(no subject)

[fan_eunice]

Icon used ironically.

So today is the day I spam, not yesterday (I did mostly sleep last night, yay). But, okay, I see this a lot. Often enough that I want to say something. This being people saying 'I wish I could vid' or 'I can't vid but this song is perfect' or the combo 'If I could vid I'd vid this'.

Lemme borrow for a sec from my man Obama to say this. Yes. You. Can. If you are seeing scenes in your head when you listen to that song, or you wish you could see your show to this music? You already are.

There are actually two parts to vidding. The making of, and the sharing of, and I think we vidders do a bit of a disservice when talking about the first in mostly discussing the frustration and woes of that part, whether technical or artistic. Because what gets lost to someone who hasn't done it is that moment when you first lay a clip and see your show to your music on the timeline. Doesn't matter if that clip is wrong thematically and you have to change it later or there is talky face or if the aspect ratio is off. I mean, it does in the long term, but in that moment there is a pure giddy glee that can't be replicated in anything else. And I want you to have that!

The vid does not have to come out perfect, or even very good really, to get the joy of making a vid out of the experience. That part is private. It's for you. And while I would certainly encourage anyone who wants to be serious about it as a craft and art to invest in learning an NLE and to dig into editing and theory and all that jazz, there is NOTHING WRONG with dumping some clips into WMM or iMovie and seeing how they look to that song you heard on the radio that is just perfect for X.

Do it. Decide later if it's something you want to post on the big wide internets (and why...'this made me giddily happy to make, come see!' is a perfectly valid reason to share), or if it's a skill you want to hone, but just do it. You are a fan, odds are you have an episode of something and a song you like for that show on your computer right now. Toss them into the default editor that came with your computer right now and lay a clip. I dare you.

Beginners guide to Windows Movie Maker
Vista specific (the layouts between the two look the same to me, but in case there are additional features)
iMovie tutorial


http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech3/index.html -- An invaluable comprehensive guide on the various tech aspects of vidding with both theory and guides. Includes a download package and instruction for useful tools and codecs, including avisynth and virtualdub. Created for AMVs but is good for all vidders.

Comments

[laurashapiro]

PREACH IT!

[fan_eunice]

ILU

[were_duck]

Hello, I recently subscribed because I quite enjoy your vids!

As an aspiring vidder faced with what sometimes feels like a gigantic mountain of technical knowhow to surmount before I could actually *vid*... I really appreciate this post :)

[fan_eunice]

Yay! I'm glad you found it encouraging :D :D

*breaks out pompoms and cheers you on*

[pocketmouse]

I... still think there's quite the presumption of having the physical tools to do it. If you have a computer old enough, it doesn't have a default video editor. And its processor speed is slow and the memory is low and you really can't get anywhere. I know, I've tried.

And for me, I'm sorry, but the glee doesn't come from making the damn thing. If I can see it in my head, that's fine. There's too much frustration in the way what's in my head doesn't match up with what ends up on the screen, and the fact that when I do post something, maybe three people view it and there's no positive or even critical feedback. Vidding is not worthwhile for me, and that's why I've stopped doing it.

Also, I know some people whose brains just don't work that way. They really can't do it, either because they can't pay attention that long, or because they can't spend too long on a computer at one go. So no, it's not just that easy, and it's not something everyone can just pick up and do.

[fan_eunice]

Fair enough, I should not have assumed about basic tech...I was basing that on most PCs having at least Windows Movie Maker on it back when I first started vidding...oh god...9 years ago?

The rest was more aimed, not at having tried and discovered that, no...this isn't going to work and doesn't provide a creative thrill, or isn't worth the trade offs. Or that it's easy to become skilled at it once you do discover it's something you want to pursue further.

It's more, not ever trying at all and missing out on a potentially joyful creative experience that doesn't have anything to do with the finished product. Getting overwhelmed by what you're 'supposed' to do or know before you even start. Or that it is possible to just play without having it be a thing that must be polished/finished/released.

It's not going to work for everyone, of course! Kinda like I tried to write fanfic once and we're all better off that I didn't continue. But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't have ever tried, or that if I'd found I got pleasure from a writing a paragraph snippet that wasn't great objectively or had all kinds of technical issues, that I shouldn't at least keep writing them for me.

[gelasius]

SING IT.

I always knew I'd be proud to have made vids, because I enjoy watching them so much, but I don't think I quite knew how enjoyable and satisfying it could be to just LAY A CLIP and SEE THE IDEA HAPPEN. \o/

[fan_eunice]

Dude, your leap into vidding filled me with GIDDY GLEE. \o/ \o/

ROCKER SMURF APPROVES :D

[damned_colonial]

Just wanted to say how happy it made me to see this post this morning when I woke up and read my DW. You're so right about the first wonderful glee of seeing a clip set down to music. \o/

[fan_eunice]

\o/

[alchemise]

You kind of timed this post perfectly for me, because I've been thinking a lot lately that maybe it's time to actually try to vid. I mean, hell, I analyze other people's vids for fun! I have a gazillion vid ideas floating around in my head! I like stupidly complicated technology!

So, um, yes. You are right. I think I need to give this a shot. O.O

[fan_eunice]

You can't see it, but I actually started *dancing in my chair* when I saw this comment in my inbox. AWESOME!

[sophinisba]

Thanks, this is a great post! (Too tired to give it a try right now, but I still feel inspired.)

[fan_eunice]

Yay! :D

[janedavitt]

You're so right! Eleanor, my 14 year old is way into it and begged for Sony Vegas for Christmas but me, I chug along making fumbling attempts on WMM and getting that glee feeling when a clip matches perfectly with a lyric or a beat change or something.

I get bored and rush finishing vids but they've shown me that I can do something besides write and I'm proud as heck of my few finished ones :-)

[fan_eunice]

It's all about the glee, man.

[aine_silveria]

(here from metafandom)

Okay, please forgive what is likely the stupidest question you'll get all day (but you seem nice and less likely to jump down my throat), but what IS vidding? I'm getting this basic concept of AMV's (amv meaning 'anime music video' to me) done to live action TV series? Is that right, or am I completely off base?

[fan_eunice]

You've got it :) They are essentially the same thing with different names since they developed parallel in the different communities (media fandom and anime fandom respectively). There tend to be some aesthetic differences between the two owing to the different source types that way smarter people than me have talked about. But the concept, editing clips of a show to music, pretty much the same deal.

[chaila]

(Via metafandom) Yes. This. I cannot properly express the amount of my agreement with plain old italics. I just...every time I see "vidding is hard" I want to say, but it doesn't have to be! I think vidder angst (and gorgeous vids!) do intimidate and scare people off, so I'm glad this post is about the JOY. Yes, okay, it can get hard, and tech issues will eventually come up, but...I made my first vid with downloaded source in WMM which I randomly discovered I had on my computer after realizing that one of my favorite songs would be perfect for one of my favorite aspects of my then-favorite show. And I watched the first 30 seconds I ever vidded for like THREE DAYS STRAIGHT (there was stuff! on the timeline! moving! to the music!). And then I showed it to my friend, who was also making her first vid, and we almost died of squee and 30-second vid snippets. And in the end, it was still dirt simple, editing-wise, but it's still one of my favorite things I've done. I'm sure for some people, in the end the time will not be worth it, or it will get too hard, or various other things will happen, but it makes me sad that people think the tech bar is higher than it is and cut themselves off at the pass. So mostly, yes, this post. :)

[fan_eunice]

EXACTLY :D The hard parts are the the things you learn or the tech frustration you put up with because you love it, not the other way around. I knew exactly jack and shit the first time I pulled a few clips together...and it showed. But it was GLORIOUS.

[be_themoon]

... I have a sudden urge to download Windows Movie Maker and do that vid for the Bourne trilogy that's been in my head since Monday, because it won't leave.

I guess it's time to go figure out how the heck you vid. I've been wanting to for ages, but been too much of a coward. There wouldn't happen to be a, I don't know, vidding primer or something? *facepalm*

[fan_eunice]

There is a primer, and I'm going to give you a link to it with the following caveat: DON'T PANIC. There is a lot of information here, however it really and truly isn't as scary as it looks. Swear. It was written for anime videos, and uses examples from them, but everything there applies to live action as well.

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech3/index.html

Or, if you are on information overload, and just want to get in and play to see what it feels like first (or for motivation), you can do that quick and dirty if you've got some avi or wmv files lying around on your computer. Open up WMM and import your file(s), including a song for kicks. Select the avi and then tools-->create clips, which will break it down into smaller chunks (you can also trim them down further using the split tool in the window, and further once it's on the timline itself by clicking either edge and dragging). Drag your song down to the audio/music track. Go back up to tools-->audio levels and slide the thingie all the way all the way over to 'audio/music'. Grab one of your clips, drag it to the video track and fiddle with it's length. Grab another one and do the same. Hit play and watch your clips to music. Is that not awesome? :D

Now you can go back to the guide and get more detail on how to rip your movies off DVDs and what is this avisynth doohicky, and who cares about aspect ratio *anyway*?

One note that may be useful later, WMM can be kinda limited, both in how you trim and in that it is linear (clips must be laid in order end to end, no jumping around on the timeline) so if you want more control (but a higher learning curve) then you'll probably want to *coughcoughahem* a copy of Premiere or other non linear editing software.

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for inspiring me to go back to my half-finished vid attempts I've been putting off for ages, just because I know they're not going to be as good as I wish they were. I got a whole day of VID SQUEE yesterday, thanks to your post. :)

[fan_eunice]

YAY VID SQUEE!!! :D :D :D

[ladysorka]

I have, at the moment, I think two vids I have pretty much completely planned out in my head, knowing exactly what scenes go where through the entire thing, another three that are pretty close with some gaps, and two I'd have to rewatch source on. And yet another one for which the source doesn't actually exist yet, because it would require the entirety of Harry Potter. I've gone to three Vividcons and am going again this year. I know, technically, how to do it. And yet, I have never actually made a vid.

I'm not actually sure why. But it's like once I sit down to start clipping, I just can't do it. And I sit and make excuses for it, about the tech and the programs, but that's not it. I know the tech. I just, for whatever reason, can't seem to translate what's in my head into an actual file, even though I know the precise scenes and beats and transitions. I don't even know.

Of course, right now I'm also running exclusively Linux, which adds its own complications, but really, I was making these excuses back when I was running Windows. One of these days I just need to sit myself down and literally force myself to actually make one.

[fan_eunice]

Because clipping can be tedious and boring and soul sucking? :D Seriously, I get that...I very rarely clip and usually end up just scrubbing through my source and marking in and out points to toss on the timeline as I go because I just. can't. face. clipping. You really may not have to, especially if you know where most of what you want is already. The more organized vidders I know like to have neatly labeled bins with clips nicely named before they start. That is so very not me. Scrub and throw is a method that probably only works if you're using a non linear editor, but I'm not really familiar with the software available for Linux.

[pitseleh]

...Not everyone can navigate vidding software and not everyone wants to throw up attempts that look kind of bad because their software isn't top quality.

[fan_eunice]

So...they should give up before they try, even if it's something they want to do? And there's no worth in the creative process if it doesn't end in something shareable?

Or is it just encouraging people to try new things they've expressed an interest in that's bad?

[lim]

I love vidding. <3<3<3<3 I don't post them always, I just love to VID. *swings you round*

[beccatoria]

Linked here via chaila. Wow, what an awesome post, dude. Just absolutely yes. It makes me nostalgic for that time I finally got a computer that ran XP (about five years after XP was launched or something!) and discovered that "Windows Movie Maker" program and remembered those music videos I liked to watch and thought, "Wait. I could make one..." And it had poor quality source cus I ripped it myself and aspect issues and incredibly long, boring clips and questionable timing and ghostframes but dude, it was mine and I had made it, and almost no one commented or anything, but that was kind of beside the point by then.

And actually, I stuck with WMM for years, I stuck with it so long people would gape that I was still using it, and at the effects and workarounds I had for it. Yes, I eventually moved beyond it but I still have a lot of love for that godawful glitchy piece of software.

Also, I saw in a comment further up you said you hate clipping and just scrub through the source. OMG THAT'S WHAT I DO TOO. People always treat clipping like it's such an integral part of vidding but I have never, ever done it, it's so boring! So instead I just wander round my source looking for stuff and wondering where it is and wasting lots of time because I'm disorganised like that ad it makes me unaccountably joyful that someone else does the same thing.

As a final note, I know that technical information isn't really the point of this post, but since you link to a few beginner tutorials it might be worth pointing out that Windows 7 doesn't actually come with Windows Movie Maker, it comes with Windows Live instead which is a different program that is much, much worse for vidding - it doesn't even have a timeline of all things. It's not a huge deal since you can still choose to download and install WMM for free, etc., but you do have to choose to do that if you're running Windows 7 which some might be.

/crazy long reply. ;)

Thanks again for the post.

[stealthily]

Cam here from a link on veni_vidi_vids, I must admit it's nice to see a piece like this. I have been wanting to vid for years but was under the impression that it wasn't even worth trying unless you had a professional video editing program, high quality source and a Grand Artistic Statement. And that a good vid took at least six months to make. And that it had better not be made to a pop song. So I've been waiting until I can get hold of a computer on which one can do those things. Perhaps it's time to stop waiting.

[bop_radar]

Very late clappy hands at this encouraging post! :D I don't think people say this enough.

(sorry for late comment of lateness--I've been very absent from the interwebs recently)