Vidukon Vid Poll: the etiquette of watermarks.

[beccatoria]

SO. I have a draft of my VidUKon premiere! This is quite exciting!

HOWEVER, before I can get too self-congratulatory, I have a problem. I'm using (and yes really need) some TV rips as well as DVD footage. So there's a FOX watermark on the footage. Generally I've never worried too much about that - a lot of my vids have watermarks on some of the clips. It's a shame, but whatcha gonna do aside from never vid the new stuff you're actually excited about?

However, I get the feeling that this is A Bit Frowned On, so I'm...toying with doing other things.

I have discounted the idea of zooming over the watermark as it negatively affects the quality of the footage so it's even easier to tell it's not of the standard of the DVD footage - I'm only doing that where I'm forced due to those annoying Bigger Watermarks and stuff.

This leaves me with a few options:

1) Leaving it be. Does it really matter that much?

2) Cropping the vid above the watermark so that the vid itself is just shorter in height. I'm a little reticent to do this because there are several clips where I'd need to pan to compensate for people's chins or other important things being cut off and a bunch more where I'm pretty sure panning so I don't miss the bottom of the clip will make me miss something important at the top of the clip. Idk, other people do this and it's okay, but when I tested it it just...felt like I was taking a machete to it for the sake of a watermark which seemed a bit extreme given that I think it negatively affects a fair bunch of the clips in terms of framing or content.

3) Put a watermark over the FOX watermark across the whole vid so's it looks like I've just watermarked the whole thing. Problems with this include the fact I'm generally not a fan of watermarking vids (again I don't have anything particularly against people who do it - it's never bothered me, it's just never been something I wanted to do), and the fact that I can't make it as opaque as most vidder watermarks are because then it starts showing the network watermark I'm trying to hide in the first place. Plus I can't have it just be a gigantic rectangle or it'll be obvious what I'm doing, but the options re: making it look like a design are limited. Either way, I have come up with the following - see screencap:



A POLL!

[Poll #1667335]

Comments

[jo-lasalle.livejournal.com]

Could you just blur that bit of the screen? I find the rectangle kind of distracting and 'too different', but a logo popping in and out is also distracting. /layperson

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

I've seen some TV rips where that's been done by default and honestly it's just as distracting as a logo because your eye is drawn to it and unlike a logo we're not even somewhat wired to ignore it. :/

Currently I'm leaning towards just living with the fact it's got a logo. HUMBUG. ;)

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

In the beginning I used to notice TV station watermarks. Now, I don't I'm so riveted by the vid itself I don't notice those things. Only if it's like really huge. Some TV stations and vidder-made watermarks take up what looks like the whole corner of the screen. That's a bit much. But other than that, I'm looking at the characters and the scenes.

Watermarks are on real TV all the time and it doesn't distract me while watching.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to start vidding sanctuary at some point, which has the TERRIBLE SYFY BAR on 80% of the shots.

But I'd go with your own logo or the blur option. Or leaving it. I have no idea.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Ordinarily I'd say crop it, because I HATE onscreen bugs. But. I'm in an increasing minority here I think. most people don't seem to register the damned program-ruining things.

[kuwdora.livejournal.com]

IMO unless the network logo is taking up the entire corner (think CW or SyFy) and is the most unsightly and ill-figured watermark ever, leave it. People will notice the crop more than they notice the watermark unless you're cropping for artistic merit.

alternatively, if you are super D: about the network logos and are willing to fork out some cash, you could buy the episodes off iTunes and remove the DRM with an appropriate DRM-removal app which usually run from $40-$60. It's what I've started doing for my latest Sanctuary video since I am obsessive and need the HD quality. The SyFy channel has the most obnoxious ads that pop up in the left corner and fill up the whole screen right when Helen is pointing a gun at people. :-/

people who watch vids are accustomed to ignoring the network logo. honestly, I only notice it when there's a massive zoom on the clip.

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

Wait! What do you to make iTunes eps usable??? I've never been able to get my vidding software to recognize them.

[kuwdora.livejournal.com]

I use Tune4Mac since I am a Mac person and there are

[kuwdora.livejournal.com]

there are PC equivalent programs, but it does mean spending money for the software and then the actual episodes.

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. (I think I must live under a rock, or something. :P)

[kuwdora.livejournal.com]

naw, I didn't know what was what about DRM removal until recently. It's all a matter of asking around.

[chaila.livejournal.com]

I voted leave it but I also don't think your watermark is horribly distracting or anything. I just think we're used to network bugs in a way that we maybe aren't for other watermarks, so I would take a few seconds to notice a vidder-designed watermark in a way a network logo just doesn't register for me. My general feelings on the whole thing is that I usually get logo-free source where it's reasonably available (i.e. on DVD, and I don't have to spend a bunch of money to do it), but I don't really get the Frowning Upon it. If it's not readily available, it just isn't, you know?

[jarrow.livejournal.com]

Leave it -- we're used to seeing logos on footage, and if you mess with it, it just draws attention to it and becomes distracting.

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

I think I hit "use your own logo" in the poll, but that was mostly because your screenshot looks just fine with it, but in general I don't worry about the network logos because they're so prevalent I just block them out when I watch a vid anyway. And I am definitely not a big fan of the cropping (and subsequently compensating) or zooming in because of the loss of quality of that clip - it's far more noticeable to me than the presence of a logo.