I want 2 create something like this, But HOW? Where 2 start?

[Yasha-Chan69]

Okay first off I had no clue where to post this so if you can find somewhere to stick it that you think is better, please do so!

Alrighty then, the big one...

I have been making AMV's for about 5 years now. Making them in my head for a lot longer. I found after about 2 years of creation, I had fully mastered all there is to know about my first program, Windows Movie Maker (yes I am an infant I know...) and even started to branch out into ripping my own source files with minimal success and trying to incorporate other effects into WMM, via import, export and various time consuming conversions in different similarly poor "off the shelf" programs. This did, without a doubt, provide a much needed learning experience, though the end results, with constant file compression, conversion and everything made for pretty crappy AMV quality and an overly frustrated editor. The heart behind the ideas was always perfect in my eyes, but the overall finished products where lack luster at best in the video/audio departments.
I have been searching and trying for years to get better, but I have to admit that whenever I have tried to take the next step I find myself too far ahead of myself. I read some things that make my head spin and it is discouraging because I am so far away (or think I am anyway) that I won't ever be able to to do some of the amazing things I have seen done.

Here is one of my favorite AMV's and I would like to make something with similar effects and things. http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... p?v=157061

Some features I really want are things like being able to mask away some of one video clip and overlay it on top of another. This is not possible in WMM and it kills me to only be able to fade one clip into another and that's it...So, Multilayer capability is something I am searching for in a program basically. Preferably allowing at least 2 or 3 layers at a time, maybe more. I have worked for about 2 years in GIMP, teaching myself along the way, for painting,drawing, photo manipulation and what not so I have a pretty good grasp on the concepts of layering, some masking techniques and such. I also have Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, though I have never installed it. It came with my tablet. is this any use to me as an AMV editor or no? I'd like to focus on editing so if it's not going to help me with that, I'd rather not try and learn a new program right now.

My question for you guys is, given reasonable to low financial limitations, and taking into consideration that I have not gone to university to learn anything in regards to editing and that I am just 19 years old, what program/computer (PC or Mac, I am very open) combo for editing would you recommend? I am strongly thinking of switching to a Macbook Pro when I need to get a new computer, despite having been an avid PC person, because I have fallen for my cousins macbook after mastering most of what imovie had to offer in like, an hour. It seemed even less advanced in some areas than the version of WMM I have! That and I hate Vista and will not run it on any new computer I buy, ever. Period. I know Kionon is the resident Mac guru here so I am really hoping I can get some advice...
Just to put this out there, my base computer is an HP Pavillion desktop and it's got an AMD Anthlon 64 Processor 3400+, 2.19GHz. I have upgraded my PC myself before though, I mean I've installed my Wifi card myself, installed RAM (I presently have 1GB), installed a dedicated Video card (NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS), More storage, and a new power source myself. Is building my own PC an option or is this something that i would need a lot more knowledge to accomplish? I've heard it's cheaper to build your own...Can you build your own Mac? Or Build your own Laptops though? I'm a little fuzzy on that I haven't shopped for a new computer since I was 14...

The massive amount of confusion I get when I hear you all talking about Adobe Pro, Vegas, etc and all of these codecs and conversions and everything just boggles the mind. I want to keep up and get their eventually but do I need a college degree in something to understand this stuff? Do I even need a program this advanced to do something like what I posted above? I mean these programs sound great, but I like to learn through trial and error or tutorials with pictures (lol ), and I don't think I am ready for "tinkering" with programs this advanced yet. Based on what I am looking for, is there something between WMM and Adobe Premier Pro that I could get a grasp on in a reasonable amount of time, say a year or so, that won't cost me an arm and a leg and doesn't require liquid cooled super computers to run? This is my hobby after all, not my job, but I dream of making AMV's like some that I have seen at AMV competitions, like the one I posted a link to above. I don't want to win or anything, I doubt I ever could, but being able to sit in a room full of my peers and see my video up on a huge screen, sound blasted through a great sound system is one of my biggest dreams. Even to make it through the prelims and to the finals would give me a heart attack. I am really trying to make my dream come true. but uh...help a girl out? I just don't know where I should go to from where I am at, there are so many facets to this and so many directions to jump...

[Willen]

For a reasonably priced program that can grow with you, I suggest Magix Movie Edit Pro. They're on version 15 now and at least to the end of the week Best Buy has it on sale for $39.99. Amazon.com has it for $35.99. Regularly it sells for $49.99, which is still pretty cheap for what it can do. There's a PLUS version that has more functions and capabilities, but it's obviously more expensive. Amazon also has older versions available for cheaper if you don't need the newer features. I have versions 10 and 11, but I believe that versions up till 13 were essentially the same (14 added the option of PLUS versions).

There is a Trial Version of the regular edition available on the Magix Movie Edit Pro page (click on the Free Trial button on the right).

Practically everything else you need to edit on Windows can be had with the AMVapp (latest version HERE).

As for Photoshop Elements, it's a stripped down version of regular Photoshop and in some ways GIMP is better. Compared to the Elements version, GIMP is WAY better.

[Knowname]

<-- infant?

no, you should look through the 'how can I make my amvs better?' topic for ideas. My best suggestion is learn by cohesion (... even if it involves coercion *_*). It doesn't matter what program you use, even if you use Virtual DUB (it's only basic use is to peice clips together...) you can still make an intelligently made and well accepted amv through time, dedication... and a little bribery...

[Kionon]

I has been summoned.

I'm on vacation in America for the next week, so I am not paying attention to any of my forums, really, and I haven't been on IRC much either for the same reason. It's a working vacation, as I have a lot of errands to run regarding post-grad stuff, as well, as dental, medical, optical... etc. Stuff I just didn't want to do in Japan because my Japanese is not good enough to follow Japanese medical terminology. What that means is: sorry I didn't respond sooner.

Let's take your questions in reverse:

Can I build my own macintosh?

Short answer? Absolutely. Psystar even tried to make a business out of it. By looking on various easily accessible websites, you can find a list of supported hardware that will allow you to either do a retail install (which I recommend, as you are purchasing a copy of OS X legally, and actually using that exact copy to install) using a bootloader, or a distro install (a pre-built image by a group, like Kalyway, Leo4All, iDeneb, etc). If you do a distro install, I would STILL recommend you purchase a copy of OS X, because otherwise it is piracy, and we here at the org frown on piracy. If you purchase a copy of OS X, you have paid your money, and met your ethical obligation. Apple can bitch and moan about violation of EULA all they want; what you have done is not piracy, and in many states, and some countries, the EULA is not legally enforceable (Japan, as a good example, because even politicians recognise the pure absurdity of not allowing you to do what you will on your own system with software you purchased). I have been successfully running Leopard on a self-built shuttle PC for a year now. No crashes, no hiccups. Do your research and you'll be fine.

Can it be a laptop?

Yes, but it comes with a number of issues because you need to find out as much about the hardware in macbooks as possible. I know the Sony Vaio FX- Series is a macbook clone and that many people have had good results installing OS X. Again, I would read over the easily accessible sites, as there are tutorials for successful installs in specific PC notebooks. You may be required to apply patches, locate kexts (equivalent to DLLs, sort of) or even write your own. This isn't difficult (I wrote my own video kext for my shuttle, and uhm, yeah, dammit Jim, I'm a teacher, not a programmer), but it is something extra to think about.

Is there an advantage to getting a macbook?

With my bias being understood from the start, I would say yes, if you intend on running OS X. Obviously, you'll get no support at all from Apple if you don't own a mac. Breaking your EULA might be illegal, but might not, and probably isn't enforceable, but that doesn't mean Apple is going to clap you on the back and help you after you do. The sites I refer to can sometimes have a steep learning curve, and if you think the org is overtly hostile or overly critical of newcomers, the OSx86 community can seem downright draconian, insular, and lacking any tolerance of the inability, initial or otherwise, to know what questions to ask, and how to ask them. You will find even less tolerance of beginners on the associated IRC channels. I'll help all I can, but I am definitely a "want it to just work" user, and as such, would rather have the real thing so I do not need to go through overly complicated installation procedures, apply patches, or write my own kexts, and my knowledge is limited to the research I have done to get my shuttle up and running. I know only about my own hardware profile; I am not an encyclopedia of what will and will not work with OSx86 or what will or will not require writing your own kexts. I also won't do the research for you. I expect my thirteen year olds to do their own work, I have even less patience and less tolerance for hand-holding when it comes to adults acting within a hobby. If you need something that works from the moment you press the on button, and that's that, then I recommend you bite the cost bullet and get a macbook. If part of the allure of this hobby is because you enjoy tinkering, and like being able to say, "haha, it was difficult, but I eventually did it!" then perhaps buying a macbook might not be as fun.

What software should I use?

This is answered already elsewhere. Read the So You Wanna sticky, as well as the stickies in the Mac Section.

Feel free to ask any other questions, but make sure they are questions that google won't answer in 30 milliseconds.

[Zarxrax]

The pc you have should be sufficient for editing. I would recommend a PC over a mac, but whatever floats your boat, a mac is mostly ok too.
Building a PC isn't difficult, its mostly just a matter of putting pieces into their slots, and hooking up some cables. You say you've made some minor upgrades yourself. Its pretty much the same thing... just more of it. Of course, when you are trying to force a $300 processor into its slot and it wont seem to go, and you aren't sure how hard you need to push... it can be a bit scary :p

As for software, Premiere, Vegas, Magix, those are the main ones. Try the demos and see what you like better. There are fairly cheap versions of all of them available.

You don't need to go to school to do any of this. I started editing with Adobe Premiere 6.5 on a 650mhz machine 8 years ago. There were no guides for making AMVs, and I had no idea what I was doing. I just did it, and learned as I went. That's all there is to it.

[gotenks794]

Step 1. Buy a Mac Pro and the newly released FCS3
Step 2. Edit
Step 3. ??????
Step 4. Profit!

Always works for me

[Kariudo]

If you're looking for not costing an arm and a leg...I'd shy away from Macs (which cost an arm and two legs last time I looked...but at least that still leaves you with an arm to use the mousepad with).

Magix is cheap, and Vegas is a little more expensive (but still reasonable), like Zarxrax said, get the trials and decide which one you like the best.

You'll pick up on the terms and stuff in time, as well as the editing program you end up choosing (you really don't need to have any education for this stuff. In fact, I think the number of regulars here that haven't had any formal editing coursework outnumber those who have.) There is a lot of information here, and if you have questions, there is probably at least one person who has an answer (though using forum search first may be wise)

As a side note, my laptop is very similar to yours (Athlon64 3200+, 1GB ram, got it back in 2005) and Premiere Pro 1.5 runs just fine on it. It was a bit more of a push, but even when my laptop had 512MB of ram, Premiere pro ran fine.

[Niotex]

Step 1. Buy a Mac Pro and the newly released FCS3
Step 2. Edit
Step 3. ??????
Step 4. Profit!

Always works for me