Favorite AMV Editing Techniques

This forum is for the general discussion of Anime Music Videos.

Postby jbone » Sat Sep 14, 2002 7:39 pm

Editing skill is the backbone of every video. If you know how to use effects to enhance the already-good editing, then effects can make a great video even better; however, no matter how good you may be at using effects, if you lack editing skill your video will suck.
"If someone feels the need to 'express' himself or herself with a huge graphical 'singature' that has nothing to do with anything, that person should reevaluate his or her reasons for needing said form of expression, possibly with the help of a licensed mental health practitioner."
User avatar
jbone
 
Joined: 12 Jan 2002
Location: DC, USA
Status: Single. (Lllladies.)

Postby Castor Troy » Sat Sep 14, 2002 11:11 pm

The Wired Knight wrote:Image


I had too many of those...
Image
"Vlad, you will not get my new blockbuster video. Sorry bro." - Chemix800, Hollywood Editor
User avatar
Castor Troy
Ryan Molina, A.C.E
 
Joined: 16 Jan 2001
Location: California
Status: Retired from AMVs

Postby Kusoyaro » Mon Sep 16, 2002 10:37 am

The Wired Knight wrote:Image

That looks delicious right about now.

Anyway, I've never been a big effects guy, and I probably never will. I didn't one experimental effects overkill video just to see what things looked like, and nowdays I use effects very sparingly.

To be honest, I really don't have a "technique." Unless I'm doing something technical like lip-synching, I just lay down footage and edit it together in a way that just feels right per the music.
I have no idea how to use this new forum.
User avatar
Kusoyaro
LEGENDARY!!!
 
Joined: 16 Jan 2001
Location: HOT FUCKING

Postby OmniStrata » Mon Sep 16, 2002 10:45 am

To back up AD and ErMaC, I agree with them. I've seen some awesome amvs that use zero fx. The Rogue Studios/Dimension video old school vids come to mind. I love like ALL of their works.

It's best to be good at making both fx-less vids and fx mind breakers simultaneously. This way, people will see for certain how good your editing skill really is and not the fact that you can create awesome hard-to-copy fx... Or rather "trademark" fx.

I've gotten into the habit of "fx nomenclature" which oddly enough, sounds more "epic" than amv titles. :shock: I don't know why that is but perhaps I should enter poetry...

not... :cry:
"Strength lies in action. Let the weak react to me..." - Kamahl, Pit Fighter from Magic: the Gathering
"That is a mistake many of my enemies make. They think before they act. I act before I think!" - Vortigern from Merlin ('98)
"I AM REBORN!" - Dark Schneider Bastard!! OAV
User avatar
OmniStrata
 
Joined: 01 Aug 2001
Location: Chicago
Status: Wealthy

Postby The Wired Knight » Mon Sep 16, 2002 5:07 pm

Might as well asnwer the question for real. I don't like fancy effects personaly. Sometimes my videos even lack fades or other transitions simply because I don't think the video needs it. Not everything needs it and some only need a few while others may require it, just don't overdo it otherwise it is just destracting.
BANG

Intellectual Property, Real Estate & Probate Attorney.
User avatar
The Wired Knight
 
Joined: 07 Jan 2001
Location: Right next door to you
Status: Attorney At Law

Postby ShonenDizzyCow » Tue Sep 24, 2002 9:36 pm

Effects are always an useful optional 'tool' to have when making a video. Some creators do overuse/rely on effects a little too much.

That being said I sometimes use rather subtle or invisible effects, to generate a sequence that I want that does not exist to further the video, that is to say I want my effects to be totally seamless if possible, but that has the downside that people tend to get the impression that I didn't spend enough effort on my videos sometimes, since they don't even notice the effects. Ironic.

Let's not even mention the invisibility of audio editing.
User avatar
ShonenDizzyCow
 
Joined: 13 Apr 2001
Location: The Other Side of the Planet

Postby Kai Stromler » Wed Sep 25, 2002 1:36 pm

weird nomenclature stuff here. What is getting called a technique I usually call a trick, or in the other definition that I've seen used, a philosophy or methodology. Then again, what I call a technique might better be referred to as a process.

On the edit subject at hand: I've said it before, and I'll say it again and again, even after I'm SURE everyone's stopped listening: EDIT IS LAW. If your video does not rest on that solid bedrock, NO amount of effects will save it from being consigned to the scrap heap.

If you want techniques, here's one that seems not to have come up so far: audio-color match. Listen to the song, and see what color suggests itself to you listening to it. Once you've got that defined, go through your source anime and look for clips dominated by that color. If you don't have enough to make a color-matched video, go through it again, get clips that look cool and run them though a tint or level-adjust (in the case that you've picked a 'white' or 'black' song) filter and MAKE them that color.

It can be pretty cool if done well and consistently, but if you do it unconsciously in some parts of your video and not at all in others, it can cause problems. Going back to VicBond's "Shining Collection", the audio source is pretty "white", as is most of the video. When the frame starts getting dominated by other colors (green in the most personally disruptive sequence), it starts to throw things.

Of course, different people will associate different colors with different songs. But if you build a dominant color into your video and work at it, the chance is reduced that some idiot like me will come along, point to a sequence and say "that's the wrong color!" Enforce your color vision on others.

--Kai
Shin Hatsubai is a Premiere-free studio. Insomni-Ack is habitually worthless.
Death... is Just The Beginning | so essentially it works like bacon
Coelem - Tenebral Presence single now freely available
User avatar
Kai Stromler
 
Joined: 12 Jul 2002
Location: back in the USSA

Postby Big Big Truck » Wed Sep 25, 2002 1:50 pm

If you want techniques, here's one that seems not to have come up so far: audio-color match. Listen to the song, and see what color suggests itself to you listening to it. Once you've got that defined, go through your source anime and look for clips dominated by that color. If you don't have enough to make a color-matched video, go through it again, get clips that look cool and run them though a tint or level-adjust (in the case that you've picked a 'white' or 'black' song) filter and MAKE them that color.


I've been trying this a lot lately, especially with "Pyramid" and "The Edge", neither of which will ever have an audience, probably, but...
With the music I used for the former, I saw blue-greys alternating with vibrant golds, and those are really the only colors that show up in that video.
"The Edge" was very 80's (using "Closer to the Edit" by Art of Noise), so I tried to do that duotone/halftone effect, assigning reds and oranges to the "bolder" notes and cooler tones to the more subdued ones.

It's fun :3
(insert fannishly mangled rap lyric here)
User avatar
Big Big Truck
 
Joined: 14 Jan 2001

Postby Rozard » Wed Sep 25, 2002 1:53 pm

I still think Pyramid (Well, what I saw of it) is a great video, and I would have liked to see the finished product, if there was one. :(
Image
RichLather: We are guests of this forum, and as such we do not make the rules.
BishounenStalker The freedom to suck is what makes the Internet rock.
User avatar
Rozard
 
Joined: 31 Oct 2001
Location: West Palm Beach, FL

Previous

Return to General AMV

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest