First AMV - "Let's Be Together, Always"

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:33 pm

Beast Spear wrote:Where is it up???

Apparently, at a new info page:
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... p?v=148675

Beast Spear · Post by **Beast Spear** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:01 pm

Scintilla wrote:
Beast Spear wrote:Where is it up???
Apparently, at a new info page:
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... p?v=148675

I should have mentioned that they could still use the same info page...

I'll download it later.

dj_ultima_the_great · Post by **dj_ultima_the_great** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:21 pm

Hmm... well, I downloaded this, so I figured I should comment. I have a lot to say, so bear with me.

On the technical side of things...

- lose the subtitles. They're distracting, and easy to get rid of. Additionally, the DVDs for this series have been out for a long time, and they're a great deal, too. There's no excuse to be using any kind of downloaded footage anyway - especially stuff with subtitles.

- lip flap (in other words, having their mouths move when you're not trying to make them "sing" with the song) was also distracting. This isn't as big of a deal as some other things, but it's just that extra something that polishes off a video.

- video quality could have been better. I blame part of this on the lack of DVD footage, and part of it on your encoding. Again, this isn't as important as some other things, but if you're going to spend all this time editing a good video, you should try to give it a pretty package. There are good guides on this site that can help with that. They might be a bit of a tough read at first, but if you keep at it they're worth the effort.

On the creative side of things...

- I loved the concept of the video. I'm not big on Furuba romance videos, and even though you labeled it as such, I still feel that this was more of a friendship story. Your scene choices were pretty good, although I think you should have had more variety in your scenes. You kept returning to the same parts of the anime, particularly in the first half of the video. This is your story - mix up the scenes and tell it.

- another point on the concept... it was nice that you focused a verse on Yuki, and then one on Kyou, and then both of them. It gives your video a sense of flow and coherency in its story, so well done there.

- beat sync was kind of weak, but your lyrical and mood sync somewhat made up for this. I'd still like to see you hitting the beats with scene changes a little more often, though.

Overall, I liked this video, and I think that with some practice you could be an excellent editor. As it is now, you're still good. Keep in mind, though, that the most important part is whether or not you like the video. I can throw out all the suggestions I want, but if you don't like the kind of video you make when you follow them, then it's not worth it. So keep editing - hopefully my thoughts helped you out a bit. ^_^

- Jen

anime_is_good · Post by **anime_is_good** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:02 pm

dj_ultima_the_great wrote:- lose the subtitles. They're distracting, and easy to get rid of. Additionally, the DVDs for this series have been out for a long time, and they're a great deal, too. There's no excuse to be using any kind of downloaded footage anyway - especially stuff with subtitles.

I see... subs are a definate no-no, then. See, I figured some would let it slide since it's my first one, but I see your point.

dj_ultima_the_great wrote:- video quality could have been better. I blame part of this on the lack of DVD footage, and part of it on your encoding. Again, this isn't as important as some other things, but if you're going to spend all this time editing a good video, you should try to give it a pretty package. There are good guides on this site that can help with that. They might be a bit of a tough read at first, but if you keep at it they're worth the effort.

Ah, well, I neither have money or transportation to go out and get the DVDs (bad otaku!). (Also, what do you mean about my encoding? I'm extremely new to this. ._.; )

dj_ultima_the_great wrote:- I loved the concept of the video. I'm not big on Furuba romance videos, and even though you labeled it as such, I still feel that this was more of a friendship story. Your scene choices were pretty good, although I think you should have had more variety in your scenes. You kept returning to the same parts of the anime, particularly in the first half of the video. This is your story - mix up the scenes and tell it.

Good! Even if I labeled it as such (and that was the initial point), it's good to see that it can be interpreted otherwise. (And I see about your point on the variety of my scenes - I had trouble mainly with Yuki's verse. x_X)

dj_ultima_the_great wrote:- another point on the concept... it was nice that you focused a verse on Yuki, and then one on Kyou, and then both of them. It gives your video a sense of flow and coherency in its story, so well done there.

Did you notice I tried to focus a little on Tohru as well?

My favorite part of the vid. - I wanted it to be through everyone's POV.

Thank you so so much for your review! I'll definately try some of the things you suggested on my next project.

dj_ultima_the_great · Post by **dj_ultima_the_great** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:06 pm

anime_is_good wrote:Ah, well, I neither have money or transportation to go out and get the DVDs (bad otaku!). (Also, what do you mean about my encoding? I'm extremely new to this. ._.; )

Well, this isn't entirely correct, but in the interest of simplicity, I'll say that .wmv tends to be the worst quality you can get for your video. Notice how the clips you used to make your video look a lot cleaner and smoother than the video itself? That has to do with how you compressed/encoded it. I know that Windows Movie Maker does NOT leave you with a lot of options in encoding (I empathize because I made eleven videos with that sucker before I switched to Magix), but there are ways to get your video quality looking great if you're willing to learn.

Before I link you to anything, though, I want to say that you shouldn't worry about fixing this video as much as you should try to apply this stuff to your next video. It's tough to go back and fix what's already been done, but if you start with a clean slate, you'll get off on the right foot.

You should start with this part of the guide, which is designed for WMM2. (If you're using the original WMM and not WMM2 and you're still in-between projects, then you should download and install it.)
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... xport.html

This is going to get you some huge files, but don't worry. Keep on reading and you'll figure out how to get that sweet-looking .avi or .mp4 with a much more reasonable filesize.
Larger filesize, good quality, and computers of all ages and capabilites...
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... /xvid.html
Smaller filesize, higher quality, and some playback issues for older/lesser computers...
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... 64gui.html

Of course, you'll want to go through that full guide to get the lowdown on everything video quality related, but those are the major points. Also, keep in mind that this will all do you a LOT more good if you're using the DVDs in the first place. Fansubs are always worse quality than the DVDs of a series, so you're always starting a few steps behind when you work with them.

Hrm... I hope all that tech stuff helps you more than it confuses you. I know it was tough for me to learn the first time, but it's worth it in the end.

Did you notice I tried to focus a little on Tohru as well? My favorite part of the vid. - I wanted it to be through everyone's POV.

Yup yup, I noticed that. In that part, you actually reminded me of a similar approach that I want to take on a Fruits Basket video I plan on doing somewhere down the road.

I think that's everything. Sorry I got kind of long-winded there. >_>;;

- Jen