How do I get started? Ask questions here!

[Zahmira]

Creators, feel free to post any helpful info and answer questions of people who want to get started. How did you get started? I'll post info as it's gathered in the next few posts.

For Starters
You'll want to head over to www.animemusicvideos.org and watch a bunch of videos, especially the ones with a high ranking. Watching some lower ranked ones might be a good idea too to find out just what went wrong. You can learn from the successes and mistakes of others.

Get an idea for the kind of video you'd like to make. There are also several guides there for making videos, such as:
Phade's Guide to Good Anime Music Videos - A general overview for making a video. It's really good to read if you've never made an AMV before.
Kalium's AMV Theory Primer - The theory behind making an AMV.

Other guides over at that site include:
A&E's Technical Guides to All Things Audio and Video mk 2
VicBond007's Guide to Working with DVD Footage - may be a bit outdated
Kirin's Guide to Making AMVs with iMovie
Quu's Guide to Using Video Game Footage
Zarxrax's Introduction to Adobe After Effects
Zarxrax's Guide to Lip Syncing
Subtitle Removal Guide by Zarxrax and Machine

You'll really want to start at that site.  

[Zahmira]

What programs can I use to make my AMVs?
Some programs out there are free, while others cost lots of money.

The Free Stuff
VirtualDub 1.6.4 is currently an experimental version. 1.5.10 is the latest stable version. Windows only. Has very basic functionality.

VirtualDubMod A modified version of VirtualDub that has more features and supports more file types. Current version 1.5.10.1

Windows Movie Maker - Comes with Windows XP.


The Stuff that costs money
Super DVD Ripper - Use it to rip your DVDs onto your computer. There is a free trial available. The interface is ugly, but it gets the job done.

Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects - the programs of choice for many video editors and AMV creators. You may want to stick to Premiere 6.5 and After Affects 5.0 if you have a lowish end computer.

ArcSoft ShowBiz DVD 2 - Use it to edit video and make DVDs. Very simple and good for the beginner. Has a free trial available. Recommended by blakemann.


What format should I use to encode my AMVs?
Your standard formates are .avi, .mpg (or .mpeg - it's the same thing), and .wmv

.avi - It is considered to be the best. However, with the many many different codecs out there, it's not quaranteed to play (or at least play well) on every computer using every video player. Even using the most common codecs, like DivX does not guarantee that you will be problem free. But, when it comes to quality, this is the format to go with.

.mpeg or .mpg - It doesn't look as nice as an .avi, but it will be almost guaranteed to play on almost anything. .mpg files are also easily converted to DVD or VCD video, if you wanted to burn your video to disc like that.

.wmv - If you want low filesizes, this is the one you want. However, it is somewhat disliked by many people, probably because of the quality loss. Some others swear by it.  

[Zahmira]

Is my computer powerful enough to make AMVs?
It really depends on what you are using to make your video, but here are some general requirements:
1. Having a large harddrive is always good. You may be working with uncompressed video, and that can get very big very fast. Make sure you can spare several GB before starting.
2. I would recommend having at least 256 MB of RAM. The more, the better, especially if you are using Premier. Premier is designed to use all the RAM you can feed it.
3. Most processors today will be powerful enough. I've made AMVs with an 800 MHz processor before.  

[SC Seung Mina]

I would recommend Just watching the movies for a while, especially the ones that are at the top of the Rankings. Also read the various guides the AMV.org offers about making them. They are good reading. Then once you think you have an idea of what makes a good movie, try making one.  

[Zahmira]

Good advice. I've added it to the posts.  

[SC Seung Mina]

I would also recommend some PC specs that are good for working with for making them.
I recommend lots of Memory.  

[Zahmira]

Computer hardware isn't my forte, I'm more of a Software gal, but I added what I could.  

[Kaze no Hyuga]

Personally, having dealt with problems with both Premier Pro and After Effects 6.5 on a semi-low end computer, i recomment Premiere 6.5 and After Effects 5.0 to anyone just starting out. Its much easier to edit and customize both effects and basic interface. Also follw AbsoluteDestiny's guide, it is god..... and make sure no to overfilter with avisynth, it could lead to weeks worth of encoding, and washed out video crying .  

[Zahmira]

Ah, yes. That brings back some memories of making newer versions of Premier work on my computer. I think is was Premier 7 and it didn't like my processor.  

[ke-chan]

there are other programs though...
like windows movie maker (you can get if you have windows XP)
and i think for $75 you can get Serif Movie Maker... 3nodding that one does wonders i heard....  

[diverguy]

read through part of vicbond007's guide and was wondering if there was anything simpler that still works well? i read about to page 8... then realized that it was 30 something pages and decided i would read itlater... i am interested in creating an AMV but i'l admit, i'm a bit lazy and that sounds really complicated....  

[Zahmira]

ke-chan

there are other programs though...
like windows movie maker (you can get if you have windows XP)
and i think for $75 you can get Serif Movie Maker... 3nodding that one does wonders i heard....

Updated the posts with Windows Movie Maker, but I am having some trouble finding Serif.

diverguy

read through part of vicbond007's guide and was wondering if there was anything simpler that still works well? i read about to page 8... then realized that it was 30 something pages and decided i would read itlater... i am interested in creating an AMV but i'l admit, i'm a bit lazy and that sounds really complicated....

You know what. Sometimes it's just best to play around with music, clips, and the program on your own. Guides can only tell you so much. I would suggest fiddling with some ideas first and see what you come up with.

If you have some specific questions, I can try and help.  

[The Eternal]

For editing footage from DVDs, I recommend Vicbond007's guide for Editing DVD footage for Anime Music Videos. It helped me alot in my videos. It's in a .pdf format at anime music videos.org  

[Zahmira]

Eternal Knightmare

For editing footage from DVDs, I recommend Vicbond007's guide for Editing DVD footage for Anime Music Videos. It helped me alot in my videos. It's in a .pdf format at anime music videos.org

Yep, that has been in the first posts since I first put them up there wink  

[The Eternal]

Zahmira

Eternal Knightmare

For editing footage from DVDs, I recommend Vicbond007's guide for Editing DVD footage for Anime Music Videos. It helped me alot in my videos. It's in a .pdf format at anime music videos.org

Yep, that has been in the first posts since I first put them up there wink

Oh... sorry sweatdrop