Inspiration Needed... apply within...

Marc Peters · #1 (**permalink**) 11-03-2004, 07:53 AM

A few points:

1) Does anyone know of any sites that would inspire me (with a view to the editing of video, of course).

I'm halfway through a video and it looks "polished" but nothing that says, "wow, look at me. I'm fantastic" - which is indeed the concept I'm aiming for! I'll upload the video tonight to show you if that would help matters. And after my rant about editing to the beat... I took this one a bit to the extreme and did just that (I'll play it down in the final video, choosing the best cuts).

Anyways, anyone know of any inspirational books, sites, videos etc. Is there an online site with donwloadable music videos? Might sit infront of MTV for a few hours!

2) On this point, can anyone recommend a good After Effects book. I feel that the wow factor may require me to move on to a compositing tool! Or alternatively, what compositing tool do YOU use?

Alan Mills · #2 (**permalink**) 11-03-2004, 08:03 AM

If you own a copy of After Effects 6.5 then this is the book you need without a doubt.

http://www.cmpbooks.com/product/1246

Just make sure you get the third edition that came out a couple of months ago.

Later, you can get the third edition of volume 2 (the advanced tstuff) that comes out next spring (2005).

LJR · #3 (**permalink**) 11-03-2004, 10:25 AM

I am using Combustion and love it to bits. Also accepts both AE and Particle Illusion plug-ins. I can recommend some good books but they would of course be Combustion related.

However, before you fork out for compositing software, ask yourself why you believe you need it? Is/are there specific effects you want to achieve that cannot be done easily within your own editing suite? The compositing tool itself won't give you inspiration, it will just be another blank workspace to look at thinking "now, what shall I do with this?"

As you use Premiere Pro, I would guess the logical compositor would be After Effects for you. You can download 30 day trials of both AE and Combustion though should you wish to try them out.

Good luck with the inspiration thing. It's the hardest part of video editing.

Marc Peters · #4 (**permalink**) 11-03-2004, 11:31 AM

I keep on saying I'm going to buy it... but never get around to it. I've done a few funky things in Premiere, but they seem to take about 10x longer than they would do in a compositing tool.

So it's really a speed/efficiency thing other than an inspiration one. In m,y eyes, the "wow" effects are those you don't even see the first time... you think, "I like that, but don't know why".

LJR · #5 (**permalink**) 11-03-2004, 01:06 PM

the "wow" effects are those you don't even see the first time

Couldn't agree more.

I downloaded the AE trial and struggled to get to grips with it (I just don't get on with Adobe interfaces. Things are never quite where I expect them to be and I always feel I am missing something with all the open windows). However, I could tell from the outset how immensely powerful it was. I then looked around for other compositor tools whose interface I might gel with better. I tried the trial of Pinnacle's Commontion Pro - bloody hell, I could work out even less in that than I had in AE. Again though, another immensely powerful application.

Then I pretty much stumbled upon combustion (I was looking for something else at the time). Downloaded it and fell in love with the interface more or less from the word go. Very pleased with it to date.