amv inactivity

[godix]

This topic isn't really worth the drama that it causes when someone occasionally 'retires', comes back, 'retires' again, etc. Nor is it worth the drama when old timers bitch about how all the youth today like crappy effects, crappy anime, crappy songs, crappy editing, or just plain don't suck the oldtimers dicks like the oldtimers think they should. It also isn't really worth much comtemplation, the answer is pretty simple. AMVs are a hobby. If someone doesn't enjoy making them anymore then don't. If someone doesn't like the community or direction it's going to then either try to improve the community (and be prepared for the backlash from people who disagree with you) or leave the community. The point of this all <b>SHOULD</b> be to enjoy yourself and if you aren't then it's time to move on.

[Niotex]

Niotex, edit something now O:

I will.. Maybe ones I'm done with this school project..

Come to awa dammit.

Raise some money for me

[Minion]

i said earlier this was gonna be on page 4 before tomorrow. prove me wrong now

[*inverse*]

People I like aren't allowed to retire >.>

Other stuff in life takes over and I get lazy every once in a while, but I still have ideas and I still like AMVs. Between editing, watching, chatting with other members, and making various other contributions to the site, I think there's enough to keep me here for a while yet.

x2

[Kristyrat]

Editing AMVs is just like alcoholism. You never really cure it; it just goes into remission for long periods of time.

Or Cancer

[Kionon]

You noobs

Pretty much everything Brad has said applies to me. I really should be working on non-amv stuff (more commercials and stuff like the kind I did for Greg Hecht) so that I can get back into broadcast journalism, which is of course my actual field. I still prefer print journalism, but it's kind of heading the way of the dodo, at least in terms of staffinf requirements.

However I enjoy AMVs, I enjoy the community, and I even manage somehow enjoy maybe five anime series made after 1989. |:

I do, however, enjoy my crotchety oldtimer moments. I liked it when there was a technology barrier. It kept a lot of stupid and a lot of crap from ever being made. Before iMovie and WMM, before bittorrent and complex peer to peer, before DVD ripping and AviSynth, it took a lot of effort to produce even a video considered technically or qualitatively subpar. So it seemed to me that most of the vids that made it through and were preserved were either very well done, or had a large emotional context whereby in either case the amount of time spent on the video was obvious. If you were not the type of person to get the footage in the first place (it was much harder before digisubs, and even harder before widespread adoption of DVD) and render for days only to accomplish a few minutes work before having to render again, you didn't get into the hobby, and you didn't make total crap. You just (and I saw it several times with friends who saw what I did and wanted to try) gave up and move on to other things.

We have lost this barrier, and it does sadden me. There are thousands if not millions of amvs that are one hits by johnny-come-lately, fairweather "creators" that discovered anime + music = stroking my ego, and once the stroking stops, so do they. If effort was required to complete a video simply by the requirement that it took effort to operate the programs involved, we would see a dramatic decrease in the amount of total garbage. WMM and iMovie made this worse. But Hosatchel has been the worst of all, and for many of us, a sign that the AMV community as we knew it is truly dead (or at least on life-support) because even with iMovie and WMM proving the anime + music, we the community could ignore crap and end the stroking as soon the "creator" exhausted his or her "pat-on-the-back" friends. Now with Hosatchel it is possible the stroking may never end.

So I do enjoy a round of "in my day, we had to edit with JVC svhs decks, using nth gen copies smuggled out of the country in the dead of night, up hill, both ways, in the snow, without shoes, and we liked it that way" rants now and again. However, because of this I don't consider AMVs to be in their infancy. That was 1998-2001 in my opinion. What we are experiencing now is more akin to AMV adolescence. We're having growing pains, and it's showing. I do not think AMVs are a dying art form, and I certainly don't think they're dead. I do happen to think that most of the glut is just glut, and a core group of editors will continue to drive innovation and imitation. You should be proud guys, many of that core group is in this thread. It'll just be increasingly hard to rise above the static caused by lowering of the tech barrier.

[Ileia]

I do, however, enjoy my crotchety.

Well, that's a new word for it.

[Infinity Squared]

Niotex, edit something now O:

I will.. Maybe ones I'm done with this school project..

Come to awa dammit.

Raise some money for me

Mate, that doesn't work... I've been trying the "Mark to AWA Appeal" for a while now and I'm still short of a plane ticket...

Koop, don't quit... I beg of you... it'll make me one sad panda.

[Radical_Yue]

Niotex, edit something now O:

I will.. Maybe ones I'm done with this school project..

Come to awa dammit.

Raise some money for me

Well...if everyone going puts in a quarter....

We could buy you some killer water wings! =D

Get to the swimmin

[Sierra Lorna]

CTC Koopiskation (5:51:50 AM): i hear sierra gonna stop soon too
CTC Koopiskation (5:51:57 AM): i expect it to happen after awa though
ShinoMatrix (5:52:00 AM): yeah
ShinoMatrix (5:52:31 AM): and with every other post in her threads saying she's crap, i wouldnt be surprised that she does quit
CTC Koopiskation (5:53:08 AM): it happens, i know the feeling
CTC Koopiskation (5:53:08 AM): :\
CTC Koopiskation (5:53:40 AM): and i know why it happens too
CTC Koopiskation (5:53:41 AM): :\
ShinoMatrix (5:53:55 AM): mmm... but at least you've befriended most of the critics...
ShinoMatrix (5:54:17 AM): her being quiet in the community generally means she's attacked more openly
CTC Koopiskation (5:54:21 AM): i think it has most to do with that im actually active o the org
CTC Koopiskation (5:54:26 AM): yea
CTC Koopiskation (5:54:27 AM): :\
CTC Koopiskation (5:55:13 AM): either way its crap
CTC Koopiskation (5:55:13 AM): |:
ShinoMatrix (5:55:41 AM): mmm
CTC Koopiskation (5:56:07 AM): though im still a bit irked about silvermoon winning those vcas last yr, cuz alot of them were sympathy votes for her 'retirement'
ShinoMatrix (5:56:19 AM): yeah
ShinoMatrix (5:56:22 AM): very true
CTC Koopiskation (5:56:41 AM): thats the only thing that bugged me about her saying she's leaving
CTC Koopiskation (5:56:47 AM): :\
ShinoMatrix (5:56:52 AM): i like her editing, though it's not always revolutionary... but the stuff she had last year's vca were not so deserving i believe
CTC Koopiskation (5:57:04 AM): and if sierra does it this yr, she'll more than likely get the same votes
ShinoMatrix (5:57:08 AM): XD
ShinoMatrix (5:57:11 AM): probably

I definitely feel like I've been around too long. I am planning on taking a nice, long break after AWA, which I really need, but I won't be announcing a retirement. Mostly because everyone spazzed at silver_moon when she let everyone know she was planning for her video to be her last one. It's fine if you don't agree with her winning those VCA's--everyone has different views, which is why everyone gets a vote. She worked hard on her videos and I think she deserved the votes she got.