Vidding Workshop!
Mar. 1st, 2014 07:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaila posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
wiscon_vidpartyWelcome to the wiscon_vidparty vidding workshop! We hope this will be a chance for new or potential vidders to find out more about what’s involved in making a vid and to see the wide variety of ways vidders make vids, and for vidders of all skill levels to discuss vidding and share tips and ideas. Everyone is welcome to participate!
This workshop will be discussion- and question-based, so please, start or jump into any discussions you want to have and ask any questions about any aspect of vidding! Finding ideas, getting source, clipping (or not), editing programs, codecs, rendering, effects, specific technical issues you’re having, discussion about specific vids, discussing your own ideas, links to useful resources, tutorials, cheerleading--any and all vidding related topics are welcome.
We’ve created a few categories to keep some of the major topic threads organized. If you have a comment or question or want to start a discussion on a certain topic, just comment below the relevant subject. (We’re flexible though, so don’t fret too much about getting things in the right place. If in doubt, just give your thread a descriptive subject line so people can find it).
Feel free to add new threads if what you want to talk about isn't covered by the categories, but please give your comment a descriptive subject line so readers can tell what’s being discussed.
We have several awesome vidders who have volunteered to participate and introduce themselves at their convenience. We will be linking to their introductions as they appear. Keep an eye out and feel free to ask them specific questions!
Topics (to get you started--add your own threads and subthreads!)
• Vid Idea Development -- Finding and developing ideas for new vids
• Tech Questions -- Hardware and software (PC, Mac or Linux), codecs, aspect ratios, exporting and rendering, effects, etc.
Questions asked/discussed:
-- Software to use on a PC? (including discussion of Windows Movie Maker & Lightworks)
-- Vidding with iMovie09?
-- Codec rec: Avid DNxHD
-- Converter recs for Macs?
-- Linux clipping?
• Getting Started (and Finished) -- From beginning to end, how do you make a vid? Getting source, clipping, editing workflows, tips for getting started, etc.
• Subthread: Editing workflows/processes
--chaila (VirtualDub, Vegas, Zarx264gui)
--heresluck (DVD Decrypter, DGIndex, Premiere, Zarx264gui)
--thingswithwings (Handbrake, Mac the Ripper, MPEG Streamclip, Final Cut Pro, Sound Studio)
--ghost_lingering (Adobe Premiere & AfterEffects, Mac the Ripper, and mpeg streamclip)
--eruthros (DVD Decrypter, VirtualDub, AvsPmod, Premiere, Zarx264gui)
--such_heights (Switch, audio editing/conversion, Final Cut)
--beccatoria (avidemux, Cinelerra)
• Other questions/discussion
-- How to time clips to the beat?
-- Using markers
-- Approaching editing/revising? & how to deal with ambition outstripping effects/transition knowledge?
-- Free/cheap editing software for Macs?
-- Ripping DVDs vs. downloaded source?
-- Note re: codecs & compression
• Links and References -- Link helpful resources from elsewhere on the internet.
-- Various lists of resources, including subtitling
-- Mac vidders: how to get the shiniest source
-- Lots of links, especially about vidding creativity
-- Panel notes on song choice
-- A&E's Technical Guide to All Things Audio and Video
-- Audio editing
-- Multiple aspect ratio tutorials
-- Understanding codecs & containers, & Autodesk software for students
• VIDDING SQUEE - All things happy, fun, and inspiring.
• The first vid you made you're still proud of?
• Vids/vidders that inspired us!
Meet the Vidder Threads
• Meet the Vidder: Rhi
• Meet the Vidder: metatxt
• Meet the Vidder: such heights
• Meet the Vidder: kiki_miserychic
• Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
• Meet the Vidder: ghost lingering
• Meet the Vidder: here's luck
• Meet the Vidder: chaila
ETA 3/3/14: The main part of the workshop has concluded, but please feel free to add answers or info if you've got them! We've organized a list of the threads, questions and answers for ease of browsing. And don't forget that you can sign up to be a vidding mentor to a newer vidder, or sign up to get a mentor!
wiscon_vidparty vidding workshop! We hope this will be a chance for new or potential vidders to find out more about what’s involved in making a vid and to see the wide variety of ways vidders make vids, and for vidders of all skill levels to discuss vidding and share tips and ideas. Everyone is welcome to participate! This workshop will be discussion- and question-based, so please, start or jump into any discussions you want to have and ask any questions about any aspect of vidding! Finding ideas, getting source, clipping (or not), editing programs, codecs, rendering, effects, specific technical issues you’re having, discussion about specific vids, discussing your own ideas, links to useful resources, tutorials, cheerleading--any and all vidding related topics are welcome.
We’ve created a few categories to keep some of the major topic threads organized. If you have a comment or question or want to start a discussion on a certain topic, just comment below the relevant subject. (We’re flexible though, so don’t fret too much about getting things in the right place. If in doubt, just give your thread a descriptive subject line so people can find it).
Feel free to add new threads if what you want to talk about isn't covered by the categories, but please give your comment a descriptive subject line so readers can tell what’s being discussed.
We have several awesome vidders who have volunteered to participate and introduce themselves at their convenience. We will be linking to their introductions as they appear. Keep an eye out and feel free to ask them specific questions!
Topics (to get you started--add your own threads and subthreads!)
• Vid Idea Development -- Finding and developing ideas for new vids
• Tech Questions -- Hardware and software (PC, Mac or Linux), codecs, aspect ratios, exporting and rendering, effects, etc.
Questions asked/discussed:
-- Software to use on a PC? (including discussion of Windows Movie Maker & Lightworks)
-- Vidding with iMovie09?
-- Codec rec: Avid DNxHD
-- Converter recs for Macs?
-- Linux clipping?
• Getting Started (and Finished) -- From beginning to end, how do you make a vid? Getting source, clipping, editing workflows, tips for getting started, etc.
• Subthread: Editing workflows/processes
--chaila (VirtualDub, Vegas, Zarx264gui)
--heresluck (DVD Decrypter, DGIndex, Premiere, Zarx264gui)
--thingswithwings (Handbrake, Mac the Ripper, MPEG Streamclip, Final Cut Pro, Sound Studio)
--ghost_lingering (Adobe Premiere & AfterEffects, Mac the Ripper, and mpeg streamclip)
--eruthros (DVD Decrypter, VirtualDub, AvsPmod, Premiere, Zarx264gui)
--such_heights (Switch, audio editing/conversion, Final Cut)
--beccatoria (avidemux, Cinelerra)
• Other questions/discussion
-- How to time clips to the beat?
-- Using markers
-- Approaching editing/revising? & how to deal with ambition outstripping effects/transition knowledge?
-- Free/cheap editing software for Macs?
-- Ripping DVDs vs. downloaded source?
-- Note re: codecs & compression
• Links and References -- Link helpful resources from elsewhere on the internet.
-- Various lists of resources, including subtitling
-- Mac vidders: how to get the shiniest source
-- Lots of links, especially about vidding creativity
-- Panel notes on song choice
-- A&E's Technical Guide to All Things Audio and Video
-- Audio editing
-- Multiple aspect ratio tutorials
-- Understanding codecs & containers, & Autodesk software for students
• VIDDING SQUEE - All things happy, fun, and inspiring.
• The first vid you made you're still proud of?
• Vids/vidders that inspired us!
Meet the Vidder Threads
• Meet the Vidder: Rhi
• Meet the Vidder: metatxt
• Meet the Vidder: such heights
• Meet the Vidder: kiki_miserychic
• Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
• Meet the Vidder: ghost lingering
• Meet the Vidder: here's luck
• Meet the Vidder: chaila
ETA 3/3/14: The main part of the workshop has concluded, but please feel free to add answers or info if you've got them! We've organized a list of the threads, questions and answers for ease of browsing. And don't forget that you can sign up to be a vidding mentor to a newer vidder, or sign up to get a mentor!
Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-01 02:07 pm (UTC)Discussion about getting and developing new ideas goes here. How do you come up with ideas? Source first, or music first? What moves you to make a vid? How do you find songs? Do you always use songs or music, and if not, what other audio choices can be used? &etc.
Re: Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-01 05:34 pm (UTC)I have occasionally gone looking for music, though even that process relies on discovery to a certain extent; I make a playlist of music that I think might work (based on singer's voice, genre, general sound) and listen to it a few times to see if anything pings me. Sometimes something does. Sometimes something *almost* works, and then I start digging around to see whether there are other songs by the same artist, or a similar artist, that might be a better fit.
So -- love for a show or character puts me in a vidding frame of mind, and my ideas about a character or relationship or show are the first thing a song gets tested against, but specific ideas grow out of particular songs.
Then, once I have a song, I try to evaluate it musically. Does it have changes in dynamics or instrumentation that will make it interesting to vid? Does the bridge break things up in a useful way? Or is the song kind of flat, with no development or progression? If the latter, it's going to be hard for me to vid it well, because I rely on music to do a LOT of the emotional and structural heavy lifting in a vid; I am too lazy to deal with a song that is not going to do a lot of the work for me.
And then, if the song passes those tests, I have to weigh it against the source: Do I have the clips to make this concept work visually, or is this just a song that will forever remind me of the character/show but that cannot (or should not) be made into an actual vid?
What I'm saying, basically, is that I get a lot of "false positive" vid ideas: they seem great at first, but on reflection, they don't work as well as I thought they did. When I first fell in love with vidding and was churning out a vid every few weeks, I made every vid idea I thought of -- and that was a good thing, actually; I learned a lot from that! These days, though, I have a lot more fandoms and a lot less time for vidding, so, to quote
Re: Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-01 06:37 pm (UTC)That's a pretty specific case, though, and the process I had for making/concieving of that vid was very different than my typical process! I do have a list of songs that jumped out at me as This Should Be A Vid About A Thing, but I've also had to do song hunts for The Perfect Song About A Thing. Usually the later happens when I'm vidding for exchanges and the former happens when I am just making a vid. I also have a list of Songs That Would Make Good Vids But Fuck If I Know What They Would Be About. And I do keep an ear out for songs that would work for vague ideas I have that haven't quite coalesced, often because I haven't heard a song to focus the idea yet.
When I hunt for songs it's a process. Since my song hunts typically are exchange based I usually start a playlist of "songs that remind me of fandoms/characters I offered" before assignments go out. Sometimes this yeilds suprising results. The year I vidded Capital Scandal for Festivids I found the song I used only because I was looking for songs that might work for a vid for the Pixar movie Brave. I honestly just typed "brave" into iTunes to see what came up and lo the song "Brave" by A Particularly Vicious Rumor appeared. Despite the fact that it sounded nothing like the Pixar film, I added it to my playlist because it's an interesting song and the playlist was just for generating ideas anyway. When I finally got my assignment I realized that the song fit Cha Song Joo.
Likewise, when I participated in Tight Present, I made a playlist of songs that dealt with issues that TSCC raises: technology, religion, parenting, etc. Losing Our Religions came out of the fact that I got distracted while adding "songs about religion" to the playlist and started to do a cover hunt for covers of Losing My Religion. And Elephant Connection came from my This Would Make A Good Vid But Fuck If I Know What About list. Because, damn that is one creepy song. But it was Sanguinity's request that put the song in a new light for me and made me think: yes, actually, this WOULD be a good song for TSCC.
When a song jumps out at me as a vid, though, it's a bit different. It often takes me much much longer to make the vid; perhaps this makes sense since if I'm just making a vid for shits and giggles there isn't a deadline involved. I have a laundry list of "songs to vid" and only a small fraction of them have been made. Clipping tends to be a huge hurdle for me — it's just so boring! — that actually making vids without the pressure of a deadline can be difficult. Right now I have something like 10 vids that I have songs for (let's see … 2 - Inception, 1 - Farscape, 1 - Harry Potter, 3 - BtVS, 1 - Soldier's Girl/Boys Don't Cry, 1 - West Wing, 1 - Hong Gil Dong) with another half dozen or so that I have solid ideas for but that I probably won't make for whatever reason (1 - Hunger Games, 1 - Angel, 1 - Smallville, 1 - TSCC, 2 - multi, 1 - Stargate, 1 - Painter of the Wind). Some of these ideas I've carried with me for a long time; like
Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-01 06:43 pm (UTC)Re: Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-01 07:15 pm (UTC)It's *really* hard for me to go hunt down a song for an idea if I don't have one. But I have done it. One word: fanmixes. Fanmix-creators can be AMAZING. I'll look for fanmixes for the specific character or source if I can (though often there won't be any, or the makers will have a different view of the show anyway), but I'll also just peruse fanmixes on Tumblr or LJ, for sources or characters that seem similar to what I'm looking for. A good, thematically coherent fanmix can be great, even if it's for a different source.
I have also googled certain themes or ideas + "song lyrics". It's a last ditch effort, but it often leads to Youtube spirals of listening to songs and related songs, and it can lead somewhere interesting.
I got a song for a totally different vid for a totally different source from a great TSCC fanmix. I found a Twilight song through some combination of googling songs about vampires and werewolves and listening to fanmixes for Hannibal and Luther, honestly. :)
Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-01 07:43 pm (UTC)I think, like
That said, my favorite vid ideas almost always require a different way of approaching audio. Either the song is really repetitive and does not offer significant structure -- which means the visuals have to be highly structured, or I have to edit the song, or I need a different cover, or... it's not a song at all.
Coming up with a vid idea is itself really satisfying, so if I'm going to follow through and vid, alternate audio source can be a really useful motivation.
I like using non-traditional audio sources that include dialogue, which mostly come down to two categories:
1- nostalgia/values mash-ups:
2- fandom mash-ups: taking the audio of a notable, recognizable scene from one fandom and applying clips from another. A lot of times we see these as animated gif mash-ups? e.g. Mean Girls phone conversation mash-ups. But you can do it with SO MANY other well known scenes. A bonus -- these make vidlets! and sometimes completing something is really motivating (or so I hear)
Of course, you can play with television commercials, recitations from your favorite songs, monologues, comedy sketches, and so on.
Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Re: Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-01 11:41 pm (UTC)As far as getting ideas, lately I'm getting ideas closer to "fix its" than squee. I tend to fall in love with characters and get an idea for their storyline. I'm moved to make a vid when I've got passion and zeal for it. I like to let ideas simmer in my brain and gain momentum like a snowball. I don't always use songs or music. Sometimes I like a good spoken word or other sounds, like quotes from movies.
Re: Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-02 12:13 am (UTC)Which sounds more negative than I'd like it to - it's mostly...my vid development really changed as I shifted away from monofannishness. There are a lot of other contributing factors (real life, coming to care more about technical trickery and/or source quality) but I do think that's one of the reasons I make fewer vids now than I used to. *muses*
Re: Vid Idea Development
Date: 2014-03-02 12:49 am (UTC)It's pretty common to rip the audio from movie trailers and make AMVs to them, and I've done that. When I made my AMV that used the audio from a Bond trailer, I think what convinced me to combine the two was remembering one of the Bond villain's lines that was in the trailer and thinking that it described the anime, too. That was a fun AMV to make because most of it was just finding clips that had explosions in them to match the audio track. I've also seen some good vids lately that have worked native audio into the vid, which is something I kind of want to think about doing more.
I do also go from concept to song, usually by deciding that I want to make a vid for a fandom and then searching for music that works for it. Those vids tend to be more critical, I find, though that's not a very well-defined line for me.
Re: Vid Idea Development
From:Tech Questions
Date: 2014-03-01 02:07 pm (UTC)Technical discussion and questions (both PC and Mac) go here. From general questions about the types of clipping or editing programs that are available, to specific questions about one particular problem you’re having. Discuss hardware and software, codecs, aspect ratios, exporting and rendering, effects, &etc.
Re: Tech Questions
Date: 2014-03-01 03:20 pm (UTC)Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
Date: 2014-03-01 05:10 pm (UTC)So I'm wondering if anyone has used iMovie 09 for vidding..? Also, what features have been vital to your vidding? Are there any features in your vidding software that you thought you'd use but never have?
Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
From:Re: Tech Questions
Date: 2014-03-01 06:41 pm (UTC)I recently discovered Avid DNxHD codec for editing. After I tragically lost Final Cut Pro in a hard drive crash, I switched to Adobe Premiere. I didn't realize at the time, but not having FCP meant that I had to switch editing codecs as well, since the codec I had been using, ProRes, only works when you have Final Cut Studio. What!!! So, the new codec I use when clipping is DNxHD. It's pretty and it's free. Yay!!! I use it on a Mac, but it looks like it is also available on Windows.
Links for more info:
http://www.avid.com/US/industries/workflow/DNxHD-Codec
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/download/en423319
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNxHD_codec
Anyway, I really like it and figured I would share. *g*
Re: Tech Questions - Converters for Mac?
Date: 2014-03-01 11:43 pm (UTC)I do use MPEG Streamclip and it's okay, but I like having several tools at my disposal. Does anyone have any recs for converters?
Re: Tech Questions - Converters for Mac?
From:Re: Tech Questions - Converters for Mac?
From:Re: Tech Questions - Linux clipping
From:Re: Tech Questions - Linux clipping
From:Re: Tech Questions - Linux clipping
From:Re: Tech Questions - Linux clipping
From:Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-01 02:08 pm (UTC)What is the best way to start vidding if you never have? How do vidders get from an idea to having a completed vid? From getting audio and video source, to clipping, to the process of editing a vid, to rendering and posting, what are the different processes that different vidders use? Tell us about your workflow, talk about tips for getting started, or ask specific questions here.
Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
Date: 2014-03-01 02:33 pm (UTC)Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Tell us about your editing workflow/process!
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
From:Links and References
Date: 2014-03-01 02:09 pm (UTC)There are a ton of vidding resources on the internet, from posts or blogs about vidding, LJ/DW communities for tech questions or questions from newbies, to video tutorials on Youtube or elsewhere. Link and discuss the ones that have helped you. Or ask for what you’re looking for and maybe someone can help!
Re: Links and References
Date: 2014-03-01 03:04 pm (UTC)Subtitling: There are also two tutorials for subtitling on this community.
Another workshop: And, of course, I should link to
Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:Re: Links and References
From:VIDDING SQUEE
Date: 2014-03-01 02:09 pm (UTC)Just what it says: the happy parts! Cheerleading posts or gifs, vidding success stories, vidding inspiration--discuss the happy and inspiring things here.
Re: VIDDING SQUEE
Date: 2014-03-01 05:45 pm (UTC)The moment when you get something to land on the beat in exactly the right way and it looks so awesome you give yourself shivers.
The moment in a tearjerker vid where your draft makes your beta cry (intentionally, I mean, rather than with frustration or rage).
The moment when you get a comment from someone that shows that they really GOT what you were doing with a vid.
Re: VIDDING SQUEE
From:Re: VIDDING SQUEE
From:Re: VIDDING SQUEE
From:the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Re: the first vid you made that you're still proud of?
From:Vids/Vidders that inspired us?
From:Re: Vids/Vidders that inspired us?
From:Re: Vids/Vidders that inspired us?
From:Re: Vids/Vidders that inspired us?
From:Re: Vids/Vidders that inspired us?
From:Re: Vids/Vidders that inspired us?
From:Meet the Vidder: chaila
Date: 2014-03-01 02:29 pm (UTC)I've been vidding for several years. In the past, I've been serially monogamous with fandoms; I made a bunch of Battlestar Galactica vids about
Laura Roslindifferent characters, then I moved onto The Sarah Connor Chronicles and made a bunch of vids about that show. In the past couple of years, I've been without a main fandom so I've become a lot more multi-fandom, and I now have a relatively diverse catalog. (Masterlist here. Someday it'll be better organized but not today).I got into vidding because I had one specific idea about very specific characters to a very specific song, that was exactly everything I loved about BSG at the time and wanted to show to other people. And I didn't think anyone else would make it if I didn't! I hadn't even watched that many vids and I knew nothing, but that idea motivated me to push through the learning curve. And once I watched the first 30 seconds of video I ever made move to music, I was hooked. Vidding to me is now basically the way I participate in fandom. Vidding is just another way of "talking" about a show/canon for me: pulling out the parts of a canon I love the most and showing them to other people, focusing on the under explored characters or parts of a canon, stitching together the visuals to emphasize a certain theme or idea, making connections between things. Or just making vids for other people who like the canon or idea, who will hopefully be excited or interested to watch. I'm not a very fancy or technically proficient vidder, but I've picked up a decent amount by necessity as I've muddled along.
I've vidded for Wiscon quite a bit. I've premiered multiple vids there, including co-vidding Hands Away (TSCC/Fringe) with
So, that's more than enough about me. Feel free to ask any questions, should any of this interest you!
Re: Meet the Vidder: chaila
Date: 2014-03-01 04:49 pm (UTC)I remember seeing Parable and Danse Macabre at WisCon. So I'm wondering about your process for vidding to instrumental music. Do you find you have a different process when there aren't lyrics?
Also, could you talk a little about your Telling and Retelling myth playlist?
Re: Meet the Vidder: chaila
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: chaila
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: chaila
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: chaila
From:Meet the Vidder: here's luck
Date: 2014-03-01 03:21 pm (UTC)I've vidded more than a dozen fandoms: big fandoms and tiny-to-nonexistent fandoms, TV and movies, SFF and not. (Masterlist and streaming versions available at the AO3.) I first tried my hand at vidding because I was deeply in love with the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and (like
What I love about vidding is that it's meta + music. When I fell for Buffy and went online looking for other people to talk to, I was delighted to discover that there were so many people saying smart things about the show -- I really got into fandom for the meta, and Buffy was such a smart show that there was a lot of meta, really good meta, because there was so much to think about. And then I found vids, and I realized that people were using vids to express their reactions to and insights about the show. Like meta, but with music! I couldn't resist. And I still feel that way. :) Vids are a terrific way to say some things more elegantly or persuasively or quickly than I could in written meta. And they allow me to invite an audience to collaborate in making meaning with me, which I think is pretty cool.
But it's not just the end results of vidding that I love (I am often dissatisfied with my vids, even now); it's the process. I mean, sometimes the process makes me want to punch myself in the face, but it can be fun. Finding the right song is an amazing rush; it's where the rest of the fun begins. Seeing something on the screen that I saw in my mind's eye is fun. Coming up with something that's better than what I saw in my mind's eye is fun. Getting to engage with my show on a deeper level is fun; celebrating the shiny surface is also fun. Learning new stuff is fun, and I'm always learning as I vid. Just making something is fun; a lot of my day job involves sending a lot of not terribly meaningful email, which means that at the end of the average day I very seldom have something I can point to and say "I made this." Whereas with a vid I can do that, even if it's just "Today I laid two clips" -- those are two clips that weren't on the timeline yesterday. That's progress.
I've been vidding for long enough that my process has changed significantly: I used to plan everything out -- every line -- and make clips in advance, and now I'm much more likely to settle on a few specific clip ideas and a general sense of the effect I'm going for, scrub through the source to see what resonates with me, and start throwing stuff on the timeline. These changes have been partly the result of technological change -- I have hardware and software that can handle that sort of open-ended vidding! -- and partly the result of being less obsessively mono-fannish: When I was vidding Buffy, I knew pretty much every frame of every scene, whereas with the shows I'm currently vidding I don't have anywhere near that kind of detailed familiarity with the source.
I can say more about this in the Tech and the Editing/Workflow threads, but: I vid on a PC, using Adobe Premiere CS4; I edit audio using Adobe Audition; and I have used Adobe AfterEffects in a few vids. I generally vid with DVD source imported into Premiere as AviSynth files, using the process outlined in A&E's Technical Guide. I started vidding when I didn't know much about computers beyond how to use word processors and send email, and now I build my own computers, so I guess I picked up some stuff about tech along the way, and I'm happy to help with tech issues if I can.
Re: Meet the Vidder: here's luck
Date: 2014-03-01 06:30 pm (UTC)And they allow me to invite an audience to collaborate in making meaning with me, which I think is pretty cool.
I love this phrasing of it! This too, yes.
Re: Meet the Vidder: here's luck
From:Meet the Vidder: ghost lingering
Date: 2014-03-01 03:26 pm (UTC)I've been making vids for a while, but I still think of myself as a newbie vidder. I vid because I like manipulating something that already exists into something else; because I like to muck around with computer programs; because I like to watch shows with the sound off; because I love music. One of my favorite parts about vidding is that I get to be analytical and artistic at the same time. I don't really buy the "every vid is an argument" line of thought, perhaps because when I'm at my most analytic I care more about questions than answers. However I do like the meta feel that you can get while vidding. For me, personally, I think of vidding as a kind of visual poetry. It's saying something, I don't always know what it means, but I like the way it looks/sounds and I like how it makes me think. I also like that, moreso than fic, I think, it engages in a dialogue with the source material and with other vids. And, what is not to love about 3 minutes of your favorite parts of a show or movie? All the benefits of rewatching in a fraction of the time!
My vidding love is for character studies, partially because I'm defective at romance (another draw of vids over fic, for me, as fic is rather pairing centric) and partially because the way I get into shows is often through the question: "how is x character reacting to these events?" I'm often drawn to characters on the edges; I've joked that if something doesn't have enough footage to make a vid, that's when I decide to try my hand at it. I also really love vidding for exchanges, because it forces me to move outside of my comfort zone and to finish something already goddammit! I've been trying to branch out though: my next few vids I'd like to tackle relationships as a focus (not exactly romantic ones, however) and I've posted a few vids this past year that are more about ideas/concepts than about individual characters, which is something I'd like to play around more with.
Despite the fact that I lived in Madison for almost 5 years it wasn't until the last year I lived there (…2009, I think?) that I actually went to Wiscon. I've only been once and I was shy and quiet the whole time, but I was there! It was also the first time I'd ever been to a vid show, so that was amazingggggggg. <3 I've had one vid, Signs [Dark Angel] play at Wiscon. Unfortunately/fortunately, not the year I went; it played a few years later. I had made it for something else and someone approached me, asking if they could show it in the vidshow. Which, of course! Original Cindy is a great character for Wiscon: a black lesbian in sci-fi. The show didn't always treat her the best — for example, despite how outspokenly "out" she was, the writers still had to put up glass between her and her lover so that they couldn't be together — but she deserves much love.
Masterlist of my vids here.
Re: Meet the Vidder: ghost lingering
Date: 2014-03-02 09:39 pm (UTC)I'm curious about what you said about watching TV with the sound off -- do you do that just in preparation for making a vid, or do you do it for other reasons?
I'm often drawn to characters on the edges; I've joked that if something doesn't have enough footage to make a vid, that's when I decide to try my hand at it.
Haha, that must make for some interesting challenges! But that's awesome, because side characters deserve more love <3
Re: Meet the Vidder: ghost lingering
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: ghost lingering
From:Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
Date: 2014-03-01 04:02 pm (UTC)I'm Garrideb and I make vids from comic book scans. I've got three under my belt so far: Downfall (Marvel's Civil War, Steve/Tony) Sky is Open (Carol Danvers, premiered at WisCon 36!) and Service Bell (experimental, Steve/Tony).
The appeal of vidding comics is partly my deep, deep love of various Marvel characters and my appreciation of comic book art, and partly because I'm familiar and comfortable with manipulating still images, whereas manipulating footage is scary and new.
It all starts with the song for me. I have SO MANY songs on my iPod that have half-planned vids assigned to them. Good lyrics are important, but what catches my attention most are songs with cool twists - the gospel-y bridge in "Downfall", the guitar solo in "Sky is Open", the building crescendo of "Service Bell".
I scan 99% of the images myself, so I can get big, high-resolution images, and then I use an ancient version of Photoshop to crop panels and clone-stamp those pesky word balloons out of existence. I use iMovie to set the images to music.
Watching vids has always been a part of my fandom experience. Not only have vids pulled me into new fandoms (I bought the entire series of Due South after watching "Wonder of Birds", for example), but vids have also widened my music consumption considerably. A House vid set to "Hallelujah" introduced me to Leonard Cohen; a Smallville vid to "Red-Blooded Woman" introduced me to Kylie Minogue; CSI gave me Rachel Yamagata, and Doctor Who gave me the Decemberists.
Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
Date: 2014-03-01 06:22 pm (UTC)Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Re: Meet the Vidder: Garrideb
From:Meet the Vidder: kiki_miserychic
Date: 2014-03-01 04:55 pm (UTC)The reason why I'm a vidder comes in different parts. There's a scene from a short lived and underrated television show on in the 90's, Millennium, from Chris Carter (The X-Files). You may laugh, but 12-year-old me sat wide-eyed staring at the tv. It was long before I knew there was such a thing as vidding. Since I started vidding I never thought about it again, but I was watching a Patti Smith video on YouTube and it was linked as a related video. Looking back now, it explains A LOT about my vidding style now. It's not available online because FOX takes them all down, but some of it can be seen in the Vidder Profile that bradcpu made. I wanted to vid before I actually knew there was something called vidding. On that note, I suggest everyone watches all of bradcpu's Vidder Profile Series.
I started out as a viewer of vids and then thought, "hey, I could do that better" and taught myself how to vid. It's a completely rude and mean way to find a hobby. My early vids are quite terrible, but I had a lot of fun figuring out things, like how to write my own XMLs in Windows Movie Maker to create custom effects. I started because I thought I could suck less than other people. My motivation to continue vidding is that it became a creative outlet for me and then it morphed into vidding as therapy. Lately it's evolved even more and I'm trying to "be what I want to see" in fandom. I'm always lamenting the lack of things, so I'm trying to produce the things I want, like femslash and female centric fanworks. I've tried vidding female characters that do more than beat people up and make things explode while being pretty. While I've expanded my vidding subjects, I still strive to vid a larger array of characters.
For reference, my YEAR END VIDDING MEMES: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.
I don't think I'm very good at talking about vidding, but vidding meta gives me life. I've written Vidding as My Own Flavor of Feminism, Vidding as Art, my vid commentary on charmax's Unnatural Selection (Along the same vein, thuviaptarth wrote amazing commentary on my Ding! Dong! vid), and Obstacles about the creative process (which I still work off of). I also did the tumblr section of the Vividcon 2013 Infinite Diversity in Vidding Combination Panel.
For wiscon_vidparty, I curated the Thank Heaven for Little Girls Playlist and made Après Moi in 2013. I have one or two playlists in the works for this year and I'm debating which of my ideas to use for a premiering vid. I've never attended actual WisCon, but the hashtag on twitter makes it look awesome.
Re: Meet the Vidder: kiki_miserychic
Date: 2014-03-02 09:53 pm (UTC)Thinking "I could do better" might be kinda rude, but I relate! ;-) It was part of what got me into polishing up my comics scans to make shinier comic vids. Since then I've seen comics vids that put mine to shame, but hey, if hubris got me to actually make something, I can't be too hard on myself!
I just watched your Teen Wolf zombie AU vid - I'm only on the second season so I try to avoid spoilers but an AU vid seemed safe (and it was!). It took me a second to recognize the music, and then I started laughing. Great vid! I loved how you paired Stiles playing cards while zombies raged outside - it seemed to fit the boredom/horror mix of a zombie apocalypse. Could you talk a bit about your choice of song and the choice to vid in black and white?
Re: Meet the Vidder: kiki_miserychic
From:Meet the vidder: such heights
Date: 2014-03-01 05:37 pm (UTC)The main fandoms I've vidded in are Doctor Who, Torchwood and Merlin. Other fandoms I've vidded for include Avatar: the Last Airbender, The Avengers, Buffy and Community. I think my style would probably best be summed up by people who watch my vids as ALL THE FEELS - at least, that's what I get in the comments a lot. I'm interested in trying to get pretty visuals and do interesting technical stuff too, but for me vidding is ultimately about having a strong feeling of some kind and wanting to get that across.
I've now made three premieres for the Wiscon vid party and I'm working on a fourth. The first one I did was Antebellum (Merlin, Gwen/Morgana), which was a sad but heartfelt love letter to a ship I adored on a show I'd broken up with. Then I made The Skins, a multifandom vid about one of my favourite sff tropes, doppelgangers! Last year's contribution was Hammerhead, a Doctor Who vid about how great Martha Jones is.
No spoilers on what I'm making this year, but it's another multifandom vid about a subject very close to my heart. :D Here's hoping I can get it done in time!
I vid on a Mac with Final Cut and have previously used iMovie, though that was a while ago now. I've helped quite a few new Mac vidders get started and am always happy to answer questions or show someone the ropes if I can.
[commenting and running, I'm afraid - will be back tomorrow!]
Re: Meet the vidder: such heights
Date: 2014-03-02 10:34 pm (UTC)I was going to come up with some serious question about your vidding but then I decided to re-weatch your Tony/everyone vid, and nothing in the universe is as perfect as "ripped jeans skin was showing" set to Bruce hulking out, and I'm laughing/crying and can't think of any good questions. Thank you for that.
Re: Meet the vidder: such heights
From:(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-01 06:48 pm (UTC)I LOVE VIDS. I love vidders who make shiny vids that let me see something through their eyes. In spite of my many works in progress and an epic list of vid concepts, I do not have any solo-edited vids uploaded. In 2009 (yikes), I collaborated with
That said, I work with audio and video editing quite a bit more outside of fandom. I mainly work with Adobe Premiere Pro, Audition, After Effects and Photoshop. In the past I worked with Sony Vegas, FCP 7 and I've dabbled with FCP X. Right now I'm learning MOTU Digital Performer and Autodesk Smoke.
I really want to complete a vid for WisCon premieres this year and finally move my vidding skills into vidding.
Initially, I wanted to vid because I am plagued with vid bunnies, that yes, I am also sure no one else would make. I feel doubly committed to really jumping in because the fandoms I want to vid are also terribly undervidded (is this a thing? it must be a thing, Festivids!) -- Lost Girl, Warehouse 13, Scott + Bailey, Orphan Black...
My vidding concepts tend to be experimental, cracky, or meta in some way and I am super into using strange audio source.
Attending WisCon for the first time last year was such a transformative experience. I joke that the whole thing is powered on unicorn giggles and rainbows, but it's more likely the incredible culture of collaboration and community. I am really excited to be contributing in some tangible way this year. <3
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-02 12:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:Meet the Vidder: Rhi
Date: 2014-03-01 11:37 pm (UTC)I really should have been vidding from the get-go, and I did have a couple of failed attempts at it previously. I started more seriously lately because people I knew and met at Wiscon made it sound amazing, but also, to be honest, because I work in a different field now (ask me about breaking into the industry and student loans!) and editing is the one thing I've found my ADD brain gets absorbed by entirely, losing hours on end. I love it dearly.
Unfortunately because I get so very into it, I don't do it as much as I used to--this is because of spoons and free time and the fact that I am very much a 'sit down and bang out at least half of this' creator both in fandom and academically. But I aim to do a couple of vids a year, like for Festivids, and potentially one for Wiscon and/or for Vidukon in absentia. If you're so inclined, you can flick through my vids tag here.
I tend to vid stuff I have huge feels about and/or I feel like no one else will address in the same way I like--rare stuff! I always have tons of feels and backstory to a vid that I don't necessarily write about like I should because I worry no one cares. But even the 'fun' stuff has a whole bunch of serious thought behind it, probably too much!
Stylistically I tend to keep my work pretty stripped back, with jump cuts and cross-dissolves only for transitions, along with few to no filters. I've seen fancier stuff done really well, but I find it to look cheesetastic whenever I do it. Much to my chagrin, I think really too damn linearly regarding narrative, which is something I'm trying to work on! I've managed to strip myself of most of the other bad habits I've had.
Despite all of this video love and despite the fact that I usually start with the video source, I've got music in my blood and therefore the audio is essential. It has to be a song that resonates with me, that gets to my heart and my gut, and therefore I'm very much 'know it when I hear it'. Often I'll just put my iTunes on shuffle and flick through, making a playlist, but take some time to decide which song from that list is the best. I was a little startled this year when my Festivids song came to mind within 30 seconds, as I'm usually very indecisive!
With regards to software, I was introduced to Final Cut about ten years ago and have never really looked back since. I know Final Cut X is allegedly rubbish, but I will keep using FC software until it doesn't work anymore, because I feel it's a beautiful thing and actually really accessible. (I should really just wear an ASK ME ABOUT FINAL CUT badge along with all the other ask me badges...) I also use Photoshop as and when I need it, and a whole slew of converter software as suits.
I've been to Wiscon several times, and once to the vidparty, though I've had vids shown twice(?) years I've not been there. My goal is to make it to the con for at least a day this year as I'm actually back in the US (I'm from WI) at the time anyway at that time, so maybe I will see you about! I'm seriously pondering a premiere vid regarding the female companions of New!Who, so stay tuned.
So many Is in the above! If you have questions, please feel free.
Re: Meet the Vidder: Rhi
Date: 2014-03-02 10:49 pm (UTC)You mention using photoshop sometimes in your vids -- how does that come about?
Much to my chagrin, I think really too damn linearly regarding narrative, which is something I'm trying to work on!
Do you think linear vidding is holding you back? I think I know what you're saying here, but I'd love it if you could elaborate a bit!
Re: Meet the Vidder: Rhi
From: