to sync or not to sync??

Knowname · Post by **Knowname** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:20 pm

(amv creators,) Ever had a video that just wouldn't be improved by you syncing it? Or am I just being LAZY.

Even worse, had you ever seen a video (or a single scene) that got WORSE just by you moveing the speed of the scenes back and forth so it'd fall on that beat. What's my point?? Well, I'm wondering if anybody else thinks that a (drama) video can just have TOO much sync/ TOO much fades or TOO many hit beats? I think that Drama vids shouldn't really be synced at all. I found if you place your scenes right and use the appropriate length fades (I prefer short ones cuz you CAN have too many fades, 10 sec ones are hardly noticeable, 15 secs just bareley, but anything more, you'd better have a DARNED good reason for it ;p) you should be able to just skip the syncing! Drama isn't THAT sync dependant anyway. Not like dance or action. I'd also like to say 'if you just can't sync it, use a fade!! BUT beware of TOO many fades (or dirty cuts due to fade over-run).'

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:36 pm

I think it depends on the scene and the mood. And whether there are lyrics playing slower than the beats beneath them. Like if the section had 8 beats you could sync to, you'd only use 4 of them, or 2 of them, or even one stretching over the entire 8 for a dramatic scene. There's still sync. It's just not as tight so you don't get as much shifting to distract from what you're looking at.

Of course, I've never done that without getting at least one person who called the editing 'loose' for "missing" those beats. Even if you ignore them on purpose, someone is going to figure you just missed them because your sync isn't tight enough. I figure if it's considered lazy to intentionally edit your amv the way you want, that's fine. Sloth is only a sin for religious people, after all.

Pwolf · Post by **Pwolf** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:39 pm

there are different ways to sync and different "things" to sync to. Without any kind of sync yuo wouldn't have anything worth watching. it would be too random or hard to follow.

Pwolf

x_rex30 · Post by **x_rex30** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:43 pm

Go with the flow or build up in the music.. it doesn't always have to be matching every beat. I've disliked videos because they try to focus on matching beat synch.. and I end up just staring at a bunch of basic beat synch. There is other elements to have in your video like to have the footage match the audio.. match the mood.. have the expression go with the feeling/expression in the audio. Hitting strong beats can be important depending on what your going for. In Pwolfs as the world crashes down videos, there are parts in it with a strong bass beat and when it transitions to another scenes, it just does wonder to the over all emotion that comes from it. That specific part in the video seemed so strong and the scenes used really tear jerked me.

So no.. it's not all about basic beat synch. There is so much elements to match to just have a keen eye for being perceptive on what types of themes you want to go for. Don't buy all the hype. Their is more to editing than what is explained in the guides IMO.

Or not and everything you need is their.

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:54 pm

i tend to sync what feels right... and aparently things that are 1. not there and only in my head, or 2. to the vocalist.... (which tends to slow down alot of my edits, therefore my sync isnt "tight" enough)

i have to agree with what ari said though, sometimes when you intentionally ignore beats some people will tell you that youre being lazy... but such is life... i donno....

its your vid make it how you want i suppose.

x_rex30 · Post by **x_rex30** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:01 pm

Arigatomina wrote:Of course, I've never done that without getting at least one person who called the editing 'loose' for "missing" those beats. Even if you ignore them on purpose, someone is going to figure you just missed them because your sync isn't tight enough. I figure if it's considered lazy to intentionally edit your amv the way you want, that's fine. Sloth is only a sin for religious people, after all.

I know a lot of people who feel this way. They PURPOSELY missed a beat to get a certain feel they wanted, then dumb fucks thinking they are all technical and junk try to bad mouth you missing a god damn beat. It is BS I tell you. I've got comments before like, "Wow, no one ever noticed that before" because I notice things besides just basic beat since. Movement of a character, a characters expression, etc can be good for that specific part that didn't hit the beat with some gay flashy effect or something. Come on peeps! Be a little more observant, beat synch is not the number one key. It's not always important. If you were a good editor then you should know that.

CrackTheSky · Post by **CrackTheSky** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 5:40 pm

In my opinion, drama videos need more general syching then specific synching, by which I mean it's more important to sync to the feeling of the video rather than specific beats. It all depends on the song, though. If you're doing a fast-paced video, you should still sync to beats, but it's more important for the video to fit the mood of the song.

madbunny · Post by **madbunny** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:13 pm

JaddziaDax wrote:its your vid make it how you want i suppose.

If you're obsessing over it, then you can use an extended beat pattern. say the beat is 3&2, 4&2, 6&4 or whatever, just make your major cuts on the 4th or the 6th beat, and do some small efffect inbetween for the lesser changes.

Ok, lets imagine Queens "we will rock you" song. Everybody has heard it.

Boom boom chack Boom boom chack boom boom chack.

You COULD make 8 cuts here, one for every 'beat', or you could make 3 cuts, one for every 'chack'.
If you were feeling artsy, you could even do it in one long shot, using internal sync (stuff kind of sort of happens that seems to go with your music).

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter since there will be people that like it, and people that don't. It's your video, as long as you like it, that's all that really matters..

godix · Post by **godix** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 8:39 pm

In general I dislike dramas. Of the ones I've liked I've noticed two things in common with them:

1) They were synced if you sat down and looked for it. However none of them were synced so blatently that I consciously noticed it without looking for it. I consider drama syncing the same as effects in drama vids, if it's obvious enough that you're sitting there thinking 'I see what you did' then it's too overboard and a drawback to the video. If you want someone to admire how you hit every damned beat then go slap together an action video. Dramas are supposed to be about mood and theme. If you absolutely must I suppose you can pull a silvermoon and call your action video a 'drama' despite it having the emotional depth of a bank loan form rejection letter.

2) None of them were made by inthesto.

So based on those two observations I'd say don't go overboard on syncing and don't change your username to inthesto.

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:19 am

As i'm progressing in what i'm doing editing-wise I'm finding it more and more dificult to not synch. I've spicifically begun projects because of synch and didn't begin others because i felt i wouldn't be able to not synch (and doing so would be tiring). The synch bug has also begun to alter how i look at other's videos. If i feel there is a lack of synch (i'm talking a high-standard here) i'm apt to just stop watching the video - in my defence i've been swamped with watching drama/romance videos that require knowledge of the series to understand and i haven't actually watched the series in question.