Ross Scott

672x384 WMV (71MB) Here's the new Freeman's Mind episode. This is the first one in widescreen format at it was requested by Machinima.com that I film it this way. I originally gave it a 4x3 aspect ratio to accommodate Youtube and since that changed on me, it's not a big deal to switch over to a widescreen ratio. Ironically since all my Civil Protection videos are in widescreen, my early episodes were hard-encoded to be letterboxed in a 4x3 ratio for Youtube by Machinima.com. It feels like I can't win sometimes. Speaking of which, I'm afraid this episode comes at a cost. Between making three Freeman's Mind episodes this month and other side projects I've had to work on, I really don't think the next Civil Protection episode is going to come out before Halloween. If it was up to me, I would have put FM on hold and made sure the next episode of CP came out in time, but Machinima.com has its own priorities. This does disappoint me, but for what it's worth, this won't be strictly a Halloween episode, just a scary one. So while the timing would have been better for this month, it should still be enjoyable for November. Also to be clear, this rate of Freeman's Mind is perfectly sustainable, it's this and other things on top of Civil Protection which is causing the overload. This delay is not due to lack of effort on my part. I've been working about 75 hours a week the past couple weeks where I was trying to get this done on time, but I can only create the episode so fast. I haven't been doing much besides working, exercising, and sleeping. To put it in perspective, I've been told that Machinima.com has only done one show in-house that uses scripted animation like CP and for that they were funded, hired lots of outside help, had a team of 6 internal animators working overtime and even then just barely got it completed in time. I don't have a paid team helping me, just volunteers the same as previous episodes (though I'm not discounting their efforts), so I still have to fill in every missing role that I can. Factor in that this will likely be the longest episode of CP so far and it's becoming a pretty big strain on me. I'm going a little batty with these hours actually, but I'll be happy once the episode is done. Also I fixed most of the broken download links Machinima.com keeps deleting randomly, I'll get more done when I get a chance.

640x480 WMV (68MB) Here's the latest episode of Freeman's Mind. This one was even more difficult to create than the last one believe it or not. A long story short, it's primarily been an issue of me not having a computer, yet having a tight deadline, though I should hopefully be getting a new system soon. The recording situation is not any better, but there are plans to get a small recording booth in a few weeks that should hopefully solve that situation. I'm spending all my free time working on the next Civil Protection episode, though there's still a lot to do. This one is going to be nailbiter for me to see if I can get it done in time, but I'll do everything I can. On top of that, Machinima wants two more Freeman's Mind episodes this month, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that doesn't come at the expense of CP. On that note, I'm weeks behind in replying to email, so I'm not ignoring anyone intentionally, I'm just extremely busy. I will say however, if you're asking me questions that are in the FAQ or ones that could be answered within 5 minutes of searching for the answer on Google, I probably won't send a reply. In other news, I've been trying to convince Machinima that the existence of this website isn't intended as a threat towards theirs as they've been wanting to remove the URL to it from my videos. So far it gets to stay, and they requested I make a public statement saying there's going to be a discussion with them regarding me having a website link on the videos. I'm still not sure myself what this is going to mean, though one goal I don't plan to compromise on is to at least have some avenue where viewers like you can download higher quality copies of the videos if they wish. Speaking of wish, some users have informed me that four more Freeman's Mind download links have been deleted on Machinima's site, so I'll try and get mirrors up to those as soon as I can.

Machinima.com streaming 640x480 WMV (76MB) Well here's the latest episode, one of the most difficult episodes for me to produce to date, due to the recording situation. It looks like that's getting resolved however, so hopefully the pace should pick up sooner on that. It's anyone's guess though as the computer they salvaged for me completely died on Thursday, but rumor has it there's a laptop I can continue working on. Also I apologize in advance if the video looks a little choppy on Youtube. With the exception of FM14 and Morning Patrol, every single video I've submitted to Machinima.com has been uploaded at the incorrect framerate on Youtube. Maybe someday this will get fixed. Progress continues on the next CP episode. I'm determined to release that before Halloween and will likely be working on weekends as well to make sure that happens. EDIT: I've been informed that the Youtube version is far darker than it should be, this does appear to be true. This is bad, since this is already a darker episode in terms of lighting. I don't know why the brightness was reduced, but it wasn't my fault this time. I recommend either watching the streaming version on Machinima.com or downloading the WMV version.

Well I've got some more news on several items: FREEMAN'S MIND: A new episode should be coming out before too long, but progress has been extremely slow. While I was told there would be audio recording accommodations before I accepted the job, they have been very sketchy. I had to record episode 15 sandwiched between 2 offices where other people are working and making noise, much of it carries through the walls, plus there's a smaller echo in the room, and I'm next to a busy hard tile hallway that can pick up noise from halfway across the building. Recording at home is no longer an option, so as a result, I've had to work during off hours at the office in order to record. Even then, the cleaning crew makes a lot of noise, so I can't reliably record anything until after about 9pm when things tend to remain quiet. Machinima has plans to relocate several of the offices soon, so I'm hoping the recording situation gets resolved. CIVIL PROTECTION AND PILOT EPISODE: I'm continuing to work on both of these and hope to have the next CP episode out sometime in October. MISSING DOWNLOADS: Several of the downloadable copies of the videos keep getting deleted at random from the Machinima servers. No one has been able to give me a clear answer as to why this keeps happening and from what I can tell, restoring these only to have them get deleted again is going to be a losing battle. The good news is, the host for this website (AMT Studios) says they have tons of bandwidth, so hosting new videos here shouldn't be a problem. I've since restored the links for Freeman's Mind episodes 5,6, and 8, and Civil Protection: Halloween Safety. I'll replace more links as they become a problem or I get around to it. - - - - Also I've been trying to get this information added for almost 2 weeks, but I think the people working on the website are having problems with it, so I'm just going to post the information here until it's officially part of the site: SUBTITLES: I'm no longer accepting new subtitles at this time. I plan to again at some point in the future, but I'm so far behind on updating the existing ones, piling on more is just going to overwhelm me. I still intend to support as many as I can, but I simply need to catch up on what people have already submitted first. FAQ UPDATE: I've been emailed these particular questions many times now, here are the answers for everyone: Q. How do you do pullups in Freeman's Mind? A. I have cheats enabled and have "noclip" mode assigned to a hotkey. Q. How do you put away your weapon in Freeman's Mind? A. Originally I was switching to another weapon covered with invisible textures, but since then, one viewer has informed me of the command "impulse 200", which can put away the weapon. Q. Can I have your permission to do a new series in the Freeman's Mind format for another game? A. You don't need my permission to do this. I'm not the first person to come up with the idea of putting words in other character's mouths. I don't plan on doing another show in the

Hey everyone, no new videos I'm afraid, but here's a news update. I've successfully relocated to Los Angeles, it's about what I expected. Machinima had several new hires besides me and wasn't fully prepared for everyone, so I haven't really had a computer to work on for the past 2 weeks. My own computer arrived from moving a couple days ago, so I can at least resume working on some things. I still don't have a place to record audio however, so for now this means no new videos that requires me to voice act. In light of that, I'm focusing on the pilot episode I mentioned (where I won't be a voice actor) and a partially completed Civil Protection episode where my dialogue was already recorded a long time ago. I'm sure the audio situation will get resolved eventually, everyone seems interested in me continuing Freeman's Mind especially. In the meantime, here are some things I've learned about LA that I didn't already know: -Cars actually yield the right of way to pedestrians here. This is a very alien concept to me. -I'm honestly amazed Taco Bell can survive out here in light of the competition. -There seems to be an unspoken stigma here against people who ride the bus. Lucky for me, I don't care. -An old Indian name for Los Angeles translates to "the valley of smoke." I consider this more accurate than "the city of angels" -It's easy to see why there were power shortages here a few years ago when many power lines buzz erratically so loud I'm expecting sparks to be shooting out from them. -I'm starting to see why some art directors for videogames consider making everything look brown to be realistic.

Hey everyone, big news, I'm being hired to work full time for Machinima.com! While some of you may not care about that, this is likely to be good news for everyone who's a fan of the videos. My official job title will be "segment producer" and will entail a lot of what I've already been doing (making my own videos), and also acting as a technical advisor for Machinima.com's other projects, especially those that use the Source engine. Some may consider this as me selling out, and that could be, but I don't think it will impact the videos negatively. I've discussed the job offer with them at length and I'll still get to write and direct my own material and have final edit, and you'll still get to watch the videos for free. The only real limitation they may impose on me is to have my longer episode ideas (which I haven't gotten to yet anyway) split up in more of a mini-series format. However, they're also cool with me distributing the final, unsplit version of those episodes to be watched as I would have intended, so I see this as a non-issue. In case it's not clear, Civil Protection WILL continue, as will the pilot episode I'm working on, as will Freeman's Mind (though this one is more up to you, FM has become more of a fan-service for me than something I would continue without your interest), so none of this should jeopardize more videos coming out in the future. While nothing is quite certain, Machinima.com is offering me support to produce the more involved episodes like CP. I may actually have animators assisting that I can work with locally, which could be worth its weight in gold to me. While I think it's possible I may actually have less time to work on the videos than I've been putting in, the additional help may make up for that. Part of this job will entail me moving near Machinima.com's headquarters, which is located in Los Angeles, California. I've currently been living in semi-rural Virginia, so this move may be similar to "The Beverly Hillbillies", except that they were rich. I'd like to make it known that just because I'm working for an official company now, does NOT mean I'll be getting rich from it. On the contrary, the cost of living in LA is monstrous. I anticipate a 1 bedroom apartment in the region will take up roughly half my income, and I'm going to be giving up my car and taking the bus to economize further. Also I can't say LA is my first choice of places to live as I prefer forests, fog, cold climate, etc., but this could be a dream job for me otherwise. The level of creative control I'll be getting is quite rare, something even most professional directors don't get. Finally, I may find I regret saying this, but I know NO ONE in the LA region. I don't want to promise anything in case you're a psycho (and not the fun kind), but if you live in that general area (I don't know where I'll be living yet, but M.com is located in the Hollywood area), are in a similar age range (I'm 26), and are interested in meeting me, go ahead and send me an email and tell me about yourself. It could take me quite a while to get back to you as I'll be very busy initially and will have limited internet access, but I'll try and respond to everyone who can write in complete sentences. If it helps (and I guess I have to stereotype here) here are some types of people I tend to get along with: artists, philosophers, intellectuals, easygoing people, goths, metalheads, horror movie fans, and people into surreal stuff in general. Bonus points if you're willing to buy me food. Also if you smoke, I may not want to hang out with you much, simply because I hate the smell of cigarettes; it's nothing against anyone personally. As for my own personality, I'm not sure how to describe myself, I'm maybe a little bit like a watered down cross between Mike and Dave from Civil Protection. Freeman's Mind is more just acting. If you just think of me as some sort of goblin in a workshop, I think it's hard to go wrong with that image. And for those that care, here's a picture of me from last year, though lately I'm looking more like a musketeer or Guy Fawkes. That's all for now! There will be a delay on all videos while I relocate, but hopefully things can pick up soon after that. Ross P.S. I'll try and get the broken download links for FM back up when I get a chance.

Filefront 640x480 WMV (49MB) Here's the next episode finally. I was originally hoping to have this done sooner, and even after it was finished a couple days ago, there was more of a delay on getting it uploaded than last time. Unfortunately, I think this one might be one of the weaker episodes since despite this one taking longer to come out, I was putting myself under the gun to get this one out as fast as possible. Thus, some lines that maybe should have had retakes I left as they are. I think the writing is more or less on par though. In other news, the subtitle page has been repaired, though I'm still horrendously behind on reviewing and uploading all the volunteer submitted subtitles. It will still be a while before they're all up I'm afraid, just be aware that I haven't forgotten about them. Also check back in a day or two for more news.

I'm letting people know the next FM episode is going to be a little delayed. I've had sort of a perfect storm of things go wrong. First, Otto, the audio editor that assists me, had his hard drive completely fail on him, so he was unable to help on this episode, which adds to the time for me to do it myself. Second, my system got hit by some sort of virus that hosed my whole OS. I spent most of this weekend just trying to fix it. I didn't lose any important files, but I still have a ton of software I need to reinstall, so I'm trying to catch up. For those that are interested, I've had this sort of thing happen before using AVG as a virus scanner, this time I was using Avast. Since it failed me, I'm going to try out Antivir this time, which is supposedly one of the better antivirus programs out there. This is actually an extremely rare occurrence for me, I can count on one hand the number of times a virus has taken down my OS before. Anyway, I'll get the next FM episode done as soon as I can, then I hope to catch up on some of the subtitles after that.

Just a quick note to let users of the "Google Reader" know that I have added an "Autodiscovery" link in an attempt to satisfy this application. There were reports that this particular reader was not working with the feed, and anonymous users suggested that this addition would solve the problem. If you have "Google Reader" please test the feed and provide any feedback as comments to this post. As I don't have this reader, please be as descriptive as possible, not just 'It don't work'. Also, any users that wish to be credited for providing useful suggestions to the site should take the time to register, at which point you will be mentioned by login name. Curently the suggestion for the "Autodiscovery" addition is credited to "Anonymous" - I guess you know who you are.

A new Freeman's Mind episode is up + RSS has been added to the new site, so now you guys have less of an excuse to keep coming here. Here some links: new episode RSS stuff

Machinima.com streaming 640x480 WMV (99MB) Well here's the latest episode, this is a longer one, I can almost guarantee the next one will be shorter though. To everyone who's sent me subtitles, I'm outrageously behind on that (in some cases weeks), but I haven't forgotten about any of them. I constantly end up in a situation where I feel like by working on one thing I'm neglecting something else. Lately I've mainly been concentrating on making more videos than email. Hopefully some day I'll catch up to everything.

I have activated an RSS 2.0 Feed for the site today. It's basically tracking the news posts, sending the full news text and links to the posts. I don't know anything about what the previous 'Blogspot' page was doing, so feel free to give an opinion on whether the feed should give an abbreviated description, or any other comment concerning reading content with whatever news readers you have. If you have an opinion concerning RSS 2.0 vs 1.0 or Atom, we can entertain those as well. I tested the feed with Firefox 'Live Bookmarks' and IE 8's news feed reader, and it seems to work well.

Well here's the interview link for those that are interested: http://www.podcast17.com/transmissions/c15257 I was able to grab Craig (the voice of Dave) and Ryan (one of the animators who's been with the show a while) at the last minute to come on the show as well. Unfortunately I was kind of low on sleep at the time, so I remember it as kind of a disjointed dream sequence. There are multiple spots where I completely lost my train of thought and topics bounced around all over the place, but the hosts tried their best to keep it in line I think. So sorry if I sound like I'm drugged when you listen to it. Also my internet connection can be rather horrid, it disconnected me entirely at least 3 times during the interview. In other news, I'm working on the next Freeman's Mind, though I confess I simply took some free time this weekend where I wasn't working on anything, something I haven't done in a very long time. As a result, I'm behind on everything, but I'll keep working on things.