Adobe Systems, makers of
Adobe Premiere Pro, Scintilla's weapon of choice
Magix AG, makers of
Magix Movie Edit Pro, Cyanna's weapon of choice
Image Editing Software
Jasc Software, makers of Paint Shop Pro and
Jasc Animation Studio
Adobe Systems (again), makers of Adobe Photoshop
The GIMP, a free, powerful open-source image editor
for those who can't afford Photoshop or PSP
Codecs
HuffYUV,
a fast, lossless video codec (use for source and final exports)
PicVideo MJPEG,
a fast, lossy video codec (good for previewing in an NLE)
XviD, an excellent open-source MPEG-4
video codec (like DivX, but better)
DivX, the most common of the proprietary MPEG-4
codecs
ffdshow, a decoder that will handle
almost any MPEG-4 AVI (if you can't play back the AVI versions of our videos,
get this)
LAME MP3, a great free MP3 encoder
Right-Click MP3, a great
all-in-one tool for encoding and decoding MP3s
Ogg Vorbis, an excellent open-source audio
codec (like MP3, but better); not recommended for AMVs due to compatibility
Illiminable's Oggcodecs, the DirectShow filters
for Ogg Vorbis that will let you play back .OGG files on any DirectShow media player
(Windows Media Player, etc.)
Rippers, etc.
SmartRipper, a great DVD ripper
DVD2AVI,
a frameserver for ripped VOB files
Donald Graft's DVD2AVI fix
(and his MPEG2DEC3 fix comes with it)
NexENCODE, a handy
CD ripper/MP3 encoder
Processing and Compression
AVISynth, the king of pre- and post-processing.
Its script-based, framserving nature may take a while to get used to, but it is
SO worth it.
VirtualDubMod, the best there is
for compression; works very well with AVISynth; can even open VOBs directly if you
want it to. Of course, you'll need some codecs to be able to compress anything with it.
I recommend XviD (listed above).
TMPGEnc, an excellent free MPEG-1 encoder;
comes with a limited MPEG-2 trial as well; you can get full MPEG-2 functionality
by buying the full version.
Other Helpful Links
Doom9, the authority on DVD ripping and backup,
packed full of helpful guides and downloads
AnimeMusicVideos.org, THE place for all
your AMV needs
ErMaC and Absolute Destiny's
Guide to All Things Audio and Video (en français, translation by Atvaark, Delf, LCY84, Roccket, et WilLoW) -- READ THIS before trying to make an AMV.
You won't regret it. It's packed full of helpful technical info that every AMVer
should learn.
Getting to Know Windows Movie Maker 2 by
DownWithPants -- An excellent guide to getting started with Windows Movie Maker 2.
Scintilla's Guide to Preparing DVD Footage for Windows Movie Maker 2 -- Assumes some knowledge of the above E&AD's Guide. Goes over some WMM2-specific details that the larger guide doesn't.
This guide is now mirrored at
AnimeMusicVideos.org.
Scintilla's Guide to Encoding Your AMV to MPEG for Convention Submission (en français, translation by LCY84 and Dark-Krystal) -- Assumes some knowledge of the above E&AD's Guide. Goes through the process of encoding a convention-worthy MPEG file with TMPGEnc, and all the necessary preparation in AVISynth. This guide is now
mirrored at
AnimeMusicVideos.org.
The Evolution Control Committee, the people responsible for creating
"Rocked by Rape", without which
The NERV Evening News with Dan Rather would not exist.
Stark Effect, the person responsible for creating
"Under Ice", without which Dueling Videos: Under Ice would not exist.
Other AMVers' Sites
HypeOdermic Studios, home of Beowulf and Wonka
Zettai Unmei Anime, home of Absolute Destiny
Kusoyaro Productions
More Than Toast Productions, home of
Akimbo, Grungetta, Kwasek, and Zabet
Ninja Gaijin Productions, home of DWChang
Doki Doki Productions
Big Big Truck
Random Destination Studios, home of
too many editors to list anymore; formed from the merger of Random Variable Productions and
Destination Skyline Studios, and kept growing after that.
BogoSort
Nightowl Pictures,
home of Nightowl and Gambitt
Last updated on 10/11/07
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