I’ve been noticing that whenever anime bloggers take a break for a while, it’s really hard to get back into the groove because it takes so darn long to write up a post. Since just watching the episode takes almost 30 minutes, posting up something about an episode can take a long time. So I was wondering:
How long does it take you to finish a post about an anime entry? And what’s your procedure?
I find I can usually whip out a post in about 40-45 minutes (I usually skip the OP/ED). Having a set routine really helps. Obviously there is nothing to be done about the half hour spent watching the episode, but I like to watch episodes windowed, with a notepad file open next to the movie window. Then, as I watch the episode, I type down important things that happen and my thoughts about various developments. Since I structure my posts with the same naming conventions, I cut and paste the html code for the caps and just make small updates.
A little while back, Ender mentioned how our posts have been getting longer. I know that mine definitely have; however, the main reason for this is that I am now able to remember characters and events that I want to discuss/ridicule because I have already jotted them down. By the time I am done viewing the episode, the post is practically written already. In fact, the main time-consumers are getting the perfect caps and trying to convert my notes of “Oh nooooees T__T” and “OMFGMOUSTACHES” into English.
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Let’s see….
Watching an episode: 25 minutes (skip OP/ED, but added time for pausing to get the right caps)
Sorting through, deleting caps, resizing, editing: 20 minutes
Writeup: 30min-2hours
So a normal post would take about 1.5-2 hours total from beginning to end.
It usually takes me about a half hour to watch the episode and do screen caps.
It takes about 5-10 minutes to do resizing and renaming the pictures and uploading them.
I do my writeup with the episode playing in the background when getting the details right. This takes about an hour or longer especially when I do two episodes in the same post.
This really doesn’t count, it used to take around 1.5-2 hours for a writeup (pretty close to Omni, actually)
Watching ep w/ BSPlayer (skip op/ed, but watch engrish next-episode preview): 25 min
Scanning through ep with VirtualDub for right caps: 10 min
Resizing, optimizing screencaps with Macromedia Fireworks: 5 minutes
Final cut for screencaps (discarding bad ones): 10 minutes
Writup and ancillary searching on Google / Wikipedia: 30 min - 1 hour
Posting and last-minute editing for typos: 10 min.
I’d actually say that 2 hours would be a closer estimate to the average time for an anime post. The worst time sink comes when one notices something in an anime episode and then proceeds to research it on wikipedia (easy 1.5 hours blown right there :D)
Wow, 15-20 minute of going through caps! BTW, Omni, if you use Photoshop, I think you can create a macro that will do most of the steps for you with a click of a button.
I definitely have times when the post will take well over an hour, since sometimes an episode is good enough to warrant research. Samurai Champloo episodes 20-21 and various Mai Hime episodes come to mind. Wikipedia’s are sooooo great for this =).
I know, I have several batch commands set. The actual resizing/editing of caps, plus uploading takes maybe 5 minutes. The big part of that is sorting through images. I typically cap around 200-300 per episode, which I then reduce to around 50-60. Going through and choosing images takes the biggest chunk of that time.
200-300 caps per episode!!!!!!
*__*
Well… you all know that my style is kinda terse, so… ^_^;;
30 mins: Watching an episode
20 mins: Selecting screenshots (in Vdubmod, saving as .png)
10 mins: Creating filtered thumbnails and fullsize pictures (Photoshop)
45 mins: Creating the MT templates and creating the comments for the thumbnails
2-4 hours: Writeup and review
I rarely do it all in one session though, so I usually have 2-3 breaks throughout this process.
I don’t exactly keep an ‘anime blog’ in the normal sense, but your method of typing as you watch is what I do for when I want to write my thoughts on an ep. “Live Commentary” as I call it - and sometimes if I don’t get to write my thoughts during an ep, I will simulate such a ‘live commentary’ as my entry for an ep.
The two main differences in our styles is that 1) I use no screencaps and 2) I leave in the “Z0MG!!111″ comments. Indeed, the whole point of doing this for me is to capture my actual state of mind right in the midst of all that is happening in the ep.
This doesn’t work so well with Paniponi Dash because there I just can’t type fast enough to keep up with all the craziness XD Half my ‘live commentary’ for a PPD ep is just “OMG”, “L33T” or more often the case: “1oi2oibo12hg189@#F” because coherency is often a casualty of over-reaction to wackyness ^^;;
I’m pretty much the same with the BSplayer and the notepad side-by-side. So I’ll be simultaneously watching the episode, typing random stuff, and capping images. Selecting pictures, resizing, and uploading usually take me about five minutes. Except for few instances when I decide to make a collage about a scene I fancy, which in turn would take another five to ten minutes.
As for the commentaries, I usually get chunks done as I finish watching the episode. The time to piece them together and viewing the eppie itself can take about forty-five minutes to an hour. I just run a spell check and read it once or twice before publishing it. I try not exceed more than an hour and a half, total time.
I always consider typing notes on the episode for later reference as I watch. But I honestly can’t stand to interrupt the viewing experience. I have to watch it in fullscreen, with no distractions. Unless it’s a crap show…
So it takes me 25 mins to watch the episode 10-20 mins to sort the screencaps out, and 20-30 mins (sometimes more) to do the actual entry. I’d say on average I try and keep the process to one hour; any more than that is really too much for me!
I usually watch the episode first without doing anything so I can get a general idea of what the episode is about. I used to do it while reviewing the episode as well but later on realise that I ended up not enjoying the episode as much. It becomes a chore that way so I abandoned that method.
So yeah, these days I watch first, then I write the review which usually takes around 1 hour. After the review is completed, I’ll screencap the episode and resize them which usually doesn’t take longer than 15 minutes. Finally, I usually just put alt tags and try to re-read the recap.
I find that if I don’t write down my thoughts as I’m watching the episode, by the time that I get to writing up my impressions I’ve forgotten how I felt. That would necessitate another watch, which may or may not be a bad thing, but ultimately takes more time.
True, I guess you can prioritise either your enjoyment of the episode, or the efficiency and quality with which you blog it. I try my best to review the anime in my mind while I watch, but writing notes detracts from the experience for me.
Yeah, I also have to write down my thoughts, because my short term memory is terrible. I don’t know if I need to drink some special tea or what, but if I don’t jot down my thoughts, and also notes about the characters and events, I end up worse than that guy on Memento (er… the movie, not Garten or Mentar).
It goes both ways though. I enjoy not having to take notes, and for some series (like Honey and Clover, or various Shounen long-runners) I prefer to just have the action wash over me. But for the series I do blog, I really think paying close attention, taking notes, and doing research heightens my enjoyment of the series as well (just in a different way).
I’m glad I only take 3 or 6 (3 for normal episodes, 6 for OVA’s, first, or last episodes) caps, because trying to decide between caps would probably take me forever. I choose my caps based on whether I can make an insensitive engrish caption for the shot or not.
I should also mention that when I’m watching an episode alone, I often will rewind to catch things that I’ve missed or plain just want to see again while I’m writing my Live Commentary. Then again, most of the anime I watch these days I try to watch ‘in synch’ with my friends - where we set up an AIM chatroom, all hit “Play” at the exact same time and just write what we feel like as we’re watching the ep with no need to explain context.
I watch the episode in its entirety first without interuption, OP/ED and all. Then I open up notepad and write a summary from memory. Then I do screencaps and uploading. Takes about an hour and 15 minutes (time to watch the episode included) at the most. I’m not that concerned with the summaries (though most of the time they’re kind of long), I just write them so that people will know exactly what I’m talking about in my opinion paragraph. I also write them because they can double as pretty damn good episode guides for the random Googlers.
I won’t even consider watching and typing at the same time. That’s umm…not fun. And I’ll leave 8,000 image capping to Moy and Omni. I love their blogs for it. =P
If I want to make a post about an ep, will watch it twice at least - screencap on the 2nd run (raid!). So far I’ve found that my writing and images tends to be character-centric e.g. Lunamaria for GSD, Mao and Tessa for FMP!TSR, Miharu for DC/DCSS. This gives me some focus. About an hour and a half per episode.