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Shorts on Newgrounds?

565 Views | 8 Replies
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Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-14 13:10:21


For the last couple of months, when I have spare time and a small joke in mind, I have been pumping out really short cartoons (primarily for my YouTube channel).

My first one was close to a minute, and felt worth sharing on Newgrounds:

The second one was only 30 seconds, and I hmmed and hawed before finally sharing it here:

And now my latest (and all-time stupidest) cartoon is only about 20 seconds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKHj4KURWFw

I already wasn't sure about sharing the Star Trek video. And now I'm leaning strongly away from sharing the BvS one. What do you all think? Is Newgrounds meant for higher quality, lengthier productions? Or do the short, low effort joke animations have their place here too?


GAH!

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Response to Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-14 17:28:36 (edited 2016-01-14 17:29:08)


People seem to like lengthier animations, from my experience with the shorts I've released in the past. (Setting effort/quality aside.) However, there's no set requirement as to how long an animation needs to be. I personally feel that as long as the animation is at least 15-20 seconds, has a nice concept, and shows that you put a good amount of effort into your animation, it'd be acceptable for it to be uploaded. If you try uploading an animation with little/no effort put into the animation, it will most-likely be blamed. At the very least, "Newgrounds" is a site that still values quality and effort. It, along with most of the community, strives to make people be serious about their fields. When someone makes something that they aren't serious about putting any effort into, it shows. For example, I finished an animation commission for someone a few months ago, and they asked me what I thought about what they added. (This was literally just a few hours after I had sent them the part of the animation I was commissioned to do.) So I bluntly told them that if they uploaded it, it would definitely be taken down, since they had simply slapped random, motion tweened images onto what I had animated. :3.

But if you don't want to worry about what others think about the length, quality, etc., you could upload your videos to "YouTube" and make a topic for you to update when you release a new video. Though I'd highly advise not doing so, if you aren't serious about putting the necessary effort into your work. I hope this helps. :3.

Response to Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-16 13:22:17


I wouldn't take it personal. On youtube it's rated as 'is it good or is it bad?' regardless of the length. Might also have something to do with the fact that everything on there encourages quantity. On newgrounds it's rated more like 'is it good or is it bad? And if it's good, how good is it?' Personally when I rate something, I rate it based on the amount of time I estimate it might have taken the creator to make it. So by default something that's shorter gets a lower rating, eveything above 1 minute, which is a decent length imo, gets treated normally by me.

If a 20 second cartoon gets rated the same as 3 minute cartoon (given that the quality is equal) it would be unfair to have the creator of the shorter one, get the same amount of praise. I think if the shorts get encouraged it would dislocate everything here, the dailies, frontpage etc. It would encourage quantity over quality, which is something we shouldn't want.

I'd say everything around the one minute mark (preferably above) should be safe to upload, that doesn'r change that your stuff needs to be good as well.

Response to Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-16 14:40:24


At 1/16/16 01:22 PM, Plebs wrote: If a 20 second cartoon gets rated the same as 3 minute cartoon (given that the quality is equal) it would be unfair to have the creator of the shorter one, get the same amount of praise. I think if the shorts get encouraged it would dislocate everything here, the dailies, frontpage etc. It would encourage quantity over quality, which is something we shouldn't want.

Depending on the 2 videos in question, they may have taken the same amount of time.

But overall I have to agree with you. I don't think it is right to flood Newgrounds with little shorts that I didn't give my all. I am even debating taking down my Star Trek short, because it really has a "for Youtube" vibe going on.


GAH!

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Response to Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-18 17:05:28


At 1/16/16 02:40 PM, Noodle wrote: Depending on the 2 videos in question, they may have taken the same amount of time.

But overall I have to agree with you. I don't think it is right to flood Newgrounds with little shorts that I didn't give my all. I am even debating taking down my Star Trek short, because it really has a "for Youtube" vibe going on.

You know sometimes it's okay to have shorter material. I don't think you need to fill in more time than you feel like is necesairy to get your point across . If you want to make something with a single punchline then you should. Just make sure it's interesting enough in one way or the other to compensate for it. Whether it's really pretty looking or fast paced.

I'm going to be cheeky here and say the star trek thing reminds me a lot of the material that was uploaded in the earlier days of the portal .

Response to Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-18 17:37:58


it could go either way. i'd suggest waiting until you've got 2-3 short animations finished, then comp them into one minuteish animation.

Response to Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-18 18:43:38


At 1/18/16 05:05 PM, Plebs wrote: I'm going to be cheeky here and say the star trek thing reminds me a lot of the material that was uploaded in the earlier days of the portal .

I hope that's meant as a compliment, because I am taking it as one!
You're not the first person to say that about my more recent work. Maybe the style of parodies that people are making nowadays is a little different?

At 1/18/16 05:37 PM, dylan wrote: it could go either way. i'd suggest waiting until you've got 2-3 short animations finished, then comp them into one minuteish animation.

I might give that a shot if I end up with a couple of shorts that fit under a specific theme? We'll see. Not a bad idea.


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Response to Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-19 05:31:06


At 1/18/16 06:43 PM, Noodle wrote: I hope that's meant as a compliment, because I am taking it as one! You're not the first person to say that about my more recent work.

Don't worry haha. You mentioned it having this 'youtube vibe' going on, but I got the 'early ng days vibe' is what i'm trying to say. Like the delivery wih the music and the cut at the end. I actually loved those, they had their own charms.

Maybe the style of parodies that people are making nowadays is a little different?

They are! In todays parodies you need to give the character a very random facial expression every time it reappears on screen. Come on dude, get with the program :)

Response to Shorts on Newgrounds? 2016-01-19 11:47:37


At 1/19/16 05:31 AM, Plebs wrote: They are! In todays parodies you need to give the character a very random facial expression every time it reappears on screen. Come on dude, get with the program :)

The funny thing is, I took a stab at that with my DCCU parody. While I think it worked ok for that short, where I was really playing things over the top, it isn't really my style.

I think Oney & PsychicPebbles are the ones who pioneered that style, and I still think they are amongst only ones who can really pull it off.


GAH!

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