The best piece of advice you've gotten about AMV making

[MycathatesyouAMV]

Believe in the heart of the cards.

[Phantasmagoriat]

Know what you are trying to accomplish.

• Simply wanting to 'make something cool' is usually too broad since
  there are a million different ways this can be achieved.
  Getting specific makes everything much easier to work towards.
  Even if you just want to compile a bunch of cool scenes set to a song you like...
  • ...once you say it out loud, everything becomes much more focused.

Flow.

• Whether it be flow of your audio/video/concept/whatever...
  This could mean synch, movement, storyline, or even the setup to a joke... etc.
  Whoever is watching it should have an easy time seeing the natural flow/progress of your AMV.
  (Especially if you have a particular goal in mind.)
  • ie. This happens, then this happens, then this happens...
    There doesn't necessarily have to be a story, but there needs to be some cohesion.

Patterns.

• Music has many patterns. Keep track of them.
  It reeeallly helps if you organize and keep track of the structure of your music in your timeline.
  I know some people like doing this as they go along, but if you do this before starting
  your project, you can get a better overall sense of how your AMV is going to turn out.
  Then, simply tailor your AMV around those patterns:
  • Dedicate certain ideas of your AMV to certain sections of your song.
    Place your coolest scenes at pivotal moments in your music.
  • It's far easier to conquer many small sections than trying to do everything at once.
    It's also easier to determine sections of 'downtime' in your AMV.
    • AMV's do need downtime... sections to just connect different parts of your video.
      If you don't have that, there are no natural raises/falls for your audience to follow.
      • Just like a wave. And everything is a wave. Everything! (And all waves have patterns)

Predictability/Unpredictability.

• As much of a paradox as it is, people expect to be surprised.
  The audience should be able to expect certain things to happen at certain
  times based on the music and flow of your visual/concept patterns.
  Whatever you do at those moments is where the unpredictability comes in.
  • ... but try not to be so unpredictable that it get's confusing,
    • and not so predictable that it get's boring either.
    • • To get around this I usually try to "Be unpredictable in a predictable way."

Technical Understanding.

• Know how to use a computer.
  Know that certain formats are better-suited for editing; others are better-suited for online distribution.
  Know about things like framerate. It helps with timing and frame-accuracy.
  Know how to maintain good quality.
  • Know what you are doing.
    • It always comes in handy.

Study.

• Study good AMVs.
  Study your own AMVs.
  Study your Audience. Put yourself in their shoes. Get in their heads ^o^
  Study Contest Guidelines (Requirements? does it fit into a certain category?)
  Study your Footage: How did the creators lay out the scene? or make cuts the way they did?
  Study Visual Literacy: Color Theory, Cinematography, Comics/Manga, OMG Rule of Thirds, Minimalism etc...
  Study Audio: Know the difference between Beat and Melody; Listen to a range of genres; develop good taste in music.
  Study This. (I should really re-make that one of these days...) [use faststone or something to view it...]
  Study Guides. They are everywhere, including these forums...
  • Then Experiment. Constantly. But budget your time reasonably.
    Be Efficient. Smart. Focused.
    Practice making full AMVs too, so you are comfortable with the whole process.
    • (It'll give you a completely different perspective on things.)

Honesty.

• Finally, be brutally honest about the moments when you
  think the audience [whoever it is] might be either bored or confused.
  • This could save you a whole lot of embarrassment when you realize
    what it's like to be on their end of the video.

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Hope this helps.


~Phan

[ZephyrStar]

Best advice I ever got was

[GloryQuestor]

Believe in the heart of the cards.

[Vlad G Pohnert]

Wear Sunscreen.

Well... That will help if editing outside in the sun alot.

[Castor Troy]

Wear Sunscreen.

Well... That will help if editing outside in the sun alot.

AMV creators never see the sun!

*vampire hiss*

[Ileia]

All the more reason to wear sunscreen if you happen to go out.

[Fall_Child42]

No matter what a stripper tells you, there is no sex in the champagne room.

[Ikore]

"It was nice, but I only saw beatiful images and no sense, you should try to make something that makes same, like with a story or anything"

[mirkosp]

"[...]Work on your compression.[...]"
^ Mitch told that to me as feedback for my first amv (back then a bloated 80 MB xvid+pcm for a minute long video). So I proceeded to further educate myself; Code helped me too back then, but eventually I just read the AVTECH and it just got "worse" from there.
Considering what kinda qualityfag I am now, I suppose those 4 words started quite a lot... >_>