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own-age

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Tips for a better video

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Just figured I'd help out and start a tips thread for people who may not have experience with video editing.

First off, All the things I will state are suggestions for a better video, I am not saying following any/all of these steps will make your video get the #1 spot for downloads or favorites.. but can help in the replayability of your video as well as push you away from some of the abusive things some new editors do.

Get some opinions in about your video while your editing it. This always helped me, ask a few good friends(be sure to give em credit in the video if they help you) to review what you've done so far and give you some good feedback about it. I've found a lot of my good effects come out of a revision of the video because of a friend telling me it just didn't fit the bill yet.
Less is more, when editing don't try to use as many transitions as the editor has. Most of the "better" videos rarly use transitions in the first place, and even if they do use a transition, its usually just your standard crossfade (1 video sequence blends into another video sequence, can also be known as cross disolve or just desolve).
Watch your transitions, With most track editors, they have ab transition style editing. That is track a transitions into track b or vice versa. A lot of times when you insert a transition, it may not know which track you want to start with and witch track to end with. So be sure to double check all your transitions because having your nice sequence on track a all of a sudden switch to track b, then transition slowly to track a again ruins the point of having the transition in the first place.
Before creating your footage (your game shots or whatever it is your creating) try to create a more detailed config that shows off the better qualities of your game. Your gaming config is not interesting to other people, most poeple want to see a quality video config over a person's brightened, no detail config.
Choose music that flows well with your content. Although this is mostly a personal preference with the music bit. You should always listen to your music a bit, and see how well it flows with your content.
Find ways to make your music in sync with your content. By doing this, you can produce a better rush or feel to your video. If your not sure on how to sync your music up, just simply try to match up highlight moments on high points of the music, maybe an explosion when a clash or high part of the song hits.
Choose your content wisely. Most of the time, longer videos seem to get bad reviews because the content isn't very fun to watch. Remember that your video should be "highlights" or the best of whatever it is your trying to show. Showing the same thing over and over sept maybe in another direction or whatnot gets boring pretty quick (for example some tricking videos 3 different guys doing the same trick but just because they are different guys.. they are put in there again and again) around 70% of the viewers on own-age.com prefer content over editing, so this means you should go for the harder tricks.. or the more impressive frags, and leave the not so good ones to the side.
Editing takes time, setting deadlines puts more pressure on yourself. Bottom line: a deadline can ruin a video. A lot of the time while I'm editing I want to just finish it and say I'm done with it, but the more quality work you put into the video.. the better the video will be overall. I've learned to go through a video once, and just sync up shots with the music, then watch it again and see if there's any way I can tweek this or that.
Video effects or filter use should serve a purpose, Your effects shouldn't just boom start unless you are syncing it with a paticular part in the music for a more moving effect. I often see in videos people just throwing in random filters like a ripple effect, or another effect in just because the effect is there, and it almost always destracts the viewer... they won't be watching the video.. they will just start looking for other destracting effects. Like I said before, less is more in most situations.
Avoide including inside humor in videos, By inside humor I mean humor that only a few guys would know. Maybe you got nicknames or something you say to your clanmates or gaming buddies that you all think is funny, but the average person would be like "WTF is going on?"
Compression is key. When creating the final video for distribution, be sure to use proper compression so that you don't waste bandwidth, and also so you show off your video the best possible for the filesize. You can find out more about compression here:
http://www.own-age.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=5883&page=1
With the above link in mind I say this as well: Your final product can only be as good as your footage. No wonder codec can produce a high quality avi, if your content footage is crappy looking to begin with. If you have the hard drive space, Render it in uncompressed avi.. even uncompressed avi at 16 bit color doesn't take up TOO much space, and it will produce a very VERY nice output when making your final product, and really give your viewers something to look at.
This kinda goes along with the previous tip above, It has been my experience that along with content, how the maps (or backgrounds) look is crucial for a better video.. If your final product shows vivid colors.. it will make it more appealing to the eye. I personally will watch a video more if its not all bland shots or the same background through out the entire video (like all dm17 shots for quake videos) Which also leads to something else, Spice up your maps on your videos, Go for the shots on other maps besides dm6 for quake or other overplayed maps in other games.
Don't forget that you can always create different copies of your final video.. you don't have to create a first copy then delete everything off your hard drives and screw yourself over (which believe it or not, a lot of people do). Which brings me to another point, before you delete everything off your computer, Create a very high quality version of the finished product for yourself, most likely you will thank yourself in the future.
It helps to know what music you are using before you start going through your footage. Most of the time when I'm selecting my music, I try to picture shots going along with the music. Then I start looking into the footage and seeing if I can find shots that are similar to what I had in my head. Of course you have to be reasonable with what kind of footage your looking for.. but most of the time this is where I figure out what special effects and whatnot to use for the video.
Avoid making a long video. What is a long video? well the average adult's attention span is 15 minutes. That may help you a little, Usually a long video is a sign of poor selection of content, there are exceptions to what I'm saying but generally, when your video pushes past the 15 minute mark, you really need to overlook your content and make sure you think everyone would think that this footage would be appealing. if not, maybe consider cutting it down to just the best of for your video.
To help shorten your video, Get to the point with your video. The greatest thing about a video is the fact that you can cut out the bullshit. Don't show a sequence where the guy misses 5 times before he makes a shot. Just show him shooting the rocket, and a little gibs and move on to the next scene. This can cut down the length of your video by a lot and give your video a more intense feel.
If you get burned out on editing, Take a break, Don't continue to edit while being frustrated, its not going to help anything. Good videos take a lot of time and patience and like I said before, editing just takes time, Nobody likes a rush job on a video. To kinda put things in perspective.. I edited AnnihilatioN for about 40 hours a week for about 4 or 5 weeks. At the end I started getting burned out and I put a deadline on the video which caused me to rush it a tad more and I ended up staying up late one night till about 4 am.. and sleeping for 2 hours just so I could get the video out a day later then my deadline date. After I made that video I was TOTALLY burned out on editing, I didn't even wanna do anything with editing for awhile, it almost became a hatred, But soon enough, I just avoided it for awhile and it came back and all is good again. Overall I was happy with the video and the feedback it was getting, but in the end, I wish I would of avoided setting the deadline, took a break for a few days, and worked on it a bit more to really polish up stuff.
Try new things. Avoid trying to follow other movies. Everyone wants to see something new. So don't follow your favorite frag video's technique. Weither it be by using the same songs, the same effects, or the same style of editing. Their video worked then because it was fresh and new. If you try to follow it, people will just become bored with your video. Not to mention you'll get some pretty nasty comments stating you tried to copy so and so's video

thats about all I can think of atm, anyone else want to contribute go right ahead.

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Posted: 2.2.04 @ 11:22 AM
Last modified: 5.23.04 @ 10:48 AM

pinkk

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own-age wrote:

Editing takes time

imo, thats like the most important thing there is to editing.. taking your time and not putting something out until youre satisfied.

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Posted: 2.2.04 @ 5:40 PM

toked

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I agree with everything said and with mrpinkk. Editing is the process that will eat a lot of time, it will push you to insanity sometimes too ;) Definitely create sections, try them out, let others try it and get feedback.
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fei

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great job on summing all that up, I learned so much in the past few months from this site dam u own, own <3
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bacchus

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Totally agree with what Sean said. What is following is my personal opinion, so not all people will agree but I think most of them will. Try to do different sections, which frontiers are the songs used. One atmosphere/theme for the first song, one other for the second, etc... Avoid techno music for frags highlights vids (I think techno music should be avoided anyway but many people think it suits well tricks vids), and more than everything choose original songs: avoid songs used in 122644 other vids or that you always hear when you turn up your radio. As for transitions, don't use too many filters, and try to recam when possible (but sometimes 1st person view will make you enjoy more the content). Avoid too long videos, even if it is only omfg wtfu content, because videos longer than 15-20 mins get you often bored and people don't want to see it againif it is that long. Try to make nice intro and outro, but not too long (believe it or not, sometimes half of the vid is credits), and with some content in it (at least for outro). If your filesize is not too huge you will get more downloads, because some people will download the first vid they see if it is a 150Mo vid, when they will never download a vid that take more than 300Mo, even if it is a good one (for very famous vids like AnnihilatioN or Tribulation it is a little different), so you can make 2 different versions of your vid: MQ or LQ (10-15Mo/min) and HQ (20-25Mo/min). I think that's all.

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Posted: 2.2.04 @ 8:01 PM

oTis

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i didnt read it bcuz frankly it would bore the hell out of me. but anyways every other editor out there should read it bcuz sean > you. gg
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bun

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gg sean... i'm really glad you put this out... this site really needed this. I hope everybody who's thinking of making a movie reads this.
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own-age

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well I'm still adding onto this.. so keep checking up on it
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x.deffy

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very nice and informative. GOOD GAME. ...like these blossoms, we are all dying. To know life in every breath. Every cup of tea. Every life we take. The way of the warrior. TCL - coming in like 2035...but hopefully by this summer.
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Doughboy1er

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everything that is mentioned is true..... dont forget beta testing.. its an awsome idea, lets you know what other people think before you release it =D
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OCeloT

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Helped

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Yea I posted what you said on 1 of my sites forums for CS & alot of ppl told me it helped but I told them you were the 1 to give credit 2 .... But there is alot of shit they didnt get (cause there gay) w/e anyways good tips good tips thx for all the help ..
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Powerslave

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Good tips. They should help me quite a bit. :D Up The Irons!
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Robo-Kill

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Thanks a lot for the tips Sean, will definitely keep all of those in mind!

Kinda annoyed I deleted all my Bullshit Expedition avis...but a bad config was used and I still have most of the later shots' demos. However I had a good reason to delete the footy - needed room for the next video - which has really taken off since I submitted bsx.

The content my clan and I have collected over the passed month is better than 90 percent of the footage I used in my first video, so that sums it up :)

GG own-age

GET QUAKED 3 : http://own-age.com/vids/video.aspx?id=6212

BULLSHIT EXPEDITION : http://own-age.com/vids/video.aspx?id=1990

BULLSHIT EXPEDITION 2 : http://own-age.com/vids/video.aspx?id=4361

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Posted: 7.11.04 @ 7:53 AM

raVen_TS

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thx 4 the tips, I will keep them in mind and follow them ;)
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Jt-BraKo

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and "Be creative..." (if its possible) #try the IRL 1337 touch#
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Vecchi

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I also agree to 100% of whom the San said! I also thank the some tips that was placed by it. Congratulations for San guide! I hug ;) FOREVER 2 \| MEGA-TUTORIAL: How to make a top movie \| The Machine Current Project: FOREVER 3 "Final Encounter"
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Fjoggs

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If I may add a small tip I find myself using alot. When I'm in the "phase" of deciding what music I want to use, I smack a few I like and think have potential in my media player, and then open quake3 and battle some bots. Then I kinda try to sync my shots with the music to "see" if it looked cool.
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bacchus

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Fjoggs wrote:

If I may add a small tip I find myself using alot.
When I'm in the "phase" of deciding what music I want to use, I smack a few I like and think have potential in my media player, and then open quake3 and battle some bots.

Then I kinda try to sync my shots with the music to "see" if it looked cool.

Generally I have captured some shots, so then I launch them into a media player and then launch winamp to see if the music can work with my footage or not.

Alcohol is the answer, but I can't remember the question!

FAQ for video posting
Global FAQ for video editing
Download Dwarftoss
Download DwarftossII
Download Celeritas

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Posted: 2.3.05 @ 8:57 AM

[PT] TANIA

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I do a test video to get the perfect sync.. if the music doesn't sync at critical points i'll go try another aproach changing the storie/track.. i don't do speed change, i try to imagine if it can fit with a speed adjustment because the track doesn't always fit by this much (---)

That thing of loading winamp when playng doesn't fully work :P i load drum n bass while tricking and it feels perfect but only a few times.. it can be a help to see the type of music, if you fell like it can be good sometimes, then it's a candidate song for the movie no? ;)

Anyway, i had completly forgoten about this tut! A very good one.. now it's more like a must know how :o

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Posted: 2.3.05 @ 9:12 AM
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angelofdeath

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great post, agree with everything there, another thing id say is to download and watch as many gaming movies as you can for inspiration, but be careful not to copy, be original currently working on team wink-clan movie
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