#this is a bit of a faff and i'm all for doing things as efficiently and as quickly as possible

[reorientingtothexdaylight]

for all robron gifmakers who use the uksoapshare videos:

the videos are 1080i and not 1080p, meaning there are some sort of lines that appear when on pause or used in photoshop

most of the time it's fine, i haven't had much trouble because photoshop deals with it in most cases and it's not visible to the eye in gif form (even if you can see the lines when you pause)

see, on the left the lines aren't visible wherease on the right they very much are : (or to my eyes at least)

but! no worries, there is a fix! you can convert the videos to 1080p with handbrake (free software!). it's a fairly easy process and let's you have the episodes in 1080p 60fps if you ever were looking for such quality

once you've opened your video in handbrake, go to the video tab and choose 60fps, and then go to filter, select "deinterlace" and the drop down menu, select Bob or EEDI2 Bob (this one will take longer)

you can use it on the whole episode so that's done, but it'll take roughly as long as the episode for it to be converted, so i suggest cutting clips (i use avidemux but you can do the cutting in handbrake, i just like that process less 'cause you've got to input start and end time manually whereas with avidemux i can do it with a visual)

once in photoshop:

however you make your gifs, by importing screencaps (tho maybe the lines don't bother you then) or by simply drag and dropping the video in photoshop, you now have 60fps to use.

either have fun with that (makes for very smooth movement) (but bigger file size)

or once you're done dealing with the gif and it's ready to be saved, you can convert to timeline and change the fps in the timeline settings

Nb: the converting time will depend on your computer's memory and processor. I have an Intel i7 and 16Mo of RAM, and the converting time takes about as much as the duration of the video.

[footnotestoplato]

Hi, I'm starting university next year (i'm from the states, if that is where you aren't from) and i'm considering majoring/studying/crying in philosophy. I was just wondering, since I think i read that you were a philosophy student somewhere on this blog, what you like and dislike about studying it, and where you think it will take you. thanks!

you read correctly, thats on my about page i think. if you want my honest to god opinion on philosophy its like this, so i’ll start with the bad part.

 you need to be able to do things.  you need to be able to read. i mean. like not being literate, but like read. philosophy is all about comprehension, and you need to be able to engage with ideas, quickly and effectively. it helps to be conceptually minded, because that lets you very quickly apply a system to any number of eventualities. you also have shitloads of reading that needs doing all the time, and catching yourself on the past 2400 years takes time. you need to not get pissed off if someone points out you misunderstood your favourite philosopher. you need to not gut react with disagreement. you need to be mature, analytical and efficient, and god help you if you want to write philosophy because you have to be all that and find some human appeal in there too. be kind and cautious and be open and sharp. its a fucking faff.

on to the good stuff. if you manage all of that then you’ve got some fucking fantastic traits that are going to make u great to interact with forever. so that’s something. but you want to know what the really great part of philosophy is, and you wont really know until it happens to you, is the bit where you really get an idea. you’ll be reading a book that you think is middling. maybe its boring, even, but the work is alright. suddenly you read something that just smacks you round the head with how brilliant it is, and you put the book down and just think about how inspired that idea is, toy with all the possibilities, try and break it and move on to find more of the same. and then you just get to keep doing it. you can DEVOUR philosophy if you’re enjoying it. it helps you think in a new way, especially if you study some logic, and thats just always useful to have. it teaches you to formulate ideas carefully to prevent being shot down, it teaches you how to listen to others, all these things and more. on a more personal note, u may know that i was once in a very bad place in terms of nihilism. i couldn’t see a way out. the idea sort of imposed this huge meaninglessness on me. philosophy got me into that rut, but when philosophy got me out (as it did, with help from Camus and Plato) i found myself more stable than ever. 

where do i intend to take philosophy? fuck. well for me personally i want to lecture. i want to do a fucking phd i want to know everything. i loved philosophy before university and being here has just confirmed my beliefs. but quite frankly, as much as i can tell you that philosophy opens you up to any non degree specific role, giving also an especially developed capacity for management positions on account of the ability to rationalise, keep a cool head and act logically, but also without losing the ability to come up with new and exciting ideas. but honestly its not about careers. its about calling, really. if philosophy is your calling it doesn’t matter what you’ll do with it - its your degree and if you love it you’ll find a way to make it work. you just gotta decide if it is. message me any time if you want more help. hope u figure it all out. love from conor xo