Oh boy... welcome to hell, boyo!  If you've never used Premiere and all the other things you have to have to make an AMV (like me with The Kanon Project {working title}), you'll be wanting to run your wrists through a tablesaw in NO time.

If you HAVE used the programs needed, then more power to you!

I've gotten past the 'hell' part of my AMV, and now it's in the 'grinding' part... maybe by the end of the month, the 'first draft' will be done.  Maybe.

Heh, I haven't even met up with Virgil and started my decent.

I've never dabbled in this before, so I'm going to be searching out any FAQ's and how-to guides I can find.

I've got to figure out which software I want to use (and can afford). If there's something out there that makes life easier, but stings the pocketbook mightily, I may just suck it up and pay for it anyway. Of course that means I need to find other projects to get my money's worth out of the purchase.

Hah, I finally found where I put this comment!  Will, if there's anything I can do to help you once you start trying to do this, lemme know.  After (almost) finishing my first AMV, I know (first hand) the big pitfalls that will bite you otherwise.  They bit me, and added three or four days worth of work to the project in the process, not to mention a lot of sanity.

I used Premiere, but I had a hand-me-down copy, so it didn't cost anything... otherwise, it would have cost an arm and a leg.  For a simple, easy viddy, you could use Windows Movie Maker... It's not bad, per se, just really, really dumb.

If you're a member of animemusicvideos.org, download the amvapp.  If you're not a member of amv.org, join up (it's free!), THEN download it (there may be a 2-week waiting period).  It is worth it's hard-drive space in gold.

I've had an account over at AMV.org for a couple years (but I visit so infrequently, I always forget my password). I've actually got a couple projects (not all AMV's) in mind if/when I can get myself out from under the stack of jobs at work. That, and now that summer is back, my dad is probably going to start asking for help with his car restoration on the weekends again.

You know, I'd meant to offer up my services with your beta. I'm looking forward to seeing it.