Welcome to the guides section. Here will be some guides to help you on the site and to create good anime music videos. If you would like to have a guide posted here, please send it to admin@animemusicvideos.org in plain text format (.txt)or HTML and ziped.
How to use the Org:
- Moonslayer's Guide to Using AnimeMusicVideos.org! August 22, 2004 This guide takes you through the menus of the org step by step showing you how to use the site.
- How to Play AMVs November, 2010 Zarxrax talks you through how to play video files on Windows, Mac OSX and GNU/Linux.
- ZeWrestler and Iserlohn's Guide to Opinions January 9, 2001 June 11, 2004 Ever wonder what the opinions section is really all about? Here's a guide to help you in your troubled times. =)
General Theory Guides:
- Phade's Guide to Good Anime Music Videos January 29, 2001 October 31, 2002 This guide is a general overview of what makes a good anime music video. If you have never tried to create and AMV, please read this guide first. Once you have finished, please read all other guide BEFORE starting to create your own AMV and BEFORE posting questions on the Help Forums. Doing this will (hopefully) keep you from looking stupid. ;-)
- Kalium's AMV Theory Primer December 29, 2004 This guide looks at numerous facets of editing theory including Synch, Concept and Effects.
Technical Guides:
- AbsoluteDestiny & ErMaC's Technical Guides to All Things Audio and Video mk31 November, 2010 (Newly updated by Zarxrax) This is THE guide to video quality and performance. A must read! The guide is also available for offline viewing by downloading this ZIP archive. (including images ~4.8mb) The new guide is the greatly updated version of the old avtech guide (mk2 - February, 2005 :: mk1 - October 27, 2002) and the even older "ErMaC's Guide to All Things Video" (Aug 6, 2001).
- It's Going to Be All Write: An AMVer's Guide to the Pen Tool May 08, 2007 (77.8MB PDF, right-click to download) The pen tool can be very useful when doing things such as masking. (ie: cutting elements out of one scene and placing them in another) DriftRoot lays it all out in this guide.
- Scintilla's Guide to Using DVD Footage in Windows Movie Maker 2 November 8, 2006 Since it's included with Windows XP, Windows Movie Maker is a common choice for making AMVs. This guide shows how to use DVD quality footage with it.
- Scintilla's Guide to Encoding AMVs to MPEG For Convention Submission November 8, 2006 July 21, 2010 The videos that are sent to conventions to show on the big screen should be of higher quality than most Internet video downloads. Here's how to encode so that a number of conventions can playback your AMVs on the big screen.
- VicBond007's Guide to Working with DVD Footage July 02, 2004 This is a PDF document (10.1MB) that VicBond007 created for his AMV panel and is now available for download. It is an excellent step-by-step guide that can easily be printed for reading on the go.
- Kirin's Guide to Making AMVs with iMovie August 22, 2004 Just so you Mac users don't feel too neglected, here's a guide to editing using Apple's free editing program iMovie.
- Quu's Guide to Using Video Game Footage September 19, 2001 This is the long delayed (for stupid reasons) guide about how to grab that video footage only available on game cut scenes. Very cool!!
- Zarxrax's Introduction to Adobe After Effects June 5, 2004 January 20, 2008 Adobe After Effects, the most loved and hated amv production tool has just been demystified. Find out how AE can help you make the video you've always wanted to.
- Zarxrax's Guide to Lip Syncing May 8, 2001 So you want to lip sync but are having a bit of trouble. This little guide should help those editing blues.
- Subtitle Removal Guide by Zarxrax and Machine June 5, 2004 Subtitles, the downfall of many could-be-good videos. Here's several methods to help you make your videos better.
User Tips and Tricks:
- Madbunny's "How to make a basic action video 101" August 29, 2004
- Tsunami Jones' "Anime Music Videos As Weapons" November 8, 2006 TJ's satirical guide to the mystical arts of... AMV KOMBAT!!!
Older Guides:
- Lone Wolf and Cub's Anti-Guide to the Two VCR Method January 30, 2001 Making Cheap, Worthless, Bad-Quality, and Otherwise Lazy Music Videos or Anime Music Videos: The Analog Method of Making Music Videos Without an Expensive Computer.
- How To Edit DVD Footage Natively With a Pinnacle DC1000 or DC2000 November 30, 2001 Got one of those fancy high-end videos cards? Here's a good tip on how to get more out of what you paid for. =)