The Real MVP Jeff the Landshark

 I had a burst of inspiration and put together a video with some music and a highlight from Marvel Rivals.  Enjoy!

My first Youtube upload in over 12 years!

 I did a thing that I said I was going to do: I made a Youtube video!  My first video upload in -- checks Youtube and blog history -- 12 years!!!  It's been a minute (or 6,307,200+ minutes to be more precise)!  I was mostly encouraged to make the video to show my oldest son some things he could do with his video editing as he ventures off into his video making career.  Also figured this would make a good blog post on how I combined some AI and design tools together to make this thing happen.

 First; the video featuring a race from Asphalt 9 Legends that I've been messing around a bit with lately.

I had a few goals when setting out to do this video

1. Be done in a day
2. Use AI tools to make some images
3. Make use of sound effects
4. Create an intro and an outro I can use in future videos
   
5. Get feedback on how to do better
   

 In order to be done with this in a day I decided early on that I needed to use a game I am less attached to.  Had this been a New World video I'd probably still be agonizing over what footage to use or how to frame it.  Asphalt 9 Legends was easy because it features super fast races with cinematic mode to capture the footage.

 I did hit some issues on capture so will be looking for feedback and suggestions.  I used AMD's software to do the recording.  The game play was smooth but the video had some hitches and it didn't record in a format that I could use in Camtasia 2021 (I use this to chop up videos for work).  I had to use Handbrake to encode the video recorded in AMD and after that encoding, even after playing around with settings a few times, it had a lot of freezes as can be seen in the final product.

 Also AMD records my mouse cursor over the screen even though it is NOT visible when playing the game.  Maybe I just need to use a different recording method or program?  My son uses Microsoft Gamebar (or whatever comes up hitting Windows + G).  I've also seen suggestions to use OBS (Open Broadcast Studio) for capture.

 Next I wanted to hit some AI tools; mainly image generation.  I used Bing's image generator which to come up with a "Let's Race" and "Crash" images to use in the video.  I used Microsoft Designer to clean the images up and make backgrounds transparent.  It works remarkably well but did find it sort of confusing and/or limited in what it could do.  I had some final editing that I just did in Paint.net on my local PC.

 

Apparently "transparent background" to the AI means a checkered background.  I used Microsoft Designer to remove the background and save it afterwards as truly transparent.

 AI only got me so far.  I've had a catchy tagline I've wanted to use for a while of "To the point, no bull, game play footage." with an asterisk of "*Not a pro gamer", but I couldn't get a decent image with the text so I ended up over in Canva creating my own.  Canva was impressive for my first time using it beyond just copying a template from it!  It also converted my work to short MP4 videos for easy use including a subscribe animation!  Static copies of the intro and outro I created.

Intro (created with Canva)

Outro (created with Canva)

 I also learned about Youtube's audio library which I nabbed some sound effects and free music from for the video.  This was honestly an amazing free resource that I think should be recommended more; there is a ton to pick from.

 So enjoy and I hope this maybe inspires some creativity out there!  If this old gamer can do it so can you.  Maybe even my kid will pick something up here from his old man!

Videos from my past: Minecraft Mondays 001

 With 2023 I am looking to do more with video content.  This has had me reminiscing about my past video endeavors.  There are some videos lost to time from when I published to Google Video (before they bought YouTube).  I am hoping to find those on old hard drives and resurrecting what I can.  With that said there are some videos on my YouTube channel so I figured a trip down nostalgia road would be neat.  Below is my first Minecraft Monday video and I share some thoughts after.

 The first thing that jumped back at me was the silence of the video.  No music or sound?  As best I can remember this was during a time of YouTube uncertainty around using music and getting your videos kicked off the site and I just wasn't ready at the time to share my voice with the world.

 As far as the content of the video it warmed my heart to see our old Minecraft server and my mountain base (still my all time favorite build).  This was a server we played on from our work PCs before workplaces got so hardcore about locking users away from the Internet.  I remember how difficult these minecart stations were to make and relying on glitches like minecart launchers where two carts get stuck together and glitch to move the cart forward (this was before powered rails)

 It is also crazy to me that this was 11 freaking years ago!  Even more amazing is the staying power of the game that is Minecraft.  This game is still one of my all time favorites.

 If memory serves me this video was captured using Fraps and edited using whatever came with Windows at the time.

Frozen Synapse Launch

Just wanted to share some videos now that Frozen Synapse has been officially launched. This is a really well done game with some great "extra features" such as in-game recording and uploading to Youtube.

In this first game I dominate from the start (I'm GREEN in the video). The key to victory here was using cover while my opponent kept sending his guys into the clear. Also note how I ensure each of my guys covers the other once I have a numerical advantage.



More videos to come, but they are failing upload to Youtube for some reason.

Heartless_ Gamer's Minecraft Mondays 003: From concept to reality; my minecart station

Welcome to another Minecraft Monday.  In my previous episode, I covered the concept of using water to solve some common issues I've had with past minecart stations.  However, last time I only had a model mocked up to show the potential.  Today, I present my artsy-fartsy fully automated minecart station:



A few quick notes:

1. Yes, I started with this look in mind. I wanted visitors to be able to see the carts being stored and being fed into the departure zone.

2. This design works flawlessly. I have yet to encounter an issue aside from Minecraft crashing and leaving me stranded mid-track (but I'm sure I'm not the only one to experience the black screen of death in Minecraft :P )

3. While I went all artsy-fartsy, there is no reason that this concept can't be integrated into a more formal look.

4. I've had requests to show off my switching station a bit more.

5. With 3 and 4 in mind, I will start a new project to integrate some of my switching technology and water minecart station into my server's main departure station (the brick building outside my base). I plan on using this to possibly shoot some tutorial videos with an aim to show people that minecart and switching stations are NOT hard to set up. Actually, I can set up a full minecart station in less than five minutes now with this new design.

Heartless_ Gamer's Minecraft Mondays 002: A concept minecart station using water

Didn't get enough Minecraft on my Minecraft Mondays 001?  Well here is 002!

In this episode I quickly cover the concept minecart station I am designing.  This is a tour of my mock up.  While the design appears simple, it took a lot of tweaks to get it right.  Secondly, I had to put a new spin on how to utilize a door booster.  Enjoy the video:



As noted in the video, I had a few goals in mind for this design:

1. Prevent "bumping" of a cart as a player enters or exits
2. Remove the need to "call a cart" by having one always waiting
3. Improve reliability and idiot proof the departure and arrival mechanisms

I solved the first issue by placing the departure cart within a confined 1 x 1 holding area which prevents the cart from being bumped off target.  This holding area is on top of what most Minecrafters may identify as a door booster.  This allows me to use the door booster differently.  In my reversed scheme, the player loads into the booster and is boosted by what would normally be the riding cart.

This is actually beneficial in many ways and helps with reliability.  The number one issue with door boosters is the fact that sometimes the booster cart on top just doesn't make it all the way to the end of the run and when activated it simply falls into the door breaking the entire system.  Since I am feeding the loading area with the flow of water, and flip-flopping which cart is being ridden, I can use a 100% reliable self-resetting booster on the lower track for the main boosting power of the system.

Secondly, the rider does not have to wait for a booster cart to be sent out to come and "pick up" the cart they are riding in.  Once the rider hits GO, they drop into the self-resetting booster which powers them along the track.

Another quick tip: carts can be dropped long distances vertically without the rider taking any damage. 

The arrival "splashdown" area also prevents the bumping of the cart upon exit and the water flow also carries the cart off to be reused in the system.  In my mock up, I did not connect the arrival and departure areas, but in my final build, they will be linked.  Again, there is no need for an additional booster to be called to retrieve the now vacated cart.  The water does all the work!

This design is very good at removing many of the moving parts from traditional minecart stations.  When idle, everything in the station is sitting static.  Nothing moves until a rider is present (and with a tweak, I hope to make it so that an empty cart can't be accidentally launched by using a stone pressure plate next to the loading zone).

The biggest draw back is the speed at which water pushes a minecart.  It can be slow waiting on a cart if they have just been dumped into the holding area.  Fortunately, the holding bay can be rack and stacked with carts and the water will neatly organize and feed them one by one.  However, currently there is no way to manually load a cart at the departure point and all carts must be loaded through the holding tank.

I hope you enjoyed and please feel free to ask questions.

Heartless_ Gamer's Minecraft Mondays 001

So I promised a Minecraft video. Here it is. A bit outdated and I missed Monday, but it's never too late for a Minecraft video!



001 show notes:

This is an older video from the previous beta version 1.2.

This video covers my mountain base, cart station, and track switching station on the SMP player server I play on.

Sorry there isn't any sound in the video. I am working out some technical issues with FRAPS.

If there are any questions about any thing I show in the video, please let me know and I may follow it up with a video response!

Thanks for watching.

My videos @ Google video!

World of Warcraft Videos

I gank...
-Made this video in my mid 40's. Also marks the first time I met my friend Omegalegend (Tauren Warrior).

Die Another Day
-Made the day before I recorded most of the "I gank..." video. This was good practice in how to edit videos via Windows Movie Maker.

A day in the life of Tanglefoot
-Recorded this video out of boredom after an early morning run through EPL.

Counter Strike Source Videos

Two of the Greatest Things Ever
-My pride and joy :) Enjoy!

Battlefield 2 Video

Lets Go
-Just practice with the BF2 recorder.

Update: 5 Nov, 2006 - Applied labels and updated post.

My BF2 video @ Google videos!

Checking around the net and did a search for "BF2" on Google Videos. Here is my result.

I had submitted this video a long time ago (See original post here) and for some reason I was never able to see it or get it to show on a video search. Even the link that google provided for the video did not work! So I wrote Google's free video hosting service as a broken tool.

Lo' and behold... it works. Will have to see why it took forever to display via Google Video and possibly use it for more uploads.

Taozu = Tactics .... a WoW video

Update: 5 Nov, 2006 - Removed post, but this will be kept as a placeholder.

This post contained a video of a fight against Taozu who I battled in World of Warcraft. Later Taozu switched to the Horde and we have begun fighting together instead of against each other.

CS:S video released - Two of the gReatest things eveR

I have worked on this video for a week or so now and finally got time to put it all together today.

I hope you enjoy!

Update: 15 Oct, 2005 - Video hosted via Google video. Download it here.

**Not safe for work**

Battlefield 2 Video - Lets Go!

I sat down and tackled the BF2 Recorder finally and here are my first results. This took approx 2 hours to film, edit, and load onto the web. It is nothing fancy... more a practice run with the tools.

Sorry for the poor quality. My computer couldn't handle recording at any higher resolutions and BF2 is a hog on system resources. At least I can record with FRAPS in BF2 unlike *cough* Counterstrike:Source *cough*

I lost my FRAPS registration info so you will have to deal with the www.fraps.com banner.

I struggled with the name of the video and also what music to put in the background. Citizen Cope - Bullet and a Target was my first choice, but it didn't work as well as it could have. Lil' John and Lets Go fits the video much better IMO.

Enjoy.

EDIT: Link updated 10 Oct 2005 thanks to Google Video!Get it here.