Cold Shadow: A Nanaya CMV

[liger]

Well, here it is~ ^_^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY2-CI1-NRk

Showcasing pretty much every combo I know how to do with Nanaya (yeah, it's not much... ;;>_>).

Comments and criticism are welcome. Like if you think the intro is cheesy... Or I screwed up horribly somewhere, such as if Cold Shadow isn't the proper translation for Tsumetai Kagerou. Or if you think my recording frame rate is crappy, in which case, I'm really sorry and I'd appreciate any tips to help this out. Or something else.

I put a lot of time into this video, and had a lot of fun making it. So I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I do. ^_^

[Zaelar]

What did you want to showcase with this video?  If its to display the game to people who don't play it, frame rates are important.  If its the combos, frame rates aren't as important if its just to show them to people who already know how to play and you just want to show that they are possible or something.  The random clips with Nanya singing aren't needed for showing combos, but if you are trying to show off the game then his sprite is way too pixelated.  Focus on what you want to accomplish with the video and cater to that.  Having some transitions, like the character intros in a video showcasing combos is OK, but don't get carried away with them.

All in all, it wasn't horrible.  The combos were pretty much all day 1 though.  It looks like you've got the potential to make some good videos if you keep at it.

[liger]

Thanks for the comment!

Yeah, the frame rate thing was just a real pain to deal with. Snagit wasn't doing so well, so I used this program called screen recorder gold which was a bit better, but I had to record multiple times to get something decent... orz  Any help here would be appreciated.

Nanaya singing... Hahah, kinda lame, I'll admit. But I just had the idea one day, and really wanted to do it... xD

Mostly, I was inspired by Mad Tea Party's AMV styled combo videos, so I tried to do something like that... And music synching is my favorite form of video editing. Guess I didn't do so hot, huh?

As for the transitions, honestly I was running out of ideas for footage so I added some extra stuff in during the intrumental sections to take up time. I thought the effect was decent, but I suppose it could be rather boring.

But man, if that was all day one stuff, I must be one retarded (literal sense) MB player. o.o;;; I learned all that over a few months... >.>

Anyway, glad that you didn't totally hate it, hehe. I'll keep working at combo vids (I made a few in the past for SSBM). I hope I'll keep improving! ^_^

[Pikachu_Fragger]

Zaelar brings up a good point: why are you making the vid and who is your target audience? That's usually a good starting point when trying to make a CMV (not that I've made any myself lol, but the concept is applicable with any sort of presentable project anyway).

With regard to the Nanaya singing part, there's more than one way to do that without using a pixelated sprite; shooped Kagetsu Tohya screenshots could work just as well.

Combo-wise, I could theoretically see a few more combo extension opportunities - at 1:02, there might be space to do a 5A to extend it right before the tech, and the same could probably be done at around 2:30 (again, I could be wrong). I did, however, like the 2C -> 22C ->236X cancel trick, and I didn't know that could work. I don't know the practicality of it, but its a good thing to know. The maximum range for his Arc Drive also seems to be deceptively long, something I didn't really know until know.

It looks fairly good for a first vid, IMHO. I think it would be a good idea to also ask other players for help as well for any next videos you have in mind - its more interesting if the combos were shown being used in an actual battle.

EDIT: Lol at the fact that you used Janne Da Arc, their music is pretty badass. I'm starting to think that every JDA song is a Melty Blood anthem or something, and I don't think that's a bad thing.

[linalys]

Oh my god.  It's a nanaya video with Janne De Arc.  I'm having MTP flashbacks. 

Edit:
Serious comments. 

You start off with the "best combos" and then you started doing inferior combos, which IMO didn't even look "cooler" or "better" at all.  This makes it boring, forcing the viewers to watch the same combo 10 times over.  This is made even worse because you waste the viewers time with all the Arc Drives/Last Arcs/Character Introduction.  Other than that, yeah nothing really special at all.  Needs more than just day 1 stuff in it.       

[liger]

Zaelar brings up a good point: why are you making the vid and who is your target audience? That's usually a good starting point when trying to make a CMV (not that I've made any myself lol, but the concept is applicable with any sort of presentable project anyway).

That's a really good point. I hadn't thought of that at all when I made the video. I was just doing it for fun. Guess I should put more though into that next time...

With regard to the Nanaya singing part, there's more than one way to do that without using a pixelated sprite; shooped Kagetsu Tohya screenshots could work just as well.

Once again, not well thought out. But I don't have photoshop and don't have the nerve to download and crack it. I did once and deleted it the next day. Yet I am still willing to download meg after meg of music... >_> I thought that using maybe Nanaya's super portrait picture would be a better idea since the resolution is far superior to Nanaya's sprite, I didn't know how I could animate the lips without making it look unnatural and stupid.

Combo-wise, I could theoretically see a few more combo extension opportunities - at 1:02, there might be space to do a 5A to extend it right before the tech, and the same could probably be done at around 2:30 (again, I could be wrong).

I don't know about the limits of AC, but you're probably right. I've seen it done before... But my timing is pretty sucky. orz  Doing 623C three times in a row feels easier because of the superpause. Then again, I managed to do a 623B that has no superpause to follow up a 623C at 3:30... I guess I'll just keep at it, then.

I did, however, like the 2C -> 22C ->236X cancel trick, and I didn't know that could work. I don't know the practicality of it, but its a good thing to know. The maximum range for his Arc Drive also seems to be deceptively long, something I didn't really know until know.

Glad I could help out. =)

It looks fairly good for a first vid, IMHO. I think it would be a good idea to also ask other players for help as well for any next videos you have in mind - its more interesting if the combos were shown being used in an actual battle.

Thanks a bunch. Hmm. The biggest problem there is I couldn't figure out netplay, and I live where no one plays Melty Blood. So I've never played anyone but the CPU, and I've no one really knowlegeable to talk to about this. o_o; Maybe that'll change when I go to college and meet all sorts of interesting people..

EDIT: Lol at the fact that you used Janne Da Arc, their music is pretty badass. I'm starting to think that every JDA song is a Melty Blood anthem or something, and I don't think that's a bad thing.

Oh my god.  It's a nanaya video with Janne De Arc.  I'm having MTP flashbacks. 

Maybe the next one should have DMC3 music? xD Nah just kidding. That's totally MTP's thing.

You start off with the "best combos" and then you started doing inferior combos, which IMO didn't even look "cooler" or "better" at all.  This makes it boring, forcing the viewers to watch the same combo 10 times over.  This is made even worse because you waste the viewers time with all the Arc Drives/Last Arcs/Character Introduction.  Other than that, yeah nothing really special at all.  Needs more than just day 1 stuff in it.      

I'm obviously biased, but I don't think the quality of the combos really deteriorated over the course of the video... I did have a lot of BnB-esque combos, though, so I understand what you mean. Most, if not all, of them ended with jump combo -> air throw. But I dunno. I tried to go for some variation to get to the point of the air combos (is there really much variation to Nanaya's air combos? ). Otherwise the most original thing I did, I think, was the j.C -> 236A -> 41236C, so I left that at the end... I sorry that you didn't enjoy my video, but thanks for the criticism. I will try to improve on this.

[badguy]

i liked it =)

maybe you should upload this so people can watch it at high quality (*cough* me *cough*)

[mizuki]

I liked the cute little intro in the beginning, nice combos in the start, then after awhile I got bored and went straight to commenting.

One problem is choppy framerate, it kinda made my head want to scream STOP PLEASE LORD LET IT BE SMOOTH! And then another thing, in the middle, don't throw in like that intros with all the characters, it was nice, you can probably use it for another video, but usually only one "fancy" show type thing can only be used once, then people like me get pissed off.

One good thing about it, no fucking split screen, 5 screen going on thing. I just want to slaughter people who do that.

[Leicanos]

There is no MB CMV withough JDA

anyways good stuff

[ehrik]

I think Tsumetai Kagerou means Cold/Icy Wind instead of Cold Shadow :p

Anyways my thoughts:

Combos were pretty okay for someone who was just starting out. Not terribly spectacular nor were there combos that were really bad.

As for the editing, it was very nice except for some parts which were dragged on such as the part in 1:35. (I found the singing nanaya kinda cheesy like you said <.<). I also suggest making the credits a tad bit shorter as it gets kinda boring looking at text pop out over and over for a extended period of time

Good luck man on the next few videos ! :>

[liger]

i liked it =)

maybe you should upload this so people can watch it at high quality (*cough* me *cough*)

Thanks!

Uh, sure, I can up it somewhere if ya want a bit later.

I liked the cute little intro in the beginning, nice combos in the start, then after awhile I got bored and went straight to commenting.

One problem is choppy framerate, it kinda made my head want to scream STOP PLEASE LORD LET IT BE SMOOTH! And then another thing, in the middle, don't throw in like that intros with all the characters, it was nice, you can probably use it for another video, but usually only one "fancy" show type thing can only be used once, then people like me get pissed off.

One good thing about it, no fucking split screen, 5 screen going on thing. I just want to slaughter people who do that.

Glad you liked the intro, hehe. ^_^ Yeah, the frame rate was just a pain. :'( Maybe I'll try fraps or something, next time.

And about the intros, I'll definitely remember that for next time. Do it once well, and then don't pull it again. @_@

Hahahah... Split screen... Funnily enough I don't have the technology to do that (Windows Movie Maker can only do so much...). But I wouldn't anyway, cause I hate that too. Like in one vid of MTP's, it was Volume 5, I believe, he had 4 screens, not all simultaneous, but going one after a time, each starting before the previous finished, so it was a bit annoying to watch two to three at once. The effect with the four simultaneous slashes synching up at the end was pretty awesome, though. xD

There is no MB CMV withough JDA

anyways good stuff

Thanks!

I think Tsumetai Kagerou means Cold/Icy Wind instead of Cold Shadow :p

Ahahah... I figured I messed up there...

Anyways my thoughts:

Combos were pretty okay for someone who was just starting out. Not terribly spectacular nor were there combos that were really bad.

Good to hear. Thanks. =)

As for the editing, it was very nice except for some parts which were dragged on such as the part in 1:35.

I also suggest making the credits a tad bit shorter as it gets kinda boring looking at text pop out over and over for a extended period of time

Yeah. Not doin that again. Totally gonna record more combos, probably with multiple characters rather than just one... >.> And try to have as little dead time as possible. The credits were only that drawn out cause I was filling up time for the song to sync to the place I wanted it at. That's also the only reason why I had the credits before the end, rather than at the end.

(I found the singing nanaya kinda cheesy like you said <.<).

I still love it, though. xD

Good luck man on the next few videos ! :>

Thanks!

[ehrik]

You should probably check with someone more qualified like Akira for the title. I just heard that as a translation from a friend so I'm not all that sure

[Draku]

I liked the character intros thing, personally. Even though it did seem kinda drawn out. The combos seemed a bit too similar at points. Singing Nanaya was.... uh... I don't know. Rest of it was good, however.

[Magikarp9]

IMO, you need to watch more combo movies for more influences instead of taking from MTP only.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYDrOjUmlqs <- Another combo video using the same song.
Take note of where they cut stuff in the middle of song(look at 2:12 and how the superflashes sync to lyrics), and how combos tend to start almost mid-action and finish before the characters fully recover. This is one way how fluidity is achieved,

As for the pre-fight loading screens..its good but you're definietly overdoing it; it doesn't even sync with the song properly. Same for the pre-fight 'introduction' scenes.Look at this vid for how its done tastefully imo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH-o3m3Y5NU&mode=related&search=) For similar effect you could do fast cuts involving various Nanaya superflashes.

As for the combos themselves... I guess they're MTP style, bordering on practicality. Its hard to make a combo video without content! Perhaps you could do some 623c loops or xx j.bc j.bc airdash j.b airthrow stuff? What about counterhit combos? Or choreographed 1p/2p sequences?With the new function in 1.03 that is definitely possible now...

All in all, lots that you can improve. Please do better next time^^

[AkiraTheMastodon]

Nanaya singing... Hahah, kinda lame, I'll admit. But I just had the idea one day, and really wanted to do it... xD

lol, i really liked it. I thought that was Genius when i saw it.
The prefight stuff, with the chara intro's and what not were a lil overdone. bit too much IMO.
Pretty good for a first vid, i must say o_O...only gripe being how choppy-ish it was.

It isn't Melty without Janne Da Arc lolol.
I don't think i've seen a vid use Romance or Love is Here. Although those aren't really 'fast moving' well, Diamond Virgin isn't all too much i guess but, yeah. I'm going off tangent here 
Kyuseishu Messiah might make for a good one. Unless somehow, someone used that too.

[Keith]

Here's another combo vid that came up as a related video to one of the ones Karp linked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EMqZWpeWpk&mode=related&search=
More syncage of things with the music. (which I'm also betting is where you got some of your inspiration from, song-wise and all)

And a personal favorite of mine (probably because I'm a KohaHisu player and this is a KohaHisu vid) that shows an insane amount of editing and syncage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN6tGuhYQpo

Combo videos are half art and half skill showcase. Either way, it's 100% showing off, so put out the best stuff that you can.

Oh, couldn't you speed up the massive character intro bit at 1:35 so the start of the fight against White Len synced up to the lyrics coming back in?

[Pikachu_Fragger]

And a personal favorite of mine (probably because I'm a KohaHisu player and this is a KohaHisu vid) that shows an insane amount of editing and syncage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN6tGuhYQpo

Not meaning to go off topic, but son of a bitch, I didn't know Kohaku had invincibility frames during her 22C! *shelves that away for future use lawl*

EDIT: Wait, it's Ver. A... will it still work for Ver. B?

[mrthefter]

FYI, Windows Movie Maker absolutely sucks for syncing. It's render process isn't good enough.
This is from watching tons of videos made by our "video team" at church, and video projects from school.

[Keith]

When I used to toy around with videos, Abode Premiere and Sony Vegas were my weapons of choice. Initially, it was Premiere, but then I lost my old version, and the new one (at that time) was a complete bitch about importing stuff, so I switched to Vegas. God tier stuff.

[liger]

I'm back after being away from anything electronic for the past 4 days...

You should probably check with someone more qualified like Akira for the title. I just heard that as a translation from a friend so I'm not all that sure

Hahah, yeah. I was a bit iffy on going with the name, and then I just thought "the hell with it" and used it. I didn't really make a direct correlation anyway... So maybe I fooled you all and just happened to like the title "Cold Shadow". Of course, voiding that I gave myself away in my first post...

I liked the character intros thing, personally. Even though it did seem kinda drawn out. The combos seemed a bit too similar at points. Singing Nanaya was.... uh... I don't know. Rest of it was good, however.

Thanks. =) Like I said, gonna make sure to get more footage of combos to use, rather than having to fill up space.

IMO, you need to watch more combo movies for more influences instead of taking from MTP only.

That's true. I guess I tried to make this vid a bit too AMV-ish?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYDrOjUmlqs <- Another combo video using the same song.
Take note of where they cut stuff in the middle of song(look at 2:12 and how the superflashes sync to lyrics), and how combos tend to start almost mid-action and finish before the characters fully recover. This is one way how fluidity is achieved,

Ahahaha. I remember this video. So very cool. I'll definitely remember that tip. Don't have to wait for the opponent to recover. But I was still killing space in this video, so... Won't do it again, I promise. When I made SSBM combo videos, me and my friend record for so long that I can get plently of combos and stuff.

As for the pre-fight loading screens..its good but you're definietly overdoing it; it doesn't even sync with the song properly. Same for the pre-fight 'introduction' scenes.Look at this vid for how its done tastefully imo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH-o3m3Y5NU&mode=related&search=) For similar effect you could do fast cuts involving various Nanaya superflashes.

It syncs better in the original version, I think. I felt it lag a bit when I uploaded it to youtube.

And I feel now that perhaps I had the vs screen flashes go by too quickly, making it difficult to see, and hard to sync.

As for the combos themselves... I guess they're MTP style, bordering on practicality.

I can't say he wasn't a big inspiration, hahah.

Its hard to make a combo video without content!

:'(

Perhaps you could do some 623c loops or xx j.bc j.bc airdash j.b airthrow stuff? What about counterhit combos? Or choreographed 1p/2p sequences?With the new function in 1.03 that is definitely possible now...

orz  Need to learn more advanced techniques...

All in all, lots that you can improve. Please do better next time^^

Thank you very much, and thanks for your comments!

lol, i really liked it. I thought that was Genius when i saw it.

I'm so glad you liked it. Totally made my day. ^_^

The prefight stuff, with the chara intro's and what not were a lil overdone. bit too much IMO.

orz

Pretty good for a first vid, i must say o_O

Thanks! ^_^

...only gripe being how choppy-ish it was.

orz

It isn't Melty without Janne Da Arc lolol.
I don't think i've seen a vid use Romance or Love is Here. Although those aren't really 'fast moving' well, Diamond Virgin isn't all too much i guess but, yeah. I'm going off tangent here 
Kyuseishu Messiah might make for a good one. Unless somehow, someone used that too.

Hmm... I like the song Sister and Junky Walker. Hell or Heaven is pretty cool, too, and Mr. Trouble Maker. Hehe, Janne Da Arc has a lot of good songs.

Ahahaha, perhaps Mr. Trouble Maker would be a more fitting song for Nanaya. xD

Here's another combo vid that came up as a related video to one of the ones Karp linked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EMqZWpeWpk&mode=related&search=
More syncage of things with the music. (which I'm also betting is where you got some of your inspiration from, song-wise and all)

I have seen this video as well... And while I didn't think of this video when I made mine... I think maybe I did get some subconscious inspiration for the music sync. o.o

And a personal favorite of mine (probably because I'm a KohaHisu player and this is a KohaHisu vid) that shows an insane amount of editing and syncage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN6tGuhYQpo

Combo videos are half art and half skill showcase. Either way, it's 100% showing off, so put out the best stuff that you can.

Woah, that was a very impressive video. o.o Maybe I can learn some stylistic things from it. Sure as hell not learning any combos... Those are way over my head. @_@

Oh, couldn't you speed up the massive character intro bit at 1:35 so the start of the fight against White Len synced up to the lyrics coming back in?

Unfortunately, at this point I can't. I'm at college right now. I made the video on my desktop computer, which I didn't bring to college, rather I'm using my laptop. All the raw files I used to make the video are on the desktop computer, and I didn't transfer them to my laptop because all the raw files together totalled around 10 gigs or something crazy like that. So I only transfered over the finished video, sorry.

Not meaning to go off topic, but son of a bitch, I didn't know Kohaku had invincibility frames during her 22C! *shelves that away for future use lawl*

EDIT: Wait, it's Ver. A... will it still work for Ver. B?

FYI, Windows Movie Maker absolutely sucks for syncing. It's render process isn't good enough.
This is from watching tons of videos made by our "video team" at church, and video projects from school.

orz

Windows Movie Maker is all I have. PC video editing software is such crap compared to mac video editing software... And I have neither the money to buy anything better, nor the resolve to download the software illegally (I once downloaded Adobe CS2 and deleted it the next day... >_>)

For my purposes, Movie Maker does a decent job, I think. o.o But thanks for the advice!

When I used to toy around with videos, Abode Premiere and Sony Vegas were my weapons of choice. Initially, it was Premiere, but then I lost my old version, and the new one (at that time) was a complete bitch about importing stuff, so I switched to Vegas. God tier stuff.

Thanks for the tip!

Lastly, here's a download link for who ever cares, or wants to take me up on my claim that the video sync is better on the original.
http://rapidshare.com/files/51550837/Nanaya_CMV_Cold_Shadow.wmv.html

[KidPhantom]

Liger,

I'm thinking of making a video too, not really a CMV, but more of a humourous kinda videa. Although I suck at video editing, I hope to make it good.

But yea, you've earned a lot of my respect with this video. I liked it a lot, and I enjoyed the little funny things like the Nanaya singing, and Nanaya facing off against all the characters. That was quite amusing.

Yes, yes, as previous critisicms have stated over and over again, yes, the combos could be better, but besides my liking to the video, I greatly respect how you responded to EVERYONE'S post and took note of every single piece of criticism that you got. That deserves a props man, I can see you put quite a bit of work in to the vid, and most people would be too big-headed to even consider they criticism that they get. And damn, did you do all this with movie maker? Sht, that's impressive.

Yea, basically the thing that impressed me the most was your willingness to work hard to reply to everyone, and accept their crits. For the vid, quite impressive, that really made my day.

And lastly... Shit, I need this song. Where the hell do you get it? I've been looking for this song forever, ever since I saw an old MBR OTG exhibition movie a while back. Damn, where do you get this song? TT Please tell meTT