Noobie AMV pitfalls - advice from the veterans?

Org Profile · Post by **808-buma** » Sat May 07, 2005 1:37 pm

Hello all,
well, of course being a noobie at AMV's, I've read a lot of the technical 'how to' files here on a-m-v.org and want to thank the authors for their work. Without them, a lot of us would be completely lost in a sea of video files and strange programs without any ideas of how to use them.

But this post isn't your typical 'how do you make an AMV', but rather, what do the more veteran members think are common mistakes, pitfalls, cliches, faux pas, etc that you see in first-time AMV's? What makes you eyes

when you see it, or ask yourself "oh crap, not another [fill in the blank] again...<delete file>"

How about technical aspect mistakes?

Basically, looking for ways to not make my first AMV look like a first AMV...

and thanks in advance

AquaSky · Post by **AquaSky** » Sat May 07, 2005 2:10 pm

A few of the mistakes I've seen in first videos :
- Subtitles. Using downloaded footage in itself is a no-no, but even moreso if you leave the subtitles in. That's just lazy.
- DivX logo (or fansub group/GameSpot logos). If you follow the compression guide, you should be DivX logo-free. As in the above case, if you're using downloaded footage and it's got a logo, crop it out or use LogoAway.
- Lip flap. Unless you're lip-syncing, having mouths moving is distracting from your video.
- Rough or no deinterlacing/IVTC. Some scripts work better than others, so it's important to experiment to find which gives you the best results.
- Off timing. Pay careful attention to the beats and be consistent.

Those are the most prevalent ones I've come across, anyhow.

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Sat May 07, 2005 2:40 pm

Make sure to compress your audio.

CHAMELEON_D_H · Post by **CHAMELEON_D_H** » Sat May 07, 2005 2:42 pm

bad quality.... it might sound weird, but some AMV's have worst quality than digi-fansubs.... even for a n00b following the guides, DVD quality can be achived.....

godix · Post by **godix** » Sat May 07, 2005 3:02 pm

One mistake I've noticed from time to time, someone reads all the technical guides and software help forums and actually pays attention to what they read so their quality is actually decent. Unfortunately are so god awful annoying the video is unwatchable because they haven't yet learned why you shouldn't do a pure white flash every single drum beat of the entire freaking song. If you've digested all the 'how-to' guides around start asking yourself the 'ok, now why do it?' before throwing around effects.

dokool · Post by **dokool** » Sat May 07, 2005 3:22 pm

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... hp?v=41561

Watch this video. It covers everything.

bum · Post by **bum** » Sat May 07, 2005 7:38 pm

listen to dokool. He's a wise person who denies that his trip to japan had anything to do with the amount of asian schoolgirls their.

jasper-isis · Post by **jasper-isis** » Sat May 07, 2005 8:00 pm

Empty black bars (borders) and noisy edges. Especially the latter. Crop them out for online distro, please.

And I agree with VegettoEX's video, especially that bit about the orphan frames.

dokool · Post by **dokool** » Sat May 07, 2005 8:46 pm

bum wrote:listen to dokool. He's a wise person who denies that his trip to japan had anything to do with the amount of asian schoolgirls their.

I've never even been accused of that connection, how could I deny it

Besides, they all have chlamydia...

megaman917 · Post by **megaman917** » Sat May 07, 2005 8:51 pm

One major pitfall is when the song you use doesn't relate to the anime used in the video in any way.

Keep in mind: Even if you follow all of the guides and everyone's advice, it doesn't necessarily mean that your videos will be good. And even if you don't follow the guides and everyone's advice, it doesn't necessarily mean that your videos will be bad. Always keep in mind what you want you want your video to look like, always try to show originality, and avoid using the over used.