#I know how sh*tty they are lol but this is the limit of my technical abilities

[aiems]

Mini Vapoursynth Tutorial ♥︎

Hello!! I was asked to make a little tutorial on how do I work with the Vapoursynth settings when I gif so below the read more you’ll find how I work with it and a lil before & after of the gif! 

Hope you understand! ☺️

First things first, you need a video to work with (lol). I always like to cut the video parts I want to gif first and then put them through VS one by one to make it easier to work with (and to spare my laptop from dying processing everything) but I know people that prefer to run the entire original video through VS first, then cut the part they want to gif. Whichever you prefer is totally fine!

To add a video to VS all you need to do is drag it to the VS icon and drop it. You’ll get this window where you’ll have to specify the length of the video section you want VS to work on (yes you’ll have to write all the zeros):

Start of the section:

End of the section:

This will open that exact section on the program and you’ll be able to start to work with it from here.

You’ll get this window next (it’ll open on Chrome):

(Gonna add that, apart from this window, the Vapoursynth Editor will open too, but I’ll get to that later, just don’t close it)

You’ll have the settings on your left, your video in the centre and then another bunch of settings on the right.

The first bunch of settings allow you to modify the size of the gif (in this case I’ve chosen 268 (width) x 400 (length), to make a 2 gif gifset, but you can do up to 540 (width) and basically any length you want...idrk if there’s a length limit on tumblr tbh...). I don’t touch anything else apart from the Denoise Filters and the FineSharp setting. 

You need to tick those and then you’ve got two options: either change the settings using that sliding circle OR change them on the second settings bunch on the right. I do it there because I find it faster and more precise but you do you.

NOW to change the settings on the right side, what you ONLY want to change is the part where it says “1.6″ and “0.22″ because the values correspond to the Denoise Filters and FineSharp settings I told you before (if you use the sliding circle on the left side you’ll see these values changing automatically as you move the circle from left to right).  

The Denoise Filters (the “1.6″ you want to change) are gonna smoothen the surface of the video, they’re gonna get rid of those little grains you see on videos that are not hd. 

The FineSharp setting (the “0.22″ you want to change) is gonna harsh the lines and make them more defined.

Here, it depends on the original video you’re working with and the quality it has: if you have a very high quality video you’re not gonna want to use a very high value for any of those settings bc you’ll end up with a super blurred gif that’s gonna look weird. If the video is lower in image quality, you’ll have to play with the values. 

The sh*tty thing about this is that, as you start changing the values, the result doesn’t show up on the gif in the middle immediately, meaning that you’ll have to run the code and open the gif on Photoshop to see the result. So it’s a matter of trial and error. If your resulting gif doesn’t show up on PS the way you want it to show up, you’ll have to go back to VS, change the combination of both settings, run it again through the software and check it again on PS.

The values I normally use for both settings usually range from 1.5-1.8 for the Denoise filter and 1.6-1.9 for the FineSharp. It really depends on the original video you’re working with, so always try to find the highest quality videos you can to make gifs from them.

Now once you’ve got your settings ready, all you need to do is copy the code,

open the Vapoursynth Editor window I told you about at the beginning and paste it where it says “#Resizer content goes here”:

Then, at the top bar, click on “Script” and in the drop down menu chose “Encode video”:

This will open yet ANOTHER window:

All you have to change here is where it says “Header: No Header”. you’ll want to click on those blue arrows and chose the option that says “Y4M”.

If you don’t chose this option, the encoder will give you an error message and won’t work, so if you ever get any errors check out you don’t have this unselected. 

Once you have this all you need to do is press start (at the bottom right of the window) and let the program do its magic. It’ll start encoding the video and giving you lots of words and stuff and you’ll feel like a hacker breaking into some Country’s Government security system. 

The moment it finishes encoding it’ll give you a “Finished encoding” message in green and you’ll have to press “Save” (in the middle right of the window) for it to save the video to your VS Output folder.

From here all you have to do is open PS, import the video and start working with it there!

This is the comparative with and without VS:

I haven’t used any PSD on top of them just so you can see the real difference.

Hope this was useful!

Bye!! ☺️💕

[whenimgoodandready]

Let’s talk about Alya Césaire for a moment, okay. Let’s talk about Alya Motherf**king Césaire here. This girl runs the most popular blog in all of Paris (”Prime Queen”), is in charge of the schools website (”Lady Wifi”), class deputy (”Dark Blade”), writes movie scripts (”The Horrificator”), a badass babysitter (”Stormy Weather”), a badass wingwoman (”Despair Bear”), a badass overall and puts herself in danger and rounds up everyone else in it all to save superheroes against supervillains (”Befana”/”Gigantitan”). She’s the best friend anyone would be lucky to have and is the best minor character in the whole damn show! (applause). This is why she is worthy of being a superhero.

*Sapotis-Marinette is having a sleepover at Alya’s while she’s babysitting her twin sisters, Ella and Etta. As we can see, The Babysitters Club ain’t got nothing on Alya from the way she handles kids.

Hey! Remember way back in “The Pharoah” where Ladybug lied to Alya saying she wasn’t a teenager so as not to look suspicious? Weeeeeell, Alya figures out that since Ladybug has been around for thousands of years (not knowing she’s a legacy hero), she can’t be old as sh*t and deduces that she’s in fact a teenager! (sorry Marinette, Alya’s too smart for your lies and can give Sherlock a run for his money).

During the night, her sisters keep interrupting blaming their mischief on the Sapotis. For those of you who forgot, Alya is of Creole background and we get some culture knowlege on it where we learn that Sapotis are mythical demon like creatures in their stories that go around making mischief. After getting fed up with her sisters, she forbids them from going to the amusement park like they planned too (uh, Alya, since you’re an expert on the heroes, don’t you think doing that would cause an, oh idk, an akuma!). Guess who gets akumatized into what this episode? (and with just one akuma too!).

The Sapotis are given the Gremlin effect and this becomes too much for our heroes to handle that Ladybug goes to Master Fu for help. He sees that they need extra help and lets Marinette take a miraculous to give to a trustworthy person to fight crime, but only for tonight (awe, so it’s just temporarily!? Like a Cinderella deal!?) cuz he can’t risk losing another miraculous. Being familiar with the fox miraculous, Marinette chooses that one.

Fellow miraculers, I present to you, the true holder of the fox miraculous, Miss Alya Césaire a.k.a. Rena Rouge! (trumpet sounds). With Volpina, her “powers” were flying and super strength, but in actuality, the fox miraculous gives the power of enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes (just like the ladybug and black cat miraculouses) and their own power of super jumps and like both, the power to cast illusions with a note from their flute weapon, “Mirage!” (her kwami was a tiny fox like being named Trixx!). The three of them flawlessly defeat the akuma and Alya reluctantly, but trustworthily gave back the miraculous. What a girl. She even kept quiet about it to her best friend ;).

Big surprises from this episode here. Alya was the fox miraculous holder (it was already spoiled and it debunks my theory that those who have been akumatized can’t have a miraculous) and NOT Lila like we all thought. Speaking of Lila, where the f**k is she!? It’s been ten episodes already and we haven’t seen her around school, the backgrounds or even the new Season 2 opening! What!? Did she just transfer to a new school or move back to Italy after what Ladybug did!? Harsh! Sure she did a lot of sh*tty things, but she had so much potential to be a good foil character! She better show up soon! It would’ve been cool to see Alya join in on her heroes fighting crime, but sadly, it was only for emergency purposes which kinda sucks (sigh). Starting from this episode, we find out that if an item from Master Fus place appears as a lucky charm when nothing in Ladybugs surroundings pops up in ladybug pattern, it’s a sign that she needs to see him ASAP. The miraculous box we’ve seen is not limited to just seven, but twelve more miraculouses! Yes, twelve! If we’re correct, they just might represent the twelve Chinese zodiacs (and go to the rest of Marinettes classmates). The danger is Hawk Moth is now aware there are more miraculouses (and their guardian) and wants it all as well! I just feel bad that Marinette/Ladybug is keeping Cat Noir in the dark about all this (he doesn’t even know Alya is Rena!). He’s her partner! He should be included in this! But if that were the case, she’d have to see him in his civilian self which she strongly does not want (bummer). He’s gonna be real upset about that when he finds out. A minor note, I like how they Easter egged in the Ladybug PV in the episode of “what was supposed to be” of the show. Lol! Our heroes got an anime version of themselves of what we could’ve had. As I’m sure you guys are spoiled, Chloe and Nino will be getting miraculouses as well and if we’re lucky, we could have Hawkdaddys concept team of The Quantic Kids! (gasp) that.would.be.AWESOME!

[rachelannc]

THE LAST OF US: PART II (Naughty Dog/Sony PlayStation).

All I could say by the end of The Last of Us: Part II was, “Wow. My heart hurts so much right now.”

Touted as a tale of revenge, the game arouses conflicted feelings — and that’s what Naughty Dog, the studio that brought this long-awaited sequel, planned to do all along.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

They want you to feel cheated. They want you to feel just as hurt, angry and driven to madness as a young girl would be upon seeing your father figure die right in front of you. They want you to hate the enemy from the get-go and make you play 15 or so hours walking in their shoes, while every piece of you bites your tongue as you know the game is emotionally manipulating you to gain your sympathy

It’s a complete mind f**k. And it wouldn’t be good storytelling if it weren’t.

From the output, I have to say, this is some of the most incredible gameplay and cinematic masterpiece of a game I have ever seen to date. The graphics are insane: from the way the characters’ faces, hair, clothing and movements are so real; the way their backpacks move so accurately; the way weapons are wielded and strapped onto your back; how your hair looks in the rain; how the grass moves when you walk and crawl through it; to the astonishingly impressive sights of snow, Seattle rain, beaches by the coast, green forests, horses, dogs and even babies. The transitions from cutscene to gameplay are so seamless (a lack of loading screens), and the soundscape created pulls you from periods of complete isolation and quietude in a quarantine, to the pulsating horror and screams that happen when you’re spotted by an infected or enemy.

THE LAST OF US: PART II (Naughty Dog/Sony PlayStation).

I have to add that, although I did grow up a bit of a nerd/gamer girl due to two older brothers, I do not have any video game systems and did not play the game myself (thank you TheRadBrad for his 50-part series playing the game through on YouTube, with no annoying comments, fuss or shrills, and for offering an entertaining and fair play through that captured all our thoughts).

As the game takes us through nearly 30-said hours of gameplay, the way it immerses you within the world — taking you through different narratives and timelines and flashbacks — gives it an entirely different level of depth and scope of understanding that gives the game so much life and richness.

THE LAST OF US: PART II (Naughty Dog/Sony PlayStation).

You start the game off with Ellie and Joel, the beloved duo from the first game. Ellie is our famed heroine. We learn the guitar from Joel with her. We explore Seattle through her eyes and begin to understand her world and the people around her. Her cheeky behavior and ultimate badass-ness is pleasant and we love it. The love between Joel and her is always at the forefront, which leads us to the first half of the game when we play through three days of Seattle, on her journey seeking revenge for Joel.

I won’t get into the itty-bitty detail of how the game continued to play out (as I’m assuming you’ve already seen and played through the game yourself if you’re reading this), but as we are forced by the game to play as said “enemy” Abby and see and experience the past three days of hell we had just witnessed through Ellie, we’re given some of the game’s finest moments: her weaponry and missions are far more interesting and fun; the storyline with the Scars is enticing; she makes friends with the enemy who saves her, by taking in Lev and Yara; we see her own hurt and anger being thwarted into sh*tty situations; we see her almost die multiple times; and she gets her own weird love story.

When Ellie and Abby fatefully meet, it almost feels as if these two girls should have been friends in another life (they deal with similar hurts and struggles, are contained by their environments and outside factors, and seem to be driven by the same values — love for their fathers, family and protecting their loved ones).

As we play as Abby trying to kill Ellie, we feel so messed up. We obviously don’t want to kill Ellie because we love her and she’s our gal. And the game doesn’t make it easy — we see just how swift and agile Ellie is, as we felt when we played her, and when Abby spares Ellie and a pregnant Dina toward the end of their feud, we see Abby have her own awakening.

Conversely, when we get back to Ellie and her life on the farm after their meet, she seeks out revenge for Abby again — this time putting her relationship with Dina and a nice, simple life on the farm on the line, when her battle was clearly already long-gone.

THE LAST OF US: PART II (Naughty Dog/Sony PlayStation).

Yet, the way the game shows Ellie’s continued PTSD and trauma, with flashbacks to seeing Joel’s face covered in blood, and even seeing her own blood, pretty much drives her to insanity and lose all judgment, only to seek pure bloodthirsty revenge.

The game definitely isn’t afraid to push limits. And it also isn’t afraid to show brutality, blood, and pure horror.

That last scene, I have to say, was so difficult for me to watch. It made me uncomfortable. It was horrific to witness. To have to beat up a physically worn-down and pretty much dead Abby on that ocean beach post, with all “swole-ness” gone and not even wanting to fight, it seemed like Ellie had already won. What was the point?

But that’s life. And life isn’t always so pretty. It can drive to insanity and desperation and darker parts of ourselves.

If Ellie or Abby had died, would it have been good?

Ellie is our heroine, yet we saw and played through her as she committed some of the most heinous crimes, literally turning her into a bloodthirsty monster. Abby is our villain and, although we didn’t have to like her, the game showed her through mostly a positive light, fighting and saving the kid Scars, fighting alongside the Wolves and supporting her community and friends, even as she went rogue.

If it weren’t for Ellie coming back for Abby, Abby would clearly have died. Ellie just wanted the option to kill Abby, and she could have.

A few lighter points

I’d be miss to not point out the fact that Ellie and her guitar are featured pretty prominently throughout the game (and I’d be a fool to not feel extra connected to her because of it). The guitar is a clear connection Ellie has to Joel, and one of the few things she has to remember Joel by.

I was a fan of Ellie singing “Take On Me” to Dina, and Joel teaching her “Future Days” — a song so telling and timely to their relationship (“If I ever were to lose you/I’d surely lose myself”). (I even covered both those songs on my Instagram/Youtube lol).

THE LAST OF US: PART II (Naughty Dog/Sony PlayStation).

The game tested us, pushed us to our limits and told the story in a beautiful, compelling, f**ked up and non-expected way. It was beautiful and brutal and played with our emotions. And that last scene absolutely killed me.

The terror of trauma, panic attacks, and what it can cause one to do, is one of the most lasting impressions this game will leave on me.

And to hell if a story doesn’t have the power to affect you, that much.

What are your initial thoughts? What would you have liked to see? And what would you like to see if there is a Part III?

Also, I enjoyed this look at understanding more of the thematic elements of Part II, in this video by Girlfriend Reviews below (thank you friend for forwarding this to me):

‘The Last of Us: Part 2’ Review: A dark and emotionally brutal masterpiece of a game All I could say by the end of The Last of Us: Part II was, "Wow. My heart hurts so much right now."

[atlaswriting]

If Abram wants a fight, I’ll give him a war.

Fighting was all I knew—I clawed my way out of my mother ( my very first grave ) and there wasn’t a day she let me forget it. I clawed like hell to endure in this prison that my body has created, bones that turned to iron and caged me in. I scraped myself out until my fingers nails were caked with all my lives I’ve destroyed to survive. I clawed my way through to a heart that still struggles to beat—but has never gave up on me.  

The scars on my body may not be pretty but they’re proof that I’m alive—and if Abram wants to see who can tolerate more pain, who can dig the knife in deeper, he’ll want to reconsider.

I am soft like a loaded gun.

( like a bomb )

And there’s a ticking in my chest I’m in no rush to quiet.

♡ ♡ ♡

You had sex with someone else?

Like you didn’t?

I may have kissed people—but I never screwed someone else.

Lol. You know, I knew you made your little “drunk mistake” but it stops being a “mistake” when you repeat it over and over again.

This is really getting old.

I’m about to block you.

Good. Do it.

I have never hated anyone as much as I hated you.

I thought I couldn’t hate anyone more than I hated my dad.

♡ ♡ ♡

I knew it was my voice on the recording, but images of Abram touching Sophie in ways he touched me makes me want to fling myself into the sun. I can hardly focus on the English exam, the words moving around the page, pulling nausea out of my throat so quick I can barely choke it down.

Sophie leans over in her seat, eyeing the teacher before tapping the eraser of her pencil on my arm. “You didn’t tell me how big Abram was. I don’t know how you could take all of him—I barely could.”

I clench my jaw, pressing the lead against the paper so hard that on the last answer it rips straight through. I flip the packet closed and rise from my seat, slapping the exam on the teacher’s desk, I rush out of the classroom.

“Elise?” I look up at Abram who walks toward me slowly, “Are you okay?”

I am leaning against a row of lockers, bag half falling off my shoulder when I look up at him and shut my eyes. Anger pulses through me at an alarming rate, my heart rate quickens and I reach up to press my hand to my chest, a flashback to the hospital plays like a horror movie inside my shut lids and I only open them when Abram’s hands are around my shoulders, pulling me straight up.

“Elise—oh my god, are you okay?” His hands cup my face, forcing me to look at him—but I can hardly breathe, I don’t need to add drowning to my problems right now.

Gaining composure, I shove him away from me though it does more to send my body backwards than him and I realize, in the reflection of a window how distraught I truly looked. Brushing my hair out of my eyes I fix the bag on my shoulder.

“Stay away from me, Abram Kempe,” I warn. He steps forward again and I jump back, my feet don’t stop until I’m half way down the hall and still I don’t trust myself enough not to turn back and run into his waiting arms, “I don’t want anything to do with you.”

♡ ♡ ♡

Every poem I write is going to be the same.

You. You. You.

I hate you. God. I hate you for making me love you.

For giving me no choice in it.

If there was a reset button—I would press it.

What I’m trying to say is…

I wish I had never met you.

♡ ♡ ♡

I wasn’t completely honest with Abram—Kai—but it wasn’t a complete lie, either. He unzipped my vulnerability like a heavy coat and without it I’m all self-loathing and mistakes.

“Do you come to all of Kai’s games?” Ellie asks me as we find our seats. Brody’s face is painted with the team colors and he’s wearing one of Abram’s old jerseys from Boston—I don’t know why he has one, or where he got it, but I know better than to ask.

My fingers absently twist and untwist the water cap in my hands and I look at her, “I come for my boyfriend.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ellie asks, arching an eyebrow too high for it to be just an innocent question.

Biting the inside of my cheek, it’s all I can do to keep from swallowing myself whole.

“And who is this?” Ellie watches as Sophie sits in the vacant seat next to me.

“Ellie stop we’re not here to make friends.” Brody groans, she glances up at him—still standing and waiting patiently for warm ups to begin.

Rolling her eyes, Ellie presses her tongue to the roof of her mouth then shakes her head, “Just because you can’t make friends, doesn’t mean we all are crabby introverts. Now, who are you?”

“A friend of Abram’s,” Sophie introduces herself, tongue lingering on the word friend for too long to be comfortable, “and Elise’s best friend.”

Ellie considers her for a moment before her lip curls up and she leans back in the seat, crossing her arms over her chest, “You’re not Kai’s type.”

If Ellie and I were becoming the type of friends that hugged—this would be a moment in which I hugged her. But we weren’t, so I don’t.

“What do you know about Abram’s type?” Sophie asks, leaning forward, “Are you a jealous ex or something?”

Both Ellie and I laugh.

“No. Brody and Abram are one condom short of being butt buddies and Ellie is Brody’s girlfriend—she’s also one of Abram’s closest friends,” I answer for her as her cheeks are turn red from frustration. “I’d be careful with her,” I lean toward Sophie, “She makes a habit of destroying people’s lives and with your situation not as clean as you’d like, I would hold your tongue.”

Sophie glances again at Ellie, deciding against whatever it was she wanted to say and rolling her eyes back toward the ice. “Whatever. She isn’t worth my time anyway.”

Brody is the loudest when Abram steps onto the ice—also the loudest to criticize our goalie which gives him a few questionable looks from the parents around us.

“Brody,” Ellie chastises softly, “Stop. You’re here to support Brody, not critique their technique—but I guess if we’re being honest—hey goalie,” Ellie shouts, standing from her seat, “What are you doing!? The puck could be a parked car and you still couldn’t stop it!”

“Hey! Put a muzzle on your woman,” shouts a man in opposing team colors at Brody. He turns toward Ellie and steps back, allowing her room to maneuver toward the man but I reach out and grab her hand.

“They’re a third period team, relax.” I tell her and she glares at the man before sitting down next to me.

♡ ♡ ♡

“You won.”

Jason slips a still-sweaty arm around my shoulders and I lift my cup to my mouth to silence all the words bubbling up my throat.

“Don’t sound so surprised, Ellie,” Abram rolls his eyes brushes his hair back with his hand. He sits on a chair and a heavy weight hunches his shoulder forward. There’s a crease in the middle of his forehead and I know he wasn’t happy with tonight’s playing.

Brody comes up from behind him, wrapping his arms around Abram’s torso and hugging him tightly. “I never had any doubt in you, dude,” he says, pulling him into a standing position. Abram turns around; he and Brody leave little room for Jesus in their hug and Jason shifts uncomfortable at my side. I look up to see his eyebrows crease and I wonder if this is what makes Jason jealous.

Not the tension between his girlfriend and another man.

But someone else being closer to his brother than he is.

I grin into the lid of my cup, considering how cute that was before the sadness comes through like a bitter aftertaste. Of course Jason would want to be the strongest male bond in Abram’s life—because neither one has really had any.

Turning Jason’s cheek toward me I kiss him slow, deep—forcing every bit as much passion that flows so freely with Abram.

“What was that for?” Jason asks as he pulls away, resting his forehead against mine.

“Can’t a girl just kiss her boyfriend?”

He nods leaning in again and kissing me with a hungry need, with a strength I didn’t know he was capable of. Still—my heart doesn’t race and I didn’t feel like I was floating.

“Talk about hot,” Ellie grins as she watches us, glancing toward Abram with a playful grin. She pulls Brody away from him and kisses his cheek, alcohol pumping without restraint through her veins. Suddenly the broken down building Middlebury kids sneak off to on nights like this feels less dingy and more like a haven, possibilities only limited by the amount of alcohol.

Tonight, I feel a little less broken—a little less lonely and I drink until that feeling goes away completely. I drink until Abram’s glaring face is a blur and I focus on Jason—because I should want to, because he deserves it.

“If you’re not careful, Elise, you’re recording might be next.”

“The recording?” Ellie asks, “I thought Abram said it was—,”

“Me.” Sophie cuts in and Ellie gives her a confused look, turning her attention toward Abram, she shuts her mouth tight and Brody laughs into his third round of shitty beer.

“Dude,” he say, “what the hell is up with you rich kids? Do you not have enough money or something?”

My fingers curl around my solo cup and I dump it onto the grime ridden ground, “I need more.” I announce.

“I’ll go with you,” Jason offer.

Ellie is quick to pull him beside her, “No, I want you to tell me what your plans are for college. Abram, would you be a dear and get me some more?” she asks, holding out her cup.

♡ ♡ ♡

Abram’s hand curls around my elbow and he tugs me down a hall, away from the music and the beer and the safety of other people—he tugs me into a room and pushes me in.

“What is wrong with you?” I demand.

He scoffs, “What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you, Elise?” he steps closer, his hands curling into a fist at his sides and the veins in his arms visibly straining, “Are you trying to get under my skin? Rile me up? Hurt me some more?”

I want to ask if he’s mad at me or Sylvia—but I don’t think it matters.

Before I know it my back is pressed against the wall and Abram’s chest is moving up and down quickly.

“I want to make you feel how I feel—every time I see you next to her, or think of you together,” I admit, “I want you to feel the exact same way I do, just as bad, Abram.” He moves forward and presses against me, hands cupping my face and he kisses me, hard—I melt instantly, goosebumps rising on my skin, my nails dig into his shoulders willing him closer. Spite curls around my throat and I push him away suddenly—once, twice, on the third time he catches my wrists in his hands and I stare defiantly up at him. “I want you to hurt like I hurt.” I tell him.