Now your video is done! You’re very proud of it and want to show it to the world. There are various ways to do this. You can get an account with AnimeMusicVideos.org and distro from there. You can also use file services like YouSendIt or Megaupload to distro your product and post it on forums. These days it’s become easier to get a bandwidth consuming file (large) to your audience for little or no money at all. The best, is still from a website. Streaming options like you get from YouTube are very handy, but you cannot guarantee proper playback.
Remember that not all critiques to your video will be flattering, no matter how much time you spent on it or how perfect it is. I will present to you here 3 types of endusers (audiences) with complaints…
1. The viewer that tells you the video has timing mistakes.
If you are unaware of any mistakes in your video, the viewer most likely has audio/video synch problems or doesn’t know how to get the audiovisual presentation to the correct part of their brain. I trust you’ll know exactly where you messed up and can’t get it right. Audio/video synch problems occur when they’re using a bad player (like Windows Media), a wrong codec setup on their machine or just plain outdated hardware problems. If the viewer is unable to tell that from playing videos, ignore it because this viewer really has no idea about computers. It can also be that the viewer does not register the audiovisual presentation like you meant it to. It occurs when there’s two instruments playing and you picked one to ‘time’ your video to. Usually if you tell them what to watch and hear for, they slap their forehead and go “oh of course!”. A nice example can be seen in my JE Summary Vid (use the commentary softsub).
2. The viewer that complains about the type of music or lyrics in your music of choice.
Mostly it’s because they cannot appreciate the song you picked if it’s about the music itself. Solstice Productions videos use a lot of ‘heavy’ music and it will not be suitable for everyone. If you’re going to pick a song that is not in the Countdown charts you might hear complaints about this. Don’t take these people seriously. If there’s complaints about the lyrics and that the viewer didn’t find them befitting and you did think about it before making the video, it’s likely to be connected to the type of music you used. Some lyrics aren’t mainstream, but can be themed with visuals. Mainstream people will not understand this. Perfect example: it would not come into my mind at all to edit dance music underneath Vampire Hunter D, but it has been done. Eventhough the video was alright, it will never ‘touch’ me the same as if there was darker music edited under it. A question of taste!
3. The general video basher.
Avoid these people like they are pests and never react to anything they say. The funny thing is, it’s not the clueless viewers you can expect this from, it’s other video editors like yourself. They’re usually looking for a way to “kick themselves up” by bashing down on you and your work. It’s all jealousy talk, don’t let them get to you. I trust you will have the common sense (and maturity) to recognize a basher from the next person that gives interesting feedback.
That concludes the mini-guide to video editing.