Alias_sqbr Recs For Mac
When I first started vidding, I looked around for guides and found several really great ones. However, they were aimed at people who were, shall we say, less technologically challenged than I was. I've made two-and-a-half vids since then, and while I don't pretend to be an expert at vidding yet, I have managed to answer some of my first-time gumby questions through trial and error; so I thought I'd put together a very basic guide that includes those hard-won facts. I'm also going to list the software I use, which is mostly freeware, shareware or cheapware for the PC. Warning: Make sure you have good anti-virus software installed before you start downloading stuff off the web. It should protect you from malware and spyware as well as the usual viruses, trojans, worms etc. I make no guarantees that the software I'm reccing here is 100% safe; although obviously, I've scanned it and it's working fine on my computer.
The Basics. A video editor. A video clipper.
A video reformatting tool Video Editors The Video Editor is the application which allows you to put the soundtrack together with the visuals and add effects. I use Windows MovieMaker, which is great to learn on as it's very very simple and free with recent PCs. However, there are a few tricks to using it, and also some limitations which will start to bug you by the time you've finished your first vid. The tricks:. On the version of Movie Maker that I have, you can only import Widows Media files (wmv), which means you have to covert your avi source material before you can use it. It's much easier to use files if you split them before you import them into MovieMaker, which I'll describe below.
Save a new version every time you start a new editing session - that way you can revert any changes easily. Use 'blank' stills that you've created in a Paint package as space fillers to help you get the timing right. I just have a plain black square that I insert and stretch along the video timeline as needed. I also use it at the beginning of the vid, so that there's a couple of beats of 'dead' air before the song starts. This means that when you export the vid, the first few seconds of song don't get chopped off in the export process.
The limitations:. There's only one video and one audio track, which means your options are very limited in terms of fancy effects. You also can't lock your clips into place, which is hugely annoying, as it means getting timing right is a real bitch, and an edit in one place mucks up the whole rest of the following timeline. Alternate software options: Once you've tried out MovieMaker and decided that, yes, you like vidding and want to buy a real editor, there are several good options. Here's a run down of their features and prices:. Video Clippers You need a Video Clipper so that you can sample short bits of footage that you want to use in your vid. The best way to do this is to watch the footage in a player (like VLC Media Player), and note the start and end times of the segments you want.
Then go into a video clipping application, mark those bits, and let it chop them up for you. Looking for a good mmo/rpg for mac. You then import the chopped up segments into your Video Editor. I had real trouble finding a freeware clipper that didn't have lots of hidden catches - like giving your stats and email to sales collection sites or spyware.
Be very wary of that. I'm currently using:, which also has instructions on free registration (which may or may not be dodgy), at. Easy Video Splitter works fine.
It doesn't have quite the fineness of control that I'd like, but it has some nice features and it's good enough to get you usable clips, which you can then adjust within the Video Editor. If you know of a better splitter, please let me know in comments. ETA: recommends the clipper, which now that I think about it, I've read other recommendations for too. I can't remember why I didn't use this one myself.
I plan to investigate. ETA 2: reports that there might be a trojan in the version of VirtualDubMod ze downloaded (alternatively, it might be the virus scanner being too vigorous).
Take extra care if you download it yourselves. Video Reformatting Software With Windows MovieMaker, you must import Windows Media files (wmv), or the application will automatically quit.
That means, once you've clipped your avi file into usable bits, you need to convert the bits into the right format. Again, I had trouble finding a good free application, but I'm currently using, and I'm very happy with it. It's easy to use, intuitive and has lots of different conversion formats available. But again, if you know of good alternatives, please let me know. Once you have a Video Editor, and can cut up clips and convert file formats, there are a few extra bits and pieces it's useful to have so that you can add snazzy stuff to your songvid.
The Beginner's Toolkit of Extras. A paint program. An audio recording program. A video player. A video hosting service Paint Programs This is absolutely invaluable for making manipulations, title cards, and also simple effects. For instance, you can take a colour still shot, manip it to crop out something you don't want (or put something in you do), and then give it several effects - black and white, sepia, super-saturated colour, objects in some versions and not others, etc.
Because these different stills can then be 'played' in sequence within the Video Editor, you get the illusion that things are appearing or disappearing, or the colours are changing. I've used this to do stuff like fade in from a black and white still to the same visual in colour - it adds some interest and movement to your vid in areas that are often static, like the credits. I've also manipped the Atlantis patch onto a jacket, and moved people from indoors into an outdoor setting, stuff like that. Stills can also be useful in terms of timing parts of your vid - sometimes with a simple editor like MovieMaker, it's easier to get the effect you want by using sequential stills than trying to use short moving clips. I currently use, which is dead easy to use, and has quite a lot of effects tools; but I'm also trying out, which is more sophisticated - people compare it to Adobe Photoshop.
Audio Recorders The thing about transformative works is that it's not just the visuals that we can play with. We can also transform the audio tracks in several ways. MovieMaker only has a single audio track (not counting the audio track that's associated with the footage you use), so you need to do your song manipulation before you import it.
Alias_sqbr Recs For Mac
For instance, you can shorten a song, add a voice over, or add in audio effects (to give you an idea of the effects out there, here's a library: ). The best software for creating these kinds of multi-track soundtracks is. It's pretty much an industry standard for amateurs and educators, and it's free. You need to buy a headset with microphone in order to get decent sound quality in your voice recordings, and it takes a bit of practice to get good at the bells and whistles.
But you can hit the ground running and make something usable pretty much straight away. Video Players The need for a good Video Player is self-evident, yes? You need to test out your finished vid before you send it into the world, because it will look different in a player than it did in the Video Editor.
Plus, you need to watch source footage so you can choose your clips. What you're looking for is a player with good pause, slo-mo and fast forward features, plus an accurate clock.
My favourite is. It's reliable, versatile, plays everything, and is easy to download and install. It can also take screen captures, and a heap of other stuff. Video Hosting Once your epic is complete, you need a way to get it to people. This requires a video hosting service. The main contenders are the live streaming sites, and the download sites.
Usually vidders offer both, so that people can choose what works best for their bandwidth and/or personal collection preferences. I currently use, because it offers both streaming and downloading services, and, most importantly, the interface doesn't drive me crazy. Other popular services: Streaming:, Downloading:, Advanced Vidding Guide If you are really keen, you will also need stuff like video and audio rippers, and effects packages, but I haven't used those, so I'm not going to talk about them. If you're interested, a really good guide that goes into a lot of detail can be found here:.
You now know pretty much everything I do about vidding. If you have questions, suggestions or recommendations, please feel free to comment. I'm sure there's still heaps of useful things to learn. ETA: I should have said - I'm at Swancon all weekend. I'll answer questions when I get back home.
After some effort (it required a reinstall, me logging into the website, and then both of us logging in on both machines and doing the right settings) we got 'family sharing' working on Steam so I can play all of Cam's mac compatible games on my laptop. Thus, a collection of recs! All the plotty ones have happy endings unless otherwise stated. Analogue: A Hate Story A confronting and affecting visual novel untangling a tragedy. The 'white American explores sexism using Korean culture' premise is a bit unfortunate but it's very good for what it is. Also has two gxg endings.
Bastion Beautiful isometric action game about rebuilding and hope after apocalypse. Not fantastically suited to laptop play. Bejeweled 3 Untimed casual gem matching game. I prefer Bejeweled 2 but this is what I have. Bookworm Deluxe Untimed casual word finding game. Broken Age Beautiful and funny puzzle/adventure game, one of the two protagonists is a brown girl fighting against stuff.
Ends on a cliff hanger while we wait for the second half!. Cinders Beautiful and well written visual novel/dating sim retelling of Cinderella. Very heterosexual but gives the 'ugly' sisters and stepmother more complex characterisation. Crayon Physics Deluxe Flawed but interesting puzzle game where you draw objects to solve puzzles using physics (falling weights, pendulums, ramps etc) The physics engine is a bit frustrating but it's relatively easy to kludge your way through and I enjoyed playing around with it.
Dear Esther Beautiful and melancholy walk-around visual novel(.) about death and loss. Not a happy story but immersive and interesting. Escape Rosecliff Island Hidden object puzzle game. Haven't finished this yet but am enjoying it for mindless time wasting. Has a timer but you can turn it off. Gone Home Another walk-around visual novel, you play a woman who comes back from a trip and explores her empty family home figuring out what's been going on in everyone's lives.
Surprisingly affecting lgbt subplot. Detailed and immersive setting. Long Live the Queen Fiendishly difficult but fun raising sim, where you make choices for a new queen and try not to have her die (or at least hit all the death options). Has gxg options though I never made it that far. Magical Diary Super fun and surprisingly well written visual novel/dating sim/life sim where you play a new girl at not!Hogwarts. Has cute gxg options. Portal and Portal 2 Awesome portal based puzzle games, clever puzzles and really well written with a great dark sense of humour.
Female main character too. RealMyst: Masterpiece Edition Walk around version of the classic puzzle game (with a slideshow version if you prefer). Graphics are dated but the worlds are still very atmospheric and the puzzles are great. What little acting there is is bad since it's the developers but mostly you just walk around looking at stuff. RUSH A nice little puzzle game using directional arrows to direct streams of coloured cubes. I am not very good at it. SpaceChem Clever puzzle game where you have to create paths for atoms to follow so they become the right molecules.
More computer science than chemistry, gets into some pretty complicated finite state machines. The Stanley Parable Funny walk around visual novel where you can spite the narrator in lots of different ways and see what happens.
Worms Reloaded Stategy game where you try and blow up the other team with various cute weapons. Haven't played this in years but I remember enjoying it. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Ollld Bioware RPG. I found this too annoying to play on the laptop and then lost my save, but based on where I got up to it's pretty good.
Haven't really played but have been recced:. Papers Please You're an immigration clerk?. The Longest Journey Some sort of fantasy/scifi thing?. Torchlight Run of the mill isometric fantasy RPG. Haven't played a lot of this but have been recced it a lot and it was kind of fun. Trine Another fantasy RPG I have been recced, was ok based on a very short play.
Alias_sqbr Recs For Mac Os
Also I'd probably rec Halflife, Tomb Raider and Thomas was Alone were it not for the zombies and/or platform jumping. (.)I'm not sure what you call this genre. It's like a first person shooter (a couple started as FPS mods) in that you walk around a 3D landscape that renders in realtime, but the gameplay is like a visual novel or puzzle game in that you just walk around and click on stuff/make choices. If I have any other genre names wrong please let me know! I am an obsessive player of the action-RPG hack and slash genre: Diablo II and III (I started too late for the original), Torchlight I and II, Path of Exile. I play more of these sorts of games than any other genres put together. D2 is a very old game these days and I still play it regularly with a group of friends.
I like some of the more convenient mechanisms in Torchlight and the games that came after it, such as stacking consumables no clicking on gold, sending pets to town to sell junk for you, etc. The original Torchlight was cute and fun but never drew me in quite enough. Torchlight II (with multiplayer) appeals to me quite a lot. The character customisation is new to the genre and there's just enough to get me invested in the character without going Oblivion-style with masses of sliders. I love that T2 and D3 both let you choose your character's gender, rather than having only one gender model for each character; that means I can play as a woman who whacks things with a big sword instead of being limited to Staff Chick or Bow Chick. Path of Exile (free download, free to play, supported by microtransactions giving cosmetic effects rather than gameplay advantages, and made in New Zealand!) goes back to gender-locked classes in the traditional form - right down to having more male classes than female, and the starting female classes are Witch and Ranger, Staff and Bow Chicks again, ugh. It's a fascinating game with plenty of depth and an excellent mix of traditional and inventive mechanics.
Alias_sqbr Recs For Macbook
However I think I would need to forget all my in-depth knowledge of D2 mechanics in order to make brainspace to understand how to build a good PoE character. Path of Exile definitely has those gender issues you've mentioned, plus the.ginormous. passive skill network which can be more than a bit daunting when you first get into it. Plus it's online only, and the devs have deliberately made it a gold/coins free game, which is where it lost out for me. It's a bold and interesting move to force the game to have a barter system from the start, but I find it just an un-necessary complication and barrier to starting players.
Of course, YMMV. If you like the Diablo style of gameplay, you might want to give Marvel Heroes a try, especially if you are a Marvel Comics nerd like I have been all my life. It's surprisingly a whole lot of fun. The passive tree is enormous but.fabulously.
cool and ten years ago I would have put in the effort to learn how to get the best out of it. These days it seems a bit harder to pick up on things, or I don't have as much time to spend theorycrafting. But not to the point where I prefer the D3 system where all characters have the same skills and no decisions are irreversible; I like characters to develop and I like the game to be replayable in a different style. It's interesting how the developers try to handle cheating. In D2 they threw their hands in the air. D3 and PoE have more robust anti-cheating measures but that comes at the cost of online-only play, which sucks. The Torchlight developers allow offline play and encourage mod-making; if someone wants to modify the game so their character does three zillion damage from level 1, they're only cheating themselves of experiencing the content.
I really like that attitude! Other gamers in my circle have recommended Marvel Heroes too. It sounds like it could be amazing, and mediaeval fantasy settings aren't a requirement for me:). I know you loved Bastion as much as I did, are you aware of the fact that Supergiant Games have just released another game, very similar in the broad outlines, by the name of Transistor?.checks Steam.
Drat, it's currently PC only, by the looks of it. I hope they are planning on porting it to Mac as well. I was going to buy you a copy, because it is just as atmospheric, visually and musically gorgeous as Bastion is, only with more of a sorta art nouveau look and feel, for all that it's a very cyberpunk-y world.
And just like Bastion it throws you in the deep end of a plot, just after Everything Goes Wrong, and you have to piece things together as you go along, which is also something that isn't done nearly enough these days, IMO.