Suggestions for Finishing a Video Faster

[kaitoujuliet]

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?

[Koopiskeva]

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.


PS. U of I in chicago or UC?

[(NERD Studios) Arturo]

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.

[mckeed]

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.

[The Wired Knight]

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.

[AbsoluteDestiny]

My fave time saver is making the song shorter

[Kusoyaro]

My fave time saver is making the song shorter

Word.

[ShonenDizzyCow]

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.

[NicholasDWolfwood]

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.

[Vlad G Pohnert]

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....

Vlad