JOURNAL: Arigatomina

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  • my bad 2005-10-29 22:48:23 I had to completely erase my computer to get my broadband working, right? Well, that meant I had to completely restore my amv-making programs, settings, etc. I had a backup so I could watch vids and use my preferred editing program, and I had everything ready to reinstall my avisynth/dvd2avi/vdub/etc programs. But I decided - since everything's gone, I should go ahead and try out the new guide again. Who would have thought starting from scratch would be so much easier than starting with hard-learned knowledge? It's not that I understand the guides better, it's that what they say is actually true now. Before, they'd say "you'll see this, which means that, which is important because of this, which you can see when you do this" - and I'd sit there for an hour wondering which thing they're referring to is the reason I'm not seeing any of the things I'm supposed to be seeing. Since everything is tied together, it's hard to figure out where the problem is. I mean, when I see nothing at all, I can't pinpoint the problem causing the entire 'system of instructions' to fail, let alone try to fix the problem.

    All I can assume is that the old programs I'd installed - many of which were connected in...inappropriate ways because I couldn't get the old guide to work the way it was written. I guess I 'jury-rigged' the programs they said to download so they would do an approximation of the things the guide said they would do. It was trial and error and hell if I could ever explain why inappropriate things worked when the guide's instructions didn't. They simply worked - remove a plugin and put it in a different folder so the program would register it, because it sure wasn't reading it 'automatically' like the guides said it would - delete other plugins because the programs were defaulting to them instead of going where the guides said they'd naturally go (this was definitely trial and error, involving deleting and replacing files one by one till the program worked). Messy things that shouldn't have worked - done because what *should* have worked wasn't working. Yeah, my computer was one tangled mess by the time I got it set up so I could rip dvds and use inverse telecine without having to think twice about it.

    It's my fault the new guide did nothing for me - because the programs WOULD NOT WORK as the guides said they would. They wouldn't work because my computer was so twisted they couldn't. And I - not being able to identify the specific problem - assumed it was my own fault for not understanding the guides well enough to follow the instructions properly. With a clean comp, I don't have any of those brain-squeezing hangups. I still wish I could skip 80% of what they're telling me (especially the crap about premiere plugins, which really shouldn't have to be installed - I had to dump the files in a crap folder because I don't use the program and there was no way to refuse that installation in the new amvapp package). But now I am able to follow the instructions and do most of the things I have to do to get to the instructions on things I *want* to do. I can honestly say, when the programs work like the guides say they do, the guides suddenly become a lot easier to follow.

    Now, I still find it as incomprehensible as I did the first one - far too much information hiding the important *must know* sentences. Bad organization for a layman who wants to learn to add before you teach her how to find convergence without relying on a limit that may or may not exist. Basics first - things to install, the steps to take for making a very simple trial run so he can use his hands to see how things work with these new programs. Once that's down, you can advance to a more complicated trial that involves difficult to identify variables, and how they change the steps that are taken. Theory comes after you master the basics. I already know the basics, and I still find myself forced to skim ahead to make sure those 'basics' haven't changed with the updated programs.

    Overall, I feel guilty for griping about the new guide - it does work on a new computer, and I absolutely love VirtualDubMod in comparison to the old vdub I was using.

    I'm still stubbornly sticking to my view of the organization as horrible for beginners. I don't want to read that the guide won't "tell you how to do this yet." Instead of lumping all the types of interlacing together, and then referring back to that page later on when you teach what to do with each type, try putting the type next to the instructions on how to *use* that type. Ex: Identify what type of footage it is - if it looks like this, it's clearly interlaced throughout, the field order is 1, and you use this script to deal with it. If it looks like that, you use that script to deal with it. Having all the variables together, then all the steps together, you make the reader do a lot of looking back. First variable - first step to deal with it, second variable - second step to deal with it, etc. You don't learn all the theories first, and then how to apply them all. You do it one theory (situation) at a time - problem plus solution, problem #2 plus solution #2. A person can only comprehend so much at a time and keep the information fresh - if he doesn't apply that before moving onto the next subject, he's going to get overwhelmed and confused. Not to mention frustrated. At least, that's my take on it.

    Conclusion = the guides are great sources of info, the programs actually work for me now, and the instructions and lectures still give me one very nasty headache and an urge to copy and paste sections onto msword so the parts I need to know are all together in sequential order for easy reference. I'll probably do the latter the next time I'm bored. It's sure to be more fun than alphabetizing my dvds. ;p 
  • Tactics and vid stats 2005-10-27 05:41:13 Maybe it's the convenience of quick comments, but "Too Much Anime" has been getting a lot of responses lately. I know it gets lots of hits since it shows up on over 100 anime searches, having so many titles. And I haven't really been watching the download stats since it's an older vid that wasn't liked to begin with. But I can't help thinking there's a reason it's getting responses now, in the last month, after being quiet and seemingly unwatched for months. It's not just quick comments, either, but actual reviews. And here I'm wondering what changed to make these people notice it. It's no better than it was when I first released it, none of the anime used in it are any more popular than they were when I made it, and I haven't done anything that would direct attention to it. If it were summer time, I might think it's just an increase in people with time to download random videos - and since it shows on so many searches, it has a high probability of being downloaded. I know Phade had the vid listed as one he showed at some convention a while back (I denounce any responsibility for this - I have never and would never submit this particular video to a convention). But even that didn't cause any sudden reviews or stars. So I'm stumped to find a reason people are watching this video. It bothers me because I've had the same thing happen with stories - I like to know what's causing people to take notice, whether they like what they're noticing or not.

    With fics, I can usually identify the cause by brainstorming and doing some searches. Take "Sanctuary" for example. A few months ago that fic got a rush of new readers, despite the fact that I hadn't updated it in over a year. I looked around and found a forum had linked the story, so the regulars there had spread the word and caused the sudden rush of "update or die" responses. More recently, the same fic got another rush of reviewers and is still getting them. This newer increase is due to the FF7 Advent Children movie - people remember how much they like the show and go searching for fics, landing on older ones as well as newer ones. It's possible another forum or website has linked to the fic as well, but I don't need to search because the renewed interest in FF7 explains the sudden attention the fic is getting. Since I know why people are reading it again, it doesn't bother me that they're looking at something old instead of my newer fics.

    I can't find a simple explanation for vids the way I can for fics. Searching just doesn't work. And it's doubly disturbing because I read in the forum that multi-anime vids were a thing of the past unless they were pure humor. "Too Much Anime" doesn't even have the fanservice aspect that "Ego Trip" has, and most of the anime used are very old and unknown. The song isn't known, either, and was mostly unliked by the people who reviewed it when I first announced the vid on the forum. And there still isn't a "search for multi-anime" option in the vid search. So why is that vid getting attention? I may need to keep an eye on the stats for my older vids to see which ones are getting new downloads. With the complaints about unpopular vids taking up precious bandwidth, there's no reason for something so old being downloaded as if it were new again. Romance vids are one thing - I consider those eternal so long as the fans of the pairings are still around. Random multi-anime non-comedy vids shouldn't be noticed anew - they should fade into the background and exist purely for reference. I admit, I've been watching TMA since the new feedback started, and I *still* find it very addictive to watch. But I wouldn't have thought twice about it if people hadn't suddenly started responding to it. That's probably why it really bothers me - I'm watching it again and remembering how much I liked editing to fit the song. I want to do a new vid to that song. >.<

    Tactics! ;p

    I'm in love with this anime. I sort of hope it stops at episode 25, just because it looks like it will have an angsty ending if it's continued. But either way, the characters are endearing, it's beautifully animated, and the bishonen content is way up there. It doesn't hurt that the relationship of the main characters is practically canon shonen ai. Pretty, pretty... ^__^ Black-winged bishonen plus pretty white-haired magic user equals my favorite sort of visual pairing. The characterizations work, too, but I'm a shallow fangirl who notices the looks first, personalities second. ;p 
  • o.O 2005-10-20 02:57:59 I feel like I'm bipolar. Just glancing over my journals, I have a written archive of ups and downs, often down to shifting every few minutes even as I'm writing an entry. I already know I have ADD, but I'm also flighty as hell when it comes to emotional states. I tend to top on the positive side because I've made it my life goal to do anything that will keep me buzzing in a 'more things to be happy about than not' mood. But in writing it's a roller coaster. I've gotten that response to fics before - that I mix jokes in with otherwise depressing/angsty scenes. Macabre, I think she called it. I need to do more research on this bi-polar thing. I had a roommate who was diagnosed in college, so I thought it only referred to people who have sudden shifts that last for a significant period of time. Mine last only until I find new stimulus to toss me up or down. Maybe it's a combination of short attention span and extreme mood shifts - makes them faster and of shorter duration, and it doesn't take much to tip me one way or the other.

    /computer stuff

    I've got broadband and a fresh new external harddrive with lots of space. All my programs are bug-free again, and I'm seriously considering shifting editors. With this much space available, I could edit without ripping huffyuv clips. It's still not practical to try doing that with wmm (I know it's *possible* but it's not practical with the memory usage). But I've seen some good deals for other programs. Maybe I'll download some of those free trials. With my comp refreshed, no vids on the table, and no imminent deadlines, I'd actually have time to drive myself nuts trying to figure out a new editing program. One thing's for sure, if I try getting Premiere again, I'll have to ask someone for help. I detest personal incompetence more than I do asking for assistence (personal uselessness), so it's a lesser of two evils. I do want to have something for multi-track video and panning. A little experimentation with new programs on a fresh comp should give me more options.  
  • blegh 2005-10-19 01:55:40 I have broadband, but I can't use it. I purchased a wireless chip to try out instead of the external usb (which was buggy as hell and locked up my comp after being installed for an hour, requiring me to restore and reinstall it - before it locked up again an hour later), but the technician didn't install it and I didn't realize it until I'd got the computer home (he wasn't at Radio shack and the woman made me pay before she'd let me pick up my computer - damn good thing I have my receipt showing I paid for something they not only didn't give me, but didn't install and didn't tell me it hadn't been installed yet). Now I have to bring my comp back tomorrow morning. I'm getting a 250 gig external harddrive that will make editing a thousand times easier. But the first thing I'll use it for is to backup my entire computer so I can do a complete system recovery, which will make me start from scratch with all of my editing programs (meaning I'll have to get windows xp 'service pack 2' and the new wmm 2.1 since the upgrade to 2.0 is no longer available). I'm in the first stages of what is going to be one hell of a nasty cold, and I can't afford to miss any work, so it'll be a miserable two weeks while it gets worse before going away (I've had this exact 'cold' before, usually twice a year, so I know the symptoms really well - I'm in the 'can't take a deep breath without coughing till my throat feels like it's bleeding and raw' stage, which comes 8 hrs before the 'drowning in phlem and can't breathe without coughing up everything I've eaten in the last day' stage). 
  • broadband 2005-10-17 19:51:23 Oh my god. I was sitting here thinking, it only says it's connected 56 per second - my dial-up connected to 56 per second. Then I tried downloading a vid and realized, wow, I'm an idiot. It's 56 MB per second. Big difference. Jeeze, this is like going from writing everything by hand to having my own computer. >.<

    It's definitely worth the insane headache I had trying to get it running - never use the installation cd when you can just follow simplified instructions online and avoid all the lock-ups... ;p 
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