Ross Scott

I already use pr-My scratch disk has already been pointing to the SSD, my GPU is overkill for Premiere, the previews aren't the problem, it's the streaming of the sheer amount of data. For example, the last episode was around 330GB uncompressed to open in Premiere. It loads completely fine off the SSD, but then I don't have a lot of extra room for additional capturing with that, it's a real juggling act. I don't know anything about speedgrade, I'm not sure that exists in CS5. Literally the opposite. I use RGB (as do computer monitors), Youtube uses YUV and maybe does something in ADDITION to that. Yes, this is right. I have two basic goals here: 1. Keep the filesize down as much as possible in recording / editing without losing image quality. 2. Get the end color on Youtube to look as close as possible to look like what it looks like on my screen when I play the game. This may involve artificially modifying the colors in a bizarre way to overcompensate for what Youtube is doinf. That was my favorite part in editing also. Sometimes the way I envision something isn't always how it turns out, but that's one instance where it was exactly as I wanted it. As for zombies, the "empowerment" games you're describing generally aren't my favorite, although they probably do appeal to a lot of people. I'm not the biggest fan of Left 4 Dead for example, which I feel like appeals to more the type you're describing. I plan for the next RGD to be much lighter in tone and almost no violence. I kind of like to cycle the variety in the episodes, I didn't really mean to have Revenant and The Last Stand back to back, it just turned out that way. Man, don't feel any guilt about that, I'm still sustaining myself from the previous donation money and I agree with your parents view on not having to donate to people with more money than them, it doesn't make any sense. Right now my income is hovering right around what someone would earn working full time minimum-wage, but I don't have to support 3+ people either. I never want people to send me money who are worse off than I am, I take a utilitarian view on most things.

Believe me when I say I don't mean this in a rude way whatsoever, but a lot of what you're saying either isn't applicable or else is wrong and it requires an explanation of two or more things to explain why. To give an analogy, it's like trying to get help with fixing the brake pads on a car and getting advice about anti-freeze to pour in the gas tank. The part about Vegas being iffy with Lagarith is helpful information though, thanks. That means it's on similar footing as Premiere.

To everyone: I've seen all the horrors mentioned on this page I don't know, for me The Thing just blows away everything else by him, although Big Trouble In Little China is very good in an entirely different way. I watched Escape from LA again after I left LA in 2009. My favorite line from it is "this fucking city can kill anybody!"

It doesn't look like they list obvious solutions, but in the first thread it looks like somebody may have correctly identified the problem, I could maybe experiment to see if I can do anything with this data, thanks.

I did some color comparison tests and here's my issue with doing it the way most people do it: Videogame footage is in RGB. Recording in YUV12 leads to a small amount of color loss. Uploading it to Youtube leads to an ADDITIONAL small amount of color loss. By keep it in RGB until compression and uploading, I did some tests and the color still comes out better preserving it farther in the chain. Now granted it's not an enormous difference or it could just be with how I do it. Also he mentions Dxtory, but Dxtory has a big flaw in that its framerate is absolutely horrendous for any game using true antialiasing (not FXAA, SMAA, etc.). I use Dxtory whenever I can, but games with AA it's just not a good option for.

I use Virtualdub a lot, but it's not really a fully functoning editor (although the first episode of Civil Protection was made entirely using it!) I've been doing this, but it has a couple problems: 1. This method ends up being a pain for 2D graphics that need careful line-ups 2. For uncompressed RGB video, I had about 2TB of uncompressed video this time spanned across two hard drives. It makes it worse that Premiere CS5 has this annoyance where it takes WAY longer to load a video that has sound muxed into it to generate "peak files." 3. What compression is compatible with video editors? That would solve my first problem at least of keeping the resolution the same, just with lossy compression for the proxies. Number of episodes doesn't make a huge difference so much as the total length. Two 5 minute episodes isn't much more time than 1 ten minute one. This would cause the red or yellow screen you saw in the video.

Happy Halloween! Here's another video that took WAY more time than I intended it to! I selected this game because I thought it would go faster than a normal full length game, but things kind of spiraled out of control, as you'll see in the video. Some of you may be disappointed I'm covering a flash game for Halloween, but I've been wanting to cover some (and newer ones for that matter) on the Game Dungeon, I just hadn't gotten around to it. I promise I gave it a full treatment for this episode, with some additional surprises. I hope to have a "real" game next year with hopefully more videos leading up to Halloween. Special thanks on this episode goes to Adam Shepard, who emailed me while I was working on the video, offering to assist with some additional music. He had a very fast turnaround time despite me being a fickle bastard about the music as I tried to figure it out in the middle of deadline pressure. You can hear his music for the "safe room" music and for the in-game ending. I didn't mention the music in this episode since it was long enough already and it was either absent or unremarkable for this game. I've gotten multiple offers of music help in the past, but lately I've been overwhelmed by sorting out my email, so for any other composers wishing to help, Adam had the luck of covenience. In the future I'm happy for more music offers for Ross's Game Dungeon, but it may be a while before I can sort through everything. Without spoiling much, I really mean what I say in the video when it comes to being able to relate to this game. I also want to say thanks again to everyone who donated, especially helping with the SSD. I can only imagine how much data I've written to it since I bought it, I've been giving it an absolute workout with all the video recording and processing. This episode alone I'm sure involved a few terabytes of writing at one phase or another. * * * TECHNICAL QUESTION FOR TECHNICAL PEOPLE To any experienced video editors out there, I have a couple questions: 1. Are there any video editors that support WORKING with lossless compression, like HuffyUV or Lagarith? Having everything uncompressed really leads to massive file sizes, it makes me wonder how other people handle it. I use Adobe Premiere CS5 and while it will open those codecs, it is unstable and unreliable when using them. 2. Are there are any "tricks" with the colorspace to get Youtube to preserve more of the color when moving from RGB to YUV or whatever the hell Youtube uses? I preserve the colorspace as long as I can from recording and editing, but it gets lost in compression slightly more than I'd prefer and was trying to see if there better ways of handling it. * * * This is going to be last Game Dungeon until at least December, and I'm not promising anything then. All I plan to be working on from here until the end of the year is more Freeman's Mind. It's going to be an endurance test however, as I'm also moving in less than a week. I don't know if I'll have internet right away, but I intend to get a recording room set up ASAP so I can resume work with only a couple days downtime from the move. Finally, I was going to include a joke about Candy Corn Oreo cookies, but found out at the last minute that South Park had also, so I decided to scrap it. This isn't the first time this has happened. I also had an idea for a Civil Protection episode involving Cthulhu and an offshore oil rig that they also beat me on. - - - ADHD version: Happy Halloween! More Freeman's Mind coming! LINK TO FORUM COMMENTS

Yeah I'm not a huge fan of gross out horror like that, I prefer scary situations by far. As for why, I think in my mind it's kind of the same sense you get of exploration of the unknown, except that in horror, you know that what you're "exploring" via a game or movie is more hardcore and there's something with some teeth out there, heightening the experience. Yeah I've seen that one. I remember it being rather dull overall, but the ending is very good. This is one of those movies that falls under the category of "this really only needs to be 30-45 minutes, but we're going to drag it out to a full-length movie instead" for me.

Yeah it was weird, the other guy on the podcast was sort of talking like horror began in the 80s, they didn't really discuss the earlier horror, I was just going with the direction he wanted to take the podcast. For me personally, I feel like horror didn't start to get actually scary by modern standards until the late 50s or early 60s. Psycho was definitely a landmark film in that regard. I might have missed that one actually, I can look into it. I've seen all the ones mentioned except the Asian ones, I've never really gotten into the Japanese or Korean horrors that much. It might just be a different presentation style, I don't know. My favorite of those mentioned would be Session 9 and REC. And yes, I've seen The Mist and Candyman.

Yeah I've seen Martyrs, Man Bites Dog, and The Devil's Rejects. Martyrs is more the "torture horror" which isn't really my favorite type, though the ending helps make up for it. Man Bites Dog is an intense movie since it tries to be extremely realistic to the point where it's very disturbing. I remember my favorite scene being when they run into the other film crew. The Devil's Rejects is good, but I honestly liked House of 1000 Corpses a little better, although even that was a mixed bag. In general I thought the comic moments of House of 1000 Corpses were terrific, with the horror elements just feeling random more than anything else. My favorite parts by far were anything involving Captain Spaulding. I absolutely love the opening scene to 1000 Corpses, it's too bad it didn't maintain the level the whole way through.

Daniel: I've seen all of those, but thanks for the suggestions! McFirson: I actually haven't seen that one, I can definitely check it out. Regarding satire, "Behind The Mask" falls in that vein.

Hey everyone, I was invited back to a podcast recently to talk about horror movies since I'm an avid horror fan. You can check out the discussion here: 8-bit life Halloween Podcast This actually went online just before the latest Freeman's Mind, so I held off a few days announcing it so it wouldn't be buried immediately. This podcast isn't really an interview, but is more talking about one horror movie after another, there ended up being a lot of title dropping in the thread. If you're not into scary movies, you may not get much out of this podcast, but if you are, it's an extra bonus. At the end of the podcast I ask the audience if they have any recommendations for any scary movies they've seen, specifically the truly terrifying stuff. That offer extends here also, although odds are anything you recommend I've already seen. It's questionable how much time I'll have to watch any this year, but I'm happy to add to my "to watch" list if people have recommendations for some really scary stuff. LINK TO FORUM COMMENTS

Okay this goes back to the "multiple breakthroughs" line again. I considered that maybe it only detects motion on a certain level, but what level? At the cellular level, who knows fast your cells are moving? Hell I think sneezes are at 100mph. Nerve connections and the brain in general must move pretty damn fast as well. I guess the thing is I don't see how you would cancel one type of momentum, but not the other; additionally I don't see how there would be technology to DISTINGUISH the two or even DETECT the difference in the first place. I really tried to think this one out and I couldn't come up with any scenario where momentum is cancelled AND you come out alive on the other end short of having some positional tracking and computational system way, way beyond anything we could dream about. Let us not forget, Black Mesa still uses giant tape reels on their computers.

Well the irony is you "save" it in HL1 then in HL2 the Earth is still screwed. It's really not until Episode 2 that there's any hint that you're not involved in a futile battle.

No, that's as it appears in-game. I didn't! Maybe it seems shorter because I went up there and started talking to the scientist instead of standing around. The only other thing I can think of is Half-Life Source shortens it compared to Half-Life original. If you guys want to be scientific about this, how about somebody load up Half-Life and clock it? I didn't modify the timing in this episode except small adjustments during the level loads (which occurs before you even enter the chamber), so you can use my video as a benchmark for HL:Source. Oh I can talk about Machinima, just that there's a few small things I can't discuss. All the huge stuff is public anyway. As for Blip, I made a post on it a while back, but my timing couldn't have been worse essentially. I joined blip.tv JUST before Maker Studios came in and bought them out, since then, the income from them fell dramatically. I'm not removing the old links, but it's simply not worth it compared to Youtube now.

Yeah, it took me 3 weeks to get a serviceable version of that line from Robin. There was one other take, but there simply wasn't enough force behind his voice for it to fit in with everything. In my opinion, it wouldn't have fit in well at all with everything else that was happening.

Alright this is the last I hope to say on the matter, but I really think you're giving the narration far more credit than it deserves: They're giving minimal reference, which doesn't result in clear communication. That's like me saying "The model will go to the limits, but you have to watch out for overheating." Yes, it gives vague instructions, but what model? What limits? What causes the overheating? Their entire briefing is like this. They never explicitly say this. Seriously, go and listen to it. Give me the exact quote where they say this. They don't. Here's what they do say: -They collected specimens from the border world. -They suspect there is an immense portal over THERE, created by a being -I must kill it -I OWE THEM NOTHING, suggesting I have options -I should gear up -here is a long jump module for the world of ZEN. Yes, "Zen", seeing as how you're never given any context whatsoever to this name prior in the game and phonetically that's the only known word in English with this name. This is one of the best examples of poor communication and only reinforces Freeman's perception that the scientists don't fully know what they're talking about. He may as well have told him these weapons enhance his chi and the teleporter will modify his personal feng shui. -There is someone waiting at the portal CONTROLS, suggesting you know, control. Again, Half-Life is all about vague descriptions and withholding details. I really think you're looking at the game with many assumptions you have now instead of a blank slate. The game really doesn't fill in the gaps like you imply it does. No, see that's just it, you're assuming more than they said. It says there is a portal OVER THERE control. It says they have a portal CONTROLS. It does imply people have been sent there. It never says that's the ONLY destination and the fact that there are portals around Black Mesa is proof Freeman has seen that they can teleport on Earth as well. They've been spilling out the entire game with no portals active. How do you know that's not cross interference? Except a gung-ho guard with weapons training and extra suits lying around and a scientist willing to use a shotgun. "You owe us nothing", again, one interpretation is they respect his decision to just leave. They never said this, they said they were COLLECTED. You're assuming things again. The thing is, your assumptions are correct, but you have the benefit of having played the game and been able to read about more the context after the fact. I'm operating on JUST what the game tells you, and it's highly interpretive. You can disagree, but I've already established multiple things you're ASSUMING and are not explicitly stated. If you don't explain something CLEARLY to someone, you can't expect good communication. You think it's unrealistic, I'm showing that the game is saying a lot less than you think it does, you're connecting more dots with the benefit of knowing the story after the fact. I rest my case.

"Of course, you owe us nothing." Freeman sees this as a way out of Black Mesa, which he's been trying to do this entire time. The scientist's talk sounds like the middle of a discussion he's not up to speed on and I wanted to allocate more time to explaining that he's not the person they're looking for. Since he seems to be the dominant personality, he's hoping he can just get them to send him on his way instead. It would be like if you wandered into the investor meeting for General Motors. You're not sure what's going on, but you'll be happy to get a ride home from someone. I mean the real reason of course is the game gives me no other option, this is why I prefer being able to do more original videos rather than have to shoehorn in explanations. As for your analysis below, you're looking into it too much. It reminds me a quote I heard from a cop before: "Lawyers have weeks to go over decisions we have seconds to make."

No, this can be explained by NOT EXPLAINING THIS ANYWHERE IN THE GAME. Freeman hasn't had ANY briefing on this, the Lambda labs were outside his security clearance. While I gloss over it for the sake of the series, Freeman would be extremely weak at this point having exhausted adrenaline, doing strenuous physical activity, and barely having any food for two days. He's not qualified for this at all aside from being a tenacious survivor. While he doesn't have faith in the military or the Black Mesa staff, I don't think I've suggested Freeman considers the entire globe to be incompetent. Freeman has no evidence this isn't a localized event confined to Black Mesa aside from one scientist saying otherwise. Keep in mind, these scientists also claimed they had to "seal off" the area when aliens were clearly teleporting inside. Freeman doesn't trust these people, but he's hoping they can teleport him AWAY FROM BLACK MESA since all hell has been broken loose, he suspects it could get nuked, and he's still lost and hungry. Even if they are telling the truth, he's in no condition to handle this and figures there would be better people for the job. I mean everybody's commenting on how selfish he is, but in this scenario, they're asking an awful lot and not telling him much at all. You'll hear some more on this topic in the next episode, I didn't work in everything I meant to say on it in this one anyway. Anyway, you can't really take a game like Half-Life too seriously, it doesn't hold up to serious scrutiny, Valve masks most of this with a lack of information. The game is so outrageously sparse on details, that's the very reason a character like Freeman can even exist, they've left so much open.

It was definitely a survival thing, he sees the scientist cocking his shotgun, pointing it right at Freeman, my first instinct would be to get the hell out of his line of sight too! Oh I think Freeman would care about that, he just doesn't see that as HIS responsibility. I mean Freeman isn't TRAINED as a fighter, he's just paranoid, lucky, and in an impenetrable suit. I plan on talking a little more about this in 62.

Well that goes back to the teleporter clone question again huh?

If I had allocated a little more time when recording I would have talked more about this (I may come back to it in the next episode), but the bottom line is they sort of thrust this information on you with no context at all. Besides for self preservation, who the hell says HE has to be the one to go in there and stop it? There are plenty more qualified people on Earth to handle it, plus it's assuming they know everything that's happening globally. The way I see it Freeman would rather take his chance on Earth than trust these clowns to teleport him to another part of the galaxy. This comes back down to Half-Life's story presentation, they give you the absolute bare minimum and you're just supposed to go along with it. I think a lot of people remember details that are plugged in later from HL2 or online supplements, when the game gives you almost nothing and you only have one option anyway. As for the teleportation rant, not every line is meant to be a laugh out loud event, there's always a bunch of space to fill and I try to mix it up with thoughts that might be interesting to follow.

I never planned on doing that because I thought it was too predictable and didn't add to the humor too much. My original plan was to have him say something crazier like "gimme some tacos!" or "rubber jump pants!" But the timing for him ended up being too short because of everything going on in the scene. It got drowned out a bit by everything else going on, but there wasn't any good way to make it more audible without making it sound like he was standing right next to Freeman.