Doing Prep-Work for AMVs
- TheJadeArcAngel
- Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:38 pm
Doing Prep-Work for AMVs
Allright, lets use an example of a show with a lot of episodes and variations - Gundam. Your wanting to do a AMV of Gundam with a song about the horrors of battle ( lets say, again for example, Preliator by Globus ).
Gundam has a lot of OVA's, spin-offs, and universes but you decide, gosh darn it, I want to use 08th MST and some of Stardust Memories.
There are literally countless scenes you could use to the song you've selected so .... my question/quandary:
Where/How do you start? I've been doing things the hard way for ages, aka, just makeing clips of pivotal fight/dramatic scenes and working them into the song both to save time and to "get what I think is neccesary" yet every time I go back I see a random scene somewhere that I know could have worked better than the material I had.
Do people scan thorugh whole shows and make notes?
Do you use screen shots of pivotal things you think will work latter?
Do you 'wing it'?
Gundam has a lot of OVA's, spin-offs, and universes but you decide, gosh darn it, I want to use 08th MST and some of Stardust Memories.
There are literally countless scenes you could use to the song you've selected so .... my question/quandary:
Where/How do you start? I've been doing things the hard way for ages, aka, just makeing clips of pivotal fight/dramatic scenes and working them into the song both to save time and to "get what I think is neccesary" yet every time I go back I see a random scene somewhere that I know could have worked better than the material I had.
Do people scan thorugh whole shows and make notes?
Do you use screen shots of pivotal things you think will work latter?
Do you 'wing it'?

- Arigatomina
- Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2003 3:04 am
- Contact:
It depends on how much disc space I have, and if I have a difficult story to tell. If I'm making something that isn't in the original anime, I'll plan it out, scene by scene, before I do any ripping. That way I never run out of footage or realize, at the last second, that there isn't a scene to show what I was aiming for.
If I have a lot of disc space, and it's a long anime, I'll go through the series dvd by dvd, and rip every scene I think might possibly fit into the video. That leaves a lot of freedom to experiment, and no shortage of clips. I hate having to stop editing, and go back to rip a scene from a dvd because I didn't think to get it earlier.
That's mostly with long series (30+ dvds) or multi-anime vids that I have to rip actual clips from. If it's a short one I'll just use the vobs - no planning necessary when all the available footage in the show is right there to edit with.
I find planning a video out makes the editing a lot easier. There's no worry about scene choices, so I play with the editing more. It always takes twice as long for me to make a video if I don't plan it out first - experimenting with scene choices and the editing, and then deleting the entire project because I lost interest halfway through or realized belatedly that it wasn't as solid an idea as I thought. >.>
If I have a lot of disc space, and it's a long anime, I'll go through the series dvd by dvd, and rip every scene I think might possibly fit into the video. That leaves a lot of freedom to experiment, and no shortage of clips. I hate having to stop editing, and go back to rip a scene from a dvd because I didn't think to get it earlier.
That's mostly with long series (30+ dvds) or multi-anime vids that I have to rip actual clips from. If it's a short one I'll just use the vobs - no planning necessary when all the available footage in the show is right there to edit with.
I find planning a video out makes the editing a lot easier. There's no worry about scene choices, so I play with the editing more. It always takes twice as long for me to make a video if I don't plan it out first - experimenting with scene choices and the editing, and then deleting the entire project because I lost interest halfway through or realized belatedly that it wasn't as solid an idea as I thought. >.>
- Kristyrat
- Time-traveling penguin
- Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 7:31 pm
- Status: Lies and fish
- Location: Igloo
- Contact:
I find more often than not, I'll end up winging it. This is either due to lazyness on my part, a lack of specific direction for a video, or simply because I just want to dive right into the editing, without having to do any gruntwork beforehand. I can definately see a difference (or at least, imagine one) between AMVs that are entirely pre-planned and those that are done on the fly, and both really do have their advantages. Take Iron Chef videos for example, though the general IC may be lacking in a grand direction or plot, more often than not they'll have a really kickass pace for whatever duration they last. I think a lot of what you do pre-editing has to do with a personal style that you just end up adapting because it's the most comfortable. So in the end, the easiest way to find how you seem to work best is to experiment. Run back to the old saying, 'practice makes perfect' and all that, because it doesn't just come down to using these methods for every video, but even breaking it down to using it for certain genres, and adapting to what kind of mood you want to portray.
I'm sure you'll get a multitude of different methods, I personally know editors who storyboard an entire video before, even if it's supposed to be a fast action video (*cough* kisanzi *cough*) and others that can produce a damn well edited drama video within a matter of 16 or so hours (AtomX). In the end, to reiterate, I think it all comes back to a personal style, and finding what works easiest for you, and what helps you enjoy the editing process on the whole.
I'm sure you'll get a multitude of different methods, I personally know editors who storyboard an entire video before, even if it's supposed to be a fast action video (*cough* kisanzi *cough*) and others that can produce a damn well edited drama video within a matter of 16 or so hours (AtomX). In the end, to reiterate, I think it all comes back to a personal style, and finding what works easiest for you, and what helps you enjoy the editing process on the whole.
- Beowulf
- Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2002 9:41 pm
- Location: in the art house
- Contact:
By and large, "prep work" is bullshit. If you want to get technical, the actual pre production work has already been done for you because its someone else's song and someone else's anime.
1. Rip your vobs
2. Make your script files.
3. Cut your clips (optional, depending on how well you know the footage)
4. Begin
This isn't me just being intolerant, its actually quite counter productive most of the time to agonize over storyboards, conceptualizations, ect. Some people actually do a "paper cut" of their video before starting, that is list out every shot and the in and out points on the timeline of each one. What you inadvertently do when you plan too much is you start directing instead of editing. Its very limiting to be "directing" someone else's vision rather than editing it.
Whats funny is, whenever I've planned things to the knats ass, the plans never hold up. The creative process takes you places you'd never thought you'd go, things change.
If you have a blank timeline, fill it up as soon as possible. When your in the middle of the peice, THEN make your plans and think your thoughts. Sitting there thinking about how you'll fill the timeline is a colossal waste of time. How many great songs, or paintings, or scripts, or sculptures, have you read about to find out that the artist spent hours or days or years thinking, planning, and conceptualizing the final piece that you see? More often then not its something like "It just came to me" or "I just sat down and wrote something and this came out". Ideas don't come from your plans, they come from the universes gifts, and you definitely can't receive the universe's gifts when your not DOING.
Don't think. Do.
1. Rip your vobs
2. Make your script files.
3. Cut your clips (optional, depending on how well you know the footage)
4. Begin
This isn't me just being intolerant, its actually quite counter productive most of the time to agonize over storyboards, conceptualizations, ect. Some people actually do a "paper cut" of their video before starting, that is list out every shot and the in and out points on the timeline of each one. What you inadvertently do when you plan too much is you start directing instead of editing. Its very limiting to be "directing" someone else's vision rather than editing it.
Whats funny is, whenever I've planned things to the knats ass, the plans never hold up. The creative process takes you places you'd never thought you'd go, things change.
If you have a blank timeline, fill it up as soon as possible. When your in the middle of the peice, THEN make your plans and think your thoughts. Sitting there thinking about how you'll fill the timeline is a colossal waste of time. How many great songs, or paintings, or scripts, or sculptures, have you read about to find out that the artist spent hours or days or years thinking, planning, and conceptualizing the final piece that you see? More often then not its something like "It just came to me" or "I just sat down and wrote something and this came out". Ideas don't come from your plans, they come from the universes gifts, and you definitely can't receive the universe's gifts when your not DOING.
Don't think. Do.
- jasper-isis
- P. Y. T.
- Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2002 11:02 am
- Status: catching all the lights
If you're worried about missing minor but perfect-for-you scenes, just go ahead and edit as you would with the major scenes, but scrub the footage carefully as you go along. You'll run into a lot of these "hidden" minor scenes that way. Then just edit with them as you like. The trick is to not be hasty.
Alternatively, here is a rough compromise between the "must consider all clips for best combination" and the "just let it unfold naturally" mentalities:
1. Watch the source footage on 16x speed.
2. Put the computer aside for a few days and just think, in your mind, of how you'd like the footage to be used in relation to the music. Let the idea simmer in your head.
3. Watch the source footage again, this time on 32x speed and skipping scenes that you know you won't need.
4. Edit.
Alternatively, here is a rough compromise between the "must consider all clips for best combination" and the "just let it unfold naturally" mentalities:
1. Watch the source footage on 16x speed.
2. Put the computer aside for a few days and just think, in your mind, of how you'd like the footage to be used in relation to the music. Let the idea simmer in your head.
3. Watch the source footage again, this time on 32x speed and skipping scenes that you know you won't need.
4. Edit.
- Kusoyaro
- LEGENDARY!!!
- Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2001 10:03 pm
- Location: HOT FUCKING
- Contact:
- godix
- a disturbed member
- Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2002 12:13 am
It depends on the idea. Most of my videos are the type where as long as the idea carries through it's fine. Lets face it, if you're doing people jumping off WTC to the song Freefalling then the exact source used and the quality of editing doesn't matter. As long as the source is close enough the idea is conveyed then I'm happy. Either people will laugh at the idea in which case better editing isn't needed or they won't in which case better editing won't help any. Either way, basic editing without much effort is all that's called for.
Some of my videos I want to look decent. For those I'll listen to the audio source several times in a row, close my eyes, and picture what I want the video to look like if I had complete control over my source. Once I got a pretty good idea of what I want it to be I go looking through my footage to find scenes close to what I want. The final product tends to be very different from what I first imagined. I use my mental image as a guideline that gets discarded as soon as I get a better idea.
Once or twice I've actually sat down and done pre-planning to the level of 'from 1:04 to 1:07 I need a scene of Yukari yelling at Tomo followed by a Tomo reaction shot lasting until 1:09...' then I go through the footage for scenes that fit exactly what I need. When I go to this level I generally don't improvise as I go along and I generally don't like the results. Which is why I so rarely do it.
Some of my videos I want to look decent. For those I'll listen to the audio source several times in a row, close my eyes, and picture what I want the video to look like if I had complete control over my source. Once I got a pretty good idea of what I want it to be I go looking through my footage to find scenes close to what I want. The final product tends to be very different from what I first imagined. I use my mental image as a guideline that gets discarded as soon as I get a better idea.
Once or twice I've actually sat down and done pre-planning to the level of 'from 1:04 to 1:07 I need a scene of Yukari yelling at Tomo followed by a Tomo reaction shot lasting until 1:09...' then I go through the footage for scenes that fit exactly what I need. When I go to this level I generally don't improvise as I go along and I generally don't like the results. Which is why I so rarely do it.
- Otohiko
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2003 8:32 pm
I generally listen to a lot of music and do a bit of rough footage-assessment. For me the main things are that 1) I can see myself editing to that particular piece of music; 2) I can see myself editing to that particular piece of music with that particular anime; 3) I can see myself editing to that particular piece of music with that particular anime, in the way I imagine.
This basically involves 1) listening to the music I think I want to use. A lot. Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks etc. 2) Making a quick check over the source footage, mainly to pick up a few key scenes to use at what I consider pivotal points in the music. If I have a number of key scenes that I want, then there's no problem - if I don't or they don't look the way I thought, there is a problem. 3) Quick run over editing. Perhaps trying out a key visual effect. If it doesn't work out, I ditch it.
Really I don't see a way to totally prepare for making a video. Most of it is certainly improvising. For me it's more an issue of approaching it gradually and not committing fully to it until I see, with certainty, that it will work.
This basically involves 1) listening to the music I think I want to use. A lot. Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks etc. 2) Making a quick check over the source footage, mainly to pick up a few key scenes to use at what I consider pivotal points in the music. If I have a number of key scenes that I want, then there's no problem - if I don't or they don't look the way I thought, there is a problem. 3) Quick run over editing. Perhaps trying out a key visual effect. If it doesn't work out, I ditch it.
Really I don't see a way to totally prepare for making a video. Most of it is certainly improvising. For me it's more an issue of approaching it gradually and not committing fully to it until I see, with certainty, that it will work.
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- BasharOfTheAges
- Just zis guy, you know?
- Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:32 pm
- Status: Breathing
- Location: Merrimack, NH
For most of the cases i'd agree, but i'm looking at a project right now that has involved over twice the amount of man hours of prep work than any other complete video i've ever done (180+). I'm not talking about shot choice, diagramming or storyboarding in my logic design class all last semester when i should have been taking notes, keeping myself up at night going over unique transitions in my head (insomnia is a bitch BTW). I'm talking hours and hours for frame ripping and storing, clipping and filtering only 11 DVDs, and various other time-consuming technical things that i don't feel the need to disclose at this. No matter how insane I get in this video, or how many times i have to redo scenes the prep times is going to be at around half of the time i spend on it. It just might be a waste of time for some things, but for some people it's a necessity.Beowulf wrote:By and large, "prep work" is bullshit. If you want to get technical, the actual pre production work has already been done for you because its someone else's song and someone else's anime.
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