AMV tips

[pichu655889]

So I thought I'd try my hand at making a AMV... anyone could share any tips for a newbie? :)

 

[air-man]

Well, for starters, you can begin by mastering some video editing software (I use Vegas Pro, but from time to time i switch to programs like After Effects for better VFX capability). There are so many things you can say on the subject, but that i comes down to is knowing knowing the material (anime you're making amv of) really well, mastering software and just following your guts... Just listen to the song, combine visuals and song into one story that is being told; and also have some really good beats. What you can do is watch bunch of AMVs you like while parallelly getting to know your editing software of choice, and analyze those AMVs... Try guessing what that AMV maker did. I know i wasn't of much help, you can start by looking for bunch of masking tutorials, transitions (Usually people use those flashes as 'beats'. Although i am also transiting from scene to scene that way, i like to use things already in footage as transitions/beats... like explosions), curves... I don't know if i was of much help, the place to start would be tutorials on youtube... Lots of amv maker do these tutorials on youtube, but i wouldn't stuck much to those since they don't really explain too much, but can be really helpful. ;) For me the biggest pain in the ass is to find the right scene to go along with the song.

 

[FinalPyre]

I haven't watched a whole lot of AMVs, but from what I have, here are some tips:

Tip 1 - Drop the sub titles.
Tip 2 - No lip-syncing with singers.
Tip 3 - No seriously, don't do lip-syncing.
Tip 4 - For most things, less (effects) is more.
Tip 5 - No fancy wipes unless it somehow really works
Tip 6 - Focus on things in the show that you, and others love.
Tip 7 - Throwing acid-coloured overlay on things is normally a bad idea.
Tip 8 - Choose a song that wont immediately result in your video getting removed.
Tip 9 - Try something interesting, like perhaps trying to tell a kind of story with how the AMV flows through clips.

More tips would ruin my line placement so I should stop. And yes I did rearrange my tips to look more like a logarithm .

 

[pichu655889]

Thanks guys! :D

@FinalPyre Tip 8's really important, huh..? :P

 

[junh1024]

I'll have to disagree on some things

I haven't watched a whole lot of AMVs, but from what I have, here are some tips:
Tip 1 - Drop the sub titles.
Tip 2 - No lip-syncing with singers.
Tip 3 - No seriously, don't do lip-syncing.
Tip 4 - For most things, less (effects) is more.
Tip 5 - No fancy wipes unless it somehow really works
Tip 6 - Focus on things in the show that you, and others love.
Tip 7 - Throwing acid-coloured overlay on things is normally a bad idea.
Tip 8 - Choose a song that wont immediately result in your video getting removed.
Tip 9 - Try something interesting, like perhaps trying to tell a kind of story with how the AMV flows through clips.

Tip 1 - Drop the sub titles.

I agree, but if you just crop or blur them out, this will look bad. Simply just PICK ANOTHER SOURCE which doesn't have subs (or learn how to properly turn them off it's a softsubbed file).

Tip 2 - No lip-syncing with singers.

Lipsyncing is nice if you get it to work right.

Tip 4 - For most things, less (effects) is more.
Tip 5 - No fancy wipes unless it somehow really works

Cuts will take you a long way.

Tip 8 - Choose a song that wont immediately result in your video getting removed.

This is nice, but I have a few (A)MVs which are absolutely bound to the song due to the song it self, or for concept reasons.

Tip 9 - Try something interesting, like perhaps trying to tell a kind of story with how the AMV flows through clips.

Story is nice, or some kind of logical flow, but usually you're just struggling to find clips to match the song.

Extra: Beat-sync scene transitions.

Programs===
USe Premiere Pro, or Vegas. If you're feeling adventurous, try REAPER or avisynth. After Effects if you're into VFX stuff.