JOURNAL: SQ (StandardQuip )

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  • Been in the Navy a year + Gurren Lagann AMV 2010-07-10 19:31:50 Have been in what amounts to college for that entire time. xD
    On August 10 I go to Sasebo, Japan. I'll be stationed on the LHD2 USS Essex. It's forward deployed, meaning that I'm not going to be in Japan the whole time and I'll probably be traveling the world instead. That's pretty much what I asked for. xP

    I will be doing mini soldering, which is soldering circuit boards under a microscope. Hrm.

    I got an idea for an AMV after seeing some Youtube AMV with the same song. That AMV was actually done really well. I saw it a long time a go and I tried to look at it today to get a better idea on what to do with my AMV but I couldn't find it... Oh well.

    Since I've basically stolen the idea and I highly doubt my journal will be read (and even if it is read, I doubt YOU'LL steal the idea) so I'll go ahead and let you know what it is!

    Gurren Lagann to "Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf (featuring Lil Wayne).
    The AMV I saw had multiple anime in it, mostly Naruto though.

    I went and looked at what some other people did (This type of AMV is very popular on YT but on the .org there are only 2!) to get some ideas on what to do and not do for my own video.

    There are some concepts I like but others were common so I will attempt to stay away from that type of editing. Coincidentally, I also saw the "Vortex Recycled" MEP and hooooly shit what people do these days with masks and 3d cameras is amazing. Someone's segment in there-- the neon evangellion one -- uses masks to transition and that is one of my favorite things. I have wanted to put masked transitions in my own AMVs for quite some time, but that segment gave me a few ideas on how to pull off what I was looking for better than what I originally planned.

    I've been working on the AMV all day today (And I'm severely hung over, lol) and I've gotten to about the 1min mark in the song. I'm kind of just laying down a base idea for the scenes I want and doing all the after effects stuff later. I'm hoping that plan will work because there is also a story to this AMV. I don't want it to get lost while I am sidetracked making masks (and I haven't worked in AE for so long it will likely take triple the time it should). That's something that happened with Liar's Remorse (The AMV I made right before boot camp). I got side tracked trying to make the effects work that I think a lot of my story elements just vanished because I forgot how I was originally going to pull them off.

    Regardless, in addition to the whole masks as transitions, I also want to do typography. I've wanted to do a typography AMV for quite some time, and hopefully this won't turn into a collosal failure. Originally I wanted all the lyrics to show up on screen but I think that will end up not working (I'm going to try anyway before I call it quits too early, though). If I can't get all the lyrics on, there are some parts I have great ideas for-- mostly Lil Wayne's rap segments.

    If it's possible, I'd like interaction between the characters on screen and the text (similar to how Zombieland did their stuff. Loved the motion effects in that movie). I'm not entirely sure if I can make that happen, simply based on my current scene choices... The characters are too close up in most of it.

    ALL THAT ASIDE.
    GETTING MY FOOTAGE WAS TERRIBLE, GUYS. TERRIBLE.
    I downloaded HD episodes via torrent, and this took 2 days on a shitty connection that kept dropping. Then when I got the files, AviSynth wouldn't read them. VDub wouldn't convert them. I spent about 6 hours trying. Finally, after all else failed, A combination of MKVToolnix and AMVBe (very useful tool) FINALLY converted the shit. Then I ran out of HDD space.
    BUT I GOT THEM ALL CONVERTED EVENTUALLY.

    So then I opened up Premiere, only for all my huffy files ot be utterly rejected. VDub wouldn't read them either. I tried an Avs script but that didn't work. When I actually got the script to work in VDub, it wouldn't work in Premiere because OH-- YOU NEED THE 64 BIT VERSION OF AVISYNTH NOW. And of course I couldn't find any of the filters for x64. Then I couldn't get them to work right.
    SIX HOURS OF SLAVING OVER ALL THIS, I decide to fuck it all and go buy the DVDs since I want them anyway. The NEX (kind of like a walmart on military base) closed soon so I ran over there, and I got there 20 minutes before closing. I did a small victory dance then went over to where I saw the GL box set last week.

    THEY SOLD IT.

    I throw a small fit and swear I hate life, then stomp back over to my barracks, wondering how I'm going to overcome my mental retardation in order to get these files to work on premiere.
    I'm about to kill something when a coworker comes over and says we should go to the base bar.
    FOUR JACK AND COKES LATER (all doubles) I'm throwing up everywhere (by choice, I was trying to sober up) and wondering why the hell I just got myself plastered if not to wish away the sadness of not being able to make an AMV.
    I GOT DRUNK BECAUSE I WAS UPSET I COULDN'T MAKE AN AMV.
    HOW SAD IS THAT?

    After sleeping it off I eventually got everything to work this morning with the thanks of mirksop and I'm now editing with these files.

    Right now the quality is pretty awesome, but you have to remember that I probably haven't seen a "good quality" AMV in about 5 years, so my judgment probably isn't up to par.

    EVEN STILL.
    I am fucking determined to finish this and make it awesome, and not make it a stupid rushed and botched job like my last "one AMV for the year" AMVs have been.

    It will still probably pale in comparison to what everyone else can puke out, but hey, for not really doing anything major for 5 years I'll take what I can get. 
  • RIGHT SO BASIC TRAINING 2009-06-10 14:09:37 Was actually changed to 23 June 2009.

    I'm going in as AV again.


    Woo Navy. Or sommat. 
  • I AM SHIPPING OUT 2009-05-14 10:59:21 End of this month (may).
    I got a call and they told me it was definitely sometime this month! Didn't give me a specific date. It could be tomorrow, next week or the 30th. But he guaranteed that it was sometime this month.

    I am both happy and sad. Happy because I FINALLY get to go (God I've waited forever!) and sad because lol I'm ill prepared AND I just got an awesome idea for an AMV.
    I was downloading all of Code Geass and fuck it the downloads for season one and season two are at 76.8% and 79.1% respectively and god damnit I want them now so I can at least say I started the damn thing before I ship out (I've been downloading for 3 days now. I have a shittyass connection).

    If I had known I was going to ship out this early, I would've bought the damn DVDs but since I thought I had a huge amount of time I was like "Pfffffft I'll spend my money on stuff I need right now!" -headdesk-

    ANYWAY

    My new job is advanced computer electronics which my Recruiter says is "better". Honestly I'm not too sure but I'd rather be working with actual computers than radar, and it has the extra bonus of leaving now instead of in three months.

    Now I really wish I had just found $15 or whatever to hang out in the damn OT forums.
    There's no point now. I've missed you guys for a long time and I'll miss you more through boot camp.

    Even if I never make an AMV again for the rest of my life I will always remember this place. 
  • I AM IN THE NAVY + Facebook 2009-03-04 10:43:55 Yesterday I went to MEPS for the second time and I've finally been sworn in and gotten a ship date.

    I've been trying to join the Navy since around July. Anyways, my ship date is August 10, 2009.

    My job is AV: Avionics Technician

    I wanted journalism/media/whatever the official name is for, but meh. Oh well, shit happens.

    Job info:
    http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjob1/l/blav.htm

    I also got a Facebook recently.
    http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1330438380

    Name on there is Jiden Sparx. It's a fake name. Read the note associated:
    http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=64587118626

    I was talking with Lee/SnhKnives the other day and he asked for my real name. Then that reminded me that LOL IT IS ACTUALLY ON THIS SITE.
    At least my first name.
    1/2 half of the SQ is mystery is over!
    (the second half being what SQ stands for)

    Anyway uh. Yeah.

    Haven't made any AMVs in a long time. Maybe soon. :<
    If I can, I will try to make it to AWA this year- I miss it.
    But if I really do ship in August... I won't make it.
    Going to try and ship earlier, though. 
  • surgery update 2008-09-24 09:22:08 How was AWA?

    On the 18th at 4am I went into the hospital. Had my surgery by 8am-ish and everything was okay. Aside from the fact that getting up made my mouth and nose bleed. So i learned how to use a bedpan. Wasn't too motivated to go home but I did on the 19th. Then something happened and on midnight of the 20th I felt like I couldn't breathe and was rushed back to the ER.

    Stayed there until the 21st?? Maybe. Came home again and seemed to be doing okay but then I started getting diarhhea. After that I was extrememly nauseaous. I couldn't stop throwing up. And diarhhea. At the same time. Not kidding. I'd always wondered what would happen in such a situation. Now I know.

    Anyway, after that my parents refused to take me back to the ER so I ended up just starving myself for maybe a day and a half because no matter what I did was so nauseous. Eventually I got a suppository to help with that and now I am kind of eating again. I had oatmeal today. The last few days I've had baby food. I can't feel my lower lip and barely can feel my upper. My whole chin is numb. Lately I've become obsessed with trying to brush my teeth because I can still taste throw up, and lots of stuff gets stuck in the metal. But I can't open my mouth much; I have to eat with a baby spoon. It's not even the size of my thumb. Eating with one of those is extrememly tiring. I find myself taking naps after eating just because I'm too tired.

    But, I seem to be doing better. Good enough to post this, but I'm already tired so I'm gona get off right after. hope everyone else had the time of their lives. Kind of stupid to think I spendt AWA pissing over myself and then puking. But then...
    AHAH IRONY.

    Anyway I hope someone fills me in on what happened. I hate being cut off from the AMV world. I was looking foward to this years' AMV winners and getting to see everyone's new stuff. 
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