Most complex video you've edited?

[User_26183]

Why did you have to Chroma Key a rendered animation? Depending on how you composited the AOV passes, you would just either have a premultiplied video or an unmulted one with an alpha and/or depth pass. Even if you just used a pre-comped beauty pass it would be premultiplied!

What do you mean by masking? Do you mean rotoscoping? Masking is technically different and it doesn't really make sense in this context!

Also...VO on a real cliff - we have foley and sound engineering for a reason! All the real cliff will do is degrade the quality in the mic and give you less to work with

I have a machinima called 'Love and War - A Battlefield Heroes Machinima' that was pretty complicated (for me anyway). It had chroma key stuff, masking, and animation of game content but in a third party animating software (which I then had to chroma key against a background). The real complexity came from some of the content itself though, mainly the music. I remixed and rewrote the game's theme song and it took my many many hours as well as the other songs in the soundtrack. Also I had to develop a German accent since I voiced all roles. Plus, the directing took forever and many many takes. I even went to a real cliff to do some of the voiceover so the sound sounded more realistic.

It wasn't perfect, but it did end up winning video of the week for that game's website forum. It was complex for me anyway...I didn't know how to do any of that really.

 

[WilliamRayWalters]

Why did you have to Chroma Key a rendered animation? Depending on how you composited the AOV passes, you would just either have a premultiplied video or an unmulted one with an alpha and/or depth pass. Even if you just used a pre-comped beauty pass it would be premultiplied!

What do you mean by masking? Do you mean rotoscoping? Masking is technically different and it doesn't really make sense in this context!

Also...VO on a real cliff - we have foley and sound engineering for a reason! All the real cliff will do is degrade the quality in the mic and give you less to work with

Stop making up words! LOL I am not an animator, nor do I know any of the terminology you mentioned (other than rotoscoping which I did on a 'light saber' video once and was the most time consuming thing vs the output length I have ever done).

For some reason the animation tool I was using (crazytalk animator, which is completely amateur itself) would only allow me to export to avi i.e. no transparency. So I had to export it with a green background and chroma key it in Sony Vegas. As far as masking, I meant the masking tools in Vegas that allow you to allow selected areas of a layer to show through another layer. Am I using the terminology incorrectly? If you watch the video you can see that the animation is far from professional lol.

As far as the cliff...I tried many many times to get the vocals recorded inside to sound as if the person yelling were outside...nothing worked well. So rather than yell outside my own house in my neighborhood, I figure I'd go to the local cliff where no one would hear me anyway. Plus it would be a cliff just like the scene (although I doubt that the acoustics on a cliff would be much different than in an open field, for example).

 

[User_26183]

Stop making up words! LOL I am not an animator, nor do I know any of the terminology you mentioned (other than rotoscoping which I did on a 'light saber' video once and was the most time consuming thing vs the output length I have ever done).

For some reason the animation tool I was using (crazytalk animator, which is completely amateur itself) would only allow me to export to avi i.e. no transparency. So I had to export it with a green background and chroma key it in Sony Vegas. As far as masking, I meant the masking tools in Vegas that allow you to allow selected areas of a layer to show through another layer. Am I using the terminology incorrectly? If you watch the video you can see that the animation is far from professional lol.

As far as the cliff...I tried many many times to get the vocals recorded inside to sound as if the person yelling were outside...nothing worked well. So rather than yell outside my own house in my neighborhood, I figure I'd go to the local cliff where no one would hear me anyway. Plus it would be a cliff just like the scene (although I doubt that the acoustics on a cliff would be much different than in an open field, for example).

Fair enough with the animation software, I had assumed you were using something like Maya or Max or even Blender. Masking is sort of that. Masking is the act of blocking one "layer" behind another. Vegas and After Effects use "masks" as being the shape you use to cut out of a layer. If you use something more vfx-focussed like Nuke or Fusion, these are usually called mattes instead, after the technique in old vfx where you would use a matte to only expose the parts of the image you wanted to add.

As regards to audio, a tiny bit of reverb, lots of equing and also inverting one channel (I normally use the right) of the dialogue track. This makes it sound further away in the stereo field. When EQing, cut all of the bass and also automate a band of higher gain to fade on and off (as if blowing on the wind). Add a load of windy foley as well as waves crashing on the rocks below etc.

 

[WilliamRayWalters]

I had assumed you were using something like Maya or Max or even Blender

The project wasn't serious enough for me to use applications like that...plus the learning curve would take me too long...although I used to do very simple 3d work in a program called 3d studio max if that one is still around. I'm talking back in the late 90s though or early 2000s.

 

[User_26183]

The project wasn't serious enough for me to use applications like that...plus the learning curve would take me too long...although I used to do very simple 3d work in a program called 3d studio max if that one is still around. I'm talking back in the late 90s though or early 2000s.

That is what I meant by Max. 3DS Max is still very much alive if you check out the Autodesk website, though it is used more for games and the like rather than vfx or animation - Maya really holds the crown for them!

 

[WilliamRayWalters]

That is what I meant by Max. 3DS Max is still very much alive if you check out the Autodesk website, though it is used more for games and the like rather than vfx or animation - Maya really holds the crown for them!

I don't even think I noticed that you wrote that. I wish I had the time to try to dig into those types of programs but the learning curve is intimidating. Anyway, thanks for the information. I'll attempt to try the outdoor voice effect sometime. Where should the mic be placed in relation to the person speaking when going for an effect like that?. Should it still be close? When it comes to Foley (or audio in general really) I haven't the first clue.

 

[User_26183]

It is important that you do not get ANY pops from plosives (sounds where air is expelled from your mouth, like p and b) so a pop filter is useful. Closer = more bass and less noise (because lower gain). Aim for the mic being about a foot away from your face and slightly lower than your mouth, pointing back towards it. The pop filter should be about 2-4cm from the grille of the mic if you have one. Try and make sure you eliminate any background noise such as pc fans. To get a better recording, either use proper sound dampening foam or cover your head and the microphone under a couple of layers of thick towel. Make sure it doesn't rub against the mic but it will substantially reduce unwanted echo (even small amounts) from the room you are in. This echo is a big giveaway you are inside if not treated properly.

 

[Liz Perdacher]

I once did an extreme emoji challenge video. I imported nearly every single emoticon just to let them pop up for a second On an average I use about 20 clips and my videos end up to be 10-20 GB (I use handbrake afterwards) But I like to work with details. I put a lot of effort into my videos but it pays off

 

[CaptainDelugo]

I once did an extreme emoji challenge video. I imported nearly every single emoticon just to let them pop up for a second On an average I use about 20 clips and my videos end up to be 10-20 GB (I use handbrake afterwards) But I like to work with details. I put a lot of effort into my videos but it pays off

10-20 GB? How did you manage to do that?! (I also used handbrake but its a loss for the quality so mostly I don't.)
Uploading 400mb for me already takes 90 minutes... :T

 

[Liz Perdacher]

10-20 GB? How did you manage to do that?! (I also used handbrake but its a loss for the quality so mostly I don't.)
Uploading 400mb for me already takes 90 minutes... :T

1) I use HD quality
2) I imported a lot of emojis and other images + transitions + music... etc.
3) 14 GB Videos would take me literally A DAY After Handbrake the most often have 90-800 MB This takes me only a few hours (2-5) to upload
4) quality wise I don't see any differences. Make sure to use the right settings