MMaker's YTPMV & 音MAD Document

What is YTPMV/音MAD?

The answer to this can get pretty lengthy, so to keep things short considering most people reading this are already familiar with it, the core of YTPMV/音MAD is remixing popular or obscure media in both audio and visuals. Both are essentially the same thing and offshoots of their own niches — YTPMV is an offshoot of YouTube Poop, and 音MAD (or otoMAD) is an offshoot of MADs.

It’s a fairly expansive niche that encompasses many forms of media, cultures, styles, and tastes. It can usually be found on the most popular video sharing sites for each respective region (YouTube in the US, Niconico in Japan, Bilibili in China). Like much creative work there is no one “true” way to create or enjoy it. And, because most authors will not always explicitly state their work is a YTPMV or 音MAD, this definition tends to be fairly loose.

If this is your first time hearing about YTPMV/音MAD or you are not familiar with it already, I implore you to explore it for yourself. It’s a form of media best enjoyed through discovering what creators and styles pique your interest and creating new things on your own (or with friends), and the rabbit hole goes just about as deep as you want.

Why this document?

I’ve made this doc of resources in attempt to make something more complete for a wider range of people to help others potentially get up to speed more quickly, and because no full-fledged wiki-like equivalent currently exists ( at least for now! )

Most information about YTPMV/音MAD tends to be only surface level, incomplete, in a different language, or simply via word of mouth. This is mostly due to the behavior of the community and how people got into it, and regional differences (Japan, for example, has much more public information and guides in Japanese). There also tends to be the practice of anonymity due to the nature of some sources/material and gatekeeping to reduce the amount low-effort works being made (Search for ‘shuric scan’ on YouTube and sort by most recent, this is just one example of something that has plagued the community, specifically YTPMV).

This doc does not cover everything as it is mostly a general overview, and I will not spoonfeed. There truly is nothing that special about YTPMV/音MAD that separates it from other things and there is no ‘special sauce’ other than the effort and time you put in. People have been making sampled music and visual effects and idolizing/mocking popular media for decades now — so if all those successful people can do that with the resources already out there, you can too! And it is nice to use your brain once in a while. 💪🧠

In all of this do take it with a grain of salt though. As mentioned earlier I believe with how large the niche is and with how many professions it potentially covers (storytelling, audio design, composition, visual effects, programming, project management, comedy [or potentially just “comedy”, lol], etc.), finding out what you like about it and going from there is the best way to get the most enjoyment out of it. And even then you don’t need to listen to me blab on about this at all — just do what you like and have fun!

Recommended ‘reading’

I know I mentioned in the previous section it’s best to explore things on your own, but there are a few (or many depending on who you ask) works that are considered to be trailblazers or in some way historical to the community. Here are some selections:

Classic YTPMV

Playlist originally by omknee , one of the earliest YTPMV creators. Contains videos pre- and post-dating when the term YTPMV was coined. His channel was terminated by YouTube in July 2021 which removed all videos and playlists created by him.

Big Beat Mario and Ronald McDonald insanity

Arguably the most well-known YTPMV and 音MAD in the community. Created by Triple_sSs and みくる respectively.

Danjiri Matsuri (本格的男尻祭, or “Authentic Male Ass Festival”)

Yearly large-scale 音MAD collaboration from Japan with an international equivalent (International Wrestling Festival), based around the Wrestling Series, more commonly referred to as Gachimuchi. The 2010 collaboration, BOY NEXT YEAR (NSFW!), is one of the most viewed and upheld 音MAD collaborations.

OctagonCollaboration and the Old Spice Collaboration Team

Currently some of the largest western YTPMV collaborations, utilizing material from celebrities Jack Black and Terry Crews, their most recent work being The Glorious Octagon of Destiny and The Power of Terry respectively.

Software

The software used to create YTPMV/音MAD can sometimes vary but there a few most common:

Vegas Pro (previously Sony Vegas Pro)

Paid. Often the gateway drug for YTPMV. A non-linear editor with support for both audio and video editing. Feasible to make a YTPMV with only this.

REAPER

Shareware. A multi-platform and very open-ended digital audio workstation (DAW) with lots of customization support. Probably the most used DAW (unless you consider Vegas one) by YTPMV/音MAD creators.

FL Studio

Paid. User-friendly DAW that probably everyone knows about and is the easiest to get into for most. Very good all-around.

Adobe After Effects

Paid. VFX, motion graphics, and compositing software with a lot of wiggle room for all things inbetween. Regarded as the simplest to get into more higher-fidelity visuals but still has a learning curve.

AviUtl

Free. Video editor that’s a cross between the simplicity of Vegas and complexity of After Effects. Mostly only used by Japanese creators. Has an English translation and is largely expanded by plugins written by other users.

Blender

Free. Open source 3D graphics application. Has a steeper learning curve than most 3D apps due to it’s unique interface, but has a very supportive community and is up-to-par with (and some would say even better) just about every other 3D software out there now.

yt-dlp

Free. Open source utility to download videos from many video sharing sites. This is how most people get their sources. If you’re using a different downloader currently, chances are it’s actually based on this one.

For downloading from Niconico, a specific fork of yt-dlp is recommended to be used instead, found here: https://github.com/ytdl-patched/ytdl-patched

Other software

Photoshop, Illustrator, Ableton, DaVinci Resolve, Melodyne, Vocalshifter, UTAU, MMD, Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, Nuke, custom tools, etc…

The list goes on. Some are what other people use and others are more specialized or advanced. It’s likely if you’re this deep in you know what you’re doing.

Intermediate YTPMV Tutorial – Tips & Tricks - by soaroz

Basic YTPMV tutorial (Sony Vegas) 2014 - by Oast

HOW TO YTPMV - THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE - by SgtScrubnoob

After Effects

Beginner’s After Effects & YTPMV (Tutorial Series) - by MMaker

Automatic YTPMV Screenflipping - by MMaker

There is also an updated and revised version of this tutorial that may be of interest to more advanced users.

Source Packs

Lurk more!

In all seriousness, I am not going to link any here as a good amount can come from pirated or NSFW content, but they are easy enough to find if you know some keywords and how to search for things Online. Some source packs are also of questionable quality, so sometimes you’re better off making your own, and then sharing if you choose to do so.

Also, use whatever sources YOU want to see being used or go and look for more, you don’t always need to use existing ones. Sub-cultures and fads within this medium are often the product of the work of initially a few people or sometimes just one. Be creative!

Vegas → After Effects equivalents

Vegas Effect Convolution Kernel Fast Box Blur, Emboss, CC Glass, Find Edges, Sharpen Edges, Sharpen, CC Kernel Effect Cookie Cutter Shape layers, masking Effect Linear Wipe, masking Effect Defocus Camera Lens Blur Effect Deform CC Bender, Warp Effect Dual Fish Eye Stitching Resources: #1 , #2 , #3 Effect Fill Light Tint + Brightness & Contrast + Fast Box Blur Effect Film Effects Noise, Add Grain Effect Film Grain Add Grain Effect Gaussian Blur Gaussian Blur Effect Glint Starglow (3rd-party) , various effect stacks Effect Effect Gradient Map Colorama Effect HSL Adjust Color Balance (HLS) Effect Invert Invert Effect LAB Adjust Resources: #1 (Also look into color management, profiles) Effect Layer Dimensionality Drop Shadow, layer styles Effect Lens Correction Optics Compensation, CC Lens Effect Lens Flare Lens Flare, Optical Flares (3rd-party) Effect Levels Levels Effect Light Rays CC Light Burst, CC Light Rays, CC Radial Fast Blur, masking Effect Linear Blur Fast Box Blur Effect LUT Filter Lumetri Color Effect Mask Generator Set Channels, Fill, masking Effect Median Median Effect Mesh Warp Mesh Warp Effect Min and Max Minimax Effect Mirror Mirror Effect Newsprint m’s Halftone (3rd-party) , BorisFX halftone (3rd-party) , various custom effect/layer stacks Effect Picture In Picture Transform Effect Pinch/Punch Bulge Effect Pixelate Mosaic Effect Quick Blur Fast Box Blur Effect Radial Blur Radial Blur, CC Radial Fast Blur Effect Radial Pixelate Mosaic Plane (3rd-party) (not exactly the same) Effect CC Light Burst, CC Light Rays, CC Radial Fast Blur, Optical Flares (3rd-party) Effect Saturation Adjust Curves, Levels, Color Balance, etc. Effect Scene Rotation Polar Coordinates + Transform Effect Sepia Effect Sharpen Sharpen Effect Slow Motion Time remapping + frame blending, CC Wide Time, Timewarp, Twixtor (3rd-party Effect Smart Upscale Detail-Preserving Upscale, GPUResize (3rd-party) Effect Smart Zoom Detail-Preserving Upscale, GPUResize (3rd-party) Effect Soft Contrast Brightness & Contrast, CC Vignette Effect Spherize Spherize Effect Starburst Starglow (3rd-party) , various effect stacks Effect Stereoscopic 3D Adjust Resources: #1 , #2 , #3 Effect Swirl Twirl Effect Threshold CC Threshold RGB Effect Timecode Timecode Effect Tiny Planet Polar Coordinates + Optics Compensation Effect TV Simulator Various effect/layer stacks, Universe VHS (3rd-party) Effect Unsharp Mask Unsharp Mask Effect Video Stabilization Warp Stabilizer Effect Vignette Vignette, masking Effect Wave Warp Effect White Balance Curves, Levels, Lumetri Color, etc. Media Generator Checkerboard Checkerboard Media Generator Color Gradient Gradient Ramp, Colorama, masking Media Generator Credit Roll Text layer(s) Media Generator Noise Texture Fractal Noise, Turbulent Noise Media Generator Solid Color Fill, solid layer Media Generator Test Pattern Gradient Ramp, 4-Color Gradient, Mosaic, Tint, or just download the patterns Media Generator Titles & Text Text layer(s) Track Motion 2D Shadow Drop Shadow Track Motion 2D Glow Drop Shadow Transition 3D Blinds Card Wipe Transition 3D Cascade Card Dance Transition 3D Fly In/Out 3D layers Transition 3D Shuffle 3D layers Transition Barn Door Linear Wipe, masking + Transform, animating Transition Clock Wipe Radial Wipe Transition Cross Effect CC Cross Blur Transition Dissolve Animate opacity, various Channel effects Transition Flash Levels, Tint, solid layer Transition Gradient Wipe Gradient Wipe Transition Iris Wipe Transition Linear Wipe Linear Wipe Transition Page Loop CC Page Turn Transition Page Peel CC Page Turn Transition Page Roll CC Page Turn Transition Portals None (would need to be made/written manually) Transition Transform, animate layers Transition Slide Transform, animate layers Transition Spiral Transform, animate layers Transition Split Transform, masking, animate layers Transition Squeeze Transform, animate layers Transition Star Wipe Shape layers, masking Transition Transform, animate layers Transition Venetian Blinds Venetian Blinds Transition Warp Flow Reshape Transition Transform, animate layers

List of 音MAD tags

Massive list of tags used on Niconico with English descriptions. Doesn’t contain a lot of newer tags but all the ones listed here are still used.

Nico Nico Pedia

Large Japanese wiki. There’s an entry for just about every source and joke used in 音MADs here.

otomad-search

Site created by なあり , allows for more straightforward searching of 音MADs on Niconico.

YTPMV Podcast