when should FX go inta a project?

[basterd!!]

i didn't mean for that to sound arrogant or anything, its just that i basically agree that fx should be used to advance the video, not detract from whatever anime subject it contains.

i did like the idea of the one anime character pushing another off, in fact i was already going ti have the featured character in my video "fighting" other characters from other animes during the credits.

[rose4emily]

I think it should probably be thought of as a matter of "effects" vs. "processing". I know I'm getting into semantics, but let's just say, for the moment, that "effects" are things added to change the look of something that aren't an integral part of what it is - and that "processing" is what you do when the footage you want is something that can't exist without that processing.

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Let's say that the following two videos are "effects videos" - videos that contain a lot of effects but would probably still make perfect sense without them:

Bogosort - It's Tricky (to make a music video)
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... hp?v=17794

AbsoluteDestiny - Shameless Rock Video
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... php?v=8259

And let's also say that the following two videos are "processed videos" - videos that really couldn't have been done without all of the special processing in them:

AbsoluteDestiny - Arima Shinjikun
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... php?v=9702

Scintilla - Eva Bebop
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... hp?v=36860

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All of these are great videos, that I think you should watch if you haven't yet seen them, and I think they illustrate both of the points I'm going to make:

1) when using effects, decide beforehand if you are using them as a matter of style (as was done for "It's Tricky" and the "Shameless Rock Video", or every VicBond007 video I can think of, for that matter), or as a means for creating footage that doesn't exist (as was done for "Arima Shinjikun" and "Eva Bebop" - or "Tainted Donuts", for that matter).

This should help you determine how much emphasis you need to put on the effects when you are developing the video concept, and whether you need to apply the effects right off, as you go along, or after you've finished with everything else. It should also help you to decide what sort of effect you should and shouldn't use - as a "processed video" like "Arima Shinjikun" or "Eva Bebop" would hardly be improved (and would probably be ruined) by a lot of flashing and funky colormaps, while "It's Tricky" and "Shameless Rock" definately benefited from them stylisticly, even though they could have been done without them.

2) It's possible for a good video to be produced through either approach. There aren't a lot of bad "effectsy" videos because effects are bad, but because they are poorly chosen, overdone, or otherwise misused. An "effects video" shouldn't rely on effects for things like timing and thematic content - though it might have to make its effects work with these things as well, and a "processed video" has to be exceptionally well thought-out and carefully executed if the editor is going to get away with it - with every bit of processing thought of in terms of "how will this work with the underlying footage" and "what will it contibute to the theme of my video".

As has been said, one way or another, a thousand times in this forum - effects can't make a bad video good, but they can have the potential to make a good video great (or terrrible, if mis-applied). Sometimes they are the only way to pull of a great concept that couldn't be done without them. You just have to figure out what you're working on beforehand and decide what role they would play in your video.

[DrngdKreationz]

Sometimes they are the only way to pull of a great concept that couldn't be done without them. You just have to figure out what you're working on beforehand and decide what role they would play in your video.

Agreed

Basically my point of view of when they can be used... and thats Anywhere, especially the more complex the Design of your video goes. I usuallly lay out the design first or concept first. then lay out the source footage on its own, and then integrate them together as a final step. but either way you keep working from more basic to more complex the closer you get to the final cut of your video.

thats just my .02 on the topic of effects.

[Gepetto]

What I do is, I get a basic, general idea of how I want each scene to tur out and I do the details as I go along, which means I add the effects immediately. Sometimes I have a different idea and completely change what I've done so far...

The main thing is, a video with no effects can still be good, but if you put in too many effects and not do it right, itll hopelessly suck. Beware of the evil effects, use only the good ones.

[rose4emily]

Beware of the evil effects, use only the good ones.

Even then, there are some that almost always look stupid, but sometimes are just right.

Take the "picture dissolves as random squares" effect that, in most situations, screams "this video might as well have be a PowerPoint presenation".

See it, in a different context, in Otohiko's "The Wasteland". Here it actually is put to very good use in playing off of the texture of a particular instrument's (something chime-like) sound. It is also used very sparingly, which keeps it from getting old or looking like something that was put there "just because". While I personally think the best-placed "effect" in that video was a simple color saturation curve that made the seas turn from grey to red with a swell in the music, even the "PowerPoint squares" manage to serve a purpose.

And I think that the difference between a good effect and a bad effect isn't so much the effect itself, as it is whether the effect serves a purpose. I will say, however, that something like a crossfade is pretty hard to misuse - while something really ostentatious like a flash to color negative or a picture dissolving in squares does lend itself less to appropriate use than it does to abuse, by sheer virtue of the fact that there aren't too many sounds or images that call for or complement the use of such effects.

[bum]

Im having a complication with my current video. The first half has alot of piano keys, timed to the beat of the music. But i gradualy use them less and go more with basic crossfade transitions. The problem with this is that it distrupts that smoth sence of cotinuity in my vid. I'l probably just end up inserting a few piano keys towards the second half to try and even things out. One thing that i've learnt from this is to beter plan my video first.

[Gepetto]

Beware of the evil effects, use only the good ones.

Even then, there are some that almost always look stupid, but sometimes are just right.

Take the "picture dissolves as random squares" effect that, in most situations, screams "this video might as well have be a PowerPoint presenation".

See it, in a different context, in Otohiko's "The Wasteland". Here it actually is put to very good use in playing off of the texture of a particular instrument's (something chime-like) sound. It is also used very sparingly, which keeps it from getting old or looking like something that was put there "just because". While I personally think the best-placed "effect" in that video was a simple color saturation curve that made the seas turn from grey to red with a swell in the music, even the "PowerPoint squares" manage to serve a purpose.

And I think that the difference between a good effect and a bad effect isn't so much the effect itself, as it is whether the effect serves a purpose. I will say, however, that something like a crossfade is pretty hard to misuse - while something really ostentatious like a flash to color negative or a picture dissolving in squares does lend itself less to appropriate use than it does to abuse, by sheer virtue of the fact that there aren't too many sounds or images that call for or complement the use of such effects.

It's important to keep in mind that when making an AMV, "good" and "bad" are context-sensitive words. Like you said, the effect should serve a purpose, but if it serves a purpose and conflicts with the rest of the video, then you should find an alternative.

It's also important never to overuse an effect, even if it seems perfect for every scene in your video. Even a great, purposeful effect can be tiring if overused.