Something I just don't get...

[starrylizard]

Vid intros.

Some of them are up to 30 seconds, but that's a really huge extra download when the vid itself is only a couple of minutes long. I saw a 30 second vid with a 40 second intro the other day. WTF?

And they confuse me. There's this huge multifandom intro and I figure I've hit the wrong link - after all wasn't it meant to be a Supernatural vid? Why are Buffy and the Mighty Hulk in there?

Sure pop up a quick 2 second flash of your symbol or do something like Joss Whedon's "I made this", but these long intros (even 10 seconds is too long people) well they are annoying. It's wasted download space. Especially if you like a person's vids and every vid you download has the same damn intro. Just no. I've stopped downloading some people's vids because it just bugs me so. It's an annoying trend.

At least put the credits over it (song title etc.) and place it at the end of the vid. Then it would feel useful.

Yes, they can be done tastefully (I've seen a few I like even), but most of them (the ones I have seen anyway) are just way too long and very large in terms of extra mb download. *hands*

This has been a random rant brought to you by Starrylizard.

Comments

[juicy-11.livejournal.com]

And I totally agrre with everythings you say there. I hate intros. They are, most of the time, way too long. And I end up not watching the vid.
Not only is it becoming a trend, but I've seen a few of them who looks all the same; coloring, effects, etc. Be orignial please!

[in-the-bottle.livejournal.com]

Hmm... for me, it depends on the song. I tend to put credits at the end or depending on the song, sometimes during the intro of the song with simple info like song title and artist and vidder credits. Most of them are about 10 to 123 sec long, once again, depending on the tempo of the song, but most of my vids are at least 3 minutes anyway.

Example:

credit during intro 10 sec intro and fades into the vid.

I don't get why they'd need an intro. Fair enough if you're doing a full length vid, but if you're doing what I call a vidlet, there's just no point. I generally only see intros on fanfilms, which I think is appropriate since some of these are 45mins episodes/mini-movies, but for vidlets? Where it's less than 2 minutes? Pointless.

[meg-tdj.livejournal.com]

I KNOW, RIGHT?!?! That bugs me, too. Big time. Seriously, what's the point? It just makes people surf away from your vid.

[lsketch42.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't get em either. The first couple times I came across one I actually thought I clicked on the wrong vid.

I think some people were doing them because supposedly it "fooled" the Youtube copyright police from recognizing the song and yanking the video...

However, that doesn't work. So I have no idea why people insist on using them.

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

I know that a lot of vidders did that when Youtube's first version of checking a vid for copyright violation involved checking the first 30 seconds. So hence a lot of 30 seconds of silent black space started appearing on vids, soon followed by silent "Sorry for the delay" messages. Then somebody figured, "Hey, I'll put something more interesting to look at here to fill the 30 seconds!" And then, as people are wont to do, they started competing with who could do the bigger, better, more sophisticated intro and it all sorta snowballed from there. [/end History Of Vidder Intros As Understood By Aislynn] ;)

However, the problem of course is that YT figured that out pretty quickly and now they seem to check the entire vid for the copyright violations so the "vidder intro as a means of outsmarting YT's copyright violation software" is now totally a moot thing. Yet they still persist. :S I've seen some stretch as long as a minute plus! o_O *twitch*

Personally, I don't mind a few seconds of "[Vidder's name] productions presents..." at the start of the vid (I did one of those myself for "Don't Blink" because I wanted it to look more like a theatrical trailer but it's only basic text and lasts for 3 seconds. ;) ) But when I end up confused and thinking I've got a vid for the wrong fandom or thinking, "Wait, the song said it was going to be [whatever] and this is [something else]!" And I even back up and check the original link to see what song and characters it was supposed to be for, then that's when it's become something that's more of a deterrent to me than something that enhances your vid. :(

*cracks open a freshly baked basket of cookies and passes it around* Cookies make everything better, it is trufax. *nods* ;)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't think I've actually seen a vid with this kind of intro... probably means I haven't been watching enough vids. :)

Do you mean like self promotion? An intro that's not related to the vid at all? I usually use intro to set a vid up or show credits.

I'd be keen to check one out (just so I can stay informed *g*) if you have a link to one??

[winterevanesce.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't care for them at all. I think the only vidder who has done it well is JessicaRae. It's super short and awesome at the same time. http://www.youtube.com/user/JessicaRae24

Either than that, there really isn't any use for them. It used to be that vidders did that so youtube wouldn't delete the vids or block out the song, but it doesn't do anything or work.

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

I asked someone why they did this a few months ago and the answer seemed to be to confuse the youtube detection software, but you'd think they could remove it for download versions...

[turquoisetumult.livejournal.com]

Well, I think the intro business started on youtube in order to help prevent removal of the vid, but I don't see why they'd also have it in the downloadable versions of the vid. :/ That kind of blows...

[docrock06.livejournal.com]

Everything you said here is so true...and as other people have said I have clicked to watch a video before and thought "what the hell, I thought this was a Ray/Neela vid!"

I even had an intro myself, it was about 15 seconds long...I only uploaded it to see what people would think of it...got pissed with it myself and never used it :P So I think that pretty much shows what I think of intros :P

[my-sn-therapy.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!! You've saved me a rant :p
Like Maria said, I thought the instigation was to prevent theft...go figure. Seems they've turned more self-promotional now but as with any type of advertising, short and sweet should be the name of the game.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reminding me how awful those intros are. I have to remember to argue against them as at my work, they're talking about creating one for our video efforts. *shudders*

[tiggeratl1.livejournal.com]

Hee! Glad to know I'm not alone on disliking the new trend of adding promo intros. :D