A guide for dealing with the fact you just suck

[devilmaykickass]

tl;dr

[dazza1008]

That topic grabbed my attention! XD Yes, I agree that the boundaries need to be defined better. Personally, I think that any creator would/should be grateful to get feedback on how to improve their work. I don't think any thick skin is needed.

I'm also not sure what exactly is constructive criticism here... I'm sorry again if the rude stuff sticks out (because I have received some genuinely constructive and encouraging comments) but the quick comment I received...
1/5. quality was just as bad as the fucking video

Damn! I am so tempted to call that a flame, but technically it did offer a way to improve... (but it's also insulting my intelligence, and the person doesn't know my situation when it comes to making videos)

Also this quick comment...
good fun, but way too crappy encoding. its like watching old 320x240 vids from the 90's, even youtube looks better... oh, and "nice try" at removing the subs (*ahem*), but uhm, "cropping" is not the same as "blacking out an area"... oh, and i saw you use wmv for some of your other vids... save yourself from these kinda comments, and dont. wmv sucks. hope you can upload a better quality version, cause the vid itself is pretty cool. if your other vids where bigger than the 8MB they are now i would've wanted to see those as well

I appreciate the person giving a long answer, but it was said in a very insulting and stabbing way. Definitely some intended personal put-downs. And my pre-disposition is to look at content before the technical side of things, because when I started making AMVs my HD space was running low, so I converted all my RAWs to 240x480 size WMV format and use those to make AMVs now... *GASP* XD and WMM doesn't stuff up as much either now (now I have a better computer I am downloading the RAWs again and a better program)

So unfortunately I mostly seem to receive constructive criticism in a rude way... -_-
So these highlight the grey area between flames and constructive criticism.

Put it this way, if someone made the effort to mention improvements in a way that would be pleasing to hear, I'd really appreciate it...

[Serv0]

If only we could track each and every one them down and send this article to them, because they sure aren't coming back to see a godix post.
But then again maybe that statement is contradicting the point of this article. Maybe not.

To clarify and adjust this statement, I understand that perhaps tracking people down is a waste of energy.
Here's the truth, the majority of people who are going to read this article, is us. The people who already have a basic idea of critique manner.
But nether the less, the article still applies to us. No matter how well mannered we assume to be based on perspective and experience.

Although, I have to say, godixs' topic seems to be winning in the serious game so far.

...

Whoops, did I give it away?

[Serv0]

Damn! I am so tempted to call that a flame, but technically it did offer a way to improve... (but it's also insulting my intelligence, and the person doesn't know my situation when it comes to making videos)

Sometimes (if not all of the time) all of our intelligences need to be insulted one way or another.
That's one of the reasons why Monty Python was invented.

Point being: Even if the statement is a total flame, it wouldn't hurt to stop for a second and realize that something might be wrong with your video.
No matter what your situation is, whether it be Windows Movie Maker with a source quality of YouTube, or an experienced editor with the highest rank of editing systems; Learning will always be involved.

We want to ignore the flame. That's great!
We want to adapt a new perspective because of the flame. That's great too!

[Adv1sor]

I have an acquaintance who seems to disagree with anything anyone ever says about him.

Someone said to him, "You disagree with anything anyone ever says about you." His response was, "No I don't."

Consider these truths:

Time alone can judge a work of art.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

If I say, "I don't like this." That's not criticism. It's my opinion.

If I say, "This sucks!" That's not criticism. It's my opinion.

If I say, "You suck!" That's not criticism. It's a flame.

But if I say, "This would be better if you cut out the lip flap." Is that criticism or just a suggestion? Of course it's also my opinion. So is this post. So take it or leave it, like it or lump it, flame it, flush it, or just ignore it. That's your choice!

[downwithpants]

people get opinions that say "you could have done this video section better by doing such and such edits"

i love this kind of feedback when im beta testing, but at the same time i gotta tell my beta testers WHEN I'm ready for that kind of feedback... (I usually like to work out my own kinks first)

my point is, people are often too quick dismiss feedback because they feel they don't need to follow the suggestions of the reviewer. but they shouldn't just throw the feedback out the window without: considering the feedback advice as another perspective on the video while considering the credibility of the review.

for example: if a person who only has wmm gets "you shouldn't have encoded in wmv" in an opinion, they might dismiss the comment saying "well all i have is wmm and for whatever reason i can't convert it to an avi/mp4." what they should take from the comment is, "maybe people would prefer better video quality in the future... i could look into what i can do to make the video quality better next time."

on the other hand, if this is an opinion written by someone like hatter, you can just ignore it.

[dazza1008]

Damn! I am so tempted to call that a flame, but technically it did offer a way to improve... (but it's also insulting my intelligence, and the person doesn't know my situation when it comes to making videos)

Sometimes (if not all of the time) all of our intelligences need to be insulted one way or another.
That's one of the reasons why Monty Python was invented.

Well, perhaps there are some people out there who value politeness... *sigh*

Point being: Even if the statement is a total flame, it wouldn't hurt to stop for a second and realize that something might be wrong with your video.

No matter what your situation is, whether it be Windows Movie Maker with a source quality of boochsack, or an experienced editor with the highest rank of editing systems; Learning will always be involved.

We want to ignore the flame. That's great!
We want to adapt a new perspective because of the flame. That's great too!

I already mentioned that I was separating the good from the bad, rather than disregarding the whole thing, due to rudeness.

The problem is that people can dish it out but can't take it, and then it just turns into a huge bitch-fight... I've seen THAT happen. There is SO MUCH MORE that people could be doing to make the criticism more constructive, that's my point.

[Knowname]

So unfortunately I mostly seem to receive constructive criticism in a rude way... -_-

Everybody wants to be me while they all just can't.

I REALLY wish that half the noobs who THINK they can flame while being constructive ie TRY to be sarcastic, would just put it down. They can't do it and it just comes out like ass. Even half the stuff that Godix, Inthesto and whoever other master asshole out there that CAN do this even half of there stuff just comes out as a flame. I've gotten a few of these (and I mean only a FEW... like one out of what, 15-20 videos??) and they just come out as retarded. And since I hadn't gotten many I've come to the conclusion that if you don't make retarded videos you won't get retarded comments! it's like stupid in stupid out, there just isn't alot of ways to be sarcastic about a tastefully done video so they don't even try.

[dazza1008]

So unfortunately I mostly seem to receive constructive criticism in a rude way... -_-

Everybody wants to be me while they all just can't.

I REALLY wish that half the noobs who THINK they can flame while being constructive ie TRY to be sarcastic, would just put it down. They can't do it and it just comes out like ass. Even half the stuff that Godix, Inthesto and whoever other master asshole out there that CAN do this even half of there stuff just comes out as a flame. I've gotten a few of these (and I mean only a FEW... like one out of what, 15-20 videos??) and they just come out as retarded. And since I hadn't gotten many I've come to the conclusion that if you don't make retarded videos you won't get retarded comments! it's like stupid in stupid out, there just isn't alot of ways to be sarcastic about a tastefully done video so they don't even try.

ROFL "whatever master asshole" XD
And I didn't know the flames were mostly from noobs, since I am a noob myself.
Luckily the number of "constructive criticism" a la flambe has decreased in percentage since I started using RAWs XD but I still have my older AMVs on the site that attract MOST of it.
*highfive*

[Serv0]

The problem is that people can dish it out but can't take it, and then it just turns into a huge bitch-fight... I've seen THAT happen. There is SO MUCH MORE that people could be doing to make the criticism more constructive, that's my point.

I have to agree with the fact that there are a lot of biased people out there with unjustified statements, but what are we going to do about it?

I guess you could PM the sender and ask he/she why their statements were so far out. Or you could reply to an opinion given.
But remember there are a lot of people who don't leave names with their comments. Let alone someone who's going to respond in the first place.

If I may say so, part of our "maturity" as authors is to deal with immature audience members.

It's like what I said earlier that JaddziaDax clarified:

I don't think tracking some of those people down would be worth it, because I don't think that many of those people who have quit would benefit from that article..

I agree with you completely dazza that there is SO MUCH MORE that people could be doing to make their criticism more constructive. But the reality is, these biased people won't.


BTW

And since I hadn't gotten many I've come to the conclusion that if you don't make retarded videos you won't get retarded comments!

That's really not the case all of the time. Remember, your videos probably reached different audience members than others.
Citizen Kane is surely NOT a retarded movie, but it definitely receives its share of retarded comments.
The same for AMVs.