I got Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha after 15 years or so and I wanted to rip the soundtrack. But I couldn't just rip it in iTunes, and I didn't want to go to some shady site and download it from some shady site (...and I couldn't find it online on one of them file sharing sites either).
I found a great site here:
http://www.momentaryfascinations.com/technology/the.spyro.soundtracks.html
Unfortunately, on my Vista setup, I'm missing a DLL or something so PsxMC wouldn't work... but I'll try again later.
...
Oh yeah I got a great MLG joystick for my PS3 from Kane for $65 (thanks!)... of course I still wouldn't have gotten it if my Hori Real Arcade Pro 3 didn't "mysteriously disappear." (I blame my cousin)
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Blacking out frames with AviSynth (BlankClip)
Jeez, I don't know why it took me this long.
I've been capturing shows off the DVR as a hobby for about a decade now. Over the years I've fine-tuned my editing technique. Before I used to clumsily trim the clips right in VirtualDub, never knowing if I really did find and cut all the commercials out. Joining the clips was a pain and clips pieced back together were usually out of sync anyway. Today, I use AviSynth to consistently and elegantly trim my videos.
With VirtualDub's view -> Audio Display feature, I'm able to more accurately edit my captures down to the frame. When the commercials end and the program begins, sometimes the audio from the commercial spills over a few frames into the program. And sometimes the audio of the program begins before the first frame of the program appears.
The goal, of course, is to remove all commercials. Editing strictly by frames, one segment might start with a a bit of audio from a commercial. In that case, I use ApplyRange to mute that portion:
ApplyRange(1797,140673, "Amplify",0.0)
If the audio of the program plays before the first frame of the audio, I would start at the audio. I'll then use FreezeFrame to either copy the frame from the first frame of the program back to the audio, or I'll black out those other frames entirely.
The issue was finding a black frame in the first place. A lot of times I could try to find a black frame between commercials or at the very end of the program. But why not take the guesswork out of it and add a single black frame at the beginning or end of your video? I prefer the end -- here's an example of me blacking out the last few frames:
c1=AviSource("Untitled 50.avi").Trim(151,1948)
black=BlankClip(c1,1)
AlignedSplice(c1,black)
FreezeFrame(1797,1799,1799)
I guess I'll make a proper post about capturing and editing TV shows with my setup later on.
I've been capturing shows off the DVR as a hobby for about a decade now. Over the years I've fine-tuned my editing technique. Before I used to clumsily trim the clips right in VirtualDub, never knowing if I really did find and cut all the commercials out. Joining the clips was a pain and clips pieced back together were usually out of sync anyway. Today, I use AviSynth to consistently and elegantly trim my videos.
With VirtualDub's view -> Audio Display feature, I'm able to more accurately edit my captures down to the frame. When the commercials end and the program begins, sometimes the audio from the commercial spills over a few frames into the program. And sometimes the audio of the program begins before the first frame of the program appears.
The goal, of course, is to remove all commercials. Editing strictly by frames, one segment might start with a a bit of audio from a commercial. In that case, I use ApplyRange to mute that portion:
ApplyRange(1797,140673, "Amplify",0.0)
If the audio of the program plays before the first frame of the audio, I would start at the audio. I'll then use FreezeFrame to either copy the frame from the first frame of the program back to the audio, or I'll black out those other frames entirely.
The issue was finding a black frame in the first place. A lot of times I could try to find a black frame between commercials or at the very end of the program. But why not take the guesswork out of it and add a single black frame at the beginning or end of your video? I prefer the end -- here's an example of me blacking out the last few frames:
c1=AviSource("Untitled 50.avi").Trim(151,1948)
black=BlankClip(c1,1)
AlignedSplice(c1,black)
FreezeFrame(1797,1799,1799)
I guess I'll make a proper post about capturing and editing TV shows with my setup later on.
Friday, September 21, 2012
iOS6 sucks for music podcasts
I used to be able to go directly to the track I liked in Jaytech Music Podcasts on my iPod touch and now I can't! Thanks a lot, Apple...
Update: Just delete the podcast app (don't worry when it says it'll delete all your data - my podcasts stayed), close the podcast app, close the music app, shut down your iPod touch, and restart. Podcasts will play from your music app again!
Update: Just delete the podcast app (don't worry when it says it'll delete all your data - my podcasts stayed), close the podcast app, close the music app, shut down your iPod touch, and restart. Podcasts will play from your music app again!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Space Channel 5
Been playing a lot of Space Channel 5 Part 2 (which was on sale last week), and that made me go back to the first Space Channel 5.
For some reason, I was missing some beats (both Dreamcast and PS2 versions), and I had no idea why. Was the timing stricter? Sort of. A little more practice and I discovered that with all the dance battles (as opposed to shooting battles) in the first section of the first stage, you have to hit chu a split second after you'd think you were supposed to hit it. This might apply to other dancing battles (the last set in Jaguar's battle in stage 2 comes to mind).
For some reason, I was missing some beats (both Dreamcast and PS2 versions), and I had no idea why. Was the timing stricter? Sort of. A little more practice and I discovered that with all the dance battles (as opposed to shooting battles) in the first section of the first stage, you have to hit chu a split second after you'd think you were supposed to hit it. This might apply to other dancing battles (the last set in Jaguar's battle in stage 2 comes to mind).
Friday, September 7, 2012
Cool sci-fi dream
Dreamed of a cool idea that was a cross sort of between Flashforward and Sliders. This one involved freezing time and a post-apocalyptic world...
Monday, July 16, 2012
Plain-text paste
No more pasting to Notepad, then copying and pasting again like an animal! Old news, but new to me, especially since I modified some other AutoHotkey script I've found for this:
Alt & v::
clipboard = %clipboard%
SendInput, ^v
return
;plain-text paste
The other one had Windows Key + V. I don't even know where that key is on my DAS keyboard, and I doubt I could paste with just one hand anyway. It has to be a separate command too; replacing Ctrl + V outright caused AHK to freak out.
Alt & v::
clipboard = %clipboard%
SendInput, ^v
return
;plain-text paste
The other one had Windows Key + V. I don't even know where that key is on my DAS keyboard, and I doubt I could paste with just one hand anyway. It has to be a separate command too; replacing Ctrl + V outright caused AHK to freak out.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
So I've been watching Death Note again...
Been watching Death Note again on Hulu for some reason. Saw the whole series from start to finish again, and then random episodes.
Death Note is 37 episodes, but I think it would've been really cool to have filler episodes to bump that number up to around 50. They could've placed the filler right before the Yotsuba arc. Light and L working together to solve something other than the Kira case (not unlike the plot of one of the live action movies -- not that I've seen any past the first one).
Think about it...
(Oh yeah, this video is still funny... unless you don't know Japanese and/or can't place those sound bites within the context of the anime.)
Death Note is 37 episodes, but I think it would've been really cool to have filler episodes to bump that number up to around 50. They could've placed the filler right before the Yotsuba arc. Light and L working together to solve something other than the Kira case (not unlike the plot of one of the live action movies -- not that I've seen any past the first one).
Think about it...
(Oh yeah, this video is still funny... unless you don't know Japanese and/or can't place those sound bites within the context of the anime.)
Monday, June 4, 2012
You can copy and paste numbers with Calculator!?
This ought to make working with AviSynth a little easier.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Weird-ass dream (2012.03.24)
Among other things (now-forgotten, 'natch), I was in some sort of classroom and I just couldn't figure out this math word problem. Something stupidly basic like "What percent of this number is that number" or some such. I got so frustrated I work up early!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
New stuff
Tech:
The Zagg Invisible Shield screen protector rolled off my iPod touch as I put it in my pocket. I probably should've saved it because that would've fallen under the warranty. Still, I'm liking the nakedness of the iPod touch screen again. Smooth stuff.
About a week ago I had to throw out my old monitor (lasted about five years) and now I'm using my brother's old Apple monitor. I'm liking this new bigger screen, but I can see what he meant by temporary screen burn when I watch movies. I've even made an all-black picture exactly the size of my resolution (1920x1200) so I can display it to try to minimize the burn-in. I don't really care about the centimeter of dead pixels. And I'm loving the dual-page setup when viewing Word documents in full screen.
A couple days ago I had to trash my Sony headphones (lasted about nine months) and replaced them with these Panasonic RP-HTF600-S headphones. I loved the sound of the Sony headphones (I'd give it a 9/10), and I'm glad to say these Panasonic headphones are probably 9.1/10. My problem with the Sony headphones is the left speaker had a loose connection again. By design, it was always getting caught and tugged by something (in my case, a drawer knob). I guess it happened enough times and they finally wore out. I'm really glad I found those Panasonic headphones for around $30; I was hopping around Amazon reviews and everyone was raving about the Audio-Technica ATH-M30 (currently around $45), but then one guy said the ATH-M50 trumps that (currently around $150), so I was prepared to drop some serious coin on those. Then one reviewer mentioned that the Panasonic headphones were even better, and for that price, it was a no-brainer. Now, I'm always skeptical about reviews of headphones, but they really hit the mark.
Food:
Honeyboba in Arcadia is pretty damn nice. Like Half & Half but without the lines (yay!) and no stampcards (boo!). (Edit: they recently added stamp cards)
Daikokuya, also in Arcadia, opened up a while back. I really like them mainly for the curry rice. It's more expensive than the ramen and still not quite as good as Mako Bowl next to PCC that apparently closed (goddammit...) but it's still worth it. I probably won't get ramen from there anymore. Not just because Shin-sen-gumi is still better, but because Daikokuya puts too many bean sprouts. I like bean sprouts as much as the next guy, but it feels like 80% bean sprouts and 20% noodles.
I'm getting more adventurous with those Popsicle molds I got a while back. I used to fill them up half way with one juice, freeze, let them thaw for 20 minutes (no more, no less), hollow out the middle with a knife, fill the other half of the mold with some other juice, and refreeze. I'm now finding that small Yoplait yogurt cups easily fill one mold, and you'll still have enough left over in the cup to have for yourself to enjoy right then and there.
Games:
I beat Persona 4 and saw all the endings. I'm torn between just starting my New Game Plus and trying to fuse Trumpeter again since the Judgement S. Link is maxed. But it still takes an hour or so from the final save point to beat the game.
Right now I'm playing Persona 3: FES (The Journey) and recording everything sans random battles. It'll take me a long time for sure, and the max link guide on GameFAQs isn't as straightforward as it could be. Which reminds me, this comic (which really should only be seen after beating the game and seeing many of the social links yourself) is damn funny.
Thinking about getting a Vita by the end of the week. 3G bundle for me since all I really wanted for memory was 8 GB right now anyway.
Playing Dodonpachi: Blissful Death (aka Dodonpachi: Dai-ou-jou) on the iPod touch has been interesting. I've gotten used to my ship moving as fast as my thumb (makes chaining a bit easier, but whatever), and although I can't quite control my lasers and shots like I can with actual buttons, I can switch from laser to staggered shots with controlled taps of the Shot Off, uh, button. I did beat the game on "Normal" (which is easier than the default difficulty of the original arcade & PS2 versions) with B-Leinyan, and now the game's encouraging me to play on "Hell" (the original bullet patterns), presumably to see the loop. And getting to the loop is easier in this version. I just wonder if that means all new score tables (I don't want my normal scores mixed with other difficulty levels), and if achievements are still unlocked in other difficulties.
The Zagg Invisible Shield screen protector rolled off my iPod touch as I put it in my pocket. I probably should've saved it because that would've fallen under the warranty. Still, I'm liking the nakedness of the iPod touch screen again. Smooth stuff.
About a week ago I had to throw out my old monitor (lasted about five years) and now I'm using my brother's old Apple monitor. I'm liking this new bigger screen, but I can see what he meant by temporary screen burn when I watch movies. I've even made an all-black picture exactly the size of my resolution (1920x1200) so I can display it to try to minimize the burn-in. I don't really care about the centimeter of dead pixels. And I'm loving the dual-page setup when viewing Word documents in full screen.
A couple days ago I had to trash my Sony headphones (lasted about nine months) and replaced them with these Panasonic RP-HTF600-S headphones. I loved the sound of the Sony headphones (I'd give it a 9/10), and I'm glad to say these Panasonic headphones are probably 9.1/10. My problem with the Sony headphones is the left speaker had a loose connection again. By design, it was always getting caught and tugged by something (in my case, a drawer knob). I guess it happened enough times and they finally wore out. I'm really glad I found those Panasonic headphones for around $30; I was hopping around Amazon reviews and everyone was raving about the Audio-Technica ATH-M30 (currently around $45), but then one guy said the ATH-M50 trumps that (currently around $150), so I was prepared to drop some serious coin on those. Then one reviewer mentioned that the Panasonic headphones were even better, and for that price, it was a no-brainer. Now, I'm always skeptical about reviews of headphones, but they really hit the mark.
Food:
Honeyboba in Arcadia is pretty damn nice. Like Half & Half but without the lines (yay!) and no stampcards (boo!). (Edit: they recently added stamp cards)
Daikokuya, also in Arcadia, opened up a while back. I really like them mainly for the curry rice. It's more expensive than the ramen and still not quite as good as Mako Bowl next to PCC that apparently closed (goddammit...) but it's still worth it. I probably won't get ramen from there anymore. Not just because Shin-sen-gumi is still better, but because Daikokuya puts too many bean sprouts. I like bean sprouts as much as the next guy, but it feels like 80% bean sprouts and 20% noodles.
I'm getting more adventurous with those Popsicle molds I got a while back. I used to fill them up half way with one juice, freeze, let them thaw for 20 minutes (no more, no less), hollow out the middle with a knife, fill the other half of the mold with some other juice, and refreeze. I'm now finding that small Yoplait yogurt cups easily fill one mold, and you'll still have enough left over in the cup to have for yourself to enjoy right then and there.
Games:
I beat Persona 4 and saw all the endings. I'm torn between just starting my New Game Plus and trying to fuse Trumpeter again since the Judgement S. Link is maxed. But it still takes an hour or so from the final save point to beat the game.
Right now I'm playing Persona 3: FES (The Journey) and recording everything sans random battles. It'll take me a long time for sure, and the max link guide on GameFAQs isn't as straightforward as it could be. Which reminds me, this comic (which really should only be seen after beating the game and seeing many of the social links yourself) is damn funny.
Thinking about getting a Vita by the end of the week. 3G bundle for me since all I really wanted for memory was 8 GB right now anyway.
Playing Dodonpachi: Blissful Death (aka Dodonpachi: Dai-ou-jou) on the iPod touch has been interesting. I've gotten used to my ship moving as fast as my thumb (makes chaining a bit easier, but whatever), and although I can't quite control my lasers and shots like I can with actual buttons, I can switch from laser to staggered shots with controlled taps of the Shot Off, uh, button. I did beat the game on "Normal" (which is easier than the default difficulty of the original arcade & PS2 versions) with B-Leinyan, and now the game's encouraging me to play on "Hell" (the original bullet patterns), presumably to see the loop. And getting to the loop is easier in this version. I just wonder if that means all new score tables (I don't want my normal scores mixed with other difficulty levels), and if achievements are still unlocked in other difficulties.
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