These cheap, generic PS2-to-HDMI adapters get a lot of flack for their quality (and rightfully so--maybe there's better versions of these out there and I just haven't found the "right" one), but if you specifically like playing PS1 games on your PS2 and using the console's "Smooth" Texture Mapping feature, this is a pretty good way to do it on a modern TV.
These devices tend to heavily darken the overall image, so I had to re-adjust the brightness/contrast settings on my TV a bit--something I literally never do because I'm weird like that--but once I found the ideal setting, it looked fine. I tested it with games that have particularly dark areas (certain tracks in WipEout 2097, air duct sequences in MGS1, Dino Crisis in general, etc) and I could see everything almost as clearly as I could if I were simply playing them on my PS3 instead.
So it's not the perfect solution like a high-end scaler, but sometimes ya just gotta make do, y'know? 🎮
After doing a bit of research on different methods of adding subtitles to YouTube videos, I learned I could just manually add them and did so with one of my shorter vids. The interface/tools took some getting used to, but it's actually pretty straightforward stuff. It IS a bit time-consuming this way, though. I'm sure it'd be way easier with scripted projects where I could make a .srt file with a full-on transcript and the appropriate timings.
Just stuff I'm considering for the future (and committing to more daily Posts to remind people I'm not dead). Y'all know how much I love misplaced effort.
Took me a while to track this down again, but here's something that I thought was interesting: an old CoD gameplay clip from September 2010 that retroactively gained 60fps support after YouTube fully implemented the feature in October 2014. So whatever editing software this user was working with at the time let them render the video at 60 but YouTube would ultimately knock it back down to 30 until the new feature was in place.
Good times, eh? Spending years trying to wring out every last drop of picture quality outta the Dazzle that we could. Upscaling blurry 360p footage to 1080p in the hopes that it'd look accurate to the original recording in the YouTube player. Videos like this were basically ahead of their time but YouTube just wasn't ready for 'em.
The only other video I can immediately recall that did this was Giant Bomb's "Ride To Hell: Retribution" Quick Look, but that one was a few years later.
Throwback (is this old enough to even be considered a "throwback"?) to the end of my "This Is How You DON'T Play" journey. While not as technical or involved as some other videos I've made (especially the Ed, Edd n Eddy stuff), these have definitely been the lengthiest. They've also been some of the first projects give me reason to dive an inch or two deeper into Sony Vegas' features and check out more effects/transitions in order to achieve certain results. I established a whole workflow working on these montages.
I guess, in a weird kinda way, I should almost be thanking Phil--the guy who never edits any of his videos--for "inspiring" me to work harder on my own.
I still may do a little more "spring cleaning" here and there with this channel, in the meantime. Don't worry--I won't delete anything important/popular that I made in the past. Mostly random one-off, low-quality, or unfinished nonsense that no one'll miss.
I don't think that potato-quality "Ratchet: Deadlocked" playthrough I forgot I even did is gonna leave a mark on history, y'know what I mean?
I think the biggest issue holding me back from being more active on YouTube as an videographer (yes, I'm calling myself that now--to hell with being a "content" creator) is that I can never seem to stick to one project at a time. I tend to have a lot of ideas swimming around in my head at any given moment but I spend more time thinking about them than actually starting any one project, and when I finally do start something, I easily get distracted or discouraged by something in the process holding me back or IRL problems keeping me away from my hobbies. Once I try to get back into it, I lack the level of motivation to see it to the end that I had at the start. In a way, it kinda mirrors the current state of my gaming backlog--I simply have commitment issues.
So, to keep myself on track, I deleted the old, unfinished scripts and files I had for a handful of other videos I wanted to make earlier. I still intend to write/record/edit them down the line, but I will only do so when I'm ready. Gonna start fresh.
For this channel trailer I'm working on, as simple a video as it seems, I'm taking it easy and breaking things down into a process: writing down my thoughts, turning it into a script, recording the voice-over, creating subtitles (something I've never done for a video before), compiling the additional media I need, and making the necessary edits and transitions to bring it all together. I want to do this right.
I don't see a full-on "revival" of this channel happening for another year or two (god forbid if it takes even longer than that) as I'm still sorting out some things in my life and YouTube honestly isn't a priority, but I think it's also good for my mental health to still try and make time for some fun/personal projects every now and then (maybe it'll make for a good portfolio). And I know the feeling to being subscribed to a seemingly dead channel--no one likes that.
(also, unrelated comment: the job market in this country is absolute TRASH)
The Witcher 3 brainrot is real. I've actually had this game sitting in my Steam library for four years (bought during a sale around the height of the initial "lockdown" phase of the pandemic) but barely touched it 'cause I heard about how expansive it was in terms of content and I wasn't sure if I wanted to commit to an RPG of this size at the time. Just started playing it proper over the past few days and I am simply in awe. I've never seen a game that just refuses to stop throwing things at me--I can't a full minute without finding another place of interest on the map. I find myself a bit over-leveled for main story quests because I can't help but go all-in on side quests and contracts whenever I can. 40+ hours in and it still feels like I've barely scratched the surface of this thing. Had to roll back to the "classic" version after they added the Next-Gen Update 'cause something about it was making the game run weird--fine by me, as the game still looks stunning as it is.
If I can manage to pull myself away from this game anytime soon, my next short video will be happening sometime in August (for anyone who still cares).
chaffXgrenade
chaffXgrenade
If you're reading this post:
Don't just have a good Monday. I challenge you to have an even better one. 💪
1 month ago | [YT] | 18
View 0 replies
chaffXgrenade
These cheap, generic PS2-to-HDMI adapters get a lot of flack for their quality (and rightfully so--maybe there's better versions of these out there and I just haven't found the "right" one), but if you specifically like playing PS1 games on your PS2 and using the console's "Smooth" Texture Mapping feature, this is a pretty good way to do it on a modern TV.
These devices tend to heavily darken the overall image, so I had to re-adjust the brightness/contrast settings on my TV a bit--something I literally never do because I'm weird like that--but once I found the ideal setting, it looked fine. I tested it with games that have particularly dark areas (certain tracks in WipEout 2097, air duct sequences in MGS1, Dino Crisis in general, etc) and I could see everything almost as clearly as I could if I were simply playing them on my PS3 instead.
So it's not the perfect solution like a high-end scaler, but sometimes ya just gotta make do, y'know? 🎮
1 month ago | [YT] | 9
View 0 replies
chaffXgrenade
After doing a bit of research on different methods of adding subtitles to YouTube videos, I learned I could just manually add them and did so with one of my shorter vids. The interface/tools took some getting used to, but it's actually pretty straightforward stuff. It IS a bit time-consuming this way, though. I'm sure it'd be way easier with scripted projects where I could make a .srt file with a full-on transcript and the appropriate timings.
Just stuff I'm considering for the future (and committing to more daily Posts to remind people I'm not dead). Y'all know how much I love misplaced effort.
1 month ago | [YT] | 9
View 0 replies
chaffXgrenade
Took me a while to track this down again, but here's something that I thought was interesting: an old CoD gameplay clip from September 2010 that retroactively gained 60fps support after YouTube fully implemented the feature in October 2014. So whatever editing software this user was working with at the time let them render the video at 60 but YouTube would ultimately knock it back down to 30 until the new feature was in place.
Good times, eh? Spending years trying to wring out every last drop of picture quality outta the Dazzle that we could. Upscaling blurry 360p footage to 1080p in the hopes that it'd look accurate to the original recording in the YouTube player. Videos like this were basically ahead of their time but YouTube just wasn't ready for 'em.
The only other video I can immediately recall that did this was Giant Bomb's "Ride To Hell: Retribution" Quick Look, but that one was a few years later.
1 month ago | [YT] | 0
View 0 replies
chaffXgrenade
Throwback (is this old enough to even be considered a "throwback"?) to the end of my "This Is How You DON'T Play" journey. While not as technical or involved as some other videos I've made (especially the Ed, Edd n Eddy stuff), these have definitely been the lengthiest. They've also been some of the first projects give me reason to dive an inch or two deeper into Sony Vegas' features and check out more effects/transitions in order to achieve certain results. I established a whole workflow working on these montages.
I guess, in a weird kinda way, I should almost be thanking Phil--the guy who never edits any of his videos--for "inspiring" me to work harder on my own.
Thanks, Dave.
1 month ago | [YT] | 5
View 0 replies
chaffXgrenade
I still may do a little more "spring cleaning" here and there with this channel, in the meantime. Don't worry--I won't delete anything important/popular that I made in the past. Mostly random one-off, low-quality, or unfinished nonsense that no one'll miss.
I don't think that potato-quality "Ratchet: Deadlocked" playthrough I forgot I even did is gonna leave a mark on history, y'know what I mean?
1 month ago | [YT] | 5
View 0 replies
chaffXgrenade
I think the biggest issue holding me back from being more active on YouTube as an videographer (yes, I'm calling myself that now--to hell with being a "content" creator) is that I can never seem to stick to one project at a time. I tend to have a lot of ideas swimming around in my head at any given moment but I spend more time thinking about them than actually starting any one project, and when I finally do start something, I easily get distracted or discouraged by something in the process holding me back or IRL problems keeping me away from my hobbies. Once I try to get back into it, I lack the level of motivation to see it to the end that I had at the start. In a way, it kinda mirrors the current state of my gaming backlog--I simply have commitment issues.
So, to keep myself on track, I deleted the old, unfinished scripts and files I had for a handful of other videos I wanted to make earlier. I still intend to write/record/edit them down the line, but I will only do so when I'm ready. Gonna start fresh.
For this channel trailer I'm working on, as simple a video as it seems, I'm taking it easy and breaking things down into a process: writing down my thoughts, turning it into a script, recording the voice-over, creating subtitles (something I've never done for a video before), compiling the additional media I need, and making the necessary edits and transitions to bring it all together. I want to do this right.
I don't see a full-on "revival" of this channel happening for another year or two (god forbid if it takes even longer than that) as I'm still sorting out some things in my life and YouTube honestly isn't a priority, but I think it's also good for my mental health to still try and make time for some fun/personal projects every now and then (maybe it'll make for a good portfolio). And I know the feeling to being subscribed to a seemingly dead channel--no one likes that.
(also, unrelated comment: the job market in this country is absolute TRASH)
1 month ago | [YT] | 7
View 1 reply
chaffXgrenade
I think I'm about a decade overdue for a channel trailer.
1 month ago | [YT] | 9
View 6 replies
chaffXgrenade
The Witcher 3 brainrot is real. I've actually had this game sitting in my Steam library for four years (bought during a sale around the height of the initial "lockdown" phase of the pandemic) but barely touched it 'cause I heard about how expansive it was in terms of content and I wasn't sure if I wanted to commit to an RPG of this size at the time. Just started playing it proper over the past few days and I am simply in awe. I've never seen a game that just refuses to stop throwing things at me--I can't a full minute without finding another place of interest on the map. I find myself a bit over-leveled for main story quests because I can't help but go all-in on side quests and contracts whenever I can. 40+ hours in and it still feels like I've barely scratched the surface of this thing. Had to roll back to the "classic" version after they added the Next-Gen Update 'cause something about it was making the game run weird--fine by me, as the game still looks stunning as it is.
If I can manage to pull myself away from this game anytime soon, my next short video will be happening sometime in August (for anyone who still cares).
9 months ago | [YT] | 15
View 2 replies
chaffXgrenade
Heh.
10 months ago | [YT] | 6
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