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Golden Battler posted:I think I can guess, but I figured I should ask just in case: does the 3-month rule apply to Sandcastle posts as well? Me and a buddy are recording The Last of Us and I just figured I'd check to see if getting my stuff sorted out sooner rather than later was a possibility. That question came up last year and from what I remember you can make a test post and get feedback for a game within the 3 month limit. And if it's a major relase like The Last of Us everyone will make sure you don't forget the date when the thread can go live. 
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Jul 3, 2013 11:20
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 11:56 |
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The FFIV thread's up as of a few hours ago. Even the self-described nitpicking helped quite a lot with hopefully making this even more readable, so thanks a bunch.
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Jul 3, 2013 11:27
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Golden Battler posted:I think I can guess, but I figured I should ask just in case: does the 3-month rule apply to Sandcastle posts as well? Me and a buddy are recording The Last of Us and I just figured I'd check to see if getting my stuff sorted out sooner rather than later was a possibility. You can, of course, but I question your intentions when the 3 month rule is up. Are you going to dump the whole LP in here and expect that to be kosher? I mean, what is there to gain from recording it this close to release when you have a whole 2 or 3 months to hone the LP? I can't see the benefit to recording the first update or two now and then hold on to them for 3 months when it's actually able to be posted rather than waiting until closer to the time to start producing the videos as needed for the thread. Then again, I don't know if there are other common ways people do LPs but if it's a new game I wanted to LP then I'd use the 3 months to actually build my knowledge base and make sure I have the game on lockdown before even considering hitting the record button.
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Jul 3, 2013 14:13
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Sundowner posted:You can, of course, but I question your intentions when the 3 month rule is up. Are you going to dump the whole LP in here and expect that to be kosher? I mean, what is there to gain from recording it this close to release when you have a whole 2 or 3 months to hone the LP? I can't see the benefit to recording the first update or two now and then hold on to them for 3 months when it's actually able to be posted rather than waiting until closer to the time to start producing the videos as needed for the thread. For some games, certain features are definitely better to record/edit well before you make the thread. For example, half the reason I abandoned Arkham City was because the character videos kept pushing my workflow off... and off... and off... But, overall, yeah, unless you've played through the game already, and noticed that you'll have to make extra content, or the game is super hard, and you want a small backlog to make sure updates don't go off schedule, you really don't need to put your test post in now. ...Oh, wait, there's also, if the game is considered atmospheric in some way, getting the endless arguments about what type of commentary/subtitling you should use out of the way. Although it's generally agreed in the Sandcastle that either being Bobbin Threadbare or subtitling is the way to go with such projects. But really, that's just quibbling, and mostly, unless there's stuff you know you need to prepare ahead of time, making a test post before the three month rule is just going to get your blood pressure up from the waiting.
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Jul 3, 2013 14:28
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Recording footage and commentary for an LP before the 3 months are up isn't an entirely new thing. ChipCheezum and SnarkCookie had half of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker done months in advance by the time they opened the thread, and Pokécapn and co basically recorded every console Sonic game since Sonic '06 on launch day. Video dumps are of course are bad way to go things, but that's why people who do record some/all of the game before the 3 months are up actually pace their updates. Just 'cuz you have the videos does't mean you have to post them ASAP, after all.
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Jul 3, 2013 14:30
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Sure I could understand recording gameplay in advanced but it was the choice to mention himself and his buddy. I don't know his circumstance (I'm not even trying to pry, either) but that sounded like they wanted to record what will become the final product, not necessarily just gameplay. Not to dictate how LPs should be recorded. If you have a thing down that works, then by all means. I just question the intention if you are recording and finalizing updates this far in advanced. EDIT: Oh and the other thing is I've found people who read threads always manage to impart some unheard of wisdom or bring up things that you may otherwise overlook in your updates so having all of the updates finalized and just posting them albeit paced out over weeks means that I can't tweak my commentary and videos as the thread goes (well I could, but with some rigmarole). I prefer to make updates as I follow the thread my self, so that I can keep it relevant. If it's a totally informative thing then it's less of a problem in that regard. With PW, Chip has proven himself already vastly knowledgeable about the MGS games and it's not always easy to schedule co-op sessions for every week so I feel that warranted recording a ton in advanced and even with that look how long and how many updates the LP had. TLoU doesn't seem like the kind of game that requires it but if Golden Battler's personal time and such is limited, then it might make sense to record in advanced. Sundowner fucked around with this message at 14:57 on Jul 3, 2013 |
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Jul 3, 2013 14:45
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Forsooth! Let's play Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume! Valkyrie Profile was a popular RPG developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix in 1999. After a sequel in 2006, a prequel to the first game, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume was released for the DS in 2008. It follows the journey of a young man, Wylfred, in his quest for revenge against the legendary Valkyrie, a few decades before the first game in the series. VP: CotP has many similar to its predecessor games, but uses a more isometric view similar to that of Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics. Combat is slightly more strategic (though not excessively so), and features a branching story which, while not very long, encourages repeat plays. Do I need to know about Valkyrie Profile or the sequel? Absolutely not! You can come into this game completely blind about the franchise (as I was when I first picked up the game). There are a few throwbacks to previous games, but overall it stands quite well on its own. Obviously, avoid spoilers about the game. The overall universe potrayed in the first two games can be discussed without too much worry, but I would refrain from talking about the Valkyrie cycle. Test Post ApplesandOranges fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 02:37
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The jpg artifacts are REALLY noticeable and distracting in your images, to the extent that I can't even tell if the resizing was done properly or not.
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Jul 4, 2013 02:46
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Yeah, not only should you probably be using PNGs anyway, but even if you were using JPEGs those would be pretty bad. Also, how did you resize/capture those? They should be 512x384, not 512x374.
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Jul 4, 2013 03:09
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Yeah, I re-took screenshots in PNGs and updated the test post in my earlier OP. Does it seem any better? And I did a batch resize in Infranview to those dimensions - my best guess is that it's trying to preserve the aspect ratio?
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Jul 4, 2013 04:13
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ApplesandOranges posted:Yeah, I re-took screenshots in PNGs and updated the test post in my earlier OP. Does it seem any better? It's better, but only relatively, it's still not really good.. How are you grabbing your screens and what emulator are you using? Here's something closer to how things should look: 
Cake Attack fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 04:22
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I've been using Infranview to grab shots, and using NO$GBA. (DeSmu seems to lag terribly for me for some reason.) Maybe I need to switch my graphics settings for the game itself?
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Jul 4, 2013 04:29
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ApplesandOranges posted:I've been using Infranview to grab shots, and using NO$GBA. (DeSmu seems to lag terribly for me for some reason.) Maybe I need to switch my graphics settings for the game itself? That's partially a NO$GBA thing, it washes out colors something fierce. If DeSmuMe doesn't work for you, it's unavoidable. Oh well. Still, your screens still do look somewhat blurry, and shouldn't be 512x374. What settings exactly are you using with Irfanview to capture and to resize?
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Jul 4, 2013 04:44
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Cake Attack posted:That's partially a NO$GBA thing, it washes out colors something fierce. If DeSmuMe doesn't work for you, it's unavoidable. Oh well. Capturing client area and, as of the last test post, saving them as PNGs. Then I do a batch crop and resize to get bottom screens (or top screens if I need them later), outputting them as PNGs. I set the resize to 512x384, but I also keep aspect ratio on.
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Jul 4, 2013 05:02
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 Okay so Lifeline. It's a ps2 survival horror game where you control a character by saying commands to them through the ps2 usb microphone. The game does not do a very great job at understanding you. I've been thinking about how to lp this for half a year, I don't want to do subtitles because the game itself can be a bit dull between moments of brilliant trainwrecks. Just recording myself saying commands would probably be boring. So instead i'm doing this needlessly intricate system. I decided to transcribe voice commands into subtitles (as well as certain character dialogue because this goddamn game has no native subtitles) and get a bunch of friends to yammer over it in post. Here's the result. What do you all think? Does this work? Or should I find a better way to go about doing this.
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Jul 4, 2013 05:03
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I realize that subtitling everything would be a major pain, but I'm having a hard time hearing Rio sometimes. Maybe up the game volume? Otherwise this seems, uh, fun, for a certain definition of fun. And by that I mean I already hate Rio.
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Jul 4, 2013 06:04
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Mr. Sunabouzu posted:
I feel like you need to edit your/friends commentary a little bit more so we can hear some of her interesting responses - like that thing you told us about her knowing a ton of names - that should have come after we heard her say at least a few of them. I heard maybe one name through you guys talking. There's also a bit of microphone breathing that could be edited out.
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Jul 4, 2013 07:41
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Cake Attack posted:That's partially a NO$GBA thing, it washes out colors something fierce. If DeSmuMe doesn't work for you, it's unavoidable. Oh well. Under Setup, there's a setting in the Emulation tab called GBA Mode. You want to change that to VGA (poppy bright). That'll at least help with the washed out colors.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:01
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I was here a few months ago seeking help and for the most part I got it, learning to Auto-duck and being more concise, etc. Well i'm back with a completed Ribbit king.  Ribbit King is a Party-like golfing game except instead of Golf Clubs and Balls you use Mallets and Frogs. The game has many maps and characters to choose from in multiplayer(Limited to Scooter in Singleplayer). You can choose which frogs to bring to each match, each frog having different strengths and weaknesses. The goal of each game is not only getting your frog into hole, but to also gathering points before reaching it. [Yech, this sounds like i pulled it right off the wiki.] Heres the complete playlist The problem I'm having is: How do I get this on the Master List? Or better where do i go from here on the SA forums? Any input is appreciated.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:06
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Mr. Sunabouzu posted:Here's the result. The game's pretty interesting but you're constantly talking over absolutely all of the dialogue. I gave up six minutes in when that woman character was speaking because I had no idea who the gently caress she was or what was going on because I couldn't hear a word anyone was saying over your speaking. I know you don't like the game and therefore don't give two shits about what's going on, but I'd quite like some context for what's unfolding in front of me rather than just seeing someone walk around and talk at me while not being able to actually hear the words. Subtitling your voice commands is a nice touch, mind you. My suggestion would be to edit down your co-commentators stuff to only the good stuff, right now a lot of it is white noise that's actively obscuring the rest of the game. SentientPeanut posted:Heres the complete playlist Firstly, your playlist is broken. And I don't think you can just get an already completed set of videos on the master list unless they were part of a thread or something. And where you go from here is to make a new LP.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:06
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SentientPeanut posted:I was here a few months ago seeking help and for the most part I got it, Also formatting properly is a wonderful thing and it helps so that your messages don't just come across in some condensed paragraph formatting. It keeps everything uniform and looking a bit nicer.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:21
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Niggurath posted:I'd say the very first thing to do is lurk....lurk a lot more than the none you seem to have currently done since you first made a post in this thread back in April. If you had lurked and possibly posted a thread, or at least looked around a bit, some of the more complex actions of the LP sub-forum might have sunk in. Like posting a thread with updates rather than making a test post and then coming back a few months later to ask how to get listed on the archives. There's also the fact that Baldurk in his infinite wisdom has not only made the OP to the thread explaining the archiving process but also added a helpful faq to the archives themselves explaining all worthwhile information (http://lparchive.org/faq). All this information, and more, is open to you the reader if you do decide to actually read the forums for a few moments (or in the months since you joined). To be honest, i felt like i was going nowhere when i made that OP. After that I just continued with my playthrough unawares. I checked the FAQ, it doesn't tell me where i go about making a forum post on SA about my LP or is this that post? Note about the condensed text: I didn't think I'd be that distracting, I just type that way for the convenience of the reader. lol, its probably doing the opposite.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:39
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SuccinctAndPunchy posted:The game's pretty interesting but you're constantly talking over absolutely all of the dialogue. I gave up six minutes in when that woman character was speaking because I had no idea who the gently caress she was or what was going on because I couldn't hear a word anyone was saying over your speaking. See the thing is, the dialogue we're talking over doesn't actually have anything to do with any plot at all. It's just her stating the obvious about stuff in the room. I don't feel like you lose anything by not hearing her drone on about how a camera takes pictures or that mirrors are used to look at yourself. I do think that commentary being lessened when the interesting bits happen is a good idea, i'll do another pass at the audio and see how I feel about it. If anyone has any other thoughts i'd love to hear 'em.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:45
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SentientPeanut posted:To be honest, i felt like i was going nowhere when i made that OP. After that I just continued with my playthrough unawares. Dumbass here, found that i need to post right on the LP forum. Thanks Niggurath, I'll be posting a few months after cowering in a corner.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:48
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SentientPeanut posted:Dumbass here, found that i need to post right on the LP forum.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:53
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Mr. Sunabouzu posted:See the thing is, the dialogue we're talking over doesn't actually have anything to do with any plot at all. It's just her stating the obvious about stuff in the room. I don't feel like you lose anything by not hearing her drone on about how a camera takes pictures or that mirrors are used to look at yourself. Well, that's fair enough. But at least make mention of this so I don't feel like I'm missing out on something important. Or subtitle it, actually. You did it for the opening (which I'd personally prefer to listen to without commentary) and then apparently forgot to subtitle other cutscenes or dialogues.
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Jul 4, 2013 08:55
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Niggurath posted:Yeah, not to sound horribly confused but have you looked at the rest of the forums at all? Are you confused about how to create a thread on the forums? The point of this particular thread is mostly to gauge if you've got a suitable enough quality to go ahead with a thread and then you post a thread. If you're unsure about how to run a thread, then merely look at any of the threads on the sub-forum. It usually involves posting single videos or updates at a time, letting some time pass before another update so some discussion can be made for your update, and then that continues till you finish your LP. And with that finished thread/LP, you get the OP to that thread added to the archives by contacting Baldurk. Don't worry, I'm quite confusing. I've actually just right now been looking at forum posts. Not to be calling anyone out but, couldn't i just link each video in one thread like with Lowtax http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3548541 Just ignore that "Cowering in the corner" comment. SentientPeanut fucked around with this message at 09:03 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 09:01
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SentientPeanut posted:Don't worry, I'm quite confusing. I've actually just right now been looking at forum posts. Not to be calling anyone out but, couldn't i just link each video in one thread like with Lowtax http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3548541 Yes, but those were all released episode by episode over time as they were recorded and created, not all at once. I don't think you really do understand how this place works. I don't know if it sounds weirdly elitist or something, but I am 99% sure that the LP Archive is only for LP's that were done on SA (although I suppose that is up to Baldurk in the end), and just dropping a bunch of videos in a thread all at once does not an LP make.
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Jul 4, 2013 09:12
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SentientPeanut posted:Don't worry, I'm quite confusing. I've actually just right now been looking at forum posts. Not to be calling anyone out but, couldn't i just link each video in one thread like with Lowtax http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3548541
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Jul 4, 2013 09:22
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Lord Booga posted:Yes, but those were all released episode by episode over time as they were recorded and created, not all at once. I don't think you really do understand how this place works. lol, i didn't record and upload the entire series in one sitting. I hope that not what you meant. I'm guessing the series needs to be shown part by part as its being made and not after the fact. So this playthrough is lost to SA due to it not being chronicled here? SentientPeanut fucked around with this message at 09:32 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 09:28
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Niggurath posted:If you had actually looked through the thread at Lowtax's posts in that thread (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3548541&userid=27691) then you'd see that he didn't just dump everything at once and instead posted an update, usually one at a time. But yeah, the end goal is to create a thread for your LP and to generate discussion from the LP. And there's no reason to cower in a corner; it's better to look around and learn from examples. I understand, I'll do proper in future LPs.
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Jul 4, 2013 09:32
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If I may, I would like to gauge a few things from everyone.
I ask these questions because I'm trying to figure out what people currently expect or want from HD videos. I want to show off the game as pretty as possible, but I've kind of lost sight in how file sizes and bandwidths have evolved. Thanks.
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Jul 4, 2013 11:21
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Mr. Sunabouzu posted:
The entire gimmick of the game is based on talking and then having Rio(?) respond, so you talking over it, even if it's not plot important, kinda ruins the entire point. Maybe you could release multiple commentary tracks one with talking over everything and one were you don't talk over cutscenes/ dialogue.
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Jul 4, 2013 11:37
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Just A Friend posted:If I may, I would like to gauge a few things from everyone. 1) My 720p videos usually end up being 10 Megabytes per minute. I use a variable bitrate (x264 targeting quality 20) so as to not artificially increase my filesize during less intense moments; 2) I would never download an episode of a Let's Play that's over 300 Megabytes; 3) It's kind of a fine balance. I don't like it when videos look artifacted or stretched, but I don't want the filesize to be too large either.
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Jul 4, 2013 11:50
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Just A Friend posted:If I may, I would like to gauge a few things from everyone. I am lazy and use Constant Quality CRF 22.5 when I upload stuff to Youtube, if I'm uploading for selfhosting or bd, then I take care and use as little bitrate as I can get away with. Good quality and a reasonable file size is more important than just throwing on more bitrate and extra frames.
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Jul 4, 2013 12:01
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JordanKai posted:1) My 720p videos usually end up being 10 Megabytes per minute. I use a variable bitrate (x264 targeting quality 20) so as to not artificially increase my filesize during less intense moments; cKnoor posted:Good quality and a reasonable file size is more important than just throwing on more bitrate and extra frames.
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Jul 4, 2013 12:30
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cKnoor posted:I am lazy and use Constant Quality CRF 22.5 when I upload stuff to Youtube, if I'm uploading for selfhosting or bd, then I take care and use as little bitrate as I can get away with. Sometimes the game itself matters. If I tried to encode either Black Ops games at less than 3500/s the quality would be terrible and it would artifact all over for some reason. If I encoded Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter higher than 2000/s there was no noticable difference. 1080p is a horror for LPs. You basically have to encode at 5-6000/s or it looks horrible.
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Jul 4, 2013 13:26
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Just A Friend posted:If I may, I would like to gauge a few things from everyone. 1) I'm also lazy, and generally use a 3K bitrate, with an eventual file-size of around 30 odd MB per minute... I could probably knock it down by using a decent encoder, but in the end, I post to YouTube in the main. Although, as Lazyfire mentions, quality on a modern 720p game requires around a 3.5K bitrate. It varies from game to game, but in the main, if you have frame blending or artefacting, it's probably too low. As Lazyfire mentions, 1080p is horrific, takes aaaaages to upload, and, to be frank, I've never quite seen the point in doing 1080p myself. I'm sure there's some game out there, somewhere, that deserves to be done in 1080, but I've yet to meet it. 2) I generally find 600-700MB too big for your average 20-30 minute video, but the play-length is more important to me than the file-size... I am not going to watch you play a game for 45 minutes a pop unless I really like the game or you're a drat good commentator. 3) File size is slightly less important to me than video quality, but I try to keep each video under 600MB, because I don't (yet) have a spare dedicated drive for keeping my LPs on, so I'm starting (only starting, mind you!) to get a little tight on space. JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 13:34 on Jul 4, 2013 |
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Jul 4, 2013 13:31
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Bitrate all depends on movement and color. That's all there is to it. Lots of blur, lots of motion, or lots of color tend to all force you to up the bitrate. Just up it until it looks right to you. Also if you're using MeGUI change your encoding speed to Slower or Slowest or something like that to get more quality for size. I watched a pretty good 720p 1.5hr long video of someone speedrunning Zelda:OoT a few days ago and it was 500mb, so you shouldn't really ever get more than 400-500mb for 20-30 minutes at 720p.
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Jul 4, 2013 13:34
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That reminds me, anyone have experience in recording in 1080 but scaling down to 720? In the end I don't want to have to upload a gig and a half per video, but I worry about scaling and artifacting from a scripted resize.
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Jul 4, 2013 13:35
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