Zarxrax
09-07-2010, 09:22 PM
AMV Minis's season one is drawing to a close, and this makes a good time to reflect on the past year+ of minis and to figure out how to improve things for the future.

Here are my current plans for season 2:
- Move to a widescreen format
- Stricter rules regarding video quality. Many of the submissions are just getting ridiculous.

Also regarding the site itself:
- get rid of the arcade section. It serves no purpose, I don't have time to mess with it, and there are plenty of better sites where you can play games


Now, I want to hear feedback from you guys. Here are some topics that I am interested in knowing your thoughts about. Are they good? Could they be improved in some way?
- General site layout/design
- Video Directory
- Entry submission process
- Entry review/acceptance process
- Video viewing/download process
- Other topics

Backmask
09-07-2010, 10:03 PM
I just want people to stop using Family Guy sound clips. I enjoyed AMV Hell a lot more when it was just anime music videos.

Evileel
09-07-2010, 10:20 PM
- Stricter rules regarding video quality

Good idea. Some particular clips in AMV minis really makes your eyes hurt.



get rid of the arcade section
Have never ever played those games. I think big part of members don't even now about this section's existence :P


- General site layout/design

Looks good enough. At 90% cases when admin decides to change site's layout, it becomes much more ****ter, confusing and stuffed with slow loading flash advertisements. So I would recommend no to do it, unless you are 100% sure what are you doing :D


- Video Directory

Its a bit inconvenient, coz you have to press play button 2 times. And if you do it too quickly, annoying advertiment will pop out. Also its impossible to embed that video on the other forums. Buts thats actually trivia.


- Video viewing/download process

OK for me. Although people are usually complaining that its impossible to get AMV Hell 0 & /0 anywhere.



I enjoyed AMV Hell a lot more when it was just anime music videos.

I totally agree :D
Looks like now AMV Hell is slowly turning from fun and original clips show into lipsynch contest.

Doomimus
09-07-2010, 10:22 PM
Shouldn't the link to Azumanga X1 be on the Minis Download page? It's in the Video Directory, just not the Download page.

I'll let you know if anything else comes to mind.

Zarxrax
09-07-2010, 10:28 PM
Shouldn't the link to Azumanga X1 be on the Minis Download page? It's in the Video Directory, just not the Download page.

I'll let you know if anything else comes to mind.
Hah, good catch.

LOLWTFBBQ
09-07-2010, 10:50 PM
theres an arcade section here?

I think each episode of minis should have a limit as to how many vids from one source can be posted. for example: maximum of 2 bleach clips used in 1 mini, maximum of 1 family guy audio clip used in 1 mini. this would prevent spamming of a source that people would get tired of.

the site could be alittle more simple. its got too much stuff here as it is, we only come here for forums and amv stuff, thats all.

getting to watch vids can be a pain, it needs to be simpler and more obvious.

DXM
09-08-2010, 12:11 AM
No more eveangelion clips for the next season

Rebbie
09-08-2010, 01:33 AM
No more eveangelion clips for the next season

But then we'll only have like half the material. D:

LOLWTFBBQ
09-08-2010, 04:40 AM
But then we'll only have like half the material. D:

half evangelion, half lucky star, half azumanga.

but seriously, there needs to be more of an outreach to lesser used animes, the 3 I mentioned got spammed at us in the Hells

Shirker
09-08-2010, 07:27 AM
I know I'm pretty damn new here, but I do feel I must say this:

I for one really have no problem at all with the repeated use of one audio/video source. I think the posters can submit any damn joke they please as long as it's funny. Sadly, that "funny" criteria isn't being well followed. It's not that the FG clips are bad, it's that they're being used rather poorly. Same thing with anime. I had no problem getting raped by Azumanga and AMV Hells 3 and 4. The bulk of those are what made up some of the funniest clips. Again, Eva's getting it bad on most the Minis cuz they were used poorly, not cuz they were used.

*climbs down soapbox*

Now that that's out of the way, I do believe there should be stricter rules on video quality, visually anyway. There are some clips that were plain blurry as all getout.

Trashing the arcade is fine. Taking up space as it is now.

Video entry is fine. Sharebee is like some kinda godsend.

Video viewing is fine as it is, downloading however could use another link. Maybe it's just my computer, but that service that's currently being used seems really buggy.


My insignificant 2 cents.

Tazuto
09-08-2010, 04:46 PM
im currently too tired and frustrated with college HW to think of anythign usefull so ill post later about it

XxFabiGBxX
09-08-2010, 06:00 PM
i want to submit something, but I dont have a good program to make videos, can someone recomend something??

kapparomeo
09-08-2010, 06:09 PM
FabiGB, there's a variety of programs available but perhaps the single most popular piece of video editing software is Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum - version 9.0 is the very widespread, but version 10 was recently released. It's extremely accessible and has great functionality (only missing a few functions compared to the Pro edition, such as masking and having more than 3 videos overlaid at once), and is relatively inexpensive too - you can get it for $40-$70 depending on where you look. That, combined with the Zarx264 program for converting your videos to .MP4s for submission, will let you do pretty much everything needed for a clip. You can also download a free month-long trial of Vegas Platinum to get used to it before buying.

Evileel
09-08-2010, 06:16 PM
If you have no video editing experience - use Windows movie maker to experiment with it. Every Windows XP or later has this sofware by default.
And yes, Sony Vegas is probably the most popular software here.
Virtualdub, MPEG Streamclip and avidemux are popular free video editors.
There are numerous other video editors like Adobe Premiere Elements, ulead MovieFactory, Pinnacle, Cyberlink Movie Director, Corel VideoStudio, Magix Movie Edit Pro, etc.
Interesting however that none of them can handle flv files XD

LOLWTFBBQ
09-08-2010, 06:19 PM
FabiGB, there's a variety of programs available but perhaps the single most popular piece of video editing software is Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum - version 9.0 is the very widespread, but version 10 was recently released. It's extremely accessible and has great functionality (only missing a few functions compared to the Pro edition, such as masking and having more than 3 videos overlaid at once), and is relatively inexpensive too - you can get it for $40-$70 depending on where you look. That, combined with the Zarx264 program for converting your videos to .MP4s for submission, will let you do pretty much everything needed for a clip. You can also download a free month-long trial of Vegas Platinum to get used to it before buying.

excelent choice, I myself use vegas 7.0 for more advanced editing, unfortunately I did not buy it, and I do NOT recomend pirating it.

if you have a MAC then you probably dont need any editing software, but if you own a PC, then Windows Movie Maker is a nice little editor that lets you do a fair amount of work while still being very simple.

scarmullet
09-08-2010, 06:33 PM
- Move to a widescreen format
Its a good Idea but, what about shows done in 4:3, will that aspect ratio be maintained?



- Stricter rules regarding video quality. Many of the submissions are just getting ridiculous.

So rip DVDs in MPEG2 quality, instead of 1.

The getting rid of Family guy thing entirely would be a good idea

Also banning the use of Eva/Azu/LS would be a bad idea, since familiar anime really is the backbone of compilations because people know what it is and if there is a joke pertaining to the anime, more people will get it. BUT there should be more obscure animes used, people just have to find them.

XxFabiGBxX
09-08-2010, 06:45 PM
nah, i just download it, its the version 8.0.

well at least where I live, thats not a crime, cuz theres a law of neutrality...

well thank you for your recommendatios

LOLWTFBBQ
09-08-2010, 07:02 PM
hell no dont ban Eva/Azu/LS, just use less of it, thats all Im saying. every episode of minis has it, so it seems like people are lacking imagination and just getting away with the same old clips. IMO this needs to stop and people need to branch out and get creative.

variety is my main goal

animemental1
09-08-2010, 07:53 PM
I'll try to pitch in some clips. They are right about the whole "poor material" thing. Plus, I have a lot of ideas for clips. But, I have the feeling that half are gonna be rejected.

DXM
09-08-2010, 09:29 PM
i want to submit something, but I dont have a good program to make videos, can someone recomend something??

Windows movie maker is good place to get started. It's idiot proof. That's what I used for about 75% of my videos until I felt my skills were ready for the complex features featured on Vegas as such.

You'll need a video converter.

I use Xilisoft.

One of my clips were rejected because it was and I qoute,"that clip has been done to death"
In fact I think X3 should be Old school.

No anime Made past October 3, 1995 ( NGE's Orginal airing was on the fourth)

kapparomeo
09-08-2010, 09:49 PM
It might not be the most interesting thing to say, my comment is 'continue as before'. I'm quite satisified with the way that the site is arranged, it works efficiently. I have no problems with the submission and review process as it stands. It's simple to work through the form, sharebee is convenient for uploading, and all of my clips that have been rejected have been done so for understandable reasons so I'm happy to defer to Zarxrax and his team's judgement. The one change that I would like to see would be the opportunity to delete submissions - there have been a couple of occasions when I've discovered a flaw with a clip after adding it, and it would be easier for all if I could just scrub it rather than have zarxrax and the reviewers lose time downloading it if they miss the reply.

I wouldn't be overly keen on a change to widescreen - while admittedly a lot of clips do have large black borders at present, I don't really think that it's that much of a problem, and I do have a few older shows in different ratios that would lose out from the change.

One welcome development would be to advertise the Minis further abroad than here and YouTube, to improve our viewership. It puzzles me that we do not have mirrors on amv.org, particularly given the level of traffic that that site enjoys.

Doomimus
09-08-2010, 11:03 PM
I'm all for widescreen, provided we don't mess up the aspect ratio of the original 4:3 shows. Pillarbox should take care of that just fine.

animemental1
09-10-2010, 10:19 PM
Repeated usage of jokes should be one of the rules in submitting. Examples are the repeated use of I'm So Ronery in CE & the Zero Punctuation clip used in both Hell /0 & Minis X2. I think that if one joke has been used, it shouldn't be used again unless it's WAY better or it's supposed to be a running gag (like the AzuDai/Mac commercial clip in Hell 3).

Zarxrax
09-10-2010, 11:05 PM
One welcome development would be to advertise the Minis further abroad than here and YouTube, to improve our viewership. It puzzles me that we do not have mirrors on amv.org, particularly given the level of traffic that that site enjoys.
It's a real hassle to list them on amv.org. First off, it would take quite a while to enter all the anime and song information. Then, it would be nearly impossible to add everyone who submitted entries as a collaborator on the video, because many people here would have different usernames there, or may not even have an account there at all. And then theres the fact that my account already has like 50 videos listed on it, and this would all clutter it up way more :p

XxFabiGBxX
09-11-2010, 02:54 AM
hmm, Im working on a short AMV for test abilities and how to use the Sony Vegas 9.0.

the animes that im using are Seto No Hanayome OVA Gi, with Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu

Its a video with the music Through the Fire and Flames, Its going to be bad, cuz Im very newbie at this, so u can judge me plzz??

but Im going to freeze the project, 'cuz vacation and not going to connect for about 1 week...

so wish me luck plzz...

Kajimura
09-11-2010, 04:14 AM
im not trying to talk bout BL to much but i dont think ive seen any Black Lagoon clips in any of amv, same with Soul Eater

humnut
09-11-2010, 09:30 AM
Hmm, for video quality, it should be as best as possible. However, some people should realize that not everyone has a DVD of this and that. Some of us have to rely on downloads from torrent sites and what not. But on the other side of things, a little teamwork would be nice, such as referring other members to a source with high quality. (If that makes no sense, sorry. It's 2 am where I am and I've been up for more than a day.)

Also, I would personally like to see more diverse anime in the minis episodes. Soul Eater, Clannad, hell maybe even some Fairy Tale. It seems like people are tapping Evangelion dry, maybe just laying off the clips for a while and exploring your creativity a bit. (I just read that and it sounds like an insult in my own head, which I'm not trying to do in any way. I'm just a D!ck like that.)

But back to other stuff. I like the idea of a widescreen format, but I'm using a 16:9 laptop, so widescreen looks as awesome as. . . Something awesome. . . can be. (Again super-duper tired)


Ummm, there's an arcade section.

My friend just suggest to me a Torrent section. Which could be cool, but legality reasons might affect that.

Everything else is good as it is. maybe changing the color scheme up for the site would be nice. Orange is okay, but it's been around forever. I voted Obama, so I like change. (Yes we can)

Oh, how about a contest for a new logo for the site. Something to do from now until Season 2.

Well, that's my 2 cents about things and stuff. If I have a genius thought out of nowhere I'll post it.

Evileel
09-11-2010, 09:59 AM
Yes, Ive missed too more anime names in in AMV Hell series. Besides Black Lagoon, Soul Eater, Clannad and Fairy Tale there is lots of more unused/rarely used popular animes for example:
Full metal panic!
Air TV
Fate/stay night
Samurai Champloo
Kanon
5 centimeters per second
Rosario + Vampire
Vampire Knight
Wolf's Rain
D.N.Angel

Those names are very popular on youtube, there are lots of awesome AMVs with those animes there, but for some reason they are very disfavourited in AMV Hell series.

XxFabiGBxX
09-11-2010, 04:28 PM
Im think that we should use some 2010 anime or 2009

And more ecchi :-p... xD !!

Evileel
09-11-2010, 04:47 PM
Like KissxSis!
http://i52.tinypic.com/6tpwti.jpg
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/7149/kissxsismot1.jpg

kapparomeo
09-11-2010, 11:24 PM
Actually, one more change that I would be keen on - could we please invite a new theme tune for the second season of the Minis? I'm very sorry to Lights Out, God Help Me, but I honestly cannot stand "Mainstream". It sets my teeth on edge!

animemental1
09-11-2010, 11:39 PM
How 'bout an abridged version of the AMV Hell 4 OP? I liked it.

NodMan
09-12-2010, 04:15 AM
Only thing I could suggest is broaden your mind and search when trying to come up with funny songs or sound clips. I'd be more than willing to suggest or help anyone that is stuck on that part.

Also get newer Animes or Animes that haven't been used before (could think of 7 right off the top of my head).

If another Hentai AMV Hell is done (lol right?) more stab ****ing is needed. *Coughs* Just kidding.

P.S. Lol at KissXSis...

Doomimus
09-12-2010, 07:18 PM
How about a special Disney/Western animation episode?

animemental1
09-12-2010, 08:23 PM
But...it's AnimeMusicVideo Hell. We can't do that...unless you mean anime synced with the audio of Disney movies/American cartoons. Then, maybe.

Doomimus
09-12-2010, 10:42 PM
The A could just as well stand for Animated.

Zarxrax
09-12-2010, 10:57 PM
a western animation episode might be interesting

DXM
09-12-2010, 11:26 PM
we have to define western animation since most of it comes from the same place most Anime dose, Korea.

animemental1
09-13-2010, 12:53 AM
How about another "Bad Stuff" episode? Everyone liked X2.

e1fen1ied
09-13-2010, 12:56 AM
AMV Minis X3 - Worse Stuff

animemental1
09-13-2010, 01:02 AM
Sounds like AMV Hell /0 Abridged.

animemental1
09-13-2010, 01:23 AM
I GOTS AN IDEA! How about having an AMV Hell Awards? We can have categories like...

Best AMV Hell Clip (1&2)
Best AMV Hell 3 Clip
Best AMV Hell 4 Clip
Best AMV Hell CE Clip
Best AMV Hell 5 Clip
Best AMV Hell Clip (0&/0)
Best AMV Minis Season 1 Clip
Best AMV Minis Season 2 Clip
Awesomest AMV Hell Clip

Other Categories

Funniest Dirty Joke NOT in AMV Hell 0 or /0
Funniest "10 Seconds or Less" Clip
Funniest Commercial Parody
Funniest Romance Clip
The "Weird Al" Award (Best Clip Matched To a Weird Al Yankovich Song)
Funniest Musical Moment
Best Non-Anime Clip (I think the Yotsuba clip from Hell 4 definetly deserves this.)

Backmask
09-14-2010, 02:05 AM
Sounds like AMV Hell /0 Abridged.

That's what I wanted from X2.

tanis_lionheart
09-14-2010, 02:11 AM
You know what would be kind of cool?


Taking a few songs and having various AMVs complete the songs.

Take 'Money' and have 3 or so different AMVs string it into one AMV.

animemental1
09-14-2010, 03:45 PM
Meh, no offense but I don't think that would work. Besides, AMV Hell & Minis is supposed to be a funny set of sound clips matched with anime, not a display for AMVs. The only exception was Zarxrax's parody of an Evangelion AMV set to different audio.

darkzi
09-14-2010, 09:48 PM
abridged + western..I fear american idol special..ohh wait we had one of those in 8..or 9

Tank
09-15-2010, 06:47 AM
First, before I begin my rant, I warn you it will last forever.

1. I'm all for widescreen and better quality (But don't be a quality nazi about it; some people have good ideas, but can't do great quality because of limits to their internet usage, computer memory, or editing software). However, when you compare how many anime are in 4:3 to widescreen, there are more in 4:3 and stretching them to fit the format might look bad or reduce the quality.

2. I also have to say we need more anime that aren't used often. Bleach, Black Lagoon, Soul Eater, the list goes on. As for Evangelion, I don't really care either way as long as it makes me laugh. If it's funny, then it's funny; I don't really get why everyone hates on eva so much...

3. NO MORE FAMILY GUY SOUND CLIPS (Unless they are REALLY, EXCEPTIONALLY good). I cannot stress that enough.

4. I'm not sure about a western special... It could be interesting, but I think sticking with anime is much more traditional.

5. Don't ban any anime; if its used over and over again, just limit the amount of times its in the videos.

6. Make the mini specials occur more frequently; do like 3 or 4 per season or something like that.

And lastly, here are some ideas for mini specials in the future.
1. Another bad stuff (Everyone loved the first and there were so many submissions for it)
2. One donated to little known anime; stuff that people haven't ever heard of or have forgotten about.
3. A kids special (I don't mean one for really young audiences, I mean one about kids like Lucky Star)
4. ANOTHER BAD STUFF!
5. An entire ep of Evangelion (To both piss everyone off for a laugh and to get all the videos out of everyone's systems so people stop bitching about it).
6. 0/ special.

And with that, my rant is done!

Doomimus
09-21-2010, 02:04 PM
I think the Recent Threads section should have a "see more" button at the bottom. That way, in case we have an onslaught of new comments in over 15 threads, we can at least go back and see what we missed without going to the Forum section.

Just me two cents.

Zarxrax
09-21-2010, 03:13 PM
I think the Recent Threads section should have a "see more" button at the bottom. That way, in case we have an onslaught of new comments in over 15 threads, we can at least go back and see what we missed without going to the Forum section.

Just me two cents.

Under the "quick links" section at the top, there is a link to "today's posts", which shows all posts from the past day

Also a bit to the left of that, there is a "new posts" button.

Doomimus
09-21-2010, 06:36 PM
Ah HA! Got it. Is it just for the current day, though, or is there a way to view the newest posts from the past week/month, etc.?

Pain
09-27-2010, 09:36 AM
Hey Guys i would like to say something too.

First Thing: General site layout/design

I think that the Site is looking pretty Good. But we need more smileys :-)

Second thing: Video Directory

Good thing leave it in this style ^^ :D

Third Thing: Entry submission process

I have no idea what you mean with that.Could you please Explain?

Fourth Thing: Entry review/acceptance process

I have no idea what you mean with that too.Could you please Explain?

Fifth Thing: Video viewing/download process

This Sections is good but I wuld like to have more choices to download the amv hells. Youtube sucks because it always tells me the same bull****^^

sixth Thing: Other topics

I think it was good and you dont need to change^^

So that was I think about.

Sorry for my bad English^^

I am a German

Greetings mcdgt@dmin

keinushi
09-30-2010, 11:47 PM
No more eveangelion clips for the next season


half evangelion, half lucky star, half azumanga.

but seriously, there needs to be more of an outreach to lesser used animes, the 3 I mentioned got spammed at us in the Hells

I love lucky star and hate evangelion and azumanga, personally I thin the latter to should be struck all together, and if it meant losing some good lucky star clips I'd be okay with that. But even my friends who like evangelian are tired of it. More obscure anime! No more spirited away either.

nipple
10-01-2010, 10:12 AM
I love lucky star and hate azumanga

KiLL iT WiTH FiRE!

SLAYER NEXUS
10-01-2010, 11:31 AM
I am open to pretty much any changes but one thing I'd consider leaving as is is the screen ratio since widescreen tends to mess up the picture layout sometimes and quality can be lost and some people might not be that savvy with using other formats, converting and what not. You'll end up getting a lot of entries with black bars since a lot of anime is standard not widescreen unless it's anthropomorphic widescreen or on blue-ray.

keinushi
10-02-2010, 05:04 AM
I am open to pretty much any changes but one thing I'd consider leaving as is is the screen ratio since widescreen tends to mess up the picture layout sometimes and quality can be lost and some people might not be that savvy with using other formats, converting and what not. You'll end up getting a lot of entries with black bars since a lot of anime is standard not widescreen unless it's anthropomorphic widescreen or on blue-ray.

on the contrary, most of my anime is widescreen, and amv hell has black bars quite often because the ratio is wrong, I think this is the best change they could make

SLAYER NEXUS
10-09-2010, 06:22 AM
on the contrary, most of my anime is widescreen, and amv hell has black bars quite often because the ratio is wrong, I think this is the best change they could make
Okay well take this for example, Many of the anime clips I have used and the ones I have ripped from my dvds are not widescreen and even if I set them to widescreen they won't be wide screen because of it's ratio so older animes are going to not be a very good choice in the future, Unless Zarx can figure out how to modify peoples entries that are just 4:3 and some how switch them to 16:9 without messing up the quality.

humnut
10-09-2010, 12:42 PM
Okay well take this for example, Many of the anime clips I have used and the ones I have ripped from my dvds are not widescreen and even if I set them to widescreen they won't be wide screen because of it's ratio so older animes are going to not be a very good choice in the future, Unless Zarx can figure out how to modify peoples entries that are just 4:3 and some how switch them to 16:9 without messing up the quality.

Actually, that's not to hard to do, depending on what editing program your using.

SLAYER NEXUS
10-09-2010, 01:42 PM
Actually, that's not to hard to do, depending on what editing program your using.

Windows live movie maker :sweatdrop:

Zarxrax
10-09-2010, 02:15 PM
Oh god, you DON'T change 4:3 footage to 16:9!
It will fit right in the middle of the 16:9 frame just perfectly without doing anything to it.

Riaki
10-09-2010, 03:11 PM
*just reading up everyone don't mind me*

SLAYER NEXUS
10-09-2010, 09:11 PM
Oh god, you DON'T change 4:3 footage to 16:9!
It will fit right in the middle of the 16:9 frame just perfectly without doing anything to it.
So basically you are saying we can still submit clips that are 4:3?

tanis_lionheart
10-10-2010, 04:36 PM
It'd be cool if ya'll did some sort of 'Reversed AMV Hell'.

Use Live-Action clips with Anime/Cartoon audio.
:D

animemental1
10-10-2010, 05:12 PM
...I cannot see somebody matching Gossip Girl to Kanon audio. I just can't see it.

Riaki
10-10-2010, 05:20 PM
I still cant even work myself to find the right clips for my christmas clips because my clips are so freken long 1gig O..o of clips

Zarxrax
10-10-2010, 06:18 PM
So basically you are saying we can still submit clips that are 4:3?
Yes.

AKALink
10-12-2010, 04:56 AM
If we want to have a second season theme I would be ecstatic to write it. But I'm not sure if I have the time. I would need some time constraint stuff though. If it help I'm a member of FMG (Film Music Guild), a guild that writes music for student movies.

Doomimus
10-19-2010, 01:59 PM
Under the Video Directory, I suggest combining the AMV and Random sections (since they're almost all AMVs anyway) and then separating them into different categories, like Trailer, Action, Drama, etc. Or maybe AMV Hell/Minis Entries (accepted and rejected), AMV Hell spin-offs, miscellaneous, etc. Just so it doesn't get too cluttered.

Also, what happened to the list of contributors for the Video Directory?