Lets put a stop to bad amvs! Start here!

guy07 · Post by **guy07** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:15 pm

Dear amvers, I’v seen a lot of vids that are so close to perfect it’s funny, BUT a lot of u tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. So I’m making this topic to help all out. Here’s a few things I’v learned in my years of AMV making (but haven’t always fallowed, lol). These are tips from me, but if u have some u want to add, feel free to or if u don’t agree with one of them, feel free to argue ur point.

-WMV files: If u don’t use WMM but still use wmv, please stop. It will lower your hit rates because others will think it was made with wmm. Also, the compression is much better in avi, please use .avi or another file type.

-Subtitles: A big no-no, even if you are using wmm there is no excuse for subtitles. Please crop them out, or if u have wmm or something with out crop, either rip ur own footage, get raws or send ur vid to someone with a more advanced program to crop the vid for u.

-Aspect ratio: If the series was done in 3:4, then render it so. Don’t squish the picture. Also for other ratios, if you are using letter boxing, then make it 3:4 and if not use what looks right. Avoid letter boxing if possible, unless u need it for a con entry or something.

-Lip synch: If there arn't lyrics going on, lips shouldn't be moving. Take time with lip synch if ur gonna use it, nobody likes bad lip synch, make sure to count the syllables in the lyrics and make the mouth open and close the same amount of times, the rest of the timing is all speed up and slow down.

-Beta testing: I cannot stress the importance of beta testing. Always show people your vid and ask for feed back BEFORE posting it. Wether it’s a friend or u have to YSI it to someone. So many mistakes can be fixed with beta testing because some mistakes u don’t notice till u upload, then someone points it out to u and then u have to fix it and upload it again, just beta it to a few people to stop this problem.

-Quality: Quality is key, especially video. Don’t worry if ur file size it a bit bigger, nobody’s gonna want to dl it at all if the video quality sucks. USE THE SAME SOURCE FOR EACH VID. I see so many vids where the video quality and aspect ratio are allover the place because people use so many different sources for their vids. And remember to compress ur audio if u can, PCM uncompressed takes up a lot of waste space. 128 kb/s is usually best. Most file sizes should be between 40-60 Mbs if done right. Use 23 fps if possible, it doesn’t really affect the output much and save a lot of file space. U almost never need a bit rate of over 2500kb/s.

These are my tips. U can lean more advanced stuff and more info go to the Guides section of the site. That’s it for now.
Post away with more tips or comments. Excuse any spelling or grammar errors, i suck at that stuff.

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:24 pm

how many people on the org do you think actually read the forums?

not enough imo... and even less are forum regulars.

actually WMV may lower your hit rates (especially from active forum members) but it will raise your star rating... newbs are put off by avi cause 90% of the time they have to download this thing called a "codec" and install it just to see a video, and lots like to complain thats too much of a problem for them to do so... and newbs tend to give higher star ratings than vetrans.

you can still produce an AVI file with WMM2 you just gotta know how.

Prodigi · Post by **Prodigi** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:34 pm

actually when using .wmv you can get some of the best quality to file size ratio, you just need to know how to use it.

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... rmats.html

NMEisMIA · Post by **NMEisMIA** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:36 pm

The only way to ever stop bad AMVs is to let no one but me make them.

mexicanjunior · Post by **mexicanjunior** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:40 pm

guy07 wrote:
-Aspect ratio: If the series was done in 3:4, then render it so. .

???

Like the defense...3 down lineman - 4 linebackers?

guy07 · Post by **guy07** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:24 pm

I don't no, Xvid is pretty awsm. Yeah more people should read or at least VISIT the forms ....and more should read the guides ...and somethin like that MJ. well said *gives u points*

Jayn_Newell · Post by **Jayn_Newell** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:29 pm

JaddziaDax wrote:you can still produce an AVI file with WMM2 you just gotta know how.

Is there a guide somewhere on this? I'm hoping to upgrade to something (anything) else soon, but when I first started using WMM I did look to see what options there were for file types--it looked to me like it was either .wmv or a 900 meg .avi.

I must admit I'm a little bothered that people won't look at a video they think is made in WMM. I understand it, but as someone who wants more feedback on how to improve, it's aggravating to have a vid up with under 100 hits in 2 months.

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:38 pm

Jayn_Newell wrote:
JaddziaDax wrote:you can still produce an AVI file with WMM2 you just gotta know how.
Is there a guide somewhere on this? I'm hoping to upgrade to something (anything) else soon, but when I first started using WMM I did look to see what options there were for file types--it looked to me like it was either .wmv or a 900 meg .avi.

I must admit I'm a little bothered that people won't look at a video they think is made in WMM. I understand it, but as someone who wants more feedback on how to improve, it's aggravating to have a vid up with under 100 hits in 2 months.

content also helps, ive released WMVs that have gotten 100 downloads in a couple days....

thing is you render in that 900mb avi then you compress it... most of my avis from Vegas come out to about 1-2gb, its all in the compression...

all of these links are taken from this guide:
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/

importing to wmm2:
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... setup.html

exporting from wmm2:
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... xport.html

but you will also need to look to the amv app for virtual dub mod (or download virtual dub itself):
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... mvapp.html

and shorthand compression Xvid (using vdub mod):
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/xvid.html

and be sure to compress your audio... links to that are in the Xvid guide.

hope that helps

(and if you want to clean up the quality anymore then you will want to learn avisynth)

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:07 pm

Well, you're missing the point here. The glut of bad videos make the good ones look that much better by comparison. And that's what the concept of "good" ultimately boils down to - a comparitor.

guy07 · Post by **guy07** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:09 pm

i think wmm attracts lazy editors. they spend like 3 hours editing then say "i'm at the end of the song, guess i'm done" then render it. more advanced programs give u more options and challenge u more. i still have of yet to get around to learning vdub and avisynth. i'v used avisynch before but all i did was convert a .vob file to avi or something.

AnimeMusicVideos.org

Lets put a stop to bad amvs! Start here!

Lets put a stop to bad amvs! Start here!

Re: Lets put a stop to bad amvs! Start here!