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sarcastic-bubble · 5 years ago

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Let’s Blame it on Blood Loss

Paring: Obi-wan Kenobi X Reader

Word Count: 2.4K

Warnings: Mentions of injury and death, mention of blood, little bit of angst, but lots of fluff at the end

Summary: Obi-wan and Reader are sent on a stealth mission and someone trips on a pile of droids. Part two

A/N: Obi-wan is the best and deserves all the love. Now that I’ve said that I hope you all enjoy! Also, there will be a second part, at some point.

What had started out as a simple mission to gather information from an abandoned separatist base had quickly gone downhill. You and Obi-wan Kenobi had just rather unceremoniously stuffed yourselves in an empty closet to try and avoid a large group of lookout droids. “So much for it being abandoned,” you mumble under your breath.

The man in front of you shifts, trying to get ear closer to the door. “They’ve passed by. We should be safe to continue now,” he replied quietly stepping out of the closet. “At the very least this makes things a bit more exciting. It was you who mentioned how boring this would be, wasn’t it?�� The smirk the played on the man’s lips had you rolling your eyes and forcing your way past him. The coast did look clear, for now at least.

“Why don’t you spend less time teasing me and more trying to find that protocol droid Master Kenobi,” you stated, only half-joking. The sooner the two of you were out of here the better. The whole point of the mission was to be in and out before anyone noticed your presence. When the base was supposedly abandoned that task hadn’t seemed so difficult, but all these unexpected lookout droids had you on edge. You had learned early in your years as a Jedi that exciting was not always better.

“Oh please, Master (L/N),” teased the other Jedi, “don’t pretend that you-.” He was cut off abruptly by the sound of a door opening and closing in quick succession. Obi-wan’s expression shifts from playful to more serious. He peeked his head around the corner, a few droids were walking away from the room. “I have a funny feeling we might find what we’re looking for in there.” He subtly gestured with his head to the door that you had yet to see.

“How long do you think it will take those droids to clear out? We can hardly sneak into a room when the door is more than loud enough to announce our presence to anyone in the general area?” You ask as you push yourself against Obi-wan’s back and lean your head out just enough to get a proper view of the door.

“No one said anything about taking the door, (Y/N)” He looked up to a vent only a few feet away from where the two of you hid. “I imagine that’s big enough for us to fit through. At the very least you’ll fit.” He glances up and down your smaller frame.

“You know how I feel about small spaces Obi. I won’t have a lot of room to move if I get discovered while in there.” You cross your arms and lean back against the wall. You loathed small spaces. They were cramped, dark (although the dark wasn’t really all that bad), and made you feel like you were trapped. The thought of climbing through this vent had you shuddering. If a space was too small for you to properly wield your lightsaber you took that as a sign that you weren’t meant to be there.

“You didn’t seem to mind hiding in the closet earlier. If I’m remembering correctly you were the one who pushed me in there,” he teased quietly.

“That closet was a lot bigger. But fine, whatever, let’s get this over and done with.” You very carefully remove the cover of the vent and set it down on the ground. With all the grace you can manage you hoist yourself up into the vent. It wasn’t as small as your worried it would be but naturally you were stuck crawling on all fours. The metal was cold and uncomfortable, and every creek or groan had you stop for a moment and hold your breath. When it was clear you weren’t heard you continued on slowly. This was terrible. The next time the council thought it would be a good idea to send you on a stealth mission you swore to tell no. Not that there really was much good it would do when the council gave you an assignment but everything was worth trying once.

Obi-wan waited patiently leaning against the wall. The droids walked past without noticing and he had taken the opportunity to slip down the hall and wait next to the closed door. You had been right when you said it would be too loud to open it, but he hoped to hear when you dropped down to the ground. As inconvenient as it was, he found your phobia rather endearing and respected you all the more for not letting it stop you. He heard a soft thud on the other side of the door. You must have made it. “(Y/N), does it look like the droid is in there?” he asked just loud enough for you to hear.

“I think so, it looks like what was shown to us. Just keep a lookout for a few minutes while I transfer these memory files,” you replied. You pulled out a small black device and inserted it into an open slot in the droid. While technology was never really your strong suit you had been promised that all you needed to do was plug the device in and let the program inside do all the work. This really was simple enough, but it would take a few minutes. You paced around the room finding a few more odds and ends to look at. Most of it was just broken-down droids like the one you had been sent to look for. There was a barely audible beep when the file transfer had finished. You unplugged the small device and tucked it back into your pocket.

“I’ve got it, Obi! Let’s get ready to leave, I’m not spending one more minute in this place than I have to.” You lift yourself into the vent. You feel your foot catch on something but think nothing of it a just shake it off. As you begin to crawl forward you hear the unmistakable sound of metal sliding against metal. Before you could react, there was a series of loud crashes as the various droids fell to the ground and onto one another. “Shit,” you mumbled.

“I really suggest you hurry after making all that noise (Y/N)! I’m sure half the base heard it.” Shouted Obi-wan. There really was no point in being quiet anymore.

For you, that meant there was no reason to climb back through that dreadful vent again. You hopped out and made far more noise than you meant too as you landed in the pile of broken droids. The door was already open and Obi-wan was motioning for you to move faster. The two of you run and do your best to avoid the droids looking for you and you were successful too until you reached your ship. A large group of droids were firing at it with their blasters, you could only imagine they were trying to break it. You and Obi-wan found a spot to hide and come up with a plan.

“I’m going to go see if I can distract them. Maybe draw them away long enough for you start the engines. If they keep firing at it like that we’ll be stuck here,” you stated trying to analyze the damage already done.

All you received in response was nod. You were sure he expected you to have a carefully thought out plan, but alas it wasn’t so. Your plan was to draw your lightsaber and run. Thank the Maker droids were never the smartest because it worked out quite well for you. Their attention was drawn by the sound your lightsaber made and they began to fire at you. They were terrible shots while chasing after you and it didn’t take much to lose them after you led them far enough away from the ship. Well, you thought you had lost them. Apparently, your connection to the force was suffering because you were shocked when you felt the searing pain of a blaster bolt hitting your side. You did all you could to lose them, the only thing keeping you standing was pure adrenalin. In the end, you found yourself in the same closet this whole mess had started in. The droids passed by and didn’t think to check there, something you couldn’t be more thankful for.

With the adrenaline leaving your body you began to feel the pain in your left side more intensely and in a few more places where didn’t realize you had been hit. Every movement to try and drag yourself out of that closet was agony. You couldn’t do it; the pain had become so much that your vision was being crowded by dark spots. There were steps outside of the door again. You were sure they would find you this time and finish what they started but when the door was slowly opened you were met with concerned blue eyes.

“Obi, I think I got shot… a lot,” you managed to mumble out between clenched teeth.

“I know you got shot, know come here and let me help you back to the ship.” He slipped and arm underneath your knees and another behind your back pulling you up against your chest. His voice was full of concern. He got you back to the ship without any problems and set you down on a small cot reserved for emergencies like these. “Next time you offer to be the distraction I’ll shoot you myself,” he half-heartedly teased. He tried to keep the situation light to keep you calm but he was filled with worry.

“I need to make it back to the Jedi temple alive for there to be a 'next time',” you groaned.

He placed a gentle and comforting hand against your cheek. You couldn’t stop yourself from leaning into his touch. “You’ll make it back alive, trust me.”

“Hey Obi, just in case I don’t can I tell you something. We can blame it on the blood loss and my impending mortality if I am fine.” There were a lot of things you wanted to tell him then, but you felt your conciseness slipping. You were going to have to pick the most important things.

“Don’t talk like that. You’ll be-,“ You cut him off with a finger gently pressed against his lips.

“Shh... Obi, just let me talk.” The finger than had been on his lips moved to affectionately play with his bead. Maker how you loved that beard. “I love you.” You felt relief as you finally spoke those words and Obi-wan’s response didn’t surprise you in the slightest.

“I love you too. Which is why you need to stay alive. I can’t do any of this without you.”

The feelings between you too had been obvious to the other for as long as you could remember, you both had come to a silent and mutual agreement to ignore how much you cared for the other, but it would’ve broken your heart and soul if you died without ever getting to say those words and hear them in return. “You’d be fine without me, dear,” you whisper. You do your best to prop yourself. You place a gentle kiss on his lips before the world goes black.

You were fairly certain you weren’t dead. You had yet to open your eyes, but you were fairly certain that wherever you would end up after you died wouldn’t have constant beeping, and there was something warm squeezing your hand. With a groan, you slowly blinked and took in your surroundings. You were in a bed in a room that must be back at the Jedi temple. The beeping was one of the few machines hooked up to you, this one busy keeping track of your vital signs. The warmth in your hand was the hand of someone else. You felt it gently squeeze once again and you looked up to see who was kind enough to wait by your bedside.

“I told you that you would make it back alive, didn’t I,” said a wonderfully familiar voice. The man’s free hand came to gently stroke your cheek. Your eye’s met Obi-wan’s wonderfully blue ones. They were filled with so much concern and love, you didn’t deserve this man in your life.

“Turns out I couldn’t leave you,” you replied relaxing into his touch. There was something incredibly soothing about it. All the aches you felt didn’t seem to matter so much now. You noticed something now you hadn’t when you first looked at him. There were dark bags under his eyes and his body seemed to slouch with exhaustion. “When’s the last time you slept?”

“I haven’t. Not since we returned. I couldn’t sleep knowing that you may not be there when I wake.” It was true too. You’d later find out that while you were being treated, he paced and waited outside the door and when you had been put in a room he sat by your side. The council hadn’t been happy with his behaviour, but not even their displeasure could pull him away from your side. Not until he knew you would be okay.

You hand come to rest on top of the one holding yours. Maker, you really didn’t deserve this man. “How long was I asleep?”

“Four days.”

“You haven’t slept in four days? That’s hardly healthy.”

“I would have waited longer by your side if I needed to.”

“I imagine the council hasn’t been pleased that you’ve been ignoring your duties in favour of waiting by me,” you say, idly rubbing circles on the top of his hand.

“They haven’t, but nothing would have pulled me from your side.” He shifted from the chair he was sitting on and onto your bed. You winced as you moved to make room for him. It was more than worth it when laying down next you and very carefully pulled you against his body, your head tucked underneath his.

As he pulled you to him there was an occasional pull on your wounds, and you winced with the movement but once you were in his arms you felt warmer and safer than you had in years. “You should rest before the council comes to whisk you away again,” you mumble against his chest.

You heard a quiet hum and felt it vibrate through his chest. He placed a soft kiss on the top of your head and in seconds you were both fast asleep.

#obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan x reader #obi-wan kenobi x reader #obi-wan x reader #star wars x reader #star wars imagines

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neojeno · 4 years ago

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I really wouldn't mind you aiding me with some tutorials love

giffing tutorial/resources

hi anon! sorry it took me so long to answer. i figured this might be helpful for others out there who have asked me similar questions, so i’ve compiled a pretty comprehensive list of tutorials/resources. idk about others but when i was new to giffing, it took me a lot of painful effort to go around and look for resources, so i’m putting it all here to make it a little easier!

i download videos using 4k video downloader. it will download very good quality 1080p videos in .mp4 format. if you’re downloading a 4k video, make sure to change the setting option to .mkv so that you get 4k and not 1080p—for obvious reasons since you want the highest quality.

i rely on kpopexciting to get .ts files — which are basically raw, very high quality video files for live performances. they are much less grainy than .mp4 versions of live performances—which are the ones you’ll see uploaded to youtube. i’ve found that 4k videos (in .mkv) are just as good quality as .ts, but obviously you will rarely see live performances in 4k, so get .ts when you can!! you can also try to find .ts files on twitter, but you may have to do a lot of digging. i wish i could recommend you twitter accounts, but the ones i used to go to have been very inactive/taken down all their drives :( but this website is really nice and updated frequently so i would recommend it!

vapoursynth links + download. the reason you would use vapoursynth is to resize your gif, while maintaining the optimal quality of the gif. if you gif without vapoursynth (.ie only using photoshop), it will still be fine, but the image quality may be grainier. also, you will definitely need vapoursynth to gif .ts files —more will be explained in the tutorial i’ve linked below. i would recommend that you have a high processing/lots of ram/newer desktop or laptop to use vapoursynth so that 1, your computer isn’t fried and 2, your vapoursynth process will go a lot faster. i am using a 2017 macbook pro for all my work, and it runs pretty well, but my laptop still gets pretty hot so just make sure you’re not running a million things in the background while using adobe products and vapoursynth lol. i used a pretty old and beat up 2011 model macbook air back then, and i will say that yes vapoursynth worked and ran on it, but it took much longer, and basically fried the laptop’s battery (aka i had to get the battery changed twice and the laptop would die randomly) but issok it was a school borrowed laptop so i didn’t feel too bad lol. im just saying this as a precaution, to preserve the health of your electronic devices!! but don’t be afraid to use vapoursynth! you should still try it at least once.

thank you to @realstraykids for this super detailed, really nice tutorial! it includes how and where to download videos, how to gif using vapoursynth, using photoshop, comparisons, coloring, and pretty much all you need to know. 10/10 would recommend

thank you to @dreamcolouring for this lifesaver!!! the best and easiest way to blur out unwanted captions/objects in your gifs. i recommend doing this step after converting your frames to video timeline and before you do sharpening and coloring. another tip i’ll add is to feather the selection you’ve made right before you click on “add vector mask” —this will make sense once you’ve read through the tutorial. feathering it will make the blurred spot less noticeable and more subtle.

i use this generator to create gradient colored captions! copy and paste your text, then select the colors you want. generate the code, and copy it. change the settings of the text editor on your post to HTML. paste the code, preview, and voila! add elements <blockquote>,<b>,<i>, etc as needed. see more on colored captions in this tutorial by @kylos --i believe op mentioned a different and better color generator but for some reason it won’t work for me :( hopefully it works for u! basically same idea as the previous generator i mentioned.

my own mini tutorial/workflow process of making gifs. this includes working with a .ts file, vapoursynth, photoshop, coloring, watermarking, etc. and a few of my own tips below:

if you are working with an .mp4, you do not have to make any changes to the preprocessor/denoise filters/sharpening in the resizing part of vapoursynth—it doesn’t make that big of a difference if you do. but if you are working with a .ts file, definitely do make those changes,, that’s the whole reason you have vapoursynth. with an .mp4, i like to use vapoursynth to just resize, but i don’t add any additional settings. i use smart sharpen in photoshop to sharpen it, which is pretty good on it’s own (at least in photoshop 2020!).

my rule of thumb is to do add .02 seconds when i am setting frame delay. so if when you first import the frames, they are at 0.04 seconds, i usually change them to 0.06. of course, this is my personal taste—you can make all your gifs faster or slower depending on how you want em to look.

if you are on a mac, you can screen record by pressing Command+Shift+5 (it’s a shortcut to quicktime screen recording). I only screen record for things like the beyond live concert or other live streamed events. the image quality of the screen recording, in my experience, is actually pretty good. when you gif the screen recording however, you may notice that it adds extra frames that you don’t need. by that i mean duplicate frames. you could keep the duplicate frames but that just means the size of your gif is going to be much bigger (keep in mind the limit is 8mb). in order to remove those duplicates, my only solution has been to remove them manually (by holding Command while selecting), or when you are importing the video to frames, select the option to “limit to every 2 frames”—but this method will be less precise and still not as good as manually removing frames. if you remove the duplicate frames, this means you will need to set the frame delay even slower, to make up for lost frames. in my experience, fps(frames per second) and frame delay work in conjunction. so for example, if i delete every other frame because they are duplicates, but the starting frame delay is 0.02, i am now going to change it to something like 0.05 (so i added 0.03 seconds rather than my usual 0.02). if the duration length and the image dimensions of the gif are short/small, feel free to keep the duplicate frames in—i only delete duplicate frames in order to keep my gif under the 8mb limit. then, if you keep the duplicate frames in, continue with your standard frame delay preferences. now that i’m writing this im realizing this might not make a lot of sense lol.. but don’t worry about it for now and if you run into trouble w screen recorded gifs then you can come back to this for reference. again, this is only my experience recording on a mac—it may be a lot different if you use a screen recording program or are on a pc.

i don’t really use .psd templates because i like to give every gif/gifset it’s own unique coloring—so i remake the coloring every time, but if you get into a rhythm it’s pretty easy. there are a lot of nice coloring tutorials out there, too! my personal coloring adjustments in order: levels, exposure, color balance, selective color (if needed), vibrance, photo filter (if needed), color lookup (i use 2strip most often and i put it on ‘color’ blending mode). don’t forget to adjust the opacities and fills of the ‘color lookup’ adjustment layer in case it’s too strong. go back to correct each adjustment layer as needed. then, when you’re done and satisfied, group all those layers, copy the group (you can do an easy command+c), and paste it onto the next gif you’re working on for easy workflow.

if for some reason you can’t see the frames when you import your layers/video, it’s likely because your ‘timeline’ window isn’t showing up. just go to the window menu on photoshop, go to the bottom and you’ll see ‘timeline.’ make sure it has a check next to it.

i recommend watermarking your gifs because a lot of people like to repost tings these days 😠 - so make sure u got your brand on it! i keep my watermark saved to my ‘libraries’ in photoshop so it’s ready when i need it. i use the blending mode ‘overlay’ and adjust the opacity, but if you don’t want to do that you can also add a stroke/shadow to your watermark/do all sorts.

tag #nctinc for your nct creations and #jenonet for your jeno creations!!

here’s my own mini tutorial (well not much of a tutorial ig more like a work process vid?): took about ten minutes including the time to search and download the video (but i didn’t record that part i trust yall know how to do that), vapoursynth, and exporting. i hope this helps somewhat! feel free to ask more questions whenever :)

youtube

keep in mind that giffing takes a lot of patience, energy, and experience—so don’t worry if it takes you a bit to figure things out or if your gifs don’t turn out the way you want them to the first time around. we all start at the same place and all run into problems. i know giffing can sound intimidating and seem like a lot of work, but i promise, once you get into a routine, giffing is going to happen in minutes—and you’ll get beautiful gifs. have fun! 😊

#anon #answered #tut #tuts #giffing tutorial #should i make a tut/resources post on gfx? not rly sure if gfx can be taught.. it's like a lottt about personal style imo lol #hope this helps!#not just for anon but for anyone

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askagamedev · 5 years ago

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Sony and Microsoft are both making big deals about their SSDs and ability to load and stream data substantially faster than from HDDs. Do you think this will have as big an impact on actual game/level design as they suggest it will? Or is it marketing hype?

The SSD speed thing is mostly for faster asset streaming from the disk. Both consoles are running 16 gigs of RAM, which has limitations on the total asset data can be loaded at once. In order to handle enormous worlds seamlessly at a stable frame rate, they need to stream additional asset data from the disk on the fly. SSD speeds lets them do that more easily. Certain assets are going to need to be kept in memory most of the time (e.g. a player’s character model, animations, the in-game UI, etc.) but others aren’t (e.g. the environment you’re currently in, the environment you just left, etc.). Those that aren’t can safely be unloaded and replaced by loading the assets we want - the new environment, monsters, animations, textures, etc.

I think that having SSDs standard among consoles will enable a couple of things. First, it allows for significantly faster load times overall. Second, it will allow for certain types of games to have better-looking assets because they can stream them more easily. We’ll be able to stream more data faster, which means animations, textures, models, environments etc. can be more detailed (i.e. asset files can be bigger) without as large a performance hit. This is best for games that need to load asset data on the fly like open world games where you can go anywhere, and less useful for a game where you stay within an enclosed space with a set asset list like a fighting game. Star Citizen has been doing a lot in this space with their environments.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, though. I’m sure that there will be some other very clever ways of utilizing the SSD speed. I think that there’s a lot of potential for things like high quality audio as well. Audio is also one of those file types that is really large, so being able to stream high quality audio data off of the disc might enable some really interesting things. Maybe the next generation of games is going to have things like more dynamic music, broader commentary tracks, or something else along those lines.

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#technical stuff #potential game design #game art asset creation

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ninebotairt15 · 4 years ago

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Ninebot max

The Max doesn’t have 0 start mode that means you need to kick begin it to approximately three kmh. Once rolling, you have to ease at the throttle; otherwise, the motor will not interact — an traumatic safety feature. Once the motor is activated, you can go to max throttle without a issues.

Accelerator is also nonlinear on the pinnacle of its variety. If you get that remaining little 5% push, you do get especially greater velocity.

The Ninebot Max has excellent hill-mountaineering potential. We had been able to keep about eleven kmh on a few magnificent hills and were handiest stopped by using the steepest ones.

The scooter finished our hill climb take a look at (60 m, 10% grade, 74 kg rider) in 16.Zero seconds at an average velocity of 13.7 kmh. The Max climbs approximately as well as the M365 Pro and is considerably faster than the M365, which maintained a mean speed of thirteen.7 kmh.

Starting on a slope, due to the specified kick to begin, will reason a few smaller riders problems. You need to get the scooter to ~five kmh earlier than the throttle kicks in. On a decently steep hill, we had to make more than one attempts to get sufficient pace for the throttle to have interaction.

We tested the pinnacle pace of the Ninbot Max and got 28.7 kmh. When the battery drops under 50%, the top speed is decreased to about 26 kmh.

For commuting in a town, those speeds are particularly short and approximately as much as you’ll want.

Though many may expect a 19 kg scooter to have a better top pace, that is possibly a controller/software program challenge designed to maximize the range of the scooter.

Range

The Ninebot Max has a producer-claimed variety of sixty four kilometers; however, we got 45.2 kilometers at some point of our variety check. The variety take a look at simulates real-world conditions (seventy four kg rider, common stops, top speed while secure, severa hills).

The Max has a the front drum brake and rear digital brake. This makes the braking system strong and presents redundancy within the case that one system fails.

During our 24 kmh braking test, the Ninebot Max took a respectable 5.2 meters to come to a halt. This is never file-placing, but approximately as precise because the unique M365 (5.Zero m) and M365 Pro (4.6 m). For context, stopping distances among 5 m and 6 m, we take into account to be very good.

One aspect we really like about the drum brake is that it's miles 0 upkeep. The braking mechanism is completed encased inside the wheel — protective it from the environment or incidental harm.

Because the brake cable is short and routed distinctly directly, braking feels smooth and doesn’t require lots effort. On the model we acquired, we had to alter a tensioning screw at the the front drum brake. Overall, the Ninebot Max’s brakes provide abundant preventing power when braking with most pressure.

One subject that has been expressed about the Max is finding the drum brake on the the front wheel. Some have puzzled if braking can result in toppling over the front wheel. During our checking out, we didn’t word this — even if braking maximally. However, whilst braking, we strongly advise which you crouch and shift your weight toward the rear tire for greater stability.

Ride first-rate

Despite its lack of suspension, its big 25.Four-centimeter tires and sturdy frame supply it a higher ride than many scooters with a complete suspension. On the worst roads, you’ll absolutely get rattled a chunk, however the Max does properly on most terrains.

The whole bundle — with its large deck, thicker stem, and beefier construct make the Ninebot Max feel greater like a legitimate commuting device than a novelty.

Its greater robust body and slower motor make it feel less nimble; this isn't always the scooter you’ll be carving round on.

However, all those matters stated — the Max is the type of trip that is ideal as a every day commuter with enough comfort and deck space for going longer distances.

At 19 kgs, the scooter is a bit heavy, although nevertheless plausible. In our experience, 20 kgs is the restriction for a scooter to be actually transportable.

The Ninebot Max has folded dimensions of 117-centimeters through 46-centimeters by way of 53-centimeters. Though it's far on the bigger size, it should suit into maximum trunks although you could should slide the scooter in on an perspective. We tested it on a Honda Accord, which has a big trunk and had no troubles.

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j0ebay · 6 years ago

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Spiraling Ch 2

Peter Parker x Stark!OC, platonic!Loki x Stark!OC

Warning(s): IW SPOILERS, mentions of blood, fighting, lowkey angst, fluff

Word Count: 2321

A/N: So, this basically takes place after infinity war assuming all the dead people come back. Maggie is highkey based off of Maggie Greene/Rhee from Walking Dead because I love her so so so much. I’m really stoked this chapter is finally out so enjoy and feedback is deeply appreciated!! 💙💙

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add yourself to my taglist!!

chapter 1 chapter 3

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams” -Dr Seuss

To say Geneva lived by the phrase “Just because something isn’t broken, doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed” would be an understatement. She was constantly finding ways to decrease reaction time and upgrade suit abilities. Geneva mainly took pride in Karen, given that it was the first “big project” Tony let her work on and everyone knows how well that worked out.

So, there was Geneva sitting in a desk chair in the lab coding updates for Karen. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail as she was squinting through her tortoise shell glasses that perfectly framed her face as she worked. The works of AC/DC could be heard throughout the whole building and everyone knew this was how she concentrated and drowned out the malicious head voices. It also drowned out the sound of Tony walking into the lab.

“Hey Gee” he says, getting no answer from the teenage girl, deep in concentration. He tries again “Geneva” this time a little louder. Still nothing. Frustrated, he yells “GENEVA MARIE STARK” which caused her to jump and turn around. The music paused on it’s own with the stereo remote across the room. Tony knits his eyebrows together in confusion and she just points to her head, saying “I’m kinda trying to get everything back and figure everything out”. He nods and says “You mind picking up some files and groceries for me?”

She bites the inside of her cheek in thought. She really should finish this up. She’s almost done making reaction times quicker. Geneva takes her glasses off and puts her face in her hands “Yeah I can”. She taps a few keys on the computer, saving her work, stands up and walks past Tony who says “Address and list are already on your phone, thanks”

Peter stands at his locker shuffling through his belongings when he hears his name being called in the distance. He closes his locker door to reveal the one and only Ned Leeds. “Hey, Peter! We’re still on for tonight right?” Peter nods and then his eyes widen in realization “If it’s cool, I invited Gee to help out. She’s really good at chemistry and knows more than the both of us.” Ned laughs and shakes his head “You still believe she’s real? Peter she doesn’t exist” “What?” Flash steps into the conversation as he walks by “We’re talking about Peter’s imaginary girlfriend again?” Peter lets out a heavy sigh and directs his gaze to the tile floor, shaking his head “Cause we all know you’re not gonna get one Penis Parker” He continues walking away along with messing up Peter’s hair. He takes out his phone and is about to text Gee when the hairs on his arm stick up. His eyes widen as he bolts outside to see what’s wrong. He sprints around the school after texting May to see what’s wrong. Nothing was around the school and May texted back saying she was fine. “What is going on?” he continuously asked himself until he realized the one thing left on his radar. Geneva.

The one thing Tony didn’t know about sending Gee on errands is that they almost always take her through the bad part of town. That’s where she found herself now. She put in earbuds and pretended to listen to music so she could avoid all the people catcalling her. “The convenience store is on the next block. The convenience store is on the next block” is what she always tells herself. It seemed as if the street keep getting longer and longer the faster she walked. “Hey, pretty girl” she heard from her right side. She kept walking, slightly picking up the pace. She felt someone behind her as her pace quickened again, speeding up to just a little bit under a jog. “Cutie can’t even take a fucking compliment, she’s too shy” She hears another man say until she gets cut off by third man. “Where do you think you’re going, Princess?” A lump the size of a golf ball forms in her throat as she mumbles “the store”. A meaty hand lands on her face, squishing her cheeks together and forcing her to look up at him.

“Whaddya doin’ out here in the middle of the day all by yourself?” The grip on her face tightens as another one grabs her waist. Gee gulps and says “I don’t want any trouble”. The three men surrounding her all laugh wildly. “You don’t want any trouble? You aren’t from around here, little miss, I can tell you that right now. You look you come from money, got any for us?” The adrenaline begins to course through the teenager’s veins by just saying one word “No.” They all laugh again. “That wasn’t a question, little girl.” her backpack was ripped from her as she screams “NO” again before taking a punch to the stomach. Geneva falls to the ground as they kick her until she sees the lid of a garbage can. She concentrates less on the blows to her gut and more on bringing the lid over. There was a loud clank and the main guy fell to the ground along with the lid. One of the other guys hits the wall with the flick of her wrist and the third, and final guy charged at her getting a blow to her face in. Geneva was knocked back a little bit as the guy swings again, she dodges and elbows him in the head causing him to fall down.

Out of nowhere Geneva hears a faint pssst and looks up to see a web at the top of the wall along with the one and only spider-man. “Gee you okay?” He asks climbing down to face her. She holds her eye in pain saying “Yeah yeah I’m good” while turning to continue walking. “Well, at least let me walk you home.” She stops and sighs. “I still have errands to run, spidey. Besides, shouldn’t you be in school right now?” He scratches the back of his neck and says “don’t worry about it. I can get May to say it was a family emergency or something” She turns back around, “Actually?”. He nods and catches up to her. “So, what errands you got in mind?”

“Hey Maggie!” Geneva says as she walks into her favorite convenience store, still holding her eye with Peter (who insisted on making a pit stop to change out of the spidey suit because “You walking around with spiderman is just gonna put a bigger target on your back”). Maggie is the owner of the small store that Geneva visits constantly, causing a friendship to spark. “The usual, Gee?” She asks not looking up. Geneva lets out a little laugh “Yeah I gotta get some stuff for Tony too. Maybe some ice would be great.” She looks up with a confused look on her face until she sees Geneva holding her eye “OH MY GOODNESS WHAT DID YOU DO?”. It’s like a switch flipped in the woman as she instantly speed walks around getting paper towels and an ice pack, giving them to Gee.

“Seriously, I’m fine it just stings a little.” Gee says while taking the ice “No concussion, no nothing” Maggie turns her attention to the boy with her “Who’s this?”. Geneva furrows her eyebrows in confusion before she remembers Peter. “Oh! Maggie this is Peter”. Her eyes widen “THIS IS THE PETER YOU WERE TELLING ME ALL ABOUT???” Geneva instantly remembers gushing about Peter to Maggie and looks down at the floor hiding her rosy cheeks. “Yeah um,” She gulps “I’ll just grab whatever Tony wants and you said you have the sour gummy worms and cream soda?” Maggie nods and says “They’re in the back. Lemme get ‘em for you”

After shopping and a bit more walking, Geneva and Peter return to Stark Tower (after relocating...again). She steps out of the elevator seeing Tony on the couch watching TV, puts the bag of groceries on the table along with the files and says “Here’s your bitchass stuff” while storming off to the bathroom to get some peroxide on her cuts. Hissing in pain, she lifts up her shirt to reveal her abdomen, which already started the bruising process “Shit. No crop tops for a while, Stark”

After cleaning herself up even more, dealing with worried Pepper, Tony and (especially) Loki, and begging Happy to drive her, Gee was finally ready to go to Peter’s for another study session. “Thank you Happy!” she says getting out of the car once they reach the Parker residence. She lets out a small giggle at his grumbled “yeah sure whatever” as he drives away.

As she walks up the steps to the apartment, she’s instantly greeted with a hug from May before she could even knock on their door. “He’s just in his room with Ned, sweetheart”. Gee nods and walks into Peter’s room. “Hey guys!” She says and instantly Peter stands up from where he’s sitting and wraps her in a hug. The two teenagers instantly become flustered at the feeling of holding and being held by each other and pull away with blush creeping on their faces. “Uh, Gee this is Ned.” She lets out the giggle Peter finds always infectious and asks “The one who doesn’t believe in me?” He nods and she sticks her hand out to Ned “Geneva Stark, nice to meetcha”. Ned’s eyes go wide as he stumbles over his own words “uh, y-you’re actually a-a real person. Oh my god I-I’m so sorry I didn’t think you were real. I-It’s just you see a lot of news that’s fake” She laughs again “It’s fine, really. I swear, half the population thinks I’m a myth.”

In reality, the “study session” was about 20 minutes of actual studying and then Star Wars. Peter leans over to Geneva, who’s emersed in the movie and whispers “I’m sorry”. She turns her head and furrows her eyebrows. “What for?”. He looks down “I didn’t get there fast enough and you got hurt. It’s all my fault”. Geneva turns so she faces Peter “Hey, look at me,” she takes his face in her hands, forcing his gaze towards her “If anything, it was my fault for being a jackass towards them. Actually, let’s just blame Tony for this one cause he’s the one who sent me out in the first place. But, it was a learning experience more or less. I can move things with my mind easier than I could before. Besides, I wasn’t hurt terribly, just some bruised ribs and maybe a black eye at the most. Nothing terrible, nothing permanent, but thanks for being there, Pete.” She slips her hand in Peter’s giving it a tight squeeze and flashes him a warm smile. The small moment is ruined by Geneva’s phone ringing. She answers, talks for a bit then hangs up “It’s Pepper. She wants me home and I guess there’s a pissed off Happy outside” She stands up, Peter and Ned following. Peter lets out a chuckle “The real question is, when is Happy not pissed off?” Geneva burst out laughing making Peter’s eyes light up and a confused expression to cross Ned’s face. “I swear,” she says, “I’ve lived with them for three years and I’ve never ever seen that man crack a smile! Well, it was nice meeting you Ned” she waved at him and pulls Peter in for a hug “Bye, Pete” she says, pulls away and waves while walking out the door.

“Dude,” Ned says once the door shuts “you totally have a crush on her.” Peter feels a knot in his stomach and lets out a nervous laugh “What? No what are you talking about?” He feels the heat rise in his cheeks. “Peter, c’mon you totally like her. You walked her home today despite her insisting she was fine and just now you were totally heart eyes over her.” Peter scoffs “I was not heart eyes over her” “Ooh! Are we talking about Peter’s crush on Geneva? Shoot did she leave already?” May butts into the conversation. “Yeah, May she did and I DON’T HAVE A CRUSH ON HER! I mean seriously, Mr.Stark would kill me if he found out I like her” May’s eyes widen as she screams “PRESENT TENSE! PRESENT TENSE!”, followed by Ned saying one last “You totally have a crush on her. My mom’s here I’ll see you later.” Peter and Ned do the handshake and after Ned leaves, Peter glares at May. The rosy color lingers on his cheeks as May grabs him by the shoulders and states “It’s perfectly fine if you do like her. She’s a very lovely person and you shouldn’t be afraid of that Tony Stark” He purses his lips and says “Thanks, May. I’m gonna go to bed.” while walking away hearing a “goodnight” behind him.

Peter crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. He envisioned her hazel eyes and how they got really small when she smiled. He flashed back to every time he made her laugh and smiled at the sound running through his mind. He thought about her hair and how it perfectly framed her face, her style and how it screamed her personality and her glasses, which no matter how many times she made comments about ugly she looked in them, he would always be dying to tell her that she was wrong. He mentally cursed at himself for not getting to her sooner but boy, she could kick some ass. He processed his feelings of hurt and heartbreak whenever she was sad or got in a fight. Peter Parker had finally come to a conclusion about his feelings for Geneva Stark. “Mr.Stark is gonna kill me” he mumbled before drifting off to sleep with her on his mind.

TAGS:

EVERYTHING: @og-baby-ob14 @were-all-gay-down-here @softiespidey @saturn-aka-six

SPIRALING: @upsidedownparker @bagelbiites @spidergirl192327 @theasexualbunny @nerdofthehighestcalibre

#spiraling #spiraling fic #spiderman #peter parker #peter parker x oc #peter parker x stark!reader #new fic #ned leeds #oc #original character fic #original character #tom holland #chapter 2

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michietuts · 7 years ago

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How to Use Avisynth For Gif Making

This detailed tutorial will show you how to use avisynth to convert, resize and crop videos in high quality for gif making. This is not a tutorial on how to make gifs in photoshop. I have also made a video tutorial in case you are a more visual/auditory learner.

Things you will need:

Windows OS

Avisynth installed with the video and plugin folder from this post.

*Optional* review original setup post (This may be hard to understand)

Photoshop or program that can export gif from video

Video

Patience

*WARNING PICTURE/GIF HEAVY*

This may seem like a lot, but when you practice, the process goes by much faster than what it may seem now.

Step One: Open your video with the .Bat file-

After every file is placed correctly and Avisynth is installed, you want to drag your video file into one of the .bat files in the video folder.

You will probably not use the .bat files that are highlighted in red, but if you want me to explain their uses, message me.

.Bat Files Highlighted in Green:

Normal.bat

Drag .ts/.tp video files into it

Creates 17 second video with original dimensions

You will have to Crop and resize in photoshop

Normalwebm.bat

Drag .ts/.tp video files into it

Creates 17 second video

You can crop video and resize using Html Resizer

Normalwebmrange.bat

Drag .ts/.tp video files into it

Creates a custom trimmed video

You can crop video and resize using Html Resizer

Reencode.bat

If you make a mistake when saving your avs.avs script, edit and save it, and then double click on this bat to convert it to an .avi file

x264Lossless.bat

Drag any video file into it (.mp4, .mkv, .avi, etc)

Creates 17 second video with original dimensions

You have to crop and resize in photoshop

Use this if you got an error using the other .bats

x264Losslesswebm.bat

Drag any video file into it (.mp4, .mkv, .avi, etc)

Creates 17 second video

You can crop video and resize using Html Resizer

Use this if you got an error using the other .bats

*NOTE: You will usually get an error with the normal .bats if your .ts/.tp file is not mpeg-2 format so use x264Lossless .bats for those videos.*

I use Normalwebmrange.bat most of the time.

Drag your video into the .bat you want to use. After opening your video with whichever .bat you want, a command prompt window will pop up. Here you enter the start timestamp. This is where you want your video to start. For normalwebmrange.bat, it lets you choose what time you want the video to end too. The rest of the .bats make a 17 second clip from your start time.

*NOTE: Make sure you type the timestamp in HH:MM:SS format*

After the the command prompt is done (it takes about 40-60 seconds ), Google Chrome will open the resizer.html and here you will resize and crop your video

Step 2: Resizing and Cropping-

In the Resizer you want to choose your gif size. By default it is set to 268px width by 350px height. You can set the width to any of the the Tumblr sizes and have the height be whatever you want. Then drag the lower right corner to scale the video and drag the video to fix the position. The opacity slider helps you to better visualize what your video will look like cropped.

After cropping and resizing the way you want, you need to choose a Preprocessor:

None

Use this if you are using files that are not .ts/.tp files

QTGMC 30

Keeps original frame rate

QTGMC 60

Doubles frame rate which produces a smoother gif

*NOTE: I would use this option for 178px and 268px width gifs because more frames = higher file size. You might go over the Tumblr 3MB limit with bigger gifs*

Fast vs. Slow

Fast of course takes less time but is lower quality

Slow takes a lot longer but it is higher quality

Sometimes there is not a lot of difference in quality between the two. Test and see which one you like better. I use qtgmc 30 slow most of the time because i love placebos ):

Then choose one of the three resizers: resamplehq, debilinear, and dithertools. I normally choose “debilinear” because it makes the video sharper than the other options.

Choose your desired options, add extra sharpening if you wish, and copy the text in the white box. If you want to crop in Photoshop instead, Do not copy the last line of text

Close the Html Resizer and the program Avspmod should open if it has not already done so

Step 3: Avspmod Trim Video and Save Script-

Paste the text that you copied from the resizer in google chrome (on line 17)

*SUPER IMPORTANT NOTE: PLACE A “#” BEFORE QTGMC ON LINE 17. IF YOU DO NOT, WHEN YOU TRIM, AVSPMOD WILL FREEZE AND STOP RESPONDING*

And then if you selected QTGMC 60 in the resizer, remove the “#” from line 7. This will make sure that your video moves smoothly.

Now trim your video. Click on the up arrow in the bottom left corner to show your video, and then scrub through the video to find where you want your gif to start and end. Press the home key on your keyboard (or go to Video > Trim Selection Editor > Set Selection Startpoint) to set the start, and then find where you want to end and press the end key on your keyboard (or go to Video > Trim Selection Editor > Set Selection Endpoint).

In the trim editor make sure you have my settings shown in the above, then click on line 8, and lastly press “Apply”

remove the “#” from qtgmc and save the script by pressing CTRL + S and close out of Avspmod

*NOTE: ONCE YOU REMOVE THE “#” DO NOT CLICK ON YOUR VIDEO AGAIN OTHERWISE AVSPMOD WILL FREEZE*

Step 4: Wait for VirtualDub to Process and Open the Output in Photoshop-

After you close Avspmod, Virtual dub will start to process your video. If you want to see the progress, click on the virtualdub icon in the taskbar go to View > Show Status Window and you should see the current frame being processed, the time that has elapsed, and the estimated time it will take to finish.

*NOTE: IT USUALLY WILL TAKE 1-3 MINUTES TO CONVERT. Mine took longer because I had multiple programs running and I was screen recording*

After VirtualDub is done processing, you can find the output video in the folder titled “temp”

Here is your video.avi file. Now you can open it in Photoshop, color it, use topaz, etc, and then you can export your gif.

*NOTE: If you want to run this process again, rename the video.avi file to something else so that it doesn’t get deleted*

Final Gifs:

These two gifs will be in my Edit Gallery. You may use/edit them as you please. I have put psds of the un-altered gif frames in my Tutorial Resource Folder

Thank you for reading this crap. I hope that you guys could understand. Ask me any questions and Have Fun Gif Making!

#avisynth #gif tutorial #gif help #MTTutorial #TextTutorial

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creative-type · 7 years ago

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Monster of the Salt Rock Hills IX

First

AO3

AN: I must again apologize for a transition chapter that is about half as long as I originally intended. We have influenza in our building at work again, with lots of sick and dying residents that has made it difficult to find motivation, and I’m starting a stretch where I work seven of the next eight days. It was post now or probably wait another two weeks.

On a somewhat happier note, several plot points have clicked into place so when I do get time the writing process should occur faster. I estimate there are 2-4 chapters left, plus maybe an epilogue. Also, there will be world building elements in upcoming chapters that I am taking directly from Patreon, so if there are things that pop up in the comic later that seem familiar, yes, I did steal them from Meg (but only with her permission).

Chapter Nine: Fact and Impossibility (and the Confusion Thereof)

There was little to do after that except give Isla her shoes, which thanks to Mum’s wards was trickier than expected. Neither Thistle nor Isla could get close enough to the bars to simply hand them over, and any attempts at using magic would read as an escape attempt. In the end it was Lyra who made two lucky tosses into the cell itself. Thistle felt a sense of relief that Isla would be allowed at least that modicum of dignity, but found herself getting angry all over again when she rose unsteadily to her feet.

“Where’s your cane?” Thistle asked.

“Confiscated,” Isla said bitterly. Moving gingerly she bent down to pick up her boots, pausing do adjust the brace that supported her ankle. “Said I couldn’t be trusted with any enchanted items.”

“You enchanted your cane?” Brent asked.

“It’s hardly a Wizard staff, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Isla said. “I just etched a few runes to help with stability. I…I fell a lot after I first woke up. It helped when I was getting used to all this.”

Isla made a disgusted gesture at her bad leg and hobbled back to the bench at the back of the cell. “I never did thank you for looking at it,” she said quietly. “It doesn’t hurt nearly as bad today.”

“Oh! Um, you’re welcome,” Thistle said, blushing furiously. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

Isla shook her head ruefully, and seemed to be ready to say something before stopping herself. “You should get out of here before the orc sics his horse on you.”

“She’s right,” Lyra said. “We should try to find Orrig and see what he’s found out.”

The trio were filing out of the jailhouse when Brent said, “How d’you think Rizaek got a winged horse anyway? It doesn’t look anything like the ones out here.”

“It’s probably a domesticated breed,” Thistle said.

“It’s a $&#*@!$ warhorse,” Lyra said. “Not even gelded. Can’t imagine how much upkeep costs.”

She made a good point, and Thistle was reminded of Rhys’s expensive enchanted bracers. Either Rhys’s team was doing extremely well for itself or they had some very generous patrons backing their work. Thistle was about to point out this fact when she saw that Rizaek was no longer guarding the jailhouse by himself.

Mum wiggled his fingers in greeting. He managed to drape himself artfully against the railing, and seemed perfectly at ease despite the fact that Rhys was glowering with displeasure not two feet away. Rizaek stood apart from them both, glancing at his employer uneasily whenever he thought Rhys wasn’t looking.

And Orrig…Orrig was as stoic as ever, seemingly neither happy nor upset at the morning’s turn of events. He beckoned to Thistle, Brent, and Lyra, and suddenly the two rival mercenary groups were all together again for the first time since their disastrous meeting the day before.

“Whatever he says, I didn’t touch him and I didn’t lose control,” Brent said defiantly.

“I know.”

It was amazing the effect two simple words could have. Relief washed over Brent, leaving him momentarily unguarded and vulnerable. He quickly regathered himself, trying to copy Orrig’s effortless serenity and not quite succeeding.

An unnatural hush fell over the front of the jailhouse, the air thick with tension. The animosity radiating between the two groups was nauseating, and Thistle wished she could be anywhere else. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a housewife staring at them through her kitchen window. They were being watched, and whatever happened here would spread like wildfire through the Salt Rock Hills.

Almost unconsciously, Thistle straightened her spine. She was afraid, the gods only knew how much she was afraid, but this was bigger than herself. Thistle didn’t know if she’d be able to live with herself if she failed Orrig again after he had placed so much (undeserved) trust in her abilities.

She felt Lyra on her other side, poised and confident and ready to fight if the need arose, and relaxed. She wasn’t alone in this. By herself, Thistle knew she was weak—

foolish girl. only digging yourself in deeper. useless, nothing you can do. why even try, you don’t even know if you’re right

—but right now she wasn’t by herself. Orrig, Lyra, and Brent were all at least willing to entertain the notion that Isla was innocent, and that made all the difference.

“It has become evident that, despite all evidence in my favor, you are going to pursue this matter until the very end,” Rhys said, his tone icy cold.

“*@$& straight,” Lyra said, only to be hushed by Orrig.

“Your doubts have reached the mayor’s ears,” Rhys continued, glaring daggers at Lyra. “He has decided to allow you to stay and conduct your investigation, should you choose to do so. However, by this evening arrangements will have been made for Miss Clark’s incarceration at the Crossroad’s jail, and she will be formally charged with poaching. The only thing you can hope to accomplish is to waste my time. I implore you to bring this charade to an end. Go home, catch a few rous or whatever it is you people specialize in. You’re hunting a monster that doesn’t exist.”

Orrig leaned against his axe, a small twitch in his jaw the only thing betraying his irritation. “I come to you because dere facts you not know about case. Ve try to help.”

“Yes, yes, you’ve already mentioned Miss Clark’s financial contribution,” Rhys said dismissively. “It’s obviously a bluff. One horse would more than cover the cost of hiring a mercenary team, and the girl’s killed three of the beasts—and that’s only what we know of. It’s her own fault she deluded herself into thinking she wouldn’t get caught.”

“But—“

“But nothing!” Rhys shouted. “There is exactly one mage that lives in this miserable pit of a town. One. Unless you’re able to convince me that the monster suddenly changed its means of killing then your protests of motive are irrelevant. It is impossible for anyone else to have done the deed. Miss Clark proved of her own accord that she is physically capable of walking to the springs. She has repeatedly refused in the strongest possible language my generous offer for a truthseeker. She, and she alone, has the ability required to mercilessly butcher a magical creature, and what’s more, has in the past has displayed deep failings of character that inevitably leads down such an abhorrent path.”

“What?”

Rhys trained his brilliant green eyes on Thistle, his look just as venomous as the words that came out of his mouth. He laughed a mocking, hurtful kind of laugh. “Oh, did she not tell you? I could see why she would choose to leave it out of the little sob story she’s woven. Allow me to enlighten you: Miss Clark didn’t leave the Academy, she was expelled.”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly through his nose. “I’ll admit that I was surprised when I found out, but just because the facts are inconvenient doesn’t make them any less true. Not all monsters live in caves. Now if you excuse me, I’ve work to do. Rizaek, come with me. Mum will stand watch until I can make final preparations.”

Rhys swooped away with the terrible grace of an avenging angel, a more reluctant Rizaek trailing after him. Thistle stood spell-shocked as they disappeared into the town.

did you ever consider the fact she might be guilty? jumping to conclusions without proof, why am i not surprised? how could you let your emotions cloud what little sense you have? see, this is what happens when someone actually qualified investigates

but…

what if he’s wrong? what if there’s another solution we’re not seeing?

that doesn’t mean you’re the one who will find the answer! how could someone so incompetent hope to discover the truth that has eluded everyone else! you’ve done nothing thus far, and that won’t change!

“Ve go now,” Orrig said quietly.

“What? We can’t leave,” Lyra protested. “I mean, this looks bad, but…”

“Ve go now.”

Orrig was staring down Mum. The mage was smiling innocently, still leaning lazily against the railing. When he noticed Orrig his grin widened. He brought a hand out of his pocket and made a little shooing gesture. He didn’t need to speak to make his message perfectly clear.

Wary of their previous interactions, Thistle extended her senses in search of hidden magic. Not finding any, she followed Orrig. It quickly became apparent that they were making the short jaunt back to the house of Frank Cunningham. The old man was out on his porch smoking his pipe thoughtfully, the crow’s feet that framed his eyes deepening as they approached.

“Didja find what you was lookin’ for?”

Orrig shook his head. “Am very sorry, must ask for hospitality for little more time.”

“You can have it, but I were told the elf already caught who done it. Can’t say I’m surprised—that girl always had a shifty look about her. She shoulda known a mage has got no business up in the Hills.”

“Something isn’t right here,” Brent said. “I mean, yeah Rhys has got a point with that magic stuff, but…I don’t know. It just doesn’t sit right.”

“I want to know how he found out she was expelled,” Lyra said. “Even if Isla was stupid enough to declare it in her papers, there’s no way Rhys should have access to that kind of information.”

“She could have just told him,” Brent argued.

“That would be even stupider,” Lyra said as she began to pace. “She didn’t look the type to make that kind of mistake.”

“Either way, it doesn’t matter so long as the horse was killed with magic. Do you think his mage was wrong? Would there be any way for a normal person to cause those wounds?” Brent asked.

“I don’t think so,” Thistle ventured. “I…I didn’t get a chance to say it at the spring, but I thought it was strange that some of the wounds didn’t bleed. There wasn’t enough time to get a good look, but they were clean.”

Lyra frowned. “No blood means the horse was cut up after it was dead. Maybe to distract from the missing wings? Stinks like a cover up.”

“Or a set up,” Brent muttered darkly.

“Now listen here!” Frank cried. “You got no right t’ come around shoutin’ foul play when there ain’t no evidence.”

“That’s just it though,” Lyra said, “no one has even looked for any evidence. Rhys was so gung-ho about arresting her he’s ignoring some really obvious possibilities. Even if Mum’s right and the horse was killed with magic doesn’t mean it was a mage. There are all sort of enchanted weapons that could do the trick, or maybe it is the monster. What Isla said about it sounded like magic to me.”

“Explain,” Orrig said.

Lyra and Brent explained Isla’s story in turn while Thistle thought. She hadn’t even considered the possibility that someone was framing Isla for the crime, but had to admit it made a certain amount of sense. As an outsider and a mage Isla would have been an easy target, but who would have the resources to pull off such a sophisticated trick? And why?

Or perhaps the most obvious solution was the correct one, and Isla was guilty. As much as she hated thinking about it, Thistle had to at least consider the possibility.

And if not Isla, then who? No matter how Thistle looked at it, it was beginning to feel like an impossible question. But the impossible couldn’t have happened--either Isla was walking out to the springs on a mangled leg to imitate the killings that led to the death of her teammates or someone was making it look like she was. Somehow Thistle had to figure out how the impossible was possible, in spite of appearances.

It took Thistle a moment to recognize that silence had fallen over the group. She jerked to attention, hoping she hadn’t missed anything important. Frank had gone pale, pipe hanging from limp fingers, forgotten.

“Ye gods,” he breathed. “I ain’t never heard of nothin’ like that.”

Orrig rubbed his chin. “You sure had blue flame eyes?”

“That was the only thing Isla was sure of,” Lyra said, with Brent nodding in agreement.

“Hmn. Get ready to go to mine, bring weapons. I know vat monster is.”

��

#The Monster of the Salt Rock Hills #Daughter of the Lilies #DotL #Dotl fanfiction #fanfiction #creative-type writes #Thistle #Lyra #Brent #Orrig

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dropswisdom · 5 years ago

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Q5 Pro was sent to me courtesy of the good people at HiMedia, so thank you all, and especially Nicole, for the great communication and help.

Today, I look at one of Himedia’s latest and greatest TV Box offering, the Q5 Pro. The Q5 Pro is based on HiSilicon’s Hi3798C V200 SoC.

HiMedia is a Chinese brand name located in Shenzhen,China and has been operating since 2005. They have a large range of TV Boxes and that’s their sole product range. As a result, they are quite experienced in the field.

What’s in the Box?

The box contains the basic items: Q5 Pro TV Box, DC power adapter, HDMI 2.0a cable, IR Remote control, and a Quick Guide.

Looks

Q5 Pro is the younger brother of Q10 Pro, a larger TV box with a HDD drawer which I reviewed a few months ago. Essentially, the hardware is identical, aside for the SATA support offered by the Q10 Pro.

The Q5 Pro is an elegant silver-y metal box with tampered edges. It includes 3 USB ports, out of which 1 is a USB 3.0 Superspeed port, and the other two USB 2.0. The card reader is for Micro-SD flash cards, and there are Optical audio port as well as Coaxial audio and video ports on top of the customary (but advanced) HDMI 2.0a port.

Specifications

Chipset HiSilicon HI3798CV200 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor GPU Mali-T720 supporting OpenGL ES 3.1/2.0, OpenVG 1.1, EGL, and Imprex 2.0 PQ engine with HDR, Dolby vision support. Memory / Storage 2 GB DDR3 RAM / 8 GB Flash Memory LAN Gigabit Wireless Dual-band WiFi(ac) Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR OS Android Lollipop 5.1 Video Output HDMI 2.0a @ 60 Hz, Composite Audio Output HDMI out, SPDIF (optical) Power 12V / 2A Peripheral Interface 1 x USB 3.0 host port, 2 x USB 2.0 host ports, composite AV, Micro-SD/TF Card Reader, SPDIF Optical Audio Input, 1 x HDMI 2.0 cable, 1 x RJ45 LAN Port Packing Included 1 x Q5 Pro, 1 x Power Adapter (DC 12V / 2A), 1 x HDMI 2.0a Cable ,1 x IR Remote Controller,1 x Manual

Benchmarks and Testing

All benchmarks have been repeated 3 times and results have been averaged to give a more accurate reading:

Antutu Benchmark

The Antutu benchmark tests single core performance over multi-core as it is a better indication of the performance of one device over others in most situations. The Q5 Pro takes the second place and pushes it’s older bigger brother down one spot, to the third place.

GPU Mark Benchmark

GPU Mark tests 3d gaming performance and also provides a normalized score according to the used screen resolution (for a more accurate result). The test is quite short and should be taken as a supporting result to that of the more serious 3D Mark benchmark. Sadly, the Q5 Pro does not perform well on this benchmark, even though it surpasses the Q10 Pro.

A1 SD Benchmark

A1 SD Benchmark tests RAM and flash memory speeds. As can be seen in the provided graphs, RAM is much faster (by a factor of about 40) than flash memory – that is why it’s in smaller amount and is also volatile (does not keep its contents after a reboot). Q5 Pro takes a mid-position in this test, passing the Q10 Pro again. This time, I was able to test external SD card read/write speeds, and they are quite fast.

PC Mark Benchmark

The PC Mark benchmark tests shows good results for the Q5 Pro, though not the best. Still, it is one of the top 6 boxes, and again pushes the Q10 Pro down to the 7th spot.

3D Mark Benchmark

3D Mark could not be run with the standard “Ice Storm” test as it freezes when attempting to download that test. “Slingshot” test did download and run but the results are less relevant in comparison to all the other boxes as they were all tested with “Ice Storm”.

3D Mark benchmark is considered as one of the best ways to test 3d performance on Android (and other platforms).

Usage and Performance

First impressions and testing shows a fast boot time of 22 seconds from “On” to desktop.

Q5 Pro is quite a performer. It uses a metal body, USB 3.0 port, physical on/off button, a small LCD screen, and a HDMI 2.0a (up to 18 Gbps) interface.

Rooting is not built into the default firmware, but can be achieved with a manual local file upgrade (Be aware that it will may void your warranty, and any issues that arise from this step will not be dealt with by the manufacturer!).

Performance is even better than the Q5 Pro’s bigger brother, maybe since it’s using (essentially) the same hardware but does not use a SATA controller. Also, it is just as stable as the Q10 pro, even with the 3d mark continued issues.

Kodi is able to play EVERYTHING I threw at it, and that includes all UltraHD/4K content. That is a big accomplishment seeing that all the new boxes claim that they can do that, but most of them can only play a percentage of the 4K content in its different encoding forms. The only small issue I noticed in regard to video playback was the inability to control volume via the remote in some clips. Also, the required use of the Himedia “wrapper” to get optimized performance is not so great as it limits Kodi abilities.

Bugs & Issues

3DMark would freeze (again) when attempting to download “ice storm” benchmark.

A1SD RAM/Storage speed benchmark does not recognize external SD card, unless a custom path is mapped manually.

A wrapper is used to make the best use of the video processing capabilities of the box. The wrapper makes many of Kodi’s advantages (e.g. subtitles download, information overlay and others) inaccessible.

Certain videos will not allow to change volume via the android audio support (the volume up and down buttons on the box remote)

Rooting was not provided for this box (unlike for the Q10), and so, reliable testing of games was not possible.

Network performance

Network performance has been tested using Speedtest.net Internet speed measuring app, in WiFi and in Wired mode. My Internet connection is 200 Mbit Synchronous Fibre connection. Speeds measured are Wired (LAN over Power-line), Wireless 2.4GHz, and Wireless 5 GHz:

Wired, 2.4 GHz WiFi, 5 Ghz WiFi

Be aware, that repeat tests showed some variation in results.

Video Playback testing

Video playback testing was done with the latest official Kodi (16.1), and using the internal himedia “wrapper” (customized codec):

Resolution Video Format Local Playback Network (Wi-Fi/LAN) Playback 720p (1280*720) AVC ([email protected]) Playing correctly Playing correctly 1080P (1920*1080) AVC (High@L4) Playing correctly Playing correctly 2160P (3840*2160) HEVC (H.265) Playing correctly Playing correctly 4K (4096*2304) AVC ([email protected]) Playing correctly Playing correctly 4K / HD / FullHD HEVC (H.265) 10Bit Playing correctly Playing correctly

I must say a few words about this box, and the results I got: They are unprecedented! This is the first box that managed to play all of my 4k samples without a hitch – both locally, and via WiFi (5Ghz) network connection from my PC.

Gaming performance

I have tested the Q5 Pro with three games, but could not measure frame rate or resource usage accurately due to performance measuring issues. (both GameBench could not grab statistics correctly, and FPS meter was unable to maintain correct frame count at all times)

Asphalt 8 Airborne – a 3d graphic intensive racing game. Run mostly well. Sometimes it was not smooth.

Angry Birds 2 – a popular 2d action game. Run quite smoothly, but load times tended to be longer.

Walking War Robots – an online robot warfare game that requires a game-pad. The game run mostly smooth.

Q5 Pro Conclusions

Did I like it? Yes. This box is a real performer and a deserving little (stronger) brother to one of the more stable devices I encountered. Considering it’s a brand new model, that’s a real achievement.

Would I recommend it? Yes, Himedia managed to squeeze a lot of goodness into a much smaller box, and use the same quality materials. The touch interface is gone, but not overly missed, and the need to use the wrapper aside, it is a solid contender with a good price.

For purchase, you can find it here: Himedia Q5 Pro HI3798CV200 4K@60fps Android 5.1 TV BOX 2G8G 802.11AC WIFI 1000M LAN KODI H.265 3D Bluetooth for a hefty 120 USD.

I hope you enjoyed the review, as you can expect quite a few more, and soon!

[Updated] Review | HiMedia Q5 Pro Hi3798C V200 TV Box Q5 Pro was sent to me courtesy of the good people at HiMedia, so thank you all, and especially Nicole, for the great communication and help.

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ntrending · 5 years ago

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How to choose the best digital camera for you

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/how-to-choose-the-best-digital-camera-for-you/

How to choose the best digital camera for you

Whatever your photography needs, there’s a digital camera that fulfills them. (Kevin Grieve via Unsplash/)

Your smartphone can snap pretty good photos. But let’s face it—it’s not a dedicated photography device, and it shows. If quality photos are your thing, buying a digital camera means you don’t have to settle for blurred, dark shots. Explore the host of dedicated digital cameras, and you’ll enter a world of sharp focus, low visual noise, and optical zoom. Your only problem might be finding a route through all the different makes and models on sale. That’s where we can help.

In this guide, we’ll outline the different types of digital camera you can choose, how much you should expect to spend, and the sort of specs you need to keep an eye on. At the higher end of the market, you’ve got to choose between lenses as well as cameras, and we’ll explain the basics of these, too. Here’s what you need to know.

Camera types

The digital camera market shifts quickly, which means the labels and categories you’ll see as you shop around may be confusing. To make the purchasing process simpler, you can split your options into two major categories. Broadly speaking, you’ve got cameras with attached lenses that you can’t swap out, and cameras with interchangeable lenses that you can.

Traditionally, basic digital cameras have been known as point-and-shoot cameras, or compact cameras. As smartphone photography advanced, point-and-shoots have competed by becoming more sophisticated and expensive. Prices for this category range considerably, from less than $100 to $1,000, though smartphones continue to eat away at the bottom end of the market.

It is only in the optical zoom level—how close you can zoom in without degrading quality—and the choice of manual control where smartphone cameras and lower-end point-and-shoots really differ. Otherwise, the end results are similar, with handsets like the Google Pixel 3 that push what’s possible with a phone camera.

The Sony RX100VA shows off just how powerful compact cameras can be. (Sony/)

At the high end of the compact section, you start to see better image quality than most smartphones. Here, you’re paying for larger sensors, better lenses and more manual control, but all wrapped in a device you can still fit in your pocket or bag. Look at the Sony RX100VA ($898 from Amazon) for example—compact and without interchangeable lenses, but still offering higher-quality pictures thanks to a large 1-inch sensor and on-board image processing.

If you’re gunning for more settings to play with or maximum image quality across a variety of situations, you’ll need to invest in either a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR), or a mirrorless one. It’s here that digital cameras are the priciest, and the most bulky, but you get the very best in photo quality and the most control over your pictures.

DSLRs use a mirror-and-prism system to show you what you’re shooting through the camera’s viewfinder. Mirrorless cameras often have a similar form, but lose the mirror. Instead, they use the camera’s imaging sensor, and either a viewfinder or the rear LCD screen for composing shots. Which is better? It’s a tough call, but for many photographers it’s more about what works for them individually rather than any particular spec or feature.

It’s fair to say mirrorless cameras have closed the gap on DSLRs in terms of image quality in recent years, but DSLRs have their advantages too, even if they’re relying on older technology. Some users prefer the optical viewfinder approach, while others are more comfortable with the LCD screen viewfinder that more closely matches the experience of shooting with a smartphone.

The Nikon Z6 is one of the better-value mirrorless cameras on the market. (Nikon/)

Various companies have different names for the mirrorless camera type—like compact system camera (CSC) or mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (MILC)—but in the end, the category represents any camera that can swap lenses and doesn’t have a mirror inside. The Nikon Z6 ($2,397 from Amazon), for example, is one of the best value mirrorless cameras on the market right now, even though it’s not top of the range.

Both DSLRs and mirrorless cameras start around the $300-$400 range, but can go up over $6,000 for a pro-level DSLR and over $4,000 for a high-end mirrorless body, and that’s before you add the lens. These interchangeable-lens cameras typically offer stronger specs and faster operating speeds than their compact, fixed-lens counterparts. The bigger cameras also often have larger image sensors inside, which typically translates to better overall image quality, especially when you’re shooting in low light.

DSLRs have traditionally offered the best overall performance, but right now it’s too close to call. It is worth noting that buying a DSLR from one of the big manufacturers like Canon or Nikon does open you up to a much bigger lens market, including a whole host of used gear available at cheaper prices on the secondary market. DSLRs are also typically much better on battery life than mirrorless cameras, too. A DSLR like the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV ($2,799 from Amazon), for instance, comes packed with all the shooting options and versatility a pro photographer could want (as well as exceptional image quality).

The Canon EOS 5D Mark IV shows off the flexibility and power of a DSLR and can be bought separately or with lenses. (Canon/)

Finally, you might see the term “bridge camera” as you shop. As the name suggests, these are basically a bridge between point-and-shoot models and the more advanced CSCs and DSLRs. Not everyone uses the term (you may find them bundled with the point-and-shoots), but they usually have more powerful features in terms of manual controls and extra optical zoom, while using only a single fixed lens. They’re a good option for those who want to pay a bit more for a better camera, but don’t want the hassle of swapping lenses. Prices range hugely here as well, from a couple hundred dollars to the low thousands.

You probably already have an idea of which category you’d like to dig into, but as with every gadget purchase, picking a camera is a compromise between power and price. If you want to know how good a camera is, looking at its cost is a helpful shortcut. But many buyers won’t need premium-level features—you can still get high-quality snaps and save yourself some cash.

Camera specs, explained

Whether it’s smartphones or digital cameras, megapixels have long been considered one of the key specs in any photo-taking device. This metric refers to the total number of pixels in a final image file. So, take the Nikon D850 DSLR ($2,997 from Amazon): it shoots images that measure 8288 by 5520 pixels, meaning an effective megapixel count of 45.7. However, megapixels aren’t the only spec that matters. When it comes to higher-end cameras, you’ve got more important details to look out for.

The size of the sensor inside a camera is another important factor in image quality. A larger sensor will pick up more light, giving you better shots, whether it’s broad daylight or the middle of the night. A bigger, better sensor also effectively gives you more options in terms of depth of field. If you want that effect where the subject is in focus and the background is wonderfully blurry, a big sensor will help. Of course, as the sensor size increases, so does the camera’s price.

Ah, a crisp foreground subject and a blurry, unimportant background—that’s the stuff. (McKinley Law via Unsplash/)

Here’s the terminology to keep in mind: full-frame sensors are the largest (the size of a 35-millimeter piece of film), followed by Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C), 1.5-inch, and then Micro Four Thirds. You’ll often find 1-inch sensors in high-end compacts. It’s worth noting that the sensors don’t measure 1 inch in real life, but follow a designation based on an archaic standard linked to video technology.

Zoom levels are pretty simple to understand. Essentially, they let you get closer to the action, and this is where digital cameras beat smartphones. While the very latest cellphones have 5x optical zoom—the genuine, no-loss-of-quality type of zoom—this is still a rare feature for a phone, and even the most basic point-and-shoot will match or go way beyond that. That’s because a camera lens has a lot more physical space to work with.

You might also see ISO range listed with a camera. ISO is a measure of the device’s sensitivity to light. One of the advantages of digital photography in general is that you can adjust ISO on the fly, something you can’t do with film.

While sky-high ISO ranges are good marketing tools (some manufacturers push the number into the hundreds of thousands), you should know that the higher you go, the more digital noise you’ll see in your photos.

So when you’re shopping, look for both the ISO range (the different levels you can pick) and the “native” or “base” ISO (the levels you can get without adding noise).

Many digital camera manufacturers also tout autofocus (AF) capabilities, which means how quickly and accurately a model can fix on its subject. Phase detection AF beats contrast detection AF for speed in most scenarios, though modern mirrorless cameras often use a hybrid system that combines elements of both. You might also see a list of the number of autofocus points, with higher-end cameras offering more of them, and thus more accuracy in your focusing.

Lens specs

You can pick up your camera with all kinds of extras, including multiple lenses. (Nikon/)

If you plan to shoot many different types of photos—from night-time party shots to landscapes—you may need to buy some extra lenses. Whether you’re looking at a fixed- or interchangeable-lens camera, you’ll see some technical terms in the lens specs. The f-number is how wide the lens aperture can open to allow light in—the wider the better. It gets a little tricky because a lower f-number actually indicates a wider aperture.

So, a lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.4 will let in more light than a lens that can only open to f/2. Lenses that don’t zoom typically open wider than those that do, so you have to consider which is more important when buying a new lens. The f-number of your lens also has a huge effect on the amount of depth of field you get in a photo. The more wide-open you shoot, the less depth of field you have and the more background blur you’ll see. This is why portrait photographers typically use a very fast lens to isolate their subjects.

The other number you’ll see is focal length. This number is typically used as shorthand to indicate the angle of view you’ll get when it’s attached to your camera. It gets a little complicated when you talk about cameras with different sized sensors, because that can actually change the effective angle of view. Most entry-level and even mid-level DSLRs ship with a “kit lens” that has a focal range of 18-55 millimeters. That’s what’s called a “standard” zoom because it goes from wide-angle up to a short telephoto on the long end.

Other buying tips

The Sony A7R packs in a full frame 42.4-megapixel sensor to capture as much light as possible. (Sony/)

We don’t exaggerate when we say we could write an article three times this size and not cover every aspect of digital cameras, but don’t get overwhelmed—there are plenty of professional and user reviews on the web to give you a better idea of what a particular camera can do and how it will suit your needs.

We haven’t mentioned video yet, but most higher-end cameras are capable of shooting acceptable 4K footage. If you’re going to be recording a lot of clips in addition to stills, look out for a camera that can handle video well. Also look for image stabilization (IS), which limits camera shake and keeps your shots and video clips looking sharp.

If you really want to progress with your photography skills, look for models that give you all the manual controls (for ISO, aperture size, and so on) that you’ll need. If you just want the best results from pointing the camera at something and hitting the shutter button, these manual controls aren’t as important. Plenty of cameras hit a sweet spot between quality auto modes and more granular control. Again, it’s something to look out for in reviews.

Here’s another thing to bear in mind— just because a camera is a few years old doesn’t mean it’s no good. Modern-day digital cameras age much better than smartphones. By going for slightly dated hardware, you can save yourself some cash and still get a perfectly decent device. Look for refurbished or second-hand options to save even more money.

That also means the money you’re spending is an investment, so factor that into your budgeting. Your camera of choice is going to be snapping away for years to come, so it might be worth spending a little extra at the beginning. Remember to add the cost of accessories, like bags and lenses, to the cost of the camera itself.

The Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS70S may be compact, but it can still shoot in 4K video. (Panasonic/)

To get the most out of your new camera, you’re going to want to shoot photos in raw mode, which means you’ll also need a more advanced editing software solution. Adobe’s Photoshop Lightroom (from $10 a month) is the most popular option for its balance of a simple interface and advanced editing tools. Capture One Pro (from $299) is another excellent option, but it has more of a learning curve and is more expensive (albeit a one-off fee rather than a subscription). Whichever one you pick will be able to help draw out more detail from a raw file than you could get from a camera that simply spits out JPEGs.

With specs improving and prices dropping all the time, there’s never been a better time to buy a digital camera. Once you start sifting through the different models on sale, you’ll find the specs aren’t quite as confusing as they first appear, and with this information, you should at least have a handle on the basics to help you narrow down your selection. Enjoy your camera shopping!

Written By David Nield

#Technology

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the-fitsquad · 6 years ago

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Fiery Command WorkStation

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moon-battery · 7 years ago

Link

From the article:

==========================

Why the Robot Takeover of the Economy Is Proceeding Slowly

- Replacing salespeople with software is tough sell for one CEO - Automation shows limits at U.S. factories making cars, motors

… Hundreds of companies are trying to disrupt the way we consume, work, or move. The economy’s growth potential could be higher if smart machines could turbocharge how humans go about their tasks. Higher productivity, or output per hour, would boost corporate profits and may help U.S. workers finally get a pay rise.

That economic nirvana just isn’t happening yet.

Well, sure

Sadly, however, the Bloomberg article seems to boil down the problem to one of sales and to lack of flexibility.

I think the reason why everyone seems to miss why “robots” (I hate that term) are not taking over the economy and displacing workers is because, for some reason, over the past half decade, we completely misunderstand what a “robot” is. And the three potential stories here have been overlooked.

I think the blind spot comes because most writers of crap like this think of a “robot” as some sort of magical device which will partially or completely replace workers, and they think of productivity software as being the intellectual equivalent: an all-software magical device which can partially or completely replace workers.

But that’s a really crappy definition, because it sweeps under a “magic” rug what is actually going on.

I’d prefer to think of “robots” as one of a variety of tools, fixtures and jigs which help humans or replace repetitive work done by humans.

When thought of this way, nail guns (which can drive a nail with the touch of a button, replacing the repetitive banging of a hammer) is a tool which replaces workers, as it allows a single framer on a home building job site to do the work of several framers when framing a house. A circular saw allows fewer guys on a job site since one guy can now saw 2×4 boards faster than a handful of guys armed with hand saws.

We see the same thing in other industries as well. Red Digital Cameras have been replacing traditional film-based motion picture cameras–reducing the need for someone to run film to a processor for “dailies” (the daily development of the film to see the results the next day), and reducing the need for film developers in the process. Fire trucks have replaced the need for bucket brigades–lines of people carrying buckets of water to put out a fire. Modern software IDEs have made programmers more productive than in the days of text editors and make files. And so forth.

And winding backwards, we see the tools these things replacing were themselves replacements of older tools. The history of the nail gun and of the hammer can trace its way to the day when primitive man tied a rock to a stick to give him greater leverage–replacing hammering things by holding a rock.

So the first story is this:

The story of tools replacing humans by making people more productive goes back to the invention of the first tool during the stone age.

So thinking that “robots” have changed this story because robots are somehow “magical” misses the larger story, which is one of progress as we learn better ways to do the things we want to do.

This, I think, carries us to the second story.

The hype around robotics suggests a world where humans have little input in manufacturing. Talk to BMW managers, however, and it’s all about getting the right mix of humans and machines in a world where customization and complexity are big challenges. … Managers are constantly on the lookout for new ways to insert more automation. One recent addition: a small “co-bot,” working next to humans that rolls protective foil on a door frame. Having a machine do this simple task several hundred times a day saves time and wear on human hands.

Let’s be clear what this “co-bot” is: it’s a tool. Like a specialized nail gun, it is a simple fixture which helps a person unroll protective foil onto a door frame.

And let’s be clear what the overall problem here is for BMW. It is not that robots could not be constructed which can pick the correct custom stereo system or install the right trim. It’s that the automation necessary to do these things cost money–and often, especially when the number of combinations are great enough, it is far cheaper to hire a person to install and quality check the installation, than to program a complex series of automated tools and fixtures to do the same thing.

The same problem can be seen with the other stories here:

“The biggest bottleneck to machine learning is trust,” he said. As a result, finding the “hero CEO” who will tell their shareholders they are trimming a sales team to rely on a black box is difficult.

…

Melding big data with manufacturing is the next step for hundreds of companies, and it is challenging, said Bryan Tantzen, head of manufacturing and industry solutions at Cisco, the networking-technology giant.

“You have to connect these machines to transform them,” he says. There are obstacles. Not all machines are loaded with sensors.

But behind the story of a lack of trust and a lack of sensors is something far more fundamental: the cost/benefit analysis.

How much will it cost–in terms of time, in terms of effort, in terms of changes to the existing processes–and how much will it benefit the organization, in terms of increased productivity.

Risk, by the way, is also a cost: risk can be translated directly into monetary terms by calculating the chances that something will go south, and how much it will cost to fix the problem. Some risks can essentially “bet the company”–at which point the cost of your risky change could effectively mean bankruptcy and ruin.

So the second story is the cost/benefit analysis: sometimes the cost of buying the tool, adopting the tool to your business, incorporating the tool into your processes is just too high.

Robots are not some sort of free magical ingredient that will allow a manufacturing plant to reach the utopian ideal of replacing a million square feet full of workstations full of employees into a black box where raw materials go in, and finished products go out, to be sold by lead software which automatically calls retailers to ask what they want.

They are tools–and some tools are just wrong for the job.

And sometimes, like the foil unrolling tool at the BMW plant in South Carolina, the right tool is simple, relatively inexpensive, and specially designed for the job.

There is a third story here that is not even hinted by this article, but hinted by other articles.

And that is, as automation replaces humans helping to drive down the cost of products, sometimes corporations instead keep humans on and provide better products, rather than drive the price of their products to zero.

Look at movie making. Innovations such as Red Cameras have made it possible for a “pro-sumer” (a non-professional consumer wanting professional quality products) to build a film rig which can shoot professional-quality video. In theory cameras like Red allow second- and third-shooting units to be much smaller; it permits professional movies to be assembled with fewer people working on them.

Yet while we certainly are seeing the rise of films shot “on the cheap”: Clerks was shot for around $25,000, Primer for around $7,000 and Paranormal Activity for around $15,000–what we see more and more are smaller budget films (and independent films) using some very sophisticated effects that would have been impossible just a decade before.

Films like Ex Machina, shot on a $15 million dollar budget (in inflation-adjusted terms, perhaps 1/4th that used by Star Wars, which was itself shot on the cheap using sophisticated effects for its time) featuring some amazing special effects. And special effects have creeped into nearly every film, being used to augment establishing scenes or to add realism.

It’s cheaper to make a film, but instead, we’ve chosen to make more visually sophisticated films.

And we see this same story repeated over and over again. Technological improvements on how we make gasoline-powered car engines have allowed us to make cars with greater mileage, but instead we make more powerful cars. (I remember when I first learned to drive in the 1980’s when 85 horsepower was a lot for a small family car, and when Camaro muscle car with a V8 got 120 horsepower. Today, a Fiat 500 comes standard with a 100 horsepower engine, and the lowest trim level of a modern Toyota Camry family car has 178 horsepower and a 0-60 time that is 3.3 seconds faster than a 1980’s Ford Mustang equipped with a V8.

That, despite fuel economy rising from an average of 16 MPG to a fleet average of 25.9 MPG.

We see this everywhere. Our cell phones are easily far more powerful than the most powerful supercomputers three decades before, and are essentially portable mini-computers connected to the world wide web that allow us to watch movies, take pictures and play games. Our cars, beyond gaining horsepower, have also gained an array of gadgets from bluetooth hands-free speaker phones to backup cameras.

Even housing, which is often subject to market forces that discourage innovation, have become far bigger and far better than the housing our grandparents and great-grandparents lived in a half century before. In the United States we’ve gone from living in less than 200 square feet per person in the late 1800’s to nearly 850 square feet per person of livable space today–850 square feet full of electric outlets, air conditioning, washing machines and dishwashers and flat screen TVs and stereos that in the early 1900’s would seem like magic.

Our third story: in a world of infinite wants, when given the ability to increase productivity, we often use that increase to make better and more sophisticated products, rather than create the same old products cheaper.

So we may pay the same price for the things we bought a decade before, but we get so much more value for the same price, as the same people who made simple products a decade before use automation to create more sophisticated products today.

This story that Bloomberg wants to tell, of a sort of nirvana where humans have been replaced by robots, completely misses the trends that have been taking place.

First, this is not a new story, nor is it a story about robots. It’s a story about the increases of productivity which have been going on since the stone age, which allow the average person to live in larger homes than the wealthiest families lived in just two centuries before, with greater access to everything from entertainment to medical care to knowledge than could possibly be imagined just half a century ago.

Second, it is a story about the thoughtful adoption of automation made only when the benefits justifies the cost–adoption which follows the same patterns that caused carpenters to replace their trusty hammers with nail guns and filmmakers to replace their trusty film cameras with digital cameras. If the cost makes no sense, berating and name calling (which the first Bloomberg tail talking about Infer, demanding that what their tool needs is a “hero CEO” and implying CEOs who don’t adopt their tool are backwards and untrusting) will not help your cause.

Third, it is a story about companies who, with the increased productivity, can either give us cheaper products or give us products that do more of what we want. And in that story we don’t see a world flooded with cheap underpowered cars and cheaper cell phones–but products that make us far happier as they do more of the things we want.

It is a shame Bloomberg (as well as many others) get caught up in this story about workers losing jobs to magical robots that can do anything, the story pushed by a Silicon Valley elite who have lost themselves in their own echo-chambers.

Because the real story is so much more interesting.

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anavoliselenu · 8 years ago

Text

Dublin street chapter 7

To Ellie’s relief, Vicky disappeared out of Justin’s life as quickly as she’d come into it. Not that I would know unless Ellie told me since I hadn’t seen him since that morning on Princes Street. Work was keeping him busy—something was happening with one of his developments and he also had this big event planned at his nightclub, Fire, at the end of the Festival. This was when I discovered that Adam was Justin’s architect, so when Justin was busy, Adam was busy. The few times we were all supposed to meet up—one time to see a comedian, one other time just for drinks, and the last time for the family dinner—Justin had cancelled, proving me wrong: he actually did work for his money.

I began to see his absence as a good thing. I felt more relaxed than I had in weeks and Ellie and I had grown closer. She’d confessed the whole Adam fiasco…

Having always been in love with Adam, since she was a kid, Ellie had finally plucked up the courage to do something about it after he punched out the ass**le who’d set her up to get info on Justin. She went over to his apartment and pretty much threw herself at him. And because Adam was a guy and Ellie was beautiful, he’d taken her up on the offer. That was until she was almost completely naked and on her back underneath him. Adam backed out, explaining he couldn’t do that to Justin or her, and that Justin would never forgive him and he’d never forgive himself. Realizing he thought it was just a one-night stand kind of thing, Ellie had left, quietly nursing a broken heart and a bruised ego. I would never have guessed that stuff was between them. Ellie was super cool around him. She said she didn’t want things to change and she tried her hardest to be okay about everything. I’d seen it in action. She did try hard. But sometimes something soft, something ‘more’ would enter her expression when she looked at him. When I thought about it, there was something ‘more’ in the way Adam looked at her. Thing is, I couldn’t work out if he was just lusting after her, or if his feelings ran a little deeper? I was curious as hell, but I also knew it wasn’t any of my business, so I was keeping my nose out of it.

After opening up to me, Ellie had tried to talk to me again about my family, about my past.

I shut her down.

Dr. Pritchard said it would take time. For now, I couldn’t let go, and no matter what the good doctor said, I still wasn’t sure if it was in me to let go.

“Writer’s block again?”

I spun around in my seat to find Ellie standing in my doorway waving an A4 manila envelope at me.

I grimaced, closing my laptop. “I should just get that printed on a t-shirt.”

“It’ll pass.”

My only reply was a grunt.

“Anyway, I hate to ask but…”

“What’s up?”

She waved the envelope at me again. “Justin stopped by last night when you were working and he left these documents. He just called to ask me to bring them to his office because he needs them for his meeting in two hours, but I have a class-”

My stomach flipped. “And you want me to take them to him.”

Ellie’s eyes got all big and adorable. “Please,” she begged.

Crap, f**kity, crap, f**k. Grumbling, I stood up and took the envelope from her. “Where’s his office?”

She gave me the address and I discovered it was down by the quay, which meant I’d need to get a cab to get there in plenty of time since I had to have a shower before I left.

“I really appreciate this, Selena.” She grinned and started backing up. “I’ve got to run. Catch you later.”

And then she was gone.

And I was Justin bound. Dammit. Trying to ignore the beating wings in my stomach, I huffed around, muttering under my breath as I showered and dressed. I pulled on a pair of jeans, a thin sweater since it was fairly warm outside and wearing a jacket in Scotland when it wasn’t below freezing made you stick out as a tourist. No joke. A little sun came out in Scotland and they had their shirts off.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Very little makeup, my hair twisted up in a messy bun. The sweater was cute and showed a little cle**age, but my jeans were old and faded. Sure, I wondered what Justin thought about me physically, however I wasn’t going to let that change me. I never dressed to impress anyone but myself, and I certainly wasn’t going to for some guy who liked his women’s legs longer, their boobs smaller, and their hair blonder.

The cab ride seemed to take forever, and as always, I was feeling a little travel sick by the time we got there after bumping down God knows how many cobbled roads. He dropped me off at Commercial Quay and I wandered down the man-made stream that opened out at the bottom into the water. There was a parking lot to my right, and to my left a number of commercial establishments. I found Justin’s office in the same building as an architect’s office, an accountant and a dentist. After being buzzed up, and floundering embarrassingly around in the elevator that opened on the opposite door from the one that let you in it, I found myself in a chic reception area.

The blonde receptionist wasn’t what I’d been expecting at all. She was about Elodie’s age but carried at least twenty pounds more than Elodie, and she was beaming at me with a big friendly smile. Her nametag said ‘Morag’. I’d been gearing myself up for someone tall, thin and beautiful who would sneer at my jeans and try to have me removed from the building. Was I in the right office?

“Can I help you?” Morag was still beaming at me.

“Uh…” I glanced around, looking for a sign that this was Justin’s office. “I’m looking for Justin Carmichael.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

Okay, so it was his office. I stepped up to the reception and waved the envelope. “He left these documents at his sister’s – my roommate’s place – and, um, asked her to bring them in. She couldn’t, so I said I would.”

If it was possible, Morag’s grin got even wider. “Oh how nice of you, dear. Can I take a name?”

“Selena Butler.”

“One second.” She picked up the phone on her desk and didn’t have to wait long. “I have a Selena Butler here with some documents for you, Mr. Carmichael.” She made an ‘mmm hmm’ noise. “I’ll do that.” She hung up and smiled at me. “Let me show you to Mr. Carmichael’s office, Selena.”

I clenched my teeth. “It’s Selena.”

“Mmm hmm.”

It was annoying enough that he refused to call me anything but Selena, did he really have to get other people on board? I followed the cheerful, middle-aged receptionist down a narrow corridor until we came to a corner office. She knocked, a deep voice answering with a ‘come in’. I shivered at that voice and wondered for a second if I’d missed it these last two weeks.

“Selena for you, sir,” Morag announced as she opened the door.

I wandered in past her and heard the door shut behind me as she left us alone.

The office was bigger than I was expecting with one large window that looked down on the quay. It was very masculine with a huge walnut library desk, leather chair, black leather couch and sturdy bookshelves hefty with folders and hardbacks. A few metal filing cabinets were stored in the corner. On the wall above the couch was a huge painting of Venice, and on the bookshelves more than one framed photograph of him with Ellie and with Adam and with Ellie’s family. In the corner behind me were a treadmill and a weight bench.

Justin was perched on his desk, his long legs stretched out in front of him as he watched me. I felt that kick to my gut again at the sight of him and the familiar tingling between my legs. Jesus C, he was even hotter than I remembered.

Fuck, shittity, f**k, shit.

“Hey.” I waved the envelope at him. Witty opener, Selena, very witty.

Justin smiled at me and I froze as his eyes washed over the length of me, taking his time taking me in. I swallowed hard, my heart kicking it up a gear—he hadn’t looked at me like that since the night at the bar with Holly. “It’s nice to see you, Selena. Feels like forever.”

Ignoring the flush of pleasure those words produced, I strode forward and held out the envelope. “Ellie said you needed these pronto.”

He nodded, still gazing at me as he took the documents. “I appreciate you bringing them down. How much do I owe you for taxi fare?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “It wasn’t a problem. I was just beating my head off my desk anyway.”

“Writer’s block?”

“Writer’s cement.”

He smirked. “That bad?”

“So bad.”

With a sympathetic smile he stood up, bringing our bodies to touching distance. I felt the breath whoosh out of me as my head tilted back to meet his gaze. “Sorry I had to cancel on you those last few times.”

He made it sound like he’d cancelled a date. I laughed, confused. “O-kay.”

“I stopped by last night but you weren’t there.”

“I was working. Extra shifts.” I took a step back, hoping the less proximity I had to him, the faster it would reduce the heat in my blood.

I thought I saw him smile as he turned and put the documents on his desk. “The last time we saw each other I think something I said sent you running for the hills. Or maybe someone that was with me?”

Arrogant ass**le. I guffawed. “Vicky?”

His grin was cocky now as he looked back at me. “Were you jealous?”

Were we actually having this conversation? I hadn’t seen him in two weeks and, and… pfft! Smiling in astonishment at his egotism, I crossed my arms over my chest. “You know, it’s a wonder I managed to squeeze into the room what with your giant-assed ego taking up all the space.”

Justin laughed. “Well you ran off because of something, Selena.”

“One: stop calling me Selena. It’s Selena. J-o-s-s. Selena. And two: you had just insinuated that I was somehow ‘family’ after only knowing me a few weeks.”

His brow puckered as he processed this and he leaned back against the desk again, crossing his arms over his wide chest as he thought about it. “I did?”

“You did.”

Suddenly his eyes were searching my face and they were full of all sorts of questions. “Ellie told me about your family. I’m sorry.”

My muscles locked, the heat he’d created evaporating as if he’d just blasted on the a/c. What could I say? I didn’t want him to make a big deal out of it, and I also didn’t want him psycho-analyzing me. “It was a long time go.”

“I didn’t realize I’d insinuated that. About family. But things are starting to make sense. The dinner at Elodie’s… you running off-”

“Don’t,” I snapped, taking three steps towards him. “Justin, don’t,” my voice quieted as I tried to calm down the urge to bite at him like a wounded animal. “I don’t talk about it.”

As he studied me I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. Did he think I was nuts? Pathetic? Did I care? And then he just nodded. “I get it. We don’t have to…”

Relief washed over me and I took a step back only for Justin to move into me so he was almost touching me again. “I was thinking of having a picnic on The Meadows this Saturday if it’s nice out—to make it up to Ellie for not being around a lot lately. I know she misses Adam too. Will you come?”

“That depends?” I found my way back to snarksville in an attempt to feel less off-balance. “Are you going to insinuate that I’m jealous of the sandwich you’ll be eating?”

He burst out laughing, a full body laugh that did sweet things to my insides. “I deserve that.” He prowled closer so I had to step back. “But will you forgive me and come? As friends?” However, there was something deliberately sarcastic about the way he said ‘friends’.

I eyed him suspiciously. “Justin…”

“Just friends.” His gaze dropped to my mouth and darkened. “I told you. I can pretend if you can pretend.”

“I’m not pretending.” Was that my voice that sounded all hot and breathy?

Justin just smirked at me like he didn’t believe me. “You know you’re really putting pressure on my acting skills.”

“Acting skills?”

“Pretending, Selena.” He took another step forward, his eyes narrowed with intent. “I’ve never been very good at it.”

Oh my God, he was going to kiss me. I was standing in his office in crappy jeans with crappy hair and he was going to kiss me.

“Mr. Carmichael, Mr. Rosings and Ms. Morrison are here to see you,” Morag’s voice echoed into the office from the intercom and Justin tensed.

A strange mix of relief and disappointment flooded me and I took an uneasy step back, turning towards the door. “I’ll let you get on.”

“Selena.”

I twisted around, my eyes looking anywhere but into his. “Yeah?”

“The picnic? Will you be there?”

The blood was still whooshing in my ears and my body was still strung tight with anticipation for his kiss, but I shoved that all aside, remembering who he was and how much he scared me. I lifted my chin and met his gaze. “As your little sister’s roommate, yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Not as my friend?” he teased.

“We’re not friends, Justin.” I pulled his office door open.

“No. We’re not.”

I didn’t have to turn around to see his expression. I felt it in his words. Hurrying down the hall, I barely managed a quick wave to Morag before diving into the elevator that would take me away from him. What had happened? Where had the platonic, ‘friendly’ Justin gone, and why was ‘Cab Justin’ back? I thought I wasn’t his type? I thought I was safe.

No. We’re not. Those words echoed in my head as I burst out of the office building and into the fresh air. It wasn’t the words. It was the tone they’d been wrapped up in. And those words had been wrapped up in a whole lot of sexual intent.

Fuck.

~10~

I didn’t go to Justin’s picnic.

Well, I did, but I didn’t.

Flabbergasted by his transformation back into shmexy ‘Cab Justin’ who couldn’t take his eyes off of me, I didn’t know what to make of it in all my confusion. And yes, in all my scaredy-pantishness! So I took the coward’s way out and roped Rhian into helping me–while also lying to her about why–out of the situation without making it seem like I wanted to get out of the situation…

Saturday rolled by and it was a surprisingly hot day, and The Meadows – a large park on the other side of the city by the university – was crowded with sunbathers and people playing sports. Justin had managed to grab a spot in the shade. Adam, Jenny, Ed and Justin were already there as Ellie and I approached, the sounds of laughter, kids shouting, and dogs barking creating a happy soundtrack to the scene. It was a perfect day, and the atmosphere in The Meadows was electric with contentedness. For a minute I wished I was staying.

“Uh…” I gazed down at the two hampers Justin had brought. They were so elaborate I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d stolen them out of a Fortnum & Mason’s display. “You call this a picnic?”

Justin had stood up when we approached, hugging Ellie into his side and gesturing proudly to the hampers sitting on a beautiful chenille blanket. Now he looked confused. “Yes.” he frowned at me. “What would you call it?”

“A five star restaurant on grass.”

The corner of his lip curled up in wry amusement. “I had the staff at the restaurant make them up.”

“And what restaurant would that be again? The five star one?”

“I think she’s making fun of you and all your money, Justin.” Ellie grinned at him. “It is a bit much.”

He made a noise of disgruntlement. “It’s a bloody picnic. Sit. Eat. Shut up.”

She giggled and flopped down beside Adam who wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her into his side. “Nice to see you, Els.”

“Yeah, you too.” She smiled at him but pulled away a little, causing me to raise an eyebrow. What was up with that?

“Well?”

I looked up at Justin to find him holding a hand out to me, unmasked heat in his eyes.

And Rhian saved me with perfect timing.

My cell rang and I made an apologetic face as I pulled it out of my pocket. “Rhian, hey.” I turned and took a few steps away, not chancing that they might hear her on the other end of the line.

“I have an emergency,” she replied in a monotone. “Abort the picnic.”

“Oh, no, you’re kidding.” I played along, sounding all mothering and soothing. “Are you okay?”

“Bloody hell, Selena, I thought you could lie?” Rhian grumbled. “You’re speaking like an alien who’s heard of the human concept of ‘being concerned’ but doesn’t know how to execute it.”

I grit my teeth, ignoring her. “Sure, I can talk. Just a sec.” I took a moment, trying to exude ‘human concern’ as I turned back to Justin and the gang. I had a feeling I was scowling more than frowning, but whatever. “I’m sorry, guys, but I have to take a rain check.”

Ellie sat up, worried. “Is everything okay? Do you need me to come?”

“No, I’m okay. Rhian just really needs someone to talk to. It can’t wait. Sorry.” I chanced a glance at Justin and found he wasn’t just watching me. He was studying me. Suspiciously. My eyes dropped quickly. “See you later.” I walked away to their calls of goodbye and stuck the phone back up to my ear. “I was being concerned,” I grouched at Rhian.

“Anyone who knows you, knows that’s not how you sound when you’re concerned.”

“Well, luckily, they don’t know me.” Or not… Justin was sure looking at me funny.

“So you really don’t like this Ed guy?”

I winced, remembering my lie. In an effort not to get into the whole Justin thing with Rhian, I’d lied and said that Ellie’s friend Jenna’s fiancé Ed was a bigot and I didn’t want to be around him, but I also didn’t want to hurt Ellie’s feelings by saying no to the picnic. I felt bad about maligning Ed, but I didn’t think it mattered too much since I wasn’t expecting him and Rhian to ever meet.

“Nope, I don’t.”

“You know I’m not buying it, right?”

I almost stumbled. “Buying what?”

“You talk about Ellie all the time, Selena. I think I can safely say I understand enough about the woman to know she wouldn’t be friends with a f**kin’ bigot. Like I said, you can’t lie for shit.”

Huh! That was so not true! “I can lie. I am a damn good liar!”

“Oh that’s right, yell that out while you’re still walking away from them.”

Shit. I glanced around to make sure I’d put enough distance between us. I had. My heart slowed. “You’re a pain in the ass,” I grumbled, forgetting she’d just done me a favor.

She made a pfftt noise. “You’re the one who lied to me. Seriously, what’s going on?”

I sighed. “Can this be one of those things we don’t talk about?”

“No.”

“Please, Rhian.”

“Have you spoken to your therapist about it?”

I frowned, wondering why she’d ask that. “No…”

“Fine.” She sighed heavily. “I won’t ask about it, as long as you promise to talk to your therapist about it. And you may lie, but I know you would never break a promise.”

“Rhian-”

“Promise.”

I shook my head. “It’s not therapy-worthy.”

“If it was worth lying to me about, then it’s therapy-worthy. Sort your shit out, Selena, and promise.”

“Fine,” I agreed, but only because I knew it was Rhian’s grumpy way of being a good friend.

***

Dr. Pritchard had flowers on her desk. I smiled. She had taken note.

“You lied so you wouldn’t have to spend time with Justin?”

I squirmed, wishing Rhian hadn’t held me to my promise. “Yup.”

“Before, when I asked you if you were attracted to Justin you said ‘I was’. Past tense. Were you telling the truth?”

No. “Maybe not.”

“So you are attracted to him?”

Oh what the hell… “I’ve never been attracted to anyone as much as I’m attracted to him.”

The good doctor gave me a wry smile. “Okay. But you’re avoiding him even though he’s made it perfectly clear that he’s interested in you. Are you afraid of him, Selena?”

Honestly? “Yes.”

“You have no intention of having any kind of relationship with him?”

“Were you not here when I told you about my past with guys?”

“That’s not the same thing. For a start, you know Justin.”

“I don’t want anything to do with him, alright.”

“You’ve just told me you’re extremely attracted to this man. When you talk about him, it’s clear to me you like him, so, no. I wouldn’t say you’re alright—you don’t want to want to have anything to do with him.”

“Same thing.”

“No it’s not. Why are you afraid of him, Selena?”

“I don’t know,” I retorted, pissed off with the topic and with Rhian for making me discuss it. “I just know that I don’t want to start anything with him.”

“Why not?”

Jesus C, sometimes it was like talking to a brick wall with this woman. “It would mess things up. With Ellie, with me, with him. No.”

She tilted her head to the side, her expression blank. She was good at this. “Selena, maybe it’s time to stop thinking fifty steps in front of you and just let things play out naturally.”

“The last time I did that I woke up in bed with two strange guys and no panties.”

“I told you that’s not the same thing. You’re not the same person, and Justin is not some stranger. I’m not telling you or asking you to do anything you don’t want to do, concerning Justin or otherwise. But I am suggesting you stop predicting the future and take each day as it comes. Not forever, not even for a few months. Try it for a few days, a few weeks even. I know it might be scary, but just… try.”

***

As I had been for the last few weeks I was working Saturday’s now at Club 39. Ellie had gotten home earlier around dinner time, stuffed full from the picnic, and quite willing to just sit with me while I shoveled down some food before I needed to get ready for my shift.

“So, is everything okay with Rhian?” she asked, a little furrow forming between her eyebrows.

Guilt lodged in my throat. I hadn’t felt too awful lying to Justin since his three-sixty back into predatory hottie with wicked eyes and a f**k-me smile was the sole reason I’d had to resort to lying in the first place. But lying to Ellie was a totally different ballgame and it made more than a little uneasy.

I mumbled around a mouthful of pasta, nodding and avoiding her eyes, hoping she’d get that I didn’t want to talk about it.

At her answering silence I glanced up and found her watching me curiously. I swallowed. “What?”

Ellie shrugged. “Just… when Justin was walking me home he said he thought maybe… that maybe you were lying about the call from Rhian so you could avoid the picnic.”

Jesus C, he had such an ego on him!

Never mind that he was right.

I guffawed. “What? Because of him?”

She shrugged again. “Was he right?”

More avoiding her eyes. “Nope.”

“Well, just so you know, I get the impression he’s planning something.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

She sighed leaning back in her chair. “With Justin you never know. I’ve just learned to recognize the signs. I know my brother better than he thinks I know him. You’re under his skin, Selena. I’m actually impressed he’s been so patient. Although, that probably means he’s planning on doing whatever it takes to get you.”

I was surprised, and couldn’t pretend I wasn’t. I sat back, momentarily abandoning my food. “Under his skin? Whatever it takes?”

“As much as my brother’s sex life makes me squeamish, I sometimes can’t avoid hearing about it, and what I hear is that Justin always gets what he wants.”

I snorted. “Please, Ellie, you think I’m what he wants? I’m not exactly his type. Selena Butler doesn’t come in Supermodel.”

Ellie looked adorably confused. “You’re kidding right?”

“Um… about what?”

“You.” She pointed at me indignantly. “You’re seriously hot, Selena. Okay, you don’t look like the pretty coat hangers Justin usually goes for, but you have those amazing eyes, that throaty sex-phone voice, a cup-size I’d die for, and this broody, standoffishness that’s completely at odds with the seriously cool and funny person you are. Believe me, I’ve heard the guys talking. You’re different, and guys being guys, they can’t help seeing that as a challenge. You’re hot.”

I was stunned that’s what I was.

Was that really how these people saw me? Embarrassed, I picked up my fork, mumbling, ‘whatever’.

I could feel my roommate’s smile without even looking up. “You need a mirror.”

I shrugged.

Then Ellie grew quiet and I found myself raising my gaze to make sure she was alright. She wasn’t smiling now. “No matter how much he denies it, Justin’s interested in you, Selena. He asks me about you a lot, which he’s never done before with anyone else and, believe me I’ve lost at least three friends he serial-dated out of my life. I don’t tell him much-

You told him about my family.

-because you don’t say much, so of course he’s even more intrigued. And like I said, Justin usually gets what he wants.”

“Please,” I huffed, “Give me a little more credit. I don’t just fall into a hot guy’s bed because he’s used to getting what he wants. Guess what? I’m used to getting what I want too. And what I want is not to fall into his bed.”

But it was like Ellie hadn’t even heard me. “If you don’t manage to resist, just be careful with him, okay. He’s been treated badly before, and I don’t want to see that happen again.”

Wide-eyed, I heard my fork clatter to my plate after my fingers dropped it of their own accord. They were in shock, as was the rest of me. “Wait. Are you worried about me hurting him?”

She smiled apologetically. “You’re a good person, which makes the fact that you don’t trust anyone, really hard for the people who care about you. And Justin, when he cares about someone, has to know everything so he can cover all the bases and protect them. He has to be a guy people can trust. It’s just who he is. If he started something with you, he’d only be hurt when you refuse to let him in.”

I only sort of took that in. Mostly, I just kept hearing ‘you’re a good person, which makes the fact that you don’t trust anyone, really hard for the people who care about you.’

“Am I hurting you, Ellie?” I didn’t want to admit how scared I was for her answer.

She exhaled heavily, seeming to weigh her words. “At first I was. But knowing that you don’t mean to hurt me helps. Do I wish you’d trust me more? Yes. Am I going to push it? No.” She stood up. “Just know that if you ever do decide to trust me, I’m here. And you can tell me anything.”

I felt my throat close up and I could only nod. In an effort to expel the moment, Ellie grinned down at me. “I’m going out tonight with Justin and Adam. I was kind of cool with Adam today. It pissed him off.”

Hmm, what are you up to, young lady? “Are you playing games with him?”

She scowled. “Yesterday I discovered he’d warned off Nicholas when he wanted to ask me out. So yes. I am.”

“Whoa, hold up.” I pushed my entire plate back now, totally confused. I’d met Nicholas. He was one of Ellie’s friends who hung out at the apartment sometimes. He was also a tutor in her department. “Adam did what?”

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motongraphics4time-blog · 8 years ago

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Motion Graphics Write Up

This is an essay I am writing to show and tell you about the theory, history and uses of this technique in many applications.

Theory

The theory of motion graphics and compositing video is what it is and ways it has been represented and used.

Motion graphics are bits of digital footage or animation that make the illusion of motion in an image or object even though it isn’t actually moving. The motion that is created can be anything from going left to right forwards and backwards; zooming in or out and rotating the whole scene. It also combined with audio and other multimedia projects.

These motion graphics are mostly shown through technology whether it be a screen or a projector. Some ways graphics were shown in motion in early days was with items such as:

Motion graphics helps us go beyond the most used methods of frame-by-frame footage and animation. With computers they can calculate and give random changes to the images whether it be distorted; made crisper or a change in colour or brightness.

With motion graphics you also have to know about compositing the video. Compositing is combining all the visual elements that you are using from different sources and putting all of them into a single images. This is usually to give the illusion of all the elements being together in the same scene even though they aren’t. This keeps the file size small and easier to use than large files with lots of effects making playing and loading the motion graphic longer and lagged.

When using live action shots for motion graphics a tool that’s used to make it easier to use in multiple scenes is Chroma Key. This is used when people are acting on a blue screen or green screen, what it does is get rid of that colour and then all you have is the actor and nothing else this helps then you can put them wherever you want like in space for example. This helps when adding particles and special effects to a scene to make stand out more from the regular stock video.

All compositing replaces the selected parts of the image with materials but not all the time sometimes they just use another image. With the digital method and software commands and slightly define colours better with parts of the image to get replaced. Then the software does its part of the job and changes out every pixel that’s in the colour range and changes it into another image.

Thaumatrope

This device was a visual toy that was popular at the 19th century. It was a disk that had pictures on both sides and attached to pieces of string. When the string spun quickly the pictures blended together to give the illusion of movement.

Phenakistoscope

The phénakisticope is a far known animation device the created a great illusion of motion. It is revered as one of the first forms of moving image media entertainment for its time and cleared the way for future pictures in the film industry. Now a days this would be known on the internet as a GIF animation a short loop of images moving to make an animation.

Stroboscope

The stroboscope or the strobe for short is an instrumental that uses a moving object and make it look slow moving or being still. It uses either a turning disk with holes or a lamp to give flashes of light. The rate can be changes from fast flashes to make it fast or slow to make it slow. So this was one of the first objects to use light to animate motion graphics.

Zoetrope

The zoetrope is another object that was used to animate images as one of the first motion graphics. It is a cylinder with holes cut in the sides. With images all around the side in a set of pictures. When the cylinder spins you look through one of the holes and as it spins you will see different images giving the illusion of movement. This came from the late 19th century and at the time other devices like this were showing up and the world of motion graphics got better and better.

Praxinoscope

This device came soon after the zoetrope and is known as its successor. It was an animation device made in France in 1877 by a man named Charles-Emile Reynaud. Similar to the zoetrope it uses strips of pictures around the spinning object to create movement in the animation. But with this it used circle holes instead of slits and later with lighting this create one of the earliest projectors used to show film.

Flip book

The flip book is now the most modern of this type of motion graphics. Where you draw the same action on a page and then move it little by little, page by page like stop motion but with drawings and paper.

These were the early days of motion graphics with simple devices but now with better technology and computers motion graphics is used in many new ways to make changes to the environment with appearance.

History

The history of motion graphics and compositing video began around the 1920s. Even though it started around this time its origin is unknown, the reason for this is because no one as accepted what the classification of motion graphics technology, and so the original art form of motion graphics is argued about to this day. Examples of this have been going back to the 1800s when devices were created to show the illusion of moving images. But the term “motion graphics” was first known by an animator called John Whitney, in 1960 created a company called Motion Graphics Inc.

This is important to know because this also links up to a man named Saul Bass. He is considered one of the pioneers of his time with his use of graphic design in the field. It’s believed that his work gave birth to the origin of motion graphics and Animation and how it was used from then on. Some of his best work in motion graphics includes title scene from movies like: The Man with the Golden Arm; Vertigo; Psycho and many more from that time of movie period.

Other ways motion graphics have been famously used in companies such as Disney. They would have been used to add more drama to a scene or make a subtle change in a scene to make it more smooth and soothing. Examples of this would be simulating depth to make a camera pan in to make it look like its zooming in but not at a weird angle.

Since then many other big names and companies tried to use this new technique of motion graphics to improve their media whether it be a cartoon or film, it was used to improve your films with little tweaks in colour or contrast or adding in effects later.

Uses of Motion Graphics

Motion graphic and Compositing video can be very useful to help with video editing and effects but you will need to know how it can be used by understanding the features that it uses.

Frame size

The frame size is an important part of motion graphics. It is what controls how many times images and video are sampled per second. It can also determine the type of output the video will be an example of this would be NTSC which has 30 frames per second while PAL frame rate is 25 fps. This is what would be used for a film. There are many other frame rate types and settings with their own speeds that can affect how fast or slow your video project may be.

This then effects the frame size which in after effects changes the size of the frames. This can change the borders of the video sometimes like aspect ratio of old TV’s that were 4:3 and most of today’s shows are 16:9.

Resolution

Resolution in motion graphics is the size and quality that the video will run at. This can be set from low quality like 480 x 720 to high quality like 1280 x 720. What this is creating the amount of pixels that are spanned around the size of screen. You would want a smaller resolution for smaller screens like mobile phones and bigger resolutions for desktops and TVs. The amount of pixels is different for every screen so it’s important to get the right amount so to keep good quality and not lose any.

There are some setting changes you can make when using after effects to help speed up the process of what you want to preview it as. Auto is exactly what it sounds like it adjusts the resolution depending on what you’re doing at the time. If it is small the resolution will be full if it is large it will be a quarter making the scene load faster.

Full is when it will renders ever pixel in the composition. It gives the best image quality to use however it is the longest to render. Half renders ¼ of the pixels in the resolution. It will load faster but will lose quality. Third and quarter are similar where it renders even less pixels to the resolution the quality will be low but it will load the fastest. Lastly is custom where you can change the horizontal and vertical resolutions to the settings you want.

Copy & Cut Keyframes

Copying and cutting keyframes is also is one of the most important and used feature in motion graphics. With this tool you can save so much time and fix mistakes easier with any keyframes of animation you have done in after effects whether it be with an image or video.

With copy you can duplicate the action of a key frame that was already done and put it ahead or behind another key frame to help create the animation. This can save so much time and make things easier especially if you are making an animation loop in after effects. Cut is where you take out keyframes this can be used to take out a mistake or there is one too many and you want the action on the screen to be faster. This is what copying and cutting keyframes is and how it is used in motion graphics.

Keyframe assistant

The keyframe assistant is used in after effects to help in motion graphics by using its graph feature to help soften or slow down or speed up into keyframes. It reads like a line graph where there are up and downs and each point and the distance between them determine the speed and smoothness of the animation. You can use this tool to make editing your animations easier by changing the distance between these points to speed up or slow down the animation at the parts you want it to. This is what this tool is and how it is used.

Rasterising

Rasterising in motion graphics is when you bring in a vector graphics that you have gotten or created and after effects automatically rasterises them but if you want to change the size of the layer and the graphics is over 100% then it needs to be constantly maintained to keep up a good image quality. This is known as continuous rasterizing and is based on with Illustrator SWF PDF and EPS files. While using this it will need to continually tweak it and will have the highest quality but it will render slow.

Motion paths

Motion paths in motion graphics is when you are animating properties like Position, Anchor Points and more. You can see the motion of a path as a line of dots and where each dot is, is where the position of layer will be on each frame and a box at the end would be the start and end keyframes of that path. So what it is in general is an easier way to visually see and create movement animation in after effects with your layers. Examples of this would be using it on a car or plane vector driving down a road or flying and doing a loop. It can help you keep track of where it is going and you can change the path in case you decide you don’t want it to take that path anymore.

Interpolation

Another tool in After Effects that’s useful in motion graphics is Interpolation. This is the action of filling in unknown data in the middle of tow values you have set. You would make a set of keyframes for the specific property values and specific times. It fills in the values within the space of all the keyframes you have set. What this means is that interpolation is just another way of saying it fills in the rest of the gaps between the two keyframes you have set, it would also be called tweening. When the space has been filled you can then animate the movement, effect or audio that you have set up on the keyframes and interpolation will change with it.

Drop shadows

Drop shadows are an effect the can be used to help give your video a better look than a plain one without it however it all depends on what you are making the video for. It can be applied to text and graphics and gives the illusion of it floating or a lighting to make it look 3D as if it is cast on a background. It can give your video a more dynamic effect and add some realism.

Effects

After effects has so many effects that can be used in motion graphics this can be from small changes like drop shadows to change in colour and lighting to much bigger changes like the use green screens using keylight. Other effects that are used would be motion blur and distortion the blur would be used to make something hard to see in backgrounds or foregrounds to look like a camera focusing or making something look faster than it is and distortion could be used for dream sequences.

There are many more effects that after effects has that help to create a motion graphic and each one has its own unique use so it’s important to know about them and what each one does to make a good motion graphic.

Layers

Layers are what make up the composition of after effects. If there were no layers there would be nothing but empty frames. You can use many layers or just one layer it all depends on what you are trying to create. You can make many types of different layers of after effects for different files and objects. You can have video and audio layers for the base that you are using for a background or the main focus. You can then add images and text for titles, vectors or logos.

Other layers than can be made serve a specific job like making cameras, lights, adjustment layers and null objects which can be used to enhance or apply effects to change the composition of the other layers. You can also create solid colour layers for items like title bars or black bars you see in films. Synthetics layers can be made to hold visual objects like shapes and text layers. Lastly the Precomposition layers are what hold all of the source items that you use.

Adjustment layers

Adjustment layers are layers that are used to apply an effect to and when you do this the effect will only affect that layer it has been applied to and nothing else. But it can be independently adjusted to other layers as well. This is useful because any effect that was put onto the adjustment layer affects any layer that is under this layer so the effect will affect your video source while not actually applied to it.

This is helpful because you can just turn the layer on and off to see what the original source looked like before the effect was added. It is also helpful because you can apply many effects to an adjustment layer and like other layers you can change how those effects behave with keyframes and expressions.

Masks

Masks are a very useful feature that use the shape and pen tool a lot. The mask is a path used to make a boundary that changes the attributes, effects and properties of the layer it has been applied to. The most known mask is the one that modifies on the alpha channel of layers, this then decides the transparency of the layer in every pixel.

Another common mask uses is a path. This is mostly used along with text to make it appear behind something like a still sign or a passing car. You can either use the shape tool to make box or circle shaped masks to make it look like you’re looking through a keyhole or use the pen tool to make a custom shape for the mask.

Mattes

Mattes are an image or video clips that is used to make another transparent into other video clips and images. There are two basic track mattes alpha mattes and luma mattes. The alpha lends its own transparency to make it work on another clip of the composite and luma gives supply to the luma channel which changes brightness to match the transparency of the alpha matte.

An example of this being used would be having the video being seen through text or an image. This can create good contrast and impact and get a good message across and is a good use in motion graphics.

RAM preview

The RAM preview is the main way you interact with the composition when you are checking how your composition video or motion graphic is doing so far. You can play it to preview the animation to see if it is what you wanted or if you need to make changes by taking parts out, adding more or tweaking the animation. You can also play it back and check audio levels as well to make sure the sound is playing right at each part and on que or if there is no sound at all.

However how well the video plays back all depends on how big the after effects file is and how good the RAM in your computer is if it is not very good it can take a while for playback to happen or if you have a good RAM it will playback fine.

Rendering & Filters

Rendering is when you are finished creating your motion graphic or composite video and you have to save it out as the finished product of a video file. However you will have to change around with the settings for the best file type to save it out as, you would pick the file type like AVI or QuickTime MOV and see what one gives out the best quality while still being efficient and not take up too much file space.

Filters are what is used to mix or separate the many parts that you are using in your project. It can help with finding a certain colour you are looking for make objects in their scene easier to find. They can also be used to help manage plugin when bring them into after effects it can help manage them.

Compression & Exporting

Compression is when you are reducing the size of the video that has been made. This is done so that it can be played back well and has a smaller file size to save space on a hard drive and making sure to keep it high quality. You can compress a video by using an encoder, an encoder this can decode to make the video big again or encode to compress to make it smaller, they are also known as codecs. Every codec has different settings of compression so it is best to find one that works for you video to get good quality and still have a small file size. An example of this would be a codec that is better used for animated videos rather than real life videos taken on a camera or a different choice of codec that works for slow networks.

Exporting is when you are finished rendering and compressing your project and want to create the final product. You will set up a folder for the finished video to be saved in when it is rendering. You can change where it goes and the name of the movie. It is important to name your project when exporting it to make it easier to find in case you have a lot of other work in the same folder.

Blue screen & Green screen uses

Blue screens and Green screens are used all the time in this day and age the reason for this is it makes it easier to insert objects into other places like a person talking in front of a green screen could then be anywhere like a beach or a news office. You can also use this to help create masks and ad special effects like explosion.

The difference between these two is a blue screen are better to use for still background scenes like someone looking over or holding onto an edge of a building and green screens are better for movement like someone preforming an action like running or picking up something. The reason for this is blue is a darker colour than green and there can be a lot of colour left on the person having a blue outline around them when taken off and put into a different scene. Green screens are better because the colour is farthest away from the human skin tone making it easier to preform actions so when put into another scene there is less interference of green around the person when using a green screen.

Compositing software

Compositing software is software that’s used in post-production to compile scenes in films or making motion graphics, special effects and colour correction. There are different types of software with their own unique techniques and similar ways of doing the same thing although some software’s make it easier than others. Examples would be After Effects or Sony Vegas pro.

TV formats (PAL, NTSC)

When compositing video or making a motion graphic make sure when rendering, compressing and exporting you need sure you are picking the right format especially when making it for TV. There specific formats that can be chosen to make your project have the best quality and is the right resolution for that format. Examples would be PAL and NTSC. PAL is the colour encoding system that is used to put video to DVDs and is the used broadcast setting in European television while NTSC is the same for DVDs NTSC mostly used for formats on American TV.

Frame rate

Frame rate is what decides the amount of times it will be played per second and how its split up between each from on the time display and timeline. When using this the frame rate should match the output that you have set an example would be if using NTSC you would set it to 29.97 fps or if making a film it would be 24 fps.

Colours

Colours have many use in after effects. You can use them to help categorise certain layers in the timeline so you know what is audio, videos, or vectors. It is also important to have good colour management to make sure you are using the colours you want or making sure you are using the right colours for a client. It also helps with so many colour options in effects to give your video a certain look to match the theme you are going for. Examples of this would be showing a cold place you would use of white and blues to make everyone feel cold when looking at it or lots of reds and oranges for a warm scene by the fire to make the environment look cosy.

Safe areas

Safe areas are important to use in after effects because they help judge the placement of images and video when using borders for the video as well. What safe areas are is helpful visual guides you can create to help know where to place the video and the best part is they aren’t seen in the final video. They also are showing the watchable area video screens so that nothing is left out and everything is on screen and not off screen. Examples of this would be the old 4:3 ratio and 16:9 ratio.

These are all the uses that can see, find and use in composition video and motion graphics to make a great product.

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