Newbies: How to make your first AMV

[ErMaC]

I agree with jBone - heck I was the one who encoded those X TV digisubs for AnimeInc and I wouldn't use them as source. ^_^ Dealing with subtitles it only half the problem. The other problem is dealing with the crummy source. To the untrained eye it'll look OK, but just try outputting it to a TV, or looking at it as raw pre-filtered data in VirtualDub or Premiere 5.1 - it looks terrible.

More things to mention to newbies:

If you plan on posting a message, post it in the right forum. Questions about software go in the Video Software Help forum, questions about general video editing go in the Video Help forum, non-technical AMV-related questions can go in General AMV..
But most importantly, when you finish your video, DO NOT post about it anywhere other than "AMV Announcements." Very few things piss people off more than newbies posting "Check out my new vid!" in the General AMV forum.

To reiterate what jBone said - do not take what you may think is the path of least resistance. Asking a question in a forum that has either already been asked or is answered in one of the guide or the manual to the program will do nothing but piss off the longtime visitors of the forum and cause them not to help you.
One thing I've been advocating but has not yet been implemented (perhaps it's fallen on deaf ears, I don't know) is to not allow people to post for the first 3 days they join the site, because that forces them to search the forums to see if their question has been answered already.

Once the old forums are accessible via read-only access (which Phade promises to be the case sometime in the future) you will have over a years worth of questions that have been asked to search through, but there's this very handy search function which should make your life much easier.

Chances are your question may already have been asked even since the time the new boards came up.

Also - do not ask about video hosting. This site does not allow you to upload your videos to it. You must provide your own hosting. Please do not post in the boards asking if people will host your videos, rather I would look through posts to see if people have OFFERED to host videos. Do a search and then ask those people if the offers are still good.

Finally, please please PLEASE read the guides. They are there to help you. And above all if you think you need to know something do not be afraid to look it up yourself. Pestering people on the message boards with constant questions, even if they may be ones that haven't been answered yet, will make you come off like the kid in school who was always asking the teachers what to do next. Try to figure things out on your own - some things in AMV creation is best learned by doing.

[OmniStrata]

Ok, for some help from I, the dance maniac who can't play DDR, ironic ain't it?

This will help noobs who like upbeat music.

Questions need to be answered before you start...

#1. Can you listen to the song you chose for 2+ weeks STRAIGHT!? If not, don't consider making amvs, you can thank me for it later.

#2. Do you know the program you are using? Even if it's pirated, even THOSE software come with read me files. I found Adobe Premiere somewhat challenging, but once you learn how to cut/paste the "timelines", you're set to make master vids. (awesome vids that use no effects can win in conventions too you know)

#3. Story? Do you want to tell a story with your vid? If you're new, (which you are since you're reading this thread) you've chosen the "rougher" route because most songs don't follow an easily set "story" that you can trace. So if you want to try something simpler, just go for the straight lyric match. People will notice it more and if it's good, then it's good. If you want to tell a story, do it in time with the music. Each line of lyric sung, do a cut to the footage. It's "almost" like you're going by the lyric, but you're not.

#4. Effects... This has been a HUGE issue concerning a "war" between certain people. Some love them: ErMaC, Fremmerlid sisters, myself. Some don't: Zontique. Don't worry about your audience in decisions such as these. I've done videos both with and without effects and either type is loved with the right editing. I was thinking of inserting linkst to my vids here but that's not polite I guess... ^_^ If you go for effects, you have a DAUNTING task ahead of you. People "who are good" can recognize the fantastic "custom fx" and separate them from the "cheezy, skilless" canned fx. The task is to make fx in the video that look tricky and wows the audience. One vid: Odorikuruu, you can't miss it on this site.

#5. Footage type... Downloaded mpegs/divx files versus the DVD ROM rips. Obviously the latter is a must. However, if you're limited like me, don't let the "download footage sucks" syndrome affect you. I've turned up some super sexy footage using digital downloaded fansubs before. The only limit is that lip synch is out the window. "How do I know if my digisubbed footage is good enough?" Filesize of the file is quite accurate. The first Love Hina digisubs I got were between 40-70. Translation: shitty. The subs I got for Hanaukyo Maids (10min. per episode) were in the 80s! That's some wicked compression. The best lookin' digisubs I got would be Read or Die and/or Onegai Teacher. It's about 210+ megs for a 27 mins. Episode. Then again, if you have a DVD ROM, use ur $$$ and buy some anime! ^_^

#6. The core of your video, the EDITING!
Yes, the song and anime and quality amount to bullshit if you're editing sucks. No matter how "technically" perfect your video is, I'll vouch a LOT to insure that it's the "feel" of the video that makes it a keeper on people's hard drives. Perfect example: MexicanJunior. Time and again he puts out spectacular editing at the expense of low quality footage/sound. My recommendation: if you don't cut scenes

a: on beat with the drum/bass/instrument
b: after every 4+ seconds

you're gonna have a sleepy audience. Editing should be done in "heaps"; several cuts based on the music.

#7. THE GUIDES! The last thing that caught me as an editor were the oh-so-friendly guides provided by Phade and ErMaC and others. I use them specifically for exportation.

#8. Your questions to others here at the org. I'm sure "theme" questions may pop up: "How do I make this work with this?" or "will this song/anime work?" Go to the video suggestions forum. On rare occasions, you might be able to ask how to make an "effect" in Premiere. But there's an 8/10 chance you'll just get flamed.

#9. The style: don't ask for too much help. You won't gain a "style" of amv editing that you'll be recognizable for. There are "influences" from other amvs though. "Odorikuruu" was my ultimate driving force for amvs thus far. Many others looked to the "older" generation amv makers with Duane Johnson, another whose name escapes my memory, and the legend: Kevin Caldwell. But there's many more. This database is VAST. Check them out!

#10. Stop reading and get going! Anime music video editing shouldn't be done half-assed. "Do, or do not, there is no try..." Finish the video with what is needed. Don't blitz for an awesome intro and then fall asleep for the middle/ending.


notes and warnings: Premiere will not run too well on low end systems. Look in my a-m-v.org profile for what my system looks like. I rank it quite high for editing. My previous system was a 300MHz with 64M SDRAM! AND I STILL EDITED!!!

Nobody was shot, maimed, or otherwise injured during the making of this post, however, my fingers are somewhat hurting from all this typing. I suggest looking at videos from some of the people I suggested here, I like them, and you might too! ^_^

[OmniStrata]

DOH!

Looking back, there's a typo, the Hanaukyo Maids eps I have are around 12 mins each and round in at like 120+ Megs per ep...

DOH!

[CaTaClYsM]

Few questions
should a person to at least make one vid per anime despite how many there are?

If it is a super rare anime (single to double didgits.) can they make as many vids to it as they want since there are so few (of course they will have to stop when it gets popular.)?

[mckeed]

you cna do whatever....some ppl make like 20 eva vids.....there are plenty of people who only make dbz/gt vids as well. Do whatever you feel like.....Do whatever idea pops into your head....don't let you choice of vid be dependant on how many times it has been used. For instance Scott Metlzer's DBZ vid "this is your life" won at AWA despite it being a DBZ vid which normally had a very high predjudice. Do a video that you want to do....Don't just go out and do a video b/c the anime hasn't been used much. Personally i try to do a video to every series that I have in my collection on DVD just for the variety, but I have a second Ah! my Goddess vid in the works even though i allready did one.....sometimes ideas just hit you and scream make me. Follow those instincts not the....well i could use this anime and this music.

[OmniStrata]

I've done 3 Inu Yasha videos!



Whoa...

I guess it's fine to make more than one amv per anime. [looks at jBone and ErMaC.]

But you can only do so much before the audience gets bored and says, "oh, it's another Big O video."

or

"Great another Eva video from him again".

Be big on variety after you've done 4 or so of the same anime. I did what can possibly be the first "Dramatic Dance" video! ^_^

[CaTaClYsM]

but remember, this thread of for noobs, they should be warned not to go strait for a linkin ball z vid. It is actually in thier best interests not to because they will fall into the same trap most noobs do, and noone exept for a few friends and a diehard fan or two will actually watch it..

And as for making vids of rare animes; I think making vids for the same anime can be a good thing in the sense that after each video the person learns more about making a video for than anime, he will know how well the song worked, which clips to use and not use, and theoreticaly be better prepared for the next vid he makes, problem is I don't know if this theory works or not.

Remember that in theory comunism works, look how that went.

[WillWorkForTrigun]

i have a ton of rayearth movies on VHS.
how do i get the movie files from the tape onto the computer?

___________
Braindead X.x

[Mask of Destiny]

i have a ton of rayearth movies on VHS.
how do i get the movie files from the tape onto the computer?

You need to get a capture card. Check out the hardware review section for advice on which one to buy.

[Kai Stromler]

notes and warnings: Premiere will not run too well on low end systems. Look in my a-m-v.org profile for what my system looks like. I rank it quite high for editing. My previous system was a 300MHz with 64M SDRAM! AND I STILL EDITED!!! ^_^

If your system is too slow to run Premiere within the limits of your patience/time and you are too cheap to upgrade/switch to another editor (I use Dazzle's MovieStar mostly, despite its ghetto reputation; thinking of upgrading from their MPEG1/2 toolset to DV), it is possible IN THEORY (currently working on the practice part) to make an AMV solely using Avery Lee's free (as in beer and as in speech) video processing tool VirtualDub, which most people around anime online should be familiar with. You'll be limited with regard to your effects, but the only things you'll really be missing from your toolbox are layering, morph, and transition effects.

If you've got the patience, you can do all kinds of transforms in VDub by editing frame-by-frame; so far I've done a 360-degree rotation, a pendulum swing, and an inversion strobe. Want a blinding strobe? Clip a single frame, use the built-in threshold filter to make it completely white, and insert that after every frame in the clip you want to flash. Want to make your video go twice as fast? Delete every other frame (1234 -> 13). Twice as slow? Dupe all frames (1234 -> 11223344). It takes time, patience, and trial and error to make VDub work for you, but that's true of any editing system.

For more advanced effects, you might want to try MEIMI (sorry I don't have a link), especially if you have Japanese fonts installed -- there's no English patch yet. I haven't had much time to work on getting it running, but I've had a video to finish lately. If anyone's remotely interested I will provide aditional details as the Freeware AMV Project proceeds.

--Kai