List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

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Phantasmagoriat
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by Phantasmagoriat » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:59 am

I can see how you might interpret it that way, but what I am trying to accomplish goes far beyond self-promotion. I am literally thinking back to when I first joined, and remembering all the frustration of finding relevant information, and filtering out all the crap to find the stuff that actually mattered. I don't want anyone else to have to go through that. So I think by putting this together and making it more visible, new members would know where to look first; because as it is right now, there is no starting point. I mean, where do you begin? You just lurk the forums for years before you know how things work? That's bullshit. Just because we had to do it, doesn't mean new members have to do it too.

So yeah, I feel very strongly about making this an omni-post (regardless of moving around the current stickies).
But because I haven't heard anything from the admin, I'm just going to assume they are still deciding what to do.
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by Scintilla » Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:24 pm

Phantasmagoriat wrote:E. OLDER TECH GUIDES:
I object strongly to this categorization, as I updated that guide only two years ago. :P

More seriously, it's still linked from EADFAG as of version 3.1, and it's my understanding that many conventions' contests still state MPEG-2 to be their preferred format for submissions.
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by Ileia » Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:49 pm

The number of conventions that "prefer" MPEG-2 dwindles each year, more and more replaced with mp4. It's still accepted, of course, but it isn't the standard that it once was. It's not an entirely obsolete guide, but it is older.
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by GloryQuestor » Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:38 pm

Ileia wrote:The number of conventions that "prefer" MPEG-2 dwindles each year, more and more replaced with mp4. It's still accepted, of course, but it isn't the standard that it once was. It's not an entirely obsolete guide, but it is older.
It's older, but then again, the biggest reason is that convention organizers still prefer something simple. MPEG-2 still remains a standard since you can put all of the videos easily on a DVD and just hand it off to pop in and play the contest. For bigger conventions, that isn't an issue--they tend to be more "professional" and have hook-ups ready for computers or even BluRay playback, if the coordinator has the right hardware for that--but a lot of conventions will still prefer the "cheap" solution of DVDs. The common opinion is that the average viewer still simply won't care if the video is HD or SD, if the video is clean enough and sizes rather well on the big screens.

Also, MP4 is a very good standard if you are using a computer and the right playback software, but because of the variable aspect ratios, picture sizes, and 1080p, it's hard to get true conformity between the videos when you just throw them onto a DVD as-is (for example, from your editing software). Also, many of the most popular DVD encoders (like Nero) have specific restrictions on its AVC usage, so in the end, we coordinators can spend a lot of time re-rendering and converting it if only because of taking variations and making them one size fits all (which is still what 720x480 MPEG-2 provides).

That's my 5¢ anyway. :wink:
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by Ileia » Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:34 pm

I'm not talking about playback, I'm talking about what the cons' rules tell us is their preference.

Of the contests on the first page of the AMV Contests forum:

MPEG-2 Preferred:

Anime Mid Atlantic
AnimeNEXT
Otakon


MP4 Preferred:
Youmacon
Animethon
Sangawa Project (MPEG-2 listed as second preferred)


MP4 and MPEG-2 listed as Preferred:
Seishun-Con


No Preference Listed, both file types accepted:
Anime Expo
Japan Expo
SMASH!
Kumoricon
Nan Desu Kan
Another Anime Con
Otafest
Connecticon
AnimeFest
Anime Revolution
Anime FunTV
San Japan


All three that say that they prefer MPEG-2 also accept other formats. Personally, I make an effort to send the preferred format to each con, but what's the motivation for the average contest submitter to make an MPEG-2 (and in some cases, learn how to first) when they already have an mp4 handy and the con will accept it?
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by Radical_Yue » Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:45 pm

Mp4 all the way.

Any good contest coordinator knows that not only does the audience want videos that are awesome overall, they also want awesome visual quality. I mean, everything is 1080p this or ZOMGHD that, so it's the job of a coordinator to give the audience a sick contest that looks great. MPEG-2 looks like ass and the file sizes are huge. As for Mp4, it's smaller, better quality, and I've never had a playback issue that a simple re-converting didn't fix.

The best way that I've seen a contest run is with a computer as the main playback device and DVDs/Bluray as back up. Of course you can't just throw files on a disk, hell yes they can get messed up. But then again, any coordinator that just throws files onto a disk and says "cross yer fingers! I hope dis works!" shouldn't be coordinating in the first place. Lots of time + days of trial and error come with the territory.

I'll take a 70mb mp4 that makes my eyes melt with it's shinyness over a 200mb+ MPEG-2 that looks like it was beaten with an ugly stick any day.

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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by Phantasmagoriat » Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:47 pm

Okay, I was a bit torn where to list that guide, since it is still in use; however, with the way things are going, I think MPEG is going to wind up there anyway. At least by categorizing it this way, it encourages people to use much better standards, without obliterating the guide from the list completely. I mean, it will still be there if people need it. :wink:

Also, these days I don't think it's necessary to go through the trouble of authoring a DVD when you can just use VGA/audio-out to the projector from a computer. We don't have to rely on DVD players for playback any more, do we? To me, it just makes more sense to play the file as-is. You skip all the annoying conversion/authoring steps; you don't introduce any extra errors through conversion; you get to play files at higher res then SD; it allows you to make last-minute changes; it mostly fixes AR problems; and it's just easier. All you have to do is make sure CCCP+MPC or VLC or whatever you wish to use for playback are up to date, and let entrants know what playback method you are using so they can verify playback on their own computers; which is another thing you couldn't really do in the past, and yet another reason why people need to stop using MPEG.

So, at least by listing it as an Older Guide, it might encourage contests to upgrade, and prevent everyone from being stuck in the past.

So, Scintilla, is it okay if I do that :?: I mean, I don't want to misrepresent your guide, since you wrote it and all, but I just see MPEG as... old.
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by BasharOfTheAges » Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:32 am

GloryQuestor wrote:
Ileia wrote:The number of conventions that "prefer" MPEG-2 dwindles each year, more and more replaced with mp4. It's still accepted, of course, but it isn't the standard that it once was. It's not an entirely obsolete guide, but it is older.
It's older, but then again, the biggest reason is that convention organizers still prefer something simple. MPEG-2 still remains a standard since you can put all of the videos easily on a DVD and just hand it off to pop in and play the contest. For bigger conventions, that isn't an issue--they tend to be more "professional" and have hook-ups ready for computers or even BluRay playback, if the coordinator has the right hardware for that--but a lot of conventions will still prefer the "cheap" solution of DVDs. The common opinion is that the average viewer still simply won't care if the video is HD or SD, if the video is clean enough and sizes rather well on the big screens.
You're giving contest coordinators too much credit.

Most rule sets that have specific requirements have them because the person writing the rules cribbed their rules from another contest's rules back in the day and their minimal year-to-year revisions haven't changed things that much.

You are correct about some cons having outdated playback capabilities. Not all of them are simply cheap, though. A lot of tech people build their own little fiefdoms and demand things be a certain way so they don't have to do more work to add more to the set-ups. A lot of cons could move into this new modern era of playback if there were more communication between the techs running the room the contest is played in and the people running said contest. And I don't mean at the con - I mean months before time. And if they don't or won't listen to you, you play the system and go over their heads to their bosses and make nice so your suggestions get flowed down. It also doesn't hurt if you, as the person running the contest, invest in the tech needed for the improvements, so they can't claim budget as an excuse to say no.
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by DriftRoot » Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:09 pm

Phantasmagoriat wrote: But since I don't want to misrepresent your guide, do you have any particular preferences where I should put it in the list? I was thinking of removing the [Masking/Rotoscoping] label, and maybe moving it to section D.
Definitely remove the masking/rotoscoping label...as far as putting it in a different section, I don't have a problem with "Misc. Tech" or PS, I guess, though PS defines it a little too narrowly. Mainly I want to avoid someone skipping over it because of the "Oh, I don't need to know how to use the pen tool in Photoshop. Who masks in PS when you can rotoscope in AE??" syndrome.
Is there any way you could bring down the file size of the .pdf? I mean, it looks cool and all, but 77.7MB seems like a lot for an 18 page guide; and it might have something to do with the way the file is saved; but I don't really know how the guide was created. ofc, if you can't, that's fine too, I just think it might deter people from downloading and reading the guide all together.
Yeah...I talked to one of the admins (doki?) about this last year, asking if I could redo the guide and have it put up again in a different format. They said sure, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I will push it up on my project list. The file is very large for a couple of reasons I take full blame for (mostly my ignorance at the time), but one of the main ones is that it contains a lot of high quality images and embedded videos. I don't know if I can redo the guide in a non-PDF format (I don't really "do" HTML), but I will give it a shot. Probably will take me awhile and I might need some technical help or guidance at some point... :|
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Re: List of AMV Resources & How-To Guides

Post by Phantasmagoriat » Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:32 pm

DriftRoot wrote:
Phantasmagoriat wrote: Is there any way you could bring down the file size of the .pdf? I mean, it looks cool and all, but 77.7MB seems like a lot for an 18 page guide; and it might have something to do with the way the file is saved; but I don't really know how the guide was created. ofc, if you can't, that's fine too, I just think it might deter people from downloading and reading the guide all together.
Yeah...I talked to one of the admins (doki?) about this last year, asking if I could redo the guide and have it put up again in a different format. They said sure, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I will push it up on my project list. The file is very large for a couple of reasons I take full blame for (mostly my ignorance at the time), but one of the main ones is that it contains a lot of high quality images and embedded videos. I don't know if I can redo the guide in a non-PDF format (I don't really "do" HTML), but I will give it a shot. Probably will take me awhile and I might need some technical help or guidance at some point... :|
Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize the guide had embedded videos! That actually makes a lot of sense now. It's just, in the beginning, all I saw was a .pdf that wasn't loading. Then I realized it was ~80MB and thought "wow that's big," but that makes sense now. I should probably get around to actually reading it one of these days too :book: (I mean, I can't honestly say I've read everything there is to know about AMVs and video editing... not even close.)
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