I don't know how to vid

[sophinisba]

eruthros asked me to say "something about vidding? Maybe how you think about the process of vidding vs the process of writing or podficcing? Or a vid commentary? Or something like that?"

This is a little intimidating to me, even though she posed it in the most open-ended way possible, just because vidding in general is intimidating to me, and because I've only ever made two vids and haven't done any all year, and because I feel bad about not having really started my Festivid yet, and because I'm pretty sure my vidding process is wrong.

But it's all I've been able to do so far. Idk I try reading vidding tutorials but they tend to refer to controls I can't find or apps that won't work on my computer, and also tend to complain a lot about vidders who do things wrong, so then I get discouraged and stop reading, stop vidding, etc.

I think that for a long time after I'd started podficcing I was nervous about talking about the process because I was just sure I was doing it wrong. Then it was sort of encouraging to hear from a bunch of other podficcers that they also thought they were doing it wrong. Turns out we all have different ways that we make work for us. And like, in some ways I could say I was doing it wrong for the first year or so, because later I realized there were things I could do that would make it much quicker and easier. Still, for that first year I was also making podfic, so it was not all wrong! I'm trying to tell myself it's like that with vidding also.

In honor of eruthros having asked me to talk about vidding today, this morning I finally started ripping the DVDs I need for Festivids! Yay, progress! Also also! I tried going back to some of the vidding tutorials I've used in the past and they seem to have disappeared from the web? And the first time I tried ripping one of these files it looked really awful, but I was able to Google it and figure out that the problem was INTERLACING, and then I did it again (with DEINTERLACING) and it looked better! Yay learning things!

So, hmm, a while back I was making a plea for fanfic authors to have blanket permission or other transformative works statements. I compared the podficcing process to writing and said that usually when we get an idea for writing we can go ahead and start writing, whereas when we're in the mood to make a podfic we sometimes end up stalled for a long time waiting to hear back from an author who might or might not grant us permission to podfic. I can also get stalled getting started on a podfic by noise in or around my apartment, or by having a cold like I do now.

Then for vidding I get held up with this stupid...like, it's not even a question of waiting for permission. It's that I don't have permission, the people who made the DVDs really really don't want me to be able to make things with it, so they make it hard to do, and the software that was working whenever someone wrote the vidding tutorial I'm looking at has since been shut down, or doesn't work with the new Mac operating system or whatever. It's frustrating stuff, and once you get through that making the clips is so tedious, there's just all this stuff that really sucks before you ever get to magical vidding part where you're setting clips to music and it's still frustrating but also awesome.

So I am in that stupid stage now. I have a song that I picked out a month ago but before I can start playing with that I have all this ripping and scrubbing and clipping ahead of me. This is just not a part of writing, thank goodness.

Another big difference between my writing and podficcing process is that I write stories out of order. I write the parts that I can imagine most easily first, and then I fill in other parts of the story, and I almost always leave some bits in brackets because I will fill in the details later.

It seems like a lot of people do something similar in vidding, they talk about having a timeline and sticking the clips that fit best right away and then figuring out the other parts later. I would like to do this but it doesn't seem to be possible in iMovie, or in the version of iMovie that I'm using. But maybe I'm using iMovie wrong? And maybe I should learn to use another program. But then I think with the effort I've put into trying to figure out how to vid with iMovie it would be silly to switch to a different program now. Maybe that's silly? I don't know. Anyway the way I've been able to make the two vids I've made is to do every little bit in order and not move on to the second verse until the first verse is in really good shape, even though the bridge after the second verse is the part where I have the strongest sense of what clips are going to fit the music.

I always do podfic in the same order though! Get permission, record, edit, convert, freak out about the cover and/or decide not to make a cover, upload and post. It's funny that I always do the cover after the podfic is done, even though there's no practical reason for that like there is for recording in order.

There is my post about vidding! emei also made a post about vidding for the December meme today, and it's much more coherent than mine, hurrah! Now I shall go rewatch some source! And maybe tomorrow I'll see about making some clips and even putting them into iMovie, and then I will feel better about the Festivids checkin this weekend. Thanks, eruthros!

Comments

[eruthros]

This is really interesting! Thank you for posting it. I really enjoy your vids and I also enjoy hearing about process, especially because I hope that I'll figure out some of my own roadblocks that way!

It's frustrating stuff, and once you get through that making the clips is so tedious, there's just all this stuff that really sucks before you ever get to magical vidding part where you're setting clips to music and it's still frustrating but also awesome.

That is so true for me too! I know some people have a process where they basically just ... idk, get a movie in the right file format and then import it into their vidding software? But for me there's ripping or downloading, and then figuring out formatting, and then clipping, and then looking at clips and trying to organize them in order, and then finally getting to vid! There are so many steps and many of them are tedious. Or I find problems because my process turns out not to work for this particular file for ... reasons.

I do vid somewhat out of order - at least I'll skip a bit if I get frustrated - but mostly linearly because I have already outlined it. I compare it to the process of writing an academic essay more than fic, because in fic I'll skip some bits and I tend not to have a coherent outline so much as a "idk then some stuff and then the good bit where." But I outline my vids with, like, the lyrics written out, and then at least some brainstormed ideas and sometimes a list of clips.

[sophinisba]

Thanks, I'm really glad this was interesting for you to read! It was helpful for me to write it out too and think about where I am, as well as good having the motivation to take some little steps on this Festivid.

I also have had an outline with the lyrics written down, at least for the first two vids I did. I just now tried doing that with the new one but it's difficult because I don't know the source as well, so I don't have as good an idea of what clips will match, boo.

When I used to write longer fics I would often have a fairly detailed plan, so that is not really a big difference for me.

Podficcing is like vidding in that it has a lot of tedious stuff that you as the creator have to do, but with podficcing most of that editing comes later, after you have the fun of reading the thing out loud. And it's always more or less the same, so for me podfic editing is often soothing, whereas with vid format stuff I feel like it goes wrong differently every time. But that should get easier as I keep doing it, or at least a girl can hope.

[chaila]

and also tend to complain a lot about vidders who do things wrong

One day I just decided that I would never, ever read another vidding tutorial again, except for very specific techinical questions, and it has improved my vidding life immensely for exactly this reason. :/ Now if I need to know something, I usually try to find it on Google or YT, rather than looking around the vidding community. I just saw too much crap that was, like, mocking poor quality source and stuff like that. I would never make another vid ever if I only used the prettiest, most difficult to work with source! The point is: screw those people! Vid for fun! (But only if you want to. :D) I do honestly think the people who complain about others doing it wrong are the minority, and most people just think vids are fun to watch.

I'm trying to tell myself it's like that with vidding also.

It is totally like that with vidding, I think. IDK maybe there are a few people with lots of technical knowledge who do thinks similarly/in the most ideal way, but I think the rest of it just scrape a process together based on what doesn't make us rip our hair out, and stick to it. It's a delicate balancing!

[sophinisba]

Yeah, I felt weird making the post and saying I found the vidding community intimidating because, yeah, my general experience has been that people are super welcoming and encouraging, and also the setup of Festivids is great for welcoming newbies. But it makes sense that a lot of the people who would go to the trouble of writing up tutorials would ... overlap, let's say, with the people who are really bothered by poor quality source.

just scrape a process together based on what doesn't make us rip our hair out

This has been my strategy so far, thank you!

[emei]

I just went to re-watch your vids, and oh, Red Football is still amazing. *__*

It's also kind of nice to know that the technical process is hard and messy for many people - I've actually forgotten the specifics (which is probably why my post looks coherent, haha), I just remember that feeling of things going WRONG in all kinds of weird and constantly new ways before you've hardly even started.

[sophinisba]

Aw thank you bb! It was just about a year ago that I was struggling to finish that and I do have some good memories of it, even though it meant avoiding a lot of Christmas cheer and family togetherness. :)

that feeling of things going WRONG in all kinds of weird and constantly new ways before you've hardly even started.

Yup! The first time I tried making a vid it was going to be as an extra treat for Festivids. I had a big problem before I could even get to the point of making clips. I didn't find any solutions by looking around at forums, and I didn't feel like I could ask a lot of people since it was a secret project, so I never ended up making anything. A sad thing! But maybe I'll try again someday.