The "Then" To "Now" Thread

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The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby TwilightChrono » Sun Jul 31, 2011 4:51 am

We all like to think we have improved with our editing. And that is certainly the case. As we edit more and more videos we learn from the mistakes of the old and adapt to make a better video the next time through incite and criticism we receive.

So, I decided to make this thread for all who wish to show-case their improvements and will give other members a chance to check out some oldy vids as well as give newcomers a chance to find out what they have been missing and the kind of community that they can expect to be a part of:

Rules:

1. Take the first video you have ever uploaded to the org. Then put it in your post.
2. Then take your newest video that you have uploaded to the org, and put it below your oldest.
3. Make a statement regarding what was responsible for the improvement. (I realize there may be many factors but give us the TL:DR version)

I'll start so enjoy:


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(Is Being Extended And Fixed For Cons)

I had a lot of strenuous times editing when I first started. I didn't have any concept of flow, but I had a decent understanding of timing and some sync. Since I've been a member of the org their have been many people who have contributed to my improvements: CodeZTM (CodeChrono Back In The Day), MeleeChampion, Godix (He Gave Me Hell But Was Extremely Helpful), LittleAtari, Kazemon15 and Hagaren Viper are among the most note-able. They encouraged me to keep at it even though just sometimes I wanted to quit, but you know what? I'm glad I didn't. I still AMVing to this day.
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So, what's your story?
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby kireblue » Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:55 am

I can definitely say that I've learned something new with every video that I've made, and then applied that knowledge to the next one.

1st video


2nd video


newest full length/ non MEP/ non holiday/ non contest promotional video


newest video



I've been editing for almost 6 years, and I've definitely made many improvements like learning how to use DVD footage, and how to make my videos have emotion and feeling. I also defined my editing style, and learned how effective internal sync can be. I'll probably never be a editor that edits super fast action videos with lots of effects, but I've gotten to the point where I can upload a video and still like how it looks a few months later. When I first started, I couldn't go a few weeks without hating the mistakes that I made.
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby TwilightChrono » Sun Jul 31, 2011 4:23 pm

kireblue wrote:I can definitely say that I've learned something new with every video that I've made, and then applied that knowledge to the next one.

1st video


2nd video


newest full length/ non MEP/ non holiday/ non contest promotional video


newest video



I've been editing for almost 6 years, and I've definitely made many improvements like learning how to use DVD footage, and how to make my videos have emotion and feeling. I also defined my editing style, and learned how effective internal sync can be. I'll probably never be a editor that edits super fast action videos with lots of effects, but I've gotten to the point where I can upload a video and still like how it looks a few months later. When I first started, I couldn't go a few weeks without hating the mistakes that I made.



A definite improvement. I like how going from your first video to your Newest Full Length, that there is just such a major difference. You can actually see the improvements. Color me impressed.
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby pan_dbgt01 » Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:58 am

Awesome! I'll have to post something.
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby Hagaren Viper » Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:16 pm

First Vid:


First Vid w/Vegas:


Latest Vid:


* I remember with my first few vids I learned something new every time...which mainly amounted to "What? I can do TRANSITIONS TOO?!", haha. But of course you learn a little something from every vid.

* I've literally been editing since the day I got my comp in 2006, AMVs were part of the reason I even wanted a computer, so I jumped on it when the chance came, having gotten as much Kingdom Hearts footage as I could beforehand.

* I've gotten the hang of working with DVDs and to some extent, scripting.

* I'm a sync Nazi, and try to match little movements with the beat or flow of the song.

* If nothing else, I'm the guy who made that one Halloween video with that one show about Excalibur.

* This post looks like a post from my 'Get to know people' thread.
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby ngsilver » Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:30 pm

First Vid:


Most Recent Vid:


2nd Newest Vid: (that isn't using animated gifs as source)


Over the years I've learned many things about editing and developed a style that I prefer to work with. I taught myself how to work with Premier starting with 6.5 and moving up to CS3. With each video I finished I learned something new about how to use the program and also what works for me and what doesn't. Of course in the process I've also learned new techniques for image quality and what not as well which has improved my videos. I started working with VHS tapes and DVDs direct capturing them to my PC in mpeg1 format because I didn't have a DVD drive. I've since upgraded my equipment and have a BD drive as well. All of these things, plus my willingness to try new techniques and styles with editing I think I've made my videos better.
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby Mastamind » Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:31 pm

First Video (actually, my first editing job of any kind):


^ A Naruto vs. Sasuke AMV; can't have been much more original than that.

Newest Video, apart from my newest trailer):


^ My latest AMV is the one that's unfortunately had the smallest reception, but it's the one I'm proudest of.

The biggest factors in my technical improvement were 1: moving to a software more advanced then Windows Movie Maker, and 2: discovering animemusicvideos.org. When I started editing in '07, I was part of a wave of youtube viewers who watched only what made up the bulk of AMVs there- Naruto videos. When I found and Google'd Whisper of the Beast, I discovered this site and was opened to the variety and possibilities in the AMV world.
The project I started working on immediately after, Debut, was highly ambitious and experimental, and its flaws were overwhelming. I got a lot of criticism here, which helped me leap forward. My newest video, in many ways, reflects what I went for in Debut (particularly the massive effects work), but in a slightly more successful light. Thanks, .org! :up:
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby pink haze » Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:38 pm

Hagaren Viper wrote:First Vid w/Vegas:

I still have this one on my computer, actually. ^^;
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby Neverend » Sun Aug 07, 2011 3:09 pm

oh god, my first video :>





My videos still have two things in common they both have anime it them and they also have a song :asd:
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby Eion » Sun Aug 07, 2011 3:57 pm

Old


New


I still think of the first video one of my best XD but still you could see the little flaws here and there :3 but to be honest, I think i have made worse stuff after making that video o: so i don't know if its the correct example of improvement..but yeah! who cares :3
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby Cyanna » Sun Aug 07, 2011 3:57 pm

My REAL first vid was lost to a hard drive crash. It used very low quality hard-coded fansubs anyway so I'm not particularly upset about the loss.

First Video


Newest Video


Beeeeeeah...at the moment my newest video is also my lowest rated one and was the only one to fall off the Announcement board without anyone noticing. So as far as public perception goes, I seem to have taken a serious downturn. :P

I think really the only thing I could say was a source of improvement was just...time. I'm not eager to make anything that pops into my head anymore. I although I still do a lot of lyric sync, I'm no longer scared of doing instrumental bridges. I don't flounder around looking for anything that might work. If I can't lyric-sync, I can take the song in themed chunks and make a video that way. I've also gotten much better at ending my videos. Upgrades in software have allowed me to make some technical improvements like removing lipflap. It took seven years before I made an AMV that required After Effects. Even then I usually only use it for masking. My next video might not even need it.
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby LoneSaiyan115 » Mon Aug 08, 2011 1:12 pm

Well this isn't my first video edited ever. I had edited Machinama in the past and first AMV was a DBZ AMV to "Sound Effects and Over Dramatics" by the Used and it used clips from Cartoon Network and really old and bad quality episodes haha.

This video is probably the third or fourth AMV I made:


Latest Videos:




So I think the biggest improvement is that I learned how to use Sony Vegas haha. Back then I didn't know about all the features yet, even Pan/Crop tool (If you couldn't tell by the Sasuke subs in "We Tried So Hard"). But the other improvements were to really understand how a video should flow and sync to the music. I think it went along with me actually becoming a musician in that time period as well. It helped me understand how music flows and how a scene should flow along side it. I was also paying close attention to editors like KingDav1d, tony8000 and Vegeta119 (Arashinome), and trying to figure out how they made such great action videos

My effect use has relatively stayed the same for my action videos. I just know how to use those effects right now. Drama videos like my AMV "Darkness" are an exception to that rule, but most of those videos I went in with a plan to make them look gritty or some other way. Very recently though I also leanred about compresion and working with my footage to make it look and sound better. I have the org to thanks for that :up:
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby Shin-AMV » Mon Aug 08, 2011 2:33 pm

Snap. Its awesome to compare the old stuff with a lot of the new stuff and see all the different kind of improvements and style changes. I'm almost too embarrassed to post my old stuff :oops: I used a lot of fansubbed stuff and left the TV watermarks and occassionally subtitles in. I didn't really understand the importance of proper encoding and lost a lot of quality converting stuff alot....

First vids:



I've gotten a little more picky on my source quality since and try to rip my own DVD/Blurays when I can. :dino:

Latest:



I Think the biggest change from my starting days is I always wanted to add in a bunch of effects, sparkles, and crazy stuff, (with a few disastrous results lol) but now I'm kind of the philosophy of less is more, and try to just let the scenes I pick do the work and add in some effects if they seem approriate.
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby TwilightChrono » Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:32 am

I;m glad that this is getting such a good response. I'm getting to see a bunch of different videos here and I'm getting to see the changes from video to video thanks to the org and other sources who helped these people imprve. Very nice guys, Keep the vids Coming, I am really enjoying this.

Can we has a sticky on this thread please?
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Re: The "Then" To "Now" Thread

Postby BasharOfTheAges » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:05 am

Stickies are to make announcements or to highlight answers to FAQs - this isn't either of those things. If you want to make an argument for popularity demanding a sticky, you have about 20,000 posts worth of responses to get before you can even argue that angle.
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