Noobie AMV pitfalls - advice from the veterans?

Org Profile · Post by **808-buma** » Mon May 09, 2005 10:35 pm

madbunny wrote:Instead of trying to focus on a myriad of funky little things that you'll pick up over time anyway, like lip sync, beat matching, or deinterlacing... you should just focus on being able to tell your story creatively.

Essentially, if you want to be good, and unique you have to figure out what works for you.

My advice: find someone that you trust to not sugarcoat things, and still be constructive to do betas for you while you're getting the hang of it.

Also, the best way to be able to spot stuff is to give lots of opinions, detailed opinions on other peoples videos. Then, while you're making your own you should be able to spot some of the 'more or less' common things that pop up.

Well, true, the story aspect is important, but I'd think that if there were some obvious visual mistakes made, folks wouldn't continue watching the AMV and then where would your story be then?

And yes, I need someone who will give me honest opinions, but right now those folks are hard to find and all. The only person so far is my GF - she can't say what's wrong with it, but like art, she knows what she likes or dislikes. This so far is my measuring stick until I can find others so inclined.

So how do the vets here do there beta-testing? Is it sorta just passed among friends or do you just finish it, post it, wait for opinions, and then modify from there?

pen-pen2002 · Post by **pen-pen2002** » Mon May 09, 2005 11:45 pm

I was into AMV's for years before I attemted editing and I was determined that my first video would not be viewed as such. I spent a year, on and off, working at it and figuring out the guides. Did I succeed? Well, it wasn't your average first video but it wasn't amazing either and my videos since then have improved dramatically. I think that first videos are crucial in the learning proccess but it is best not to worry about it. It's hard to catch every technical error (mine still had some interlacing in spots.)

I think concept is the best thing to concentrate on, I shy away from first videos to DBZ, Inuyasha, or Naruto because they are often made by fans of the series rather than fans of AMV's.

808-buma wrote:I'm somewhat confused by the guides about interlaced vids. Currently, I'm editing directly with the VOB files that are, as I understand it, progressive (and interlaced, right?). So, if my final output from all these VOB files is still a dvd compliant VOB file, I can skip the de-interlacing, right? Or am I missing something?

GitS: Innocence is fully progressive, which means it has no interlacing. I'm not sure about the first movie.

FoxJones · Post by **FoxJones** » Tue May 10, 2005 2:58 am

808-buma wrote:So how do the vets here do there beta-testing? Is it sorta just passed among friends or do you just finish it, post it, wait for opinions, and then modify from there?

Let's consider for a moment that I'm a veteran here..

I very rarely give out any kind of betas. It's more like giving out teasers if I ever show some unfinished part, and never a complete AMV beta. This is because I really want to make my AMVs completely on my own. It doesn't matter if the result is a success or failure, at least I did everything myself.. from concept to editing and little details. There are some times though when I have shown a small part to someone and asked "does this work AT ALL this way?"
I just like to keep my projects secret before the release. Some wacky ones hit harder when the audience doesn't see it coming

On the other way around people have sent me betas several times and they are given hard but fair feedbacks. I hope they have been helpfull ^_^

downwithpants · Post by **downwithpants** » Tue May 10, 2005 3:17 am

808-buma wrote:So how do the vets here do there beta-testing? Is it sorta just passed among friends or do you just finish it, post it, wait for opinions, and then modify from there?

i have a friend i ask to beta test sometimes. this is usually done when i'm completely done with all i can do on the vid, so i'm mainly looking for someone who might spot mistakes i overlooked. other people ask me to beta too. usually done over aim. beta requests also can be made via forum posts. it is done regularly in the Instrumental Anime Project and Projeckt Life multi-editor project threads. you could probably arrange something in op exchange.

BishounenStalker · Post by **BishounenStalker** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:24 am

pen-pen2002 wrote:I think concept is the best thing to concentrate on, I shy away from first videos to DBZ, Inuyasha, or Naruto because they are often made by fans of the series rather than fans of AMV's.

Huh? Shouldn't the creator be a fan of the series they're working with? I'm not about to stare at a given anime until my eyes are ready to fall out unless I'm a fan of the show already. But maybe that's just me.

madbunny · Post by **madbunny** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:53 am

808-buma wrote:So how do the vets here do there beta-testing? Is it sorta just passed among friends or do you just finish it, post it, wait for opinions, and then modify from there?

Getting people to watch your video isn't really all that hard. This whole site is oriented around thousands of members that like to watch videos.

If you want to get someone to give you honest opinions, just send them a PM. That's one of the reasons I mentioned giving lots of reviews. You'll see the other reviews and get a feel for how other members look at videos. You'll also get a feel for the nature of the feedback, AND you'll be getting some good karma for when you want your own ops.

So don't go all stressing out trying to make an award winning video that will change the face of all AMV creation, if a hobby starts to feel like too much work it isn't fun anymore. Make some videos, do some exchanges and get into the whole scene while you plan out and work on your masterpeice.

staces · Post by **staces** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:56 am

Oooh, I just remembered another "newbie pitfall" (I'm sure some would probably call me a newbie, but I don't care =P). The mistake of "it's not lazy, it's artistic!"

Okay, this is more like a trap that practically everyone falls into. It seems like we as a collective (the a-m-v.org community, that is) seem to forgive bad editing more easily when it comes from the 'big names' in editing. That because they have made many brilliant AMVs that any error on their behalf in new ones ~must~ be intentional, and we don't call them on it. Buuut, this gets into newbs heads and they think that they can have a clip linger for 6 seconds during a fast tempoed song because it's "poignant." Not that it's good when anyone does it, but newbs have yet to acquire the reputation to save them.

AMVing is only as much about art as it is about skill.

Has anyone else noticed this besides me? Maybe I'm like bitter or something, but it seems that people are simply intimidated when it comes to giving anything less than an 9 to certain creators, just because they are them. -_- Like how people still buy J.Lo crap even after Ghili. ^^;;

. . . . Another issue is the fear of "revenge opinions" and therefore an either total lack of opinions for things or dishonest ones, but that's not so much a newb thing.

requiett · Post by **requiett** » Thu May 12, 2005 3:46 am

I got the tips for makin' good vids right here.

1. Use what's popular. Everyone loves a whore who rides the wave of fadorific fan-love to skyrocket their material to stardom.

2. Make sure ALL your little friends OP your vids with 10's, regardless of honesty or integrity.

3. Make long-winded posts in response to threads that ask about advice for making good vids. Be sure to use lots of long words in vague context, so it sounds like you know what you're talking about. This will convince everyone you're a pro who makes badass vids, and will venture to watch at least one of your less-than-adequete tributes to Naruto and his oily cornhole-buddies set to emo rock featuring such appealing ideals as wearing green socks, pretending to be intelligent, and crying after sex.

Bakadeshi · Post by **Bakadeshi** » Thu May 12, 2005 9:50 am

requiett wrote:I got the tips for makin' good vids right here.

1. Use what's popular. Everyone loves a whore who rides the wave of fadorific fan-love to skyrocket their material to stardom.

2. Make sure ALL your little friends OP your vids with 10's, regardless of honesty or integrity.

3. Make long-winded posts in response to threads that ask about advice for making good vids. Be sure to use lots of long words in vague context, so it sounds like you know what you're talking about. This will convince everyone you're a pro who makes badass vids, and will venture to watch at least one of your less-than-adequete tributes to Naruto and his oily cornhole-buddies set to emo rock featuring such appealing ideals as wearing green socks, pretending to be intelligent, and crying after sex.

Sweet! so thats the secret! I'll try that, thanks!

/sarcasm

Org Profile · Post by **Vlad G Pohnert** » Thu May 12, 2005 1:42 pm

requiett wrote:I got the tips for makin' good vids right here.

1. Use what's popular. Everyone loves a whore who rides the wave of fadorific fan-love to skyrocket their material to stardom.

2. Make sure ALL your little friends OP your vids with 10's, regardless of honesty or integrity.

3. Make long-winded posts in response to threads that ask about advice for making good vids. Be sure to use lots of long words in vague context, so it sounds like you know what you're talking about. This will convince everyone you're a pro who makes badass vids, and will venture to watch at least one of your less-than-adequete tributes to Naruto and his oily cornhole-buddies set to emo rock featuring such appealing ideals as wearing green socks, pretending to be intelligent, and crying after sex.

Hmmmm, I do not of that.. NO wonder my work sucks so much

Vlad