Creators: how much do you playtest and does it still work for you?

[3xTripleXXX]

So I’m nearing the end of the initial sequencing of my next CH (nearing the end of the cum round before going back to tighten up the cuts and getting rid of site logos), so I decided to give it an overall play test to check the state of it.

I figured I was pretty jaded to it by now after all the work and messing with the clips, but I lost with more than two rounds to go.

I guess that’s a good sign.

How often do you play test your videos? Do they still turn you on even after putting hours into messing with them? Do you ever replay your own videos later after release? (I do sometimes)

Just curious about other creators’ processes.

[fragrantEmulsion]

I start by drytesting the beatmeter by tapping on my desk.

I completely finish the draft of a round before attempting it. I've never been a huge fan of editing my drafts and have always been the type to procrastinate and turn in rough drafts. For all intents and purposes, the round is probably 90% complete by my standards at this point.

When I have a few rounds I start to test them in sequential order like a playlist. This is when I start to decide how the rounds will fit together.

When I finished the draft of Descent, I failed 3 times before beating it even knowing what was coming. After I released it, I watched it several times over the following days before finally deciding to give it a rest. I guess I had never watched something specifically created specifically for my tastes before.

[doremi]

I guess it's different from people to people... From a not (yet) creator, sorry to comment , I tend to forget productions, so good ones will still have the power to make me fail at the same spots.

[high_octane]

It's always a good idea to play test. It'll become immediately clear if your round is too hard or too easy. That said, working on my rounds for Softcore Collaboration 2 was very time consuming, and I ended up not play testing them at all.

I just had a general sense of how the beats should go and how the round should play out. The most time consuming part of the whole process (aside from writing the music) was picking out the content for each round, and making it feel consistent, rather than a random collection of clips. The first round I made took me three weeks to create, while the second round only took me five days. Granted, I'm also quite new to video editing in general.

While I don't necessarily plan the round out ahead of time, I do have a particular formula that I follow. My formula to creating a Cock Hero is strongly correlated to the sections of the song. For instance, the intro will usually be very tame, usually to invoke wonderment/fascination/enigma. The verses will have a particular theme and feature certain women. The chorus will feature more intense content and, usually, different women. The bridge can be used as a reprieve, depending on it's feel. The final part or outro is usually the most difficult.

The time at which I make the beat track varies substantially. Sometimes, it's before any part of the round is complete, and other times, it's the last thing to make.

Having said all that, I did end up playing through my rounds after I'd submitted them. After all of the time I put into them, I still found them to be erotic. I'm also working on my own original Cock Hero series. I plan on testing it one round at a time. Then, at the end, I'll play through the whole thing.

[RedLighter]

I'm a newbie, but after few weeks spent working on videos in the evening I think I have developed my routine.

My first and only rule: I don't jack off to the material I'm working with while creating a new project. Instead, I quickly go through the clip collection and rename them using key words. This method allows me to be motivated to finish as quickly as possible and also makes me incredibly turned on when I can finally sit and play the video.

Because of this rule I don't test each round individually, but I play the whole thing afterwards - then I spot most of the mistakes, make final adjustments and then post it. I think that polishing it twice provides an acceptable quality.

I have played each of my videos maybe 3-4 times from the beggining to the end. When I'm familiar with a video, I prefer to just play the favourite rounds. I guess that element of surprise is the factor that makes playing with CH or RLGL videos for the first time so rewarding in the end. At least I don't remember all the routines I have in my clips, so they are replayable for me to a certain degree

[3xTripleXXX]

If we’re talking method, mine’s basically this:

• pick the music I’m going to use
• mix the songs together into a single long track –- no breaks here, baby
• pick the porn stars - do some research to ensure they have scenes of all the types I need them for (my videos so far have featured four stars each who are in every round)
• make the beatmeter for at least the round I’m going to work on (sometimes I’ll do one or two more as well, if I’m in the mood) –- Beatmeter Generator makes this a breeze
• import mixed music track, the beats and the videos I’m going to use for the current round to work on into Premiere and get going –- the spikes in the beatmeter audio track are wonderful for lining up clips to sync cuts and actor motion
• repeat with each round until done
• go through the whole thing again from start to finish, fixing cuts, replacing clips and generally fixing things that seem off

At some point during the process I’ll work on title page, comments and such. I’m still learning how to use AfterEffects, so how much gets done or not there varies. I try to learn some new things for each one.

As for playtests, I’ll sometimes test a single round, and sometimes I’m just too excited to see how it’s turning out that I’ll playtest from the beginning and see how it feels. That’s kind of how it was with my previous playtest.

I’m sure there’s plenty room for improvement, but it’s a process that works for me for now. I just don’t have so much time to dedicate to it on a daily basis, so finishing full videos takes a while.

[Pseudonym]

I play my videos only once right before release and to be honest I'm not usually very satysfied with the result. The thing is that it takes me like 100+ hours to create a video and by the time I'm done I've seen every second milion times already. After that I just don't have objective view on quality of my videos. The other thing is that I usually focus on flaws, mistakes, technical problems, pregression, whether the transitions flow well... so I can't enjoy the video itself.

So there you go, I'm not happy with my own production. The creation process itself is much more satisfying for me than watching the whole video afterwards. I find playtesting by other people very useful for this reason.

What I found out to work for me is to put the project aside for few months and don't touch it or look at it at all before playtesting. I usually get much better and less biased experience after that.

What I also do from time to time is rewatching my favourite rounds that I made. After these years I'm sometimes pleasently surprised by things that I've already forgot that were in there. So atleast that's good.

Sometimes I wish I could erase my memory after I'm finished with my project and watch it from perspective of someone who is seeing it for the first time. Seeing it for what it really is... But that's a problem of all creators in general.

I start by drytesting the beatmeter by tapping on my desk.

Yep, I do that too. It's really helpful.

My first and only rule: I don't jack off to the material I'm working with while creating a new project.

Thats like unwritten rule or something.

[3xTripleXXX]

The other thing is that I usually focus on flaws, mistakes, technical problems, pregression, whether the transitions flow well… so I can’t enjoy the video itself.

Yeah, that’s always a detractor for me too. Should I change the beats there? Could that cut be better? Did I miss an opportunity in the mix there? Always second guessing.

[digitalparkinglot]

I playtest my creations a LOT before I release them. I find edit and flow problems by playing and keeping notes. I only release once I feel like everything has been fixed and smoothed out. I have to wait a month or two, but I find that I OFTEN play my own creation. They are exactly my taste.

-digitalparkinglot

[masperturbator]

I start by drytesting the beatmeter by tapping on my desk.

I squeeze my hand as if holding a stress ball. If I can't completely flex and release while keeping time, the pattern is wrong.

[3xTripleXXX]

I start by drytesting the beatmeter by tapping on my desk.

I squeeze my hand as if holding a stress ball. If I can’t completely flex and release while keeping time, the pattern is wrong.

I’ll actually listen to the song with my hand on my junk and experiment until I find something that works. I figure, if it can make things feel good and works with the music, then I’ll use that. It’s like doing firing tests with live ammo though, so I have to be cautious.

[fagustree]

I start by drytesting the beatmeter by tapping on my desk.

I squeeze my hand as if holding a stress ball. If I can’t completely flex and release while keeping time, the pattern is wrong.

I’ll actually listen to the song with my hand on my junk and experiment until I find something that works. I figure, if it can make things feel good and works with the music, then I’ll use that. It’s like doing firing tests with live ammo though, so I have to be cautious.

Always point the barrel down range...

[3xTripleXXX]

I squeeze my hand as if holding a stress ball. If I can’t completely flex and release while keeping time, the pattern is wrong.

I’ll actually listen to the song with my hand on my junk and experiment until I find something that works. I figure, if it can make things feel good and works with the music, then I’ll use that. It’s like doing firing tests with live ammo though, so I have to be cautious.

Always point the barrel down range…

Hah!

[PrimeSwitch]

I always play-test the final reward round numerous times. I need to make sure the moment is truly felt, especially when I'm using voice acting. So I try to make sure there are emotional peaks from the voices that sync with the stroking and musical cues.

I may have blown over 100 total loads to the final rounds of Prime University, Prime World, Prime After-School, and Prime Game. Prime World was the toughest to work on because I united all 8 voice actresses (for like, 12 total roles or something?) for an ultimate final-round. Playtested that one over and over and over to make it feel just right.

[doremi]

That's serious dedication, PrimeSwitch!