I confess: I'm a crazy project maker, fan restoration/preservation lover, and I'm guilty of many things!

First of all, I presume to be responsible to fix/improve EVERY movie - a sort of film fixer superhero much more than what I can manage; and each time that I promise myself "no more, not unless you will release something", someone bring to my attention a new movie "that can't be left as it is", or "should be improved, fixed" etc.

And my ego is too big to refuse, to pass; can't resist the challenge! At the end, I have more than 10TB full of half-finished projects, multiple audio/video sources, huge temporary files that "would be used soon"... sometimes it happens, but too many titles are still there, waiting for a release.

Memory: as anybody knows, my memory lacks; I try to write down everything, to save any single useful file, but sometimes I forget to do that, then time pass, then someone, after months, writes to me "Hey, do you remember...?" - and, every time, I answer that no, I don't remember, which is not an excuse, but a sad truth... maybe it's because I'm getting old, my neurons started to die too fast, dunno! So, don't worry to repeat me things, you have to!

Tools: I continue to use the old avisynth, even if I'm well aware of better software around... or, maybe, let me say easier, not always better... if I can do everything with this, why should I bother to start to learn something new? "If ain't broke, don't fix it!" - yes, I know, I'm an old dinosaur, but you know what? I love to be a T-Rex!

Another problem is the release time: often I write that "this will be ready in X days/weeks/months", and many times it doesn't happen. Sometime I feel stuck, because I lack the knowledge, or I can't find a good filter, or a satisfing source, so that project is halted - letting people sad or angry.

So, I'm sorry for anybody who's still waiting for a certain release; please understand this: I do my projects primarily for me! Then, I release them to let others be happy with them, to have fun, to watch a movie in a different/better way. And remember, I'm not paid to do them; at the contrary, I spend a lot of time on them, and quite some money in electricity, internet connection, hardware, sources etc.

With this, I don't want to ask anything to anybody - even if I must admit it was a pleasure to see ONE donation lately, that would help to buy that famous HDD so much needed - but at the same time I can't do every... single... project!

Said so, I'm happy to have found again a motivation to start again with fresh ideas, and techniques; found many member that helped a lot, and hope to release "that huge saga everybody knows" as a Xmas gift!

A hint for anybody crazy enough to think to start his "career" as a project maker: FOCUS on a SINGLE project, at least at the beginning; I know that the "restoration fever" is strong, but you have to resist... think that a difficult project could take months, years to be finished, so don't split your attention between several ones, but choose THE one you want to make before every other - the film you love, the movie that must be saved, the title nobody cares but you - and stick with it. After your first release, you'll find out that, even if many people (if you are lucky) have actually downloaded your projects, only few would leave a "thank you" or post a comment, but slowly, you will build up a fan base; it will be rewarding to know that someone else, apart you, your family and your cats/dogs, is eagerly awaiting for your next move...

Thanks to anybody here; we are growing slowly, but steadly, and hey, it's a niche world, at the end!

(2017-12-13, 12:13 AM)spoRv Wrote: A hint for anybody crazy enough to think to start his "career" as a project maker: FOCUS on a SINGLE project[...]

Sage advice!  Focusing on one project initially, no matter how long it takes to complete it, is the best approach.  Even if you end up revisiting the project subsequently, what you learn through persevering helps with future endeavors .  Later on, when you have the skills, picking away at multiple projects becomes feasible.

And don't get me started on the memory issue. Must be a dinosaur thing...

Here here, agree with many of the points. I spread myself to thin also so that is good advice spoRv.

Sometimes you have to wait for stuff, like when you don't have money to buy some ... ingredients ... yet. Then multiple projects can ease boredom.

As written before, I thought I was a bit crazy to "amass" a lot of sources here and there - sorta of "source compulsive hoarding"... but it paid, as I'm using some of them - which, frankly, I thought to be there just for mistakes - for new projects that I never believe could be made; talking in particula about UAR (ex AAP-AR, I like the new moniker, don't ask what the U stands for, put your preferred adjective there! )

Soon, I'm sure, there will be new, fashinating way to fix, modify, "improve" movies - thinking about deepfakes, for example. Still, maybe I'm filling my poor hard drives with useless stuff, but I'm happy to find out something useful indeed, even after years.

So, to the new "wannabe" project makers continue to grab strange, unusual, rare stuff, keep them in storage, and *probably* they will be used, one day, sooner or later... but first, focus on ONE project - the title you love more, or which you feel it deserve the right to be fixed - and keep working JUST on it; learn how to use a video editing software - there are a lot good ones, many free; my advice fo you, newbies, stay away from avisynth, as it's a pain in the... neck, even if it's a great software, is so hard to learn that probably you will finish ten projects using another software, before starting to undestand how to fiddle with it!

Of course, if you are an old dinosaur, or love to get in trouble, don't mind endless hours of trials&errors, and good chance of permanent headache, avisynth is really rewarding... if you have the patience to read a lot of forums dedicated to it (as I did) because, AFAIK, there is not a manual about it - and, if there is, please, give me the link to it!

(2018-02-22, 10:53 PM)spoRv Wrote: my advice for you, newbies, stay away from avisynth, as it's a pain in the... neck, even if it's a great software, is so hard to learn that probably you will finish ten projects using another software, before starting to understand how to fiddle with it!

Learning the ropes by doing the bulk of a first project in an NLE is probably prudent.

Your story has touched my .  All I need is some background music and tissues . .




(the link, in case the video doesn't come through -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4BkX1elX6k)

"This video is not available" - to me, at least! ? (need this kind of emoticon, please design it!)

Good advice all around! One thing that's stuck with me is that finishing is a skill. It's easy to be motivated when you start a project, but following through after it loses the initial excitement is the hard part. Once you figure out the mental gymnastics necessary to keep going when you don't feel like it it becomes much easier.