Monday 17 September 2007
Gah! To much homework!
Why do all teachers think that their subject is the only one? They're always like: "Yes I know I'm setting you twice as much homework as normal, and on THE WRONG DAY so you get even more from other teachers, but it's OK; you've got a week to hand it in!". Yes, but throughout the week I'm getting MORE HOMEWORK FROM OTHER TEACHERS! Combine this with the fact I've got about three pieces of coursework that I need to be getting on with, and I am NOT a happy bunny!
Sunday 16 September 2007
How to Teleport someone (or make them disappear), using 'Windows Movie Maker'
Remember I said one of my hobbies is filming little movies? Well I thought I could show you a cool but easy trick that can be done with Windows Movie Maker (and persumably any other movie editing software). Now, firstly, I want to make clear that we're NOT pros at making movies. It's just a free pass-time we have. So don't expect any explosions or light-sabre effects, Okay?
(obviously you need a camera that you can use to load movies onto your computer)
1. You can't move the camera at all for the effect to work, and the background/ scenery must be stationary. You don't want any noise either, because if it goes on into the "teleportation" it will also ruin the effect. To stop your camera moving, rest it on something or use a tripod.
2. If you want to make someone appear, film the empty spot for a few seconds, then, whilst you are still filming, get the person to walk up to where you want them to appear. They should the assume the pose that they want to be in whilst appearing for a few seconds, then do whatever they are supposed to after they've appeared. (eg. walk somewhere or attack someone, whatever).
3. If you're making someone disappear, you do basically the same thing in reverse. Film the person first, then get them to walk off the shot, leaving an empty space for a few seconds.
4. Load the footage into Movie Maker, and simply cut-out the footage with the person walking, so that you are left just with footage where they are there, and not there. To cut out a bit of footage, move the cursor on the the beginining of where you want to cut, and use the "split" option. Repeat for the end, then delete the resulting segment.
5. Drag the second loose end of footage into the other, they should merge, forming an overlay where the two bits of footage sort of combine.
6. Add any sound effect into the audio pannel, and you're done (if you've done it right!)
The method is really simple (even if I have managed to make it sound complicated). Check out this clip from one of our movies which uses the effect.
(obviously you need a camera that you can use to load movies onto your computer)
1. You can't move the camera at all for the effect to work, and the background/ scenery must be stationary. You don't want any noise either, because if it goes on into the "teleportation" it will also ruin the effect. To stop your camera moving, rest it on something or use a tripod.
2. If you want to make someone appear, film the empty spot for a few seconds, then, whilst you are still filming, get the person to walk up to where you want them to appear. They should the assume the pose that they want to be in whilst appearing for a few seconds, then do whatever they are supposed to after they've appeared. (eg. walk somewhere or attack someone, whatever).
3. If you're making someone disappear, you do basically the same thing in reverse. Film the person first, then get them to walk off the shot, leaving an empty space for a few seconds.
4. Load the footage into Movie Maker, and simply cut-out the footage with the person walking, so that you are left just with footage where they are there, and not there. To cut out a bit of footage, move the cursor on the the beginining of where you want to cut, and use the "split" option. Repeat for the end, then delete the resulting segment.
5. Drag the second loose end of footage into the other, they should merge, forming an overlay where the two bits of footage sort of combine.
6. Add any sound effect into the audio pannel, and you're done (if you've done it right!)
The method is really simple (even if I have managed to make it sound complicated). Check out this clip from one of our movies which uses the effect.
Please note that I'm filming, I'm not either of the actors! If you were wondering why I say you should film the person walking off/ on rather than just stopping the camera then starting it again, it's because stopping the camera always moves it, ruining the effect completly.
Saturday 15 September 2007
Hi, everyone!
Well, this is my first ever blog. I'm not sure exactly what I'm gonna write about yet, but I'm sure I'll work something out! Probably a way of releasing anger by ranting my various collection of unusual views. You may be a bit confused by my blog's name, "crash bang wallop". Well, when you have no idea what you're going to write about, coming up with a name seems difficult. All I could think of was a video in Steve Coogan's comedy: Alan Partridge:
<- crash bang wallop. Hilarious.
A little bit about me. I'm 16, male, English, live in Nottingham, and attend a private school called Dagfa (la-dee-da!). I'm currently in year 11, doing my GCSEs. One of my "hobies" is making movies with my brother and his mate. I say "hobbies" in speech marks because it sort of involves me getting angry whilst the two only actors keep etting it wrong, then I have to sit infront of my PC for a couple of hours pain-stakingly editing the endless roll of footage. I'll probably be posting some of our videos in the future. See, I told you it was only a little bit about me! Infact, I might write a bit about my school, 'cause it is weird. When you get a collection of rich, disobediant, educationally sub-normal, and slightly demented kids that for some reason can't attend a normal school, then stuff them all into a classroom, you get some odd results. I mean, where else would you find a BNP supporting nazi-chav being beaten up by a tiny and depressed Yu-Gi-Oh fan!?
<-- Dagfa Hosue School. A peacful eduction for upper-crust kids? Unfortunately... not quite.
I think I'll leave this post there for the moment. But never fear, "kirbsmeister" is here and ready to type... Just as soon as he works out what to type about.
<- crash bang wallop. Hilarious.
A little bit about me. I'm 16, male, English, live in Nottingham, and attend a private school called Dagfa (la-dee-da!). I'm currently in year 11, doing my GCSEs. One of my "hobies" is making movies with my brother and his mate. I say "hobbies" in speech marks because it sort of involves me getting angry whilst the two only actors keep etting it wrong, then I have to sit infront of my PC for a couple of hours pain-stakingly editing the endless roll of footage. I'll probably be posting some of our videos in the future. See, I told you it was only a little bit about me! Infact, I might write a bit about my school, 'cause it is weird. When you get a collection of rich, disobediant, educationally sub-normal, and slightly demented kids that for some reason can't attend a normal school, then stuff them all into a classroom, you get some odd results. I mean, where else would you find a BNP supporting nazi-chav being beaten up by a tiny and depressed Yu-Gi-Oh fan!?
<-- Dagfa Hosue School. A peacful eduction for upper-crust kids? Unfortunately... not quite.
I think I'll leave this post there for the moment. But never fear, "kirbsmeister" is here and ready to type... Just as soon as he works out what to type about.
Game Review- Lord of the Rings Online
I'm back and I've decided that one of the features of my blog is going to be game reveiws! As the title suggests, I'll be reveiwing Turbine's LOTRO, after finishing my 7 day free trial of the game. Throughout the review I'll keep comparing the game to World of Warcraft (or WOW), since it is the leading game in the MMORPG genre. 
The three biggest differences between LOTRO and WOW are the graphics, Player Versus Player, and what they are based on. Apart from these three things, the games are very similar. The reality is that LOTRO has copied WOW, regardless of what any fan of the game says. Even the more advanced controls are the same in both games, and the quests, interfaces and and levelling are pretty much the same too. This isn't particularly a bad thing, and makes moving from WOW a much easier experience.
LOTRO is based on JRR Tolkin's series of books, NOT Peter Jackson's films. However, everything is so similar to how it is portrayed in the films, I didn't realise this for a few days until I read an FAQ. For fans of the original books, this obviously isn't a problem (and the game is based very carefully on the books, with every detail and location accounted for). But it may be a slight disappointment for fans of the films. However, as I said, there really isn't much difference, and I've rather have a good stand-alone game than a rubbish film spin-off any day.
It's slightly hard for me to judge LOTRO's player community, since many players tend to just keep to themselves, communicating with strangers only to complete team quests. Since words don't appear above player's heads, so players tend to talk directly. However I can safely say I haven't heard an aggressive comment or the word "noob" in my 7 days of playing, which is a positive sign.
Perhapse a slightly disappointing thing for me was the lack of things to do other than improve your character and complete quests. The game revolves around levelling and stats. I know this is normal for MMORPGS, but I would have liked some features like, I don't know, buying and improving a house or something. Another potentually disappointing thing was the lack of PvP (player vs. player). Because of the attitue of the book, and the fact is there aren't many evil individuals in LOTR, you can't play any evil races. One of the best parts of WOW was the ability to go into the other fraction's terratory and fight them, and never knowing when you may run into an enemy player. In LOTRO you can only "spar" (duel) with other players, or go on Monster Mode. Monster Mode is where you play as a level 50 monster, and try to kill players in the area. It's basically an answer to WOW's "battlegrounds". Oh and not forgetting that you can't explore all of Middle Earth. Just the north-west part, meaning Rohan, Gondor and Morder are not within your reach.
Overall, I would say that I prefer LOTRO, mostly because I'm a bigger fan of LOTR than Warcraft. I think that that's what it comes down to in the end; whichever you're a bigger fan of. To summarise:
Graphics- LOTRO
Gameplay- The same
PvP- WOW
Pricing- The same
top= World of Warcraft ___ bottom= Lord of the Rings online
The three biggest differences between LOTRO and WOW are the graphics, Player Versus Player, and what they are based on. Apart from these three things, the games are very similar. The reality is that LOTRO has copied WOW, regardless of what any fan of the game says. Even the more advanced controls are the same in both games, and the quests, interfaces and and levelling are pretty much the same too. This isn't particularly a bad thing, and makes moving from WOW a much easier experience.
LOTRO is based on JRR Tolkin's series of books, NOT Peter Jackson's films. However, everything is so similar to how it is portrayed in the films, I didn't realise this for a few days until I read an FAQ. For fans of the original books, this obviously isn't a problem (and the game is based very carefully on the books, with every detail and location accounted for). But it may be a slight disappointment for fans of the films. However, as I said, there really isn't much difference, and I've rather have a good stand-alone game than a rubbish film spin-off any day.
It's slightly hard for me to judge LOTRO's player community, since many players tend to just keep to themselves, communicating with strangers only to complete team quests. Since words don't appear above player's heads, so players tend to talk directly. However I can safely say I haven't heard an aggressive comment or the word "noob" in my 7 days of playing, which is a positive sign.
Perhapse a slightly disappointing thing for me was the lack of things to do other than improve your character and complete quests. The game revolves around levelling and stats. I know this is normal for MMORPGS, but I would have liked some features like, I don't know, buying and improving a house or something. Another potentually disappointing thing was the lack of PvP (player vs. player). Because of the attitue of the book, and the fact is there aren't many evil individuals in LOTR, you can't play any evil races. One of the best parts of WOW was the ability to go into the other fraction's terratory and fight them, and never knowing when you may run into an enemy player. In LOTRO you can only "spar" (duel) with other players, or go on Monster Mode. Monster Mode is where you play as a level 50 monster, and try to kill players in the area. It's basically an answer to WOW's "battlegrounds". Oh and not forgetting that you can't explore all of Middle Earth. Just the north-west part, meaning Rohan, Gondor and Morder are not within your reach.
Overall, I would say that I prefer LOTRO, mostly because I'm a bigger fan of LOTR than Warcraft. I think that that's what it comes down to in the end; whichever you're a bigger fan of. To summarise:
Graphics- LOTRO
Gameplay- The same
PvP- WOW
Pricing- The same
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