More About the Videos

This is just a navel-gazing page, where I'll elaborate a little more on the art of making fan videos, more about technical aspects of the videos, downloading, and whatever else.

If you're one of the two people on the planet who are actually interested enough to stick around to read this, welcome! LOL.

The importance of video quality (picture clarity).

I became interested in improving video quality in about mid-2006, after seeing the gorgeous quality that Gerard Butler vidder Sereenie could get with her videos. Before seeing her work, I had no idea that such picture clarity in a downloadable file was possible! I had always accepted that in order to keep to a reasonable download size, that fan videos inevitably ended up blurry and murky. Thanks to information and advice I got from Sereenie, I learned that it's not true, and furthermore, it doesn't require a lot of extra work or computer horsepower to get a prettier, almost-DVD quality pictures.

In time, I wrote some tutorials on the subject on foolishpassion.org, as well as on the fan video forum, FPvideos. Many of the vidders who have their work hosted here have been equally interested in increasing their videos' quality, and so have followed some of the tutorials or used other techniques to boost picture and audio sharpness. In the future, I hope we can start making some HD videos (a few are already up on the site) and that we'll get more vidders interested in boosting the quality of their vids.

It's always a priority to give the best quality possible in the videos, but still—the most important factor in a successful video is going to be how well the video is edited, and is it enjoyable to watch? So while picture and audio quality is of great importance, no amount of technical perfection will compensate for a dull video!

I am so enthusiastic about spreading the word about increasing quality in fan videos that I prepared this special page for RAfanvids visitors. It'll show you some side-by-side comparisons and downloadable examples, which demonstrate how certain methods can really boost quality. Links to specific tutorials also included, so you'll be ready to get started right away!

The art of fan vidding.

There's a whole subculture of people who "remix" current media to make fan videos. This YouTube video shows a lecture given at USC Film School, explaining the timeline (and importance) of vidding in the fan culture. It is very interesting and will give you added insight of the whole fan video movement.

For some vidders, it's about connecting with other fans, expressing how they feel about their favorite movies or shows. For other vidders, it's a way to express their creativity. For most, it's a combination of both of these things.

There are many vidders who have discovered that they have a talent for editing. Some may pursue a career in professional editing and filmmaking. The editing of fan videos is a stepping stone for them. There are even those who are professional editors by day, but vidders by night.

Vidders are people of any age, and come from a variety of backgrounds. They can be teenagers, single moms, professors, and/or grandmothers. They enjoy the creativity and artistry of it, plus they get to hang out with a lot of other ~~crazy~~ encouraging fans! What's not to love?

I personally find making fan videos to be an extremely rewarding creative endeavor. Sure, I love the shows I make videos for, and I love the fandom I'm currently in. But most of all, I love the excitement of creating my own music videos, using coloring and visual effects, editing to music, and the whole thing! I'll never be a professional editor and don't want to be, but I'm very glad that I found this hobby. It's been grand fun.

Encoding and converting the videos for the site.

I usually do the converting of the videos to other formats. It seems easier that way. Otherwise, I'd be asking the vidder to make an iPod, dial-up, etc file and upload it to me somewhere. Not all of them have the software that I have, and why expect them to go through all the hassle when I know exactly what is needed? So, the vidder sends me the best quality copy of the video they have available, and I do the rest. There are times that the "best quality copy" they have needs some tweaking, so I try to adjust and fiddle with it, and then use the resulting files (rather than the original they sent me) as the download copies for the site.

What file formats are available for any given video can vary. Sometimes a video gets the "bare minimum" (a dial-up and broadband file, and maybe an iPod file) just because I was very tired that day. Other videos get more formats available, because I was feeling perky, or one file turned out too light (so I made that a "dark monitor" file), and so forth. There isn't really any detectable pattern to what files are available and what aren't. But I at least try to have a few choices online, to suit varying preferences and needs.

What's with some of the weird "codes" in the file names? I don't know if any of our long-term visitors have ever wondered this. But in case some of you have, I'll tell you what they mean. "Proj" in a file name (like "guy-marian-proj-DivX.avi") means that I smoothed out the noise in the video using the little freebie application JES Video Cleaner. (JES addes the "proj" to any file that it processes, and I figured to leave that in, to let me know what was done to the file.) Files with "ff" in the file name were processed with ffMpegX. (Again, the application adds that to the file name, and I just leave it in.) If "wm" is in a file, that means "watermark" (I don't do this much, but sometimes I add a watermark to a video at the request of the vidder).

My encoding software:

Quicktime Pro (currently version 7, but I sometimes use Quicktime X for making iPod files). Mostly to make H.264 MOV files, iPod and iPhone files, as well as DivX AVI files (with the DivX plug-in encoder).

DivX encoder for Mac (I have version 7 but prefer 6). This works within Quicktime Pro to make DivX files. (They start out with the DivX extension, which I manually change to .avi, since they're really just .avi anyway.) The DivX encoder has extra features like smoothing out noise and deinterlacing.

MPEG Streamclip. For making H.264 MOV, H.264 MP4, and most frequently, Sorenson 3 MOV files (since Quicktime Pro doesn't want to do them anymore).

VisualHub (defunct). This little app has been discontinued, but I'm clinging to my copy and using it almost every day! I love it. It's used for making the dial-up H.264 MP4 files and occasionally broadband MP4 as well as MPEG-1 files.

Avidemux. For creating XviD AVI files. This can come in handy if I have a file that has some extra technical issues. Avidemux has smoothing filters, advanced filters for deinterlacing, and many other goodies. It's really handy to have around.

Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro for those rare times when I make an WMV file. I don't have the highest end WMV encoder from Flip4Mac, and don't feel like investing in it when other options (like DivX or MP4) look fabulous.

Compressor (part of Final Cut Studio). Used occasionally to make iPod and iPhone files, and other MOV or MP4 files. It has advanced features which can sometimes fix "trouble" videos. I currently use Compressor 3.5.