How to plan multi-scene project

[exile]

My first ambitious project is planned as a multi-scene animation synchronized with a song. In one webinar at incredibletutorials.com it said that the best way of working in Animé studio is to make separate clips and stitch them all together later in a video editor. It would be nice if the whole project could be done in one file in Animé Studio, so that the movements and the music/lyrics would be sure to be in sync. I'm able to count seconds but don't completely trust my Magix Video Deluxe software - the transitions mess up the timing, and consecutive films without transitions have caused problems in the past (unplayable file). So my questions are: 1) Is a multi-scene animation in one Animé file a good option? 2) If not, which inexpensive video editor is good for stitching together films without timing problems?

[slowtiger]

Every video editor should be able to do the job. In order to preserve timing, you would cut the sound into as many clips as you have scenes, with adding the additional second or what in the beginning for overlap in transistions.

Usually you'll have some scenes with "strong" sync followed by a scene with "soft" sync, which could easily be trimmed so the next chunk of "strong" sync is in sync again. A typical "soft sync" scene would be a still, or a "moving still" like that clichée "character not moving with hair flowing in the wind".

Also don't forget to start each scene with 1 sec of "padding" (and end with it as well) in which nothing important happens. This way you have enough material to adjust transitions and sync in editing.

You will render the single scenes withouut sound, of course, because you want to use 1 uninterrupted soundfile in the edit to sync the scenes against.

[exile]

Thanks, tiger, I'll try to follow your advice. I noticed in another thread in this forum that there is a software called DVD Flick which simply compiles clips into a single film - I'm going to test it to see if can convert the files and keep the timing exact.

Were you an animator for "Werner"? I remember when that was a big craze in Germany. I saw a movie with some teenagers, and it was the animation parts they liked, not the regular videos. Have you written about your experiences with projects like that?

[slowtiger]

Yes, indeed I was - that was in 1990, ages ago ... It was my first studio job, and I was a bloody beginner, although I've already made my own animated shorts on Super8 for a decade.

I don't know this DVD Flick, but it sounds like something which will only work in DVD resolution. You may want to use any real video editor which works in full HD to produce your video, then render smaller versions from it for web, DVD etc.

[sbtamu]

DVD Flick is not an editor. All it does is take any file format and make chapters out of them in DVD format. I use it to make DVDs for the kids' of their favorite cartoons. I use it instead of my Sony Vegas just because I just drag and drop any file format into it and hit burn and a few minutes later a DVD is made.

If I am making an animations or editing home videos, I use Sony Vegas Pro for the longer projects and WMM for those really short, quick YouTube uploads.

DVD FLICK

[exile]

Yes, that's the tutorial that got me interested. Sometimes simple compiling is preferable to a program with bells and whistles that causes headaches.

I was a bloody beginner

For you Brits: Slowtiger is not using bad language, that's a German expression meaning "a complete beginner" or "a greenhorn". Werner really was a cult cartoon figure, a likeable idiot who had all sorts of funny adventures.

I hope to have the problem of which video editor to use before too long, at the moment I'm working on Scene One and a long way from finished. I'll be asking as many questions as you can stand and probably more.