- new toys 2004-05-13 22:20:26 I just bought a Pioneer DVD burner. I need to backup my B.O.B. AMV..I want to tweak it in the future. I searched thru the forums and found a few topics on how to backup my project. I need to buy DVD-R..not sure which format to to buy. But I'll burn some DVD's, upload a new copy (corrected copy) , and then plan for re-master the incomplete "My Black Girlfriend"..not that I couldn't finish it..but now I know how to rip DVD footage..I should re-master it now.
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Done for Otakon 2004
2004-05-09 15:10:03
Well I busted out a new AMV in about a months time. Most of my time went to digitizing clips and learning to convert the VOB files into useable AVI's. I learned a lot about ripping DVD's and progressive video footage.
The only thing that worried me was the audio source file was a 192 kbs MP3. I searched for weeks trying to find a higher quality copy of the song; but I came up with nothing. I did tons of internet searching and found the record company that mixed the Outkast and rage Against the Machine songs together, but couldn't get any info from them on where a high quality copy exists. I even found a bootleg CD in a Rage discography but no luck finding it. So I converted the MP3 file up to a WAV. It sounds good, but there a a few parts where I hear a half-second doubling of a aword or beat. I'm worried that the Otakon version will have sucky sound quality when played on a professional sound system.
The only sucky thing about this whole process was I ate up over half of my 120 Goge HD to make this AMV. I wish I had more room so I could work on other projects, but I need to figure out a archieve way. I don't have a DVD burner so its a lot of CD-R's to get the info off. Also I'm not sure whats the best method for archieving such a large project. -
Awaiting Anime boston
2004-04-03 21:18:16
Neither "Aggressive Bebop" and "Fear the Curse" didn't make the final round in the judging. I was hoping to at least have one make it into the finals, but I'll try harder next time.
Speaking of next time..thats arrived now, so I'm finishing off "my Black girlfriend" to Saber J; and starting work of Outkast vs Rage Against the Machine "Bombs over Baghdad". But I'm having trouble finiding a high quality source of the song. I've got a 192 kbit MP3, and converted it up to a WAV. But I've hear a word or to stutter for a half second. I'm also concerned the symbols crashing during the intense parts will be come choppy when played back on a professional sound system.
I've tracked the song down to (I think) McDonough Management, but I could be wrong. I also found a direct reference to the song off a Rage discography; its on a bootleg album called "American Eyes". So I'm trying to track down a copy of the bootleg album, I've got a month to work on it before the may 8th Otakon deadline.
On the technical side, I've installed a DVD-ROM drive and have started to figure how to rip dvd. the techincal guides on AMV.org have been great. Mad props to the people who write them, thanx alot.
I'm in the process of timelining the lyics, and looking over anime to use. My anime collection has grow faster than bacteria in a truck stop restroom, so I've got plenty to work with. The trick is figure out what to use and how to use it wisey. -
I swear computers know when a major project is due!
2004-01-27 21:38:06
So I went to bed last night thinking I could wake up, tweak a few scenes, and get the AMV;s on to miniDV tape before noon. Well I awake to find my computer had forgotten most of if video capture functions, it was almost comical..almost.
I spent the morning trying to re-install the ATI All in Wonder Drivers and software, oh and there's the little fact the 5 drivers have to installed in a specific order, which I couldn't remember or find on the ATI website (Note..I first found it there months ago). I ended up removing all the video drivers and deleting some refernece files. I installed from scratch off the CD so I didn't have the most up todate software, but I got the composite connectors recongized again. It only took me the entire day.
I then spent the evening toying with the DV camera, and I got "aggressive bebop" and the Sandhill logo on the miniDV tape with the appropriate amount of black space (at least 15 secs). Now I turned my attentions to "Fear the Curse".
And this is where the nightmare returned. I attempted several times to render I high quality AVI in Premeire but anout a quarter of the way thru Premeire crashes. I went over and over this a dosezen times trying different settings. I ended up running Norton WinDoctor and found a bunch of stuff out of wack. I fixed it, and the render problem disappeared. However, I discovered several scenes from the render were missing, and I openned up the project file to find. three of the video segments were corrupted, probably from the compter restarting a doszen times.
I grabbed fresh clips from my video bin, and inserted them into the missing spots. I rendered again, but this time the new clips were choppy and had a bad playback. So i decided to open a new project and use a good copy of "fear the curse" I made months ago. I used it and tweaked a few of the scenes I wanted to fix. I had to chop up a few scenes and slow down some others. I added a few extra seconds in the beginning after the close-up of Newton. I also touched the end scequence of Van placing the energis into Escaflowne.
Well it took me a few extra hours to put everything back together. I then rendered a good quality AVI of "Fear the Curse" and then copied it on to the miniDv tape. I just need to wrap it up and label the package, and it's being mailed Overnight so I'm certain it arrives before the 31st.
well I've got cookies to eat for a job well done, later. -
Long time no AMV
2004-01-25 23:57:42
So I finished my Master Degree and put off any work on AMV's. I've been touching up "Aggressive bebop" and "Fear the Curse" and will submit them to the AnimeBoston AMv contest.
in "Aggressive Bebop" I started rebuilding the orignial AMV from scratch but I had technical trouble, and could afford the time to rebuild my system..not to mention I need the updated ATI multimedia Center..but need to order it first. So I took a high quality AVI I saved and add scene on top of clips I wanted to replace. Its worked out much to my liking, and there's only one or two more clips I'ld like to get around the choppy playback. But I fixed the lip synce on a vicious closeup.
In "Fear the curse" my biggest problem has been geeting the WAV source file to line up with the MP3 file I used to first make the AMV. Otakon 2004 AMV panel taught me to use only WAV source audio files for convention submited material..once its on a audiatorium speaker system, MP3 sould like shit. So I had to clip hundreds of a secod off the dead air time to get the sound file clips to line up. It took a few moments of math to back calculate the amount of time to snipped off, but sinc ethere was a margin of human error..it took several tries to get it right. I also found the intro to the song was slight longer than the MP3, so I had to extend the scene of the villiages running thru the streets a few extra frames. I also tweaked the end of the song, when Escaflowns heart powers up, I times the light flashing to the music better, it took chopping up the orginal clip, speeding one up and slowing the other.
I think I'm going to check over "Aggressive bebop" again in the morning, and see if I can tweak a few more clips. I'm borrowing a friends DV camera, and plan to buy a mini DV tape tomorrow. Hook the camera up to my Firewire port and copy the material on to the mini DV tape. I don't have a DVD burner, so my only options were VHS, S-VHS, or mini DV. And Mini DV offers the highest quality so I'm going for that.
Once I get these videos mailed off I have the "Black Girlfriend" video to finish. It needs a few more scenes, and some lip synce, I figure its only 60% done at this moment. And I have a list of a few other Ideas, but they'll come later.
JOURNAL: mau28b (Brendan (a.k.a. MAU) Baranek-Olmstead)
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