-
Five hundred eleventh entry - I work hard, I mooch hard
2012-11-21 01:16:49
Time - 11:36, Noise - SQ Chips - Chrono Trigger - "Character Medley"
So, I've been looking for a free multi-track, non-linear editing program, but I haven't had much luck so far. I was almost excited about Wax, but then I realized I couldn't crossfade clips. You can't even put two clips on the same video track. It's clearly meant for simple editing projects... which is silly, because simple projects shouldn't need that many video tracks in the first place. I tried a few others, but one of them was like trying to run your computer in Safe Mode. Slow, buggy, much too gangly for an editing program. Another seemed like it used to be free, but now only has a free trial.
Anyway, multi-track, non-linear editing programs have been around for an awfully long time (in terms of the technology age, I mean). You'd think that somebody would have jumped on making a decent, free knock off at this point, but I guess not. I can probably get away with using Wax to edit my speedrun, but that'd be about it. No AMVs to be made on that thing.
Speaking of which, I'm finally up to the real pain-in-the-ass part of the game. Segment 10 (roughly Chapter 6.5 out of 9), the Dollmaker battle and second Kiryu Twins fight, is what's up next. I have been pretty harsh about getting things perfect, and I'm hoping it'll pay off. I don't really know exact times for my segments, but I do know that I have to be under an hour at the end of this one.
Hmm. Gotta go to bed a bit earlier tonight if I want my body to get back in sync for the upcoming days. They have me on for Thanksgiving and Black Friday. I don't think it'll be so bad for my area (deli), but it's still gonna suck no matter what. So, on that note...
See you, folks.
- Jen -
Five hundred tenth entry - the same shit
2012-11-09 17:33:52
Time - 3:53, Noise - Girls' Generation - "Run Devil Run"
I didn't think that I would like Girls' Generation, since they're clearly pretty-girl-fan-pandering for men, but the music is actually kinda addictive, in a "simple pop song" kind of way.
Anyway, I've been coming up with a lot of AMV ideas lately. I think I may be approaching my first attempt at an upbeat dance video. I'm not a big fan of action or dance editing - I prefer story-oriented stuff - but the kinds of games I've been playing as of late aren't really good for telling stories (not to say I won't try!).
I'm up to segment six in my speedrun, which is about a third of the way through the game and covers 5.25 out of the nine chapters. (The last 3.75 are much longer.) I'm not sure if I'm going to keep my last attempt for this segment, because I made an obvious mistake, although I barely lost a second on it. It just looks stupid. Everything else went swimmingly. The actual time by this point is 37:50. I think I can get another five seconds off if I really work at it.
My goal for the speedrun as a whole is 1:33:00 (best time is 1:34:09), but having never put all of my strategies into play in a single game before, I don't know if this is possible - or if I'm underestimating their time-saving potential completely. I could do even better than that, for all I know right now.
As for the rest of my life... nothing that great, to be honest. Just work, work, and more work. I've barely seen my friends, and my progress towards saving money has been slow. For the most part, my schedule fortunately keeps me away from my mother. I only have to see her for an hour or two on many days. I may not like closing shifts, but at least they're doing some good in that way.
Oh, and she informed me that I'm getting booted off of her insurance at the end of the year instead of at my birthday next year, since she didn't see the point in renewing me for only half of a year. So that sucks. The cost of the two medications I'm on isn't bad at all (even without insurance), but the appointments are killer. I mean, fuck, why am I shelling out a month's worth of my paychecks just for a doctor to tell me I'm fine? It's just ridiculous.
Anyway, it's about time for me to get ready for work, so I'm off.
See you, folks.
- Jen -
Five hundred ninth entry - I'm a grown up. ...damn it.
2012-10-30 21:08:56
7:54, Noise - The Social Network OST
Agh. Can't decide. I really want to buy Project Zero II, and I have the money, but I just don't know if it's the financially responsible thing to do right now. I don't want to wait so long that I can't find it anymore, but I feel stupid prioritizing a videogame over so much other practical stuff that I could use at this point in my life.
On the other hand, I've been doing really well lately with saving up money and being a responsible adult. I haven't bought anything for myself in a long time. Everything has either gone into my account or into bills.
Where's Jiminy Cricket when you need him? I need a conscience right now.
Stupid adulthood. Who invented this bullshit anyway?
See you, folks.
- Jen -
Five hundred eighth entry - I'm starting to collect dust
2012-08-30 17:02:53
Time - 3:47, Noise - one of my videos
Holy shit. I just realized that it's been over six years since I made "The Chosen Two." I haven't uploaded anything at all in two years.
I guess I just hadn't noticed because I do open Magix fairly routinely for other stuff, and I have processed clips regularly over the past two years as well. I didn't realize that I hadn't done any actual editing in that long until just a few minutes ago when I re-watched some videos of mine and glanced at the dates in the credits.
Maybe it's time I finally put some effort into that. I have a lot of good ideas and a ton of clips ready and waiting to be used. I think I'll make that my next project after finishing my speedrun.
Let's see... I have clips available for a Dark Cloud 2 video, Fatal Frame 2 clips for a remake of "The Chosen Two," Bayonetta .vobs that need processing, and Silent Hill 3 .vobs which also need to be processed. The SH3 video has to wait yet, but otherwise what should I start on next? Suggestions?
See you, folks.
- Jen -
Five hundred seventh entry - topics splattered as paint on canvas
2012-08-25 16:05:19
Time - 2:27, Noise - Foo Fighters - "Best of You"
Wow, the last five AMVs I just watched all had excessive use of text in them. Like, really excessive. They may as well have just been subtitling the song, since the footage was nothing but moving wallpaper in the background.
Fun fact, that's one of my AMV pet peeves. I think text can be used well in moderation with creativity and consideration, but there seems to be a recent surge in the trend to just sync up the entire lyrics onscreen. MMVs are particularly guilty of this, and I don't know why. I have seen manga videos that didn't do anything special with the images, in terms of coloring, animation, etc. and they still managed to be engaging. You don't have to use text as a crutch because you're worried that there's not enough going on. Just pair your sources well and edit them together creatively and I won't judge you for not spending hours in Photoshop animating an eye blink or having text fly around every which direction.
I mean, if text makes you happy, then fine. Do that. Just don't think that it's the only way to make your A/MMV visually interesting.
To switch topics, I restarted Bayonetta because the data apparently can't be transferred. I had originally played it on my brother's PS3, and while the data from my other games was able to be transferred to my PS3, Bayonetta stubbornly refused. So I have to start it over.
Oh well. It gave me something to do while I was slogging through transferring data from the crap compy to the external hard drive. I wasn't actually keeping that much on the main hard drive, so it wasn't that time-consuming. It was just that the dang thing kept restarting on me. I got all of it, though. Anyway, I guess that means Bayonetta will sit half-finished.
Shh, Fatal Frame 2. I haven't forgotten about you, either.
My brother got a new graphics card. This is relevant because he wanted to give me his old one, which is better than what I have. Trouble is, my system won't recognize it. Doesn't even see the thing. He tried to troubleshoot it for a couple of hours, but no luck. Now it's just sitting in my tower generating unnecessary heat for zero payout in functionality until he can get back over here to try again.
I decided to use Devil May Cry 4 as my framerate test. I jacked up the settings to full and I was getting 15-25 frames per second. Better than single digits, I guess. I could probably get a solid 30 fps if I dropped a few values. 60 fps would be lovely, but I doubt I'll get that, even with the card upgrade (assuming we can get it to work). I have yet to own a system that actually played something that well. I always seem to be a few years behind on all things tech-related.
My life would suck so much less if I had more money, you know? Story of everyone's lives, really.
See you, folks.
- Jen
JOURNAL: dj_ultima_the_great (Jen )
Current server time: Dec 26, 2024 09:02:09