Stop doing this in combo videos

Current Fighting Games Fighting Game Discussion
1

Okay, I’m not exactly a prolific combo video maker or anything, but I do consider myself to be a man of considerable aesthetic sagacity, and no longer can I stand idly by and let the horrendous examples of bad taste I see in so many combo videos pass me by.

Now, I know some of you guys probably don’t really give a shit if your videos aren’t pretty, and that’s cool. If you just want to slap something together and get your combos out there, with little concern for how well-presented it is, I can respect that. What pisses me off to no end, though, is the abundance of videos in which it’s painfully obvious that someone has put a lot of effort into using every trick they learned from Warezed Adobe Premier for Dummies, and yet the video STILL looks like shit. If you’re gonna make the effort, why not make it look good?

So, with contributions from Dandy J and apoytwiu, I’ve compiled this list, “Top 9 Things Not to do in Combo Videos”. I should note that my focus isn’t the actual content of the videos (that’s a whole other post), but rather the presentation. Some points are major annoyances, some are pretty trifling, but you should observe all of them.

1. Shitty music

I don’t care if you love Ayumi Hamasaki, or Nightwish, or Dragonforce, or Linkin Park, or whatever the fuck raver DJs you listen to. Point is, j-pop, j-rock, cheese metal, nu metal, trance/rave etc. have been done to death in combo videos and I don’t wanna hear it any more. It’d be ridiculous to expect every video to contain music I like, but Christ, at least switch it up a little.

2. Long intros

I watch a combo video to see combos, not 5 minutes of logos or whatever. This should be proportionate to the amount of actual combo time in the video, but generally I think anything over a minute is just unreasonable, and even that’s pushing it.

3. Long credits

Seriously, fuck your ego. A credits list should generally be simple, nobody watching gives enough of a shit about you to warrant a flashy sequence for every single random scrub who performed a combo in your vid. Do you think anybody even watches that shit? Just scroll the names and get the fuck out.

4. Anime clips

Just… why? Why would you think anyone wants to see this shit in a combo video? It doesn’t look cool, it doesn’t accentuate the experience of the video in any way, all I get from it is the knowledge that you’re not just a fighting game nerd but a Wapanese faggot as well. Please don’t do this.

5. “Flashy” editing

“Flashy” is in quotes because the only people this shit looks “flashy” to are retarded kindergarteners. You know what I’m talking about; ugly-ass glittery shit flying all over the screen, random-ass overlays (generally used to credit the combo performer - that’s what the credits are for, fuckface!), added hit effects, random filters, etc. It’s fucking ugly, stop doing it.

6. Stupid sound management

Whether you like in-game sound with your vids is mostly a matter of personal preference, but if you choose to enable the sound, please keep it quiet. What’s the point in including music if I can barely hear it because some underpaid Japanese voice actor is spewing shitty Engrish all over it? Always disable the in-game music, if you can’t, don’t have in-game sound at all. You aren’t fucking Timbaland, and even if you were nobody would want to hear your ‘Crawling’/‘Is This True Love We’re Making’ remix.

7. Random variations in quality/volume

This kind of encompasses a few things. What I’m talking about is changing of sound levels/resolution/quality etc. between different clips in the same video. It just looks sloppy as fuck, and it’s especially annoying when I turn up my speakers for one part of a video that’s really quiet just to find the next part is REALLY LOUD. Don’t do it.

8. Shitty text

If you’re gonna have a fucking thesis at the beginning of your vid on how Nietzsche’s thoughts on Morality relate to fighting games, at least spell check your shit, Jesus Christ. Actually, it’d be nice if you just wouldn’t include any kind of quote or whatever that you think sounds “deep” or “cool”, because while all that pseudo-philosophical bullshit The Matrix may have blown your neanderthal mind, those of us that aren’t 15 year old Tool fans just find it laughable.

Also, can you PLEASE use some fucking decent fonts? I swear I’ve seen videos that use Arial and Times New Roman, for fuck’s sake! That looks incredibly unprofessional. Use a font, size and color that is a) easily readable when overlayed on top of the game (seriously, I think some of you guys don’t even watch your videos back when it comes to this) and b) makes your video look like a fucking video, not a Microsoft Word document.

9. Too much downtime

This is pretty much annoying in the same way that long intros are annoying. I want to watch a combo video, not whatever random crap you decided to squeeze in there (usually anime clips which we already addressed but sometimes random text or whatever). I appreciate that sometimes you need a break from the action, and I do like the little skits done in-game that some people do that showcase stuff that perhaps isn’t technically impressive but just looks funny, because it doesn’t disrupt the flow - you’re still watching a game. Another thing that annoys me is when the characters are standing around doing nothing forever before/after a combo. It may seem like nitpicking, but it’s just so easy to fix. You’re already editing video, why not cut some of that shit out?

That’s that, I guess. Just so I don’t come off sounding like a huge bitch, I’ll say that I truly appreciate all the hard work that goes into making a combo video. My intent with this thread isn’t to denigrate anyone’s efforts, but to help channel those efforts so that that hard work can be better utilized in future. I think it’s important to note that I’m not saying by any means that your vid needs to be bare-bones and vanilla. Little production tricks are cool and all, but they should add to the experience, not detract from it.

I’ll close by posting some vids that I think are some of the best examples of the form. I may not think everything in them is perfect, but they come pretty fucking close:

Ode to the 2 Hit Combo - JChensor (Honestly this is pretty much the best combo video ever, he even makes the Times New Roman in the intro work somehow. The only thing I don’t like about it is most of those scrolling backgrounds look pretty ugly/cheesy, IMO)
[media=youtube]JhhgMaG7hug[/media] - Desk
[media=youtube]sxgms8KQgwM[/media] - JChensor, Majestros, Mopreme & Kamui
[media=youtube]vtDGtTGZ9Zg[/media] - Majestros (now that i think about it this doesn’t do much in the way of editing at all, but it’s a great example of how to do a simple, clean video)
[media=youtube]G9Z-q5atjiA[/media] - Laugh & Hail And Kill
[media=youtube]iYy9IGjA1Fg[/media] - NKI

ok now flame away

2

I was looking for the CFE vid, thanks!

3

All your bases are belong to us…

4

Crosses Battle in Flash off Hypothetical Combo Video BGM List :sad: Not like I’m good enough to make a combo video anyway.

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by the way if you’re looking for bad examples just watch pretty much any south american or european kof combo video, they’re all pretty much how-tos on shitty editing in combo videos

6

I agree with all of that, shit is annoying.

7

Not combo videos, but how about tutorial videos with no transcripts ;p?

Or tutorial videos with transcripts that you can’t even read?

:3

8

yeah you gotta love that shit

9

That new GG combo video on CV is fucking gay with the intros and shit.

oh, and ode to the 2 hit was the best combo video i’ve EVER seen.

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Ok, I’m going to give my point of view. Most of my reply is prolly what polarity is expecting someone to say, so I’ll go ahead and say it.

If you don’t like the way something is done, do it better. Add your own style. It’s like when people bitch about music or any other art style. If you don’t like it, do something about it. If “johnny hotcomboz” wants dragonforce with 8 min intros, then he has the right. It’s HIS work. You don’t have to watch it. this is just my opinion. I’m not hating on what you’re saying, just stating the obvious.

11

you’re pretty much right, i’m just hoping some people simply dont know any better rather than actually think everyone else thinks that shit is tite

12

I agree with Polarity on all counts, and have some stuff of my own to add:

  • Edit the video so that it is simple and easy to follow. I once saw a Third Strike combo vid that wasted time and file space on a long-ass intro, only to have two combos shown at the same time (in split-screen) a little later on. Couldn’t they have just cut the fucking intro and shown the two combos one after the other, so I actually have a chance of following what’s going on?

  • If the combo features some sort of glitch that is either not readily apparent in the combo or requires some kind of special technique that can’t be explained purely by observation, please give the viewer some way of figuring out what the hell is going on. Possibly a subtitle with a hyperlink to a page with the glitch information on it, or a text explanation at the end of the video. Something. Please.

  • I know you like shitty music. But if it obscures the sound effects of the combos, it has to fucking go. You might be surprised how much you can understand about the action through audio cues, so please, keep functionality in mind.

I miss the old days when a combo video just had combos in it. James Chen did some great ones, and without a shitload of fancy editing.

13

If you’re making a 3s, st or any other game where the hit counter pops out at the end of the combo don’t cut it out. I mean, ok, you brag you can link 4 fierces with Hugo, can I see the counter now, please? :confused:

14

God damn, AAA thread.

Fucking agree with every.single.thing you listed.

15

Well fuck you too!

N

16

Yeah, I agree. :tup:

17

Magnetro Vol.1 Is a Combo video done right.

18

there’s only few that can manage the flashy shit imo; meikyousisui , djb, magnetro, and mike ross

but i agree with your post 100%

19

blah blah go find a new nightwish/artic sonata song for the next video.

He had magneto Anime clips and horrible music. But the combos were pretty.
not enough Dander though.

a/s/l?

20

LOL!

So true.