#best worst hobby

[skloomdumpster]

Youtuber voice: make a gifset with me :)

alright folks, welcome to another episode of Jo talking to the void. Gonna try and do a "follow my process" thing.

It's very- VERY long and image heavy. Under the cut and feel free to send me an ask if you have any questions/want me to elaborate on anything.

Part 1: Grab at any idea that sparks joy. Anything. Today mine is the word "horror", so we'll try and do a horror set.

Part 2: Scene analysis and reference hunting. I'll open a new folder on my pc named "Horror gifset" and dump there all the FTWS scenes I already have and that I think could be fun. Open pinterest and behance and type "horror", see if anything sparks an idea.

This takes me roughly 20 mins, here's what I have:

I try to take a step back and see what is it about these designs that attracted me. Clearly the red & black contrast, Bloom and I actually just like the "police line" because of the amount of storytelling it brings by doing basically nothing. (Don't be fooled, I saved many many pics before narrowing it down)

Part 3: To me this is the hardest one. I want to have a small storyline in my gifset, so time to think of it. I open a notes document and just start typing whatever comes to mind, trying to keep the mood of the previous images.

Here's what I landed on. It's not much, but I can now start the fun part of structuring the gifset.

Part 4: I've really been into layout lately, so now's the time to do math.

The first panel I knew I wanted to have the text centered in the middle and surrounded by the mini-gifs. Here are the two layouts I thought of. I decided to go with the second one because it's more interesting, but I already knew I'd tweak a lot, to resemble an actual police line, etc.

I separated all of the scenes from 2x06. Both when Bloom is arrested and when she's released, considering I could use them in reverse.

When making layouts the only things to keep in mind is that the dashboard optimal width is 540 px and that the space in between every piece of "frame" you put within a gif is 2px. So let's say I was going with the square layout 1. It's 540 px width, BUT I can't just divide 540/3 and make that the size of my layout, because I need to account for the space in between the squares too. So the math is actually 540 - 4 (because I have three columns - two gaps)/3 = 178 px. All the squares in that image are 178 x 178.

On Scene grabbing: I do everything I can to use footage that's high quality. This is the easiest way for your gifs to come out pretty, avoid anything lower than 1080. Especially if you're grabbing a scene that'll need loads of adjustments like a night scene or a period piece with too much yellow, grab even higher quality than 1080.

When I work with Redeeming Love's footage, I work with 4k quality, because I know I'm about to destroy the quality by adjusting it.

I mean look at the amount of yellow.

I t*rrent all my scenes in MKV, then use Avidmux to chop the entire movie/show into smaller sized scenes and convert it into mp4.

Part 5: Back to the set. Once I have the basic layout, I pull in my scenes and check if they make sense. One big tip is to stop thinking of scenes as what you watched, but as what you're seeing.

Scenes meaning are very easily altered by whatever context they're put in. Look for scenes in unexpected places (the romantic scene can absolutely be horror footage) and reverse the order or add in effects to alter their meaning.

Each one of these gifs had it's own peculiarities. So to break it down:

Gif 1: I colored it to bring out the black and added the blue because I knew I wanted to use overwhelming red later and this would pop-out. Shaded the white streaks so they'd appear more like police lines and colored them using a gradient just so it'd be more interesting. I didn't like how Bloom's upper part lined up with the cuffs, so I inverted it and brought out the red

Gif 2: First off, I scavenged my memory to try and find a scene where a character appears with white eyes like Bloom's. This poor fella is from The Covenant (2005). I color matched both Bloom's and his scenes so the green was neutralized and we had more blue and red. Then finally I added the phone where the actual storyline I wrote back up starts to unfold.

Gif 3.1: First off, this gif is 540 width, but not 540 px tall. It's actually 400 px tall, which is a good tip: You don't have to stick to one format when giffing. Sometimes a layout or scene simply won't work in a tall format and that's fine.

For this first part all I did was color Bloom, slap the all red color map and the text. Then I realized I didn't like her swimsuit under blending, so I went back and specifically desaturated the red in the starting layer and made it dark, so it'd show up black. The "20 years" are subtle, but in my head it'd be what the characters are hearing in their nightmare, so it's just a faint whisper in the corner.

Gif 3.2: I colored all scenes to match each other. Sky's was the darkest one, so I knew I'd try and match to his because then I wouldn't have to destroy the quality of his footage to match the others. Musa's scenes was tricky because in the actual scene she's waking up slowly and happy. I chose to speed it up and start the gif already in her movement, so you don't realize she's actually very relaxed in the scene.

Gif 4: I started by coloring Bloom and Riven's footage, reducing the yellow and bringing out the blue and red in both. As you can see there's still a candle behind Riven, that makes it hard to see his face, so what I did was add a black shape under (or you could paint a layer in PS) with black and just blur the edges, so his footage would actually show. Finally there was that big empty spot in the upper left, so I added a note and used it to wrap up the story of the set.

There are two layers of text, both set to multiply: one is the actual text, the second one is in a brighter red and blurred in one direction, so it looks like the text got smeared in a rush. Added the blood and ta-da! We're done.

Exporting:

If you're exporting from After Effects, I've found exporting in MOV works better than trying to export in mp4, since it doesn't compress the file. You'll notice I'm using the format "apple ProRes 444", that's simply because this format keeps the alpha channel (transparent). While I didn't need it in this set, it's an habit.

Once I export from after effects, we're importing in Photoshop.

I import by going File > Import > Video Frame to Layers. Then you select your file and you should have this:

Hit OK.

If you don't have the timeline here, simply go in "Window > Timeline"

You'll end up with something like this. Now here's the most boring part of giffing, but don't give up now!

Go on the 3 lines on the bottom right of the timeline (=) and click on "select all frames". Once they're all selected, click the little down arrow under the little thumbnails to change the timing. I change mine from 0.04 to 0.05

Then I select all my LAYERS (not frames), put them inside a group. And click:

On this little piled up icon to transform into the video timeline. This is so we can sharpen our gifs.

Right Click on top of the group on the layers panel and select "convert to smart object". Then in the upper bar, click Filter > Sharpen> Smart Sharpen and use these settings:

This is what makes gifs look clear and crispy.

FINALLY we're saving. You can do it manually, like a peasant, by going on file > export > save for web (legacy). Or you can play keyboard piano and hit alt+shift+ctrl+s.

These are my export settings.

Things to keep in mind:

"Diffusion" is just one of the types of exporting you can do. TWEAK THIS for every gif. Sometimes very detailed gifs will look better with Pattern. Very colorful ones with Diffusion. It varies a lot.

"Adaptive" is just another way the pixels are laid out. I don't actually see much difference here, but I always tweak on all settings, just to make sure I'm getting the best quality by the smaller size.

On the bottom left you'll see your size. Mine is currently 6.82M. All you have to know is that Tumblr won't allow any gif bigger than 9.8M.

Looping Options: make sure it's in forever, otherwise your gifs won't play.

And then... finally, hit save.

....

Now rinse repeat and do this for 200 other gifsets, because it's a totally fun hobby to have!

[redbelles]

wip tag game

rules: share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that starts with each letter of the word you've been given!

tagged by: @carry-the-sky 🩵 who gave me TIME

area woman has [checks notes] a million wips from a million different fandoms, so there's a lot going on here:

The darkness is almost more intimate than she can bear. She guides him toward the bed, urges him down onto the mattress. She makes a halfhearted attempt to shrug out of her blouse before he takes over, deft fingers working at the buttons and then the clasp of her bra, stripping her to the skin. “Like riding a bike,” he jokes, startling a huff of laughter out of her. “My lingerie never stood a chance.” “Mm." The rasp of his voice is painfully tender. "I know the feeling.”

— gonna stand here in the ache

It's an absurd thought, as lemon-sharp as the jealousy, but it's true. How many letters did Gale write her from that frozen hell in Germany? More than those Kraut bastards ever let through, but she knows for a fact that he mentioned John in every damn one of them. Darling, he wrote, you'll never guess who walked through those gates yesterday, joy and terror radiating up from the paper in equal measure, so clear she could feel it all herself.

— the chimneys hardly ever fall down

Minutes pass, five at first, and then five more. Nothing. I should— The wind returns, lashing and furious as it howls in from the west, thick with the rising scent of ozone. It fills her lungs in an instant, voltaic and choking and terribly, horribly familiar. The clouds are all wrong for a storm. She’s running by the time the sound reaches her: the shriek of a thousand birds chorusing in the distance, a song that heralds slaughter.

— [unposted gift fic for @hyperphonic]

Exhaustion weighs on her bones, heavy and drugging. She struggles against it, useless and frightened, like an animal in a trap. “I’m tired,” she says again. “I’m so tired, and I can’t—” Her breath hitches, body shuddering around a sob that never comes. “Why, Jon?” If he responds, she does not hear it. She is far away, watching herself from some great distance as Jon guides her from the hearth to her bed, fumbling with the furs until she’s hidden beneath them, warm as winter will allow. Ghost, standing sentinel by her door, abandons his post to join her. His red eyes burn into her as they do in dreams, bloody and knowing.  She expects Jon to leave her then, but he doesn’t. He sinks into the lone chair beside the hearth, staring fixedly at the floor as exhaustion begins to bury her, icy and numbing like drifts of snow, deep and deeper still.  Her scars—his scars—ache, dull and distant, steady as a heartbeat. There are shadows gathered like bruises beneath his eyes.  His face is the last thing she sees before she falls into the blackness of sleep.

— our hands are cold, the moon sets low

tagging: @sluttyhenley @meyerlansky @littlelindentree @ladywaffles @aramblingjay and anyone else who wants a go; your word is SING ✨

[goldkirk]

Sharing one of the more powerful quotes from this current chapter of The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945.

The situation, where even heroism was denied the men of the democratic Left, came about in no small part because of the failure of the Social Democrats to understand the nature of Nazism. Just as their basic premise in the years before Hitler came to power was the erroneous assumption that the Nazis were essentially Putsch-ists who could not possibly attract a mass following, so their basic premise after Hitler came to power was the equally erroneous assumption that his would be a government similar to the others of the Weimar period.

The most eloquent document on this was the set of instructions sent out to SPD Locals in District Hanover on March 23, 1933. It was filled with instructions about sending for handbooks on Socialist policy in communal affairs and filling out questionnaires; in short, carrying on business as usual. The only reference to the phenomenon of Nazism was contained in paragraph seven;

Will the election of our village and town representatives be approved? That is a question which is repeatedly being asked. The question is unanswerable because we do not know what this government will do. However, in any case, we must, now as always, select trustworthy comrades as village representatives wherever we have a majority. Should they later not be sworn in, then we will take a position on this. Under no circumstances should we value any of our rights cheaply.

This at a time when SPD leaders were having their houses searched in the middle of the night for weapons! This when the officers of the Reichsbanner were being herded into jail by Storm troopers, beaten in the prisons across Germany, cast into Nazi concentration camps! The SPD, the only defenders of democracy in Germany, the men who should have been gathering guns and calling the general strike, or at least developing an underground with passwords, false names, and other paraphernalia of effective covert resistance, were instead being urged to keep the party files in order, to avoid bookkeeping errors, and above all to purchase the latest pamphlet on parliamentary tactics in village councils.

If the central offices of the SPD did not know “what this government will do,” the local socialist leaders in Northeim soon found out.

(the book goes on to describe the experiences of five Northeim Social Democrats over multiple pages of raids, imprisonment, misery, and persecution)

[cienie-isengardu]

Mortal Kombat 1 Behind the Scenes AU: Since when you two are friends?!

[Cage’s Mansion] [Waiting for Liu Kang] [Special Bonus] [Grandmaster’s commentary] [Climbing scene] [Madam Bo’s Inn] [Cage’s Mansion 2 (fire extinguisher)] [Medic] [Shang Tsung’s sad face] [Smoke’s Fall] [Scenography (1)] [Scenography (2)] [Show off!] [Favorite brother] [Climbing on the wall (nonsense)] [Tomas’ commentary] [Perfectly fine] [Sexy, sexy man~♪] [Brothers between filming - Scenography(3)] [Wrong team!]

[sunlightfeeling]

tbh if i could go to a SMAP concert that was regarded as a “public rehearsal” i would be just as, if not more, ecstatic about seeing them…

Music Station: 2005.7.29

[azumasoroshi]

the shizu-chan song

just discovered the shizu-chan song by none other than johnny yong bosch. help me

id transcribe if i didnt have a final in 10 hours. maybe when i get back

oh nvm someone already wrote them out

this has similar energy as the bro duet song but like. in reverse bgskjdghjkgsd the no homo is for real

plus an animatic version and amv version because holy hell this is old

[keptthepieces]

tumblr friends u will never believe it but i started writing again

[miagkoi]

mommy issues monday: somehow the minute my mother gets home any notion of any kind of productivity just disappears from my body. the same when we are in different cities and after even the shortest phonecall I feel like dropping whatever plans I had bcs there's no energy or motivation left in me. I've been beyond needing praise from her for years now I just need her not to shit all over it and call it worthless and useless. I've been hiding whatever I'm doing from when I can so I have a chance at getting it done.

I'm so glad we are both insane in our own unique ways ❤

[parasafterdark]

Queer MaDD culture is daydreaming about your deathgame participants figuring out a clue while you're literally, physically, in this very moment, are dancing behind a Pride Parade float

Normal adult human play!

[shallowseeker]

Thank you for writing about a Sam who's kinda aware of Destiel, but also not aware of Destiel, and who's a know-it-all but knows nothing at the same time. I love it so much! Not that I'm knocking Sam's intelligence, but I get so tried of how he gets portrayed in fics, like he knows Caveman Dean's thoughts and emotions better than Dean knows them himself. Also kudos on how you wrote Cas and Sam annoying each other. I lulzed several times. -gem

Thx! It was inspired by all the dean-positive/pro-complex sam meta writers I follow. Very fun to play with!

[fourohfourlifenotfound]

Hey other people with chronic pain that flares up with activity

How do you overcome the pavlovian conditioning to associate activities that you need/want to do with pain?

[musical-chick-13]

Okay, I figured it out. It's not "They would not fucking say that" that's the problem. It's "The overall trends in ways HOW people rewrite characters in fanworks in accordance with preexisting biases never ceases to be incredibly frustrating" that drives me up the wall.

It doesn't matter if a given person doesn't write the women "in-character" because everything's made up and the points don't matter. But when there's an overall trend of making her into the One-Dimensional Bitch character just so a main ship has An Obstacle, I think that deserves examination.

When the characters in a fandom who are allowed redemption aus are overwhelmingly white and the characterizations of the poc are overwhelmingly "Violent in ways they aren't in canon," yeah, I think that deserves examination.

When white (conventionally attractive) male villainous behavior gets subsumed under the umbrella of "He's just mentally ill" and no such grace or nuance is extended to literally any other type of character (including ones who explicitly CANONICALLY suffer from mental illness), I think that deserves examination.

No, fandom is not activism, no, people don't owe you a nuanced portrayal of social issues in their meta or fanfic. No, not all examples of interpreting characters through various lenses are malicious or speak to pRoBLeMaTiC (GOD I am rolling my eyes so hard at my use of this word) behavior. I just think that, if we really care about dismantling structural inequality, we have to examine how we reflect and perpetuate it in ALL aspects of our lives; which, yes, is going to have to include our hobbies sometimes.

[redbelles]

It’s been three years since the wedding, and he’s run out of excuses not to visit. They’re expecting him today. Marge said as much in her last letter, the lovely slant of her cursive telling him she’d have supper waiting for him. The faintest whiff of her perfume clung to the paper, something soft and floral.

Five o’clock on the dot. Italian, she promised. Your favorite.

the chimneys hardly ever fall down a john/gale/marge fic by @redbelles

[red-dyed-sarumane]

whats an activity void likes to do that most wouldn’t expect of them?

beyond photo editing void is not an artistic type they cant draw they dont write they cant play any instruments nor do they have any real interest in it BUT when they feel like treating themself they attempt latte art although more often than not its hot cocoa art than coffee art & also they arent particularly good at it & it doesnt often look like anything but its a little task that gets their mind off things for a moment & they like doing.

[dexteritymisdirectionsuggestion]

The best part of being in crafty spaces is playing the "quirky lesbian or weird christian tradwife" game.

[theworstwitchforever]

The Worst Witch forever/4life