Jul 23 2007
The end of an epic hobby.
So as a follow up to my previous AMV post…while logged in my AMV is there but when I logged out I realize that not only was that video tagged as “explicit”, but when clicking to view the video, it was also “deleted due to breach of TOS.” What am I breaching again? Was it the guy in the speedo? The hand on boob (covered by a bikini)? Or was it Louise kissing Saito? Hmm. Regardless it really made me re-think this whole AMV making thing. Is it worth it? First youtube, then dailymotion. I gave up with the DIVX site because I constantly got errors from not encoding properly and since I’m on Vista I’m not even gonna bother anymore.
So then I uploaded my AMV as usual to the org. I usually post it on the announcement forum cause hey everyone’s too lazy to post reviews anyway so a quick opinion is always good. I was disappointed that most people only posted “the quality sucks”. Yes I realized the quality sucked when every single output to come out of elements looked like dog poop so the best I could do without killing ORG bandwidth is spit out a 320 x 240 MPEG1. Listen bitches, back in 1999 that was the utmost supremere anime quality because otherwise you were stuck watching RMs so blurry you couldn’t even read the subtitles!!
As I browsed the forums I noticed they’re having the FINAL AMV Hell 4. At this time it’s not a contest and all submissions are due August 1st. I got all excited like “oh man I get to be part of something big if I make it in!” etc. I looked up funny wav sites to use thought about what funny shows I could use (Umisho, Hayate). But by the time I got home I thought……why bother? I’ll probably have to deal with the frustration of Elements again especially when the rules are “IT MUST BE GOOD QUALITY OR AUTO REJECT11!1!” Alright I can encode it maybe DVD format but even then it looks like poo.
I never really made any AMV friends so I don’t have anyone to ask for help. Most people who make AMVs use Windows Movie Maker. In fact I’ve always made AMVs in Premiere 6.0 or 6.5 (whatever I had installed at the time) and the first time I have to deal with Vista & Elements it’s like trying to make water & fire cooperate. So…I guess I’m calling it quits. I mean in all honesty the last AMV I made was only because “well I kinda need to make one so I can delete like Hayate, and Nagasarete Airantou off my hard drive.” I guess that’s not a great reason to make an AMV but I think if it’s come down to this….it’s probably a sign I need to quit.
It’s hard for me to give up a hobby I’ve had (on & off) for the last 5 years, but just like fansubbing it’s just something I need to part with. I mean I did it all. I made amvs, I did the lipsyncs, I did the fake subtitles, I did the multi-editor projects, and I accomplished both goals of a) making it into the amv contest of a con and b) winning said contest (in its respected category). It’s like what more do I need? I also noticed when making my animated flash movies, I enjoyed doing that more because I’d never have to deal with video quality/encoding and I never have to “Search” for clips. I just draw what I feel should be in that “scene”. This is why my Naruto flash movies have proven to be so successful. People end up caring about the content more than the “outer shell” such as “video quality” or “use of special effects”.
Maybe I’m just getting old. Back in my day (harr) my amvs were apparently really popular in the fansubbing circle, but nowdays anyone can download anime and slap a few clips together and make their AMV….so I guess you have to put in blood sweat & tears (or something)…or just use some popular american song. That’s my other issue. I pretty much stopped listening to any english music since like 3 years ago and now all my songs are Japanese…and nobody in the otaku world understands Japanese so automatically anytime I use a Japanese song, people go “I don’t get it..this amv sucks.” Kinda tired of all this drama. I was never really active in the AMV community either except during my time with the mep’s, so when I leave & come back it’s like only 1 person actually goes “Whoa you’re still alive?” 
Well in conclusion, it was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. Thank you for those who supported my epic hobby, because without you….I might have quit 30 videos ago. 
For my epic amv history please check out my page at the org.
17 Responses to “The end of an epic hobby.”
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;_;
T_T
I still see so many good AMVs that it makes me really appreciate the hard work people put into them. I don’t hear about them much on blogs, though, which is a shame. I’d enjoy seeing random links or “best of the week” type reviews about them.
I never would have gotten into anime if not for AMVs. I ran across a Fullmetal Alchemist AMV on youtube one random evening, and a hundred or so series later here I am. (Battered, but unbowed.) And there’s many a series I never would have watched if not for having run across it in an AMV. The Princess Tutu one set to “Hold Me Now” comes to mind. I enjoyed that series and I’d never heard of it before the AMV. AMV editors seem to get less attention than fansubbers, but I think it’s a good avenue for people to demonstrate their skills and passion even if they don’t know Japanese well enough to translate an entire episode from scratch. Fans should have multiple ways to express their appreciation. Your flash videos are another example.
It sounds like you’d have way more enthusiasm about continuing your AMV hobby if you could clear up your encoding problems. If it’s something you genuinely enjoy I think it would be a shame to let technical problems stop you. I think 2 years out we’ll have much better tools/software for dealing with these video issues. Right now the standards are too new and it takes too much time and heartache for most people to bother with.
it could be the issue with the encoding that got me all disheartened. I mean maybe one day in the future but because lately other stuff occupies me more, the encoding issue destroys like ANY desire I had for even making the videos.
the other problem is ive gotten so picky with my anime that I was running out of useful footage :/
Now that you’ve won a contest you can end your AMV career with some satisfaction.
It would be sad to give up AMVs, but there’s plenty of other things to do. With fansubbing, AMV and flah video-making, cosplaying, doujinshi-crating, blooging, etc, you’ve probably covered more aspects of anime hobbies than the most fans. How do you find time to sleep? @_@
you know, it still loads from your blog =D. In any case, I’m probably more picky than you, I wouldn’t even use the naruto clip u added in XD
DS> I just do a few things at a time, drop them, then pick them up again after dropping something else xD I juggle things through time. But yea I have this problem where I wanted to do EVERYTHING…and I did and now I gotta just drop stuff and concentrate on more important things: currently being blogging, RO2 and drawing.
hel> When I say picky I mean I just use whats on my hard drive but if I’m not watching a lot of shows I don’t have a lot to work with xP
I’m sorry for your despair. Eat chocolate, it fixes everything… EVERYTHING.
For those who show a lack of respect or appreciation of your work; it should appease you to know that most of them are going to live at home forever and will never know the touch of another (without paying for it), and that is why they are so bitter.
On the bright side, you’ll have more time to blog; and at the end of the day, isn’t that all we’re really concerned with?
And how exactly does one live in America, and somehow not listen to American music? Even the Japanese listen to American music. You’re missing some good stuff out there. There’s this new hip group called “The Jackson 5″ and I think they may actually have a couple of #1’s in their career.
I’m actually hooked on Namie Amuro’s “Baby don’t cry” from her play CD. I so love that song…. anyways if it’s going to stress you in the slightest bit, it’s good to let it go… except Naruto.
Plus I had no idea you could write so eloquently! I assumed you just grunt and whistle like most Jersey Girls. You have have actually finished high school. I’m undoubtedly shocked. I thought it was a ghost writer until the “bitches” popped up.
*j/k*
Surely encoding is JP’s job. You = creative. Partner = menial tasks. This is why relationships exist.
u know… i could’ve helped improve your quality with avisynth since i make amvs as well. i hope u didnt delete your lossless file.
Sabrina> XD I stayed away from the “jersey girls” crowd when I was in high school. I hated most of them anyway
Oh well thanks to them I picked up the anime hobby 
Yea I can write “eloquently” as you say but I figure no one would ever read it since all they care about are summaries and possibly (more) screenshots.
Baby don’t cry is awesome. One of my favorite songs to put on repeat. I don’t listen to american music cause every morning my alarm radio wakes me up with the weather report then I just shut it off. On the train my ipod is mostly Jpop with a few “greatest hits of 1997″ like “ace of base - the sign” :X I haven’t listened to any “new” music for a while…cause I guess when I do turn on the radio everything sounds so blah to me.
vk-style> Actually I kept the lossless file.I was gonna try 1 more thing with the output before deleting them. I use avisynth sometimes but only when converting 119 frps files into 29frps ones.
Hinano, if you like funny, you should listen to Weird Al Yankovic :V
Also, plz be helping with Clannad Translation Project ;_;
try this
ConvertToYV12(interlaced=false)
deen(”a3d”,4,11,10)
FastLineDarken(thinning=0)
SSXSharpen()
i hope this works out.
um whoa…
the question is…how do I do this out of adobe premiere elements? o_o
I only know how to use AVI synth through virtual dub
mmm.. i dont think premiere elements can do avisynth. i’ve heard 6.5 and 1.5 pro are the only premieres that can do it.
load the script in vdub instead. its much better.
I would like to suggest you use Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 (if you’re strapped for cash :P) or you can go all out on Adobe Premiere Pro CS3
It can encode faster than the previous versions. It’s also kinda vista-friendly so I think you won’t have any problems with it 
In video compressing I prefer to use compressed wmv format, sicne it has good compression but does not lose quality. When I compress videos I just use WMM *lol* XD
eewwwwwwwwwwwwwww! wmv is evil.. x_x
ahah I have WMV
I ended up jacking up the quality settings and came up with a pretty decent MPEG format video.