ACCURSED FARMS 2015 ANNOUNCEMENTS VIDEO

[Veyrdite]

Mics

You gave yourself a couple of requirements in your video:

• Masochist to shouting
  
• Directional (does not pick up background junk)

Well if I need to shout, my current mic is still pretty good, but for things like game dungeon and other videos, me having to shout is rarer, whereas it's practically a given for Freeman's Mind.

Getting a more sensitive condenser for your non-shouting work is one possible route. You would have a choice between this and your current dynamic, so it avoids obsoleting your current equipment whilst also expanding what you can do.

 

Cheap condensers can be had for less than 100 USD, but I can't pass opinion on them as I've only ever repaired (used) some more expensive models. If you want to spend some time reading there are some interesting stickies on the HomeRecording forums that might help.

 

Be wary however: you'll most likely need a phantom power source if you go the condenser route. I'm not sure of your current equipment setup but you should be able to get little preamps that do it for less than 50 USD -- keep this in mind when considering cost. There are some condenser mics with built in power supplies and USB analog to digital converters, but there is no-where as much choice when it comes to these.

 

Anyway, hopefully I won't become too much of an audiofool here. I'll pass comment on the curtains in the background of this video -- what do you have to hide Ross?!

[Jsor]

Unfortunately, there's no way to do this with Adobe Premiere, but if you want to avoid the giant intermediate file it's nice to use something called DebugMode FrameServe. It integrates with Sony Vegas, and the idea is that when you render to a FrameServe target, it will only write a very, very small .avi file (a couple kilobytes). I'm more familiar with MeGUI, but apparently with some effort you can integrate it with HandBrake too with some work. The only other step is a one-line Avisynth file:

 

AviSource("myAvi.avi")

 

Then you load that via Handbrake/MeGUI and it does encoding magic. The idea is, the frameserver will trick your rendering program to render only to the file as needed, and it will delete old data as it's read by the encoder. So it basically renders to and then encodes it to without any intermediate file.

 

Unfortunately, like I said, this basically requires switching to Vegas or script-kiddy editing via AviSynth or dealing with Virtualdub's terrible interface.

 

(Apparently it used to work under Premiere, but it broke, you can still give it a go if you want to try. It's just a plugin)

 

Also, I wouldn't be too worried about recording in YV12. There is a slight quality drop, but it's not noticeable to most people. The only real reason you notice is because you saw the raw footage. Most ~~Youtube gamer celebrities~~ record in Lagarith YV12. I mean, if it drives you bonkers and need to do RGB then do what you gotta do, but it shouldn't be a problem.

[AP_Pastor]

Will be looking forward to your upcoming movie, and more Game Dungeon episodes. Is there any chance that you'd have the Minds makers like Ian or Robin for a small role in the movie should the need for voice actors arise? And how about Craig? I've always wondered what he can do with other roles aside from Dave.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Guest (see edit history)

[Veyrdite]

RE audio dynamic range compression mentioned in the video: this is actually what you want, but setup very differently. You should be able to get the compressor to do basically what you're doing by hand to the very loud parts -- if it's screwing up your voice then it's not setup to do what you want.

 

You will want to try it out with:

• Cut-in threshold higher than an "ok" voice level, so nothing below a decent volume is even touched
  
• Really slow attack and release times, ie approximately from 0.1 seconds to a second
  
• Some form of look-ahead (time-travel) or the compressor will lag behind what your voice is actually doing. EDIT: this may be assumed by default without telling you, just try it out and see how well it works.

 

If you can't do these three things with the compressor options your software provides, it's probably junk for your purposes and I don't blame you for giving up on it.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Guest (see edit history)

[K0Z]

So I assume the coming schedule based on priority is:

 

1. THE MOVIE, which will take up a considerable amount of time for the next several dog years/doggy decades.

 

2. Game Dungeon, which will be used as filler to keep the masses satisfied during the development of the movie.

 

3. Other minor things, which we will only know about. . . when we know them.

 

4. Civil Protection, which may or may not appear during the development of THE MOVIE. likely after the movie.

 

5. Freemans Mind, which will most likely appear after THE MOVIE. Its time will come again, for now it sleeps.

 

6. P̛͇̥͓͇̠̳͍r͎̖͔̻̟̞̖a̵̗̦͍̱̹ỵ̢̫͚e̡̜̙̦͎r̼͚̰̥͕̀s͕̮̠̳ ͍̟͖͙͡ṭ̩͈͙̜̀ͅo̜̤̱͜ ̟͓͎̼t̡̤̺̮͈h̕e̴̼̜ ̢̠S̴̭un̻̙͇̜̜͡k̘e̵͔̹̟͙̘͙n̙̪̙͙͔͚̙ O̳͇̜͉̺̣̗̕n҉̪̯̙͉̭̯̞ḙ̰̻͈̪

 

If I were to recommend a game with a lot of assets for THE MOVIE: Skyrim.

Skyrim has a tremendous amount of assets and the TES creation kit will allow you to make just about anything with them. Though the only thing that goes along with that is learning how to use the creation kit or at least finding someone who knows how to use it. Though I suppose you're going to have to start looking for people to help with THE MOVIE. Its time to recruit a team of machinimanauts, with attitude!

 

 

I REALLY don't know a real name for someone who makes machinima is called, or the plural of that. A filmmaker maybe(?), but Machinimanaut sounds about right.

 

[BTGBullseye]

If I were to recommend a game with a lot of assets for THE MOVIE: Skyrim.

Skyrim has a tremendous amount of assets and the TES creation kit will allow you to make just about anything with them. Though the only thing that goes along with that is learning how to use the creation kit or at least finding someone who knows how to use it.

TES Creation Kit is remarkably easy to use and create with, the problem is that the engine is almost as buggy as the Source engine, and much harder to record frame-by-frame of a demo recording. (last I heard, it was not possible)

[K0Z]

TES Creation Kit is remarkably easy to use and create with, the problem is that the engine is almost as buggy as the Source engine, and much harder to record frame-by-frame of a demo recording. (last I heard, it was not possible)

 

Ya I was thinking about too, there's certain parts of the engine that seem to have a mind its own. From what I hear Skyrim's engine is just a retooled version of Fallout 3's engine, which is a retooled version of Oblivion's engine. If only they took the time to just make a better, more stable engine instead of recycling the old temperamental one. . . if only.

[Jsor]

TES Creation Kit is remarkably easy to use and create with, the problem is that the engine is almost as buggy as the Source engine, and much harder to record frame-by-frame of a demo recording. (last I heard, it was not possible)

 

Ya I was thinking about too, there's certain parts of the engine that seem to have a mind its own. From what I hear Skyrim's engine is just a retooled version of Fallout 3's engine, which is a retooled version of Oblivion's engine. If only they took the time to just make a better, more stable engine instead of recycling the old temperamental one. . . if only.

 

Most modern engines still have some code from the Quake 1 engine. Total engine rebuilds are extremely rare (and expensive).

[the dude]

ive followed you since you started doing youtube shows and i will stay and continue watching everything you do becuase ITS SO AWESOME, the thing that got me into your show was your voice, it reminded me about everybody loves raymond, you use that voice to create great shows and you're really good at it, thank you for everything you have done for us and i hope you will create more awsome shows in the future

[Bugthing]

The opposite NEEDS to happen.

 

 

Can somebody please fotoshop this picture of Gordon to look more like Ross? Valve cannot escape our judgement!

[kingkolton9]

Problems arise with those because they are essentially a USB soundcard with 3 condenser mics attached to it, and their quality for professional sound is highly variable. 16-bit at 48KHz is remarkably low output quality compared to most analog to digital converters. (non-USB versions anyways) And even the response rates are variable, as what they may consider a response at 20Hz and/or 20KHz may be completely inaudible at any volume. Biggest problem with them though is that they do get quite a lot of side-leakage. (sound coming from the side and background is picked up quite a lot

 

Yeah, I have to agree on the anti-yeti recommendation that both you and IRAMightyPirate have voiced. While it's a nice mic for the price, this thing picks up everything, especially if you don't have a shock mount.

 

I just did a test in audition, and with the gain at 25% and the mic set to the cardioid pattern (The one that picks up the least amount of sound), it sounds like I was speaking directly into it. It's an arm and a half away from me, and sitting right next to my home server, but it's not picking up too much from that.

 

Edit: A mic I think you may like is the Shure SM57. It's a $100 dynamic microphone that is supposedly awesome for the price. It's a cardioid pattern mic and is used a lot with high-pitched and loud instruments. I've used one a few times, however, that was a while back and I don't have any recording samples I can give you. It only picks up things in the 40-15000 hz range, though.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Guest (see edit history)

[ThePest179]

Just watchted it.

 

Thoughts:

 

HL2: Ross, take your time. Do whatever you need to first, then you get to this. I can wait a few years to get Freeman's Mind 2.

 

CP: Same.

 

The Movie: While I have no idea what I'll be watching, I'm gonna stick around to find out.

 

So, good luck on the movie, I'm still going to watch the content you'll put out. Have a good year.

[Mr Nutt]

First of all, I haven't forgotten about this old picture.

 

Right, now that that's out of the way, onto the video. While I can't really help with the technical questions, I'm glad to know about the stuff you've got planned. I'm also kind of curious about who this 2D animator you mentioned is. If it's that guy who did those Civil Protection animations then I hope he has improved a lot since then. (I haven't seen anything by him since then so I have no idea)

[ScottD.Betson]

you look like Jesus Ross......and I really am digging that look.......its alot better than having short hair and looking like the FREE MAN!

[jbenefi1]

You know Ross, you could also actually make a series from the Freeman Across the Universe April fools joke you did. Just do like 1 episode per game you choose. That way its a once in a while thing that you could drop/delay at any time.

[Vapymid]

@Ross: I second Jsor's suggestion to use a frame-server - either DebugMode or AVISynth. Provided, however, that handbrake can operate as a client (I don't know - I have not tested it myself for that).

 

@Veyrdite: I'm intrigued by your avatar - that molecule does not look right to me...

 

Regards

[Dont_Tell_Taco_Tyrant]

Ross, here is the ONE thing: That chest hair is an asset that you could be utilizing. You should shave that into a design like a lightning bolt or wolf's head or something.

 

If you don't, your competitors will. Don't give them the advantage!

[RandomGuy]

Now that I think about it- why is this being called his first video appearance? There was that interview with Machinima a while back.

[DonRadkos]

Excited for THE MOVIE

Also I wanted to note you've managed to make an announcement video entertaining to watch. You're that good.

Oh yeah.

[Mr Nutt]

I've noticed you added a thing about needing a pixel-art artist. The only one I can think of right now is Michafrar. For those who don't know, he does the title cards and stuff for JonTron. So I guess you could try talking to him about if he's available to do titles for the Game Dungeon.

Edited February 3, 2015 by Guest (see edit history)