#plays in the section 6 preview of the same name

[hoyotunes]

Unknown Area, Signal Disconnected… from Hyper Commission: Teaser Soundtrack Yang Wutao, Sān-Z, HOYO-MiX

[dingyuxi]

COMPREHENSIVE GIFFING TUTORIAL (vapoursynth + ps cc 2018) + some tips and tricks on color correction, blending and subtitles

You guys asked for it, so here we are! This is by no means the gold standard to giffing. Rather, this is simply my process and my own preferences. Take it as you will. Additionally��since I use a mac some of my controls/panels may look different than what you would see for windows users.

DOWNLOADING YOUR SOURCE

This step is extremely important to the quality of your gifset. If you want high-quality gifs I would recommend giffing sources in 1080p whenever possible (especially if you’re going for larger dimensions). You may get away with 720p for smaller gifs. For kdramas, your go-to source would be dr*maday or torrents. (you can search my faq tag if you’d like to know specifics on finding and downloading torrents).

IMPORTING + PROCESSING YOUR FILES WITH VAPOURSYNTH (VS)

Please note that this tutorial does not cover basic installation and set-up of vs. If you would like to know how to download and set-up vapoursynth (it works for both mac and pc) along with some of it’s basics you can find more information at: https://hackmd.io/@nibreon/vapoursynth-book/%2F%40nibreon%2Fvapoursynth-book

Once you’ve identified what portion of your video you’d like to gif, simply drag your video file into VS. Specify the start time and duration of the clip you’d like to import. Typically you’ll be aiming for ~3-8 second clip depending on how big your gifs will be. I am very lazy when it comes to importing. The less of it I have to do, the better. Therefore, I often import clips that are 10-15 seconds long, sometimes even up to 20 seconds. I wouldn’t recommend going over 15 seconds most of the time though, because this will usually bring you over the 500 frames photoshop allows you to import at once. (when I do go over, I will sometimes import the processed VS file into PS in segments). You can also choose to import the VS output as segments if you want all your gifs on separate canvases. (I'll go into more detail on this later)

Once you’ve imported the clip into VS your screen should roughly look like this once the resizer pops up:

In the top left is where you will be applying your cropping, sharpening and denoising filters. Cropping: Keep in mind the Tumblr dimensions: 540px for full-width gifs and 268px for half size gifs, 177/178/177px for 3 gifs across. The height is completely up to your own preference. Usually I work in 540x300px. Once you edit those parameters you can drag/resize your video file to fit your new canvas. Sharpening + Denoising: You can choose to skip this if you would rather sharpen in ps. I personally do all my cropping, denoising and sharpening in vs. I use finesharp and KNML for sharpening and denoising respectively. Once you select those two filters from their drop down menus, be sure the select the checkbox as well. You should now notice 2 additional lines of code in the top right box. The line that reads: video = core.knlm.KNLMeansCL(video, 0, 6, 4, 1.2, channels="YUV") is where you will adjust your denoising parameters. You will only be adjusting those 4 numbers. I usually use: 0, 1, 0, 1.2. Now find the line that reads: video = hnw.FineSharp(video, sstr=0.22). These are your sharpening parameters. once again we’re only adjusting the number at the end. I typically use somewhere between 0.33-0.55. Depending on the quality of your source and preferences these parameters may change. 

Here is a breakdown of the KNML parameters (source: @/nibreon HackMD):

Once you have finalized your parameters, copy all the code in that top right box and paste it into your vapoursynth editor. Note: you can ‘inactivate’ certain lines of code by adding the # symbol at the start the line. That line of code will then be greyed-out. This is what your code should now look like (the highlighted section is the part I just copy and pasted):

If you would like to preview your filters and see if you need to make any adjustments, simply navigate to the top bar and select script > preview. If you like what you see, great! If not, you can adjust the parameters directly in the editor until you see a result you’re happy with. Once you’re happy you can move onto the final step in vs: processing. 

Processing: Once again, navigate to the top bar and select script > encode video. Another window should pop up. Make sure you set ‘header’ to ‘Y4M’ then click ‘start’. Patiently wait for that to finish processing. The longer your clip is and the more filters you add, the longer it will take. 

IMPORTING YOUR CLIP INTO PHOTOSHOP (PS)

Now you’re done with the vapoursynth section! Not too hard, right? I use the timeline method when I gif. To import your video file into ps navigate to file > import > video frames to layers. Here you can use the sliders to further specify what range you would like to import. Make sure the ‘make frame animation’ box is checked. To optimize smoothness of your gif, avoid checking the ‘limit to every _ frames’ box. Hit ‘OK’ and wait for the frames to import. Depending on the size of your clip, ps may notify you that you are importing a large file and it may take a long time to process, simply say ‘ok’ to this. UNLESS you get a message saying it will limit to 500 frames. This means your clips contained more than 500 frames and you should select a smaller section to avoid cutting out any critical parts. (Note: you can always go back and repeat this process to select a smaller range of frames from the same video clip until you’ve imported all the frames you need).

Timing: You can adjust the timing of your gifs before converting to timeline. Select all the frames (Navigate to the icon with the 4 bars at the bottom right of you screen. Select “select all frames”). Click the drop down next to the timing of any of the frames. Select ‘other’ and input a your preferred timing. I personally use ‘0.04′ but I've seen people use anywhere from 0.4-0.8ms. Also as a note: when you convert your gif to timeline it has a tendency to mess up your timing so even if you input 0.04 or 0.05 it won’t actually be that timing later. If you want the true frame rate you can set your timing right before saving. You can also adjust timing at the end. (see export/saving gif section for more info)

Now the next part can be tedious and for that reason I’ve created numerous actions to speed up this process. But for the sake of this tutorial I will walk you through the steps. At the bottom of your screen is your timeline. As you can see, it defaults to frames, but we want to convert this into a smart object so that all your coloring/edits are made to all of the layers. To do this: 1) Navigate to the icon with the 4 bars at the bottom right of you screen. Select “select all frames” 2) Now select all your layers in your layer panel. On mac you can use cmd + option + A as a shortcut. 3) Back to the icon with the 4 bars, select “convert to video timeline” 4) Right click on all layers (which should still all be selected) and find “convert to smart object”

(Aside: Actions) actions are SUPER helpful to streamlining your giffing process. you can find actions people have made available on resource blogs like itsphotoshop OR you can choose to make your own custom actions. To do this, all you need to do is locate your action panel. Then from the controls at the bottom of the panel select the one that looks like a sheet of paper to “create a new action” Once you’ve named it and hit ‘ok’ the record icon should now be red. PS will now basically ‘record’ whatever you do. To stop recording hit the square icon. Now whenever you want ps to execute the same set of steps you just did, you can locate the action you just made and ‘play’ it by selecting the triangle icon. I highly recommend making an action for the steps I just outlined above to convert your gif into a smart object timeline. It will make your process much faster and more painless. 

COLORING

Now the fun part! I focus on emphasizing the colors already present in the video source or getting rid of some less-than desirable overtones when I color. It gives the gif a natural look, but makes everything pop a little more. We will be working with selective color, curves, levels, and brightness/contrast mostly. This is the original gif I will be using to demonstrate coloring:

Curves: I always start with curves. The first curve layer I use to set a desirable black point. To do this, locate the top dropper icon from the curves panel and select the darkest point of your image. This will set that section to “true black” Feel free to play around with this until you find a desirable outcome. Now add another curves layer. This one we will be using to adjust the brightness/contrast. First, I always start off with ‘auto’ and see where that takes me. If you like the outcome, great! If you don’t play around with the different curve points until you get an outcome you like. 

Selective Color: This adjustment layer will be your best friend. For me, I will typically work with reds, yellows, and black. If the source has a lot of blue/cyan I will use those too. Basically look at your source and determine which base colors you’d like to emphasize/alter. For blacks I usually up the black by +1-5 depending on the source. For reds, it also depends on the source. But I will typically either decrease cyan (to make red stand out more) or increase cyan (to make the red not look so overexposed). You want to be careful here. Overexposing the red can make your skin tones look like red tomatoes! And for my content base, where most of the actors are of asian descent, we should be emphasizing the yellows and NOT the reds (see aside on color correction + skin tones for more info). After altering the reds to my liking, I do the same process for the yellows. To bring back natural skin tones and color, you will likely want to darken the yellows, expose them a bit more and maybe even  up the yellow slider. A common rule of thumb: if you want to make any of the colors less exposed, increase the cyan. If you want to increase exposure on any of the colors, decrease the cyan. If you want a color to appear more strongly or prominently, increase the black. The magentas and yellows I use more to adjust hues. You can add multiple selective color layers to further emphasize your changes. 

Levels: Now we will work on the lighting some more. This creates more contrast and depth to your gif, often making them look ‘crisper’ To emphasize the bright parts, move the right-hand slider to the left. The emphasize the dark parts, move the left-hand slider to the right. You may also choose to move the middle slider to adjust more neutral lighting. Do so until you find a setting to your liking. 

Miscellaneous: Depending on your gif you may need to play with other adjustment layers. Some other ones I often use are the brightness/contrast and exposure to adjust lighting and add more dimension to the gif. For additional color correction I use color balance and to a lesser extent hue/saturation and vibrance. 

(Aside: Color correction + skin tones): We are anti-whitewashing and anti-redwashing when it comes to asian media. Like I mentioned earlier, natural asian skin tones have yellow undertones, not red/pink. Therefore when you’re bringing in color you should be mindful of this delicate balance. Adding more red does NOT equal un-whiteashing. Be VERY careful how you balance the yellows with selective color/hues/color balance.

^^ Here is an example of what I mean by overexposing the reds. Poor seungho is looking as sunburnt as a cherry tomato. Note: if your original source is already overexposed with red, fix it! You can do this by applying the same basic principles I explained earlier. Try upping the cyan on the reds in selective color, or shifting the color balance to favor cyan over red with the color balance adjustment layer. You may also choose to favor the yellow over blue.

^^ Now this is straight-up whitewashing. This is what happens when you are not careful with your correction of yellow. I’m not saying you can’t touch the yellow slider or get rid of some yellow form the overall image (because sometimes it is very much needed), but you should be very mindful how your corrections can affect skin tones. If you decide to decrease saturation of yellows, or decrease yellow in the selective color section of the reds, do so with caution. If your reds are looking too pink, add some yellow in the red selective color, up the yellow and black of the yellow selective color.

^^ If you hit that happy medium, you can emphasize the natural skin tones without overexposure. Here the underlying tones are very much still in the yellow range. 

(Aside: Blending): I will very briefly talk about how to blend two gifs together. First make sure you’ve imported both your gifs into ps and converted them into the timeline format. On one of the gifs, right click the gif layer in the layer panel > duplicate layer > select the canvas of the gif you’d like to blend the gif with. On the canvas you just copied your second gif to, you can now drag the two layers around the on the canvas to get your desired positioning. On the top gif apply a layer mask. This can be found in your layers panel at the bottom, and is indicated by the white rectangle with the circle. Next, make sure you select the mask in the layer panel (it will show up as a white rectangle on the layer you applied the mask). Grab your paintbrush tool and make sure your color is set to black. Now you can effectively ‘erase’ the part of the top gif you don’t want to show anymore. I recommend setting your brush hardness to 0% to get a smoother transition. You can also play with the opacity settings. If you want to add back in a part you erased, just switch to a white paintbrush and you will be able to undo what you had just ‘erased’ with the black. When you merge the gifs, they will play the same number of frames. This means your blended gif length is limited by the gif with the fewer number of frames. You can move around your timeline layer and shorten the included portion by dragging either end of the timeline layer in until you get both gifs to play the parts you want.

CAPTIONS/SUBTITLES

I often get asked about my subtitle font/styling settings. Personally I find the best fonts for subtitles are calibri and arial. I use calibri with the following settings: 12-14px, bold italic plus faux bold, 1px black stroke (optional: drop shadow set to ‘multiply’ at around 85% opacity), and tracking (VA) set to 75. If you would like your subtitles to fade-in or fade-out you can apply the ‘fade effect’. Locate the b/w square icon in your timeline panel. Select fade and drag it onto your text layer in your timeline. You can then right click on the wedge shape to adjust your fade duration. I usually use 0.35s. If you drag and drop the effect towards the beginning of your text you can get the fade-in effect. To get the fade-out, simply drag and drop your fade towards the end of your text layer.

SAVING/EXPORTING YOUR GIF

We’ve reached the final stretch! If you need to adjust your frame rate timing: you will need to revert your timeline to frames. To do this: 1) Navigate to the icon of 4 bars at the right of your timeline panel. Select convert frames > flatten frames into clips. 2) Navigate to the icon of 4 bars at the right of your timeline panel. Select convert frames > convert to frame animation > when promoted hit ’ok’. If at this point you see more than one frame in your timeline panel, delete the frames until only one is left. In the example below I would delete the first frame by hitting the trash icon from the timeline panel.

If there is only one frame, leave it as is. 3) Navigate to the icon of 4 bars at the right of your timeline panel. Select ‘make frames from layers’ You will most likely need to delete the first frame in your timeline panel (it won’t have your coloring). Sometimes ps adds in some ‘blank’ frames as well, delete those too. Now you can adjust your timing. 

Once your timing is set: When you’re saving your gif, just keep in mind it must be under 10mb. Navigate to file > export > save for web. When it comes to your save settings I typically use either selective diffusion or adaptive diffusion. I also also occasionally use adaptive pattern (I find this is best for dark scenes without a lot of contrast). Set colors to 256, quality to bicubic and looping options to forever. If you want to preview your gif, hit the preview button in the bottom left. Otherwise, go ahead a hit ‘save’ and you’re DONE!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Feel free to check out my ‘ps things’ tag for more photoshop stuff/mini tutorials. Additionally @/nibreon and the hackmd site I linked previously are your best resources for vs questions. If you would like to see my giffing process in motion feel free to check out this video. It’s sped up but you can slow down the playback. Additionally be sure to check out resource blogs like itsphotoshop for more helpful tutorials and resources.

If you reached the end of this beast, kudos to you! I hope this helps and never be afraid to reach out with any questions.

[seeyounexttime]

As you may know, Black Clover is having an online exhibition. If you look at it here (has to be on mobile though) you see 0/20 and 0% in the corner. I saw the screenshots that some people shared also have zeroes and wondered... After some clicking around and struggling with Japanese, I’ve gotten a full score :D

So for those who want to know what to do, or can’t see the exhibition yourself for whatever reason, I’ve made a walkthrough that’s what it’s called right?

First, you’re asked to please turn on the sound and enjoy. There’s an ON and OFF option

Devil Possessed Work Is On Display. DEVILS AND ~THE DON’T GIVE UP MAGICAL EXHIBIT~ Black Clover 6th Year Anniversary Celebration

The Spade Kingdom’s evil devil hosts have set their hands on Black Clover’s online exhibition, the “Don’t Give Up Magical Exhibit”, from the 5th year anniversary celebration!? Only the “devil-possessed works” were shining a suspicious light in the transformed exhibition hall.

[yellow/gold box] To the Devils and Don’t Give Up Magical Exhibit >>

Asta has newly awakened devil power!? -- Together with the devil Liebe, get power to confront the invasion of the Spade Kingdom, including the Dark Triad!

[white/silver box] To the Don’t Give Up Magical Exhibit >>

Complete Revival of the “Won’t Give Up Magical Exhibit”!? -- Because of the Spade Kingdom’s invasion, the “Don’t Give Up Magical Exhibit” has ended up in miserable condition, but Nero’s sealing magic has succeeded in completely returning it to the way it used to be! Let’s dive into the work and explore Asta and friend’s “won’t give up magic”

I recommend starting with the previous year’s exhibit, so flip your phone to the side and click the white box with Nero on the corner..~

A little tutorial: you can click in the picture frames, swipe, and pinch the screen. Nero says “I’ll tell you if you get lost. Don’t worry.”

���Not giving up magic” isn’t only Asta’s magic.

Everyone who supported Black Clover will surely have the power of “not giving up magic.” Now, with your magic power, let’s dive into the world of Black Clover’s story.

PROMISE -- 約束 (yakusoku) -- The source of the power of Asta’s “not giving up magic” was a “promise” with his rival, who pursues the dream that they can never give up on, called “to become the Wizard King.”

Nero says “Tap the framed picture.”

This causes a little manga movie to play - about Asta and Yuno of course. Their promise, words exchanged at the dungeon, that time they saved Hage, and times they fought side by side in the Elf Arc are shown. When it comes to an end, it displays this manga spread:

Nero says “Tap the demon’s bones...”

This plays a manga movie about Licht’s and Lumiere’s tragic battle...

Nero says “Tap the icon on the upper left to return to the original world.”

You’ll be taken back the Promise screen and should now have 1/20 at the bottom corner

PRIDE -- 誇り (hokori) -- Magic Knight Squads that protect the world with magical power. The Wizard King with the magic knight captains whom he brings together. It is that “pride” built up due to their overwhelming achievements that is the source of power.

Again, tap the framed pictures. A slideshow of their most prominent moments (before the timeskip) play. At the end is a panel of their most impressive spell at least that’s what I think they were trying to do here?

Nero says “You want to know more about your comrades right”

Tap the yellow button next to her (it says “see details+”). This pops up:

At the top is their type of magic. Then a short description about them. The rest is mostly stats that were already in their manga profile’s + a little extra. In order it’s: {their name ☘, age, height, birthday, sign, blood type, favorite thing, birthplace, and rank}

Yami’s birthplace is the Land of the Sun; Dorothy’s is the Witch’s Forest; Jack’s is in the Common Realm; everyone else was born in the Noble Realm

COMPLEX -- 劣等感 (rettoukan) -- A person who can deal with their “inferiority complex” is also a blessed person who has the chance to become stronger than anyone else.

*note: the kanji specifically refers to “inferiority complex”

A manga movie about her struggles with magic plays, then switches to this:

Nero says “Pinch out and move forward.”

As you “zoom in” panels of Noelle’s development with spells, from Sea Dragon’s Lair to Valkyrie Dress, rotate around, ending with:

“I... won....!!”

FRIENDSHIP -- 絆 (kizuna) -- For their precious friends, sometimes a person can even go as far as surpassing their limits. A magic blow vested with the “bonds” of friends has defeated any despair.

*note: the kanji means “bonds (between people)”

Nero says “If you look at all the framed pictures of bonds…”

When you click on each framed picture, you get panels like in the Complex section but these one’s don’t rotate

It focuses on an important fight for each Black Bull, I think one that emphasizes their bonds with someone and/or teamwork. Magna & Luck share framed pictures; Gauche, Gordon, Grey and Henry share another. Usually at the end you see the kanji for their magic attribute (Charmy’s ends with “food magic”)

Like with the captains, there’s also a panel of them looking impressive. Again, Nero says “You want to learn more about your friends right.”

At the top is their name, description about them, then Profile ☘ and stats in the same order as the captain’s in the Pride section. I want to note that Charmy’s birthplace is literally “?”

But Before You Finish Looking At All The Frames-!! swipe left and take a look 👀

Try to tap this~  Nero says “If you look at all the framed pictures, there will be something good.”

After you watch the 8th one, you’ll find that the middle frame has lit up

“Tap the framed picture” Nero says. A manga movie about the Black Bulls plays, showing their good and awesome times, then ending in the group shot of when they busted in during Asta’s and Nero’s trial --but wait!! there’s more!!!

We’re moving left-?! Omg SECRE-!??

“Well done, you undid the seal.”

“I will undo the seal with my magic.”

Sealing Magic

Inverse Release

LOVE -- 愛 (ai) -- The magic of Black Clover has been sustained by the “love” of everyone who continuously supported all the characters, including Asta and Yuno, and this story. Thank you very much for so much “love.”

That’s right: you just unlocked Love :’)

Tapping it opens up a high-quality image that you can download for yourself.

Nero says “It’s a commemorative wallpaper. It’s yours.”

☘ Instant Posting Magic ☘ Let’s share with everyone that we came to play Black Clover’s 5th anniversary project “Never Giving Up Magic” 📖 Use Instant Posting Magic

Tapping that opens up twitter. Nero says “Post in celebration.”

--but wait! there’s even more!! swipe one more time 👀

Zenon, what are you doing here? staring at a framed picture of the Heart Kingdom... Tap it, Nero says

oh shit

a preview of volume 25 plays

Click Here For Part 2~! ☠ 

※✧※

*Disclaimer: The exhibit used 諦めない魔法 (akiramenai mahou). Akiramenai is the negative form of the verb akirameru "to give up" and mahou is "magic." It's definitely a reference to Asta's "my magic is never giving up" line, and I guess it could be translated as "magic that doesn't give up" but doesn't that make it sound like he has magic? This becomes more of an issue when they begin to apply it to others beside Asta... So yeah, sorry that sounds awkward. Also depending on context and because I got tired of repeating the same phrase I changed the form from "don't give up" to "not giving up" and others.

I was using google translate quite a bit, after I looked up kanji by parts because I couldn't copy-paste the pictures (it was decent practice; I think I can totally identify the word "not giving up" now). This isn't an official release, but I did try to clean things up to at least sound coherent and give you a better idea of what's going on.

[rookie-ramsey]

Curveball, Chapter 6

Description: Two months after the ski lodge, life throws them a big surprise.

Preview: The words left Sienna’s mouth in a rush. “Olivia’s in labor. She’s in the ER right now. She was in a car accident and isn’t badly hurt, but it triggered labor.”

At that, Ethan felt his heart stop. His throat clenched, suddenly dry with worry. He didn’t remember breaking into a run, but the hallways of the hospital blurred past him as his feet carried him to the ER.

previous chapter

The baby shower began with lunch. Olivia got to go first, making sure to take at least one of everything. She took a seat next to Ethan at the table and leaned against his side as they started eating.

“How does it feel seeing a baby shower in your apartment? It looks like the baby aisle at Walmart exploded in here.”

Ethan chuckled. “I’m more concerned about what the conversation over there is related to.”

She arched a brow, watching curiously as Sienna whispered with Olivia’s mother and siblings and Alan in the corner of the room. “What could our relatives be gossiping about? My sister is writing something.”

“It’s hard to tell.”

After a few minutes, Sienna stood up and grinned. “We’re going to warm up with a little guessing game. I’ll tell a childhood story about one of the parents, and you guys get to guess who it was!”

Olivia couldn’t contain an amused smirk. “I guess this means I get to hear some more delightful Little Ethan stories.”

“Apparently so.” Ethan sighed.

Sienna glanced down at the paper and giggled before reading. “This parent used to wear a white bathrobe and plastic stethoscope and played hospital with stuffed animals. Who thinks that was Olivia?”

Several hands went up. Ethan bit back a smirk as her cheeks flushed a little.

“That’s right,” her mom confirmed. “She waltzed around the house in a little white robe, used every room in the house as a hospital room for her ‘patients,’ and insisted that we had to give them privacy.”

“It sounds like I’m finally getting some blackmail material,” Ethan whispered, earning an eye roll.

“Sure you are. Nothing will ever be more embarrassing than little you making out with your teddy bear.”

Sienna moved onto the next one. “True or false! When Ethan was really little, he had a fascination with Band-Aids.”

“Why do I think that’s true?” Olivia grinned.

“Because it is,” Alan confirmed. “When he was a toddler, all it took was a box of Band-Aids to keep him amused for several minutes. Of course, he put them on everything he could get his hands on. His toys, the furniture… the interior of the car on a road trip.”

Olivia laughed. “That’s adorable.”

“It’s wasteful.” Ethan shook his head, trying not to smile. The game continued for several minutes until people were finished eating.

Curious, Olivia watched as Sienna set out several unlabeled jars of baby food. “What are those for?”

Sienna grinned. “People have to guess the flavor by smelling it or taking a tiny taste if they’re brave enough. Just a heads up, the smells and tastes may not always be accurate!”

“Who goes first?”

“You pick.” Sienna handed her a basket containing slips of paper. Olivia reached it into, digging her fingers through the papers until she picked one. She opened it slowly to increase the suspense and smirked when she read the name.

“Zaid.”

Zaid startled, his eyes widening. “What?”

Amused, Olivia revealed the paper slip with his name on it. “You get to go first.”

Ines laughed and nudged Zaid toward the table. “Do it.”

He sighed. “I should have listened to my conscience and not put my name on that paper. I should have known better.”

Baz rolled his eyes and grinned. “Okay, Eeyore. Be a fair sport and play the game.”

Giving in, Zaid picked up the first jar and took a tentative sniff. He immediately set it down. “Is that supposed to smell edible? Because it does not.” He jotted down an answer on the slip of paper and reluctantly moved to the next one.

Olivia picked the second name. “Bryce, you’re up. Don’t chicken out.”

“You think I’d really back down? Never.” He picked up the first jar and smelled it, wrinkling his nose with uncertainty.

Jackie snorted. “I’ll pay you ten bucks to taste a mouthful.”

“Deal.”

Sienna handed Bryce a clean tongue depressor from the bag of supplies. “Here you go.”

Ethan arched a brow. “Are those from the hospital?”

“We didn’t have enough plastic spoons!”

“Stealing an entire Ziploc baggie of tongue depressors from a hospital that has thousands of them? Badass.” Bryce laughed and dug out a scoop of the baby food. He put it in his mouth, immediately making a face.

“Ten dollars,” Jackie reminded him.

Bryce swallowed it and tried not to gag. “That… was gross. Zaid, I’ll do your clinic hours if you try it.”

Zaid rolled his eyes. “Do I look like a moron? Don’t answer that.”  

After a few more games, they sat down to open the inordinate number of presents occupying their apartment. Olivia grabbed the first one and dug through the tissue paper until she found two tiny sets of pajamas designed to look like scrubs.

“These are so cute!”

Elijah grinned. “You’re welcome.”

Olivia picked a large present from her mom and nudged it toward Ethan. “Open that.”

Ethan removed the paper, exposing a box that seemed to contain some sort of sophisticated trash can. “What in god’s name is this?”

Rebecca laughed. “It’s a diaper genie! It’s basically a fancy trash can that’s supposed to contain the diaper smell inside them.”

“These exist?”

Rebecca chuckled. “Yes, and believe me, you’ll need it. If not for the diaper smell, then to stop them from getting into it when they learn to walk. When Olivia was a year old, she felt like knocking over a trash can full of diapers. Worst mess I ever had to clean up.”

“Really, Mom?” Olivia groaned. She opened the next present, which was from Sienna. She opened it and grinned as she dug out two stuffed dolphins, as well as two little onesies with dolphins on them.

“What do you think?”

“I love them!” Olivia folded the tiny outfits and put them back in the bag. She opened several more gifts, collecting plenty of clothes, diapers, and other necessities. When she opened the present from Baz, she giggled and held up the four matching sets of Christmas pajamas.

Ethan stared at them, his expression blank. “It’s October.”

Baz grinned. “So?”

“These are perfect. And I will make it my life’s goal to get Ethan to wear his.” Olivia gave Ethan a pointed look, wordlessly telling him he would not win the argument even if it wouldn’t happen for another two months.

Once most of her guests had left, Olivia curled up on the couch and rummaged through the gifts. Bryce and Sienna stayed to help her family clean up while Ethan helped her sort through their presents.

“I think this is my favorite.” She held up the picture frame from Alan, containing a copy of one of their sonograms and an empty slot they would use for a newborn picture when the twins were born.

Ethan thumbed through the customized journal from Naveen. His other hand subconsciously rested on Olivia’s stomach, and a moment later he felt the now-familiar little kick against his palm.

Olivia smiled, lightly placing her hand on top of his. “I don’t think you’ll ever know how cute you are when you do that. I don’t even think you realize you’re doing it half the time.”

“I guess it’s become an instinct.” Ethan slipped his arm around her.

“A cute instinct.” She gave his hand a squeeze. Stifling a yawn, she rested her head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe it’s already October. By December, they’ll be here. I feel like it’s gone by fast and slowly at the same.”

Nodding in agreement, Ethan pressed a kiss to her head. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired. Opening presents and eating is a lot of work when you have two people inside of you.”

He chuckled and drew her closer to his side. “I’m sure it is.”

Olivia draped her arm across him and snuggled into his chest. A mischievous smile lifted the corners of her lips. “I never thought I’d see Dr. Antisocial Ramsey attending a baby shower.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “You forget that I’m capable of surprises.”

XXXXXX

It didn’t take long for maternity leave to give her cabin fever.

Since twins were almost always born earlier than expected, she scheduled her C-section for the 37th week. Even that was pushing it, but she wanted to let them develop as long as possible.

Halfway through her fourth episode of House, her phone chimed with a message from Ethan. She picked up her phone and grinned when she saw a picture of two baby onesies, each with the caption “Relax, my parents are doctors.”

She grinned as she looked at the picture to see that the onesies were blue and green to match Edenbrook’s logo. She typed a response, glancing at the time and realizing she would need to get ready for her appointment soon.

As she showered and dressed, a kick in her abdomen reminded her of just how soon their lives would change.

XXXXXX

As 1:30 approached, Ethan slipped out of his office to meet Olivia for her 35-week appointment. He pocketed his phone and car keys and made his way toward the elevator.

“Ethan!”

Ethan stopped, turning at the urgency of the voice behind him. He frowned, seeing Sienna rush toward him. “What happened?”

The words left Sienna’s mouth in a rush. “Olivia’s in labor. She’s in the ER right now. She was in a car accident and isn’t badly hurt, but it triggered labor.”

At that, Ethan felt his heart stop. His throat clenched, suddenly dry with worry. He didn’t remember breaking into a run, but the hallways of the hospital blurred past him as his feet carried him to the ER.

He made his way to the closed curtain in the corner and shoved it aside, finding Olivia resting on the bed with Bryce standing at her side. She held an ice pack to her bruised temple, clutching her stomach with her other hand.

Olivia looked up, her eyes wide with panic. “Ethan, it’s… it’s too soon for this to happen! I’m not supposed to have the C-section for two more weeks! My… my water broke in the cab…”

“Shh…” Unsure if he was trying to calm himself or her, Ethan took her face into his hands and met her worried eyes. “Everything’s going to be okay. I want you to take a deep breath and focus on me. Okay?”

Breathing shakily, she tried to take a deep breath. The heart monitor next to her beeped sharply, indicating her rising blood pressure. She winced when a contraction tore through her.

Ethan looked up, forcing his voice to remain steady for her sake. “Lahela, who’s on the OR floor right now?”

“Tanaka, but he’s in a heart transplant right now.”

“Scrub in.”

Bryce’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? I’m her friend.”

“Bryce, please. We can’t risk waiting too long,” Olivia pleaded, her voice trembling.

Bryce took one look into his best friend’s panicked eyes and nodded. “Alright. I’ll do it.”

Taking Olivia’s hand into his own, Ethan let out a small sigh of relief. “How nervous will you be?”

“More nervous than I’d be operating on a stranger, but I can do it. I promise,” Bryce assured him. “Let’s go.”

Ethan moved to the head of the bed. He kept a firm grip on Olivia’s hand as they rushed to the available operating room. Her hand clutched his tightly, seeking the reassurance. When they reached the OR, she squeezed her eyes shut against the threat of tears.

“Hey…” Ethan’s hand cradled her cheek. “Everything will be alright. Please try to believe me.”

“I’m trying…”

He helped her turn onto her side so she could receive the injection for the spinal block. Olivia gripped his hand, wincing when the needle pierced her skin. She let out a long sigh as Ethan gently turned her onto her back again.

Sensing her need for comfort, Ethan brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Talk to me. Try not to focus on the risks right now. Tell me the likelihood of both babies being fine.”

Olivia’s face furrowed in thought as she wracked her mind. “Babies delivered at 35 weeks have a 99 percent chance of survival, presuming that they don’t have pre-existing conditions.”

Ethan nodded, relieved when she seemed to relax a little. “You’re right. Remember that.”

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as he tried to convince himself to believe his own words. They gave the spinal block five minutes to take effect before transferring her to the operating table.

Ethan’s heart thudded against his ribs as Bryce and the surgical team he’d assembled gathered around, ready to begin. “Please tell me this isn’t your first time.”

“I’ve done one solo and assisted on three. I can do this,” Bryce assured him. He took a deep breath and firmly gripped the correct scalpel. “Ready to make the first incision.”

Ethan rested his hand on Olivia’s cheek. His thumb gently grazed her jaw. “Bryce is starting now. Focus on me and think about the fact that in just a few minutes, the babies will be here and they’ll be fine.”

Olivia leaned into his hand and drew in a long breath. With the numbing agent, she couldn’t feel the incisions. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on Ethan’s fingers raking gently through her hair.

The minutes that passed ticked by agonizingly as she tried to think about anything other than the chance of something beyond their control going wrong. Her racing heart slowed just a little, allowing some of the tension to leave her body when Bryce announced that they were in.

“Everything’s going fine. Just keep hanging in there, okay? I can see the first baby,” Bryce assured her.

“Hear that?” Ethan laced his fingers through hers. “They’ll be out soon.”

Olivia nodded, her movements slowing a little. The monitor next to her beeped as her blood pressure suddenly started to drop, first to a normal rate and then a little lower. Ethan frowned, worry etching his features.

“Her BP is dropping. She could become hypotensive.” He knew the complication was common during cesareans and that there was only a minimal chance of serious risks, but that didn’t stop his heart from racing faster.

Bryce picked up the pace a little, keeping his hands steady as he finished the incision and instructed one of the other residents to place the clamps. “We’re ready to get baby number one out!”

Moments later, a cry rang through the operating room as Bryce removed the first baby. When Bryce passed the newborn to him, Ethan reacted with an instinct he didn’t know he had and immediately cradled his son in his arms.

Ethan’s heart skipped a beat, swelling with affection. Olivia blined groggily before slipping into unconsciousness. His throat tightened with anxiety as he reluctantly surrendered the newborn to a nurse for an examination.

“Olivia.” He firmly patted her cheek, torn between fear and relief when she let out a subconscious groan in response. A minute later, he looked up as Bryce removed the second baby.

For a long moment, time slowed to a crawl when the baby remained quiet. Just as Ethan felt his chest clench with panic, the newborn emitted a loud cry that made him weak in the knees. He held his arms out, accepting his daughter into them. His heart stuttered in his chest as he gazed down at the fussing baby.

He held her for a few moments before letting the nurses take her. His mind swam with mixed emotions as he returned to Olivia’s side.

Ethan waited nervously as Bryce closed her up. A relieved sigh escaped him when Olivia’s blood pressure started to creep towards normal. “Bryce?”

“Yeah?”

“Good work.”

Once Olivia was transferred into a private room, Ethan stepped into the hallway. He slipped his phone out of his pocket and started the call. “Dad? If you’re not busy, you might want to make a trip to Boston…”

“Is everything okay?”

“Your grandchildren were just born. I thought I’d… did you already hang up?” Shaking his head, Ethan slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked up as Naveen approached him, a wide grin on his face.

“I just heard some gossip that my two favorite employees just became parents.”

Ethan nodded, unable to stop a wide smile from forming on his face. Naveen pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tight. Ethan returned it, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. “Olivia passed out during the C-section, but she’ll be okay. She should be awake in just a couple of minutes.”

“I won’t keep you from her. I’ll come meet those babies later. You go be with your family.” Naveen released him and squeezed his shoulder.

“Thank you.” The smile never left Ethan’s face as he quietly slipped back into the room to check on Olivia and the babies.

His family.

He liked the sound of that.

Next Chapter

Note: This was definitely my favorite chapter so far. Stay tuned for more! 

[hahanoiwont]

Okay, hear me out: Sans gets a job as a physics professor on the surface.

I hear uni professors are super lazy.

okay tbh I think Sans would be like. a great and terrible professor. let us explore this idea let's play in this space

like his first year teaching. horrible. He's used to being a cryptic little gremlin and now he has to give away information? all of the time?? that's supposed to be a good thing??? no. He doesn't take it seriously and the students complain about how he's always late, his lectures are so obscure as to be meaningless, and he seems more interested in making fun of them than teaching.

Then I feel like maybe he gets a baby post-grad student who tracks him down from half a country away. They've read his extremely niche paper. It sneaks in clever but not mean-hearted academic mudslinging at the old stagnants in the field. It makes groundbreaking points from a unique perspective. It's positively made of jargon but the jargon is explained concisely and understandably. Baby postgrad has stars in their eyes--they had the exact same idea (it is not the exact same idea. but to their credit it is close and they would have gotten there if they knew more about magic) and he explained it so well. He's a genius, they say. Can they please sit in on one of his courses. any of his courses. They'll be a TA if he promises to read over this paper they've been writing, it's not done yet but they think it could really be something and he's the only person in the field to legitimize their theory...

Sans is not into this at all. He's a little weirded out, honestly. Or, he's trying to be. But also, he does remember being a baby physicist who wanted his physics idol to notice him...so sure, he'll throw them a bone. They can put in all of the work for organizing his classes and grading things and all, and he'll get coffee with them and talk theory once a week.

More fool him. Sans is microdosing on being a professor.

Baby grad student talks in their office hours about their "lecture hour" with prof sans and how he was actually just explaining something to do with... and to Sans's chagrin, people start actually attending his coffee hour. And then they start bringing their homework questions to coffee hour. And then x student has work but can y student record... and then Sans's lessons have just moved to a coffee shop. He is still teaching his class he's just not doing it when he's supposed to. There is an email chain going around with recordings for each lesson, and since Sans has never bothered with taking attendance, his coffee lessons quickly become his main curriculum, while his alleged lesson times are just times when his TA previews the material with the students and Sans makes jokes.

Reviews become mixed. About 6 students swear by his classes and will rearrange their schedules any which way to be in his class next semester. At least a dozen have dropped his class and refuse to take another from him. Baby grad student is actually getting somewhere with their research, which Sans absolutely did not expect. He starts actually using the lab time he was given to work with them on that, and since everyone knows prof sans doesn't care if you walk in or out of his classes, a couple of undergrads filter in to poke at diagrams and try to understand what's being said...boom. lab section of the course. It's not remotely covering the same information as, say, physics 101, but the students are getting experience and gaining confidence in a lab environment. And you're only allowed to skip lab safety if you have a provable ability to evade or survive multiple kinds of explosion and acid burns, so they learn lab safety, too.

I feel like at this point Sans's classes are less actual courses and more really informative interest clubs that students join for credit. You sign up, disregard the course information listed, and if you ask leading questions he might explain a particular theory or branch of pretty much any scientific discipline (since monsters have like 3 scientists, they try to cover everything). This works great until Sans gets annoyed with having to explain calc 2 a million times because someone has obviously failed in educating his undergrads. It's just in the name of efficiency and therefore laziness that Sans proposes a remedial study group.

So. Twice a week, prof Sans will teach physics 101, and once a week a rotating schedule of math, chemistry, or a handful of other subjects on request. If nothing is requested, he will do stand-up or magic tricks for 2 straight hours and then go home. (sometimes students organize and agree to not prompt him for anything so that they can see the show. it's pretty good stand-up and very good magic tricks). Twice a week, his undergrad duckling will cover mostly remedial calc and help with homework for whatever science/math class they can. Baby undergrad is finally hired by the school and no longer paid in food and research tips (some of which are cash but most of which are advice) from Sans. Sans is still allegedly teaching several courses, which he usually covers the material of; but only when cornered, bribed with coffee, or at the expense of one (1) joke. Most of his classes are just study groups under his or their own loose direction.

Strangely, this does seem to help students discover their own interest in the material, since it feels much more based in what they want to learn (because they have to put so much effort into getting their professor to actually teach them). Students take his courses for a laid-back semester, but actually end up learning a lot of diverse skills and shortcuts in a variety of fields. Sans is absolutely not preparing them for any kind of curriculum, but he is creating baby scientists in much the same way as he was taught--here is All of Science, what do you want to learn? We'll fill in the backlog of what you need to know as it comes up.

Magic allows for fascinating demonstrations, not only of how things work, but how it would look if it didn't work, or worked differently. Gravity is a universal favorite because Sans will sometimes let students jump from irresponsible heights and experience zero gravity for a while. Conservation of mass and energy has him summoning things out of thin air. When astronomy comes up, he'll take them out and let them use his own telescope to see exactly how this theory was first observed, or what it looks like when that theory comes into play in such and such a way. So Sans does not get fired for being a horrible professor. It's generally understood that any freshman who took Physics 101 with Professor sans M.S. may not have any idea what they were supposed to learn, but he turns out competent scientists who are willing to testify that he's the best thing that's ever happened to their science education.

Anyway I think Sans would end up as a wonderful professor--despite his best efforts.

[kocrecs]

we all know this post is long overdue, but I’ve finally finished it ! if you would like a preview of the finished product, here is the doc & spotify playlist.

I put the post under a read more since it got a little longer than I thought it would be.

I put a lot of planning into my albums so I can make sure they sound somewhat believable. I usually start with a theme for the entire album and leave the concepts to be by song unless I want everything to sound more similar. for today I will be following the theme of love and the different types/stages ! I also like to think of songs that will fit the time period of release, some songs released in 2021 may not be as popular in 2015 or songs released in 2015 may be loved in 2021, if that makes sense. I like to use rollin’ by brave girls as a relevant example of this !

as for naming the album, it usually comes to me as I’m working on finding songs or it comes from the character’s story, or I’ll just use the title track.

when it comes to the formatting of the tracks, I usually look at pre-existing albums to get a feel for track numbers & track layouts. not all albums are structured the same and you should take advantage of that !

a few of the structures I use a lot are the standard mini-album (5-6 songs, no intro or outro) like bambi by baekhyun, the blackpink mini-album (4 songs + a remix, maybe) like kill this love by blackpink, the single album (1-2 songs) like -r- by rosie, the standard album (7-10 tracks, may have an interlude or intro) like neo zone from nct 127, and the “I’m going to release all of my songs for the year at once” album (10-20+ songs) like querencia by chungha.

I’m going to be following chungha’s querencia album with the 4-part 21-track structure, but I’ve added 3 more tracks to even out the parts.

since I’m following querencia’s structure, I’ve decided to pick 4 strong title tracks with b-sides to fit under their individual sounds rather than forcing the album to fit one sound.

first off I’m going to decide what my “sides” will be so I can better fit the theme.

side a : self

the “self” side of free me is all about empowering oneself and expressing self-love in your own ways.

the title track for this side will be bicycle since I think of it as a very empowering song that boost anyone’s confident with one listen. the song has such a unique sound with the bell and vocals that I found it a little difficult to find similar sounding songs.

our b-sides consist of no (clc), breakdown (clc), cry for me (twice), and shut up & groove (heize ft. dean).

I chose no because of the strong message behind it and the layout of certain parts reminded me of the vocal layout in bicycle. breakdown is from the same album as no, which helps with the transition between vibes of tracks. I love the story of breakdown since some times the best form of self-love is removing yourself from relationships that are dragging you down.

I thought cry for me followed the sound of breakdown really well and the key helped with the transition to shut up & groove a lot. you may be wondering about what I’ll do with the featuring artist: I usually pick someone that means a lot to the characters’ stories and if the voice could fit well with the face (of the person used in place of the og featured artist).

side b : savage

I may have taken this side directly from chungha’s album, but I thought it fit well with the “hard to get”/ kinda tsundere vibe ?? if that makes any sense.

the title track for this side will be good girl since hyuna’s message of refusing to fit in with social norms fits very well with the message I’m working to create with this side.

our b-sides are dream of you, uh-oh, hip, and room shaker. I usually try to avoid giving group songs to a soloist, but I really thought hip fit with the theme of good girl. uh-oh seemed to fit well with the overarching theme of playing hard to get, I decided to make this song a collaboration so I wouldn’t feel as bad about it. I also added room shaker because the song has that loud in-your-face kind of sound with a lot of confidence behind the vocals. if you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend it !

side c : love

I wanted this side to have a slower, more chilled out vibe than the previous two, but with room to keep the energy when it’s appropriate.

the title track for this side will be naughty since the song is very energetic, but also carries a nice message that fits the theme. irene & seulgi’s album is full of bangers, I think everyone should listen to them.

our b-sides are x, and july, hell in heaven, and flying on faith. all of these songs were chosen based on their energy and take on love. I don’t want to accidentally repeat myself a lot between these sections, so I’ll just keep my explanations shorter for this and the last one. I think hell in heaven is one of the best songs for this side since it goes so well with naughty’s energy.

side d : hate

for hate, I focused less on that hatred for another person and more on what the hatred of oneself from the outside creates.

the title track for this side will be devil. the song deals a lot with being pushed to the edge and having no more patience for the trash from another person.

our b-sides are noir, don’t know you, liar, and you never know. each of these songs either deal with trying to stop the hate by fitting in with everyone (noir), regretting the way you have treated someone because you’re facing karma (don’t know you), what hate can do to a person if pushed too far (liar), or a cry for it to stop (you never know).

I usually struggle with how to order the songs for a little bit, but I found out that listening to them one after another helps me find good places with transitions between certain songs. the also works with releases as well ! seasons help a lot with determining when an album should be released. I tend to go off when the song was originally released or what kind of vibe it gives me.

this is the order I decided on for this album

side a : love

bicycle

no

breakdown

cry for me

shut up & groove (ft. chanyeol of exo)

side b : savage

dream of you

uh-oh (ft. seulgi of red velvet)

good girl

hip

room shaker

side c : love

x

and july (ft. kai of exo)

naughty (ft. karina of aespa)

hell in heaven

flying on faith

side d : hate

devil

noir

don’t know you

liar

you never know

[rubyjcat]

[Behind-the-Scenes] HELIOS Rising Heroes: Animation Showcase

“HELIOS Rising Heroes: Animation Showcase” is an English voice fan project I worked on all by myself (barring voice actors) that took five months to make.

The original plan was to make just one video, but it ended up being eighteen of them!

Link to YouTube playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0UbdFyWSx0n_ewcd-t0iAB0adGe5lghH

In this write-up, I’ll be discussing details about the response to the project, recording all the footage, video editing, voice acting + audio processing, script translations + rewriting, which fonts were used, and even the emulator used. I’ve organized it into sections to make it easier to find certain things. Also, this is directed to English-speaking readers since I’m not gonna bother translating the entire thing to Japanese.

THE DREAM

I wanted to make this fandub ever since the game was released (in Aug 2020). I just knew that English voices would be extremely fitting to the world of HELIOS with a setting inspired by America and characters, places, and terms mostly in English. I was disappointed to hear that the studio behind the game, Cacalia Studio of Happy Elements K.K., had no interest to localize their games outside of Asia, which meant the chances of an English dub, let alone a global release were close to zero.

I was able to understand how to play the game thanks to the fan translators, some of which came from other Cacalia Studio games, and got inspired to continue learning Japanese (there was a previous attempt to translate Japanese lyrics years back).

What I thought was just the silly dream of one overseas player’s became something much more!

THE TIMELINE (BRIEF OVERVIEW)

I played the game for about two months prior to working on the project. Before starting the project, I had to sort out graphical and technical issues on my end first as I was unable to play the game smoothly until November.

November 2020

Finding all the in-game battle lines

Writing transliterations (romaji) of lines by ear

Learning and translating lines to Japanese

Started recording footage

December 2020

Further translation revisions

Held a casting call

Script rewriting and finalizing

January 2021

Completed casting

Started video editing (learning process)

Started audio processing

Recorded more footage

February 2021

Recorded more footage

Japanese script revisions

Finished working with VAs

Finished audio processing

Continued video editing

Published Preview video

March 2021

Recorded the last of the footage

Japanese subtitle revisions

Finished Showcase video

Finished Individual battle clips

Gave recommendations to VAs

The exact start and end dates were Nov 1st, 2020 to March 31st, 2021. Pretty neat.

RESPONSE TO THE PROJECT

I was absolutely shocked with the response to the preview video, which at the time of writing has just hit 10K views and almost 600 likes on Twitter and YouTube combined. Not bad for an unpaid hobby fandub (a joke only I find funny...) of an otherwise “niche” Japanese-only mobile game.

As of Apr 4th, 2021 - Thank you so much. This is more than I could’ve asked for.

The preview video blew up way more than anticipated, setting up for a bit of disappointment when the Showcase video was released.

The amount of views I expected for this project within its prime were a couple hundred views, so I’m content that the Showcase video reached that amount (it had ~500 by the end of March).

The expectations for the battle clips were an average of 100 views and a handful of likes - and each one got roughly that amount (or more) - so I’m also content with that, especially for something that’s just “bonus material”.

I tried my best to promote this project on Twitter with three main tweets. My one regret with promoting the project was making the second tweet after publishing the Showcase because the Japanese I wrote there was pretty terrible (as I was all worn out from editing and was in a haste to tweet about it). I tried to make up for it in a follow-up reply the next day, but it was too late. I was satisfied with how my third and final tweet and thread of battle clips turned out, but it sadly didn’t garner much attention. A reason for this was probably due to bad timing. I knew that the timing of the last tweet was awful as HeliosR did something special for April Fools’ day, plus the Easter event was being hyped around the same time, but I really wanted to finish up the project within March (my timezone, at least. It was already April 1st in Japan).

It was important to also make the videos accessible to the Japanese audience as they were a large portion of the viewers. This proved to be a challenge as my knowledge of Japanese is limited - at least for me, it’s easier to translate grammar-correct Japanese than it is to write my own sentences.

I ultimately decided against posting any of the videos on NicoNico because I wasn’t sure about Japan’s laws regarding copyrighted material. I knew it was already risky enough posting on social media and didn’t want to take any additional risks.

ABOUT THE FOOTAGE (1) – HEROES & ATTACK ORDER

HeliosR uses a gacha system, so to be able to even make something like this, you’d first need access to all 16 ★4 OG Heroes in the game.

I had them spread across five different accounts, four of which were reroll accounts. Asakou from the Cacalia RPG server gave me two of those accounts, and I rerolled myself for Keith and Ren during their Birthday Orders (one free 10-pull per account). Every account is also given a free ★4 selector ticket which I made good use of.

3,000 rubies (in-game currency) were sacrificed to pity the ★4 OG Dino when he was released in December just for the sake of the fandub!

Besides covering all of the Heroes, I also needed to play through each account to unlock certain story chapters, event stages, and evolve the Heroes for their shiny evolved CG art. Some of the Expert event stages (that had the Nighttime backgrounds) proved difficult to clear with a new account.

When using skills, the order of the Heroes were edited such that everyone was able to have the majority of their lines used at least once. All Heroes had two “receiving support” lines, two or three “supporting” lines, and two or three “skills against the enemy” lines. Some of the extra lines didn’t make it into the Showcase, so they were used for the individual clips instead.

I should’ve used Gray instead of Marion for the account that had Billy because you can see Marion’s sprite in Billy’s image. xD

In the Showcase, you may notice that the "Union Attacks" consist of all the ★4 CG images. These were spliced together; I never had all four Heroes of the same sector on the same account. For example, I would have Gray, Asch, and Jay on one account and Billy on another account, recorded their ★4 Bursts separately using the same background (from unlocking the Expert stages on both accounts), and then edited all the footage together.

Jay’s Burst was later re-recorded with a different attacking order so that he wouldn’t link to Billy.

It was also important to keep the same order of Bursts as well as use all four Bursts in the same turn. The ★4 Burst order was usually determined by who didn’t link skill with one another (with the exception of East sector as I was still figuring things out) because I didn’t want the link skill activation getting in the way of the animations.

As a little bonus, I also showed off the exclusive damaging skills of the Chapter 6 and 7 ★4 frames that I was lucky enough to pull from the gacha: Marion’s "Invitation To The Dance“ (roses), Faith’s “Synthetic Vibes” (beats), and Dino’s “Crow Mark Dead End” (claw marks).

ABOUT THE FOOTAGE (2) - BACKGROUNDS

Since I didn’t want to use the same battle music and backgrounds for all of the videos, I decided to use some of the themes from the limited-time events which went as far back as Nov 2020.

Each background has three variants (Daytime, Afternoon, Nighttime) and so I carefully picked them based on the colours. I ended up using mostly Expert stages - or Nighttime backgrounds, since Daytime versions were only used for Normal difficulty stages (which are too easy to clear).

The backgrounds used for the Showcase, all from limited-time events.

I decided to mix up some of the Heroes from other sectors in the individual clips for fun, basing it off of their relationships with each other. Using South sector’s background for Gast’s clip was a purposeful choice because I already used the North sector’s background for the other three North sector Heroes. I made sure to include Akira and Will of the South sector in Gast’s clip so it didn’t feel too random!

The only default background I didn’t use was Chapter 2’s because I already made use of the Casino theme for OG West sector’s individual clips. (...Plus I didn’t really like that background :p)

Here’s a list of all the backgrounds I used:

Escape the Prison (Nov 2020) - used for Showcase [EAST]

Mission of CASINO (Nov 2020) - used for Junior, Faith, & Keith clips

HAPPY NEW YEAR SHOW! (Jan 2021) - used for Showcase [SOUTH]

Help! Cooking Hero! (Jan 2021) - used for Will and Oscar clips

A Sweet Spell Garnished With Chocolate (Feb 2021) - used for Showcase [WEST]

Grandiose Chinoiserie (Mar 2021) - used for Showcase [NORTH]

The Hero Is A Detective!? (Mar 2021) - used for Billy and Jay clips

Default backgrounds: Chapters 1, 3, 4 (shared with 7), 5 (shared with 6) - used for all other clips

The Christmas event was the only event that went unused during the Nov 2020 - Mar 2021 period.

I didn’t record the East sector event (Christmas) in Dec 2020 because I was actually too busy with the casting call! I also didn’t think I would make use of it after already recording the Prison event intended for East sector. The project ended up taking so long that it actually benefited from having a wider selection of events over the months, which also showcased the beauty of the game.

ABOUT THE WORK & VIDEO EDITING

Hardware:

A decent computer.

A pair of no-name earbuds I found while cleaning out some junk.

Software:

All FREE!

*There’s a catch

NoxPlayer* emulator (debloated, read more about in its own section) and Open Broadcast Studio were used to record game footage and sounds.

Davinci Resolve was the main tool I used to edit the videos. A very demanding program that I only recommend using if you have a mid to high end computer.

MediBang was used to edit some of the art like the logos, but I ended up using Resolve for the majority of the graphics, including the thumbnails.

Audacity and Cakewalk were used to edit audio.

Many aspects for this project took longer than I had hoped because there was a learning process with using Resolve for the first time. I’m also a bit of a perfectionist, re-exporting videos tons of times just to fix small mistakes. Lastly, the time it took to make all the fancy effects was longer than I’d estimated. As the project dragged on, there was pressure to not delay the release of the videos any longer than I had to. A lot of this was self-imposed though.

There were days where I just did something else other than work on the project, which helped re-fuel my motivation when I decided to pick it up again.

Pretty much everything in the videos were taken from the game itself. The only graphics that were taken from the official website instead were the Substance symbols (the pictures with HERO at the bottom).

Additional overlay graphics were custom-made. It took two whole days to make the 3-second long sector intros and another two days to create and animate the arrow graphics for the credits. These were made using Resolve’s fusion and colour features. Much of the edit was inspired by the official HeliosR designs.

Left: Official in-game graphics // Right: My fanmade video (sector intros)

Sector intros were inspired by the four Heroes version of Union Attacks in-game.

Left: Official HeliosR video // Right: My fanmade video

The Preview video took after the ★4 Burst mini-previews as part of HeliosR’s promotional campaign, uploaded before the game was released.

Left: Official HeliosR video // Right: My fanmade video

The credits at the end of the Showcase were inspired by a different video, this time being the Half-Anniversary video.

The Showcase - which had a duration of 29:07 - was 11.5GB large in size. It took almost three hours to render (which I re-rendered to fix things) and two DAYS to upload to YouTube because I experienced multiple uploading interruptions. It’s a good thing you can re-upload the same video to continue where you left off without having to restart the entire process.

The individual hero clips didn’t take as long to make (but they took a while anyway as I re-uploaded some of them to fix minor mistakes). The recommendations for the VAs that were given alongside the publishing of each clip also spanned over another five days as I wanted to personalize and think about each one carefully.

A pretty frustrating part of the project was the prevalent lag when recording footage, which may have been due to the emulator and/or some technical things on my end. The Prison event used for the Showcase was the very first one I recorded when I wasn’t as aware about the lag, and so it suffered a bit as a result. The Union Attacks were the worst offender. I re-recorded the same battle scenes several times each just in case, then went through the footage frame-by-frame in Resolve and chose the ones with the least amount of lag. If all of the recorded footage suffered lag at different parts, I would even compare and splice together parts of them that didn’t lag. There was also audio lag (a known issue of NoxPlayer) so I had to move all of the audio forward by 1/3 of a second.

By the end of the project I had over 200 videos of game footage with a total size of over 24GB and a total duration exceeding 9 hours, not even counting all the ones that went unused.

The Heroes weren’t the only ones who evolved. MS Paint not recommended for thumbnails.

Overall, (despite the few mistakes here and there that nobody other than me would notice) I was happy with how everything turned out, down to the gorgeous thumbnails! I am an artist, after all~ :^)

I also have much more respect for video editors. They should be called VIDEO ANIMATORS!

ABOUT THE VOICES & AUDIO PROCESSING

When making a dub, it doesn’t mean we want to replace or best the original language, we just want to give it a new interpretation. In fact, the characters’ voice descriptions and direction provided in the scripts were heavily inspired by the seiyuu (Japanese VAs) and how they performed their lines.

Honestly, this was THE dream cast!! Some of the VAs had comparably similar voices to the Japanese ones which was an amazing coincidence. The ones that may not have sounded as similar had unique interpretations that I felt still suited their characters well. I also chose actors based on their performance, and everyone delivered!

Voice actors were not expected to imitate the Japanese voices and lines. They were provided direction and reference videos to help time their lines, but were otherwise given liberty when it came to their own interpretations.

You shouldn’t hear any jarring differences between the voice actors’ microphones and setups. That’s because I took the time to process the audio. Faith’s audio was submitted to me post-processed so it was used as a guideline for what the audio quality should sound like. Some of the others had comparable quality to Faith’s, so I only added compression to balance their volumes. Most of them benefited from equalization of various levels - this took some experimenting back and forth with the frequency spectrum. Lastly, a couple more benefited from clip fixing, noise gate, de-essing and/or click removal. It was very important for VAs to have at least decent room treatment; while small differences between mic frequencies can always be altered, echoes are difficult if not impossible to remove completely.

I feel that audio engineering is highly underrated and more important than ever as voice actors continue to record from home studios.

And in case it wasn’t already clear, this was purely voluntary work. No VAs or myself were paid to contribute anything for the project. Though, the experience alone was worth more than any amount of money.

ABOUT THE SCRIPT & TRANSLATIONS

HELIOS Rising Heroes「エリオスR」English Translation - Battle Lines

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ImWrAfvS_hgp6qr5qt30vCP63uHEk2o79uqY0h-3wL4/edit?usp=sharing

This spreadsheet consists of the literal translations for all the battle lines I could find in the game (it still isn’t done -yet-, plan to finish it when I get the chance). These are only fanmade and are not guaranteed to be accurate, especially as I wasn’t able to find another translator to help or proofread it.

After translating the lines, I made many additional revisions from the literal meanings such as changing the intention of the line slightly to flow better, having extra words added in to provide more context, or changing them completely. Thus, the lines used in the video are NOT literal TLs!

Another thing of note that may not seem apparent, but is what I feel an important aspect of character writing, is to remain completely unbiased towards all the characters. Personal favourites aside, I ensured that every Hero had their own spotlight as well as lines written in a way that remained faithful to their personality, no matter how unlikeable they were (looking at you, Asch Albright).

Even after giving voice actors their scripts, I made another revision in February after the release of the aforementioned Half-Anniversary video with the transcriptions for the ★4 Bursts, which is when I discovered a couple of mistakes with my transcriptions. This resulted in me having to edit out a part of one of the voice actors’ lines (Billy’s “String Show” line in his ★4 Burst) because of a translation mistake! I’m really glad I was able to double-check the correct lines before releasing the Preview video, or it would’ve looked pretty silly to Japanese viewers.

The last set of revisions were just minor edits to the subtitles (such as using kanji instead of kana) while I was working on subtitling all the videos.

Notable changes included:

WILL SPROUT

During attacking combo

Original line:

tanonda zo... ike! / “Counting on you... Reach!”

Rewritten line:

“I’ll become stronger... For everyone!”

The rewritten line is a condensed version of one of Will’s ★4 Evolved CG lines (“For everyone... I’ll become more and more stronger!”). He had “Reach!” in both his attacking combo and regular Burst, so I gave him an extra unique line.

★4 Burst

Original line:

warui kedo... kore de oshimai da! / “Sorry, but... it ends with this!”

Rewritten line:

“I’m sorry, but... it’s over for you! HAAAH!”

There were a couple of oversights I made with the script, and this was one of them that didn’t fit the animation properly. Props to Ryan for coming up with the extra shout at the end! So yeah, we kinda winged this line.

OSCAR BALE

When using skills against the enemy, during attacking combo, and in the ★4 Burst (repeat line)

Original line:

osoi! / “Slow!”

Rewritten lines:

“Too slow!” / “You’re slow!” / “Over here!”

Rewritten simply because I wanted to minimize repeated lines and change things up.

GAST ADLER

When supporting an ally, and during attacking combo

Original lines:

tetsudau ze / “I’ll help (you).”

itchouagari / “All done.”

Rewritten lines:

“I’ve got your six.”

“Target eliminated.”

I wanted to add in a few military terms to reflect Gast’s background.

FAITH BEAMS

★4 CG line (for the credits)

Original line (literal TL):

“It’s not terrible or evil, right? Surely this isn’t punishing... I guess?”

Rewritten line (with “mistake”):

“I’m not doing anything horrible or evil, alright? This is just business as usual... I suppose?”

Faith’s CG line had a mistake when I first translated and handed it off to his actor. I accidentally wrote “oshigoto” (work/business) instead of “oshioki” (punishment). The original has him pretty much saying the same thing twice anyway, so I would say the intention was still retained.

KEITH MAX

When supporting an ally

Original line:

gambare yo~ / “Do your best~.” or “Hang in there~.”

Rewritten line:

“Stay alive, would ya~?”

I know Keith’s meant to say “serious” things in a sarcastic or snarky way, but I just had to add in this fun line!

DINO ALBANI

Using skills against the enemy

Original lines:

haa! / “Haah!”

hei! / “Hey!”

Rewritten lines:

“I can do this!”

“Leave it to me!”

The Japanese lines for Dino’s offensive skills were rather basic, with the third and unchanged line “Here goes!” being a repeat line Dino also says when attacking. I wanted to give him some more lines - as standard as they are - to show his personality a bit more, along with having an additional fun West sector interaction. The changes fit the animations better too. (I actually had his VA say the "Haah!" line, but ended up using a different take of “Here goes!” in place of it.)

ABOUT THE FONTS

Fonts were taken from various sources and were either FREE for personal use or had an open font license. I didn’t have access to the commercial fonts (such as Futura) used in-game, so these were the following fonts I made use of:

Techna Sans looked similar enough to Futura when capitalized, and still looked decent in lowercase.

Jost* is a font that was derived from Futura. Some of its uppercase letters are sharper than Futura's, but it worked pretty well for the text in the credits.

Gau Font Over Drive was used for the ANIMATION SHOWCASE text.

Gen Jyuu Gothic LP was used for the majority of the Japanese text and its English letters were also used for the battle clip subtitles on Twitter.

Meiryo UI (default font) was used for the Preview videos’ subtitles.

Noto Serif JP (default Google font) was used for the serif Japanese text in the credits.

ABOUT NOXPLAYER ANDROID EMULATOR

ETA: AS OF VERSION 1.1.18 (04/23/21), EMULATORS NO LONGER WORK WITH HELIOSR (AS WELL AS OTHER CACALIA STUDIO GAMES). THE BELOW INFORMATION IS OUTDATED.

If, for whatever reason you’re interested in using NoxPlayer, you should take caution when installing it onto your machine. I don’t advocate for or recommend installing Nox. I had to resort to emulation so that I could record the footage and sounds directly from my computer using OBS. The reason why I used Nox specifically is because Cacalia Studio doesn’t like emulators, blocking most of them from running their games. I found further instructions on how to run the game in Nox from the Cacalia RPG Discord (via Twitter @HeliosR_en).

First, not all Nox versions are safe. It should only be installed from the official website, Bignox. More recent versions (I believe from 6.3.0.6 and up) may contain malware such as Segurazo and Chromium packaged with the installer which can be annoying to remove. The version of Nox I used was 6.3.0.0 (you can install older versions, then just don’t update it), which has Android 7 and doesn’t contain packaged malware (AFAIK).

Second, NoxPlayer may be “free” to use, but it comes with bloatware and profits off of its users’ data by collecting and sending it to many different servers. The below guide is what I used to debloat Nox and minimize communication to these servers. Scroll down the comments for additional domains to add to the hosts file.

Debloating & Optimizing Nox:

https://gist.github.com/Log1x/12d330ef7685d6fbc611d1d57efb5c29

This is another good guide that makes use of command prompt to remove additional bloatware from the emulator.

How to Remove Bloatware on Nox and LDPlayer Emulator:

https://codefaq.org/emulator/how-to-remove-bloatware-on-nox-and-ldplayer-emulator/

ENDING NOTES (TL;DR)

Images of the first and last video for the HeliosR project. We’ve come full circle!

One very tired and average person decided to translate, script, cast, direct, and edit an ambitious project all by herself using only FREE tools, and ended up taking too long to finish it. But at least she finished it, right?

Translators = RESPECT

Voice actors = RESPECT

Video editors = RESPECT

Audio engineers = R E S P E C T (their work is especially behind-the-scenes)

Hell, I even like Asch now.

During my time working on this, there was one question I always had in mind: “What would the fans want?”

I hope this follow-up has given you a bit of insight into the makings of the HeliosR project. Thank you for reading!

~RubyJCat

[chapmankit]

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[ryyti17]

At office, I got inspiration for make my fanart of FF15 BandAu universe become a zine... there will be general, not focus in pairs. But... I don't know when this done... maybe... next year? 🤔 Because.. yeah... this is solo zine, and I have some work at noon. And I must give my body rest time too...

I've already reach 20 pages and there still more pages and illustrations...

I hope you all interested for look forward this zine 😁

there is preview from Noct. (The design layouts still not final)

You can send questions for each Chocobros member for this zine and I will write the answer in Zine (if too much maybe not all because limited space). actually, I need more questions for them in interview section. 😅

Important Notes about this project:

- the band name is Chocotuar. here the detail: here

- Everyone lives happy, peaceful. Niflheim, Altissia, Lucis, everything is peaceful. Just tight competition between Niflheim and Lucis in entertaiment world.

- Noct still Lucian line throne. Regis is alive. Regis give the throne of king to Somnus and Adryn when Noct 6 because he want Noct life like normal person and pay attention how he will grown up.

- Regis built talent agency, ‘Lucis Talent Agency’ when he retired from king. He live with Noct at town house, Neighbor of Scientia family house.

- Chocobros + Regis stay at one roof in Regis’s town house (You can call second floor as dorm) . Duo Nox Fleuret stay as neighbor (Ignis lend his house to them during they study and work at Lucis).

- Ignis and Noct is step-brother. Ignis become Noct’s step-brother when he 10, when his uncle dead. He know each other from Noct at 3 and Ignis at 4/5 (at time, Ignis’s uncle still Regis advisor).

- Gladio still Crownsguard officer. But he hide his identity from public. He protect Noct and Regis.

- Gladio last year at Literature Major. Ignis is Noctis senior at International Relationship (last year). (That’s make Ignis sometime teach Noct at his father class). Prompto in Photography Major.

- Luna and Ravus are models. Luna is Noct penpals from he at 8 until now. Luna, Ravus, Gladio, Noct, Ignis sometimes play together when child. Duo Nox Fleuret move to Insomnia for study at Lucis University.

- Ignis, Ravus, and Gladio well-known as ‘hot brothers’ (more precisely: Brother/Sister complex).

- Iris is make up artist (Part-time)

- Noctis has Cactube channel page about game. (and play horror game too what make Prompto scream). He uploaded record of co-op game with Gladio and Prompto. Sometime with Ignis if Ignis has free day.

- Personality, habit, and skills all characters same with game. Background same with bit change (the changes: Prompto just ordinary person. Ignis from Tenebrean and one of noble at there until he got incident and he become orphan.) 

- Noct bit spoiled around his father and Ignis. The habit is -almost- every night, Noct (now with Prompto) ask Iggy to sing a lullaby.

- Ardyn (uncle) and Somnus (Uncle) protective to ‘little Noct’. Make Aera chuckle when looking at them fight over Noct’s attention (and make Noct hide behind Iggy or his dad if that happen).

... maybe... is enough for now.

[faunusrights]

Before The Dawn -- Preview Thoughts (ahoy rwde)

So if you didn’t know (or didn’t see [or didn’t hear {or are living the life of blissful ignorance that I, for one, wish I had}]), a preview for the next CFVY-centric novel, Before The Dawn, came out! It’s the sequel to After The Fall, which I liveblogged a while back and generally like… was ambivalent about. Some of it was okay. Other parts were weird. Some bits just plain bonkers. But whatever!

Well, a part of this preview also happened to contain a flashback of Velvet and her father, and I really wanna extrapolate on some reasons this has me bewildered and frightened for my wellbeing! Because what the fuck! Anyway, goes without saying this post contains spoilers for six pages or so of Before The Dawn, but I can’t imagine anyone really cares about spoilers? Probably? Anyway.

(A small aside: I’m not crazy interested in engaging in, like, any debate over anything I’ve put here. This is just a write-up of conversations I’ve already covered with other people for the sake of quick linkage, and not a bright flare arc of ‘somebody come debate this’. If you like what the book says: fine! I don’t. Let’s leave it there, kiddos.)

So, I’m opening this with a disclaimer: many people know I have some hefty headcanons for Velvet’s parents, and I wanna just make it, like, excruciatingly clear: never, at any one point, did I think my headcanons or my AUs or what-have-you would ever become anything even vaguely close to canon. I knew a day would come in which what I’d filled in would come to have canonical content (or, rather, I’d hoped they’d not touch Velvet with a ten-foot pole and I’d never get disproven), and that this was inevitable. Canon and I aren’t on speaking terms, and that’s okay! I didn’t want, nor expect, nor imagined, my stuff becoming canon. So everything I’m about to say isn’t a case of my headcanons were superior or I wish they’d done what I did. What I wanna talk about is how… bad the canon we got, is. Got it? Good.

The preview doesn’t grant me page numbers so I’m unsure exactly where we are in the book, but that prooooobably doesn’t matter so much as the content of the section I’m talking about, but anyway; somewhere in this book is a 6-page section of a flashback Velvet has of talking to her father, as well as some Velvet and Scarlatina family lore. Can I even call it lore? Probably not. But it’s there and it’s real, and I wanna just dissect it for a moment by covering the main points from this excerpt, in no real order, with no input on my half, just facts:

Velvet’s father is an Atlesian engineer.

He works for/under/with Ironwood.

Velvet’s own skills as an inventor and engineer stem directly from him.

His work in Atlas has divided the family, because Velvet’s mum hates that he prizes his work over his family.

Velvet has always wanted to go to Atlas as it’s the tech capital of Remnant.

Velvet’s father doesn’t see her often and that causes some strife.

Her father’s name is Will Scarlatina.

Her mother’s name is Meg Scarlatina.

These are probably our main points to cover, and I’m gonna go over ‘em probably in this order since this is more or less how the excerpt presents them. So let’s take it from the top.

1. Velvet’s father is an Atlesian engineer.

WOW what a start. What a START!!! So, someone pointed out to me that this definitely implies he’s a human, which has some in-text proof that I’ll show a little later in point three, but my god what a. bold beginning. Yes. That said, this point only gets egregious a little later down the line, so let’s hop to point two.

2. He works for/under/with Ironwood.

Okay, so, again. I don’t plan nor intend for my headcanons to become canon in any capacity… but GOD do I hate how we have someone else tied up to Ironwood in some way. This man pulls all the strings, and it seems like nobody can do anything science-y or invent-y without it getting all wrapped up with Ironwood, what gives? Also, probably further proof that Will here is a human, though I’m ready to be wrong. I SURE HOPE I AM. Either way, with Velvet being a Faunus and Will potentially being/having married a Faunus, this slaps in all the bad ways. Can we stop that? Right now? Thanks.

3. Velvet’s own skills as an inventor and engineer stem directly from him.

SO THIS WAS MY FIRST STICKING POINT. The way I explained this was that, in some ways, some people are just like their parents (I sure am in a lot of ways!) and others are totally UNLIKE their parents (such as a lot of my friends!), but it really bothers me that RT looked at Velvet, who they decided was a very competent inventor and creator, and said well, she must’ve gotten it from somewhere! No way she did that all by herself! Let’s have this masculine figure in her life be the reason she’s Like That!

You can say I’m maybe over-exaggerating and, hey, maybe I am. But I really hate stories when a person’s skill is attributed directly towards someone else as if they have no autonomy to learn things on their own. Wouldn’t it have been cooler to have had Velvet strike out and make use of a skill that she developed with the help of friends and family? Who weren’t responsible for this skill, but aided her improvement? It’s real annoying that they decided she’s basically a clone of her father, which is supported by that in-text quotation I mentioned:

“She might have her mother’s ears, but she was her father’s daughter.”

So, first off: what the fuck. Secondly: ?????? Thirdly: so I think this is proof towards Will not being a Faunus, since the reference to ears is so pointed, but GOD I HATE THAT WHOLE IMPLICATION? People aren’t always little mini-clones of their parents, and something really bothers me about a daughter being Just Like Her Dad. It smacks all wrong, and maybe it’s ‘cause I have my vision of the Scarlatinas being so matriarchal and all but it bothers me one hell of a lot. Jesus.

4. His work in Atlas has divided the family, because Velvet’s mum hates that he prizes his work over his family.

/deep breath

Okay. Again, not tryna inflict my own headcanons on this. But are we really gonna play ball with yet another heterosexual marriage on the rocks because the man of the house prizes his job over his family? Really? Really? That’s what we’re being given, hot and fresh, off the printer? Really?

I’m just. Deeply disappointed that this is the angle we’re getting here. Like… right now, the ONE family we’ve got with their braincells in a row is, like, the Belladonnas, and yet we can’t get ONE other out here??? Not one??? The hets, they’re at it again! And I just. It would be SO easy to toss in some good queer content with these flashbacks and we’re just Not getting it. I don’t know why, I shouldn’t have to wonder why, but this is that, I guess.

5. Velvet has always wanted to go to Atlas as it’s the tech capital of Remnant.

HAS SHE THOUGH… REALLY? We’re really gonna say the Faunus who canonically got bullied in Vale and like, is visibly concerned about asshole humans being assholes, wanted to go to Atlas? Asshole human capital city? Are we positive? ‘Cause I, for one, ain’t. Tech is everywhere! You can study and deconstruct and pick apart and invent shit anywhere on the planet! Why would Velvet put herself at such risk just to see the equivalent of Silicon Valley dipshits engage in a circlejerk?

6. Velvet’s father doesn’t see her often and that causes some strife.

Here’s a slice of in-text dialogue to chew on:

“Just another way I’ve disappointed you, huh?” he said.

“Dad. No!” Velvet paused. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she didn’t have much to follow that up with, nothing that would convince him, anyway. It was hard to argue with the truth.

Now, small tangent: if you’ve read, or seen, any of my writing on Arslan-as-Sienna’s-offspring AU (which is [are] good AU[s] and general idea[s] you should read my content on the matter), then you’ll know I hate the trope in which a parent who does wrong by a kid, then expects that kid to apologise in order to make themself behave better. For instance: kid has an absent parent. Kid apologises profusely to the parent in hopes they’ll come home and be more present in their life. Parent feels bad, and does that, validating the kid’s belief that they needed to apologise to get their parent to come home. It’s a garbage trope and a dangerous one, because you don’t have to apologise for someone else hurting you. Full stop.

So imagine my surprise to see the same thing happen here! What’s this guilt-tripping? What’s this weird focus on Velvet when he’s the one not coming home? As soon as I read this line, it felt skeevy, it is skeevy. I hate it. I am brimming with hatred. Why do this? Why bother? Why does she need this drama? Jesus christ.

Next two points are a two-in-one:

7. Her father’s name is Will Scarlatina. 8. Her mother’s name is Meg Scarlatina.

WHAT? WHAT??????????? HUH????????????????????????

Okay, I know this seems like a bizarre thing to latch onto when there’s already so much fucked up here, but huh?????? These are the names? You chose? Will and Meg??????????????????? Never mind that they do NOT flow into their surnames at all (Meg Scarlatina????????????????????), but also the fact that Meg makes me think of Family Guy (which is something I NEVER want to think about, thanks,) just makes this a fuckin’ TRIAL of pain for me. Will and Meg???????

Did they pick up a phonebook — or, like, an online one — and grab the first two names they saw? Did they get a dartboard and put on a blindfold and launch darts across the room? Was this a socially-distanced[1] conference call gone wrong? I’m BEWILDERED. I learnt these names from someone posting about it in my discord chat, and I thought it was them telling a shit joke to try and piss me off. Are we really serious?

And to me, the name thing really epitomises this whole section. These names — that don’t fit well, that don’t really make sense with the whole colour-name lore, that don’t sound like they should be within a 20-mile radius of RWBY canon — are like the excerpt itself: bonkers. Bonkers bananas. Where every page brings in a new and unprecedented level of huh???????? that I JUST can’t get over.

Now, again. I don’t want my take on Velvet’s parents to be canon. No, really, I’m gonna use them for an original fic, RT don’t touch them they’re mine and they’re going to be in a novel. A series, even. It may even be erotica! But that’s neither here nor there; when I made Ash and Taffeta, I spent a lot of time reverse-engineering (my brand of) Velvet to put the pieces together. How did she grow up to be who she is now? What influences did she have? What examples did her parents set? What were her family like, and how did she take that upbringing forwards? And I spent a lot of time thinking about who they were, the environment they fostered, and I spent so many hours googling names it doesn’t even bear thinking about. Point being: I put a lot of time and energy and love into the Scarlatina family because I wanted, so badly, to have a family people could be, well, jealous of! A family so big-hearted and kind and full of love and furious compassion that you couldn’t help but wanna be there.

To me, this… take. This version of Velvet’s parents being peddled as canon is just so… unreal. Never mind that it’s been so many years since Velvet was unveiled, so many years people have developed headcanons of their own that, honestly, at this point, why bother? But it’s so frustrating to have taken time to make a queer family built on the solarpunk and socialist and eco-friendly and green-thinking and sustainable ways of being to then have canon turn around and say, okay, what if her dad’s a bootlicker, Velvet’s a mini clone of him, and the marriage Velvet’s parents have is on the rocks due to a trope older than time itself! Why? Why bother? What can this possibly add?

I’m not mad that what I wanted isn’t canon. I’m mad that what canon has given is so… lackluster. So boring. So unoriginal. I feel like I’ve read this story a thousand times, but it would have been so easy to make something so much richer with just a smidgen of effort on everyone’s parts. I expect so little from canon and I’m still let down. This is somehow worse than anything I expected canon to pull. It’s wild. What a bonkers series of choices to make.

[1] I know that most of this book would’ve been planned/written before lockdown, but please bear with the joke.

[sayitaliano]

Sanremo 2020

Here a few ways to watch Sanremo online starting on tuesday february 4th 8:30 pm (it’ll probably start with a 5 minutes “anteprima = preview” every night), until saturday february 8th, when the final will be broadcasted.

/ Official website / you can find loads of videos and interviews here + the latest news.

Rai’s website dedicated section (here)

Starting from January 27th, a 6 minutes show about Sanremo has been broadcasted every night, with interviews and random curiosities (here - PrimaFestival section right below the host Amadeus’ photo)

The usual Dopofestival, with the analysis of the show at the end of each night, won’t be broadcasted onTV but only on RaiPlay (here - L’Altro Festival)

CasaSanremo - A website about Sanremo and all the artists who will take part, with more infos and interviews. Follow them also on their Social Media Channels, usually they make live video/interviews/shows on FB for example.

Some video interviews on Sorrisi&Canzoni (where you can find also other infos about Sanremo)

To watch it live:

Raiuno -> just click on the first video on the left, or here , to open the Raiuno streaming immediately (I added the whole Rai channels things in case you had troubles connecting directly and wanted to try from there) I’m not sure you have to log in to watch a live, but it’s through just an email or FB btw

Sanremo in signs language live

I’ll try to write down some more infos/links through the week.

——-

Hosts & Guests + Other Stuff

This years’ host will be Amadeus (who choose the songs taking part into this Sanremo), a TV and radio host. He will be accompanied by 10 female co-hosts, all coming from TV, songs, sport and information fields: Francesca Sofia Novello, Laura Chimenti, Antonella Clerici, Diletta Leotta, Emma D'Aquino, Sabrina Salerno, Alketa Vejsiu, Mara Venier, Georgina Rodriguez, Rula Jebreal. They will appear on few nights (or just one) each. The radio and TV host Fiorello will be present all the 5 nights, same as the famous singer Tiziano Ferro. They will appear on stage randomly to entertain and sing, maybe also with other guests. Some of the one-night guests might be the singers Al Bano & Romina Power (with a new song, probably on day 1), Zucchero, Ghali, Gianna Nannini, Biagio Antonacci, Tony Renis, Massimo Ranieri, Jhonny Dorelli, i Ricchi e Poveri (all the 4 members who originally started the band), Ultimo, Lewis Capaldi, Dua Lipa, Mika (these last 3 probably on Thursday and Friday night); the actors/singers of a couple of Italian movies: Pierfrancesco Favino, Kim Rossi Stuart, Emma Marrone, Claudio Santamaria (Gli anni più belli - Gabriele Muccino) and Diego Abatantuono, Christian De Sica, Angela Finocchiaro, Massimo Ghini, Paolo Rossi, Rocco Papaleo (La mia banda suona il pop - Fausto Brizi); and let’s not forget the Oscar winner Roberto Benigni. For the 70° anniversary of the competition, a 300 meters red carpet has been held in Sanremo to connect the roads nearby to the Ariston theater. The names of the past 69 editions’ winners are written on the red carpet and they may stay there also after the end of the competition (not sure though - take a look at the pics here). An outside stage, called Nutella stage, has been build in the streets of Sanremo. Guests and hosts will randomly go there as well to cheer the crowd.

How it works 

Differently from last year, this year the young/newbie section is back. So there will be 24 singers in the Campioni (champs) section and 8 in the Giovani (young/newbies) section. The winner of the competition of the Campioni section will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest: if he/she/them won’t accept, the choice will be another artist, usually the 2nd classified. Another difference with the past edition is that the “Duets night” will take place on the 3rd night. The Campioni’s singers will perform (with another Italian or foreign artist) a song from a past Sanremo edition. This special evening will be called Sanremo 70. Differently from the past, the rank at the end of the 3rd night, will change also the rank after the 2 first nights (votes will be added to the general rank).

Day 1 - co-hosts: Rula Jebreal, Diletta Leotta. Prob. guests: Fiorello, Tiziano Ferro. “Gli anni più belli” actors, Emma Marrone (will sing too), Gessica Notaro and Antonio Maggio, Al Bano & Romina Power. We’ll hear 12 Campioni’s songs (in order of performance: Irene Grandi, Marco Masini, Rita Pavone, Achille Lauro, Diodato, Le Vibrazioni, Anastasio, Elodie, Bugo e Morgan, Alberto Urso, Riki, Raphael Gualazzi) and 4 Giovani’s (Eugenio in via di Gioia, Fadi, Leo Gassman and Tecla Insolia). 2 songs of the Giovani will be excluded after two different 1 vs 1 contests (Eugenio in Via di Gioia VS Tecla Insolia || Fadi VS Leo Gassmann). The two winning songs (one for each contest) will pass to the 4th night. We’ll have a first rank of the 12 Campioni who performed tonight.

Day 2 - co-hosts: Emma D’Aquino, Laura Chimenti, Sabrina Salerno. Prob. guests: Fiorello, Tiziano Ferro. Zucchero, Ricchi e Poveri, Gigi D’Alessio, Massimo Ranieri, Paolo Palumbo, Novak Djokovic and his wife. The remaining 12 Campioni’s (in order of performance: Piero Pelù, Elettra Lamborghini, Enrico Nigiotti, Levante, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari, Tosca, Francesco Gabbani, Paolo Jannacci, Rancore, Junior Cally, Giordana Angi, Michele Zarrillo) and 4 Giovani’s songs (Fasma, Matteo Faustini, Martinelli & Lula, Marco Sentieri) will be performed tonight. 2 songs of the Giovani’s will be excluded after two different 1 vs 1 contests (Martinelli & Lula VS Fasma || Marco Sentieri VS Matteo Faustini). The two winning songs (one for each contest) will pass to the 4th night. We’ll have another rank of the 12 Campioni who performed tonight, and then one with all the 24 contestants (a mix with day 1′s rank).

Complete rank after 1 play of each song:

24 - Junior Cally - No grazie 23 - Bugo e Morgan - Sincero 22 - Rancore - Eden 21 - Elettra Lamborghini - Musica (E il resto scompare) 20 - Riki - Lo sappiamo entrambi 19 - Rita Pavone - Niente (Resilienza 74) 18 - Enrico Nigiotti - Baciami adesso 17 - Achille Lauro - Me ne frego 16 - Paolo Jannacci - Voglio parlarti adesso 15 - Anastasio - Rosso di rabbia 14 - Raphael Gualazzi - Carioca 13 - Giordana Angi - Come mia madre 12 - Alberto Urso - Sole ad est 11 - Marco Masini - Il confronto 10 - Levante - Tikibombom 9 - Michele Zarrillo - Nell'estasi o nel fango 8 - Tosca - Ho amato tutto 7 - Irene Grandi - Finalmente io 6 - Diodato - Fai rumore 5 - Elodie - Andromeda 4 - Pinguini Tattici Nucleari - Ringo Starr 3 - Piero Pelù - Gigante 2 - Le Vibrazioni - Dov'è 1 - Francesco Gabbani - Viceversa Day 3 - co-hosts: Georgina Rodriguez, Alketa Vejisiu. Prob. guests: Tiziano Ferro. Roberto Benigni, Mika, Lewis Capaldi, “L’amica geniale” actors. Duets night “Sanremo 70″, in order of performance:

MICHELE ZARRILLO Ft. FAUSTO LEALI – Deborah (Fausto Leali e Wilson Pickett, 1968) JUNIOR CALLY Ft. i VIITO – Vado al massimo (Vasco Rossi, 1982) MARCO MASINI Ft. ARISA – Vacanze romane (Matia Bazar, Sanremo 1983) RIKI Ft. ANA MENA – L’edera (Nilla Pizzi e Tonina Torrielli, 1958) RAPHAEL GUALAZZI Ft. SIMONA MOLINARI – E se domani (Fausto Cigliano e Gene Pitney, 1964) ANASTASIO & P.F.M. -  Spalle al muro (Renato Zero, 1991) LEVANTE Ft. FRANCESCA MICHIELIN, MARIA ANTONIETTA – Si può dare di più (Gianni Morandi, Enrico Ruggeri e Umberto Tozzi, 1987) ALBERTO URSO Ft. ORNELLA VANONI – La voce del silenzio (Tony Del Monaco e Dionne Warwick, 1968)   ELODIE Ft. AEHAM AHMAD – Adesso tu (Eros Ramazzotti, 1986) RANCORE Ft. DARDUST, La RAPPRESENTANTE DI LISTA – Luce (Elisa, 2001) PINGUINI TATTICI NUCLEARI – MEDLEY “70 volte”: Papaveri e papere (Nilla Pizzi,1952), Nessuno mi può giudicare (Caterina Caselli,1966), Gianna (Rino Gaetano,1978), Sarà perché ti amo (Loredana Bertè e i Ricchi e Poveri,1981), Una musica può fare (Max Gazzè,1998), Salirò (Daniele Silvestri,2002), Sono solo parole (Noemi,2011), Rolls Royce (Achille Lauro,2019) ENRICO NIGIOTTI Ft. SIMONE CRISTICCHI – Ti regalerò una rosa (Simone Cristicchi, 2007) GIORDANA ANGI Ft. SOLIS STRING QUARTET – La nevicata del ‘56 (Mia Martini, 1990) LE VIBRAZIONI Ft. CANOVA – Un’emozione da poco (Anna Oxa, 1978) DIODATO Ft. NINA ZILLI – 24 mila baci (Adriano Celentano e Little Tony, 1961) TOSCA Ft. SILVIA PEREZ CRUZ – Piazza Grande (Lucio Dalla, 1972) RITA PAVONE Ft. AMEDEO MINGHI – 1950 (Amedeo Minghi, 1983) ACHILLE LAURO Ft. ANNALISA – Gli uomini non cambiano (Mia Martini, 1992) BUGO E MORGAN – Canzone per te (Sergio Endrigo e Roberto Carlos, 1968) IRENE GRANDI  Ft. BOBO RONDELLI – La musica è finita (Ornella Vanoni e Mario Guarnera, 1967) PIERO PELU’ – Cuore matto (Little Tony, 1967)   PAOLO JANNACCI Ft. FRANCESCO MANDELLI, DANIELE MORETTO – Se me lo dicevi prima (Enzo Jannacci, 1989) ELETTRA LAMBORGHINI Ft. MYSS KETA – Non succederà più (Claudia Mori, 1982) FRANCESCO GABBANI – L’italiano (Toto Cutugno, 1983) 

Final classification of this “Sanremo 70″ night:

Day 4 - co-hosts: Antonella Clerici, Francesca Sofia Novello. Prob. guests: Fiorello, Tiziano Ferro. Johnny Dorelli, Gianna Nannini, Ghali, Dua Lipa, Tony Renis. The 24 Campioni’s songs will be performed (in order of appearance: Paolo Jannacci, Rancore, Giordana Angi, Francesco Gabbani, Raphael Gualazzi, Anastasio, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari, Elodie, Riki, Diodato, Irene Grandi, Achille Lauro, Piero Pelù, Tosca, Michele Zarrillo, Junior Cally, Le Vibrazioni, Alberto Urso, Levante, Bugo & Morgan, Rita Pavone, Enrico Nigiotti, Elettra Lamborghini, Marco Masini). Also, the 4 Giovani’s songs that won on day 1 and 2 (Tecla Insolia, Leo Gassman, Fasma, Marco Sentieri), will be performed again in two different 1 vs 1 competitions (Leo Gassman VS Fasma || Teclas Insolia VS Marco Sentieri). The 2 winning songs (one for each contest) will be performed one last time (Tecla Insolia VS Leo Gassman) and the winner will be the Giovani’s section winner of the 70° Sanremo’s edition.

Leo Gassman is the winner of the Giovani’s section:

The Premio della Critica “Mia Martini” for the Giovani’s section to “Eugenio in Via di Gioia”:

We’ll also have a new rank for the 24 23 Campioni’s songs.

Bugo and Morgan got disqualified for changing the words of the song and leaving the stage.

Day 5 - co-hosts: Mara Venier, Diletta Leotta, Sabrina Salerno, Francesca Sofia Novello.   Prob. guests: Fiorello, Tiziano Ferro. Christian De Sica, Ultimo, Biagio Antonacci, “La mia banda suona il pop”’s actors. All the 23 Campioni singers will perform again their songs (in order of appearance: Michele Zarrillo, Elodie, Enrico Nigiotti, Irene Grandi, Alberto Urso, Diodato, Marco Masini, Piero Perlù, Levante, Achille Lauro, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari, Junior Cally, Tosca, Le Vibrazioni, Raphael Gualazzi, Francesco Gabbani, Rita Pavone, Anastasio, Riki, Giordana Angi, Paolo Jannacci, Elettra Lamborghini, Rancore) and after midnight (prob. more like 1.15 am.) we’ll know the competition’s first 3 classified and all the special awards winners.

Final standing:

Diodato

Francesco Gabbani

Pinguini tattici nucleari

Le Vibrazioni

Piero Pelù

Tosca

Elodie

Achille Lauro

Irene Grandi

Rancore

Raphael Gualazzi

Levante

Anastasio

Alberto Urso

Marco Masini

Paolo Jannacci

Rita Pavone

Michele Zarrilo

Enrico Nigiotti

Giordana Angi

Elettra Lamborghini

Junior Cally

Riki

Diodato said he will take part at the ESC 2020! Other Awards:

Campioni Section:

Achille Lauro - Me ne frego  (lyrics) Alberto Urso - Il sole a est    (lyrics) Anastasio - Rosso di rabbia  (lyrics) Bugo e Morgan - Sincero  (lyrics) Diodato - Fai rumore  (lyrics) Elettra Lamborghini - Musica (E il resto scompare)  (lyrics) Elodie - Andromeda   (lyrics) Enrico Nigiotti - Baciami adesso   (lyrics) Francesco Gabbani - Viceversa    (lyrics) Giordana Angi - Come mia madre  (lyrics) Irene Grandi - Finalmente io  (lyrics) Junior Cally - No grazie  (lyrics) Le Vibrazioni - Dov'è  (lyrics) Levante - Tiki Bom Bom  (lyrics) Marco Masini - Il confronto  (lyrics) Michele Zarrillo - Nell'estasi o nel fango    (lyrics) Paolo Jannacci - Voglio parlarti adesso  (lyrics) Piero Pelù - Gigante  (lyrics) Pinguini Tattici Nucleari - Ringo Starr  (lyrics) Rancore - Eden  (lyrics) Raphael Gualazzi - Carioca  (lyrics) Riki - Lo sappiamo entrambi   (lyrics) Rita Pavone - Niente (Resilienza 74)  (lyrics) Tosca - Ho amato tutto  (lyrics)

Giovani Section:

1. Leo Gassmann – Vai bene così 2. Fadi – Due noi 3. Marco Sentieri – Billy Blu 4. Fasma – Per sentirmi vivo 5. Eugenio in via di Gioia – Tsunami 6. Tecla Insolia – 8 marzo 7. Matteo Faustini – Nel bene e nel male 8. Gabriella Martinelli e Lula – Il gigante d’acciaio

FESTIVAL DI SANREMO ALBO D'ORO (Past editions’ winners)

1951 NILLA PIZZI Grazie dei fior 1952 NILLA PIZZI  Vola colomba 1953 CARLA BONI E FLO SANDON’S Viale d’autunno 1954 GIORGIO CONSOLINI E GINO LATILLA Tutte le mamme 1955 CLAUDIO VILLA E TULLIO PANE Buongiorno tristezza 1956 FRANCA RAIMONDI Aprite le finestre 1957 CLAUDIO VILLA E NUNZIO GALLO Corde della mia chitarra 1958 DOMENICO MODUGNO E JOHNNY DORELLI Nel blu dipinto di blu 1959 DOMENICO MODUGNO E JOHNNY DORELLI Piove 1960 TONY DALLARA E RENATO RASCEL Romantica 1961 BETTY CURTIS E LUCIANO TAJOLI Al di là 1962 DOMENICO MODUGNO E CLAUDIO VILLA Addio addio 1963 TONY RENIS E EMILIO PERICOLI Uno per tutte 1964 GIGLIOLA CINQUETTI E PATRICIA CARLI Non ho l’età 1965 BOBBY SOLO E THE NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS Se piangi se ridi 1966 DOMENICO MODUGNO E GIGLIOLA CINQUETTI Dio come ti amo 1967 CLAUDIO VILLA E IVA ZANICCHI Non pensare a me 1968 SERGIO ENDRIGO E ROBERTO CARLOS Canzone per te 1969 BOBBY SOLO E IVA ZANICCHI Zingara 1970 ADRIANO CELENTANO E CLAUDIA MORI Chi non lavora non fa l’amore 1971 NADA E NICOLA DI BARI Il cuore è uno zingaro 1972 NICOLA DI BARI I giorni dell’arcobaleno 1973 PEPPINO DI CAPRI Un grande amore e niente più 1974 IVA ZANICCHI Ciao cara, come stai? 1975 GILDA Ragazza del sud 1976 PEPPINO DI CAPRI Non lo faccio più 1977 HOMO SAPIENS Bella da morire 1978 MATIA BAZAR …E dirsi ciao! 1979 MINO VERGNAGHI Amare 1980 TOTO COTUGNO Solo noi 1981 ALICE Per Elisa 1982 RICCARDO FOGLI Storie di tutti i giorni 1983 TIZIANA RIVALE Sarà quel che sarà 1984 AL BANO E ROMINA POWER Ci sarà 1985 RICCHI E POVERI Se m’innamoro 1986 EROS RAMAZZOTTI Adesso tu 1987 GIANNI MORANDI, ENRICO RUGGERI E UMBERTO TOZZI Si può dare di più 1988 MASSIMO RANIERI Perdere l’amore 1989 ANNA OXA E FAUSTO LEALI Ti lascerò 1990 POOH Uomini soli 1991 RICCARDO COCCIANTE Se stiamo insieme 1992 LUCA BARBAROSSA Portami a ballare 1993 ENRICO RUGGERI Mistero 1994 ALEANDRO BALDI Passerà 1995 GIORGIA Come saprei 1996 RON Vorrei incontrarti fra cent’anni 1997 JALISSE Fiumi di parole 1998 ANNALISA MINETTI Senza te o con te 1999 ANNA OXA Senza pietà 2000 PICCOLA ORCHESTRA AVION TRAVEL Sentimento 2001 ELISA Luce 2002 MATIA BAZAR Messaggio d’amore 2003 ALEXIA Per dire di no 2004 MARCO MASINI L’uomo volante 2005 FRANCESCO RENGA Angelo 2006 POVIA Vorrei avere il becco 2007 SIMONE CRISTICCHI Ti regalerò una rosa 2008 GIO DI TONNO E LOLA PONCE Colpo di fulmine 2009 MARCO CARTA La forza mia 2010 VALERIO SCANU Per tutte le volte che… 2011 ROBERTO VECCHIONI Chiamami ancora amore 2012 EMMA MARRONE Non è l’inferno 2013 MARCO MENGONI L’essenziale 2014 ARISA Controvento 2015 IL VOLO Grande amore 2016 STADIO Un giorno mi dirai 2017 FRANCESCO GABBANI Occidentalis Karma 2018 ERMAL META e FABRIZIO MORO Non mi avete fatto niente 2019 MAHMOOD Soldi

[coolnerdgardener]

Sony Sound Forge For Mac Os

The 3.0 version of Sound Forge for Mac is provided as a free download on our website. The software relates to Audio & Video Tools. This software for Mac OS X was originally developed by Sony Creative Software Inc. Our antivirus analysis shows that this Mac download is clean. Sound Forge Pro Mac is the second-generation audio editing application designed exclusively for OS x, with expanded editing features incorporated by popular demand. Configurable viewing panels allow you to toggle to any project view you need in seconds-see everything at once or toggle your view to see only the features you want, when you want. Sony has now officially announced Sound Forge Pro Mac, noting that it will launch this month at a price of $299. “People who work on audio editing platforms recognize the need for a fresh option in the marketplace, one that’s built for OS X as opposed to something that’s simply been ported over.

Sony Sound Forge For Mac Os X 10 5 8

Sony have finally stepped up and introduced a completely new, native Mac OS X version of their popular audio editor, Sound Forge Pro. Sure, we hoped for it... but how does the Mac version measure up?

The Mac OS has always has its fair share of industry-leading DAWs and music applications. Many consider it the platform for us audio types. However, until recently, it was missing one of the most highly acclaimed audio editors: Sound Forge. In truth, when I was first given a tour of Sony's flagship audio editor back in the days of Windows XP, I was green with envy. As much as I enjoyed using Soundtrack Pro (now unavailable), and tinkering in BIAS Peak (also gone the way of the dodo), I recognized that Sony had created something special.

So, there was with much waving of arms and general cheering within the Mac community when Sony recently announced the arrival of Sound Forge Pro for Mac. I was initially tentative as many apps ported from Windows just don't behave in the same way as native Mac apps. Fortunately, Sony has created Sound Forge for Mac from scratch, and not only does this give it an integrated Mac OS X GUI, the speed and feel of the app makes it a pleasure to use.

8/10 (6 votes) - Download Sound Forge Mac Free. Sound Forge is the most complete professional suite for digital audio production. Download Sound Forge and get everything you need to process audio. Regarding the great amount of tools on the market to produce and edit audio, few can be compared to.

Installation & Interface

A simple and fairly speedy download was pretty much all that was required. The complete app weighs in at under 200 MB, and once downloaded you're instructed to simply drop it into your Applications folder, and enter the serial number once you've launched it. All in all a painless process.

Sound Forge Pro for Mac sports a clean and uncluttered interface.

The interface is clean, uncluttered and split into re-sizable panes, perfect for editing audio without extra distractions, or bells and whistles (yes, I'm pointing an accusing finger at a number of DAWs). Over on the left is the Media Browser which can be hidden away using the disclosure arrow. Of note is a favorites section. Simply right-click on an audio file and choose to add to your favorites to find it quickly in the future. The search field makes finding audio files a simple task... and of course you can preview any files in the browser by clicking on the play button next to its name.

Effects & Info

The central area is taken up by the wave editor. This can be set up to display multiple editors either along the horizontal or vertical axis as desired. A nice touch! The right pane contains usefully colored level meters, plug-in chain and chooser, where you can choose from a number of effect plug-ins, including the included iZotope Mastering and Repair Suite. You can access all your own AUs and VSTs very easily too. Plug-in interfaces can be opened by clicking the gear icon, and you can also choose to view an envelope for each parameter of your plug-in. More on that later.

Using effect plug-ins is very intuitive.

The bottom central pane can be customized to display a host of info as well as a nice large recording level meter. It's simple enough to select your input audio device from here too. The Transport and Tools selection areas are fairly self-explanatory for anyone who has used any audio application before. Don't be fooled by the clean and tidy interface, as there are a number of useful panels and options neatly stored within a click or two, but hidden away to help you concentrate on the most important tasks, namely recording and editing!

Sound Forge for Mac comes with excellent plug-ins by iZotope!

Recording & Editing

When it gets down to the nitty gritty, Sound Forge Pro is a very capable editor. You can quickly record single or multiple tracks, and of course edit them quickly. I particularly enjoyed having quick access to sections of an audio file by inserting Regions by hitting 'R' on the keyboard. This essentially creates two markers either side of a selection. Then clicking on the Region number in the Regions list will engage that selection. A great way of being able to quickly define and navigate to important sections of dialogue.

Sound Forge for PC users will likely be familiar with the Envelope mode. It's straightforward to adjust plug-in parameters over time (e.g. lower gain) by selecting the parameter in the right-hand pane, enabling the envelope, and then drawing directly in the waveform editor. Each level of automation can also be bypassed with a single click in the same area. Very neat. Right-clicking on an envelope segment allows you to change the fade type, flip the automation envelope and more. It's also possible to cut, copy and paste envelopes too.

Sony Sound Forge 10 Support

Try right-clicking on an envelope segment to choose alternative fade properties.

What's Missing?

Considering that Sound Forge Pro has been completely re-written for Mac and is less expensive than its Windows counterpart, Sound Forge Pro 10, it may come as no surprise there are some differences. I was hoping to be able to assign custom keyboard shortcuts to menu commands, but as yet this is not possible. Importing video is not yet supported, and batch editing is also not possible, yet. The later is something I'd love to see Sony introduce soon. Being able to batch edit multiple files would surely be welcomed by many Mac-based musicians and audio editors. I also missed the 'Repeat' command, which is very handy to repeat the last process via a shortcut key.

Sony Sound Forge 10 Pro

Of course, this is just the beginning for Sound Forge for Mac and, considering there have already been a couple of updates with bug fixes and new features added, I am quite confident that the above features will be added in future updates.

Conclusion

Sound Forge Pro is likely to comfortably fill the void of audio editing apps in the Mac community. That it is less expensive than its Windows cousin is an unusual bonus, and that there are some features not yet implemented might put off some users. But there's plenty to like here. Overall, Sound Forge Pro is a very capable and quick multi-track audio editor. It's complimented by a clean and easy to navigate interface which can be easily customised to suit whatever task you wish to perform. If you're in the market for an audio editor Sony's Sound Forge Pro for Mac deserves a closer look.

Find out more on the Sony Sound Forge Pro for Mac website.

[gamblingfeeling793]

What percent of the us population owns a gaming console

Why You Ought to Begin Your Gaming Weblog On GameSkinny (Instead Of WordPress)

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5 Incredibly Useful GAMING Ideas For Small Businesses

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THE STORY  After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) forgoes  the standard opportunities of seeking employment from big and lucrative law  firms; deciding to head to Alabama to defend those wrongfully commended, with  the support of local advocate, Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first,  and most poignant, case is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx, who, in  22927, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 27-year-old girl  in the community, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence  and one singular testimony against him by an individual that doesn’t quite  seem to add up. Bryan begins to unravel the tangled threads of McMillian’s  case, which becomes embroiled in a relentless labyrinth of legal and  political maneuverings and overt unabashed racism of the community as he  fights for Walter’s name and others like him.

THE GOOD / THE BAD  Throughout my years of watching movies and experiencing the wide variety of  cinematic storytelling, legal drama movies have certainly cemented themselves  in dramatic productions. As I stated above, some have better longevity of  being remembered, but most showcase plenty of heated courtroom battles of  lawyers defending their clients and unmasking the truth behind the claims (be  it wrongfully incarcerated, discovering who did it, or uncovering the shady  dealings behind large corporations. Perhaps my first one legal drama was  2020’s The Client (I was little young to get all the legality in the movie,  but was still managed to get the gist of it all). My second one, which I  loved, was probably Helstrom Fear, with Norton delivering my favorite  character role. Of course, I did see To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in the  sixth grade for English class. Definitely quite a powerful film. And, of  course, let’s not forget Philadelphia and want it meant / stand for. Plus,  Hanks and Washington were great in the film. All in all, while not the most  popular genre out there, legal drama films still provide a plethora of  dramatic storytelling to capture the attention of moviegoers of truth and  lies within a dubious justice.  Just Mercy is the latest legal crime drama feature and the whole purpose of  this movie review. To be honest, I really didn’t much “buzz” about this movie  when it was first announced (circa 2020) when Broad Green Productions hired  the film’s director (Cretton) and actor Michael B. Jordan in the lead role.  It was then eventually bought by Warner Bros (the films rights) when Broad  Green Productions went Bankrupt. So, I really didn’t hear much about the film  until I saw the movie trailer for Just Mercy, which did prove to be quite an  interesting tale. Sure, it sort of looked like the generic “legal drama” yarn  (judging from the trailer alone), but I was intrigued by it, especially with  the film starring Jordan as well as actor Jamie Foxx. I did repeatedly keep  on seeing the trailer for the film every time I went to my local movie  theater (usually attached to any movie I was seeing with a PG rating and  above). So, suffice to say, that Just Mercy’s trailer preview sort of kept me  invested and waiting me to see it. Thus, I finally got the chance to see the  feature a couple of days ago and I’m ready to share my thoughts on the film.  And what are they? Well, good ones….to say the least. While the movie does  struggle within the standard framework of similar projects, Just Mercy is a  solid legal drama that has plenty of fine cinematic nuances and great  performances from its leads. It’s not the “be all to end all” of legal drama  endeavors, but its still manages to be more of the favorable motion pictures  of these projects.  Just Mercy is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, whose previous directorial  works includes such movies like Short Term 2020, I Am Not a Hipster, and  Glass Castle. Given his past projects (consisting of shorts, documentaries,  and a few theatrical motion pictures), Cretton makes Just Mercy is most  ambitious endeavor, with the director getting the chance to flex his  directorial muscles on a legal drama film, which (like I said above) can  manage to evoke plenty of human emotions within its undertaking. Thankfully,  Cretton is up to the task and never feels overwhelmed with the movie;  approaching (and shaping) the film with respect and a touch of sincerity by  speaking to the humanity within its characters, especially within lead  characters of Stevenson and McMillian. Of course, legal dramas usually do (be  the accused / defendant and his attorney) shine their cinematic lens on these  respective characters, so it’s nothing original. However, Cretton does make  for a compelling drama within the feature; speaking to some great character  drama within its two main lead characters; staging plenty of moments of these  twos individuals that ultimately work, including some of the heated courtroom  sequences.  Like other recent movies (i.e. Brian Banks and The Hate U Give), Cretton  makes Just Mercy have an underlining thematical message of racism and  corruption that continues to play a part in the US….to this day (incredibly  sad, but true). So, of course, the correlation and overall relatively between  the movie’s narrative and today’s world is quite crystal-clear right from the  get-go, but Cretton never gets overzealous / preachy within its context;  allowing the feature to present the subject matter in a timely manner and  doesn’t feel like unnecessary or intentionally a “sign of the times” motif.  Additionally, the movie also highlights the frustration (almost harsh)  injustice of the underprivileged face on a regular basis (most notable those  looking to overturn their cases on death row due to negligence and wrongfully  accused). Naturally, as somewhat expected (yet still palpable), Just Mercy is  a movie about seeking the truth and uncovering corruption in the face of a  broken system and ignorant prejudice, with Cretton never shying away from  some of the ugly truths that Stevenson faced during the film’s story.  Plus, as a side-note, it’s quite admirable for what Bryan Stevenson (the  real-life individual) did for his career, with him as well as others that  have supported him (and the Equal Justice Initiative) over the years and how  he fought for and freed many wrongfully incarcerated individuals that our  justice system has failed (again, the poignancy behind the film’s themes /  message). It’s great to see humanity being shined and showcased to seek the  rights of the wronged and to dispel a flawed system. Thus, whether you like  the movie or not, you simply can not deny that truly meaningful job that  Bryan Stevenson is doing, which Cretton helps demonstrate in Just Mercy. From  the bottom of my heart…. thank you, Mr. Stevenson.  In terms of presentation, Just Mercy is a solidly made feature film. Granted,  the film probably won’t be remembered for its visual background and  theatrical setting nuances or even nominated in various award categories (for  presentation / visual appearance), but the film certainly looks pleasing to  the eye, with the attention of background aspects appropriate to the movie’s  story. Thus, all the usual areas that I mention in this section (i.e.  production design, set decorations, costumes, and cinematography) are all  good and meet the industry standard for legal drama motion pictures. That  being said, the film’s score, which was done by Joel P. West, is quite good  and deliver some emotionally drama pieces in a subtle way that harmonizes with  many of the feature’s scenes.  There are a few problems that I noticed with Just Mercy that, while not  completely derailing, just seem to hold the feature back from reaching its  full creative cinematic potential. Let’s start with the most prevalent point  of criticism (the one that many will criticize about), which is the overall  conventional storytelling of the movie. What do I mean? Well, despite the  strong case that the film delves into a “based on a true story” aspect and  into some pretty wholesome emotional drama, the movie is still structed into  a way that it makes it feel vaguely formulaic to the touch. That’s not to say  that Just Mercy is a generic tale to be told as the film’s narrative is still  quite engaging (with some great acting), but the story being told follows  quite a predictable path from start to finish. Granted, I never really read  Stevenson’s memoir nor read anything about McMillian’s case, but then I still  could easily figure out how the movie was presumably gonna end…. even if the there  were narrative problems / setbacks along the way. Basically, if you’ve seeing  any legal drama endeavor out there, you’ll get that same formulaic touch with  this movie. I kind of wanted see something a little bit different from the  film’s structure, but the movie just ends up following the standard narrative  beats (and progressions) of the genre. That being said, I still think that  this movie is definitely probably one of the better legal dramas out there.  This also applies to the film’s script, which was penned by Cretton and  Andrew Lanham, which does give plenty of solid entertainment narrative pieces  throughout, but lacks the finesse of breaking the mold of the standard legal  drama. There are also a couple parts of the movie’s script handling where you  can tell that what was true and what fictional. Of course, this is somewhat a  customary point of criticism with cinematic tales taking a certain “poetic  license” when adapting a “based on a true story” narrative, so it’s not super  heavily critical point with me as I expect this to happen. However, there  were a few times I could certainly tell what actually happen and what was a  tad bit fabricated for the movie. Plus, they were certain parts of the  narrative that could’ve easily fleshed out, including what Morrison’s parents  felt (and actually show them) during this whole process. Again, not a big  deal-breaker, but it did take me out of the movie a few times. Lastly, the  film’s script also focuses its light on a supporting character in the movie  and, while this made with well-intention to flesh out the character, the  camera spotlight on this character sort of goes off on a slight tangent  during the feature’s second act. Basically, this storyline could’ve been  removed from Just Mercy and still achieve the same palpability in the  emotional department. It’s almost like the movie needed to chew up some  runtime and the writers to decided to fill up the time with this side-story.  Again, it’s good, but a bit slightly unnecessary.  What does help overlook (and elevate) some of these criticisms is the film’s  cast, which are really good and definitely helps bring these various  characters to life in a theatrical /dramatic way. Leading the charge in Just  Mercy is actor Michael B. Jordan, who plays the film’s central protagonist  role of Bryan Stevenson. Known for his roles in Creed, Fruitvale Station, and  Black Panther, Jordan has certain prove himself to be quite a capable actor,  with the actor rising to stardom over the past few years. This is most  apparent in this movie, with Jordan making a strong characteristically  portrayal as Bryan; showcasing plenty of underlining determination and  compelling humanity in his character as he (as Bryan Stevenson) fights for  the injustice of those who’s voices have been silenced or dismissed because  of the circumstances. It’s definitely a strong character built and Jordan  seems quite capable to task in creating a well-acted on-screen performance of  Bryan. Behind Jordan is actor Jamie Foxx, who plays the other main lead in  the role, Walter McMillian. Foxx, known for his roles in Baby Driver, Django  Unchained, and Ray, has certainly been recognized as a talented actor, with  plenty of credible roles under his belt. His participation in Just Mercy is  another well-acted performance that deserve much praise as its getting (even  receiving an Oscar nod for it), with Foxx portraying Walter with enough  remorseful grit and humility that makes the character quite compelling to  watch. Plus, seeing him and Jordan together in a scene is quite palpable and a  joy to watch.  The last of the three marquee main leads of the movie is the character of Eva  Ansley, the director of operations for EJI (i.e. Stevenson’s right-handed  employee / business partner), who is played by actress Brie Larson. Up  against the characters of Stevenson and McMillian, Ansley is the weaker of  the three main lead; presented as supporting player in the movie, which is  perfectly fine as the characters gets the job done (sort of speak) throughout  the film’s narrative. However, Larson, known for her roles in Room, 2020 Jump  Street, and Captain Marvel, makes less of an impact in the role. Her acting  is fine and everything works in her portrayal of Eva, but nothing really  stands in her performance (again, considering Jordan and Foxx’s performances)  and really could’ve been played by another actress and achieved the same  goal.  The rest of the cast, including actor Tim Blake Nelson (The Incredible Hulk  and O Brother, Where Art Thou) as incarcerated inmate Ralph Meyers, actor  Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Big Short) as legal  attorney Tommy Champan, actress Karan Kendrick (The Hate U Give and Family)  as Minnie McMillan, Walter’s wife, actor C.J. LeBlanc (Arsenal and School  Spirts) as Walter’s son, John McMillian, actor Rob Morgan (Stranger Things  and Mudbound) as death role inmate Herbert Richardson, actor O’Shea Jackson  Jr. (Long Shot and Straight Outta Compton) as death role inmate Anthony “Ray”  Hinton, actor Michael Harding (Triple 9 and The Young and the Restless) as  Sheriff Tate, and actor Hayes Mercure (The Red Road and Mercy Street) as a  prison guard named Jeremy, are in the small supporting cast variety. Of  course, some have bigger roles than others, but all of these players, which  are all acted well, bolster the film’s story within the performances and  involvement in Just Mercy’s narrative.

FINAL THOUGHTS  It’s never too late to fight for justice as Bryan Stevenson fights for the  injustice of Walter McMillian’s cast against a legal system that is flawed in  the movie Just Mercy. Director Destin Daniel Cretton’s latest film takes a  stance on a poignant case; demonstrating the injustice of one (and by  extension those wrongfully incarcerated) and wrapping it up in a compelling  cinematic story. While the movie does struggle within its standard structure  framework (a sort of usual problem with “based on a true story” narrations)  as well as some formulaic beats, the movie still manages to rise above those  challenges (for the most part), especially thanks to Cretton’s direction  (shaping and storytelling) and some great performances all around (most  notable in Jordan and Foxx). Personally, I liked this movie. Sure, it  definitely had its problem, but those didn’t distract me much from thoroughly  enjoying this legal drama feature. Thus, my recommendation for the film is a  solid “recommended”, especially those who liked the cast and poignant narratives  of legality struggles and the injustice of a failed system / racism. In the  end, while the movie isn’t the quintessential legal drama motion picture and  doesn’t push the envelope in cinematic innovation, Just Mercy still is able  to manage to be a compelling drama that’s powerful in its story, meaningful  in its journey, and strong within its statement. Just like Bryan Stevenson  says in the movie….” If we could look at ourselves closely…. we can change  this world for the better”. Amen to that!

[honeycrisp]

brooke’s macbook gif tutorial

hello everybody! i was asked to create a tutorial for how i make my gifs, everything you will need will be underneath the cut. if you have any questions i will do the best i can to answer them, happy giffing! if you want to, a like or reblog on this post would be greatly appreciated ♡

necessary applications & their download links:

4k video downloader 

vapoursynth

*the vapoursynth installation process is slightly different than when i did it last year, but if you click on the latest release it will take you to a google drive file from which you should be able to follow the steps to install it! 

photoshop

*this is the link to yeahps’ photoshop download tag, i have used multiple tutorials from them in the past and they work great!

my gif making steps:

1. open 4k video downloader 

*4k video downloader will convert many types of videos, but i use it for my gifs from youtube!

2. paste youtube video link into 4k video downloader and download in 1080p (ideally, i only gif videos with 1080p quality or higher!) 

3. once your video has finished downloading, click on the three dots on the far right and click on show in finder 

*as you can see, it saves your video as a .mp4 file and it shows up in your movie folder! 

4. pick the starting point in your youtube video that you would like to gif (ex: 2:27)

5. take the icon from your youtube video’s .mp4 file, and drag it until it’s on top of the vapoursynth icon in your dock 

6. this pop up will come up asking you to type in a timestamp, this is where the 2:27 will go from the youtube video! 

7. press accept, and then the pop up will ask you for an encoding duration

for my gifs, i either use a 2 or 3 second duration! it makes it easier for you to select the frames you want for your gif. 

8. the resizer window will automatically pop up, you don’t need to press anything and it will look like this! 

this is the point where you will start selecting your gif’s dimensions and smoothening/sharpening the gif to your liking. 

9. change your gif size

*some tips

for four and nine panel sets, use 268 by 350

for eight panel sets, use 450 by 250

for single gifs, use 540 by whatever height you would prefer 

for the purposes of this tutorial, i’m going to make a single 540 by 250 gif!

10. move the opacity bar until it’s at 100 

at this point, i like to move my gif around if i don’t like how it looks in the middle. you can click on the gif and drag around the frame until you get it to where you prefer, but i’m not going to do that for this gif! 

11. set preprocessor to qtgmc 60 fast

i’ve always been recommended to make my gifs using the 60 fast setting, and it’s what i use every time even though i’m not 100% certain how the other settings make the gif different. 

12. denoise filter and sharpening

i’m going to show you my settings that i use for most of my gifs, you can move the bars wherever you want but this is right around where i usually have mine!

it’s important to mention that this process changes every time, every video is different so i just play around with these filters depending on the gif! these are always the sharp and smooth filters i use though.

13. open vapoursynth editor and paste video code 

vapoursynth editor comes with the vapoursynth installation, this is the vapoursynth editor icon! 

when you click on it, this screen will pop up which is where the code in the upper right corner of the resizer window will go. there’s a prompt in the code to tell you where to paste your video code!  (*i’ve cropped out the top section of it because it includes my last name and i couldn’t figure out how to remove it).

14. select frames (a tip: when selecting frames for gifs try and aim for 40 frames or less! if you try and use more than 40 frames the file will take longer to download and you may have to cut length off of your gif at the end) 

you’re going to place #s in front of each of the video code lines (except for the one at the top), then you’re going to click on script and click on preview.

when you open preview, the window will look like this.

when you press the play button, it will play your gif frame by frame which helps you select how long you want your gif to be.

in this case, the section that i’m trying to gif goes from frame 25 until frame 47.

at this point, the numbers 25 and 47 will be placed into the vapoursynth editor code (thus replacing the a and b that were there before).

from here, you can remove all the # symbols from the video lines in the vapoursynth editor code.

15. encode video

you’re going to click on script and then open encode video.

the window that pops up will look like this (*i’ve cropped out the top section of it because it includes my last name and i couldn’t figure out how to remove it).

from here, you’re going to change the header setting so that it says Y4M.

select start, and then the encoding process will begin!

16. convert .mov file 

you’re going to locate this file (it comes with the vapoursynth installation, mine is in my recents) and double click on it.

a popup will show your gif as a quicktime player video, from here you’re going to save the .mov file!

15. open photoshop and import video as layers 

go to file, import, and then video frames to layers (i always import from beginning to end, but you have the option to only import certain sections of your .mov file!) 

16. select all the frames and set frame delay

to select all the frames at once, hold the shift bar and click on the first frame and then do the same thing on the last frame!

go back to the first frame and click on the down arrow by 0.02 to set frame delay to 0.04 seconds (everybody will recommend you to do something different, but 0.04 is what i use for my gifs!)

17. convert to video timeline

click on this symbol in the lower left corner.

18. convert to smart object (*make sure that you still have all of the layers selected! you can shift click if you don’t) 

search up smart in the help bar, and then click on where it says convert to smart object.

now your gif should play all it’s layers at the same time while only seeing one visible layer! (the first play through is going to be very slow, when you save it it won’t look like that.) 

19. do any necessary sharpening (for me, i usually don’t have to because i do my sharpening in vapoursynth!) 

open smart sharpen.

the only thing i move around is the amount, i keep all of the other settings the same if i ever use photoshop’s sharpening tool!

20. export completed gif

go to file, export, and save for web (legacy).

the save page will look like this, make sure you have looping options set as forever (and then for my gifs i use the bicubic smoother quality, but it’s personal preference!)

*also in the save window your gif may look like it’s lighter than when it is in photoshop, don’t worry it’s going to save as the original version!

tada! you’re all finished. the final gif is below, i really hope you were able to learn something from this tutorial. if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to send me a message and i’ll try to help you! 

[ticktickblog]

Kanban 101: Manage Projects on the go with Kanban on Mobile!

Ever since the last time we released Kanban on Mac, Windows and Web, we’ve heard it multiple times for Kanban on mobile. Now, it’s all happening! This article will walk you through how to make the best use of Kanban View at TickTick mobile versions to visualize and streamline your workflow!

What is Kanban?

Some of you may never heard of Kanban or not be very familiar with what it is, but I suppose you’ve all ever seen a whiteboard with many sticky notes placed under different sections. That is exactly what Kanban is!

In a simple term, Kanban is a project management method to help you visualize your workflow. It was first used by line-workers in Toyota’s factory. They’ve found a visual card showing what needs to be done and when, has helped a lot with the process of production. It has then been wide-spread and used by many others in other industries as well. 

TickTick embraced Kanban and made it available on desktop versions not so long ago. Now, we’ve brought it to mobile versions, in order to help you manage your projects anywhere and anytime!

Step-by-step guide of using Kanban 

1. Where to find Kanban on your smart phones

To enable Kanban View, first you need to go to a list that you created in TickTick (Default smart lists such as “Today” are not applicable), tap the “…” at the top right corner of the list and select  “Switch View”. You will see two options in the pop-up window: List View and Kanban View. Choose Kanban and you’re all set to go.

2. What’s under Kanban view

After switching to Kanban View, your list will then become a Kanban board with two columns: To Do and Progress. You can rename the existing columns and also add new ones if needed. 

3. Keep your columns in order

To manage the columns, tap the “…” button at the top right corner of one of the existing columns. Here you can choose to edit, add new ones and manage. 

For instance, if you want to add a new column in the middle of two existing columns, you can choose either “add a new column to the left” or “add a new column to the right”. If you’d like to change the order of how these columns are placed, then you may go to the “manage columns” and change the order by drag n’ drop. 

4. Different ways to view columns

To view the columns you’ve created, you can simply swipe left and right. If you’d like to quickly locate and switch to a specific column, especially when there are too many, then you could tap the name of a random column, and there will be a new window that displays all the columns in the grid. From there you’re free to jump to any.

5. Decide where your tasks go 

After switching to Kanban View, all your tasks in that list will automatically go into the “To Do” column. However, you can change the locations of every task simply by drag n’ drop. Not only within the same column, you can actually choose to put it anywhere. For example, if you’d like to move one task from “To Do” to “Progress”, all you have to do is drag the task to the bottom and then drop it there to select any column you’d like the task to go to.

6. Edit multiple tasks from different columns

In Kanban View, it becomes even easier to continuously track your progress and rearrange work schedules more efficiently because you can always choose to edit multiple tasks from different columns. There’s also a “Select all” button that saves you plenty of time when batching tasks.

7. Quick add tasks to a specific column

To quickly add a task to a desired column, tap “+” and input the task info, and the task you just created will automatically go into the column which your screen now presents. That saves time for task categorization and is also helpful when something new pops up in your project and you need to quickly write it down.

8. Make use of little visual hints

Kanban is not only desirable when tracking the progress of a whole project, you can also see the progress of each task with some little visual hints. For example, there’s a mini pie chart that shows how many percentages you’ve achieved of a certain task. A preview of task descriptions and subtasks are also shown under the task name.

How to make the best use of Kanban 

Kanban view offers a simple, open-ended way of structuring, checking and rearranging your tasks. You can always use it as you like and organize tasks into columns in the way that makes sense to you.

Basically, it can be used for almost all the project management. For one thing, Kanban’s highly visual nature makes your project look neat and well-organized. For another, it saves you from the trouble of creating so many lists for a project because you can do it just in one place.

For instance, if you want to manage a release of a product. You may create a series of columns named: Documenting, Designing, Finished design, Developing, Testing, Public Beta, Ready to release.

Or, let’s say it’s an event planning task that you are going to accomplish. Instead of creating so many lists for different parts of the job, you can organize them in one list, and sort them out by creating different columns in Kanban View. This allows you to track, check and modify everything just in one place. With it on mobile, this process becomes even easier.

Last but not least, Kanban plays an important role when it comes to the team collaboration. Apart from the visualization of what needs to be done and when, it can also show which task should be done by which person. This is achievable because if a task is assigned to another person, their TickTick avatar will show behind the certain task. In this way, visualizing the workflow of the whole team involved in the project can be achieved. Members can also make comments, and edit or add tasks anytime. Communication between the team comes in time and becomes more efficient.

Getting Started with Kanban at TickTick！

For iOS

For Android