Serious question here. What do you look for when watching a Maple vid?

The only MS videos I watch are to educate myself, essentially.

ie:
- What's a new area and/or monster like (when stuff comes out or places we still don't have)
- How does X class play
- Skill demonstrations or comparisons so I can make up my own mind about how to build my character (such as a holy arrow vs. magic claw side-by-side comparison, for example)
- Bosses I'm interested in defeating (so I can see how to "exploit" their bad AI or attack patterns. I solo'ed a BF at 112 because of this )

Every other maple video... I couldn't care less.

This, pretty much.
I usually don't watch maple videos for enjoyment. Usually just when I need to see how a certain class performs at boss x or map y. I also have my volume off usually, since everyone uses the same songs for videos.

However, the song you picked is very nice. The problem would be syncing the video with it. I've seen some maple videos with music that isn't annoying, l but it just didn't sync with the video so seemed out of place. Of course, don't go crazy with forcefully syncing it though. The last thing you want is a video full with transition effects every second. It's annoying seeing the video "shatter" over and over again y'know!

[YOUTUBE]mb2sX76tZwU[/YOUTUBE]

;_;
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/nm7527106

ugh watching party pap vids takes me back to the days when I had to fight pap in a party...craptastic times

When i first started making videos i asked my self the same questions and 35 videos - 431 Subscribers and 3 years later i still don't know....although i can tell you what videos out of all the ones i have made have the highest view counts.

473,519 views for the 4th job video i made showing all the skills.
211,448 for some clips i just put together of a KMS test server
70,141 on MapleStory Cleric; a video showing the skills and best training spots.

also engage your viewers.

cropping, not a video of someone training, no slow motion, no distortion, not screen shaking, no rotation, no pineappleing around with the hue slider, no screenshots

and most important of all

ASPECT RATIO IS KEPT

I agree, especially with that hue bit. I'd stay away from what most maple vids seem to be:

-what taiketo said
-boring "this is my story" crap
-raging j/k pop or techno
-long videos, long intros
-mostly nl vids have this, but the camera zooms in on the character, showing them doing the star throwing animation for 5 minutes.

That's what I think, anyway. :f6:

Oh, I also forgot to mention one thing. You know when people put that little "XXMarkXXsin productions!!!" crap in the beginning? I hate that. Especially when they have some poorly made animation with dumb music playing and it's 10 seconds long.

I look for something new and interesting. Something that I cannot experience myself (yet). Like a version has got new "exclusive" content and somebody made a videoclip about it. Other crap movies about training, bossing and the ones titled "look how strong my character is" are pieces of junk.

If it contains epic music, I'll consider sticking around to watch it. Also, I don't really like videos that look like it's insides were stuffed with transitional effects and then baked to make it seem "well done".

These are the kinds of videos that I look for :

[youtube]BXabXe84AAw[/youtube]
[youtube]JvxWAPo3Pqo[/youtube]
[youtube]3mwViRFkP1g[/youtube]

imo maple videos are terrible. They all take forever to make some sort of point that could've been made without all of the ridiculous editing and BFFEAE <3333 scenes.

Only time I watch a maplestory video is when new content is released to another version and I want to see it.

Warning: Wall of text, this is a topic I look into greatly.

When I watch maple videos, here are a few things that I look for/dont look for:

1. Originality-Is the video original? I mean, we've seen 5452143 videos of people soloing pap, so what makes YOUR video so much more special than the other ones that Im going to watch your video? If your video is EXACTLY like the 4511342 videos out there, why watch yours and not theirs?

2. Music-the music has to fit the tone of the movie. If you're trying to inspire someone, dont have emo "I WANT TO KILL MYSELF" or "SCREW THE WORLD! I DONT NEED ANYONE! Y U BREAK UP W/ ME" music. Everyone has different flavors of music. Some like rock, others like classical, some hate rock, others hate classical. The ONLY way you can appeal to your complete audience is if you find music that matches with your video. The time you know when you've found the right music is when you use a certain genre, and even those who hate the genre agree with your musical choice for the certain video. In terms of overused music, you have to remember, music has to have it's start somewhere. You cant criticize a 4 year old MS video for using Linkin Park because 4 years ago, it wasnt overused yet. What do you expect them to do? Go back and put new music in?

3. Content/Editing-Depending on what the content/purpose of the video is, sometimes editing is not needed. If the purpose of your video is to showcase a new area or place (Ex. Time Temple, Neo Tokyo, etc.), then minimal editing is plausible...hell, no editing is okay or could be even better, as the editing might take away from the purpose, which is to show your audience a new area. Personally, I dont think making a video PURELY about control is wise. Let your control/damage be a part of what makes your video good, but not the focus. There are better things to focus on, though having that damage and control doesnt hurt.

4. Editing part II-A lot of people scream at "ZOMG EDITING FAIL" or "ALL EDITING IS EVIL" (well, exaggerated but... you get my point) but that's not in the least true. Editing is only wrong "when used in the wrong context". One has to realize that the simplest things can be called editing, this includes throwing in text, fading in and out of scenes, etc. Editing isnt just the massive color inversion that you sometimes see in videos, it includes the subtle things as well. If you're going to refer to past memories, use greyscale; that's appropriate editing. Dont just full random effects and hope to get lucky, stick the effects in with purpose.

Other points:

"I was bored, so I made this video"-Yeah, okay, I'll watch your video when Im as bored as you were when you made that video...which is probably virtually never.

"I only spent xx minutes on it. Dont criticize me too hard!"-okay, that's nice...tell me when you actually try then. "Dont make excuse for not putting forth your best work".

Lastly, I leave you all with this, a wonderful video made by our beloved mod, Magus:

 Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWzz5V2-wMs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWzz5V2-wMs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

...It was a lot cooler when the Linkin Park music was left in

I just record simple clips with Fraps and nothing more. No edits, no new music, just Maple music and clean in-game footage. I'm skycombat on YouTube and I'm going to reach 1k subscribers soon, even if it's not anything great or a great accomplishment. Whatever.

Some people like videos like those: non-edited in-game footage. I also have many KMS videos about Aran and other stuff as well, so that's probably why I have so many subscribers without any effort, if not the effort of recording decent clips with Fraps and upload them on YouTube. Sometimes I also upload videos containing the new BGMs of KMST, because I like MapleStory music.

I look for a collaberation of things in movies. I dislike movies that are overwhelmed with useless special effects that do nothing more than cause my head to spin watching the frame make five circles before coming back into focus. That's not to say, however, that special effects are not a nice addition in videos. If used affectively to make a transition in a clip and the transition looks clean then, by all means, go for it.

Music. Going along with what everyone else has said, don't show me a video of Time Temple with some obnoxious death metal. Make sure that it is befitting of the overall mood and tone of the video. Music in many ways is key to keeping viewers watching the movie. Avoid using songs that are frequently used - if I hear "Until the End" by Breaking Benjamin I automatically give the video a "1" rating and stop watching it.

Content is obviously the most important. Uploading videos of you killing a boss that has been implemented into movies a million times over is all good and well, but not enough that I'm going to sit and watch every single last godawful one. Mix it up. Make it a mishmosh of all sorts of different in game content. Don't be afraid to try something out of the norm.

Have some fun with it and invest the time and effort to make it look good.

Depends on what kind of video it is. Of course I'd like to see clean editing and appropriate music, but who doesn't? If it's a video demonstrating new content I want to have a good understanding of what I'm watching and not just out of context footage. If it's a training/showoff video PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HAVE DECENT CONTROL. Bad control makes the godliest character look like crap. And I don't normally watch tribute videos but if they tell an interesting story they can be fun to watch.

It's been said before that trying to please everyone is the guaranteed way to fail.

For my movies I try to appeal to select audiences, namely people who need motivation in-game. You need to find what audience you are reaching out to, and then you need to figure out how to execute your idea. Making a video is almost never an overnight process. If it is, it rarely has enough potential to captivate viewers(with the exception of new content).

Also for me personally as a watcher, certain times I'm looking for entertainment or comedy in a maple video, while other occasions may call for a motivational vid. However most of the things that have already been said qualify what I watch all the way through.

I can't stress enough how much it matters for the music to be suitable... Get some opinions if you're second guessing the songs you want to use.

Flow is also very important, if you try and transition two scenes that don't match at all, it'll throw the viewer off, and possibly lose them completely.

Another massive pet peeve of mine, DO NOT MAKE PRIVATE SERVER VIDEOS. I lose all desire to watch any movie from a private server[I'm not condemning the PS's, but if you're going to make a video, make it authentic.].

Take into account the things that Retalion says, and watch some of his videos. He's got some great vids, and you can probably learn a lot from them.

P.S. Never forget that sometimes you need to make a movie for yourself. It doesn't matter if other people don't like the music, if you like it, and it inspires you - go for it. I've made lots of videos where people didn't like the music, and that doesn't bother me. Just put your best effort into it and that is what counts.

I don't watch Maple videos unless it's content that's new to me.

Are you by any chance, talking about this? o_O I have this song on my PC..

[YOUTUBE]T8djWSDNd9c[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]QUEO9Mfmn4M[/YOUTUBE]

On topic: I loved Bera Roll. I guess I'm just looking for originality.

Edit: Fix'd link.

You're gonna hafta pull off something never before seen in Maple videos for me. Anything that's new and not already overdone to death.

Like this one (although this one is pretty hard to follow up):

[YOUTUBE]<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FZBZI9_dbds&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FZBZI9_dbds&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

Also a good story helps as long as it's original.

When I watch MMVs, the only thing I really care about is the person's control over their character. Anybody can play Maple Story; it isn't a complicated game, though I think we're all aware of that. Some classes have it easier than others. For example, it'd be hard to find flaws in a video featuring, say, an Arch Mage, as telecasting would be one of the only things that requires the least amount of skill. Other characters, such as Night Lords, Shadowers, and Buccaneers require precise meanuvering, quick fingers, and sometimes the ability to jumpcast almost constantly.

That's just for damage-whoring videos, though.

 Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWzz5V2-wMs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWzz5V2-wMs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

...It was a lot cooler when the Linkin Park music was left in

Ah, I remember this video. In fact, I remembered this when this thread was created, but I wasn't sure exactly which video is this one.

See that video for pro tips man.