Just because your song is five minutes long,

[Niotex]

uhm... I never did it... <.<"

*hides*

[Beowulf]

Audio editing is a non-issue. There is really nothing to debate, or they're shouldn't be. The people actually posting a legitimate debate here are arguing over different things.

If you make a video that is purely a visual extension of the song, audio editing loses its point.

If you make a video that becomes its own unique entity that begins to conflict with sections of your audio, cut those sections.

If your video is completely dissasosiated with its video, whether it be theme, style, action, or mood, the audio can be cut, scratched, switched, or completely done away with.

If your video is strictly trying to tell the story of the song, and you can't match Naruto to the verse about geting cancer one day and tragically dying, cut that verse.

If you are using a song that is very near and dear to you, you wouldn't be inclined to cut the audio, as you have respect for it, and the atmosphere it creates along with your video.

I'd say about the only blanket rule to audio editing is that there is no blanket rule. Every single situation is its own unique situation and is handled on a case by case basis. You could probably find a video to prove and disprove each of those points many times over.

[1stAgent]

After reading through this whole damn thread, I found a glaring point that hasn't been raised yet:

I have no problem with editing audio, as long as you do it *well*.

Just like many other effects, transparency is the important part. If people don't notice it, it doesn't count! If you fade out before the actual end of the song or cut out the build-up to the big crescendo, more often than not people will notice and everyone will have fits about butchering the music. If you quietly snip out a guitar solo or inappropriate verse and chorus and it still sounds coherent, then more power to you. Anyone who makes a transparent cut in the middle of the song wins points with me, because it tells me that they thought this through. The only good audio edits are made before the video editing begins.

Best example I can think of is Odorikuruu. There are about three places in that song where major sections were taken out. In all, about a minute of the song was cut out. Besides the "Shinji's walkman" section, who here noticed any editing? That tells me that the creator analyzed the song, recognized parts that could be done without, and took them out before editing. And that's for a mindless dance video.

The other point I wanted to make is that the song's popularity may come into play. If it's a song not too many people know, editing audio is easier to get away with. If it's an extremely popular song and everybody knows that there's a bitchin' guitar solo in the middle of it, said bitchin' guitar solo better be there. That being said, never underestimate the power of radio edits: I once downloaded a video to "Semi-Charmed" by Third Eye Blind that would have been much better using the original radio edit that cuts the entire bridge out.

[JaddziaDax]

Can anyone post any good examples of where two or more songs have been combined in an AMV? (I don't mean an AMV with more than one song, I mean that the two songs are overlayed or otherwise mixed together.)

Under Ice, though I dont think Scintilla mixed the song... its still a great vid

[808-buma]

After reading through this whole damn thread, I found a glaring point that hasn't been raised yet:

I have no problem with editing audio, as long as you do it *well*.

Yes, I think that this is a very good point! I try to make my musical edits seamless so that it isn't very obvious to a fan of the music that there are edits in the song - if it sounds bad, or out of place, it isn't done correctly. I think with the exception of 2 vids, I've edited nearly every song I've used (2 for time constraints for MEP work, and the others to remove repeditive areas or areas that didn't fit with my vision of the story being told).

I think that if done well, editing of music is just another tool in my AMV bag to tell the story I am trying to create. It should be done just as well as possilbe so that it doesn't distract from the tale being told. If it does, then you've done something wrong.

[Adv1sor]

Under Ice, though I dont think Scintilla mixed the song... its still a great vid

This is good!

But I think you are right in that Scintilla didn't mix the songs.

So, again my question, surely someone with better editing skills than me has mixed together two or more songs to create something new? Is my latest AMV the only real example of this?

[amvwizard]

I would think the reason they don't edit it is because they like the song... People that would listen to a edited version of song that have heard the original before would be like "wtf is this it dosen't sound the same".

[xoverburnx]

doesn't mean your AMV needs to be.

Why is it that so many AMV editors never edit the music?

Because editing the song in an AMV is retarded.

I feel that if you can't use the whole song in an AMV (the ones that use only one song) then don't use that song.

I Disagree. What kind of ignorant answer is that?

[xoverburnx]

After reading this thread, the only people that complain about editing music are the ones that don't know how to do it!

Maybe its not fair for me to be in here, I deejay.

[Cornwiggle]

doesn't mean your AMV needs to be.

Why is it that so many AMV editors never edit the music?

Because editing the song in an AMV is retarded.

I feel that if you can't use the whole song in an AMV (the ones that use only one song) then don't use that song.

I Disagree. What kind of ignorant answer is that?

If you can't use the WHOLE song, then don't use it.

And I'm not talking about those multi-vids, I'm talking about the kind of genre of AMV I like, the ones that focus on something with ONE song. Editing the song down because you can't do the whole thing, means you should find another. That's how I think.