ConFlicKtest

Additional video info

Demo date range: 2022-04-02 – 2023-02-16
Demo curation range: ~2023/04/23 – 2023/04/24 (sorted further from fragtype subfolder, basic sort previously done from amalgamation unsorted demos)
Demo rendering range: 2023/04/24 – 2023/03/30
Project editing range: 2023/04/25 – 2023/05/02
Video publish date: 2023/05/02
Server: Uncletopia (AU)
Music used: Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire sountrack: "Contest!", "Result Announcement!", and "Failure"

Overview

Some channel absence info from Q&A:

"What inspired you to come back?" — Thebigdb7

Coming back with a with relatively easier frag type to edit (compared to more complex huntsman shots or combo pyro), should make it easier to tackle harder frag videos that may require more thought for their direction.

Crosshair in post

More camera angles than usual, each shot at least has more than one addition camera angle shot. Maybe it just felt right to add that many more alternate shots for the video.

Rendered the demos without a crosshair - I instead edit it back in when needed on screen in HitFilm. Can make crosshair less distracting while having it visible when it matters more. Not sure if I forgot about the main crosshair back in the caber bomber video, or thought it was too distracting/not needed for the video. Also added a "kill" effect in the middle of the crosshair for more (visual) feedback. Not sure if I want to try and figure out how to do this so the HUD does it automatically currently. Speaking of HUDs, I will update my demo HL1 style HUD on gamebanana. I had to redo many elements because Lawena crashed a while ago. Make sure to backup your work. And also timer + objectives shown to add more context to the clips.

Changed the default dB/audio peak loudness to -6dB instead of previous 0dB on this channel. Better level baseline audio level for youtube. Youtube automatically reduces the volume of your video if it's too loud, may result in undesired further compression of audio + unintended/inconsistent loudness. This website seems to recommend -12dB – -20dB, this video mentions something about LUFs which I can't see in hitfilm – not too sure about a more ideal level but I think at least -6dB for now is better. This video maybe slightly less loud than the last videos, but hopefully more consistent with most other youtube videos on the platform.

I seem to like making references to things, especially video games and music. Probably to show appreciation as they helped me in life (vague but that's the gist).

References

0:02 – HITMAN 2 picture in picture window + sound, i worked on my HITMAN channel a little to just get some videos out and to work on something else other than TF2. I was looking for interesting ways to edit in the alternate camera angle and I recently played some hitman, so why not.
To get the sound, I chose a quiet map: Hawke's Bay. I walked into camera a few times for reference and recorded the sound with Audacity and run a noise removal effect to make the sound more clean.
The greenscreen was unused (see here)
0:09 – Jojo's Bizarre Adventure battle tendency anime opening + Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity. I've rewatched the JJBA anime for about the 3rd time and when watching some lore videos, come across a rotoscope JJBA-themed animation based on Jamiroquai's Virtual Insanit y music video. I ended up playing that music video over and over again. I was under the weather at the time, so it stuck with me more, something nice to listen to and liked the topic of virtual insanity, makes me think of the interesting impact/effects of internet/technology on us – how far will we go?, etc.
Then I made a reference to that distinctive pose using SFM, rendered it twice: once for the matte, once for the animation (learn the princple here). I then added the "angle" theme on top of it with hand scissors to add on to the pose to represent the angles, with JJBA part 2 opening style visual patterns/outlines. The empty freezecam felt like it needed more, so I came up with this bizzare eyecatch thing to add to the "angle" theme.1:21 – JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven stage gimmick manga panel effect. Recently I binged on some JJBA:EoH character interactions and eventually ended up watching a "stage secrets" video. I liked the effect. I couldn't find the exact service bell sound, so I found a similar one.
1:21 – JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven stage gimmick manga panel effect. Recently I binged on some JJBA:EoH character interactions and eventually ended up watching a "stage secrets" video. I liked the effect. I couldn't find the exact service bell sound, so I found a similar one.

Title

Pokémon contest + flick = ConFlicKtest, "conflict" wordplay + capitilization to help separate the "flick" part to make it more prominent. Though these video title feel corny, probably still beats "flick frag video 2".

Credits screen

Since I recently set up a support/donation method for my channel(s) for what could become a full-time career, I added a reward to add supporters' names in the credits. I've seen a many other channels do it, now it's my turn. In terms of rewards for my support page, it's basically credits + some WIP screenshots I wouldn't otherwise post normally, with the main thing being supporting my work. time to get in the drivers seat, will see where this takes me.

When looking for reference to draw unown, came across this clip of some pokemon anime (that i'm not familiar with) - it's chopped up and hard to follow, but it seemed that the unown had some sort of shapeshifting ability there, so I hinted at the unown being on of those angle graphics here to bring the video slightly more together – that and I wanted to use the original variant of the shiny unown I drew somewhere.

Added some footage of player characters walking, made them walk on grass, chroma key + mask with keyframed movement. While getting that footage, decided to add Birch too - he had a certain quote.

Thanks to Luis Zuno for the tutorial/code

I wanted to make a tiled scrolling background, to further mimic the pokemon contest - the results screen. I couldn't find an effect in time for HitFilm to do this so I used Godot to do it for me, with the help of this tutorial. I have used gamemaker (basic understanding of game coding) in the past but I won't really use it unless i need to open an old project for some reason, trying to keep subscription softwares to a minimum in my life – free open-source software or perpetual license software are much more appealing to me. After following the tutorial, I adjusted the viewport settings of the Godot project to match the video's 1440p resolution and then record the scrolling background with OBS.

Music choice

Since I was doing another flick frag video, naturally I look back to the last one that was done for reference. What if I could add upon the previous music choice/theme? "flicky snappy" used music of Littleroot Town (high pitched audio warning) - the starting location for Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire & Emerald - to reflect less experience/carefreeness. Now more experienced (but always learn), looking to use a track featured in a later part of the game but since I played the game, it was easier to make the choice and it felt right. "Contest!". Now the video is like a "pokemon contest" with me trying to gain appeal of the audience (and probably the scout in the outro as the judge if you want to go that far).

As usual, clip alignment favors/follows the music, with the point of a kill being lined up with a song beat. Makes the music/whole video feel more impactful/flowy – the music is part of the heart of the videos after all. It can get too jarring/unnatural if aligned in too consistent intervals, but could be something you're looking for a certain direction of a video.

Thanks to sites like Zophar's Domain for hosting retro videogame soundtracks, making them more easily available for all.

Thumbnail

Used SFM to render a sniper doing a mouse flick on the mouse like I do physically. Also below the right hand is a razer huntsman, a model which happened to be on the SFM workshop. I happen to use one too (although no macros, synapse broken for me). Adding some elements of reality, including my gaming posture (minus the standing).

On top of this, wanted to show an angle in some way. At first thought of simple angle drawing, but didn't seem enough. Then crossed my mind - the unown. Very differently/inorganically shaped compared to most pokemon. The A unown worked to represent an angle, representing the angles of the flicks. I made it shiny to represent rarity of getting clips and made it red to match the red sniper in the thumbnail (set at the second dustbowl clip). Used Krita.

First version of thumbnail (canon shiny unown colors)

In contrast to "flicky snappy"'s whimsical nature, this may show some growth/experience gained over time, now going as far to be in a "pokemon contest", which comes later in the game when you have progressed a fair bit. P ut second tier/super cool contest medal because the clips look "cool" (and don't match the other categories) but not too high a rank, as there's still much more to show.

Post-mortem

At 1:10, I killed a player named "magikarp" – since the video had a pokemon "theme" to it, it would've been a nice detail to put a little magikarp somewhere in that clip, an additional detail but not really needed, but I like to put little things like that when I can, tieing things together.

I did do something like this in the video for a certain player – 1 obvious edit and 1 more subtle edit.

Pinned comments

2023-05-16: Small Angry Crab — camera perspective appreciation
2023-05-02: My initial pinned comment, support link

Demo/clip info

Bing Soy's Blog

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

"ConFlicKtest [Casual @ Uncletopia]" [Video @ Team Fortress YTChannel]