Suggestions for Finishing a Video Faster

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Suggestions for Finishing a Video Faster

Postby kaitoujuliet » Thu Nov 14, 2002 2:53 pm

Hi, folks!

I'm a slooooooow video editor. I tinkered for months with my first one ... well, that's kind of expected since it was my first. But I've been working on my second video since September and it's still nowhere near done. I keep seeing videos--decent ones--which the creators say they made in a week or a weekend. I'd like to be able to do the same, since I have a ton of video ideas that will never get made if I spend 3 months on every single one.

Part of it has to do with free time, of course, but I don't think I could finish a video in a weekend even if all I did was edit.

So, any suggestions? What are your favorite time-savers? What things do you feel it's not worth obsessing over? What do you spend the most time on in the process, and what do you spend the least time on?
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Postby Koopiskeva » Thu Nov 14, 2002 3:17 pm

Hey... I'm slow too... My last took about 4 months.. mainly because of my procrastination...
I have two videos I'm currently working on. The first one, I'm aiming for around a New Year's day release, and this other other one I just got inspired to do yesterday will only take me about a week or so to do. Basically, I guess the only 'shortcut' I can think of is if you're truely inspired to make something and you have to get the idea into video form before your head explodes... Also, having a certain way of creating AMVs, such as knowing the programs you're going to use and having a basic plan in creating it.


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Postby (NERD Studios) Arturo » Thu Nov 14, 2002 5:16 pm

I'm slow mostly because of my comp and the fact that I'm pretty meticulous during my "clip cutting" stage. Oh well. Slog through and eventually you'll get there. I'll catch up to the big names out there someday. :wink:
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A great idea=fast video

Postby mckeed » Thu Nov 14, 2002 5:46 pm

Half of doign a video quick is have a good idea. The other parts are knowing your editing software and being able to transfer what you think into reality. These last two go hand in hand. If you got this idea for a great sequence but have no idea how to do it then your stuck. You also need a good idea of exactly what you want to do where. Not just, I need a scene with this kind of feeling here with another similar one after. I normally can completely visulaize each scene I want to use. like...The scene from episode two after belldandy cooks a meal, followed by a quick dissolve to Urd blowing up a cake. If you don't know that, it will take a long time. Normally after i get a good idea, I do a "power watch" of the series I want to use. I try to wtch as much in each sitting as I can so I can remember more. Have a notebook handy. Write down episodes and aprox times where scenes come up you want to use. PLay the song you want to use in the backgournd. Print out the lyrics. And then start piecing togeahter the lyrics to the scenes you want to use. You don't have to have the entire thing mapped out, but key scenes and effects you want to use should be down on paper. Cause certain scenes will work better with others for overlays, cross dissolves and whatnot. This process is called storyboarding. I pumped out my In Heaven video in a few power editing sessions totallying about 20 hours. http://www.dwjxm.cjb.net/amv/. I had this entire video in my head. All the audio queues that I wanted to use all planned out beforehand. 85% of the scenes all picked out. My first video, send me and goddess, took me a day to put togeather. Hope some of this helps.
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Postby The Wired Knight » Thu Nov 14, 2002 6:28 pm

3 months on my latest. Vid, really I wouldn't recomend intentionally going faster unless there is a deadline you MUST meet. Take as long as you need. I know it's tedious and it tires your patience but you should work on an AMV as long as you feel it needs more work or until you are happy with it (which to my knowledge is very few of us are ever 100% happy with our work). So really I can't recomend any faster ways other than just working on a video in longer sessions per day but really in the end it won't cut your time down substantially. I'm sorry if this is not what you want to hear but it is my best advice to you; work long and work hard, it will produce a better final product, don't cut corners because you are lazy.
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Postby AbsoluteDestiny » Thu Nov 14, 2002 6:37 pm

My fave time saver is making the song shorter :)
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Postby Kusoyaro » Thu Nov 14, 2002 7:05 pm

AbsoluteDestiny wrote:My fave time saver is making the song shorter :)

Word.
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Postby ShonenDizzyCow » Thu Nov 14, 2002 8:07 pm

Choosing the right song is the best decision you could ever make in helping you finish your video quicker.

Um other than what's said, uh...experience, although this seems to drive people to make ever more complex and difficult effects-laden videos and they end up taking longer and longer to make. :shock:
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Postby NicholasDWolfwood » Thu Nov 14, 2002 10:41 pm

I take as long as I want, unless, like The Wired Knight said, you have a deadline to meet, for example, if I wanted to submit a video to AWA Expo, I'd have to have the video finished and exported by the 3rd week or so of August since I have to mail it in and the AWA creators have to have the video(s) in their hands by September 6th for Expo.
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Postby Vlad G Pohnert » Thu Nov 14, 2002 11:56 pm

AbsoluteDestiny wrote:My fave time saver is making the song shorter :)


Agreed, that's what I did on my past video otherwise another 200 hours would of been lost....

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Postby TaranT » Fri Nov 15, 2002 4:51 am

Here's a quick method I saw done in an AMV a few years ago.
Determine how long your song is. Capture a clip that is at least that long. Put the song on the timeline. Put the clip right above it. Hit the render button and you're done. Or, add some spice by putting fades at the ends of the song.

I won't go into more detail about the AMV since I might be wrong: it might have used two clips. Maybe three.

And, you never know. With the right music and the right video, it might work. :roll:

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Postby Sub0 » Fri Nov 15, 2002 4:58 am

yep have a good idea and the anime will just FLOW with the video... I did a video in the first 5 innings of the World Series game 1! You can see it on Kazaa if you want, aint your momma's drive or search for akira. it's 'beta' cuz I haven't named my studio yet and xvid isn't working so only the LQ Divx3 version is available (12mb).... can't tell (less yur ed0) though cuz it's letterboxed... anyway I riped that into chapters and just put chapter after chapter and saw if it JIVED... and if a certain part did than I'd cut that part, lock it in and try the next chapter in the next vdo track (premeir) after a few of these I than start puting the tracks together/ filling in spaces. not the best method but QUICK and decent (better if you have a great concept :twisted:).
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Postby OmniStrata » Mon Nov 18, 2002 10:05 pm

Uh, since it's been mentioned (good idea, bad idea) I won't go into it now...

My fave part, placing the timeline markers...

er...

PLANNING the video...

Divide your song into sections. I divide my song into 9 sections and then decide what should go where. On this beat, an effect, a scene change, fade, lyric symbolism? or is a character doing what is sung?...etc...

I think I spend more time planning my video than actually EDITING it...

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Postby ladydx » Tue Nov 19, 2002 9:32 am

AbsoluteDestiny wrote:My fave time saver is making the song shorter :)


Yep! That's what I did for my "Bandit" vid... :D

It amazes me when someone tells me that they did a vid in a day..or a matter of hours...It just seems unreal! Not saying it can't be done..and a good vid come out of it...but it at the very least takes me about 3 weeks to a month or so to finish a vid..barring outside interferance (like road trips :P ) I really don't think that there is any sure fire way to faster editing..it all depends on your level of editing experiance, your ideas and so forth.
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