Area 51: Data Storage – Opening Matinee Sequence

The opening cinematic for Area 51: Data Storage in now available on Youtube after a little bit of a struggle (read the previous post). This is part of an ongoing effort to have video of my levels available to watch, as pictures alone often do not do them justice. Be on the look out for more in the future!

GameCam vs Fraps, and MediaCoder

So I recently decided to purchase GameCam (after much thought) over Fraps. While Fraps may indeed roll out higher quality footage (since it’s raw, uncompressed), it always seemed like it was more of a CPU hog. This is probably because it doesn’t have a whole lot of options in regards to video resolution. You got full size and half size, which forces you to play a game at a lower resolution if your rig can’t handle the dual action of recording HD game footage.

So I ultimately decided on GameCam due to its ability to record at various resolutions, which makes it easier for you to record something without eating your CPU at the same time . Another thing that it has over Fraps is its GUI, which aside from presenting itself better, you can actually bring it up in the game. It has a preview window (that can be turned on or off, preferably off to save on CPU) that shows you exactly what is being recorded in the corner of the screen.

My experience with GameCam so far is a bit mixed. While it recorded the opening matinee of Area 51: Data Storage (more on that later) just fine (after a bit of tweaking to the resolution, etc.), there must be something wrong with the way it encodes videos in DivX format. To make a long story short, Youtube rejects this format, saying that it cannot convert it. So now I have try to transcode the video as well which sent me looking for something a little bit more open-source (don’t want to be throwing money around at a bunch of programs).

The first thing I found was a program called MediaCoder, which seemed like it might do the trick. Or Tricky I should say. While this program is able to convert to a bunch of different formats, it was a bit tough to actually get a working video. I don’t know if it’s a problem with MediaCoder or if the already strange DivX encoded video from GameCam is to blame. Long story short, I eventually got a working video out of it after a bunch (and I mean A BUNCH) of tinkering and trying out format after format.

I’m currently attempting to load this particular video up to Youtube, so we’ll see how it goes in just a little while.

The Memory Lane Archive

I’ve got a couple of videos available in the ‘Memory Lane’ Archive (Simple titled ‘Archive’ for now) for your viewing pleasure. They aren’t great, but it’s always nice to look back on things you did in the past; to reflect upon yourself. Of course, it also makes for a good laugh. More to come!

Memory Lane

I’ve spent some time today digging through a bunch of work I did over the course of being at ITT (yes, I still have most all of it). I decided to create a sort of ‘memory lane’ section on the site just to showcase some of the stuff I did while at school regardless of whether or not it’s actually any good.

You might be saying, “Oh Brandon, don’t show off the bad stuff!” but I say that if I don’t show off the bad stuff, you’ll never know if I’ve improved any at all. I’ve been uploading some video I have to youtube (cause that’s just so much better than using my own server space) today and it certainly brings back memories.

Continue standing by while I put together stuff to showcase on this new section of the website.

Cybersphere: Nov – Dec 09

Mystery of the Christmas Star
Rated G

• 2:00 PM – $4
• 7:00 PM – $5

Journey back 2000 years to Bethlehem as we seek to discover a scientific explanation for the Star the wise men followed to find the baby Jesus. We’ll investigate possible dates for the birth of Christ and look at recorded sightings of significant astronomical events during this timeframe. We’ll see which of these signs in the sky could have been remarkable enough to cause the wise men to travel across the desert from Babylon to Bethlehem just to see a newborn King. This modern retelling of the Christmas story is sure to charm and captivate audiences of all ages.

Laser Holidays
Rated G

• 3:00 PM – $4
• 8:00 PM – $5

1) Sleigh Ride  –  Leroy Anderson

2) Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy  –  Tchaikovsky

3) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  –  Burl Ives

4) Winter Wonderland  –  Eurythmics

5) Deck the Halls  –  Philharmonic Orchestra

6) Jingle Bell Rock  –  Randy Travis

7) White Christmas  –  Bing Crosby

8) Christmastime  –  Smashing Pumpkins

9) Oiche Chiun (Silent Night)  –  Enya

10) Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree  –  Ronnie Spector / Darlene Love

11) Frosty the Snowman  –  Cocteau Twins

12) Carol of the Bells  –  David Foster

13) The Christmas Song  –  Nat King Cole

14) All I Want For Christmas Is You  –  Mariah Carey

15) We Wish You A Merry Christmas  –  James Galway

Christmas Laser Fantasy
Rated G – Featuring Mannheim Steamroller –

• 9:00 PM – $5
  

1) Hark! The Herald Trumpets Sing

2) Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

3) O Come All Ye Faithful

4) Carol of the Bells

5) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

6) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

7) Christmas Lullaby

8) Wassail, Wassail

9) Bring A Torch, Jeannette, Isabella

10) Good King Wenceslas

11) Deck the Halls

12) Silent Night

Unity 2.6

Great news for indie developers. Unity recently released version 2.6 and for the first time ever, offers a free commercial license. Granted it lacks some of the more advanced features of Unity Pro, but it does save you $1500 dollars (the cost of Pro’s license).  Head over to unity3d.com and check it out!