Did the lack of a video demo hurt entrants chances?

[pc2000]

I have to admit I only tried a few entries due to a lack of video or audio demos for that matter. I kept checking different developers pages to see whether they posted video or audio at different stages of the competition, but found that most didn't bother to do either, which made me lose interest in testing those. Some were interesting enough to try without a demo and some made more sense with a video. Did anyone test madBee Q meleon? I was impressed with it and gave it 4 points while giving vladg 5.

Anyway... how important is it to include a video demo with entries in future challenges or does it even matter?

[RunBeerRun]

No, but it helps boredom. I voted based on originality, how hard it would be to get there to an original idea, creative gui.

[pc2000]

No, but it helps boredom. I voted based on originality, how hard it would be to get there to an original idea, creative gui.

Thanks for the reply! I have numerous plug-ins that I've downloaded, but many of them never actually get installed because my vst folder is already overloaded with stuff that I either didn't like after testing or simply forget it's existence in a sea of VST names. A video in the the KVR challenge (in my case at least) helps decide whether to install yet another VST in my crowded folders. Some VST listing sites make video demos of plugins that ended up sounding horrible or wasn't my cup of tea and helped me avoid wasting time.

FL studio is the only host I know of that has a fast scan option which I love, while other DAWS do deep scanning which takes time when you have a lot of VST's not to mention any crashes that result in deep scans. There's only so much time to test the entries and vote. Exploration is fine, but in the case of vladg's entry- I learned more about it's abilities and features I didn't know it had. The video was the difference between... oh, that's kinda decent... to.. DAMN! this is capable of that?!

[highkoo]

For me, the DC is its own entity outside of my 'regular' plugin muckery.

Because the DC usually includes at least a few non "pro" devs, I pass almost no judgement on them until I am using them. I might get more excited by the prospect of a new toy from a dev whos other toys I know and enjoy. I might like a gui, or not. A video or sound sample might get me more excited, or less, but none of that really matters. I take all the entries I am able to test and install them, and at that point they are all really equals, until I am actually kicking them around.
Very often the ugly noisy one from the guy youve never heard of really deserves a look, imo.

I f**king love the DC.

[Compyfox]

I have to admit I only tried a few entries due to a lack of video or audio demos for that matter.

Oh please. The video demos that were done by this one YouTuber (UPROAR 24) were just horrible and not really representative at all.


Use your ears, try the tools on your own material. Videos only add to the experience. Maybe help with certain bits of information you might have missed.

Or... if you can't use the content (due to a lack of OS, Sampler version, etc). But then, the video needs to be great and informative... Unlike most of the videos that were created shortly after the DC14 started.

[pc2000]

I have to admit I only tried a few entries due to a lack of video or audio demos for that matter.

Oh please. The video demos that were done by this one YouTuber (UPROAR 24) were just horrible and not really representative at all.


Use your ears, try the tools on your own material. Videos only add to the experience. Maybe help with certain bits of information you might have missed.

Or... if you can't use the content (due to a lack of OS, Sampler version, etc). But then, the video needs to be great and informative... Unlike most of the videos that were created shortly after the DC14 started.

Thanks for the feedback. My point is really being missed here. Most of the entrants already release freeware on a regular basis. With this in mind, the only difference is that it's a competition between fellow developers for prizes. I can't say they did anything less or more than what they'd likely do anyway? Acon (not a freeware Dev...I know) didn't make their entry specifically for this challenge. It was something they had on hand and submitted it. Wok submitted plugs that were already released prior to the competition. fa FractionalDelay, was already out as well.

If you consider commercial plug-in demos... some can be quite a sizable download at 1Gb or more. I wouldn't bother with testing something so large without some indication of what it offers. There's a reason commercial companies put a lot of effort into promoting their products in order to get your interest and hopefully your money. Just look at the ads on kVR in the background. This is mostly my point about the video demos. If you're competing against other products, isn't it in your best interest to make your entry shine as much as possible to get more votes? Sure there may be some bad videos out there, but you can tell if a synth sounds cheesy after a few played notes. You know that sound that makes you cringe...LOL.

[bailees7irish]

Video or lack of video played zero part in my decision to download a plugin and in my voting this year (or any other year for that matter).

[pc2000]

Video or lack of video played zero part in my decision to download a plugin and in my voting this year (or any other year for that matter).

What did you think about BoostComp the waveshaper? What's your impression of X3 MIDI? What about Mormox Imitate by easytoolz? You grab Doctor Doubledrop 1Gb Free Sample Pack?

[jobromedia]

Most important is audio demos. I didn't find many that provided such demos.

[ccDuckett]

Good ol' UPROAR24.. yes, there might be a lack of, um, musicality- all that really happens is some MIDI loop (in the case of instruments) or wonky audio loop ( in the case of effects) is passed through the VST whilst presets are clicked through for a few minutes... if no presets, then controls are played with. However- at least they are being demoed "live" (as opposed to a shiny polished "official demo" which may not be representative of an average-use scenario), and the guy (gal?) does have videos for just about every freeware plug
that's ever existed. If you can grit your teeth and watch a bunch of them, you get used to the "test loops" and can then get an idea of
what a plug would sound like. The channel's ideal for those moments when you come across some obscure freeware that sounds intriguing, but downloading and testing it might be more trouble than it's worth.

Back to the topic- a good, informative audio/video demo can do nothing but help: the questions "What exactly does it do?" "What was the developer's goal?" "What makes this different from pre-existing similar plugs?" should be kept in mind IMO.

[idfpower]

A well written help file, a tutorial/demo video & audio show a pro level approach (at least to me). BUT all that doesn't matter if the product itself is not working properly and doesn't have some features that make it stand out. So yeah, they can definitively help, but ultimately testing the plugin yourself is the ultimate test. Which is exactly what I did with pretty much all DC entries: some were half-backed, others were buggy or couldn't work with my DAW, but a lot were ok & working properly. I voted for the ones that got me interested the most and I'd prolly use in the future.

On another note: a video/audio demo can really help if you're on underdog dev releasing an obscure plugin (as in something out of the norm - not your usual compressor, chorus, delay, etc) - it's important because you know the plugin better than anyone else and you can show exactly what it does and what was the idea behind it

[Numanoid]

I have to admit I only tried a few entries due to a lack of video or audio demos for that matter.

Not in my case, I like to test out the plugs directly.

[Compyfox]

[Acon (not a freeware Dev...I know) didn't make their entry specifically for this challenge. It was something they had on hand and submitted it. Wok submitted plugs that were already released prior to the competition. fa FractionalDelay, was already out as well.

Wait, can you prove that this is actually the case?

Because this would count as definite disqualification as the Developer Challenge rules clearly state this:

our entry must be an original creation made by you (your team / crew / company / family). Of course you may reuse code / modules / development frameworks, but the actual plug-in / application / sound library should be a new, original creation, not just an obviously cut-down subset of a program you have already written.

I understand it like this:
"You have 4 months to develop something new, that you haven't released so far or was stored in your release queue - it has to be something new, created from scratch".


Again, if you say that these plugins were already "finished" prior to the DC - then they shouldn't have been submitted. Neither should Acon Digital have won in this case.

Sounds like a grade A mud fest to me now!

[pc2000]

I'm also assuming that Acon developed their Multiply plugin much earlier before the contest (same as some other developers), they just decided to offer it for the contest...

Not really. I had the idea with phase randomizing filters in a chorus effect and the implementation was fairly straight forward since it consists of modules that were already implemented. The KVR DC seemed like a good occasion to release it as a freebie to draw some additional attention to Acon Digital, so I decided to implement the plug-in after I saw the KVR DC announcement here.

Best,
Stian

In the case of Acon, I have no proof... however this is where I got my impression of this, but that's all it really is TBH. This is the page. http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 4#p5831144

The others you can find in the VST archives for release dates.

[RunBeerRun]

If I had a real internet connection, I would have put some demo videos up of some of the entries. I think there was one guy who did that.