Help.. Police.. Murder...

• 14Sep 08

  Acquiring Additional Audio Augmentations

  I managed to get my hands on the first upgrade for Rachel, my new camera.

  

  Placed atop a small tripod in the hot shoe of my HV30 is a Rode VideoMic.
  
  I'm taking a Sound and Post cIass in school and it prompted me to gather some new equipment for a couple reasons. First, I don't like renting from the school and dealing with the extremely harsh check-out conditions. And, secondly, because I want to use this bad boy on my own stuff whenever I want to!
  
  I ordered a .45x wide angle today as well. The first thing I got for my old camera was a wide angle lens, so I figured I had to do as much for this one at least too. Next on the upgrade schedule is most likely a new tripod. The one I'm using now is actually meant for still photography and I need a good video tripod with a fluid head for smooth panning and tilting action. After that (hopefully around the holiday season) I'll try and take the plunge and get a 35mm adapter so I can get some shallow depth of field happening, as well as some radical manual focus. Then I'll probably have to get a rails system to mount it on as well as a new monitor for better focusing and perhaps a follow focus to further improve that. It's going to be an ongoing process, that's for sure.
  
  Also got the new Typography project coming up. I have a little less than three weeks to work on it, so I need to get going. I ripped the audio I'm thinking of using this weekend from the film, O Brother, Where Art Thou -- although, I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with this or not. It needs to be at least a minute and I'm sitting at 1:20 with this one.

  As far as vidya games. I've been playing Lost Odyssey a bit, as well as some Rock Band 2, which Bort_Hammer and I managed to get a few days early. Everything else has been kept pretty light in favor of school and watching movies.

  Update:
  Here's a quick rundown of what the camera is capable of. Hopefully this will improve the more I fiddle with things -- I'm still merely an amateur at this stuff.
  
  
  This is a screen cap from the video at different stages of post production. The first image is just the raw footage. As you can see it's extremely dark because I locked the aperture on the camera and didn't allow the camera to add gain to compensate for the low light. The result is underexposed but clean from noise, and it is fixable in Premiere by messing with some white input levels, as seen in the second image (which is from my initial test upload). Lastly I wasn't quite satisfied so I took the footage into After Effects and added some Film Magic Pro color grading which I messed around with to fit this clip. Typically the presets tend to have too much contrast for the stuff I've shot so far but I'm still working on it.
  
  For a first test, I'm pretty pleased. It took a lot of work to even get this up and running. I'm just glad it's so much fun!
  
  Now to finish these Backyard battles in Lost Odyssey! Just finished the Light cIass ones but I'm a little nervous about the Medium and Heavy cIasses...

  • Posted Sep 14, 2008 10:29 am PT
  • Category: Technology
  • 9 Comments

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• 21Aug 08

  I Finally Found Her.

  She's a Canon HV30 and she's stolen my heart.
  
  I still have a lot of things to figure out with it. I'll probably browse through the manual at work tomorrow and do some test shooting this weekend. Unfortunately cIasses start Monday so I have no idea when I'll be able to put something together.
  
  I also need to find a suitable name for her. I forgot what I was going to call her initially.
  
  
  Boy that sure would be fun.. Maybe someday...
  
  I have a loose plan to spend even more money on accessories as well. She might look and transform into something even more radical come the end of the year, if things go smoothly.
  
  Stoked beyond belief, I am.

  • Posted Aug 21, 2008 9:25 pm PT
  • Category: Relationships
  • 12 Comments

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• 15Jul 08

  Late to the Party (Again)

  Once again I'm "late to the party". Story of my life folks! I imagine I'll be making that blog title again when the inevitable PS3 purchase arrives.

  I finally decided to take the jump into the HD realm and purchased a 32" Vizio LCD HDTV about a week and a half ago.
  

  

  To house this new piece of hardware I had to get a new piece of furniture. Which was fine with me, seeing how bulky the old entertainment center was--I much prefer the subtley of the current setup.

  Notable mentions in the above picture include my mammoth center channel from a couple seasons back. I was planning to work on building a stand to raise the TV up a bit the weekend I got it, but my father kindly and sneakily manufactured me a wooden platform while I was at work to ease the view a bit.

  Also the HD-DVD player that I got for $40 at Fry's. I've always wanted a LaserDisc player, so now I have the next-gen equivalent of one. Also, the movies are all -$10 here so I might stock up on a few. Right now I really only have a few Kubrick films and some other essentials.

  Aaaand I don't have the PS2s hooked up right now because I'm not sure if I want them sitting on top of the unit. I haven't decided on that yet either.

  Since I stacked a lot of my games on top of my old setup, I had to get some new storage as well.

  

  I was able to fit most of the "current" stuff on these twins but am lacking PSP, GBA and movie storage still. Along with all the older stuff. I imagine that will have to come later down the line, but for now this works out nicely. I decided to go alphabetically. I've never organized anything really before, so it's nice to know where everything is.

  I went on hermit mode the other week to dial in the TV and think I've got all my settings worked out for the most part. I love it. Love love love. I am currently in the process of playing Lost Odyssey (which I also absolutely love) before I head back through my 360 collection to replay all of it.

  Now to bask in the soft glow of High Definition with my buddy Kaim and his pals...

  P.S. I actually dusted for the first time in about 14 years because I have everything so exposed now. I'm nervous that I won't be able to keep it up -- but I have to, this junk depends on me!

  • Posted Jul 15, 2008 9:17 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 28 Comments

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• 10Jun 08

  Diary of an MMO Newbie: Days 3 and 4?

  I've been playing that thar Age of Conan game quite a bit lately.

  Well at least trying to. Turns out I was having a bit of a problem with crashing due to an "Out of Memory" error. I did a little research and found out I was not the only one getting this error and it is somewhat widespread. The game causes some kind of memory leak that eventually kicks me to the desktop, I assume after it uses all the possible RAM that it can. I don't think the problem is entirely on my end as I have the maximum 3.3 gigs of RAM alloted to my 32bit version of Vista and seeing that no other games have yet to give me this problem.

  My method of troubleshooting has been to kick everything back to low and then gradually increase the settings to find out what is actually causing the leak. My guess was either the textures or the pixel shader. Currently I have my textures back to "high" and am working on moving everything else back as well. I am guessing that Pixel Shader 3.0 is the culprit (right now I'm back at good ol' 2.0), but I'm not entirely sure yet. We'll see what happens later tonight.

  But I did get to play a bunch last night without crashing and I am loving it again. In fact, it's safe to say I am hooked--and to be honest I was expecting to. One of my main reasons for never playing an MMO was because I knew that I would probably get into it, hardcore, and in turn miss out on other games that I want to play. I already have enough problem as it is being able to play all the games I'm interested in.

  Well at the moment, I'm OK with crackin' out on AoC for a bit, because to be honest, it is quite enjoyable. Like really fun. I just hit 25 last night and was able to claim my Amazon Bow that I got for buying the game from Amazon.com. Clever isn't it? The bow actually isn't bad at all and is one of my more high end items at the moment.

  Well, there you have it folks. Basically, I just spent the last three blog posts to let you know I like the game.

  • Posted Jun 10, 2008 7:41 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 15 Comments

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• 7Jun 08

  Diary of an MMO Newbie: Day 2

  Yesterday was just a blast. Again I hooked up with Tyler and Slunks, but also met up with my good buddy Bort as well. We all got on Skype and decided to tackle some of the Underhalls and White Sands quests in Tortage. Now, this was my first time being in an open PVP area, so I was rather nervous -- in fact I was downright hysterical. I was afriad that there was some jerk in every corner just ready to jump out and get me! It turns out the Underhalls were pretty packed with folks, some of them indifferent to our presence, but others extremely hostile!

  I didn't mind it too much though. I died a couple of times but did manage to get the killing blow on a higher level jerk who was camping a door. as he realized how much trouble he was in when the four of us show up he decided to book it. I however bust out my bleeding shot combo and murder him just as he nearly manages to break away.

  At White Sands it was much less of a bloodbath. We were able to get most of our stuff done without any major confrontations except for a mage who decided to attack us for whatever reason. Not a good idea. At this point we were a higher level and ran across several lone level 7s and such. We decided to mess with one and did an all out charge on him. He immediately turned the other direction and jumped into the water. He was a good sport and laughed it off. I found this a much more satisfying encounter than ganking him like the other nerds in the Underhalls were doing.

  I think I'd much rather take out the jerks killing the low levels than the lower levels themselves and I hope to follow that PVP model when Syreth gets to be a bit of awesome.

  Overall I think I was exposed to what makes MMOs so appealing today and that's just getting in a group and killing stuff. I have to admit, that it was extremely satsifying and one of my most memorable multiplayer experiences to date.

  I'm still on my way to being a high enough level to play with the rest of the Blood Pact clan, so I know there is a gazillion more things to look forward to.

  • Posted Jun 7, 2008 2:01 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 9 Comments

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• 6Jun 08

  Diary of an MMO Newbie: Day 1

  I finally had a chance to install and play Age of Conan Yesterday. I created a Cimmerian Ranger named Syreth. It took a bit to take everything in at first, and to be honest, I'm still feeling incredibly overwhelmed. I think over time things will come together, though.

  I went through the little single player tutorial bit and reached Tortage to find Slunks and Tyler dancing and waiting for me on the bridge. What dopes. Thankfully, Tyler fell into the lava river.

  I then proceeded to run madly around the city picking up quests, buying items and looking like a moron. Soon after running some errands for the locals and reaching level 10, Talor, Mike, Art and even Steve (I haven't played anything with him since the real Hyborian Age. Get it?!) showed up and I got added to their nerdy little guild. Radical. Didn't get a chance to run around with them yet though.

  At this time I looked at the clock and realized several hours had passed without my knowledge and it was now time for bed. Bummer.

  I never thought I'd say this about one of those cursed MMORPGs, but I am enjoying it. I may be new to playing these types of games but I've been around them plenty and was never really interested. I think the more engaging combat of AoC is giving me the tolerance I need to actually enjoy the game, because I'm all about the RPG asepects of leveling up a character and getting sweet gear and especially playing games with friends. I can't wait to get back and spend some time with the game this weekend.

  • Posted Jun 6, 2008 8:49 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 14 Comments

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• 4Jun 08

  NERD ALERT - PC Edition

  A bit on the lengthy side, plus it was a little rushed and this is actually not the episode I originally planned and posted about a while ago.

  I sure had a lot of fun with this one though.

  Sorry, Stan.

  • Posted Jun 4, 2008 11:08 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 36 Comments

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• 18May 08

  Key Me!

  
  (Apologies again for the horrible still image quality)

  I finished her up early this mornin' after 83 hours of gametime. Had a blast every minute -- definitely one of my all-time favourites now.

  Now if only the Social Club site would update everything I'd be good to go for my Key to the City! Currently, it has me at 83% completion so who knows what will happen. Nate and I both planned to go for this one, and I'm glad we did -- it was a blast. He just finished up tonight, so hopefully he'll be good to go too!

  Next up, I have to get back to my darling Suikoden II. I played some today and as soon as I heard the music I fell in love all over again. It's a bummer how we (or at least I) get sidetracked while playing certain games. It's also fascinating how I was instantly transported back just by the music. I love game music. A lot. There is so much nostalgic impact when listening to it, it's great. I really wish soundtracks were more readily available because it really is a bummer to spend an arm and a leg to import 'em. It's worth it to me though, and I need to get more. I think the Mario Galaxy soundtrack will be next on my hitlist.

  Also on the plate is to play through some of Metal Gear Solid before June 12th, aaaand finish up Episode 10 of the ol' video blog. Thank goodness for Summer, eh?

  • Posted May 18, 2008 9:12 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 27 Comments

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• 17May 08

  Rat Problem

  Turns out I missed two somehow. I'll have to go back and snag 'em soooon.

  EDIT - Found one of 'em. Only one lone, diseased pigeon left.

  EDIT #2 - Found the last bugger. Whew.

  Still have some jumps to do, but I'm almost there.

  • Posted May 17, 2008 8:32 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 20 Comments

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• 30Apr 08

  Yeah. Boi.

  "It turns grown men into little boys again." -- Christoper "Shoopdog" Bean.

  Truer words may never have been spoken. Seriously, I feel like a kid in a candy store.. rather a candy freakin' city.

  Eat up fellas!

  • Posted Apr 30, 2008 9:40 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 24 Comments

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• 25Apr 08

  Dearly, Dear

  

  I have chosen the absolute worst time to be working on a new video. Every school project known to man is due next week for me and I don't know if I'll be able to make it. This latest episode is a special case though so I want to make sure I get it done. Someone halp meh!

  • Posted Apr 25, 2008 5:33 pm PT
  • Category: General
  • 17 Comments

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• 14Apr 08

  Free Time?? Pffft.

  I've been busy lately. Way too busy in fact. Things are in a lull for the moment as I gear up for the end of the semester and the 56 projects and 41 papers that will be due.

  I beat Chains of Olympus last week so I've naturally been doing the challenges. However! They are rather difficult and I've only managed to complete the first two -- the second of which I must have attempted at least a hundred times. It involved killing 20 Fire Guards without getting hit. Sounds simple enough except for the fact they can break your block so your only hope is to evade or counter. The waves of five didn't help either as it was easy to get surrounded and thus get killt. I am now tasked with defeating a bunch of enemies as my health is depleting. Can't wait for the others! I still need to revisit GoW2 and do those challenges as well as start the Titan difficulty as well as start God difficulty on Chains.

  I did manage to reach my 5.0 K/D ratio in CoD4 a couple weeks back though, but forgot to post the screen taken by that lovely Eric. So here ya go?

  

  It has gone down since the release of the new maps which were graciously given to me by Talor who had an extra code. Radical. I've been meaning to take it easy with the game so I can get back to Suikoden II but this is one bug that I just can't seem to shake easily and the new maps sure don't help. Always lookin' for folks to play with so don't be afraid to join in every once in a while.

  I also had a chance to dust off the ol' arcade stick and take the XBLA version of Ikaruga for a test spin or two last week. That game is rather incredible and definitely one of the best shooters ever made. I haven't had a chance to really dive in and begin memorizing levels or max out some chains, but I really hope to in the near future. I needs to get me some credits!

  I did a little planning ahead the other day and pre-ordered MGS4 LE. I don't own my PS3 yet, but I wanted to secure my copy and prehaps also secure the inevitable purchase of a PS3 -- most desirably the MGS4 edition coming out in June.

  Sunday, I was invited as a guest on the trigames.net podcast hosted by the huggable Austin/mrchup0n. Despite being really cool, those guys really need attention and they'll resort to grade school antics such as pulling your hair to get it. I recommend checking them out before they do so. They'll love you forever too, maybe.

  I'm not sure if that's most of what's going on but frankly I'm too tired to care anymore. I swear I feel like I've been stuck on the track for weeks without a pitstop. Perhaps a little sleep will help to rechar f jituiobvbvc, lvv zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

  • Posted Apr 14, 2008 10:21 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 23 Comments

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• 25Mar 08

  Getting Up

  I don't normally respond to these types of things, but it's always good to mix it up. My good buddy Art has tagged me so...

  1. I dig music. I play the bass guitar, keyboard/piano and the trombone.

  2. I have an older brother, who is now married, (so crazy) that I grew up playing games with and still do occasionally -- when he's not too busy being a responsible adult.

  3. I ride a motorcycle. A 2001 Kawasaki ZR-7S, in which my father and I have added a double bubble windshield, crash bars and aftermarket exhaust.
  

  4. I'm in my 5th year of college and have changed my major three times, from music to education to my current major of video/film. Maybe I'll graduate one of these days...

  5. I dislike crowds and public places. I'll do my best to avoid high traffic areas and rarely ever see movies opening night or eat at peak meal times. I'd rather wait or do stuff early to make sure I don't get caught in the rush.

  I'm not sure if these folks will come across this, but I tag Bort_Hammer, Modal_Node, Derek, Hex and Nate.

  I feel so dirty. I need to cleanse myself from this internet nonsense.

  • Posted Mar 25, 2008 10:55 pm PT
  • Category: General
  • 20 Comments

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• 20Mar 08

  Sweet Dreams

  Baby.

  • Posted Mar 20, 2008 12:06 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 33 Comments

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• 19Mar 08

  Advancing

  Great game today. Giant Bombers will be advancing to Elimination Phase 2. The guys played great -- well done fellas. You can check out the end game screen here or at Jedi's blog. Thanks for all the support folks, it's much appreciated (especially Kevin who helped us out with some strat).

  Can't wait until Friday for some Ambush.

  • Posted Mar 19, 2008 8:22 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 22 Comments

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• 18Mar 08

  Giant Bombers Are Go!

  

  Wish us luck!

  • Posted Mar 18, 2008 8:39 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 30 Comments

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• 29Feb 08

  Super Sweet Schwag

  A very good friend of mine called me up the other day and told me they had some gifts for me. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I headed over after cIass to see what was up and I was undeservingly treated to these bad boys.

  
  One rather large poster.

  
  One replacement game sleeve.

  Now they aren't the actual signatures but rather the standard copied kind, but if you know me at all, you know that I am quite the happy camper. Thanks a ton, Erin.

  Speaking of this crazy game I never stop talking about... The patch was released, I guess it was yesterday now. I'm very thankful that they managed to keep the balance while fixing quite a few things and adding some really cool features. The most noticable are killcams for Airstrikes, grenades, grenade launchers, RPGs and I believe claymores. Following the ordinance as it's dropped from a strike only to smother you in explosives is quite impressive, however the best new feature is the addition of an in game mute button made famous by Halo 3. I have to give Infinity Ward some sincere thanks for that puppy.

  The game is still a blast, especially playing with all the wonderful Gamespotters around here. Thankfully there are tons that I've had the opportunity to play with. I don't think I could mention everyone if I tried because there are so many cool folks, but you guys know what's up. Thanks for being so radical.

  Unfortunately my Suikoden II time has been rather scarce. By the time I get home from cIass I'm pretty exhausted and just feel like veggin' out and "killin' dudes." I imagine I'll get one of those uncontrollable urges to waste a day playing it soon though. The game is incredible.

  I've been working a little on some video junk. If I'm not cursing as I watch grenandes bounce around the map only to land at my feet I might be able to upload something soon.

  • Posted Feb 29, 2008 11:40 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 27 Comments

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• 23Feb 08

  Golden Bird Holy Flower Dragon Tooth Glory Punch!

  Suikoden II has officially stolen my heart.

  • Posted Feb 23, 2008 10:07 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 20 Comments

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• 21Feb 08

  What a Wonderful Waste

  I'm with Eric on this one, that Game Night really screwed up my momentum. But goodness gracious it was fun. Lots of cool folks around these parts, and getting them all in the same game to duke it out in one of my favourite multiplayer experiences is quite the recipe for Amazing.

  Even today I played CoD4 during most of my free time when I should have been working on a couple of school projects that are due next week. We were on a bit of a roll though, and it's hard to stop. I know I've been playing it a while but I really don't see myself stopping completely anytime soon.

  I haven't been neglecting Suiky II though. I played a bit today and took out my first boss. It's weird getting used to the subtle differences in the inventory and menu systems from the first one. The characters, gameplay and charm are still there from the first one, perhaps even more so this time around. I'm really really diggin' it and I imagine I'll be loving it even more as I progress.

  Tomorrow is the weekend, we'll see how my willpower holds up and how much work I get done. Wish me luck!

  • Posted Feb 21, 2008 10:38 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 21 Comments

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• 18Feb 08

  Deja Vu

  I find myself, once again, at the computer in the wee hours of the morning with a full and early day ahead of me. Which means, I have once again reached the point of no return in a video game. The sacred threshold where sleep is not an option, only completion is possible. This time it was Suikoden.

  

  The save right before the last boss. How exciting!

  A very satisfying ending. I managed to collect all 108 characters (thanks to my pal, Rhett) which means I have the save game data necessary to transfer the goods over to the next game. I don't think I'm going to waste any time on starting it up, however the upcoming Game Night might delay my commencement slightly. I played a bit of CoD4 on Friday and it took me a couple games to get things moving again, but I'm hoping I'll be in OK shape by Tuesday night. It's going to be good times, I'm sure.

  I must now Rest in order to restore my HP and replenish my Magic... How nerdy.

  • Posted Feb 18, 2008 12:46 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 25 Comments

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