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!
Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-01 04:38 pm (UTC)(I'm working on my First Ever Vid and having trouble with the thing where it feels right when I'm putting it together but on replay it's just enough off that the vid drags, and it's really annoying me.)
Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-01 05:10 pm (UTC)The technical question is how to get a particular visual (an explosion, a punch, or whatever) to land in sync with a particular point in the audio (usually a beat, but not always). It really helps to be able to look at the waveform of the audio, so, if you can, zoom in on that. If you're trying to land something on a beat, you will probably see a spike in the audio where the beat is. Find the frame that you want to land on that beat (the moment of impact, the point where the light starts to get really bright) and position it three frames BEFORE the spike in the waveform. Then replay and tweak as necessary -- three frames is a guideline, but a lot depends on the exact visual and sound that you're working with.
The aesthetic question is harder, because the answer depends on a lot of variables -- the pace and sound of the song, the nature of the vid itself, your own aesthetic preferences. For me, there's a kind of dialectic relationship between the music, the lyrics, and the visuals: sometimes I am using the music to emphasize specific bits of the visuals, sometimes I am trying to make sure that particular clips match up with particular words or phrases, and sometimes I am cutting clips to acknowledge what is going on in the music (for example: if there's a series of quick drumbeats, I want to use jumpcuts or other quick cuts to correspond to that aspect of the music).
The instinct/deliberate choice thing has become less of a binary for me over time. I learned a lot by rewatching vids that "felt right" to me in terms of how they were cut and paying very specific attention to how the vidder got that effect: how clips related to the lyrics and the beat, where she cut, how long clips were, how length of clip and motion within the frame related to what was going on in the music.
When I first started vidding, I mostly paid attention to lyrics, because lyrics were what drew me to think of a song as a vidsong. But then I realized that the vids I liked best were vids that, in terms of how they were cut, were taking their cues from the music rather than the words. That changed the way I approached things! But, again, that's a personal preference thing, not a right/wrong thing; think about the vids you like best (which may not be the vids I like best!) and pay attention to how they work -- that's what you want to emulate.
Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-01 05:51 pm (UTC)Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-01 05:15 pm (UTC)Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-01 05:53 pm (UTC)Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-01 06:47 pm (UTC)Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-01 07:19 pm (UTC)Play your timeline and set a marker with the shortcut key every time you hear a beat (or on important lyric lines, etc.) The key is to make sure you're consistent about what the markers mean. Some programs also let you set notes with each marker*
After that, you'll want to zoom into your timeline and line up the marker more precisely with the actual audio waveform.
Programs with markers will have a feature that allows your clips to magnetize to the markers. Depending on how you want to edit, you can turn this on or off. Even if you want to place cuts a bit before or a bit after the actual beat, you may want to keep this feature on. Make your rough cut as you usually would, aligning clips with the markers. When your rough cut is finished, turn off the "align clips with markers" or magentize feature, highlight the entire visual timeline, and move to the right or left by 2-3 frames.
* Regarding marker notes -- in my experience, these are most useful when you have thoughts about what is going to happen in that moment of the vid but haven't worked it out enough to commit to a particular clip or sequence. I would not rely on marker notes as a way of distinguishing between marker purposes (if that makes sense?)
Re: Getting Started (and Finished)
Date: 2014-03-02 01:45 am (UTC)(An example is in my vid "Brave" I have clips of lights turning on/off to the beat; I did that using markers on the clips themselves.)