The Best of GTAStunting: A New Concept

[VaNilla]

The Best of GTAStunting: A New Concept

Introduction

I've noticed something. For a long time, people have wanted to see a "Best of GTAStunting" video. Attempts have been made to make one, but all of them have failed. There are a few fatal flaws that have prevented them from being successful.

• Making one big "Best of GTAStunting" video is a massive undertaking for the whole community, let alone one editor. This makes organisation incredibly difficult, and it also makes the job very stressful for the editor. This leads to de-motivation, and as a result of this, the video never gets made.
• The term "Best of GTAStunting" is very subjective. As an editor you must try to accommodate for your target audience. For this video, that audience is GTAStunting, a large community with lots of different people and opinions to go with it. As a result of this, organisers wrongly try to satisfy everybody, and end up accepting hundreds of different replays. Unless you want an hour long video, this is totally counter-productive, and it works against the objective you're trying to achieve in the first place. Quality over quantity is important, but it's an impossible compromise in this type of environment.

This leads to an important question. How can we satisfy everybody, and still end up with an amazing video?

The Best of GTAStunting, Vol. 1

My idea is to create "Volumes" instead. Volumes are typically collections of content released in a small package, commonly used in the TV and Music industry. My proposal is that we take this approach to exposing "The Best of GTAStunting". These volumes would be short videos, released once at the beginning of every month. There would be between 5-10 stunts in each volume, and they would all be released on the GTAStunting YouTube channel. This would keep them easily manageable, and easy to edit. They would also be far more enjoyable for all audiences, for the following reasons.

• Short videos allow the editor to focus on quality over quantity. This also means that viewers don't have to sit through long boring videos.
• Alleviates the stress of undertaking a massive editing project. It's not fun to organise or edit massive videos, not at all.
• If we only made one video to show off "The Best of GTAStunting", it would become outdated as soon as somebody releases a new video. By releasing a series of short volumes, it becomes timeless.

The idea is great, but we still have major problems to solve. How would we organise a video like this? Everybody has their own favourite stunts, but not every stunt can make the cut. The amount of stunts submitted to the video could also become overwhelming if we don't have a good system to manage it. How would we even pick an editor? I've thought about this, and here's my solution.

Week 1 and 2: Organisation

Stunts: Applications (Week 1)

At the beginning of each month, each member of the community would be able to submit one of their best stunts to the video. These would be posted publicly in "The Best of GTAStunting: Stunting Applications Topic" (a new thread would be created each month). This thread would be limited to applications only, all other posts would be deleted by moderators (making it easier to see what's been sent in). The community would have one week to send in their replays before applications are closed. The thread would be closed at the end of the deadline. The requirements would be as follows.

• You must submit your own replay (it can't be landed by someone else).
• You must submit any relevant skins/fonts that you would like the editor to use. Failure to comply will result in the editor choosing on your behalf.
• You are limited to a maximum of one stunt per volume.
• You must not submit modded stunts.
• You must also submit an unlisted clip on YouTube (this allows the community to check each stunt more easily).

Stunts: Voting (Week 2)

When the deadline is complete, "The Best of GTAStunting: Stunting Votes Topic" would be created. A poll would be created with an option allocated to each stunter that submitted a stunt to the video. The community would then vote on their favourite applications, and also be able to discuss the applications in the topic. The top 5-10 stunters with the highest number of votes would then be selected to feature in the video. Users would have a deadline of one week to submit their votes, allowing editors 2 weeks to finish the video on time, before the month is out. Both the thread and the poll would be closed at the end of the deadline.

Editing: Applications (Week 1)

At the beginning of each month, each member of the community would be able to apply to edit the video. These applications would be posted publicly in "The Best of GTAStunting: Editor's Applications Topic" (a new thread would be created each month). This thread would be limited to applications only, all other posts would be deleted by moderators (making it easier to see all the applications). The community would have one week to send in their applications before submissions are closed. The thread would be closed at the end of the deadline. The requirements would be as follows.

• You must have two weeks free at the end of the month. You will need this time to edit the video if you are selected. Do not waste our time if you know you wont be able to do it, because you will just cause problems.
• You must make sure that all of your software is working before submitting your application (eg. Fraps, Sony Vegas, GTA VC/SA/IV). If you have an unstable computer, please do not apply. If your computer breaks during the 2 week editing process, you will cause major problems.
• You must have the ability to accept feedback and constructive criticism. This will be important when checking your final edit before it's uploaded to the GTAStunting YouTube channel. Last minute changes may be necessary (eg. compression, frame rate, bugs).
• You must take the job seriously. We want you to enjoy editing the video, but if we're going to successfully organise a monthly volume, you must take the deadline seriously. This is not the GTAStunting League, you can't ask for extensions unless you have a very good reason.

Editing: Voting (Week 2)

When the deadline is complete, "The Best of GTAStunting: Editor's Voting Topic" would be created. A poll would be created with an option allocated to each editor that sent in an application. The community would then vote on their favourite applications, and also be able to discuss the applications in the topic. The editor with the most votes would then be selected to edit the video. Users would have a deadline of one week to submit their votes, allowing editors 2 weeks to finish the video on time, before the month is out. Both the thread and the poll would be closed at the end of the deadline.

Week 3 and 4: Finalisation

The First Week of Editing: Beta (Week 3)

When the editor is chosen, the organisers/administrators will package all the selected stunts (and their respective skins/fonts) into a folder for each stunter, pack them into a ZIP file, and then send them to the editor. The editor will have two weeks to edit the video in total.

By the end of the the first week of editing, the editor must complete a beta version of the video. This must be uploaded and then privately sent to the organisers/administrators. This allows us to check if the editor will actually be able to finish the video on time. If the editor is unable to finish on time, then they must notify the organisers/administrators before the end of week 3. This allows us time to give the job to the runner up, ensuring that the video can be finished on time. If the 2nd editor is also unable to finish the video before the end of the month's deadline, then the stunts would carry over to the next month of applications, and be voted on again. This prevents fatal errors in organisation, in a way that's both sensible and fair.

The Second Week of Editing: Final (Week 4)

The editor must submit the video to organisers/administrators at least 24 hours before the end of the month's deadline. This gives us the chance to fix technical issues, and prevent people from abusing the system. Once the video has been approved for release, it will be uploaded to the GTAStunting YouTube channel.

Conclusion

Releasing volumes of "The Best of GTAStunting" would allow these types of videos to be organised quickly and efficiently. As a result of being short videos, they would also be a lot more accessible, especially for audiences who are new to GTAStunting. Releasing volumes would also prevent editors and organisers from becoming demotivated, because volumes are relatively easy to manage. And finally, it simply makes sense. It allows the format to stay exciting and fresh.

Thoughts? I posted this idea as a result of popular demand, but at this point it's just an idea. I don't want to organise the videos, and I don't want to edit them, I just wanted to put this out there

[Kingalmighty]

the idea of having to apply and get voted in is interesting
but i guess thats the only way we will get a best of everyone agrees on
it would be cool to see this happen, good luck to you all

[Phamus]

Could be like a Summer Special. 

[Determined]

Damn, I don't have any good stunts.

Gotta quickly land & release something 

[Phamus]

Damn, I don't have any good stunts.

Gotta quickly land & release something 

Take your time to land something magnificent.

[Plani]

I'm totally supporting this.

[Determined]

Take my time? 
I've been trying 1 spot for over a year to no avail   

[TurBo]

As we do with our little vid, the volumes system... I support it.

e: I think the 10th anniversary would have to be in 2013.

[TrYp]

If it happens, the first month will be crowded like hell, I mean a lot of people will try to submit something. The idea is unique and I liked how you listed everything from the beginning till the end.

[VaNilla]

If it happens, the first month will be crowded like hell, I mean a lot of people will try to submit something. The idea is unique and I liked how you listed everything from the beginning till the end.

Thanks , and yeah I understand that, but with this system people could keep on submitting their stunts until it gets into one of the best of videos. For me this is the only way any 'best of videos' would actually ever get made. And not only that, but because there's an actual structure in place, it makes selecting the best stunts a community effort, which is really the whole point. So even if loads submit stunts, it's the same structure as if only a few did.

I'm not saying it would last forever, but it's certainly the best way I can think of doing it. There would come a point when it would get tired, and it would just be the same thing over and over again. That's when I'd stop, and that's why it's important that people make good choices on the first time round, if they support the idea

[RedX]

tldr, but I'm sure you made some valid points and I'd love to see this vid happen

edit: SS I noticed you suggested 5-10 stunts per volume. imo we should do more like 15-20, what do you other people think?

[PM]

I think 10 is okay, because that amount you said is not far from a collaboration and if we have not even month to edit it as best as we can, it's too much.

However, the idea is just awesome, I don't wanna be pessimist, but I worry, that it will fail like community video or any big video, that GTAStunting organizes.

[GDL]

Your idea is interesting but I suspect that this will fail as well as any other 'Best of GTAS' video due to the fact that mature and experienced people are needed for organizing/editing and GTAS just lack this kind of people. I'd gladly take part in this if it succeeds though.

[PtRvY]

Obtaining awesome and classic released stunts, even from retired people, is not a very hard thing. The very hard thing, though, is selecting which 10 get to be in the video, especially the first time around when you can expect a massive attack of submitees.

Hence, I support your idea and think it is for the best, but I offer a small amendment to it:

My idea is to not let more than 20 stunts apply in each cycle. Also stunts which have absolutely no chance of getting in (stunts that haven't really been recognized at all when they were released - fillers) should be removed, so that those 20 are definitely of the top quality kind.

That would effectively stop people from crowding it early on and hopefully if the vids come regularly they will maintain their interest even if they don't make it in a current cycle.

Thoughts?

[VaNilla]

I think 5-10 is a better number personally, I think if there's too many stunts then it's unlikely to get finished on time. And I also just think less stunts would make for a more entertaining video.

As for your idea PtRvY, I also thought about this. But then what you're saying to people is "as soon as the topic is up, you have to rush to post your stunt before anybody else". If I was organising it, I don't think people would enjoy that. I'd rather gauge how many people apply the first time round, and see if any problems are introduced before I'd make a change like that