The Editing Drive

This, in my eyes is a topic that deserves its own discussion, for I find it truly unlikely that it is but an imaginary issue born from me taking things too seriously.
Many of the editors here have lost the drive and motivation that were once there when it comes to making AMVs. The rest might not have lost it yet but from the looks of it are on the verge of following in the prior group's footsteps, and this isn't an issue bound to ENP, no there are lots of editors facing this problem. The AMV community's whole drive is declining, and that begs to question what exactly is the problem?
The immediate response I get is that the editor(s) have stopped liking anime and/or watching it, and well this is a reasonable thing for a person to just lose interest in anime, but when I think about how massively common this single response is, I begin to believe that it is not a change of interest for the person, but perhaps a declination in the anime industry? well that might certainly be true, but not to the extent that would make people not watch anime anymore, and I can boldly make a claim that one can name at least 3 good anime from every season, so this reasoning makes me not believe in the "anime excuse" that kills the drive to edit.
My own theory is that people are not lazy, but scared and discouraged. Back in 2011/2012 there wasn't this issue, why? because the standards of editing were a bit lower, with the meaning of that not being that the quality of AMVs were lower, but the thoughts in the editor's head of what will be met with good feedback were different. What has changed is not that the feedback received for the same level of an AMV is different, no, but the thoughts in our heads that we get before releasing or even starting a video. I say that its because we see technically amazing videos on the level of F.Y.C and John the Hellhound, we no longer dare to do the techniques that we once wanted to learn, and we believe that we should only edit when the video we're making will be something near that level. Hence also why ICs are so booming, because they make us get back to earth for 3 days and edit what we actually want to edit without fearing it not being an amazing video. Why? because the excuse of it being "only an IC" is there.
Alright, but what's the solution? well this issue is beyond me alone, and I need more of you guys (as well as more editors in general but I cant reach them) to think about it quietly, and come up with what you think will restore your drive to edit. My solution is that we need to shatter these thoughts that we cannot edit unless we're making something mind blowing, not because we should make bad videos, but because this wall of thought is the most counterproductive problem there is in my book. If we actually gain the ability of editing whenever we want to edit, then we will easily decide to try out new things at one stage, and the "mind blowing" result might just appear on its own one day without it being overhyped.
I wrote way too much and I fear that some might not read, but in my book this is a topic worthy of discussion.

PS: I didn't include the "I'm busy with life etc." excuse because I don't see it as a valid excuse. Time management is a thing, and doing other things than playing league is also an option.

I am motivated but not enough to spend all my time in it or work myself to hell with this pc that whenever i get over 30 seconds on a project the ram just gives up,not everyone has super pc.I can also say that im actually pretty busy and i currently prefer dedicating my free hours to talking and playing with friends.

Personally i don't use the anime excuse but after watching so many anime i can say with confidence that some shows that i enjoyed watching some years ago,if i watched them now they'd be completely trash and i found very few and far inbetween anime that can be tagged as "interesting" and not plain average or okay so i can understand those people.

Scaring factor is true,i can say i'm affected by it but its not that major and certainly not main reason of my inactivity.

About busy with life etc,guess where amv editing is in here.Even playing league is socializing,having fun and boosting your self esteem without torturing yourself with shitty pcs,footage that refuses to work,hard drives frying and programs that crash 24/7.



I don't know your life that well but i'll go ahead and make the bold guess,and sorry if i'm incorrect,that you have never worked a real job and lived mostly with your parents or guardians so far.Don't be so eager to guess what a person feels like when he's working and/or living alone and what he feels like is his/her best option for spending his/her one two three four five ten hours of free time.If you don't feel like editing and your being wants something else done even if it's playing video games with friends,then there's no helping it,even if you edit you'll suck.

To make a decent amv you must have the will,time and inspiration to do so.All those three,without one you just can't.Inactivity isnt a thing,it is,and should always be in my honest opinion,a permanent status for all decent editors,they make something whenever they feel like making something and when they actually can heavily indulge themselves with editing in that period.We are not youtubers to pump out stuff monthly.

This article is built on the assumptions that
a) we find editing to be fun
b) we actually want to restore the editing drive.
With these 2 ideas being correct I guess that amv editing serves an identical purpose as playing, they're both what we'd do for entertainment. Otherwise one would have to rethink the entire concept of having an AMV team, since we might not be a group of people who love to edit getting together, but more a group that wants to be together, and sees editing as the annoying homework the teacher gives, which really shouldn't be the case, I hope.

But I understand technical difficulties making things impossible, although one would need to have quite the outdated hardware to lose the ability of editing, hardware that I have not seen in a very long while.
As for the degree of how busy someone is, I ask nothing pressuring out of anyone, I actually ask for nothing at all, but again I bring my assumption that we actually want to edit, and that we don't see it as some obligation that we hate more than we love.

Edit: and I forgot to add that making amvs monthly is what no one is his right mind would expect, but yearly? how about yearly? 1 full per year doesn't sound reasonable?

Why I don't edit:

Now the only things that make me wanna edit are enp meps and maybe if i will find the 'perfect' song...
(btw i have a Hajime no Ippo amv that i dropped, if someone want to collab plz tell me :p)

AoNoFlameZ wrote:

Now the only things that make me wanna edit are enp meps and maybe if i will find the 'perfect' song...

Well this means that the drive is still there. You don't count Dinos, go away.

Changelling wrote:

AoNoFlameZ wrote:

Now the only things that make me wanna edit are enp meps and maybe if i will find the 'perfect' song...

Well this means that the drive is still there. You don't count Dinos, go away.

Ok :/  i will become an asmv editor and i will show the world how good i am! I am motivated again!!! kappa

Also I just want to clarify one point. I am not accusing or blaming anyone for anything here, no far from it if some of you thought I was indirectly calling you out for inactivity.
I am acknowledging what I believe to be the fact of people having lost their editing drive and I wish to discuss it. If you believe that no, the editing drive is fine, and people are just not editing that much because of other less worthy of mention reasons then that is something.

Well regarding views and feedback one could quote what Godix had to say about it:

Godix wrote:

The first thing to consider is why are you even interested in making an AMV? If your answer is because it looks like fun then great! That's exactly the reason to do this. If instead you want to win awards, become popular, or gain a following then you really need to rethink things. The reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of AMVs out there and maybe a dozen of them are what could be called 'popular'. Odds are that you will never make one of those dozen or so. I'm not trying to discourage you from editing. I just feel it should be for the right reasons. If your main goal is the adulation of the masses then you need to find a different hobby. This hobby is supposed to be enjoyable. If you don't enjoy it then go do something else.

This attitude should also be kept in mind when you receive comments on your video or comment on others. I'm not saying other people's opinions don't matter, they just shouldn't matter as much as whether you enjoyed making the video or not. It's nice when others enjoy something you made but it's even nicer if you enjoyed it. Too often the org community gets wrapped up in an elitist ideal of editing. Ultimately if you had fun making a video then that video is a success.

But I myself don't think it is the best answer anymore since everyone wants a pat on the head after doing something that takes effort. But one MUST indeed love to make videos, otherwise they are wasting their time.
Now views on youtube don't work like better AMV = more views. No, in my book, easy title + good thumbnail will result in a fair number of views, but that isn't proven. Chances are I have absolutely now idea how to win more views, but this is a very common reality, and the best way is to live with the small audience that we get, and I strongly believe that as one makes more videos, the editing skills will improve, and so will the audience grow as well.

PS: Regarding vegas crash, https://enps.darkbb.com/t2292-fix-the-sony-vegas-crash this method should make the crashes happen so much less.

I think why iam not as active in amvs as i was a year ago is a combination of losing a lot of interest i had in anime (i started gangasta 2 weeks ago and im on episode 6 while i used to watch whole 12eps series in 2 days lol) and the reason you mentioned where in my head im thinking i need to make something amazing if iam to release a video, which is stupid i know gg
Also getting more into the gaming word has made me not wanting to edit that much cause games are much more easier to play while editing takes lots of time and is harder imo
So long story short im lazy and i dont like anime like i used to.

I don't know how much you guys have lost your editing drive/inspiration but for me its compeletely gone.Like I don't even want to download vegas anymore (new pc since the old one died...RIP).Sometimes I get random thoughts about starting again...at least to make 1 amv and then see how it goes but all that goes away when I think about all the "work" that has to be done (dl vegas,dl anime,masks etc).Also I don't watch anime nearly as much as before...its not that I don't like them...just that the anime I like are not really suitable for the kind of amvs I like to do.Thats a problem I always had actually but since I used to watch more anime it didn't play that much of a role.So mostly you could say I am lazy and getting older.

Now how to fix that...I don't think there is a way.If you feel like editing you will edit...if not then just let it that way.When/if the drive comes back its always possible to open vegas and start again.This is a hobby and we do it only when we feel like it...if it becomes a "job" and something we "have" to do the result will be some terible videos along with a lot of moaning.

From what I've read so far I conclude that it is not a new issue of a dying editing drive that editors are facing, but just a phase that should change sooner or later. I say that because "I'm lazy" is just not the same as "I don't find AMVs to be fun anymore".
What Enkai said about editing when we want to is true but sadly not fully true, because the problem of us thinking we have to do something amazing is still there.
However, I believe that an external motivator could change things. Maybe if an inspiring video could arise from the editor circle that surrounds the editor then he/she would want to edit again.

For me there are two reasons.

1st is that I don't watch anime anymore. It is probably true that if i started watching some good show I would enjoy it, but now I prefer to do some other things whenever I have free time, mostly anything that involves communicating with other people.

2nd is that after doing a good video, you rise your viewer's standards and they (maybe not everyone, but most of them) expect you to, from now on, upload videos at least as good. And that means no derpy 30 second videos cause you were bored, no 3 days ics cause you liked anime or got burst of inspiration for song you've heard. It means spending months on making something that might not be fun to make at all, more like pain.. I can't deny that you feel awesome after you finish it and others like it, but it's hard to make yourself start at all, especially when you are spending 80% of your time outside or studying.

Yea it seems the expectation issue is very massive and has destroyed not only AMV editors, but every form of content creator out there. It is a common problem that can only be fixed by not giving in to these thoughts, and doing what you want to do anyway assuming that you do want to do it.

Well, the absolute truth is like Godix (whoever he/she is) said.
People move on. Something that used to be the shit looks mediocre after some time, and if you can't find any motivation at all, it means it's over and that you should find something new and better to do, not try to relive the past.

Personally, I lost my motivation because a) my artistic shall we say standards have risen and it takes more time, so it got more difficult overall = less inner motivation and b) I hate being a member of a community that seeks fame so actively and this is why I choose to keep my distance from forums and the rest of the editing community = less outer motivation. I just 100% disagree with the whole mindset, you can edit a raw fucking video if you want to, don't care about the viewers, you are the one who expresses him/herself and everything else will happen by itself. I could say a lot more, but it will change the subject.

Kinda what got me back to editing last year when I was almost fed up with it. Thats how I got my "editing drive" back (and irl stuff that I have lost interest to aswell)

"I'm gonna be the most mediocre editor ever"
Shit that was so good it made me change my whole life philosophy.