the effect connection

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:46 am

The best place to use a visual effect is where there's a sound effect as well. When I made my Scryed AMV, I knew I had found my first use ever for a visual effect I had recently invented when I heard the shattering noises at the end of the song.

That video, by the way, is to be found here:

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... hp?v=19821

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 2:25 am

Rorschach wrote:The best place to use a visual effect is where there's a sound effect as well.

I love that method (or motto, whatever) - sound effects that don't quite get shown by using the source footage alone. But what do you do when the entire song track is riddled with odd sounds and patterns that just beg for effects? Effects vid? ^_^

I'm afraid of effects. I rarely like vids that have more effects than clean footage, and using them too much feels forced and fake with me. Call it my main weak spot - I don't like unnecessary effects.

DJ_Izumi · Post by **DJ_Izumi** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 2:27 am

Arigatomyna wrote:I rarely like vids that have more effects than clean footage, and using them too much feels forced and fake with me.

This is why Euphoria and others bored the HELL out of me.

Remember 3 years ago when a good video involved knowing where to put cuts, fades, and picking the right scene was all that mattered? :/

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 2:35 am

DJ_Izumi wrote:
Arigatomyna wrote:I rarely like vids that have more effects than clean footage, and using them too much feels forced and fake with me.
This is why Euphoria and others bored the HELL out of me.

I liked the story, but effects were just too much for me. ~_~

Remember 3 years ago when a good video involved knowing where to put cuts, fades, and picking the right scene was all that mattered? :/

Heh, 3 years ago I didn't recognize effects unless I'd seen the source footage. I rarely watched vids for anime I didn't know. Now that I watch a lot, and effects just distract me unless it's an action vid meant to be flashy to begin with (or light effects for drama - some don't bother me at all).

As for my own vids - transitions? I've used maybe 3 transitions, one I never used again (so phony looking), the other I used twice in a single vid (horribly phony looking) - fade to/out is the only one I like, and you can do that without using an actual 'effect' button. The only time I like using effects is with 'quick' vids where it merely emphasizes certain beats instead of taking over the video. If I see the effect instead of the footage, the pace has to be more important than the content - otherwise it's just a pretty/flashy distraction from the story.

SSJVegita0609 · Post by **SSJVegita0609** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 2:46 am

I use effects only if they add on to the concept of what I'm trying to do (I.E. be wacky in FTS or flow in Weakness Apart). I don't mind them so much in general though, most of my favorite vids are very effects laiden, but I find that most of them actually use them to add to the effect of the video as well.

Pwolf · Post by **Pwolf** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 3:55 am

DJ_Izumi wrote: This is why Euphoria and others bored the HELL out of me.

Remember 3 years ago when a good video involved knowing where to put cuts, fades, and picking the right scene was all that mattered? :/

well the effects in euphoria were there to add to the concept of the video. IMO the video would've sucked without them.

simple cuts and fades still produce awesome videos. but people want to branch out of the "normal" and do new things. The matrix's bullet time effect was very cool when the movie first came out, but now it's so common, movies that use similar effects can be seen as not so great. same thing goes with the effects we see in AMVs. the "piano keys" effect is common and was pretty cool at first. but i almsot hate seeing it now.

Pwolf

Dannywilson · Post by **Dannywilson** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 5:01 am

Pwolf wrote: well the effects in euphoria were there to add to the concept of the video. IMO the video would've sucked without them.

No offense to Koop, but this is exactly how I feel. The effects made the vid; without them there isn't much substance.

Illia Sadri · Post by **Illia Sadri** » Sun Dec 14, 2003 10:23 am

Well the problem is that there are simply countless of the ultra flashy special effects videos out there. And so many of them are becoming predictible. White flash on the beat, repeat on next hard drum.... faster tempo, every beat quickly flash between two or more characters....

Now that is not to say they should be forbidden. Some of the nicest effects I have ever seen have been very subtle yet appropriate ones. This Ai Yori Aoshi video I had submitted to Kazecon's contest had this great opening sequence of holding the picture and perfectly integrated a moving scene of the train in it. It was beautiful. Not flashy by any means but that worked well for what it was attempting to do.

This is what I prefer when I actually find the time to edit. Subtle effects is nice. Before even coming up with a video..... I listen to a song and if I can simply see the entire video then I will try to make it. I usually visualize how I want things to look for the most part and try to make it work. Unfortunately, that can add a lot of time as when I do an effect.... Or some oddball lipsynch of too many characters...... it means Photoshop. heh heh

But I think the day and age has really passed on the special effects video. Sure when someone first managed to make it work for a Lain video it was quite nice. Unfortunately, a few years later and well.... can we get a video that uses SOME footage?

OtakuMegane · Post by **OtakuMegane** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 3:34 am

I stay away from effects for the most part because I know I can't use them very well. I use short or subtle fades, and might use Photoshop to do a one-time effect for a particular scene, but that's about it. If I tried anything more complicated, I'd either torture myself for about 2 weeks trying to make it "feel" right, then give up, or go overboard entirely.

Many animes, especially ones with good action or fights, are their own effects if you cut the footage right. It's a definite challenge, but the result can look more natural than even the best-applied effect might.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 7:51 am

Arigatomyna wrote:
I love that method (or motto, whatever) - sound effects that don't quite get shown by using the source footage alone. But what do you do when the entire song track is riddled with odd sounds and patterns that just beg for effects? Effects vid? ^_^

I'm afraid of effects. I rarely like vids that have more effects than clean footage, and using them too much feels forced and fake with me. Call it my main weak spot - I don't like unnecessary effects.

Well, when you get a bunch in a row, that's when you do what you "feel." In Feanor's "Center of the Sun," I'm sure he could have used watery distortion effects to match the bizarre music, but the plain footage he chose instead, a maneuver through the city's endless skyscrapers and high-rise steel beams, gives a far better "feel" for the atmosphere of convolution the music implies than any digital effect would have. I'm not big on effects myself, but it's worth remembering that the placement of the footage is an effect in itself; like the rest, it was put there to match the music and lyrics. For that matter, the very reason we do all this editing and compiling in the first place is because "the music reminded me of [anime name here]" and we're trying to show just why it reminded us of that.

The main trick is simply to remember that effects are a means to an end, and not an end in themselves. If they serve the end (that is, if they pull on the heartstrings or the funny bone), fine. If not, find some other means. Gratuitous effects, like the gratuitous scantily-clad women MTV has in such abundance these days, may very well be the ruin of our works. Weed them out!