Your Life Story

[machina21]

How you got into AMVs:
A guy I was working with one time just randomly started playing "Engel" during break and everyone was entranced. As someone who did lipsyncing before in Flash, the fact someone was able to make a character that was already animated sing a Rammstein song perfectly was mind-blowing. I had to know more...

How you came up with your screen name:
Once upon a time I used to write,a lot. Machina21 was the name of a robot that was the 21st version in the series. I just like the name because it's pretty vague. Some have mistaken me for a girl even.

How you discovered the Org:
Pure chance. A person I went to school with was talking about a place where you can watch thousands of AMVs and even upload your own.

Tell me about your studio, like how you joined/created it, etc... (If you're not in a studio, say why )
Not in a studio and probably never will be. Too much of a loner I guess.

Favorite genre to edit and why:
Drama. The ideas I come up with tend to fall into this category. Upbeat as well. Although I do really doing alternate title sequences

Favorite newbie mistake you've made:
When I first started I was masking a scene in After Effects and had been doing so for hours on end. I initially thought I had finished the scene until I realized that the render quality was set to "Half" instead of "Full". Switching to "Full" revealed that the masks were completely off and the entire scene had to be done again.

First contest experience:
Anime Expo 2008. I'll never forget watching "Go The Distance" and "Be a Man" in the Nokia theater. I decided that wanted to trying editing soon afterwards.

Best experience you've had thus far with the community:
The annual "Editor's Dinner" here in Los Angeles for AX.

Worst experience with the community:
I haven't had a bad experience but there is a certain incident that happened that made me realize that the community is not afraid to insult and demean those who don't fall in line with what is considered acceptable.

Why you edit:
Because I love the process of creation. As difficult as it can be at times, it's a great feeling "When a plan comes together".

Future goals:
Edit more than one video a year.

And maybe open a world famous animation studio.

[Chiiisus]

How you got into AMVs: Around 2006 I found out that a 'cartoon' I used to watch on TV a lot when I was younger 'Cardcaptors' was actually named 'Cardcaptor Sakura' and it was an anime. I was also like 'WAIT, WHAT? HE LIKES HER?!?' I found this out searching for Cardcaptors on Google and I came across an AMV on YouTube using it by someone who is still one of my besties today, Laerium. It kind of just went from there.

How you came up with your screen name: I used to say 'Chiiii' a lot when I was younger and got nervous (Yes, I watched Chobits) and one day I just started saying Chiiisus instead of Jesus and I was told I should use that as my username. XD (No, I did not copy Chiikaboom)

How you discovered the Org: I found it on Google once but I never knew how to use it (fail) back then and only really started using it when my old studio leader wanted us to start uploading here.

Tell me about your studio: Espace Studios. I created it because I wanted a studio with people I spoke to; with my friends. My friend who passed away really longed for an active studio where people edited and had fun so that's what I'm aiming for. Our main Panda logo is actually in his honour because to me Magnus will always be the Panda.

Favorite genre to edit and why: This is hard! I love doing emotional edits but not just randomly, if I'm feeling sad about something or just crappy in general I ALWAYS edit because it's my escape and I get to convey my emotions. I also like editing action even though I'm not good at it. xDD

Favorite newbie mistake you've made: I used to use chroma keyer ALL THE TIME. I genuinely thought it looked like I masked. Oh god, I still have those videos on my external. I cringe even thinking about it. xDD

First contest experience: My friend Kaipi made me join a contest with him G-AMV and we made a video called 'Ensemble'. I was actually so excited because I never really paid attention to that stuff, plus it was actually super fun to edit!

Best experience you've had thus far with the community: Honestly? I'd have to say when Kain-x-Spirits started speaking to me! It sounds weird but if I never met Kaipi I wouldn't be where I am today. I wouldn't have met Magnus who was one of my best friends who actually introduced me to Niwa. Without that I wouldn't be in London with my bunnies and with the person that has made my life so much better. I got away from the people that never understood me back home and I can truly be myself which is amazing. I don't feel like I'm being judged for being myself on the org and I love that. I have met so many amazing people and I really appreciate the fact that they're all in my life.

Worst experience with the community: My worst experience? I was told I used my friends death as an excuse to why my video 'was bad'. I never did that. I have never felt that kind of pain in my life and I pretty much spent about 3 days crying over it. Thanks, internet.

Why you edit: For fun and stress relief. I try to use sources that I personally love because that's why I got into editing in the first place; it looked fun and I love anime. :3

Future goals: As long as I'm happy and having fun with what I'm doing then I'm happy. So, I guess my goal is to be more confident and to stop hating myself so much? xD

[Kimberly]

How you got into AMVs: I saw a Kingdom Hearts video with a Kelly Clarkson song, and I thought, "I wanna do that." I started with Naruto though haha.

How you came up with your screen name: It's my first name. Pretty lame! For my other username, PiercedSky, it was inspired by an old friend of mine. I came up with that name in 09, which was my first year of high school. During that first year, I met someone I ended up being really good friends with. I admired her confidence, because back then, I had little to none. She had this really neat nose piercing too, and I didn't know anybody else with one, which made her seem "rebellious" in a way hahaha. Cause of that, I looked up to her and wanted to be a bit like her (not in a creepy jealous way though, but be confident like her etc blah blah). So making my YT account, I wanted the name to sound "pretty", and I tried to come up with some words. I thought of my friend, and so I came up with the first word, "Pierced". For the second word, I thought about how I would look up to the sky sometimes for "motivation"???? I put the two together, and it became PiercedSky.

How you discovered the Org: As most people above mentioned, Google.

Tell me about your studio, like how you joined/created it, etc... : I'm not in one currently, but I was a few years back. It was just the 6 of us, but I really loved talking to all of them. We all eventually got too busy with life though, and so the group disbanded. I miss them! Not really interested in studios anymore.

Favorite genre to edit and why: Romance and Drama. I like romance and I like drama, haha.

Favorite newbie mistake you've made: Using clips from other vids in my videos lol.

First contest experience: None that I've actually attended, but I've joined some and won a few (yay!)

Best experience you've had thus far with the community: Dunno.

Worst experience with the community: Dunno.

Why you edit:

Future goals: Make friends.

[8bit_samurai]

How you got into AMVs: DBZWarriors.com and DBZ AMVs in general

How you came up with your screen name: Ninja64 was already taken (N64 era was fun times), NES Era was when I started gaming, so I tried thinking up of something that would sound cool with 8bit in front of it.

How you discovered the Org: Googling Final Fantasy AMVs. I hesitated to join at first since I loathed having to sign up for stuff to download stuff and all that, but I ended up joining anyways just to see what kinda AMVs were there.

Tell me about your studio, like how you joined/created it, etc... (If you're not in a studio, say why ) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Productions > WhiTanFox Productions > White Fox Productions

Favorite genre to edit and why: Anything involving video game sources since they're easier to work with. That and movies/films/OVAs.

Favorite newbie mistake you've made: (Give us a good cringe-worthy one!) Joining a lot of MEPs that never seen the light of day.

First contest experience: None, unless you count IC4, Project Org Editor or the Eclectic Audio Contest. Not sure which one came first. IC4 I was stoked to be part of even though I knew I never really had a chance past the first round, but had fun nonetheless even though I had some small technical difficulties with Magix.

Best experience you've had thus far with the community: IC4 as stated above

Worst experience with the community: I don't think I've had any bad experiences within the community since I never really took it too seriously. The only time I remember being offended was when Godix had a signature that said this guy's videos suck harder than a choir boy at a church or something and it linked to your own profile. I didn't know that at the time and thought it was a link to my own profile so I changed up what my profile said. A day or two later I check out his sig again, and realized it was a link to whomever clicked on that link's profile and just lol'd at how clever that was.

Why you edit: (If you don't edit anymore, explain yo'self!) I edited back then since I had nothing else to do since I had a toaster of a laptop with crap internet connection and was too broke to buy new games. Nowadays, I have a backlog of games to play and animu to watch, I only edit when I get a nostalgic feeling for AMVs, which is pretty far and few in between.

Future goals: (Editing, non-editing, whatevers) Finish remaking AMVs I said I'd remake.

[AngelDragoon]

How you got into AMVs: Back in 2006, (when we finally managed to get cable internet), I stumbled across a Final Fantasy fan website that had their own videos posted. There was one particular video that was to "You Raise Me Up" and it was just so pretty that I KNEW I had to make something like it some day. It wasn't until about a year later I managed to get a computer with WMM and learned how to rip footage...with a Dazzle device.

How you came up with your screen name: I really liked the image of an angel on a Magic the Gathering card my cousin had when I was 14, (although I didn't play/know what Magic actually was at the time), and I'm also named after an angel IRL, so I asked if I could keep it around. Around the same time, my brother and his friends were playing Legend of Dragoon and I liked the shiny graphics. I looked up online what Dragoon actually meant and was all, "Oh, that's cool. Let's just merge them together". Ta-da!

How you discovered the Org: I think I was looking up somewhere to watch amvs and then later wanted to post them. I had an account sometime around 2007, but left it and forgot about the site until a few years later.

Tell me about your studio, like how you joined/created it, etc... (If you're not in a studio, say why ): When I use a studio name, it comes from when, back in high school, my friends were shooting a music video for Spanish class and they wanted me to edit it. To get a more urban shot, the girl lip-syncing stood in the middle of the road. I asked if that was safe, to which the other friend directing it responded, "Tech crew never die! You have nothing to worry about!"

Favorite genre to edit and why: Depends on my mood, but it ALWAYS has to be character driven, whether it's just a retelling of the anime or making its own story. Mindless action/drama/scenery drives me insane and bores me like no other to edit. >_>

Favorite newbie mistake you've made: (Give us a good cringe-worthy one!) I didn't know there was such a thing as frame blending...until 2012. .___.;;

First contest experience: On an off-chance of finding a local convention, I submitted three videos for the heck of it. One wasn't suppose to be shown, but was accidentally put on display in place of a better video. Funny thing, the one that wasn't shown ended up winning Best in Show. Good times.

Best experience you've had thus far with the community: Project OrgEditor. I don't know why, but every time I participate I end up having a blast. That and meeting/talking to all the lovely people here.

Worst experience with the community: I received an unwarranted anonymous opinion in 2007 along the lines of 'Go jump off a bridge' that quickly turned me off to this site. Mind you, I was more disturbed by the mindset of some people around here that I didn't even know more than anything else, (regardless of whether they were trolling or not). I still edited and put my stuff on youtube, but it wasn't until recently when I finally hit my, "Yeaaah, stfu, I'll make what I want" phase in life that I decided it might be fun to participate in Org events.

Why you edit: Because it's fun. It's like drawing or writing to me, except less extensive and time-consuming. That, and it appeases my perfectionist side much faster than with any other hobby.

Future goals: Keep doing what I do, and make some time for it in between family/career life.

[Davis 51]

How you got into AMVs: Year: 2002 Scene: First Anime Convention, Anime USA. Blew my fragile teenage mind. After that, I found a whole bunch of them on a shitty 2003 internet dial-up, low-res, quicktime, etc. I initially tried editing one myself back then, but ended up crashing and burning when I couldn't figure out how to make Windows Movie Maker behave the way I wanted it to. I didn't try again until years later.
How you came up with your screen name: It's a screenname I've had for a long-ass time. I can't remember why I initially got it, but I picked it when I was still in middle school.
How you discovered the Org: I had watched This Is Otakudom with a friend (it was passed around by disk at our high schools anime club), and he later invited me over to check out a cool Naruto video, I asked where he found it and he showed me the Org. Was hooked instantly.
Tell me about your studio, like how you joined/created it, etc... Made my studio name originally a variant of "Outside the Box", but I also wanted to convey the feeling of something like a cult classic or a hidden gem. Something you would find underneath an old pile of junk. I was told by a friend that it sounded dumb. Didn't care. Been using it ever since.
Favorite genre to edit and why: I seem to wildly swing between Dramatic/Emotional videos and Trailer Parodies. I do drama because I edit slowly, and even though I'm getting faster, my time is short and precious, and I want to make sure I can achieve maximum audience impact. The best way to do this is Drama and Comedy. I don't feel I'm as good with comedy, so I stick to dramatic and leave satire to the brief moments in my trailer parodies. Trailer Parodies are also easy to do so I can churn them out quicker (with the exception of my latest, that I shall upload shortly), so I use them as breaks in between my big dramatic stuff.

Most of them are action-oriented, but it's pretty easy to sneak in a chuckle here and there without worrying about compromising the video. I've always been surprised at exactly what the end audience laughs at. For example, I give hints at a Light-L shipping in my last parody. I meant to play it straight, but people thought it was funny. Meanwhile, I had a blatant joke in Expendable Waltz giving a small little girl Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice and the joke fell flat.
Favorite newbie mistake you've made: Oh geez. My two videos, not hosted on the Org because Avatar: The Last Airbender. They are No Avatar for Old Men and A Million Little Gods. True, I made a bunch of classic newbie errors (Windows Movie Maker for the first one, some bad sync, etc), but what takes the cake in my opinion is the encode. I ripped the discs as xVids and re-compressed the final results. Then for youtube upscaled the second one to 1080p. When my second made it into some contests, I had just read the AV Tech guide and was just utterly shocked that it didn't look like a total mess on screen. Except for its first appearance....
First contest experience: Getting A Million Little Gods into Anime USA. Due to tech problems, that contest was run of SVHS. My video had its whites washed out completely. It's one other appearance looked pretty damn good though.
Best experience you've had thus far with the community: The tremendously positive feedback I got on was absolutely critical to me continuing to do AMV's. I was moved that this many people had enjoyed something I made, and haven't ever stopped.
Worst experience with the community: Seeing people leave it for Youtube and beyond. Hearing about skilled editors passing away. I still think there is something here. I have been planning a post for a few weeks now with ideas on ways to improve/renew/revitalize the org, which I have no clue how to begin implementing so I've been hesitant to post it. This place was my big watershed moment in choosing to make this hobby a big part of my life so seeing it diminish has been incredibly disheartening.
Why you edit: For the final cut. The finished product of taking a vision in my head and making it a reality. The chill in your spine when you see a really good sync moment, and a video coming full circle. that's the nerve center of art. That's what makes it worth it.
Future goals: To advance my career to better support myself until retirement. To branch out into other styles and genres of editing. To get better at comedy videos. To one day live in a place I can be utterly proud of, not just an apartment. To one day visit Japan.

[Davis 51]

How you got into AMVs: Year: 2002 Scene: First Anime Convention, Anime USA. Blew my fragile teenage mind. After that, I found a whole bunch of them on a shitty 2003 internet dial-up, low-res, quicktime, etc. I initially tried editing one myself back then, but ended up crashing and burning when I couldn't figure out how to make Windows Movie Maker behave the way I wanted it to. I didn't try again until years later.

Ghetto Edit: I should probably clarify, that was how I discovered AMV's. It would be callous to leave out the editor that inspired me to actually start editing myself after my first crash/burn. So here is my shout out to VicBond007. Without his videos, I wouldn't have even tried getting back into it.

[Gorz]

How you got into AMVs: my first encounter with AMVs was in 2009, when my little bro (14 years old) got ranked 2nd in a contest called Level up! with his Birth Right AMV which I didn't even know what it was about back then, all what I remember is how much I was in awestruck and envious of the stuff he could do in After effects, since then I started watching AMVs and it gradually becomes a hobby of mine but I never had the chance to actually create my own AMV until early 2012
How you came up with your screen name: gorz, yeah! such a goofy name, well I'm a huge fan of Gorillaz...i think you are able to see what i did there
How you discovered the Org: surprisingly enough! it was from a debate in amvnews about the org in one of k-x-s or nostromo videos, it was funny but yeah that's how I ended up here
Tell me about your studio, like how you joined/created it, etc... I'm in Soul's Team, I've always been a fan of this team and I'm really happy to be a member of it, awesome people
Favorite genre to edit and why: can't really tell! I like experimental videos I always try to make something different from my latest video, I enjoy all kind of categories as long as I'm inspired.
Favorite newbie mistake you've made: (Give us a good cringe-worthy one!) stealing scenes from other AMVs so eassssssssssyyyyyyyyy #noregret

First contest experience: Level up 2013! with one of my biggest inspiration to date Gidra, I learned a lot from him and a special shout to Echotrooper too he helped me a lot with the basics! thanks a lot
Best experience you've had thus far with the community: I'm still kinda new to the org! but I really like the atmosphere here
Worst experience with the community: I'm working on it!
Why you edit: as I stated before AMVs has become a hobby of mine, and I'm not willing to stop anytime soon
Future goals: regarding editing? I'll try to make an AMV community which represents my country, since I'm currently the only active editor...kinda

[dj_ultima_the_great]

How you got into AMVs:
Brad. He's popped a lot of people's AMV cherries, actually.

How you came up with your screen name:
I've explained the origin story in other threads, so I'll just keep it simple and say that it was my e-mail username prior to this site.

How you discovered the Org:
I honestly don't recall. I was downloading videos from Napster and Kazaa back when I first got into the AMV hobby, and I imagine that the site may have been mentioned in the file info on one of them.

Tell me about your studio, like how you joined/created it, etc... (If you're not in a studio, say why )
Not in one. No one has ever asked me about it.

Favorite genre to edit and why:
Drama, mostly because the majority of the sources I own are geared toward it. It's probably more relevant to note that I don't watch anime anymore, so I edit almost exclusively with videogames.

Favorite newbie mistake you've made: (Give us a good cringe-worthy one!)
Shit, I'm still making newbie mistakes all the time, but I'll have to go with using footage from other editor's videos. Mind you, I always chose the unedited clips (no effects and whatnot), but still... it's pretty douchey.

First contest experience:
I submitted a Saikano video some years back and it played on the big screen, which I guess was pretty cool, but that's all there was to it. My submission the next year was denied, and I haven't sent anything to a contest since then. (Erm, I don't mean that the denial was the reason, by the way; I just hadn't edited anything that year.)

Best experience you've had thus far with the community:
Probably being told that I was a good MEP coordinator by the folks who participated in FMV, even though I knew I was an inexperienced, flakey bastard that didn't have any business running a project. That they actually had faith in me kind of blew my mind.

Worst experience with the community:
There are a lot of little things, but since I brought it up, I'm most sorry about canceling the FMV 2 MEP. I should have never started a second project so soon after the first, especially knowing I had a personal deadline while also knowing full well that MEPs typically run far past their schedules. There were a lot of people who made great tracks, and several more who had wanted to be on the first one but hadn't found out in time, and I felt bad that they didn't get the opportunity to shine.

Why you edit: (If you don't edit anymore, explain yo'self!)
Actually, I kind of hate editing - but I LOVE having a finished product. I have a hard drive full of processed, ready-to-go footage just waiting to be tossed into my editing program, and I have a million ideas begging to be put together, but I absolutely cannot force myself to do that shit. I used to make a few videos per year, and then one per year, and now it's several years between videos - but I always say that I have an idea in the works, and it's true, I do, but hell if you'll ever see me put a clip on the timeline.

Future goals: (Editing, non-editing, whatevers)
For editing... well, making anything would be an improvement. In life... I'm a little distracted by the trees to see the forest right now. I can't afford longterm goals currently, so much that I can't even have a longterm goal for when I can have longterm goals again.

[TritioAFB]

How you got into AMVs: my first encounter with AMVs was in 2009, when my little bro (14 years old) got ranked 2nd in a contest called Level up! with his Birth Right
Future goals: regarding editing? I'll try to make an AMV community which represents my country, since I'm currently the only active editor...kinda

About the first:

Spoiler :

you're siblings with Raitshu? I used to meet the guy. What happened with him?

About the second one:

Spoiler :

Kinda my situation in the last months. When I'm missing intentions to edit, all the community in this country has decided to flow and go to the next con. Then I feel like in the old days: like if I want to put all about me when editing