Hello, everyone! I'm new...

[Cannonaire]

I'm new to making AMVs and the ORG, but I've been watching for years. For the past couple years I've conemplated making AMVs, but never had the motivation until I went to Sakura-Con again this last April. A week later, in a single night (about 12 hours), I started work on and finished my first draft of my first AMV!

I've since spent many hours perfecting it, but I'm looking for a little advice. I've read the guides and gotten the video cleaned up and exactly how I want it, but I'm not sure when/how I should release the video. I pretty much go to one, maybe two conventions a year (always Sakura-Con, sometimes Kumoricon since I live near Portland), and I want to enter the video into the next Sakura-Con contest for sure. Unfortunately, that's almost a year away now and my video is ready now. I want to get it out there, but I don't want it to be old news by the time Sakura-Con rolls around again. Any advice?

I'm also kind of nervous (protective) since I'm new to this and this is my first video. I'm paranoid about even saying what the anime and music are, but that's why I'm here, to get advice on these things. Any help is appreciated. ^^

[mirkosp]

I'd say keep it around but don't release it. Then about a month before the sakuracon 2011 deadline, go back and watch it. Odds are that with the more amvs you watched, and perhaps edited, in the year timespan, you'll find things to change in order to improve the video. That is, of course, if you really want to enter this one video in sakuracon. Otherwise you could just release it and make a new video for next year's sakuracon when the time comes around.

[Kionon]

I suggest you release it here and now, because Sakuracon is one of the cons I compete at, and is in general quite competitive. I think it would be better for us to be able to give you feedback on it. We're quite blunt, and so we get a reputation as being mean or elitist, but that is largely due to people not really understanding what constructive criticism is. If we have the chance to take your video and identify your errors (a lot of them probably basic, and easily correctable) it is far more likely that you will be able to produce something competitive for a convention later.

There is nothing worse, in my mind, than having an audience totally tune out and ignore your video completely. This is likely to happen if your video is significantly below the other entrants. Far better for us to identify the weak points here than for you to be heartbroken that no one really bothered to pay attention to your video when it was shown in front of hundreds or thousands of people.

[Cannonaire]

Thanks for the advice and the warm welcome. When I first posted, I was really paranoid. Since this is my first, it's like my baby >.< (if you know what I mean...)

I will probably release it later today, and probably still try to enter it into the next con I go to, whether that's Sakura-con or not. The video is Final Fantasy 9 to Michelle Branch - Where Are You Now. I don't really care much about winning or having the best video at this point. I made the video because I felt really strong feelings thinking about FF9 when I listened to the song, and it came together really well. I just really want to share that feeling with others, especially FF9 fans, but one of the goals was to make people who see this vid want to play it if they haven't.

In the span of a year, I probably will learn a lot more about editing too. My video is fairly simple, no effects (except a fade at the end), but I've spent many hours making it all sync up really well. I've also learned a ton about editing, cleaning up footage, and all that stuff from the excellent guides. My next project is gonna be just a simple, no-release test to figure out lip syncing and basic effects, but I have another idea for a big project after.

I think what I'm trying to say is... I love AMVs and I'm gonna work hard making my own and become part of this community.

[Kionon]

I think what I'm trying to say is... I love AMVs and I'm gonna work hard making my own and become part of this community.

Don't forget to donate!

[Pie Row Maniac]

I think what I'm trying to say is... I love AMVs and I'm gonna work hard making my own and become part of this community.

Don't forget to donate!

But only if you want.

[Kionon]

I think what I'm trying to say is... I love AMVs and I'm gonna work hard making my own and become part of this community.

Don't forget to donate!

But only if you want.

Which I think Cannonaire wishes to do. It's a great way to say, "Hey, the community is important to me!" Besides, the benefits of donating have been proven by SCIENCE!

[Cannonaire]

Rofl. I do donate to some things, and I may donate to the org in the near future, but right now I'm living from paycheck to paycheck, and my monitor died in the middle of the project. I do want to donate, but can't right at this moment. ^^;

[JaddziaDax]

I'd also wait to see if I produced something better between now and the con..

But then again my first amv wasn't so much "my baby" as it was "can I do this?" and "how does this program work?" (an experiment).

[BasharOfTheAges]

But then again my first amv wasn't so much "my baby" as it was "can I do this?" and "how does this program work?" (an experiment).

That describes every video i've ever made.