#amv talk | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

marshmallowgoop · 2 years ago

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This was a good read. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts in such a detailed and thorough manner.

I want to begin by saying that I welcome and greatly appreciate feedback; one of my main goals—be it as a video editor, writer, or just a human being—is to improve. And that's much of my conflict: if the only one who thinks I'm improving with my video editing is me, then it doesn't really feel like I'm improving at all.

But, of course, getting fewer notes on Tumblr for a video doesn't equate to not improving. Things are a lot more complicated than that. As you highlighted, an AMV could get passed over for so many reasons that have little to nothing to do with the editing. It could be timing, song choice, content, use of voice lines (which might be a particularly unpopular move in my case because of my tendency to utilize an English dub with a sort of "love-it-or-hate-it" reputation), and so on and so forth.

But I am undoubtedly noticing a pattern with my videos: on Tumblr, the older ones are, by and large, more of a hit! And it's clear why with my most popular AMV—it's funny and memey! Which isn't at all my main thing, and I'm totally cool and at complete and total terms with how I'll probably never edit an AMV as popular (on Tumblr) as that one again.

With the others, though, I wonder. What am I doing "wrong"? What could I be doing better?

I don't think this is a bad thing in itself. Video editing is something I do for me, and it's a hobby I greatly enjoy, but I do share my work with others. I want people to like it! If they're liking it less than they used to, I want to rectify why. (Well, maybe. I'm probably not going to edit a lot more comedy videos, LOL.)

Tying Internet interaction with self-worth is something I've struggled with a lot, but I don't think that's the real meat of this particular issue. If I wanted more likes and reblogs, I'd write a fandom essay or edit GIFs, as these are probably what people followed me for in the first place, and these forms of creation tend to garner much more attention on Tumblr than AMVs. I don't edit AMVs for notes... but if there's an undeniable pattern of getting less interaction for them over time and what I consider to be improvement... it does make me think.

And I guess all I can really do is keep trying. Maybe change my goals! I've always striven, above all else, to edit AMVs that match the songs well and are visually interesting. I sought out feedback for the opening section of the Yu-Gi-Oh!/Detective Conan crossover video but never even thought to ask about the block effect because it felt so natural to me; it was a refreshing mix-up of the formula I'd established, timed to the G-F#-E-D pattern of the song (or something like that because I tend to transpose in my head). Maybe my videos have lots of those kinds of moments—things that I don't even question but that really don't work for others. I do want to consider that!

(It also kills me a little bit that the nature of translation meant that that video doesn't quite fit with the lyrics as well in English as it does—or as I intended—in Japanese. So much of my planning for that AMV was breaking down every word and how I could match it...

(The "lost-in-translations" that killed me most were probably Conan holding his hand over his heart for "naka," meaning "inside," and Conan and Shinichi holding keys for "kagi," meaning "key." Alas...!)

All this said, I do recognize my shortcomings as an editor, definitely with framing and cinematography (which I initially didn't think about really at all, but I do now thanks to feedback! So, I hope it's something I'm improving on.) Thank you for the videos.

Similarly, thank you for the explanation on the VPR system. I do always tag my videos with "eye strain" on Tumblr, but I wasn't sure how to similarly blacklist my videos on YouTube. (I don't think any of my videos are photosensitivity friendly and do care about providing protections on that front; a piece of feedback I've received has genuinely been, "You don't have to cater to me. Or people with photosensitivity. Make your art.") I've now added descriptions to all my YouTube videos, trying to use VPR guidelines.

And speaking of YouTube: the algororithm seems to quite like me there! I get many views. There is interest in what I make. But the likes-to-views ratio often looks rather low to me. That makes me feel like I'm disappointing folks—that they're not getting what they wanted when they clicked my video.

And I want people to not be disappointed! Especially because I largely joined YouTube for the ability to apply to MEPs and Studios and participate in collabs. If my work is disappointing to audiences on YouTube... well, I don't want to "bring down" a group effort with my work! It's great that I'm happy with my videos, but what could I do to make more people happy?

Ultimately, I wish there were a clear-cut answer, and, well, there's really not, for all the reasons you've outlined. There's no definite "good" or "bad" here. All I can do is keep trying.

Thanks again for talking this out with me! (And watching my vids! Oof, some might look... kind of bad out of context ^^;)

Post I'm replying to is here

"Generally speaking, the more hours I devote to [editing] a video, the more I like it and the prouder I am of the results.

I fear that others don't feel the same, though. My second-most popular video on Tumblr is an "older" one of relatively little effort, and I unfortunately can't say that I care much for it myself. It took maybe 20 hours, tops, whereas more recent videos that pushed past the 50-hour mark—and that I'm far more confident in—have garnered maybe half the notes.

[...]

I enjoy edits with lots of clips and effects... but are those kinds of AMVs just "bad"? Or is the way I'm executing them bad? Am I focusing on all the wrong things with my videos?"

- @marshmallowgoop

This is touching on a much larger "issue" in the vidding/editing community than you might realize (although you do seem to recognize it is an issue) but I'm going to try to tackle it in many points.

These are in no particular order.

Your audience doesn't know how long it took to make something.

I know it's hard to come to terms with the fact that sometimes "crappy" things do better than stuff you personally like more, but unfortunately that happens with everyone, all the time. Memes get more traction than well-written anecdotes, headlines get more traction than the actual article, and short vids are often easier to relate to than longer ones with more of a story.

What the internet zeitgeist grabs cannot easily be predicted and is never a judgement of quality. Throw this logic in the garbage, because what goes viral should never have any factor in your self-worth.

Who is your [main] audience for your videos?

If you're making your videos for you, than whatever you like is good. If you like what you end up with, then the video succeeded. If you are making videos to chase audience interaction (which is valid, btw, just not something I personally do), then they need to appeal to a very wide general audience. You'll need to re-assess why the vids aren't getting as much interaction as they used to and adjust your editing style to increase that interaction.

But your past posts don't seem like that's your target. It seems like you make vids for you. So don't think your videos are "bad" because they're not getting likes. They're getting the most important like: Your own.

Of course, it's always nice to be validated by other people. But that's generally not going to happen based on the amount of effort you put into something. It's generally just gonna be with people who vibe with or relate to your content, and if they don't then it won't be shared as much.

Another thing to factor in is where the people who like the stuff you like are located. Maybe your immediate circle is more about conan memes, and you need to go to reddit or something to find the conan romance fans. It could also be timing. Maybe the people who like conan romance aren't online when you post and don't see it. Or maybe it's just luck because the internet and social media are just Like That and totally random. Talk to any artist about trying to play the algorithm to sell more art! 😆

What is the ultimate goal for your videos?

On a per-video basis, you'll generally have a premise for a video.

Things like:

I want to play with new effects

I want to gain as many likes as possible

I want to make an action video

I want to make a character profile that people who have not seen the source video can appreciate

I want to make a good video for a particular song

A "good" video will balance visual entertainment with story, but ultimately, in my experience, it helps to simplify your video down to one goal, and then base all of your following decisions on if those decisions achieve the goal.

As an example, let's say you want to make an action video but your primary interest is the visual effects. This will affect your scene selection, as you should pick scenes that will work better with effects.

Action videos are generally more cohesive when they center around one particular character or duel. If that "plot" were your goal then you'd pick scenes that created a narrative structure aligning with the character or duel's progression.

But since you want to use as much vfx as possible, you may diverge from that cohesiveness by instead injecting a montage of "powering up" scenes with flashy transitions, or maybe you will sidestep the focus on one particular rivalry and include another fight with an unrelated character because that gives more opportunity for better added animation.

This does not make any quality judgements on what is "good" or "bad" when it comes to videos - instead it comes down to whether this particular editing decision advances the ultimate goal of your final video.

Similar to writing, if you're making a persuasive essay, you shouldn't meander onto your own related-but-not-actually-the-topic-of-the-essay rant. The rant might be great, but it's not the purpose of the essay and ultimately just muddies the point you're trying to make (much like this metaphor probably did for my post about video editing, whoops).

"is the way I'm executing [amv effects] bad?"

First of all:

"Good" or "bad" is so subjective, there is no overseer that can definitely say this is good or bad, because it's art, and art is subjective and on and on. Which I'm sure you know, but it bears repeating anyway.

I have tried to be unbiased for this reply so far, but I have to disclaim before I continue that I come from the "school" of "raw editing" - which is to say, trying to stay away from a bunch of effects - so while I am trying to remain unbiased, what I say next will probably be biased despite my efforts.

Even though there is not a definitive "good" or "bad" in vidding (and if you're hanging out with people who are making blanket judgements like this... don't), we can instead look at art, cinematography, and editing fundamentals for the general "laws".

As fan video editors, we are also essentially our own directors and cinematographers. We can choose which scenes we want to use for certain goals and sometimes even make up our own scenes through compositing.

I made this playlist that is about half fundamentals and half random editing guides. I do still add to it, but it's hard to find videos that aren't bloated (and also related to vidding somehow), so updates are few and far between.

Anyway, of note are:

youtube

These are both highly valuable as they can help you not only choose which scenes to put together, but how to position them if you're framing your own shots through zooms and motion effects.

I watched all the videos you linked, and I think you are a good editor that makes what you like and that may not appeal to a broad audience.

I'm not a conan fan, but your vids aren't boring. I'm not a heavy vfx editing fan, but your videos don't look like most heavy vfx shorts. You're either making stuff your own (what I assume) or using presets I'm not familiar with.

WARNING I'M GOING TO CRITIQUE SOME OF YOUR VIDS BELOW

(I assumed you might actually want answers to some of those questions; if not, skip this part!)

The school of thought I come from with vidding says that everything should have a purpose. If my goal is to make a plot-driven vid, then what does a particular effect add to the video?

In this video at 0:04, you have this kind of cut in block thing, and I'm wondering what is this for? Why is it there? To me it's distracting and interrupts the flow.

But it could be a callback to Yu-Gi-Oh somehow? Maybe it's to give the video a feel like it needs to buffer load or something?

I'm not familiar with either source mentioned in the description, so I can't say, but as a general audience member, there's just so much stuff happening visually that I have no idea what's supposed to be happening story-wise. Maybe it's a character profile?

I'm sure you could extrapolate effects and decisions for all your other AMVs. But deciding if something works for your video's goal has nearly zero impact on the time it takes to complete.

Meanwhile, I look at this vid, which seems like a standard romance vid and it seems like a good balance between the romance and the effects; I'd only maybe change one or two things. Nearly all the effects work together to advance the story of the romance, so I'm not sure what went "wrong" here (in terms of lack of audience interaction).

END CRITIQUING

Is accessibility a concern?

Many vfx-heavy amvs rely a lot on motion transitions, which can cause motion sickness! I've gotten motion sick from more AMVs than I care to admit LOL.

But even aside from that, there are photosensitive people, and their photosensitivity triggers are far more broad than just flashing lights.

I noticed all your vids have captions and that you participate on ao3, so it seems like you're hanging out with people who also value accessibility.

In this way, by making vfx-heavy videos you are probably limiting your audience to people who are not photosensitive and/or sensitive people willing to "gamble" on a vfx heavy vid.

What you can do to help curb this is by adding content warnings about photosensitive triggers in your videos. On ao3 these are typically called "physical triggers," but 2 years ago I made a whole system called Vidding Photosensitivity Relay (VPR) .

Basically is comes down to describing what visually happens in your video. In most of your videos cases it would be motion transitions, quick cuts, and peripheral text. These relays (I'd hesitate to call them warnings) give people a better idea of what to expect when it comes to the videos they're watching.

With a better informed decision they could know if they can watch the video now, or later in a different setting, or maybe not at all to avoid a days-long migraine or something similar-- I was very surprised just how many people involved in vidding are photosensitive!

So that may be something to look into. You don't have to use VPR as a system, but it at the very least does list potential triggers and examples so you could refer to those.

My somewhat off-topic more of a personal reply here

"But I'm absolutely terrified that I'm only getting worse here—that as I learn more effects and get more comfortable with my program, my work is actually degrading."

(source)

Maybe you're just losing focus? Did you go through a writing phase where you had a massive vocabulary and started inserting all the "big words" into everything? The usage is technically correct but the message gets muddied due to the readers perception?

Maybe it's that.

I think re-assessing what your personal goals are, and deciding for yourself what you want to prioritize - your likes vs other people's likes (for starters) - will help.

There is also a need to decouple internet interaction from self-worth, which I know is MUCH easier said than done. But there are SO MANY great artists, editors, people in general, who don't get much interaction because the algorithm doesn't prefer them and/or they don't market themselves. That doesn't make them worth any less than the people who make it their priority to market themselves instead of create art.

I hope this whole post doesn't come off as patronizing or anything!

I usually just talk into the void and not get actual direct replies LOL.

Also sorry for taking so long to reply! Hope it helps in some way.

#ramblings #replies #long post #this was such a detailed and thoughtful reply that i didn't know how to respond!#i feel like i'm rambling and repeating myself a lot but tl;dr i appreciate the in-depth feedback #all i can do is keep trying... and folks *have* told me that i'm improving #maybe tumblr's just dying or something idk lol #all i know is that i want to be a better editor... whatever that means! haha that's probably the real root of everything huh #(this also took so long because my computer's had it D: all the ports are dead... and so is the keyboard)#(i actually work in accessibility as a transcriber and caption videos as part of my career so subtitles are really important to me)#(but oof i have a special program to help me type faster but i can't use it now because my keyboard's broken)#(and i'm typing this on my tablet instead without that program and asdfsadfasdf i struggle to type normally lol ^^;)#(spelling is hard ^^;)#amv talk

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marshmallowgoop · 8 days ago

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Subtitling AMVs! Make Plain and Karaoke Optional Captions for YouTube with Subtitle Edit, Aegisub, and YTSubConverter

This is a video I've wanted to make for a while. Though I'm in no way an expert—and suggestions and improvements are very welcome!—I was overjoyed when I learned that I did have the power to make optional karaoke captions, all with free tools, and I hope I can at least help others get started with them, too.

Programs used are Subtitle Edit, Aegisub, and YTSubConverter. I really recommend checking out YTSubConverter's page for more details about stylized captions on YouTube; it's very comprehensive. I'll also note that the kind of captions I make are merely scratching the surface of what's possible with YouTube captions—there's a lot more that the .ytt (YouTube Timed Text) file is capable of.

While focused on YouTube, subtitles created in Subtitle Edit and Aegisub can also be burned into the video or included as an optional subtitle track on the file itself. I use the free program HandBrake for this, a process I outlined briefly in the bottom "Compression" section of this post.

Songs used in the video are instrumental versions of "Lost & Found (The Midnight remix)" and "Los Angeles," both by The Midnight and both of which I've set AMVs to, so I thought it'd be fun to utilize the instrumentals in an AMV-subtitling video.

Timestamps

[00:00] Examples

[00:07] Overview

[00:28] Easy YouTube Captions

[01:08] Subtitling in Subtitle Edit

[02:44] Persnickety Timing (in DaVinci Resolve)

[03:01] Stylizing Subs in Subtitle Edit

[04:47] Karaoke Timing in Aegisub

[06:03] Additional Stylization

[06:41] Converting for YouTube with YTSubConverter

[07:08] Uploading to YouTube

[07:35] Adding Multiple Subs

Transcript under the cut!

Overview

This video will cover creating stylized and unstylized YouTube captions for AMVs. I'll outline both easy and persnickety methods of making basic captions for YouTube, how to use Subtitle Edit and Aegisub to stylize subs and time karaoke, and how to convert stylized subtitles for use on YouTube with YTSubConverter.

Easy YouTube Captions

Starting with easy YouTube captions, when uploading a video, there's an option to "Add subtitles" in the "Video elements" section. I can delete what's already there and press "Add" to add my own.

I'll hit "Upload file" and add a plain .txt without timing, just the song lyrics. It might take a moment, but YouTube will automatically sync the lyrics. And seems to do a pretty good job!

But YouTube also has options to edit and tweak the timings. That's really about it for this method!

Subtitling in Subtitle Edit

You can also make simple captions outside of YouTube. I like to use Subtitle Edit, a free program for timing and stylizing subs. In Subtitle Edit, I'll start by adjusting shortcuts to make timing easier.

I can do this by going to Options -> Settings -> Shortcuts. Scroll down to "Create/adjust"... And change the key for "Set start time" to Z. Make sure to hit "Update" so that the change sticks. Then, I'll change the key for "Set end and go to next" to C.

Now, I'm ready to sub. I go to File -> Import -> Plain text... And I paste in the song lyrics. I have them formatted so that one line is one subtitle. So, I have the "One line is one subtitle" option selected.

Then, I open my video by going to Video -> Open video file... And I click to add the waveform.

Time for timing. I first hit Z to start the first line. Then, I play the video and press C to end the line.

I continue this process, Z to start and C to end, for the whole video. When done, I can adjust the lines in the waveform to tweak the timing (if needed). I also like to eliminate gaps by going to Tools -> Bridge gaps between subtitles...

When satisfied, I can save the subs as a SubRip (.srt) file. .srt files are simple subtitle files with limited formatting. They can be directly added to YouTube; just select "With timing."

Persnickety Timing (in DaVinci Resolve)

But since AMVs are all about timing... And I clearly struggle with that method... I like to import the roughly timed .srt into a video editor. (I use the free DaVinci Resolve.) Then, I can adjust the subtitles to fit the markers I'd already created for the video.

And that's about it for simple AMV subs.

Stylizing Subs in Subtitle Edit

More elaborate subtitles can be achieved with another subtitle file type: Advanced Sub Station Alpha, .ass. (Yes, it's really called that.)

.ass files are capable of colors, fades, positioning, karaoke... And really a LOT more. The YTSubConverter page has a detailed breakdown, outlining .ass elements that can be utilized on YouTube.

I particularly like .ass files for their ability to create karaoke subtitles. To start styling for karaoke, I change the Format to .ass in Subtitle Edit.

Then, I can click the big "A" for "Advanced Sub Station Alpha Styles."

And adjust as desired. For this one, I imported and edited a previous AMV's .ass style. And deleted the original "Default."

For fonts, note that YouTube only allows seven fonts: Roboto (default), Carrois Gothic SC, Comic Sans MS, Courier New, Lucida Console, Monotype Corsiva, and Times New Roman.

Here, I set a "dialogue" style without the italics of the lyrics for the AMV's voice lines. For effect, I also created new styles for dialogue and lyrics with different fonts. I used both Outlines and Opaque boxes for different styles.

This video doesn't do it, but Alignment can be adjusted for different positions.

Note that for karaoke, the Primary color is the color AFTER the words are sung (white here). The Secondary color is the color BEFORE the words are sung. Here, Secondary is set to alpha for invisible words before being sung.

There are also Outline and Shadow options. I can now select the styles I want for each line. Highlight, right-click, go to "Set style," and select the desired style.

Karaoke Timing in Aegisub

Karaoke timing can be done in Aegisub. Aegisub is a free program with LOTS of ways to edit subtitles. In fact, subtitle styles can be set in Aegisub as well.

For karaoke creation, I'll start by opening my .ass file in Aegisub. I add the video by going to Video -> Open Video...

To apply karaoke, I press the "Toggle karaoke mode" button (the mic and music notes). Lyrics will be automatically cut up by word, but they won't be timed correctly. To fix this, I need to move the lines in the waveform. I can adjust the sliders on the side to maneuver.

To time, I click each area and hit SPACE to play it. I adjust the lines accordingly. When satisfied, I click the green checkmark.

I repeat the process for all the lines where I want karaoke. It's a lot of rinse and repeat! But if I want the karaoke to appear by letter, after I've done the initial timing, I add more splits by clicking between letters and adjusting the lines in the waveform.

I can test each line individually by pressing the second play button.

Note that splits can also be deleted by clicking on them.

Additional Stylization

For any additional formatting, I return to Subtitle Edit. (Though it can also be done in Aegisub.)

I like to add fades by pasting the {\fad} tag at the start of a line. In parentheses next to the tag, there are two numbers separated by a comma. The first number is the fade-in value, and the second is the fade-out value.

Here, I faded in and out 200 when there were gaps between the subtitles. And I adjusted some timing to accommodate the fades.

I also added a {\ytktGlitch} tag for a glitch effect. This effect only works on YouTube/Google Drive and won't preview elsewhere.

Converting for YouTube with YTSubConverter

I now have a stylized .ass file prepared, but .ass files can't be uploaded to YouTube. So, I need to convert the .ass file to a .ytt (YouTube Timed Text) file. The free YTSubConverter does this easily and instantly!

I first open the .ass file in the program. I can adjust the style; I like Soft shadow. Then, I press "Convert," and that's it!

Uploading to YouTube

Uploading stylized subtitles to YouTube is similar to uploading unstylized ones. But there are a few things to note.

First, stylized subtitles WILL display funny in the preview. But if you hit "Done" and don't touch anything, it should work fine.

That said, one way to test .ytt files is to upload them to Google Drive. They can also be previewed by watching the YouTube upload before making it public.

Adding Multiple Subs

One other thing I like to do is add an unstylized subtitle track, too. For my unstylized subs, on a plain .srt. in Subtitle Edit, I add lyric music notes by highlighting, right-clicking, and selecting the note.

To upload multiple subtitles to YouTube, the video should be at least private or unlisted. Then, in the Subtitle tab, I can Rename my stylized track [by clicking the three dots for Options when hovering over the subtitle track in YouTube Studio]. This will allow me to add another subtitle file in the same language.

I go to "Add language" and add the unstylized file. I find I have to Publish and Unpublish several times to work properly.

And that's really it! Happy subtitling!

#video #eye strain #long post #amv #?#focused on subtitling amvs but of course these techniques can be used for other subtitling!#it's maybe a bit embarrassing to have this all laid out because i know i have methods that will make more experienced subtitlers cringe #(like copy-pasting tags)#but i hope this can at least be a starting point! making simple captions can be quite simple with tools now #and it's really fun to do more stylized ones!#i was seriously overjoyed when i learned i could make karaoke captions lol i was so excited #open to any questions or suggestions and etc.!#special thanks to hexfloog for the feedback!#this was a lot worse before and i wouldn't have fixed it without that feedback ^^;#amv talk

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