Beta request

[gwyn]

Might there be anyone willing to beta my Club Vivid vid? It still needs a few things smoothed out and credits, but since it's been such a tricky vid for me to make, I would love a different set of eyes on it. It's Steve Rogers with Sam and Bucky and Peggy. The deadline is the 12th and so it would be something I'd need input on pretty quickly.

One of the reasons I've pushed it so far up against deadline is that I've been battling vertigo for over a week now, and I keep thinking it'll go away because I've been doing my exercies to get the particles back where they belong, but it's still hanging around, making me have trouble focusing, etc. I have an MRI for my back scheduled for Friday and I really hope it's gone by then, but at this rate, I don't know. The first few days were pretty brutal--the usual fight not to vomit, not being able to sleep because the room wouldn't stop spinning, etc. It's really compounded by my spine issues--I can't sit for long, but standing all the time isn't an option either, and so when I lie down to save my back from screaming agony, it makes the BPPV worse and then I'm fighting not to throw up. They tell you to avoid reclining chairs and to sleep with two pillows, neither of which are options for me because of pain levels. So damned by spinning and vomiting if I do, damned by severe pain if I don't. Bleh.

I have to get started on a premieres vid, too, but I haven't been able to do that either. Too much stuff. I really want to do a Star Wars vid, but getting workable copies of the first three movies seems to be a challenge I can't meet (my dvds, as an example, were so locked down by Luscasfilm's drm that I've never found a program that could rip them) and when I've looked at torrents all I find are mkvs. I'm a little nervous about trying to remove drm from Force Awakens and Rebel One, too, but I'm so in love with my idea that I can't quite let go of it. Vidding is hard, yo.

Comments

[aurumcalendula]

I'd be happy to beta the vid!

re: Star Wars, would a screen capture program like WM Capture help?

[gwyn]

Cool, thank you. I think I might have your private email? (I still haven't dealt with the hard drive but it is on my things to do list for when I can crawl aaround behind computers) If I do I'll send it to you tonight.

I honestly don't even know what that is--but I'm not sure if something is capturing video off screen it would necessarily give me the kind of full quality image I'd need for a VVC vid. I can try to dig around and see.

[musesfool]

Oh I hope you get the make the Star Wars vid!

[gwyn]

I feel like it's a really kickass idea, but I've been stymied since I saw Rogue One about making it because Lucasfilm is really, really shitty.

[grammarwoman]

I'm pretty sure I was able to rip my original trilogy SW DVDs. Let me check them out. If I can make copies, would VOB files work for you?

[gwyn]

That'd be cool, thank you! I have to also check on someone who volunteered their spouse to make me a copy of some kind of restored original print or something, but I haven't pursued that. Also keeping fingers crossed I can do the other two, since money's a little tight.

[minim_calibre]

I need to get those copied for you! I just keep forgetting.

[gwyn]

I keep forgetting to remind you! Hah. This vidding business sucks. SWTFA isn't available to rent on iTunes till November, and I don't even know when R1 will be. If I had forty bucks to throw at this it'd be one thing...

[cesperanza]

1) OMG BPPV IS THE WORST I HAVE HAD IT MANY TIMES AND I AM SO SO SORRY that your pain issues are messing with the vertigo issues. YOU HAVE ALL MY SYMPATHY!!!

2) I am dying to beta your vid but I can't because I'm in grading hell on deadline - but I wanted you to know why I wasn't leaping up to volunteer like Katniss Everdeen, because I would, I really would, otherwise! <3

[gwyn]

This is definitely the worst BPPV attack I've had since it came back so horribly a number of years ago. Stuff like this totally seems to come up whenever you're overextended and you need the focus--there's WIPs! And CapRBB! and vids to do!!

(Hope that the grading hell isn't too bad and you have some time for fic and fun things.)

[catwalksalone]

Oh, I'm so sorry about the vertigo, I know how much that sucks. I cross all the things that it resolves soonest.

[gwyn]

Thank you, behbeh!

[beerbad]

I've had success using torrented .mkvs to vid by converting the files to .avi or .mp4 using the Avidemux program. It sucks when technical hurdles get in the way of vidding what you want to vid!

[gwyn]

My problem is that none of the programs that work on my antiquated Mac OS will convert mkvs. I'd usually seek help locally, but unfortunately there isn't anyone who's able to help me convert anything. At some point my system will get upgraded, but right now that isn't going to happen...

[seekingferret]

Hi, FWIW for Equinox I was able to rip my original trilogy DVDs with one of the older free versions of DVDFab here: http://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm?trackID=navmenu I think I use DVDFab 9.

If that doesn't work for you, I have the vobs and can maybe find a place to upload them. Let me know if you need me to do that.

[gwyn]

I'll take a look at it but my biggest problem is that I'm running a pretty antiquated Mac OS and you'd be amazed at how much stuff refuses to work on it! I really appreciate the VOB offer--I might have to take you up on that if my other source or these programs don't pan out.

Harder might actually be the two new ones--I figured they'd be available to rent on iTunes but they're not--FA isn't until November and R1 I'm not sure when it will. Wish I was flush enough to buy everything! Man, vidding is just getting harder and harder...

[seekingferret]

Well DVDFab also ripped TFA for me. And I just got R1 on DVD, haven't tried ripping it yet.

[gwyn]

So far everything either crashes or freezes. I'm tearing my hair out. I've spent the better part of two days trying to find an MP4 of Force Awakens and every time I've torrented one, it turns out to be an mkv, which I've also spent days trying to find a way to convert but I can't get a full quality version that will work for a vid shown on a large screen at Vividcon.

I have absolutely nothing to offer you in return except undying thanks and a mention when I finally post the vids, but if you have Vobs or a viddable form like an MP4 of Force Awakens, I would be incredibly grateful--I might see if I can spread my begging around and get the original trilogy from one of the other folks who've offered.

I've been hoping to update my system but it seems like it always gets pushed back for something else, and I know that some of this is because everything's so old. If I wasn't so damn consumed with this idea, I would just give up.

And thank you for reminding me about Equinox--I meant to go check out all the vids and then completely spaced it. As soon as I finish my freelance work, I'm going to do that.

[sholio]

re: Star Wars, by "first three" do you mean the original trilogy or the prequel trilogy? (Oh, Star Wars and its wonky numbering.) I happen to have Blu-Ray rips of the original trilogy that my husband made for me. The problem is, they may or may not work for you - they're MPGs and each is about 3.4 Gb, so a lot of programs choke on them. I ended up being unable to use them for the vidding project I wanted them for and just captured my source directly from DVD. (I don't know if you've tried this on your problem-child DVDs, but VLC has a "record" function - basically it converts to a stream and saves to the hard drive - and that's how I get all my vid source; I just clip the scenes I need directly from the DVD. So far I haven't met a DVD that VLC couldn't convert that way. The only issue is that the quality isn't always as nice as you can get by ripping them other ways.)

Anyway, I'm sorry you're having health issues; that sounds miserable. :( And obviously I wasn't able to volunteer to beta, but the vid sounds fun and I'm looking forward to it!

[gwyn]

First three always means, to me, the original trilogy--it never even occurred to me that it could mean the prequels! Probably because oh my god I HATE the prequels like fire and I've tried to mostly put them out of my mind and never think of them again (which is hard, because most of my friends are into them).

I never even knew you could do that with VLC--I've often had things not work in it that seem to work for other people, so I haven't poked around much with the program, and that sounds like one of those things I probably never would have figured out if someone hadn't told me! I might have to try it. Someone here was kind enough to give me VOBs of TFA and R1 so at least I'm set with those, and don't have to rent them, but I own the discs for the others so if the VLC thing works that could be really fantastic.