Something Vid-like This Way Comes: Internal Motion

[permetaform]

It's amazing what you can learn just by listening to the music.

I don't know why but it's really hard for me to hear lyrics unless I've read them first. It might be due to the fact that English isn't my first language, though it's my *best* language, it's difficult for me to recognize some phonemes, the "r" and "l" sounds in particular.

Anyhoo, in that regard I treat vocals as another instrument, which is made easier by the fact that you can get a "cheat sheet" for this instrument by looking up the lyrics online.

Sadly, this is not possibly for the other instruments. About the closest you can get is probably the "waveform" in Premiere.

Foolproof Guide to Cutting on Beat *Every* *Time*

1) Open Waveform
2) Find beat
3) Cut 3 frames before


This works 'cause your eyes are slightly slower than your ears and it gives time for everything to catch up.

This also works really really well on fades. I don't know why it works on fades (because technically it's only a small difference the first three frames of the fade) but it's worked really well everytime.

Learned via sisabet via sockkpuppett via Carol S. =)

Through the above method you can get

Internal Movement On Beat =)

This is basically how I do it:

1) Find point of maximum extension in your clip
(ie. the point where a moment begins or ends, the beginning of a blink, the point of impact, the most stretched out part of a kick...)
2) Cut the clip at the point of max extension
(now you have two clips, 1st half of lead-up movement and 2nd half of denouement)
3) Find the beat where you want the action to fall
4) Put 2nd half of clip three frames before the beat.
5) Drop 1st half of clip just before the 2nd half making sure NOT to overlapp
6) Use the 'stretch' tool to make the far ends of the clips fall on beat too.


There's probably tons of other methods so I'm really really curious as to how everyone else handles getting internal movement on beat, because it's a bitch and a half trying to get it perfect by ear. I can usually tell when it's *off* but it's hard to connect visual and audio sometimes. With cutting the clip in half I have a *visual* clue of what's happening in the visual medium.

Now and then sometimes even *that* can't get it "on beat". What's probably happening is that it's not being set on the beat you *think* you hear. And the only solution to that is to keep listening to the song and watching what the waveform does as it scrolls. (the 3 frames rule does NOT apply in this situation)

One interesting thing you can do to help train your ear to different sounds is to pick an instrument at the beginning of the song and follow its melody as the song plays, and concentrate on how it interacts with the other instruments. Each instrument has "lyrics" too, they have "verses" and "lines" that are just as important as the vocals and it makes an impact on your vid if you're paying attention to what the instruments are singing about and when.

I would highly recommend Simon and Garfunkel's 'Scarborough Fair - Canticle' for easy to find instruments with semi-complex interaction. What especially rocks is when you hear it on headphones, because then the different instruments sound and syncopate in different ears and it's easier to keep track of what's going on.

ps. Regarding explosions, I honestly think that it isn't one movement at all. It's at least two: the initial spark and the expanding blast.

In The Fragile, the explosion at 3:03 is preceded by a spark on the quiet beat with "*and*" (from "...and picking and picking *and* ahhhhh") and then the main brightness on "ahhhh" with the strong beat. Same principle with the ship crashing during Leeloo's intro sequence and various and miscellany other explosions in that vid. In Seah and Margie's Haunted, the spark is "you" (from "And I will always miss you, oh!") and the expanding blast is on "oh!" with the cymbal crash.

Incidentally, I was trying to figure out how to make things go "boom!" properly for The Fragile and learned it mostly through repeatedly watching the earth go boom in Haunted. heh.

Comments

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

Question that may be obvious to actual vidders: How many frames per second are you talking about, or do you use 3 frames no matter what FPS it's at?

I don't have any good vidding software, but I've thought about doing vid-like things in Flash, which defaults to a measly 12 fps, at which I'd think 3 frames before would be overkill.

[permetaform]

my default's at 30 frames per second I think...

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

ok... so at 60 fps (not that I think many things go that high) you'd cut at 6 frames before, and at 12 you'd probably only want to cut 1, I guess... cool.

[pipsqueaky.livejournal.com]

I have my project settings at 24 fps, and I've found that cutting 2 frames before the beat works really well for me. So yes, 1 frame early is probably the optimal setting for 12 fps.

[kimera.livejournal.com]

Hmm... this is how I do it. I've used this method a lot, but never *really* put it to the test until I made "Feelin' Alright". For the most part, the clips were syncronised with the guitar or keyboard (both of which flowed at the same speed as the lyrics). But there was one section where I wanted the clips to line up with the percussion beats instead.

I put a marker where I hear the beat, and then line it up with the spike on the waveform if it's still off by a bit (which it usually is). The mess of orange and green (green denotes regions in VV- useful if you're dividing a song into themed sections) tabs might look confusing to some people- but it keeps everything in order for me.

[permetaform]

neat! thanks for sharing =)

[ignited.livejournal.com]

I must say that I'm loving all the vidding points/info your writing lately -- as I just got a DVD drive and am ready to start doing some myself. So it's very helpful and informative. Thanks! :)

[permetaform]

=) np.

btw, effects-wise, don't read everything about them unless you are looking for a specific effect...once you figure out what you want your vid to look like, go hunting. (or at least that's my method, anything else just makes my head explode)

[luminosity]

This 3-frame method also works for just about anything you're trying to highlight (time) in a clip--explosions, eyeblinks, spins, kisses, fists, etc. For example, in Here, the sorcery explodes in Wes's hand 2 frames before the gong sounds in the song; conversely, as the choruses started, I tried to be sure that, for the first 4 measures of each chorus, the clips blacked out and then "appeared" on the "heartbeat." 2-3 frames. Of course, as it got faster and faster, those frames had to disappear, and I had to count on the viewer's eye to see the clips in rhythm even though the clips looked like shrapnel on the timeline.

I think, of my vids, my most successful presentation of internal movement is Sex on Wheels. For one thing, nearly every single clip in the vid is one of internal (as opposed to external) motion, and I tried also to match up (directional) movement from one clip to the next. But yay for internal movement. It's one of my favorite challenges in vidding.

Great post!

[permetaform]

For example, in Here, the sorcery explodes in Wes's hand 2 frames before the gong sounds in the song; conversely, as the choruses started, I tried to be sure that, for the first 4 measures of each chorus, the clips blacked out and then "appeared" on the "heartbeat." 2-3 frames.

so it drops to 2 frames when going faster?

huh. no wonder some of the beats in the remix seemed to fall funny, I was staring at the disappearing frames going "huh?"

For one thing, nearly every single clip in the vid is one of internal (as opposed to external) motion

...!

I need to try that one of these days 'cause Sex on Wheels was way waaaay neat...

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

English isn't my first language, though it's my *best* language
That's exactly my case. That's I'm never sure when forms ask me if English is my first language, because maybe they just want to know which language I'm most comfortable in? In which case, that is not the best question. I left the homeland before I started elementary school, so when I speak Indonesian I have the vocabulary and articulation of a six-year-old.

[permetaform]

yeah, left china at 3.5 yrs, and I think always with English vocab but sometimes in chinese syntax and when I try to speak when I'm thinking fast I stumble over expressing myself clearly 'cause of languages running foul of grammatical differences.

totally illiterate in chinese, and I'm basically at "See Spot Run."

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

I feel you. I think we speak like three or four languages in the household? We're always mixing and matching. I get confused with vocab translations too, because a lot of the times it's just a one-syllable change kind of format like from "revolution" to "revolusi", but sometimes it's not and the relatives back home just kind of smile blankly at me and go, "Eh?"

[permetaform]

heh, what's even worse is when you realize mid-word that you're using the wrong form and attempt to change it only it's a lost cause. And then I'm just like, "fuck it".

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

Cool! After I read this post I went back in Premiere to look at some clips I'd already adjusted the timing on. I'd first just set them on the wave peak, but when that didn't sound quite right, I had to go back and start shifting things.

I went back to my timed clips and zoomed in, they were in fact all set at three clips before the wave peak. I'd been doing it all by ear. Doing it visually is going to make timing *so* much less of a hassle!

[permetaform]

=) ::nodnod::

also?

::waves blueberries at you::

[elistaire.livejournal.com]

::is very happy to learn this::

Thank you for the tutorial.

[permetaform]

=) no prob

[marycrawford.livejournal.com]

OK, that's it, I am friending you already. *g*

I'm going to try this - and have a look at all the 'timed-on-beat' things I've already tried to do. Thanks!

[permetaform]

=) aww ::friends you back::

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way with lyrics, and Engish IS my first language. Did you ever hear Weird Al's "Smells Like Nirvana?" Singers need to enunciate...or maybe my ears are just broken. :p

[permetaform]

nah, between the wailing to the music I keep on wondering why people complain about opera...