Your thoughts

Adv1sor · Post by **Adv1sor** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:29 am

In general, and I'm not speaking about all AMVs, songs, or editors, but just as a general rule of thumb, most AMVs would be better at three minutes or less than longer.

It's not that I've got a short attention span, which I do. It's just that a lot of AMVs start to get boring around that three minute mark. Again, not all. There are some really good long AMVs out there.

My personal feeling is that, if you don't at least consider editing the music, then you're only doing half the job.

dj_ultima_the_great · Post by **dj_ultima_the_great** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:49 am

Well, from an editing standpoint, I can say that length doesn't matter to me. As long as I'm interested in the video, I'll keep on going with it, regardless of how short or long it is.

However, from a viewer's standpoint, it depends entirely on the genre of the video and the style of the song. For example...

Drama/Serious (rock/"hard" music) - somewhere between 3:30 and 5 minutes is good, so long as it's continuing to tell a good story. The better the story, the longer I'll sit and watch.

Drama/Serious (softer music) - because I don't usually have the song keeping me as interested, I'm relying on just the editing and storytelling. Therefore, no more than 4 minutes, generally.

Horror - definitely no more than 3:30, and usually less. The scare factor just wears off too quickly for anything longer than that.

Action (rock) - always less than 4 minutes, because plotless action sync can only keep me entertained for so long. If there's some storytelling going on, I can usually watch up to 4 minutes and still be interested.

Action (techno) - with the repetitious music, I find it hard to stay really interested in these ones for more than 3:30. If possible, 3 minute videos are the best in this category.

Dance/Techno - absolutely no longer than 3:30, since these videos are usually just pointless beat sync with the only theme being, "Let's find clips of people dancing or halfway action-y scenes."

Comedy - can be as long as 3:30, depending on the song/audio, but the novelty usually wears off quickly, much like Horror.

Naturally, I'm missing some categories, and these aren't a complete constant. While some of my favorite videos follow it almost perfectly, some other favorites completely break my theory. However, it does hold true on a regular basis.

To tune it more to you, let me just say this. If you're making the video for yourself, and you think that you can confidently edit all six minutes and three seconds of that song, then I say go for it. On the other hand, if you're aiming this more at an audience, then I suggest trying to cut it down to four minutes or so. Unless you do something incredibly amazing and innovative that will enthrall your viewer (and no offense, but that just doesn't happen often), the average viewer probably won't want to sit through 6:03.

I hope this helped somewhat, although I'm sure it's more than you wanted to hear. ~_~;;

Good luck with your video, whatever you decide to do.

- Jen

Prodigi · Post by **Prodigi** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:52 am

I think that people should stop thinking. Everyone tends to overthink editing a lot lately, and take the whole business a little too seriously. I know you're just asking the opinion of others, and what they would do in the same situation, but does it really matter how someone else would handle it? Just do what seems natural.

But to answer the question itself: I tend to edit down any song that exceeds 3:30.

genestarwind21122 · Post by **genestarwind21122** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:53 am

My longest video was 5:46 and my shortest was 1:39. I have to say it all depends on the song. If you like the song and think you can handle listening to it over and over again go for it. However if your looking for a video that most people will like try to keep it within 3:00-4:00 minutes unless you can be sure that you can hold your audience attention for a long time span. It's possible to create a video over 4 minutes but the chances of losing your audience attention goes up afterwards.

As for cutting audio I haven't cut audio. For me its either the full song or I don't do the video. That could change in the future though.

Gene Starwind 21122

JudgeHolden · Post by **JudgeHolden** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:31 am

Do what you want, but beware the ridicule if you break da "rules".

JH

reddragon_syndicate · Post by **reddragon_syndicate** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:59 am

Lol got better feedback than I thought I was going to get. As much as I would like to .. there is no real way I think I can go the full limit with-out going nucking futs on the entire thing. And yes .. this one is more of a personal one.. kind of like a skill builder I suppose.. ha boy do I have a lot of building to do. I just need to edit it.. not only shave some of the end off. .but to take some of the middle out without leaving any jumps and skips.. and what have you. If I have problems with that I'll head out to the audio help section. Thanks again everyone for your input.

Take Care
RedDragon