Starting Up?

[willpell]

I made a new years resolution that after all the time I've spent wanting to make an AMV, I should actually make an AMV. One problem - I have no idea what to do. The only video editing software I have is Windows Movie Maker, and my initial attempts at using it suggest it's not much good. I don't know how to get footage off my DVDs and into an editable format either. So basically I got nothing. And there doesn't seem to be a basic how-to guide among those listed on the front page, just a lot of highly technical advice that I can't understand.

[CodeZTM]

First read this!

Then read this!

As for software, there are generally two main choices you can make. Sony Vegas or Adobe Premier. [there are others, these are just the main two that the site seems to squabble over]. Both are fine programs, but take TIME to understand how to use effectively. Take some time and edit something simple [not an AMV] and get used to the tools. Generally, its up to you which one you want, but Vegas is generally cheaper [if you actually pay for it].

As for getting footage off of the DVD, there is a complete guide on how to do this: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... vdrip.html

As for getting footage to look nice, there is also a complete guide: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... ssing.html http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... ssive.html http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... -qual.html

Stating from scratch isn't easy, especially if you want to do it right. But the people of a-m-v.org are here to help you in any way possible. The tech threads are open for posting with any technical information you might want help with. The editors are also generally available to answer simple questions, but make sure and check our many guides out first.

Good luck!

[Nicho Void]

And there doesn't seem to be a basic how-to guide among those listed on the front page, just a lot of highly technical advice that I can't understand.

I know that feeling. If you really want to make a good AMV though, those technical details are very important. You're going to have to take the time to learn.

[ngsilver]

Once you pick an editor of your choice (really, most NLEs work basically the same, it's all about price point, OS, and preference) and get your footage into a proper format for editing (Read <a href=http://www.a-m-v.org/guides/avtech31/>ErMaC & AbsoluteDestiny's Friendly AMV Guides Lovingly Overhauled Largely by Zarxrax</a> for that) then most everything else is up to you. The song and source combo (essentially, your idea) is up to you really. Sure we can give you ideas and suggestions but in the end what you do with it is entirely up to you. How to use the tools and such doesn't need to be covered by us really because each NLE comes with help files and their own support that can walk you through what each tool does and how to use them. So really it's all about trial and error at this point and getting comfortable with your chosen tools.

As Code said, start small and make a couple of simple and easy projects. This will allow you to learn your NLE. Before I made my first AMV I learned Premier 6.5 by making a few photo montage videos which taught me how to import footage and place and work with footage on the timeline. Once I got that down I moved onto my first AMV and basically started learning effects and transitions with it by just trying things out. I didn't learn about opacity and the rubber band until my 3rd AMV and around that time I stopped using transitions. Basically the first 4 or 5 videos I made I was just learning the ins and outs of my NLE of choice, each time learning something new and getting more comfortable with my technique and thusly increased my efficiency with the program. I didn't bother with any manuals or anything, I just taught myself through trial and error. I did the same thing again when I moved onto CS3 as how things were done had changed.

Though if you don't have the money or resources to obtain a copy of a more expensive NLE then perhaps starting with WMM is a good place to get into the technique. Sure you'll be limited in what you can do, but it's a great place to learn basic techniques that can then transfer to other NLEs.

[seasons]

I wouldn't pay much attention to the anti-Windows Movie Maker contingent here. It is what it is, a basic video editor, and I've seen lots of great AMVs that were cut on it. If you have a few basic ideas kicking around in your head, it might be worth trying to bring them to life in WMM. If it doesn't work out, then at least you've learned the limitations of the program and have a clearer understanding of exactly what it is you need out of a nonlinear editing program. I guess if you wanted to drop $100 or so this year, you could upgrade to Premier Elements, which is readily available online or in any computer software shop. But I wouldn't write off WMM until you've spent at least a few hours with it.

The guides on the site here can look a little dense and intimidating, but they're worth spending time with. To at least get you off to a good start, download the AMV App from this page, which will give you DVDFab, DGindex, AVSP, Virtualdub, and a handful of other applications. Those four are the most important, though. DVDFab is pretty straightforward. Just select a "destination" folder for the video you want to rip from a DVD, select the footage (episode, scene, "chapter," each DVD divides these things up differently... fortunately you can preview what exactly you're about to burn before you actually do it) and just follow the prompts (be sure to uncheck the boxes for audio and subtitles, btw). The guide offers a much more complete explanation of each step that you need to follow (check this page) and it's probably the easiest-to-understand part of the entire guide.

After you rip your footage, it'll be saved as .VOB files, which isn't quite ready to be edited just yet. You'll have to install and open DGindex, open your .VOB video files (select more than one if you want to link them together into one single file) and then save them ("save project"). This takes your .VOB files and converts them into an .avs file, a little script that AVSP & Virtualdub can "read" while you make your last changes to it prior to editing.

Your footage is probably still interlaced. My best advice for clearing this up is to read the guides here and here. Watch the video tutorial on that page. It's actually really helpful to truly understand what you're doing here and why you're doing it instead of just copying a bunch of scripts. Save your finished script here.

Now that your footage is deinterlaced, you can make clips to edit with using Virtualdub. Just open your script with Virtualdub and use its simple controls (roughly explained at the bottom of the page here) to select clips to import into your editor of choice. If you've got Premiere or Vegas, there's a different method to use here instead, but I don't know if you're interested in that now or not.

Hopefully some of this was helpful. I'm just parroting CodeZTM's advice, more or less. I'm far from an expert on this stuff but if you have any specific questions, post them here and someone will be glad to help or PM me and I'll see if I know the answer.

[TritioAFB]

Edit in the way you want. I remember using WMM and after that I started using other softwares

[post-it]

.. no one said, "Buy you an Editor; it will make you Famous!" .. did they? . no!

When I started editing, all we had were Reveal TV500 Capture Cards ( 320 X 240 @ 15 f.p.s. )
and very little hard drive space.

One morning I woke-up to a silly cartoon. I captured about 2 minutes worth.
I went and got breakfast and Captured another 3 minutes worth.
something distracted me .. I returned and captured the last 4 minutes of the show.
.. later I played them back. T_T .. tv is tv! .. but then something funny was seen while
two of the clips were playing back .. the sounds match but the video's didn't. ?_?
.. a cheap editor came with the package. I used the Audio from one capture and matched it
to another video. I saved the match-up. Then Another Audio didn't quite match the
third video, .. .. .. .. you get the idea!

.. Most video and Audio editing start-out as, "well, I can do better than THAT!" or
.. umm .. "What if THIS happened while THAT was playing" kinda thing.

I went from editing SMERF's to getting Daffy Duck in trouble with Dougly DoRight ( Mounty ) ( Always gets his Duck! )

.. it doesn't have to make sence to anyone else; but it gets you started ^_^

[ShaggyD]

Hey guys my name's Shaggy
New here, all I got to work with is Windows movie Maker 2 thats it.
>>Props to those using apple's software, far superior in paying attention to the detail of the effects and such,
Hope you stay motivated and accomplish what you can with the editing skill you got, I'm still learning and trying to share.


#peace out#

[Khat17]

A friend of mine did this in WMM2.0 - WMM can be used to do AMV's but it will take some time IMO. I've personally never used it.

For converting your video files there are a lot of free things that you can use.

http://handbrake.fr/

http://www.fairusewizard.com/

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVD2AVI

I'd recommend handbrake more since I think it's easier to use. Just rip your DVD to the desired format and drag/drop into the editor of your choice. Play around with it and have fun doing it! As mentioned before - if you need help just let us know.

[godix]

A friend of mine did this in WMM2.0 - WMM can be used to do AMV's but it will take some time IMO. I've personally never used it.

For converting your video files there are a lot of free things that you can use.

http://handbrake.fr/

http://www.fairusewizard.com/

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVD2AVI

I'd recommend handbrake more since I think it's easier to use. Just rip your DVD to the desired format and drag/drop into the editor of your choice. Play around with it and have fun doing it! As mentioned before - if you need help just let us know.

Alright, I am not a quality fag nor do I really care about tech shit. But this is just dumb. Converting to and editing with a lossy codec is just dumb. Handbrake probably could deal with lossless codecs as well, but lets face it, 90% of people will be trying to edit with a lossy codec. Then they'll wonder why their editing program dies so often and their video looks like shit.

So ignore this crap. Follow the guides linked earlier about DVD ripping. The bit about WMM can be used to make decent videos is true though. It can be, in much the same way a decent painting could be made using a mop as your brush. It's difficult, but remotely possible.