WIP-Advice needed to continue:Loveless+Fair to Midland

Feedback on betas & works in progress

Moderator: Forum moderators

Locked
User avatar
JaddziaDax
Crazy Cat Lady!
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2004 6:25 am
Status: I live?
Location: Somewhere I think O.o
Contact:
Org Profile

Post by JaddziaDax » Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:46 pm

Lepidopteran_Productions wrote:I like to wait but, the last time i did that i'm STILL waiting (and my mate who's been waiting just as long after my nice epiphany with the lyrics: Pulled through doorway, and there being a scene of that that i'd overlooked entirely, changing the whole middle thanks ENTIRELY to her and her roommate helping me with advice there...)

Ah stuff like that makes me love constructive criticism ^.^ Even if i can't do mush better than i have, or am completely satisfied with my hard work, even if it isn't spectacular, one well placed comment will still sometimes be enough to give me a fresh start on things. I used to have troubles in school because i'd hate to change stuff- or erase something i'd done, even if i thought of something better. -_- I'm working on getting better about that through AMV's lol.
hehe I can understand not wanting to wait, the first thing I'd suggest is probably get a better editing program, WMM is very limited and there are tricks and whatnot that you can do in less linear programs, and ones that allow for overlays and such.

Also the ability to jump around in my video instead of just starting with the beginning and going to the end has helped me on a mental level because sometimes I get ideas down the road that I want to work on now, but with linear editing you just "can't" do that.

crit became easier for me when I realized it is okay if I disagree with another person's opinion, or the fact that I was allowed to go, "ok, but I like it this way, but I like your idea here." Crit during the editing process is golden to me because I can pick and choose which advise I want to use. Crit after the final version is usually pointless to me, because recently a lot of the crit I've been getting I can't really apply it to other videos. Though I usually "welcome" it anyways. I do like hearing other people's thoughts even if I don't agree with them.

Also there is always the fact that you will never satisfy everyone. Someone will always find something that is "wrong" with your video, even if you or a million other people don't see it as wrong.
I thought about editing in a black jpg (i keep one for just such occasions, or if i want to play around with fading like in my Hisana tribute XP) but ended up playing with random scenes which is why everything of the chorus is not really ... timed at all. It's sortof all practice with timing, fillers instead of just slapping in a black screen there ^^; My WMM was lagging like crazy since i've been using it alot, (and WMM takes little use, and abuse to get angsty imo) and have been running some other programs so i'll go back to my quest to rid myself of the lip flaps in a few more hours. (or i'll just re-start the comp or something or give it a rest)

Do you have any suggestions or tips for that stillness, of having to use plain pics? I want to keep the lengths of the parts, and the scenes themselves, without any of the speaking, but i don't want just.... still images all over the amv ^^; I also played with a few effects, but thought they just detracted more than they helped at those points, so i'm not sure what would be a nice -subtle- but still... something, type of effect that i could use.
If you had another editing program I could direct you to some guides/tips and tricks... but WMM in general only has one video track so using still frames is the best I can offer you right now... aside from cutting those scenes shorter and replacing them with some random scene that has movement to the music.. the still images would at the least keep the same scene without the lipflap... you could always add panning (camera movement) to the still frames?
But if i'm learning as i go (and i still have such a LONG way to go lol XP) i'd prefer to learn -right- so i'm so sorry if i bombard you with questions such as "what's this do" and how can i get better at timing things to the music and beats etc instead of just working on lyric matches....)
Questions are how people learn. If you are asking questions, it shows that you actually want to learn, which is sometimes rare on this site.

A lot of the time when it comes to timing it just comes down to putting on the headphones and just listening very carefully to the music, or playing the song over and over till the whole thing is ingrained into your head. Then try to take the scenes that sync to your lyrics and see how you can use the motion in them to match up with the music.

If WMM had markers or a waveform (I don't remember does it have waveform for the audio?) you could use those to see the beats you want to emphasize. It's really been so long since I've used WMM I don't remember what all it has.
I also have a (is it a bad habit?) of wanting to time things to the undertones in music, or the downbeats? I don't know any of the lingo that would help me to explain what i am meaning here ^^;

I've found a tendency with my amv's where i want to have a beat-then scene right after, so it's like Bam/flash, or so with the timing after on purpose, and i don't know why ^^; Or if that goes against the amv very much. As i said i really don't know much, so i'm full of questions if you don't mind my struggling to explain myself here ^o^
That really depends on the person watching. I tend to do that myself on occasion, and then people tell me my sync is off, I guess I just hear a different flow than some other people do.. Most people believe that you should be syncing to the more obvious sounds that you hear... I'm fairly more liberal on that.
And i wish you the best of luck on your own Loveless vid, i can't wait until it's done and i can watch it ^.^ It's sure to be quality ^.^
Thanks, it will be better quality visually than my last one, cause I've learned a lot since then, I donno about my "editing" quality though XD
I am so bad at getting points across that i'm trying to make though -_-
naw I got what you were saying, you just type a lot.... Wall of text!

User avatar
Lepidopteran_Productions
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:40 pm
Org Profile

Post by Lepidopteran_Productions » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:52 am

Yes. ^.^ I've learned that i either type a little or alot ^o^ One liners, to epics ^^; Ah well, that's just me i guess ^.^

You are very insightful, and helpful btw ^.^

First off... My main dream is one day to be able to properly get a better medium for working with visual stuff ^.^

That unfortunatly, right now is an impossibility, so i have descided to train myself to do the best i can with what i've got, and hope that the practice can help me to be better if, and when i ever AM able to use a real program ^^;

I am currently secretly saving up for a 2 year anniversary-type gift for my mate, that will set me back a good $100 at least, that i must earn without a steady job, and while NOT letting her know about it ^.~ So it will be interesting. Luckily i have a while, but that means no funds going into the piggy-bank for a spiffy new program probably anytime this year ^o^;

someday though ^.~

Also there is always the fact that you will never satisfy everyone. Someone will always find something that is "wrong" with your video, even if you or a million other people don't see it as wrong.
Oh i know this is true. ^.^ I'm just going to try and do the best i can, accept my own limitations, and try to work around them ^o^

When i make stuff like AMV's (this one being slightly atypical as i'm partly making it for my mate and her friend as opposed to JUST for me) i make them for myself, because -I- want to see what i've envisioned in my head, be able to be presented to other people, and if i don't create it it will never exist ^^;

Ironically though with the music, the part that i like the best about this song (indeed the part of the song that made me even like it in the first place (i agree with you about the vocals for the most part, though they're getting pretty ingrained in my head so far ^o^; ) Is the very intro that this amv doesn't have. ^^; I started with the mp3 i had since i had to wait a little longer to actually buy the mp3 (i hate working on stuff if i don't own the music :sweat: Even with manga if i read it online i still usually end up intending to buy in in the future ^^ Which is a good thing i guess) but i didn't realize since i was a little tired when i started it that the nice violin part was missing until i'd edited the beginning the way i actually wanted it ^o^

If i can figure out WHAT to put at the beginning i think i may add it in, otherwise i will definitely be using that version (with the pretty violin-esq intro) for the Final Fantasy amv if i ever end up making it. I thought of that one first, but was taking care of something randomly, and thought of Loveless while the song happened to be still stuck in my head thanks to that intro, and went "wait.... hmm..." Then wanted to work on it for that. ^^;

WMM has a waveform, but it's really hard to tell the shifts at the point i'll be wanting them for a fast paced part, so i'm just kindof just guessing and checking as i go ^^; And going insane. I'm thinking of using manga for this one, even though i was not going to, but i may be needing around 24 different scenes to switch back and forth and manga might be a consideration, as it would at least be good practice for modifying, or trying to make it seem like there's a slight bit of movement with the scenes.

Entirely unsure: my main problem still, is that though i can -see- basically what i want done inside my head, when it comes to trying to put it into a physical form, i just fail. -_-;

If i can modify some more things, and you wouldn't mind listening through the whole song, i might try something with the full version (with the instrumental beginnings... if i'm adding credits (something i rarely do actually do) maybe that would provide an alright opportunity? If i can blend them in somehow? I don't think that will look quite how i'm going for at the moment, but at least you can see what i mean by the violin part that i'm trying to figure out what to do with. Instrumental sections are hard ^^;;;

Also i tend to try and time stuff to like, a turn very slightly on the beat, or a nod of the head on beat etc, but i don't know how noticeable they are ^^; If WMM even manages to save them at the right rate that is so they're still timed the way they had been XP

Should have been sleeping hours ago, so i don't know how coherent this is, and sorry 'bout that ^^;

But i must say that you are amazing with advice ^^; (and constructive criticism = motivation in this case ^o^) So thank you ^.^; (well... motivation after waking up and having some coffee ~.^)

I took your advice... took a break. Drew a horse ^^; Uploaded it via camera phone, and went to edit it, and am still very wary of trying to use the manga scenes, though i know i have to break down and get to it sometime. That's partly what's holding up the Angels AMV too >.> I have to sit down, and figure out WHAT scenes, to modify, and how, to be able to use them in the vids, and well... i'll be needing alot -_- Definitely alot, so i'm trying to think up a story board or such ^^; I'm thinking of setting up a sort of time line of what i have so far (on paper) so i can try and organize things a bit better, from my head to the vid, though i don't know how organized that will be (translating things to writing is NOT one of my stronger points at all) i think that's the only way i may be able to get the scenes set up. Since i hate re-using scenes in an AMV if i don't have to XP (yes, this coming from the person who still wants to make a 4 minute long Hisana tribute with the 2 and a half minutes of footage of her XP And after making 2 amv's already of her around 40 seconds and 1 minute long or so each >.>;; )

Problem is, there are only so many scenes to use, especially if i'm possibly going to need 24 of them for the fast interlude. If I can pull it off without it looking too chaotic. If.
Lepidopteran Productions.

Locked

Return to “Works in Progress”