Author Topic: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.  (Read 5372 times)

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Offline VampireFangs103

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Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« on: February 04, 2008, 05:09:19 pm »
Title says most of it. I'd like to know how you get footage from video games onto the computer so you can make AMVs out of them. I've seen it done. Anyone have any helpful info? >.>

Offline Prinz Eugen

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2008, 06:28:22 am »
I don't know about *ALL* games, but some PC game disks have footage stored in directories as avi's (so that's pretty straightforward.) For non-PC games, you can d/l & install an emulator, then open the game disk with the emulator and you can sometimes see avi's in there. But that's all I know ...

(And now you have to promise to use any OTHER game EXCEPT Final Fantasy! XD)

Any other suggestions from other folks?

PS: Edited my late-night typos. Sorry for my being *stupid.*
« Last Edit: February 05, 2008, 08:19:33 pm by Prinz Eugen »

Offline VampireFangs103

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2008, 10:13:09 am »
lol. I was planning on doing Kingdom Hearts. But I don't understand half of what you must said. x.x *stupid*

Offline Pie Row Maniac

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2008, 02:12:16 pm »
There's always the old-fashioned capturing method. You hook up a capture card to the video source and hit record, similar to that of recording something on TV onto a video tape. If you can, stick to ripping the cutscenes instead, but if it comes down to it, this might be your only option. The thing is, ripping PS2 games just depends on the game. Kingdom Hearts I & II unfortunately are still difficult to rip, but there are ways. Complicated way.

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=51333
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=72842
http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=79693

You're going to have to do some research on this one, if you plan to stick with ripping.

www.google.com

Offline VampireFangs103

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2008, 07:29:18 am »
Wow.....maybe I can just download them somewhere. :/

Offline Pie Row Maniac

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2008, 08:18:25 am »
KH-Vids lets you watch them (even the cutscenes of the Japan-only Final Mixes and Chain of Memories remake). Not sure if you can download them.

EDIT: Granted, they're in WMV format... >_>
« Last Edit: February 06, 2008, 08:33:32 am by Pie Row Maniac »

Offline Saitaina

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2008, 01:49:08 am »
You can find cutscenes from almost every popular game SOMEWHERE online, just search hard (took forever for me to find Twilight Princess cut scenes).  kh-vids.net has cut scenes you can download, or gank off youtube via keepvid.com.

Offline Prinz Eugen

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #7 on: February 23, 2008, 05:12:06 pm »
Two things to watch out for when making AMVs out of game footage:

1) Cruddy video quality: WMV and YouTube are your enemies here. More than 2/3 of the FF AMVs I hend over to the judges' panel get slammed for being pixellated blurry oatmeal on a screen. It only gets worse when you use a projector rather than your nice hi-res monitor...

2) The "Seen it - Next!" effect. Not counting user-generated footage of YOU playing the game,** most games have fewer minutes of video than a one or two episodes of an anime series. This means that after about 4 people have made AMVs using the game you are considering, you're more and more likely to select cuts that the AMV audience has already seen elsewhere.
In other words for one example, Cloud and Yuna and most of the FF gang are pretty much 'used up' by now that it takes a heckuv an ORIGINAL concept to prevent the audience from disengaging immediately once Yuna swings her staff walking over the water (again...)

** which was how "Red vs Blue" was made...

HOW TO MAKE A DRAMA AMV THAT WILL POSITIVELY GET CRATERED BY THE JUDGES' PANEL:
a. Get medium to low quality cuts of well-worn characters and scenes. FF guys on their motorcycles and Yuna singing with the microphone or dancing with the guy in the suit are top choices.
b. Play the girl scenes to some positively languid chick-rock. If the song is 4min 10 seconds long BE SURE to torture the judges for ALL FOUR minutes and ten seconds.
c. Play the guy scenes to rap or metal that no one can understand the lyrics. Again be sure to use the WHOLE SONG. The cut scene of the dudes sliding down those cables like they're on skateboards is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY - NO ONE has EVAR used it before!
d. Don't worry about mouth movements or whether the song lyrics have any slightest associations to all those cool chase scenes and sword fights. They look SO COOOOOL as they are that everyone will just LOVE IT!
e. If you use KH, be sure to include the Disney characters - nothing says 'anime' quite like Donald Duck and Goofy.

 :P



Offline EveofAbyss

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2008, 09:10:09 pm »
Here you are. That website has every fmv for Kingdom Hearts available for download, and they are all in avi format. So yes, hope that helps.


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Offline Pie Row Maniac

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #9 on: February 24, 2008, 10:55:44 pm »
Guy, I'm going to make an AMV just like you described then submit it and blackmail the staff until it gets entered :P

Offline Prinz Eugen

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2008, 05:30:46 am »
LOL @ pie-row...

Well since we got around EIGHT of those last year, I can run an event JUST for you: I'll run 10 seconds from each of those, and a 10 second clip from YOURS, and you have to guess which one YOURS is ... (but they get played with the sound turned OFF!)

Any guesses as to what the 'overused series of 2009' will be? (Note: that's TWO cons from now...)

@ Eve: AWESOME site link. Many thanks !!!
« Last Edit: March 01, 2008, 05:36:20 am by Prinz Eugen »

Offline Pie Row Maniac

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2008, 09:36:29 am »
Most over-used series this year? My money's on Death Note.

Offline EveofAbyss

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #12 on: May 07, 2008, 08:52:08 am »
Most over-used series this year? My money's on Death Note.

Ah, possibly, but I'm not sure. I mean, people can try, but there's a pretty solid filter to go through. It'd have to be outstanding. I'd put my money on maybe one Death Note amv making it into the con (and I'm sure it won't be mine, even though it'll be genius, I promise you, lol). But, yeah, I can see what you mean. The show is surely the new big thing, as far as anime goes.

Then of course, if the show doesn't come out subbed in its entirety before the con, that could limit a whole lot of people from making valid amv's (there would be plenty of amv's with subtitles in them, I could bet.)


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Offline Prinz Eugen

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Re: Question about AMVs and Video Game footage.
« Reply #13 on: May 07, 2008, 10:01:57 pm »
Quote from: EveofAbyss
Ah, possibly, but I'm not sure. I mean, people can try, but there's a pretty solid filter to go through.
Actually, no one can say what kind of a 'filter' will happen (or NOT) except the judges, and even then, only at the actual screening event! One noticeable trend (and this can change anytime by whim of any year's panel - their decision, not mine BTW) is that typically any given series only appears once per CATEGORY. So if there are six or seven categories, you might see a DN comedy/parody, a D/N action & effects video, and a D/N serious drama. But just one each. **

OTOH, the if we get clobbered with ELEVEN Death Note AMVs the judges might select one or two 'best of's' in their opinion and hand the rest back to me, saying 'Two total is enough...' That's sort of what happened with the RAFT of Final Fantasy stuff we got last year.

Quote from: EveofAbyss
Then of course, if the show doesn't come out subbed in its entirety before the con, that could limit a whole lot of people from making valid amv's (there would be plenty of amv's with subtitles in them, I could bet.)
Making AMVs from subtitled fansubs is tricky but definitely *not* impossible. Three most useful guidelines IMHO:

a. Use footage in-between when people are talking so you can work with the original size & highest resolution,
b. Crop the frames to cut out the superimposed texts, and resize, and
c. If the area where the subtitles appears doesn't change (e.g, two people talking in a boat on a calm lake, with the subtitles appearing at the bottom of the 'water' half of the frame) then you can grab a still frame when the text is off, and then superimpose it over the subtitles.

I expect to be at the mini-con and so, if there is interest I can demonstrate these techniques to people...

- G

**Incidentally, one AMV contest a few years ago ran THREE Trailer AMVs back to back to back, ALL to 'Nadesico' - and the first two were to the SAME Trailer audio. Talk about beating an audience to pudding...
« Last Edit: May 07, 2008, 10:08:09 pm by Prinz Eugen »