Making AMVS

anand1 · Post by **anand1** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:13 pm

Well, I'm sure all of you guys have seen countless of topics created for the same reason I'm creating this one, but still, I would feel better to have answers from a topic I made. Well anyways, I have read the FAQ about the general guide to make AMV's and I was wondering where would be a good starting point for making AMVs. Wehn I mean AMV's, I dont mean cut clips mixed with music in WMM(not that I have anything against WMM) I mean a real AMV, I think you get it. What was exactly a good starting point, Adobe Premeire? My only experiance with AMV's are with movie maker and not a pro WMM AMV, a low quality youtube AMV. But now I'm dedicated to making a real AMV, so help for starting would be appreciated. Thx in advanced.

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:41 pm

If the vision you have for your video doesn't include any fancy special FX, then there's no reason you can't continue to use WMM and make good videos with it.

Heck, I know of at least one WMM-edited video that has won an award at AWA.

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Wed May 02, 2007 10:49 pm

"Real AMV" doesn't specifically mean "AMV made in Premiere." I have seen plenty of videos made in Premiere that are just as bad or worse than those made in WMM. All it comes down to in the end is creativity. Now granted, I will admit that there are certainly things that are much easier to do in certain programs than others, but if you don't have creativity, a good video idea, and the ingenuity and determination to make that vision a reality, all the top notch programs aren't going to help you.

So to answer your question, Premiere is a fine place to start, but then again so is WMM.

Purge · Post by **Purge** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:20 pm

if you haven't got an idea already for what you want to do then maybe remake one of your "youtube" vids in premiere but this time see if you can improve it and up its quality and expiriment and all that. That could help you focus on learning what can be done in premiere. Being creative with amvs can be one the hardest things to do so I think it would wise if you have the time to get the method down first.

anand1 · Post by **anand1** » Thu May 03, 2007 7:31 am

I know that there are plenty of videos made in WMM that are amazingly done, but I mean not only suggestions in what software to use, I mean what exactly did you do to improve your AMVs? did you just toy around with each program until you found out what everything does or was there any type of guide of some sort that helped you start? Thx in advanced.

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:02 am

I generally suggest watching AMVs that people generally agree are the best. (See godix's Recommended AMV Viewing list.) Then try to find similar properties in them that make them better than the average AMVs. And I'm not talking about just flashy effects or popular anime and music.

You may want to start by reading the General Theory Guides here: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/.

Then as you start working on your AMV, you'll want to read the Technical Guides, especially Read <a href=http://www.a-m-v.org/guides/avtech31/>ErMaC & AbsoluteDestiny's Friendly AMV Guides</a>. Or the new version updated by Zarxrax HERE (WARNING! The new version is still in beta so there are typos and a few minor errors).

You could also just start making AMVs now. Eventually, as you get more familiar with the process and begin to develop more focused AMV concepts and ideas, your crappy AMVs will turn into (hopefully) good AMVs.

One final tidbit: sometimes simpler is better.

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Thu May 03, 2007 9:03 am

anand1 wrote:did you just toy around with each program until you found out what everything does

Yes, as well as reading the manual (a step too often neglected these days).

anand1 · Post by **anand1** » Thu May 03, 2007 5:41 pm

Ok, I'l read a lot of the guides, and I can't start making AMV's right now, I'm waiting for the anime DVD's to arrive.

Kumatora · Post by **Kumatora** » Thu May 03, 2007 6:16 pm

anand1 wrote:Ok, I'l read a lot of the guides, and I can't start making AMV's right now, I'm waiting for the anime DVD's to arrive.

Just out of curiosity, what's the anime?

lynit · Post by **lynit** » Thu May 03, 2007 10:38 pm

anand1 wrote:I know that there are plenty of videos made in WMM that are amazingly done, but I mean not only suggestions in what software to use, I mean what exactly did you do to improve your AMVs? did you just toy around with each program until you found out what everything does or was there any type of guide of some sort that helped you start? Thx in advanced.

When I was trying to improve my editing skills from low quality shiznit to high quality enjoyment, I basically opened up WMM, used whatever footage I had on my comp (fansubs, live action stuff, anything) and tried to fix it up with the music. I wasn't trying to do anything real, I was mainly doing it to help me with my action sync and other stuff.

And it worked

But yeah, if you're gonna use Premiere or Vegas (or something else), it's a bit easier (Although it's more technical). But personally, I believe that a great video can still be made with WMM, just as long as you know what you're doing. A lot of the effects you see in other videos can somewhat be replicated in WMM (Although it may take a while..=P)

So yeah. Some advice from a fellow WMM-user (Although that is about to change...)