The CascadaThon Thread [IT IS UPLOADED! Check Announcements]

[Hagaren Viper]

Drag clip into Virtualdub, section off the frame you want, Save Image Sequence, save as 100% quality jpg.

[LittleAtari]

I honestly question the need for an intricate credits opening for a 7 minute mep. I mean it's only 7 minutes long and then we got end credits. I also think Kaz's track sets the mood pretty well on it's own. I mean Memory Flash 2 freedom was 10 minutes long and didnt have an opening sequence. All it had was 'AMV France presents' and 'Memory Flash 2 Freedom' tracked onto the footage. I just feel like anything really big before the first track would take away from it. It also just seems pretty repetitive if only 7 minutes later, the audience is met with credits again.

[TwilightChrono]

I honestly question the need for an intricate credits opening for a 7 minute mep. I mean it's only 7 minutes long and then we got end credits. I also think Kaz's track sets the mood pretty well on it's own. I mean Memory Flash 2 freedom was 10 minutes long and didnt have an opening sequence. All it had was 'AMV France presents' and 'Memory Flash 2 Freedom' tracked onto the footage. I just feel like anything really big before the first track would take away from it. It also just seems pretty repetitive if only 7 minutes later, the audience is met with credits again.

I mean, we can do it that way if everyone wants. Just the name of the Coordinators and The Name of the MEP, but that just seems so Blazzay and lazy to me. If everyone really wants to do it that way we can. But I rather like what I have going so far. So really, since this has now been brought up, what does everyone else think? Keep going with the intro? Or Be Blazzay? XD

[Kitsuner]

That wasn't half bad. I think Tari makes a good point about this being redundant if we're showing credits at the end, though. The mix linked in the first post starts with Kazemon's track, after all, and I think it sounds fine that way. For some reason, I keep assuming the compilation will run longer than it actually is, so it didn't even occur to me how little time passes between the opening and ending credits. I actually wrote up this huge breakdown of your intro before I saw Tari's post, so even though I'm actually in favor of cutting it out of the project completely, here are my thoughts about it (in case more people prefer the longer opening (also to show off my verbosity and make me actually feel accomplished having typed all of this out)):



- The start feels really abrupt to me. Maybe start the footage a little earlier (like when the sound begins) and make it a slower fade?

- I like Code's idea for changing "A 2009 A-M-V.ORG MEP", but to add to it, I'd suggest giving the text a slow, horizontal scroll to make it a little more noticeable. That would also make the shot feel less static.

- In fact, you should do the same to the rest of the titles. I don't mean exactly the same, of course, because not every title would benefit from moving horizontally, but play around with the motion a little and see what you think looks good with it. You've already got a zoom in going on for the actual title of the video plus a drift in Code's name, so adding movement to the other words would help unify it a lot.

- Is that the very beginning of the .hack-sky-opening-up clip? If you can extend it a bit at the front, you can cut out some of the Aura-opening-her-eyes clip (specifically some of the early frames where her eyes are closed) and then start the sky-open at the beginning of the phrase (somewhere around :12). I like how you've got the burst matching the feel of the moan, so make sure you don't lose that.

- The editor names go by really fast. It took me three viewings to actually read them all. I'm not sure how you can adjust for that, though, since you've blocked out a good space for them. Maybe just making the text more eye-catching will help.

- When you put the names in, did you add them in any particular order? If not, I would suggest showing names according to whose tracks appear first (using an editor's first track if they edited two). That would help tie the opening sequence in with the main project.

- While I'm on the general subject of editor names, you left Dar out.

- You, Kazemon, and blabbler's splash screens last two beats, but Neverend's runs for three. It throws off the rhythm you built up with the first two names, and it could confuse viewers. How about trimming some off of the opening of Neverend's shot and scooting blabbler and Code forward a little? Doing that would also give you more space to transition from Code's name clip to the alternating clips flashing.

- Speaking of Code's clip, I think it's kind of funny, I think it's kind of sad strange that you start with Rosette shooting her gun before showing Chrono himself. I think it would make more sense if you focused on the character who represents Code for the whole scene, rather than tossing out red herrings.

- Heh, I'm Tessa.

- The "Cascadathon" here disappears way too fast. I would extend it maybe a second longer on the nameless side to give the viewer a chance to read what it says. Another benefit to dragging it out is that it ends at a natural point in the music, rather than the middle of a phrase.

- I like that this first appearance of the title zooms out, while at the end it zooms back in. Balances it out pretty nicely, I think.

- I had the same reaction Hagaren did when I saw the bright and colorful robot anime pop up here. It stands out so much from the rest of the video. Fullmetal Panic also sticks out a lot with its similarly bright colors, so maybe find a more... subdued-looking show, I guess? Something what looks similar to .hack and Chrono Crusade. The other show(s) don't appear long enough to make that big of a difference (or maybe it's just that you chose darker scenes from them).

- On the subject of changing anime, maybe instead of random characters that match the editors, you could select characters from the anime we edited with to use. I'm sure it wouldn't be that difficult for us to send you clips of whichever character you/we decide matches us.



Of course, if everybody else agrees that two credits sequences are more than we need, then you can just ignore this massive post. Might be good to look at it if you end up doing something similar later though.

[Kitsuner]

Drag clip into Virtualdub, section off the frame you want, Save Image Sequence, save as 100% quality jpg.

Another option (in case your VDub doesn't have the Save Image Sequence option) is to navigate to the frame you want to save and select 'Copy source frame to clipboard' from the Video menu. Paste it into your image editing program of choice, and you won't have to bother with compressing it at all.

[TwilightChrono]

That wasn't half bad. I think Tari makes a good point about this being redundant if we're showing credits at the end, though. The mix linked in the first post starts with Kazemon's track, after all, and I think it sounds fine that way. For some reason, I keep assuming the compilation will run longer than it actually is, so it didn't even occur to me how little time passes between the opening and ending credits. I actually wrote up this huge breakdown of your intro before I saw Tari's post, so even though I'm actually in favor of cutting it out of the project completely, here are my thoughts about it (in case more people prefer the longer opening (also to show off my verbosity and make me actually feel accomplished having typed all of this out)):



- The start feels really abrupt to me. Maybe start the footage a little earlier (like when the sound begins) and make it a slower fade?

- I like Code's idea for changing "A 2009 A-M-V.ORG MEP", but to add to it, I'd suggest giving the text a slow, horizontal scroll to make it a little more noticeable. That would also make the shot feel less static.

- In fact, you should do the same to the rest of the titles. I don't mean exactly the same, of course, because not every title would benefit from moving horizontally, but play around with the motion a little and see what you think looks good with it. You've already got a zoom in going on for the actual title of the video plus a drift in Code's name, so adding movement to the other words would help unify it a lot.

- Is that the very beginning of the .hack-sky-opening-up clip? If you can extend it a bit at the front, you can cut out some of the Aura-opening-her-eyes clip (specifically some of the early frames where her eyes are closed) and then start the sky-open at the beginning of the phrase (somewhere around :12). I like how you've got the burst matching the feel of the moan, so make sure you don't lose that.

- The editor names go by really fast. It took me three viewings to actually read them all. I'm not sure how you can adjust for that, though, since you've blocked out a good space for them. Maybe just making the text more eye-catching will help.

- When you put the names in, did you add them in any particular order? If not, I would suggest showing names according to whose tracks appear first (using an editor's first track if they edited two). That would help tie the opening sequence in with the main project.

- While I'm on the general subject of editor names, you left Dar out.

- You, Kazemon, and blabbler's splash screens last two beats, but Neverend's runs for three. It throws off the rhythm you built up with the first two names, and it could confuse viewers. How about trimming some off of the opening of Neverend's shot and scooting blabbler and Code forward a little? Doing that would also give you more space to transition from Code's name clip to the alternating clips flashing.

- Speaking of Code's clip, I think it's kind of funny, I think it's kind of sad strange that you start with Rosette shooting her gun before showing Chrono himself. I think it would make more sense if you focused on the character who represents Code for the whole scene, rather than tossing out red herrings.

- Heh, I'm Tessa.

- The "Cascadathon" here disappears way too fast. I would extend it maybe a second longer on the nameless side to give the viewer a chance to read what it says. Another benefit to dragging it out is that it ends at a natural point in the music, rather than the middle of a phrase.

- I like that this first appearance of the title zooms out, while at the end it zooms back in. Balances it out pretty nicely, I think.

- I had the same reaction Hagaren did when I saw the bright and colorful robot anime pop up here. It stands out so much from the rest of the video. Fullmetal Panic also sticks out a lot with its similarly bright colors, so maybe find a more... subdued-looking show, I guess? Something what looks similar to .hack and Chrono Crusade. The other show(s) don't appear long enough to make that big of a difference (or maybe it's just that you chose darker scenes from them).

- On the subject of changing anime, maybe instead of random characters that match the editors, you could select characters from the anime we edited with to use. I'm sure it wouldn't be that difficult for us to send you clips of whichever character you/we decide matches us.



Of course, if everybody else agrees that two credits sequences are more than we need, then you can just ignore this massive post. Might be good to look at it if you end up doing something similar later though.

Well, I actually prefer to have this in there as the Intro. Because this in a sense is a track in itself. I'm having so much fun editing it, and it would be a shame to have this intro go to waste after all the owrk I've put into it. If you feel that you guys want to have your own anime characters in it from the anime that you edited to, then that's fine. Just send me lossless clips of the character that you want me to use. Preferrably 5-8 seconds long so that I can choose the timing myself.

Regardless of whether this is needed or not, the Intro and Outro Credits are essentially tracks if you want to get down to the bare technicals.

But if you have a scene or a character you want me to put in, please send it my way so that I may do so.

I do have the save Image Function in my Vegas, so that's not a problem. I'll just try to do what everyone wants with this. Just make sure that you make it the appropriate AR and stuff before sending me the lossless clips. Sendspace the clips to me if you will through PM. It would be mighty kind of ya'll.

I await your lossless files XD

[Kazemon15]

I do like the idea of our own characters that we pick.

And I pretty much agree with Hagaren and everyone else. I do like the opening though, because for some reason I felt Track 1 starts too suddenly.


Some of the clips were kinda blurry. (Especially Black Cat clips.) If TC doesn't mind re-editing using representatives others pick, we can provide HQ clips. But I do like the Cascdathon title at the end, cuz it matches nicely with the two seconds I put in front of track 1 XD

[Kitsuner]

Regardless of whether this is needed or not, the Intro and Outro Credits are essentially tracks if you want to get down to the bare technicals

That's a good point too. A compromise could be that we still use this video to start the project, except without the editor names. Considering how suddenly Kazemon's track begins, I think leading up to it with something (this, for example) could work pretty well. Most of my comments regarding your opening still stand, though. The footage with brighter colors throws the other footage off balance, and since the .hack footage fits so well, I'd recommend dropping the FMP and other robot show.

Does anybody else think this track would look a lot better if Twilight didn't bother introducing the editors at all, but still kept the "A TwilightChrono/LittleAtari Production" and "Cascadathon" text?

[TwilightChrono]

I neglected to mention that I've also started working on a "Making Of" portion of CascadaThon as well. Detailing our finer moments in the thread as well as our not so fine moments XD Kind of an up's and down's type of thing.

And now that I have new material to work with, I need everyone to submit some quotes they have about their track, how they faired while working on CascadaThon, your feelings towards CascadaThon and your feelings/thoughts about the editors that you worked with. As well as a little something about your track....you know......how was it to edit, different ideas you had, etc. etc. And the MEP as a whole after it's completion. Obviously, the completion bit will have to wait till it's actually finished, but if you all would be so kind as to send me your thoughts through PM that you would like quoted in the "Making Of" portion of CascadaThon it would be much appreciated. Or if you feel you would rather voice your thoughts on CascadaThon then you can record yourself and send in your thoughts that way. If you do decide to actually voice your thoughts, make sure when you send in your audio make sure it is .wav format. I would say try and make your audio as crystal clear as possible, but I know not everyone knows how to clean their own audio after recording up. So just try to be as neat as you can with your lines. All will be used in the "Making Of" portion of CascadaThon. It won't actually BE in the MEP FYI. It will be a separate video.

I am going to have all this done by the 15th of November, so start sending your quotes and your audio to meh. If you concerned as to which you should do, I accept quotes and audio. The choice is up to you. I'll make it work either way. It can be a mix of Audio and Quotes. One editor sends in audio while another sends in a quote. Remember. There can be more than one quote and more than one audio per editor. We need a decent amount to make an actual video XD Hell, submit a paragraph or 2 and I'll turn that paragraph into segmented quotes.

Sorry for the lengthy post. I just wanted to make sure I covered everything.

[CodeZTM]

[quote="TwilightChrono
Does anybody else think this track would look a lot better if Twilight didn't bother introducing the editors at all, but still kept the "A TwilightChrono/LittleAtari Production" and "Cascadathon" text?

THIS

That's a great idea Kit. It'd get rid of the blurry masks, allow for more freedom for TC to edit everything how he wants, ect ect, and we'd have a better overall feel to everything. Not all MEP's need creditastic intros like Ayumix/Esylium. Let's fight the man!