a while, I hit a ceiling. I'm not geared that way. I realized that what is "good" is ugly to me. I can see it and acknowledge it (in reviews, in public) as being good according to the standard of the org, but I dislike it. And I won't do something I dislike in my own vids. So I was intentionally substandard. Meaning I don't give a damn. To intentionally do something bad just because you like bad things? You don't give a damn. And you're a drag on everyone who does. Sorry about that. If it's any consolation my guilt for not giving a damn is one of the reasons I'm too ashamed to bother anymore. So what if I'd enjoy it? This isn't about fun. Unless you're a masochist, or a perfectionist, or a dedicated skilled amv-maker. None of the above? Try the tube. They deleted your vids? Oh, well, switch hobbies. There are plenty of other time consuming unrewarding yet fun things to do on the net where standards need not apply.

    http://www.animemusicvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=97869

    Content. Anime content, music content, the amount of favorite scenes in the given video, the nostalgic quality of the content of the video. All of that matters more than quality. One video loaded with content I love is equal to twenty vids with bits of content I like. If I can't have that one, I make do with the twenty. It evens out in the end. I either watch those twenty back to back, or I watch that one on loop for hours. As long as I get my fix of "things I love" it's all good. It doesn't matter if that one, or those twenty, have quality editing and footage as long as they have the content I need to enjoy the videos. Remember, I'm not an editor or even a music video fan. I'm an anime fan. It's all about the eyecandy and always will be. I'm your con audience. Give me Vash dancing and some pretty bishies, and I'll clap my hands numb for you. Shameful? Maybe to an editor who looks down on the majority of anime fans who happen to download amvs for an eyecandy fix. To us anime fans, it's only natural. If we weren't in it for the anime, we'd be watching professional music videos. Or the old WMP visualizations where you get your "moving colors matched to music" done automatically for you. Honestly, if it's not about the anime, what's the point of restricting visual content to anime only? This isn't a music video site. That "anime" is in front of the title for a reason. 
  • Org Idols 2009-09-04 00:54:01 The org was my first online forum. It taught me everything I needed to survive the rest of the net. Funny, now that I realize how ridiculous the rest of the net can be. But true. By '04 I was entirely comfortable. By '05 I was old. By '06 I wanted nothing to do with anyone who 'lived' here. Because I did have idols. When I found out they were catty gossiping women, I was severly disilusioned.

    There were a few guys I respected completely. When one of them reviewed one of my vids, I took everything he said to heart. I considered them masters of the basics, everything else being a matter of opinion and conceit. On the forum they struck me as more mature than everyone else. Even I had moments of petty spitefulness, ignorant biases, even outright nastiness. They didn't. I considered them better than me. Better as people, not just as editors. I was proud of the fact that they were so civil, as nice to me as they were to their own friends. I took them as proof that not everyone on the org was an egotistical prat. I was setting myself up for a fall. They were good people. Nice, mature, intelligent. The sort of people I looked up to in real life.

    Then google showed me the truth. They were as small minded and pettily embarrassing as everyone else online. What I'd taken as respect, even helpfullness, was actually two-faced condescention. They didn't just dislike me, they considered me a big joke. And they were all in on it. Draw me into a conversation on the org and then laugh about it in a different forum. And thanks to google, I realized it had been going on for years, the entire time. Everything I 'knew' about them was a front. I was devestated. I'm pretty sure I cried. I got sick everytime I saw them post on the org for months afterward until I just stopped coming altogether.

    That was over three years ago. In retrospect, it was good for me. It made me into the cynical, even condescending, person I am now. The more friendly, polite, and seemingly intelligent a person is online, the more I wonder what pathetic shortcomings they have elsewhere on the net (and in real life). I take nothing on face value anymore. It's all an act. That's all the internet is for most people, a venue to trick people into believing whatever persona you choose to use. And I've never done that. I've never even considered doing it. I'm the same online as I am everywhere. If I dislike someone, I avoid having to interact with them. I certainly wouldn't seek them out for fodder to laugh at afterward. I've got better things to do with my time. Those idols I used to look up to are now lower than trolls. I can't read one of their posts on the forum without rolling my eyes. Because I know better. And they don't know that I know. Not that they'd care. I'm sure they've found new sources of amusement since then. They'll always be sources of amusement and derision for me now, so it evens out.

    There are still a few org members I look up to. I'm careful to make sure they're ones I don't have much contact with. It's easier with the ones who don't post anymore. Fond memories that make the past seem better than it was at the time. Idols should be worshipped from a distance. You can't look up to someone who is as petty and real as the people you look down on. Those can be friends (until google proves otherwise) but never idols. Idols are on a pedastool, after all. If you take them down to talk to, it would be silly to ask them to climb back up afterward. 
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