High Definition...

I have made the move to High Definition. Observe...

This is my perfection video rendered in HD. I used the Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR rendered at 720P .MP4. This format is okay... I think I'll be going with the AVCHD .TS codec. It renders a little cleaner and there's not so much ghosting. The Justin Timberlake video I rendered (FOR MY WIFE!!!) was recorded using the AVCHD format.

If you're into recording stuff off your DVR -or- "backing up" BluRay movies that you purchased -or- recording your XBOX 360 or PS3 gaming sessions, this Hauppauge device may just be what you're looking for. It lists for around $250 but you can find it for below $200. It's very user friendly but it takes up a lot of hard drive space... for your recordings. You may want to pick up an external hard drive while you're out.

4x4x4 cube

This video was filmed with my Canon HG10 HD camcorder. I wanted to define a workflow for uploading HD videos. I used Sony Vegas Video Pro 9c to edit. The song is Foregone Destruction (MvdB) by me. It's a remix/remake of a Michael Van Den Bos track from the Unreal Tournament Soundtrack.

Perfection...

I've been playing Halo 3 since it came out over two years ago. I got the Perfection medal yesterday for the first time. I have been real close before on this very map only to get ganged up on in the last couple of minutes. I got it done this time.

I should have died during my first kill but the guy was a n00b. I went crazy with the Spartan Laser and got 7 kills. Again, only because the other team was loaded with n00bs. Seriously, who drives the warthog on Last Resort? Bad move, n00b.

I almost got myself killed inside on the stairs when I threw the power drain. I still haven't gotten used to the fact that Master Chief throws things with his left hand. Good thing I was playing against a bunch of n00bs on split screen.

Grenade Stick

Halo 3 is great when it comes to posting your matches on youtube. The game comes with a theater mode where you can view the last 20 or 30 matches. You don't have to view the match from your own perspective, either. Theater mode allows you to view from any other player's 3rd person view or with a a free floating camera.

In this match, I jumped off a man cannon and stuck a Banshee that was shooting at my teammates. I had seen it done before so I figured I'd try it out myself...

...actually...

My original intent was to skyjack the banshee (jump onto the Banshee, rip the enemy out of the driver's seat, then steal the Banshee for myself). The plasma grenade stick was my backup plan.

I was surprised that I was able to stick him. Since then, however, I've done it many times. It's actually not hard at all.

Cube

Halo3:ODST

This game was just released today. The video below does an ok job of convicing me to go get it. More than that, it has convinced me that a live action Halo movie is long overdue. Would someone please make one?

Video Game Music...

Prometheus is a game-mod to Unreal Tournament 3. Created by Rachel "AngelMapper" Cordone, it was entered into the $1,000,000 Make Something Unreal contest. After it won 1st place in phase 2 of 4, I joined the team as a music composer.

The video below shows some game footage featuring my music. I wrote eight songs for the game. The first five songs, for Prometheus levels, each have seven layers. The last three songs, for Epimetheus levels, each have five versions.

For the Prometheus levels, the player controls five "Quantum States" (QS) starting with #1 and ending with #5. During the first QS, the song plays with only a beat. Each QS after adds another layer to the song until the song is complete when the level is complete.

For the Epimetheus levels, the player controls three Quantum States in an order. In fact, the player can replay any QS over again as many times as he wants. Since the QS interaction is random, AngelMapper wanted the song system different than for Prometheus levels. Each QS gets a different remix of the same song.

What I really like about the music system for this game is how good of a job AngelMapper did on the programming end. If you notice, there are no trainwrecks (see definition below). Each version/layer of the song is seamlessly crossfaded into the next version/layer. This feature is not part of the original game. In fact, I hate writing music for the game because of the train wrecks that occur when trasitioning between different versions.

Prometheus can be downloaded here. You can find more information about the game at ModDB.com. You will need have Unreal Tournament 3 installed in order to play the game-mod.

train wreck [treyn rek] - noun
A sudden and disastrous [change of the beat or] halt in the music 'set' played by a DJ. Often associated with the music styles of House and Techno where a set can last for an hour or longer. This calamity results in the loss of rhythm and ‘flow’ in a club or rave, which in turn presents a certain negative attitude by the attendees toward the DJ. This is best defined as ‘boo’. This condition often throws the DJ into an extreme state of apprehension and a fevered determination to save his cred usually resulting in an increased chance of causing another train wreck. Technical problems associated with equipment do not qualify under this definition. Derived from the visual image of a train, traveling at high speed, smashing into an brick wall.
UrbanDictionary.com