Proposal: Program that simplifies AMVs

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danielwang
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Proposal: Program that simplifies AMVs

Post by danielwang » Sun Aug 31, 2003 3:30 pm

FN='Wang Daniel' CN='danielwang' SN='Aryo' OU='IFE' C='US' wrote: 2) That's what I'm using now... however it is cumbersome to repeat the steps of, after source rip of entire DVD, seek, isolate, crop, and drag tiny 1-second fieces ov video into AE.

It's less than 1 month into my next AMV and I'm already feeling the frustration...
( That's a fully qualified ISO-standard object descriptor, used by PKCS, NetInfo and Active Directory )

Isn't it tedious and menial to have to rip the entire DVD's worth of footage, seek to the clips you want, rip, isolate, clip and all the other things such as fixing anamorphic, IVTC, etc? Wouldn't you rather NOT have to worry about your output MPEG's quantize matrix and IBPPBI whatevers?

Here's an idea for a possible app that makes AMVing easy:

Write a program with to integrate VirtualDub, Perfect Audio Copy, AVISynth, SmartRipper, DVD Decrypter, etc. If those apps were .NET compliant, they'd have scripting hooks and methods to input/output data and commands in industry standard format. Unfortunately they're not so let's hope those apps have command line methods.

Develope a scripting method ala AVISynth to run the app and present simple interfacing. Program it with a scalable component-object system that allows for infrastructure expansion (no buzzwords: add capability at a later time)


How it would work:

Hm, let's insert the Escaflowne movie DVD in and get some footage. Windows Media Player pops up and we watch for the footage we want, then pause and use slow seek to try to grab everything we might want.

We click the application, which minizes the WMP windows and uses DCOM RPC whatever scripting hooks to do something like getPlayheadLocation. This method should be supported for each player commonly used (WinDVD, Quicktime etc).

One-click. We rip.

At the end of the AMV, other functions can be performed. For example, if you had to IVTC or you had interlaced (non-progressive, non-film) footage it'll fix that. The app should also perform functions such as One Click Slow My Audio By 4% for those telecined folks, One Click Put It Back The Way It Was, and a variety of other tasks such interfacing to Photoshoppe/AE algorithms for fixing your footage, writing your AVISynth files, encoding and reminding the user that AMVing is supposed to be fun. All of these can be scripted.

If all of the AMV creators used this app (with excellent logging), commonly used apps (with Edit Decision List turned on) and scripted each of their image manipulation, it might even be theoretically possible to store an AMV in 2kb by making the user insert their own DVD and the EDL would rip the footage for them and rebuild. Or not.

It is possible? Would it be worth it? Would it be useful? Or am I just blabbing wishfully?

AE's interface needs a drastic makeover, but that's beyond this scope.
<AE COMPLAINT>
When I hit the 0 button for preview, it goes ahead and renders all of the scratchspace I put in there... if my song is 5 minutes and I have 3 minutes of footage, there's 2 minutes of black screens. I get an annoying tiny build message and a perverted looking cursor that scrolls... and this is what gets me:
If I adjust the volume with my colume knob on the keyboard, it stops!

I also had this problem with Windows Media Player showing the fulllscreen controls when I changed the volume, but I used TweakMP to set it to only show controls when mouse is at bottom or top of screen. How convenient.

Now I have to use software Volume Controls to change the volume! STUPID AE!
</COMPLAINT>
<a href="http://www.animetheory.com/" title="AnimeTheory" class="gensmall">AnimeTheory.</a>
<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/search/ ... %20park%22" title="Seach videos NOT by danielwang" class="gen">Make sure you don't download videos that suck!</a>

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Post by trythil » Sun Aug 31, 2003 4:32 pm

Isn't it tedious and menial to have to rip the entire DVD's worth of footage, seek to the clips you want, rip, isolate, clip and all the other things such as fixing anamorphic, IVTC, etc? Wouldn't you rather NOT have to worry about your output MPEG's quantize matrix and IBPPBI whatevers?
No.

I rather like control.

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Post by post-it » Sun Aug 31, 2003 4:36 pm

to grab - only what you need . . . that's what capture cards are for.

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Post by turboneko » Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:52 am

I work as a developer and let me tell you an interesting story.

We created this beautiful piece of software which does everything you need and much more. What is the price to pay for such flexibility? It needs separate installations for the modules, it requires a bit of knowledge to be configured and some common sense.

Then the boss comes to us and the verdict is:

It is too complicated!! It has to install, configure and run with JUST ONE CLICK! Otherwise we can't sell it!!

We argue, we fight, we explain our reasons... but if you don't want to get fired, just shut up and do as the boss says :roll:

What's the end result?

1) People can't install it because the installation is monolithic and doesn't fit with their set up

2) If they don't have the proper configuration the installer screws up their machine (!)

3) They get frustrated because the vital option is hidden from the wizard

4) Etc, etc, etc...

Now, the story above it's a little bit exagerated... but never, never, never try to do force complex operations to one click only. 99.9% of the time you'll end up doing something nobody can't use because it doesn't do what they want.

Without mentioning that, if you really want to apply yourself into something, then you should honestly spend some time trying to learn what you want to do: knowledge doesn't come for free. If it looks too complicated for you that you don't even want to try to learn it, then probably you are not so interested in the matter.

Again, just 2c of a developer's bitterness :P
You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.

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Post by DriftRoots » Tue Sep 02, 2003 1:24 pm

Yah yah, whittling the pre-AMVing process down to one click or so seems, to me, exactly what shouldn't be done. The people who create crappy AMVs tend to be the ones who don't want to expend the time and effort necessary for a top-notch AMV - aka they don't want to bother with all the programs and configuration settings (I fail to see how anyone serious about making an AMV would say the process is utterly impossible, unless they are five years-old). That said, there's a reason the one-click/easy processes out there produce ugly results - BECAUSE THEY ARE ONE CLICK. Yeesh.

You NEED all those non-one-click steps to get exactly what you want, which may differ from AMV to AMV etc. And once you figure it out, it's not as if it takes a god-awful amount of time. Anyone who expects to make an good AMV in a weekend or two is kidding themselves.

It's just like making a cake! If you want the quick and easy way to get a piece of round fluff that tastes sweet, go out and buy a Pillsbury cake mix and ready-made frosting. Otherwise, if you're wanting to make a cake people will admire and find really tasty, make it from scratch with careful attention to detail.

On a final note, I cannot believe (now that I've started AMVing "for real") how many ugly AMVs there are out there... what the heck, don't people realize that using downloaded footage is BAD BAD BAD!? I'd think that if you were going to go through all the trouble to make an AMV, you'd at least start with the right materials. :shock:

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Post by Tab. » Tue Sep 02, 2003 1:50 pm

Thought about this a little while back in my VB days. Liked the idea of mass fame accompanying it's creation. Realized fame was evil and I should worship the penis instead. Moved on.
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Post by AbsoluteDestiny » Tue Sep 02, 2003 2:55 pm

Tab. wrote:Realized fame was evil and I should worship the penis instead.
*points to Tab's avatar*

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Post by Tab. » Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:12 pm

haven't you heard? Stop means go.
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danielwang
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Post by danielwang » Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:28 pm

Tab. wrote:Thought about this a little while back in my VB days. Liked the idea of mass fame accompanying it's creation. Realized fame was evil and I should worship the penis instead. Moved on.
Ok, then, how about a non-app that simply consists of a scripting core and scripts. Heck, we could even use Visual Basic and .NET to grab scripting hooks...

This gets especially easy on Windows .NET, which (default install) comes with .NET Framework, Perl, and two FREE macro viruses pre-installed.

Script One: Detect video properties and write them down somewhere
mpegprop.exe

Script Two: Rip from a DVD directly to Huffy
Use /etc/fstab (.NET Gundam) or mountvol.exe to get device. DVD will be a letter eg D: (XP) or also /mnt/RahXephon (.NET with Mount Discs As Volume ID trick).
Use command line rippers and stuff from script one to do this.

Script Three: Inverse Telecine
Uh oh, no command line access.

Script Four: DVD or Huffy to MJPEG
I HATE IT WHEN APPS DON'T HAVE COMMAND LINE ACCESS!
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AbsoluteDestiny
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Post by AbsoluteDestiny » Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:30 pm

what app there doesnt have command line access??

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