Editing and effects advice.

[dz302]

Hello new to the forums, not exactly sure if this is the right place for this kind of thing, but I've been getting more and more into video editing through the years, I've done lots of videos for games in the past, but I've only got the basics down, all I can really do is put clips in with fade transitions and maybe some small intro/title effects but nothing serious...

I use Sony Vegas 8.0 and Virtual Dub to do all my editing, I don't really have anything else but I can look into Adobe After Effects...Sometimes I think about making a video and wanting to do something cool, but I just can't really figure out how or what to do to get over to the next level and add the extra flare or something special to make my videos better.



For example this is a video for a sim game I made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9fZt3Av4fk


but I would like to be able to make videos with effects like these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktuyn6m-N84
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwHd4RiQZuQ


Any advice or links to get me pointed in the right direction would be greatly appreciated, cheers.

[redwudz]

Smooth slow motion, focus control (Blurring), posterization at one point, some title effects. Most good video editors should be able to do those effects. Other members should be able to give you some specific advice for programs and tutorials.

And welcome to our forums.

[fitch.j]

It's a really difficult question to answer. Basically you just want to get more creative. If you want to learn After Effects then that would help you learn the tools, but really its more about your ideas. We can't help you to think in a more creative way. What we can help you with is achieve the effects once you've got an idea that you want to make. (There is very little that can't be done in After Effects).

Really the best way for you to come up with ideas is to watch more. You can sit there and take notes of things you like and things you don't. You'll very quickly see your own style coming through.

If you've got access to After Effects, Kramer does a nice introduction series of videos that can be found here: http://www.videocopilot.net/basic/

After following that, you'll have a basis to build on, and people here can then help you to achieve the effects you want. I'm also on the Creatice Cow forums and there are a lot of talented AE users over there as well that may be able to help you.

[dz302]

Cheers thanks for the responses. I am not the most creative person in the world, but I think much of the problem is that I really don't know how to do anything, and don't really know where to begin if I did want to try something. I think it would be kind of a pain to ask about each individual effect I wanted to do, I was hoping for maybe a video/article database on common effects used. I guess for starters right now I can ask a few things going on in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktuyn6m-N84 (the Camera angles and slowmotion stuff is all done with the replay feature of the game)

First off the colouring and appearance is different from the actual game, everything looks slightly blurred in his, as well the colour is much richer. I've done a few things with HSL, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for (for example that first video of mine I posted had some HSL and gamma adjustments). To compare his video at the 35 sec mark with the real thing. His has some colouring changes and a glow/blur effect on it that I really like. (If you look at the "iRacing.com" watermark in the bottom right it might give an indication what's going on).

Also around 50 seconds he is using a lot of blur/focus effects, I really like the one as the camera zooms in. He is also doing a lot of small camera shakes which I would like to know how to do. Another example...in that there is also an effect when the car collides with the wall that I like, and probably a larger camera shake/move on the impact.

Finally one last thing if you look here (a different video of his), when the car collides with the wall there is some effect and then a blur or something as the car spins out of control.



I hope that's not too much to ask, I guess all I really need is to know what the effects are so I can search them up and learn how to do them.

Thanks.

[edDV]

You will find links to Vegas tutorials here and many on YouTube.
http://www.blue7media.com/vegas/

[dz302]

can anyone help me with what those effects are?

[guns1inger]

Blur - Vegas has several types that can be configured with keyframes to animate the effect
Glow - Vegas has at least one of these
Colour Correction - Primary and Secondary. Will give you more control than just HSL settings

[edDV]

plus velocity spline tracking ... see "velocity envelope" in Vegas help.

without velocity profiles, those cars would be a blur or perceptually slow.

[frlane]

Learning After Effects is always a great idea. However, one thing you can also do is visit a site like videohive.net, and get a template that can be adjusted in After Effects pretty easily.

[Cornucopia]

"How" is only part of the equation. 'Why' + 'When' are just as important.
Just watching stuff alot doesn't necessarily gain you wisdom about these things. Sometimes you need to be guided and/or serve as an apprentice under some one expeienced to be able to grow into mastery.

That's why things like film school (even online) are still invaluable. They help you get a bigger picture and knowledge of how to break things down, and of what's important and what's not.

Scott