frayadjacent | In Search of Potential Betas

I've been vidding a bit over a year now. I've joined Vidpub, participated in Festivids, posted on various vidding-related coms, signed up for another vid exchange, and even spent hours and hours in #vidding chat. But something is missing: a handful of solid betas to give me feedback on my Works in Progress.

Soooo..is anyone out there OK with being asked to beta future vid projects? Saying yes doesn't mean you're promising to beta anytime I ask, but rather that 1) you're OK with being asked, and 2) you imagine you'd say yes at some point, depending on availability, fandom, etc.

jetpack_monkey has already offered beta services for future projects. This is awesome! But I'd love to know if there are other people out there as well who are willing to share their thoughts on my WIPs. More brains = better vids, I suspect?

Since I don't have much experience yet with the beta process, I'd also love to hear how it works for you, how much depth you like to go into in feedback, how many versions of a WIP you'll look at, etc.

ETA: Um, I forgot to write this? But I am more than happy to exchange beta services, not just receive them! Be forewarned that I have not yet ever beta'd a vid before (or any other fanwork), but I'm getting more confident that it's something I could do. A gal's gotta start somewhere, right?

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I'm willing to be asked.

I tend to go into great depth in feedback -- apparently I've made more than one person anxious with the sheer quantity of text in one of my replies. My format tends to be a stream-of-consciousness, "this is what I was thinking as I went through it." (Thus, one tends to receive a catalog of "oo, nice" moments, "this isn't working for me" moments, and what I think it means / where it's going.) I'm more than happy to help problem-solve or make suggestions when asked, but I'm a little shy about volunteering those if I haven't worked with someone before.

I tend not to mind giving multiple rounds of feedback. (It's kind of fun to watch how a vid evolves! I think I saw five iterations of

seekingferret's "A New Day in New York Town.") I haven't yet tried to help anyone who didn't have an entire draft timeline laid down, but I'd be willing to look at a partial timeline.

Also, I'm pretty new to providing beta for vids. There might be some things that I don't have the know-how to be terribly useful about.

...and I'm looking for potential vidding betas, myself.

D'oh! I knew I left something out -- I am *definitely* happy to be a beta in return. I've never done it before, but actually after watching ~175 Festivids I'm feeling more confident in my ability to "read" vids and give concrete feedback. (Not that my comments on Festivids were necessarily all that concrete, but I noticed I was able to critically assess vids on first view better than I used to.) All of which is to say, by all means, feel free to ask me as well!

Depth is awesome. And good to know how problem-solving/offering suggestions works for you. I imagine I'd be the same way -- open to doing it, but it's easier if you know the person.

Thank you!!!

Edited 2013-02-07 15:07 (UTC)

I'm willing. I have done the "it's fine, this part works well, stop freaking out" kind of beta, and the extensive notes with timestamps and structural observations kind of beta. I'll look at as many versions as you want.

Standard disclaimer: I'm most reliable if you message me in IRC and I'm actually at the computer. If I promise to give feedback by email I may disappear for days.

Hooray! And thank you, and also, I didn't mention it, but I'm happy to beta as well. (I've never done it before, but it's seeming less scary than it used to.) Heh, I will remember to find you in IRC. :)

I'm away a whole lot, so not sure how much use I'll be, but if I'm home and available I wouldn't mind taking a look. However, lyrical interpretation is a major weak spot with me, so it'll be more about the flow and rhythm of the vid/general impressions.

Excellent -- thank you! And flow/rhythm/general impressions would be great to hear feedback on.

I'm willing, too! I've never been an actual beta for fanvids either, so I'm not sure how valuable I could be to you (or if it's even a thing I *can* be good at?), but I really wanna learn to be more observant when I watch vids and give useful feedback.

Edited 2013-02-07 18:53 (UTC)

Excellent! We can learn together.

Sure if you want! I'm not sure how good a beta I am; I tend to worry I'm telling people how I'd vid stuff instead of why what they're doing is working/not working, but I'm always okay with being asked. :)

Excellent -- thanks! And feel free to ask me to beta as well. :D

Looks like you've got plenty of offers, but since you asked, I'm usually willing to be asked and to beta. I'm better/more secure if I know the fandom, but have definitely betaed without that. Though I think I've become a less and less effective beta over time, heh. Partly because I always use the same beta now, if at all, who I know really well and who knows me, and we take shortcuts and feel fine ignoring each other's beta comments. :) I usually like to know what you're looking for though, because at some stages of the vidding process I just want cheerleading or general reactions b/c it's not done, and at other stages I am ready for more closewatching feedback, and it kinda sucks when I want one and get the other. :) I also used to think "more eyes = better" until the first time I had multiple betas who had completely opposite reactions/advice, which was yet again different from what I preferred. Panic! Though I think as a beta, it's pretty different with everyone, depending on what they want, how they vid, etc.?

I've definitely relaxed how I approach the whole beta process from both sides. In general, now I definitely approach it more as, like, kicking things around, and am totally cool with people listening to my comments and then deciding not to take my suggestions. I often vid pretty intuitively, without always having a reason for putting something somewhere? So beta comments might make me think about why I did something, and change it, or not, but even if I don't listen to the advice, it was helpful? So that's the kind of beta I like to get, and tends to be more and more the kind of beta I am better at doing. If that even makes sense. :)

Hooray! Thank you. If/when I ask I'll definitely let you know what I'm looking for. And I'm happy to beta for you if you're ever looking for someone in addition to your usual. :D

In Search of Potential Betas

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