#i should not have access to audio editing software

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

Machine...? When is the last time you rinsed out your CUMtainer?

They look... Quite bloated.

Let me empty that for you. I INSIST.

*slurp* *gulp* *coughing* *gasp* Oh God!

It really does taste like coins!

End transcription

sorry. this was 3 clips.

CUMtainer clip

Slurp and cough clip

Coins clip

[vidukon]

FAQ & Covid-19 Policy

VidUKon 2025 is taking place in Bristol from Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June. Before we share more about registration and put out the call for programming, we thought we'd share FAQ about the con as well as our COVID-19 policy. Expect to hear more from us over the coming weeks!

Info under the cut.

About the Con

What is VidUKon?

VidUKon is a fan-run vidding convention based both physically in Bristol, UK, and virtually. It's a weekend for vid watchers and vidders to gather together, in person and online, and watch vids, talk about vids, and have fun.

The physical portion of the con takes place in the Future Inn hotel, Bristol, where we have one large room with a balcony set aside for watching vids together and other activities.

The online portion of the con is based on the VidUKon website, and also uses a Discord server so that attendees can talk to each other, and video conferencing software for things like panels and workshops.

What is vidding, and what is a vid?

A vid is a fan-made music video that takes visuals from one source and audio from another and puts them together in a new way. You might also see them called fanvids, edits, tributes, fancams, MVs, etc. Vidding is the art of making these videos.

Do I need to have made vids to attend the convention?

Not at all! Most of the programming is accessible to anyone who enjoys watching vids. The most common programme items are vidshows - that is, curated playlists of vids. Depending on the year, there may also be panels or roundtables that explore vids from a viewer's perspective.

The occasional programme item might be more technical and geared to vidders in particular, but non-vidders are welcome to attend and listen in if they're curious, or spend those timeslots relaxing elsewhere.

There are also lots of opportunities to socialise with other fans between programme items.

Be warned though, plenty of people come to the con as non-vidders and come back next year having made their first vid! VidUKon is a great way to learn more about vidding in a low-pressure way, if it's something you think you might be interested to try.

What happens at VidUKon?

A ton of things! The con begins on Friday afternoon. We usually break the ice with a quiz, followed by a couple of vidshows. For the rest of the weekend, programming is a mix of vidshows, discussion, talks, workshops and social time.

There’s only one stream of programming, so attendees can attend every programme item if they choose to (and if they have the stamina!).

What are vidshows like?

Each vidshow is a playlist (usually about 45-60 minutes long) of vids on a particular theme. If you're in Bristol, you can watch the vidshow together with the other Bristol Attendees in the designated space at the hotel (usually a cinema-style set-up with a big projector). All registered attendees (Bristol or Virtual) can also watch each vidshow through the website.

What vids are shown?

All fannish vids are fair game – in all genres and styles. Which means that some panels and shows may not be suitable for people under 18.  

We prefer to have the vidders' permission to show vids, but the transitory nature of the internet means that can be difficult sometimes. If we are contacted by a vidder and asked not to show a vid, we will not show it.  

Registration

What is my display name?

Your display name is the name that you will be known by at the con. You can amend this in your account details after you register if needed, but once that's done you should use the same name in all virtual con spaces, including on the website and the con Discord server.

I have a question about my registration. Who should I contact?

For any questions, please email vidukon@gmail.com

Vid Shows and Uploading Vids

What is a premiere?

A premiere is a vid that hasn't been shown in any previous convention or event and has not been released online prior the con. It will be shown for the first time ever at the Premieres show on Saturday night at the con, and will also be included on the Premieres physical media that some attendees receive after the con. Anyone is welcome to submit a premiere as long as you are registered as either a Virtual or a Bristol attendee. Vids can be any fandom, theme, or style, and there is no minimum level of experience required.

What is Vidder's Choice?

Vidder's Choice is a show where con attendees can choose an existing vid from their back catalogue to be shown. This can be absolutely any vid as long as it won't be showing for the first time at VidUKon. You might want to submit a crowd-pleasing favourite, or highlight a deep cut that you wish got more love! What is the themed submission vidshow?

The themed submission vidshow is a show with a specific theme that changes each year, for which con attendees can submit a premiere or a vid from their back catalogue. The theme for 2025 has not been decided yet and will be announced in due time.

What is the deadline to submit a vid?

All deadlines for VidUKon 2025 are on 6 April. This includes Premieres; Vidder's Choice; the themed vidshow (theme TBA); premieres that will be shown in curated vidshows (i.e. not Premieres, Vidders Choice, or the themed vidshow).

Should I inform you about the premiere I'm doing?

No, you don't have to. We might poll about it just to get a rough idea of how many vids we'll have and to check if we can fill them all in, but you don't have to inform us, just submit your vid on time for it to be included in the show.

If I'm submitting a vid, how do I get it to you and what format should it be in?

Video submissions are not open yet. We will share more information on the submission process closer to the date. Please get in touch if you ever have any questions.

Convention

What is your Refund Policy?

We offer full refunds until the close of registration of your tier (please note that some tiers close earlier than others). After that date, all refunds are discretionary. We do not want to be jerks about this, so please do contact us, and we may be able to assist, however, after the close of registration, our financial commitments are firm and we have bills to pay. As a non-profit voluntary association with very little surplus cash, we may not have the luxury of refunding tickets at that late stage.  

What is your Accessibility Policy?

Vidukon is committed to making the con environment an accessible and enjoyable place for all attendees. If you have specific access needs that you'd like to discuss with us, please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com, and we'll do our best to help.

For in-person attendees, the con rooms are on the top floor, accessible by lift or by stairs. Hotel rooms on higher floors are also accessible by lift or by stairs.

The con programme has regular breaks scheduled into the main programming.

We are going to be asking VJs, panelists, and vidders submitting premieres to include content information about their vids. We ask to warn for the following:

Animal Harm; Auditory Triggers; Blackface/Brownface/Redface; Blood/Gore [significant amounts]; Depictions of Colonialism/Imperialism; Depictions of Police; Holocaust and/or Nazi Imagery; Fast cuts (more frequent than about 8 frames); Flashing/Flickering lights; Incest; Queerphobia; Racism; Physical Triggers [in addition to fast cuts or flashing lights], Self-harm; Sexual violence; Suicide; Transphobia.

We ask to warn for depictions of things even if the vid is critical of them, e.g. a vid that is critical of racism and includes depictions of racist violence will be expected to warn for racism.

If any attendee would like further detail about the content of vids being shown at the con (eg you have a specific trigger that is not included in that standardised list), please get in touch with the ConCom and we'll do our best to help. Anonymous queries welcome. The more notice we have the more thorough we can be in getting content information for you, so ideally email us at least a couple of weeks before the con, but if we get less notice than that we'll do our best to accommodate you. 

The content information we collate will be available in the Conbook and on the website for ease of reference of attendees.

COVID-19 Guidelines

Vaccines

In-person VidUKon will require all in-person attendees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 without exception. Proof of vaccination will be required upon arrival. To avoid disappointment, please make very sure to bring your vaccination documents with you to Bristol! We accept photographed documents, so a picture on your phone will suffice. For more information on accepted forms of proof, see below.

Note for regular in-person attendees: please bring your vaccination documents even if you provided them at the 2023 or 2024 event. We're a small crowd and we do remember you, but in the name of fairness, transparency, and security, we ask all in-person attendees to provide vaccination proof regardless of previous attendance record. If this creates any difficulties for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch at vidukon@gmail.com.

Which vaccines are acceptable?

Any vaccine authorized in the country in which the vaccine was received, including authorization for emergency use, for human use as a COVID vaccine is acceptable. The World Health Organization maintains information on the status of vaccine trials and approvals.

I was a participant in a vaccine trial; is this acceptable?

Please contact us directly at vidukon@gmail.com so we can evaluate your situation on a case-by-case basis.

What does “fully vaccinated” mean?

“Fully vaccinated” means you must have received all required COVID-19 vaccination doses no later than 14 days prior to the day you arrive at VidUKon to allow them to reach full efficacy before arrival. For people arriving on 30 May that would be no later than 16 May. The date of vaccination will be confirmed as part of the registration check. Boosters are not required, but strongly encouraged if you're eligible.

What forms of proof of vaccination are accepted?

We will accept original vaccination cards, digital or physical photographs or photocopies of vaccination cards (front and back, all details readable), or electronic documentation provided by your country of origin, including print-outs of such documentation. This documentation should be provided in person at the registration desk on site. It needs to contain information about the date of vaccination and the type of vaccine, and needs to be identifiable as belonging to you (i.e. be in your name).

If your documentation is not in English or if you are worried about any other issues regarding the acceptability of your documentation, please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com to discuss details.

What if the name on my ID and the name on my vaccination card don’t match?

We will accommodate this on a case-by-case basis; please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com.

I can’t be vaccinated for a medical reason. What should I do?

At this time, VidUKon requires all in-person members to be vaccinated without exception. If you cannot be vaccinated, please consider attending virtually, which does not require you to be vaccinated or show proof of vaccination.

I'm vaccinated, but my child/friend/partner/family member that I'm bringing along isn't. What should I do?

If you are planning to bring along friends or family to enter con spaces, please make sure to provide proof of vaccination for all people present, including children. Children who are too young to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will unfortunately not be allowed to enter con spaces at the 2025 event. They may enter the hotel lobby or other spaces in the Future Inn that are not con spaces, though.

Testing

If you attend VidUKon in person, you are required to test yourself once a day before you enter con spaces, using a rapid test. VidUKon 2025 encourages in-person attendees to bring their own rapid tests if possible. The con will also provide rapid tests on site.

Please also test before beginning your journey to Bristol. If PCR tests are easy and affordable to come by where you live, we encourage you to get a PCR test done before you travel. If you cannot easily get a PCR test, a rapid test will suffice.

If you have any questions or doubts about the testing requirements, please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com

Can I get rapid tests for free?

Not anymore :(

Do I need to provide proof of my daily rapid test result?

No, we may give reminders about testing but we will be trusting everyone to test appropriately over the weekend.

What do I do if my rapid test result is positive?

If your rapid test shows a positive result, you will unfortunately be unable to continue participating in VidUKon 2025 in person. You are encouraged to switch to virtual participation. Possibility of refunds in a case like this will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

What should I do if I'm having symptoms?

If you experience symptoms that might be a sign of a COVID-19 infection, please test yourself using a rapid test. If the test result is positive, you will unfortunately be unable to continue participating in VidUKon 2025 in person (see above). If the test result is negative, please use your best judgment to decide whether or not to continue participating in person, keeping in mind that depending on viral load, rapid tests may not be 100% accurate. You always have the option to switch to virtual participation, and also switch back whenever you feel safe participating in person again. Possibility of refunds will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Do I need a PCR test to attend the con in person?

No, a rapid test is sufficient. However, if you can easily get a PCR test done, we encourage you to take one before you travel to Cardiff.

Masks

VidUKon 2025 continues to require all in-person attendees to be wearing a mask in con spaces at all times, except while actively eating or drinking.

What counts as a mask?

A mask should completely cover your nose and mouth with material that can effectively filter droplets and aerosolized particles. It should fit snugly against the sides of your face without gaps. Nose wires are recommended to improve fit, and multiple layers are generally more effective. Face shields are not an acceptable alternative to masks, although they can be worn in addition to masks if you desire.

I can’t wear a mask for a medical reason. What should I do?

We generally accommodate medical exemptions to masks but would like to evaluate on a case-by-case basis, so please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com

What counts as a con space?

A con space is any area reserved for con attendees, such as the conference rooms reserved for VidUKon. The hotel lobby is not a con space, neither is the hotel restaurant.

What are the rules in spaces that are not con spaces?

There are no specific masking rules in place anymore in spaces that are not con spaces. We encourage you to use your best judgment regarding masking in those spaces.

Are there going to be designated areas for eating and drinking or is it allowed anywhere?

At this time, VidUKon is not planning to set up designated areas for eating and drinking. We ask attendees to try to keep their masks on at all times and be courteous and considerate regarding the exception for eating and drinking.

Local Regulations and Travel

The above-described guidelines reflect the level of safety VidUKon will aim to provide for in-person attendees. Select guidelines may change or additional ones may be added as the con approaches. In the unlikely case of significant changes, you will hear about them in the regular pre-con communications we send out.

If you are attending the con from abroad, please make sure to check all applicable regulations for your travel route.

[maisims2]

questions for sims 2 community - first draft __φ(．．)

it's long :') i am a native english speaker, but i am an australian native english speaker, so i would really appreciate any feedback on parts that don't make sense/lack clarity, or even any words/phrasing i should change to make it more accessible to people that don't speak english completely fluently. also i tried to get it across that these are genuine questions and not passive-aggressive disses or anything, let me know if i failed lol

***DRAFT BELOW***

!!THIS IS NOT A SURVEY OR QUESTIONNAIRE!! you can answer whichever questions you'd like in whichever way you'd like, and feel free to add on to your answers in any way you'd like - share as much or as little about your sims 2-ing as you want, i am keen to hear it all! :D

📻audio📻

do you listen to music/streams/podcasts/tv/etc. while playing? if so, is it stuff you would be listening to if you were doing something else, or do you listen to specific things while playing sims 2?

conversely, do you listen to the sims 2 soundtrack when you're not playing the sims 2?

📺visual📺

if you have little or no cc or other visual changes to your game, are there particular reasons? e.g. disk space/performance, nostalgia/just prefer the vanilla vibe, etc.

if you use a lot of 4t2 and/or 3t2 cc are there any particular reasons? e.g. you play the other game and also want the same stuff in the sims 2, you don't have the other game but want the other game's stuff that you've seen, you prefer the aesthetic of the other game but want it on the gameplay of the sims 2, you feel like eaxis content from the other games is part of the same "set" as the sims 2, you just prefer clay hair, etc.

if you use the vibrant, colourful, and lower contrast? aesthetic that's often called "maxis match", does it actually "match" the sims 2 in your view/experience of the game or do you consider it "maxis match" in the sense of the whole sims series? alternatively, do you not consider it "maxis match" and just prefer the colour and brightness? if so are there any particular reasons? e.g. it reminds you of a game or other media that you like, it reminds you of a concept that you like such as spring or a memory you have, etc.

if you use cc that isn't the "maxis match" style mentioned above, but that you consider "maxis match", are there any particular traits that qualify/disqualify "maxis match" cc for you?

if you use "realistic" or "alpha" cc, would you consider your "aim" to be to make the sims 2 game more like real life, or to make a version of real life in the sims 2? alternatively, do you just like the aesthetic, are you used to using "alpha" cc in other sims games, or is "alpha" cc something that is nostalgic for you?

🛠️experience🛠️

do your real life experiences influence the way you alter and/or play the sims 2? e.g. adding or replacing stuff with cc that is more familiar to your location and/or culture, making sims, families, and stories that are familiar to you, etc. alternatively, do you have a game that is removed from reality? e.g. fantasy, non-human, historical, etc.

do you use the skills* you use for sims 2 gameplay/content creation for work/school/other hobbies? if so, does that influence the way you use your skills? e.g. software, habits/best practices, decreased/increased motivation, etc. *e.g. image/video editing, 3D modelling, coding, making/using spreadsheets, writing, internet research, etc.

[thatskindarough]

Oh it was only 3 actually, counting that one animatic on YouTube (that BTW i had no idea was yours! I was pleasantly surprised <3)

And I found it so funny that you have somewhat an idea of who I might be PFFF you can throw the guess, it would be funny if you get it right (don't have to say my name if you don't remember it, you can just go for something you remember NFKDSJ)

also time for an actual question since i'm already here, what program did you used for the animatic? I've always wanted to get into animating but most softwares cost money or are free but really bad so I could use some recommendations 👀

Good to hear there is no imposter lol. I should probably start using the false pfp so people know it’s me but I’m too lazy to change them all 💀 also my guess was right as to who you were but probably mainly because I put on my Aziraphale detective hat and you were the last notification before the ask inbox notification and your icon had a red beanie. We meet once again.

As for the animatic I used procreate for drawing and capecut for composting. Not the most efficient method but I liked it. I ended up segmenting off each camera angle into a different canvas and making any animation for the shot that way. I love capecut because the free version has every editing function you need for an animatic and the watermark only appears as a black screen at the end so it’s so easy to crop out. It’s probably the best free editing software I’ve found. (I also used a screen recording device to record the audio cause even if you buy a song it sometimes doesn’t allow you to put it in the program.)

I honestly recommend procreate if you have a device that supports it. I think it’s still only a 10 dollar onetime purchase. But if you don’t have a device that supports it, I have used things like flip a clip which is free, and the paid version is pretty cheap. I have also dabbled in an app called rough animate, also free (you don’t have to pay for the onion skins) which was also okay. I got frustrated cause of the lack of brush choice but other than that it’s not bad at all. If you can’t pay anything at all I’d recommend this because, unlike flip a clip, you don’t have to pay to unlock the a lot of the really helpful features. Ibis paint also added an animation feature I think so that’s an option. Idk if you need the paid version for it, but I remember only having to watch ads for a minute to unlock all the brushes so maybe it’s the same for the animation feature lol.

If you have a computer set up, I’ve also heard nice things about Krita for animation. It’s free and from what I remember it had a really good timeline set up. I actually tried to use it, but my computer at the time was old and slow and it lagged to much, and then I had a shitty no screen tablet and my hand eye coordination when it came to drawing and writing is quite bad, so it just wasn’t a good set up for me personally. But I know people make it work. I mean, people make this kinda shit in MS paint, if you’re dedicated enough you can technically do it in almost any program (though you may not be able to make it as polished as you’d like.)

Then there is Clip Studio Paint, which does cost money but is way less expensive than like, harmony or adobe. The EX version which gives you a second of free animation per project is a $5 monthly subscription for once device, PC MaC IOS, and the Pro version (which is more expensive) gives you unlimited animation animation access for I believe around 10 -15 dollars a month (still less than most streaming services lol). There’s also a one time purchase version that is $50 dollars, but it goes on sale A LOT for $25! Although I don’t think it gives you more than a second of animation. CSP also has a very long free trial period, for EX it was legit like 3 months. so if you try it out and like it, I’d definitely suggest finding a way to pay for it. It’s actually used in some professional studios in Japan, so if you have any professional aims for your work it’s a good starting platform to get into industry software. However a lot of the nice things CSP offers for animation are not needed in the story boarding/animatic stage, so if that’s as far as you wanna take your animations it maaaaaaay not be worth it unless you love it.

If anyone else has other cheap or free recommendations feel free to add on. I have attempted to make animatics on procreate, rough animate, and flip a clip; all of which I have uncompleted projects on. It just so happens that procreate is what I was using when I finally made an animatic I liked enough to see until completion. Whatever software you do use, just make sure you learn how to use it before attempting a big project. Do some smaller stuff before you try anything big.

Edit to check the comments! We got other good recommendations for computers!

[xiaokuer-schmetterling]

(rough draft reply, will return later to clean it up but i didn't want to further delay my response)

EDIT: further notes on my quest for accessible podfic bc i made it into a ch in my notes-to-self-podfic-guide-https://archiveofourown.org/works/62233522/chapters/169902325

and also! some research notes i haven't incorporated into the ch yet:

hello! thanks again for tagging me!

i volunteered to beta the above post bc i have sensory processing issues associated with my audhd and partial hearing loss in my left ear. and it was such a learning experience!

(note to self: reference the DM i sent for exact wording)

so lol my feedback was mostly smth like:

oh snap, i never have "clean" tracks when i add music bc the way i include music and sfx into my podfic (extremely low budget product lol lots of care but very limited financial and equipment resources) is to play the music on my phone or headphones while recording on my e-reader. so i'm gonna have to think about that

and: oooooops just realized that my brand of chatty, live-reacting, completely unedited podfic is not accessible to people with the processing issues mentioned in the post. and also! i realized concretely (whereas i was only vaguely aware before) that my auditory processing disorder is just about flipped compared to the experiences described above

(include more detail on edit)

i think i also said smth like. ooops i am not actually the target audience for this post. and that's bc initially i chose not to edit bc i only had my e-reader for record, upload, post. then i got my new-to-me iphone SE and so that gave me some more sfx/music options but i liked the way the e-reader recordings sounded better (um. for lack of a better desc, my e-reader recordings feel "warmer" and more "friendly" than things i recorded on my phone). anyhow i can't run audacity on my shitty little chromebook ( /affectionate ) -- tho when roomie passed on the chromebook laptop it made posting to ao3 and uploading things to archive.org for audio hosting MUCH easier

and i've recently been made aware of online editing tools? but imma be really real rn: i really really struggle with "perfectionism" and so my chosen coping method/management strategy for that behavior regarding my podfic is to not allow myself the opportunity to get stuck in a "product refinement loop" at all.

i pick the fic to read, i read the fic aloud while recording, and then i try to remember to immediately convert to .mp3 and send to my gdrive via cloudconvert.com afterwards.

[this part got a bit RANTish and a teensy bit off topic so feel free to skip this paragraph] while recording, i am also allowing and encouraging myself to share my thoughts and real-time reactions as freetalk/meta bc gfdi i do have opinions sometimes. i am a performer and storyteller not a text-to-speech program AND I DON'T HAVE TO PRETEND THAT I AM. i am not a machine or a bot and i think therfore that it's okay for listeners to hEaR mE bReaThinG and i am allowed to have emotions and opinions about things and furthermore i am allowed to SHARE MY THOUGHTS/EMOTIONS/FEELINGS in what should be a safe fandom-oriented blorbo enthusiasm sharing space. I AM ALLOWED TO EXIST AND TAKE UP SPACE AND BE EXCITED OR SAD OR MAD OR ALL THE EMOTIONS AT ONCE BC THAT SHIT IS COMPLICATED AND I DON'T HAVE TO MASK MY AUTISM IN MY OWN FUCKING PODFIC) -- [end RANT]

so i will probably continue avoiding audacity & similar software, which means i need to ponder on other ways to make my podfic more accessible. or perhaps include a note or specific tag to the effect that none of my podfics were processed as recommended for accessibility in the post above

(although i will add here in case it seems useful to any readers -- the link i was sent for suggested online audacity alternative that runs on mobile too)

i think i also said that in seem to recall having "overhead" a discord convo in the mdzs podfic server about how some people have to/choose to download the podfics they listen to for funsies and do post processing on the files in a certain way, to make it enjoyable for them to listen to? maybe that's something i could gather more information on towards the discussion aspect of, how can a potential podfic/audio fanwork listener remove barriers to enjoyment and make podfics more accessible to themselves should they wish to listen to an audio production that for whatever reason was not edited with an ear towards accessibility by the person who posted it 🤔🤔🤔

-----

end post

Making Your Podfic (especially with Music and/or Sound Effects) More Accessible and Listener Friendly

So you're planning to make a podfic with music and/or sound effects, and you want to think about ways to make it more accessible? Awesome!! This will guide you through some steps you can take to make your podfic more accessible, some of which will also make for a more pleasant listening experience for listeners without accessibility needs, but the focus will primarily be on accessibility. Some of this will also be applicable to podfics with multiple recording sessions without music or sound effects, but again, that's not the focus.

What's the number one thing you can do to make your podfic with music and/or sound effects more accessible to those with noise sensitivity, auditory processing conditions, who are somewhat hard of hearing, or other auditory accessibility needs?

MAKE A CLEAN VERSION, with NO music or sound effects! This can be a very easy change to your process for most people! After editing out mistakes and doing your audio clean up but before you add music or sound effects, simply export your audio. Upload it wherever you upload your final version, drop in a second link to the no music/sound effects version, and that's it! Of course, this may not be trivial for some people, depending on your individual process or other factors. I hope you will decide that it's worth doing anyway. As someone with audio accessibility needs myself, I can tell you it makes a HUGE difference. There are podficcers I love who I can't listen to some of what they've recorded because there's no version without music/sound effects, or sometimes I can only listen on a good day. There are fics I love where there's a podfic version, but I will never be able to listen to it because there's more music/sounds effects than I can handle. This one change will make people like me VERY happy and will expand your audience!

Secondly, especially if you've got a lot of audio dynamics (really quiet whispery bits and also really loud shouty bits), be sure to use the Compressor tool. Long story short, the compressor makes the actual noise level of the quiet bits louder and the loud bits quieter, while still leaving the impression of whispering or shouting. In other words, keep the emotion, but don't force your listeners to keep changing the volume on their headphones/speakers/hearing aid to be able to hear what you're saying or avoid getting their ears blown out (very useful for other listeners too, especially people listening on headphones or in the car). A quick overview of how to use the Compressor settings (this is for Audacity, which is what I'm most familiar with, but most audio editing tools will have something similar):

Threshold: how loud do you want to go before starting to make things quieter?

Make-up gain: after compressing the loud bits down, how much do you want to make everything louder to make up for it?

Knee width: how quickly and starkly do you want the compression to apply? At 0db, this will be a very sharp change. Lower levels will lead to less sharp changes

Ratio: for the loud bits that are getting compressed, how much compression should be applied? The higher the Ratio the more the loud parts of the audio will be compressed.

Okay, but maybe you want to ALSO make the version with music and/or sound effects more accessible, since that's your vision for the podfic and you want as many people as possible to be able to experience it? Great! PLEASE still make a version without music/sound effects as noted above, because even doing everything you can won't be enough for everyone. But it's also great to do what you can to make your music/sound effects version accessible for those that are able to enjoy it with some changes. So….what are some things you can do?

As much as possible, avoid putting music or Foley over your words. For people with audio processing issues especially, it can be very difficult to parse words when there's background music (and especially background music that itself has words).

If you're going to have music or Foley over words, make sure the words are significantly louder than the music. You can use the Analyze Contrast tool (in the Analyze menu in Audacity) to compare the relative loudness of two selections.

For music or Foley between words (like in a section break), make sure it's not too much louder or softer than the sections that come before and after. Again, use that Analyze Contrast tool to compare selections.

You can also use Analyze Contrast to even out the sound between recording sessions!

For sound effects that modify your voice, go only to the point where your voice still sounds very intelligible to you. Someone with auditory accessibility needs will likely struggle with intelligibility well before someone without those needs.

Hope this was helpful!

(This is written from my perspective as someone who has audio accessibility needs, as well as being a podficcer myself. Beta help and additional thoughts from @writerproblem193 @keriarentikai @xiaokuer-schmetterling and others not on Tumblr. But this is not The Definitive Guide To Accessibility or anything, so please add your perspective!)

[beatverse1]

Mastering Music Production and Promotion for Global Success

The world of music is constantly evolving, driven by innovation, creativity, and technology. Aspiring musicians and established artists alike need to master both music production and promotion to succeed in today’s competitive industry. With the right tools and strategies, creating captivating tracks and reaching global audiences becomes an achievable goal. This guide explores the critical aspects of music production, the role of digital platforms like TikTok, and effective monetization methods to build a sustainable career.

The Role of Digital Audio Workstations in Modern Music Music production is the cornerstone of any artist’s journey, and Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) have become indispensable in this process. Ableton Live DAWs stand out as a leading software in the industry, offering unparalleled flexibility and functionality. With tools for recording, editing, and mixing, it allows artists to create high-quality tracks with ease. Its user-friendly interface and vast library of plugins make it a favorite among producers of all levels. Whether you’re composing electronic beats or working on acoustic tracks, mastering Ableton Live opens the door to professional-grade music production.

Leveraging TikTok for Artist Growth TikTok has transformed the music industry, creating viral sensations and providing a platform for undiscovered talents. Understanding how to use TikTok sounds is essential for musicians aiming to build their presence on this platform. Sounds play a crucial role in setting trends, and many artists have seen their careers take off after their tracks were used in viral videos. To make the most of TikTok, artists should create engaging content, collaborate with influencers, and ensure their music is easily accessible for use by other creators.

Optimizing Your TikTok Strategy A common question many artists have is whether can I add multiple songs to TikTok. While TikTok doesn’t allow users to upload full-length albums, artists can strategically add snippets of their songs to different trends and challenges. By doing so, they increase their exposure and reach a diverse audience. Each new track or sound added has the potential to connect with a different demographic, creating more opportunities for growth.

Promoting Your Music to Global Audiences Creating exceptional music is only one part of the equation; the other half is learning how to promote a song effectively. Digital marketing, social media campaigns, and streaming platforms play a significant role in reaching listeners. Utilize platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and Instagram to share teasers and behind-the-scenes content. Collaborations with other artists and influencers can also amplify your reach. A successful promotion strategy should combine online visibility with offline efforts, such as live performances and networking events.

Turning Your Passion into Profit The ultimate goal for many musicians is to make their passion financially rewarding. Learning how to make money from music is critical for building a sustainable career. Monetization strategies include streaming royalties, merchandise sales, live performances, and licensing your music for films, commercials, or video games. Crowdfunding platforms and fan subscriptions also offer ways to connect with your audience while generating income. By diversifying your revenue streams, you can secure financial stability while pursuing your artistic goals.

Conclusion Mastering music production and promotion requires dedication, strategy, and the right tools. From leveraging Ableton Live DAWs for professional-grade production to understanding how to navigate TikTok trends, artists have more opportunities than ever to succeed. By promoting your music effectively and exploring diverse monetization methods, you can build a lasting career in the music industry.

[fractallion]

I opened Chat4o and my first words (audio input) after ‘hello’ were something like write me a quick post about Markdown. What is it. Why should I use it.

Response back - as written. No formatting. No editing.

Introduction

In the world of technology and software development, it is crucial to have proper documentation to ensure that information is organized and easily accessible. Markdown is lightweight markup language with plain-text formatting syntax, designed to be easily converted into HTML and other formats. It provides a simple way to structure content without the need for complex coding.

Why Use Markdown?

Markdown is widely used by developers, writers, and content creators for various reasons:

Simplicity: Markdown uses plain text and a simple formatting syntax that is easy to learn.

Portability: Markdown files can be opened on any text editor and easily converted to different formats.

Flexibility: It supports various elements such as headers, lists, images, and links, making it versatile for different types of content.

Readability: Markdown files are clean and easy to read in their raw form.

Compatibility: It can be used on different platforms and is supported by many applications websites.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Markdown is a powerful tool for creating well-structured documents quickly and efficiently. Whether you are writing a blog post, documenting code, or creating content for the web, Markdown offers a simple and effective way to format your text. By incorporating Markdown into your workflow, you can streamline the documentation process and focus on creating great content.

I have worked with Macs for nearly (more than?) 20 years - and never once said hello to it - or please - or thank you ….

If I don’t say those words when I work with some AI model - I feel rude.

[isabellarosestudio5]

Week 3

REFLECTION:

- I have been thinking lately about why I find it hard to engage in practice. I think over the past 2.5 years of this degree (and prior to that- 8 years of rigorous ballet training) my cup of energy has become low. Things I used to feel very passionate about (politics, feminisms, art making), now feel often like exhaustion, even to think about. And to create anything seems to require a lot more conscious effort than it used to. Even in the conscious effort to make sure I have the energy in the first place.

- I also know I have a perfectionist streak and an urge to get good grades as a way of boosting my ego/feeling self confident- which has ultimately led to more burnout.

- My question now is how to move through this, how to restore my energy, my hope, my joy in art creation. How to make my practice irresistible to my mind, a thing that it feels it must wake up and do everyday.

- So far, I have thought of a number of things (alongside psychology), but recently the idea of beauty came to mind. Perhaps over the duration of this course I have felt a tug and resistance away from making things that are "just beautiful", due to this idea that beauty is meaningless in the larger sense. An object that just evokes beauty may not have a larger political/social purpose, or even contemporary art purpose. It's just a pretty thing. Meaningless, not worth pursuing.

- But I think I consider this differently now. In the light of burnout and other things, the important role of beauty becomes clear- to keep a sense of awe, wonder, appreciation in life. To refill people's energy cups.

- Perhaps I can consider/transfer this to my practice. Make things that shed light on beauty. Show things to people that they may usually not see. Generate awe, inspiration.

- I have also recently felt that this carries a greater importance in a political/social/environmental sense. How can people fight for various causes if they are tired/exhausted/empty. A great appreciation and love for the world is needed, if political pursuits are to endure long term.

OUTCOMES:

There is perhaps a film piece I've been working on that might fit this brief of sort of illuminating beauty, although at first I was mainly focused on documenting my experience with meditation and anxiety.

Here's a link to the draft:

(Reflection- 18/03/24: some of the shots are quite shaky, despite applying stabilizing software post. Does this matter? Do I need to change the shots/refilm? The audio quality is not the best, would want to properly record and potentially edit the script. Does the work need subtitles for accessibility? Would display with headphones in gallery to keep sense of intimacy.)

(Reflection- 26/03/24: wording still feels a bit wanky. A bit hyper-spiritual or therapised? I don't wish to come across in that way. I wish to be honest. Provide observations of myself, my anxious sorta natural way of being, and recent experiences of meditation as an aid to that. But perhaps that's what's making it feels wanky, self-consciousness?

Also considering that the stabilisation software is still making the footage look a little weird, perhaps I should try making a version without any post-stabilisation applied. Embrace the shaky footage- bring attention to the human hand.)

CONTACT SHEET OF ORIGINAL SHOTS:

Filmed in February 2024

[cindyhangrad604]

Object #11: Apple Laptop Significance: I've used my laptop regularly. Growing up, I've been interested in making small video edits. I've learned how to edit videos using software such as Windows Video Maker, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, and Adobe Software. New thinking/Connections: I want to improve my Adobe software skills in particular I want to learn how to use Adobe After Effects. P.O.V: The use of editing software I had used; greatly impacted my interest in wanting to study communication design. Visual Elements: Modern, clean and sleek. I use a protective case to prevent damage. Qualities: Apple, sleek, minimal, technological. Technical Components + Processes: Technology has offered accessible resources to help those who want to learn and connect to a specific community. Context: Socio-Cultural, Contemporary and modern technology. The evolution of technology and how it has impacted society. Relationships to Work: Campaign Awareness, Kinetic Typography Animation.

Object #12: AirPods Pro Significance: I always listen to music, whenever it's working or travelling. I get to pick what kind of genre I would want to listen to help set the mood for what I want to create. e.g. White Noise to help with concentration. New thinking/Connections: P.O.V: A personal preference I prefer to use AirPods than headphones. They're easily portable and are key chained with my keys so I've been pretty good to not lose them. Visual Elements: Apple, sleek, minimal, technological. Technical Components + Processes: Given multiple modes such as spatial audio & noise cancelling. Context: Contemporary and modern technology.

Object #13: Makeup Significance: I've been interested in learning how to do makeup. Doing my makeup has been therapeutic and an activity I look forward to before starting my day. New thinking/Connections: I want to experiment and expand on my style, allowing the creative freedom to try new things. P.O.V: Makeup should be perceived as a way to enhance natural beauty.Visual Elements: Variety of packaging, different concepts of a product such as glam, natural etc. Qualities: Glowy, Matte, Semi-Matte, Metallic, Pigmented Technical Components + Processes: Makeup allows me to be creative with my looks and how different application techniques can impact the outcome of a look. Context: Historical Context. How beauty standards have evolved.

Object #14: Emollient Cream Significance: I have a skin condition called Eczema. This condition had me to become more cautious with what I put on my skin. This is an emollient cream that I use as it protects and doesn't irritate my skin. New thinking/Connections: I want to bring more awareness of these medical conditions as people aren't aware of the hardships that we face. P.O.V: The importance of self-care and not allowing a condition to prevent you from the way you want to live your life. Visual Elements: Minimal, Clean. Qualities: Thick, Emollient Context: Historical Context. This skin condition is mainly genetic.

Object #15: Souvenir Magnets Significance: Overseas vacations I've been on with my family. We started collecting magnets to display on the fridge door. New thinking/Connections: Souvenir magnets set a reminder for tourists to remember their trip. P.O.V: Broadening my perspective of the world has inspired me as a designer to raise awareness to appreciate and respect others' values and beliefs even if they do not align with our own. Visual Elements: - Photographs of Tourist Attractions, Symbolisms. Qualities: Refrigerator magnets can be made from rubber, PVC, polyresin, metal, epoxy, or a mixture of some of these materials. Some magnets offer practical uses such as a bottle opener. Technical Components + Processes: How magnets are made. Context: Socio-Cultural, Historical. How history influences culture. Relationships to Work: Taking inspiration from other cultures and how I can apply it to my work. Sharing knowledge and learning from other countries.

Object #16: Zebra Mildliner Highlighters Significance: I enjoy collecting stationery. In particular, these are my favourite highlighters that come in a variety of colours and tones that set them apart from other highlighters. Visual Elements: Modern, Stylish, Minimal Design Qualities: Glides over the paper without smudging or bleeding through the paper. Dual highlighter either for thick or thin lines. Relationships to Work: This plays a crucial role in my design process.

Object #17: Zebra Sarasa Clip Significance: Another piece of stationary added to my collection. These are my favourite pens that I use on a regular basis. Whenever it's taking notes, sketches etc. Visual Elements: Modern, Stylish, Minimal Design. Qualities: Functional, writes smoothly consistent ink flow. Comes in a variety of colours, which is useful to colour co-ordinate my notes. Relationships to Work: This plays a crucial role in my design process.

Object #18: Wacom Tablet Significance: I enjoy digital art and the use of this tablet has made the process a lot easier. Visual Elements: Minimalistic, Stylish Design. Technical Components + Processes: Comes with a pressure-sensitive pen. Easy to write, edit or convey ideas in education or remote work settings. Context: The new culture of digital art. Relationships to Work: I've used this tablet to make my creations (in particular illustrations) come to life.

[bemelodicrecordingstudio]

Recording Studio FAQ

1. What services does BeMelodic Recording Studio offer?

At BeMelodic Recording Studio, we offer a full range of services to meet your recording needs. From initial pre-production all the way through to the final mix and mastering, we have you covered. We also offer songwriting assistance, session musicians, and advanced editing services. Our goal is to help you create the best possible version of your music.

2. Where is BeMelodic Recording Studio located?

We're proud to be based in the vibrant city of Dallas Fort Worth, a thriving hub for musicians and artists of all kinds. Our studio is centrally located and easily accessible, making it an ideal choice for local talent.

3. How can I book a session at BeMelodic Recording Studio?

Booking a session with us is as easy as pie! Simply head over to our website and choose the time and date that best suits your schedule. If you have any questions or specific requirements, don't hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team.

4. What equipment does BeMelodic Recording Studio use?

At BeMelodic, we believe that top-notch recordings require top-notch equipment. That's why we've invested in a high-quality selection of microphones, preamps, monitors, and software. All designed to capture the finest details of your performance.

5. I'm an aspiring musician, is BeMelodic Recording Studio right for me?

Absolutely! We love working with artists at all stages of their career and we're committed to helping you bring your musical vision to life. No matter your level of experience, we’ll provide the guidance and expertise you need to create a recording you can be proud of.

6. What genres of music does BeMelodic Recording Studio specialize in?

We specialize in a broad range of genres. Whether you're into pop, rock, country, hip-hop, or something else entirely, we have the knowledge and experience to help you create a recording that truly shines.

7. How much does it cost to record at BeMelodic Recording Studio?

The cost of a recording session can vary depending on a number of factors, including the length of your session and the specific services you require. For more detailed information, please visit our website or get in touch with us directly.

8. What should I bring to my recording session?

Come prepared with your instrument, any backing tracks you might need, and most importantly, your passion for music! We'll take care of the rest.

9. Can BeMelodic Recording Studio help with mixing and mastering?

Yes, indeed! Mixing and mastering are crucial steps in the recording process, and we offer both services to ensure your tracks sound their absolute best.

10. Why should I choose BeMelodic Recording Studio?

Choosing BeMelodic means investing in your music's potential. With our expert team, state-of-the-art equipment, and unwavering commitment to quality, we're here to help you create something truly special. Take the leap and book your session today! With us, you can bring your musical vision to life.

11. What types of microphones do you have and what is the difference between them?

At BeMelodic Recording Studio, we offer a wide selection of different microphone types, all with their own unique characteristics. We have dynamic microphones, which are known for their excellent durability and powerful sound reproduction; condenser mics, best suited for capturing subtle nuances in an audio signal; ribbon mics for a warm tone; and USB mics that connect directly to your computer. Each type of mic produces a different sound quality and response pattern (or polar pattern), so it's important to choose the right one based on your specific needs.

[therogueheart]

[Image description in Alt Text.] [ID: Red, block text on a transparent background. The text reads: ‘Fanfic Author PSA’. The dark red Archive of Our Own logo is depicted on either side of the lettering. End ID.]

Many people who read fanfiction also require the assistance of text-to-speech or audio description software. Blind and visually impaired people are very much present in the fanfiction and fandom communities, but are so frequently disregarded or forgotten about.

If you are writing a work and like to utilise paragraph breaks, please do not use combinations such as the following:

[Image description in Alt Text. I have used an image to avoid what I will describe below.] [ID: Four examples of punctuation and icons that are disruptive when used as line breakers. The first line is a series of O letters. The second is a series of asterisks. The third is a series of dots, circles and stars. The last is a series of tildes. End ID.]

The software will read these combinations out loud letter for letter or symbol for symbol. For example; it would read to the user the word 'asterisk' six times in a row, or the word ‘tilde’ five times in a row.

This is unpleasant, confusing and often irritating for blind or visually impaired readers. If you would like a similar sample of what it would sound like, enter one of the above combinations into Google Translate and use the audio button.

Here is a post by @ao3commentoftheday​ that also details this difficulty and provides links to downloadable audio transcribers and fanfiction audio readers. These are also helpful for if you simply wish to listen to fanfiction but can’t find a podfic of the work.

Screen Reader Friendly and Screen Reader Compatible are AO3 tags that help visually impaired readers track and access fanfiction that is consciously created with their needs in mind. Please consider adding these tags to your works in order to expand the range of works that visually impaired readers can safely and confidently access.

Alternatives to these are:

Utilise HTML or embedded line break functions where possible, such as the feature on the Archive’s editing functions. Most screen readers should be equipped to understand these.

[Line breaker] can also be read by most screen readers. While not as aesthetic, it’s still functional.

Use an image divider/breaker and utilise the Alt Text or [ ] descriptor functions to label it as a line breaker.

[the-jade-palace]

A Guide to Installing Fin Fin on Teo, the Magic Planet

For those who aren't aware, Fin Fin on Teo is a 1996 computer game for Windows-based computers about Fin Fin, a creature that is a hybrid of a bird and a dolphin that can be communicated with via a microphone, in which your main goal is to win Fin Fin's friendship through interacting with him.

Released for Windows 95, Fin Fin isn't quite compatible with the latest hardware and software to say the least. There are a variety of ways to play Windows 95 games on modern hardware, but unlike many others of the time Fin Fin requires the usage of a microphone. This makes playing Fin Fin without an actual Windows 95 machine quite difficult.

Luckily for you there is a way to play Fin Fin on modern systems in its full glory with microphone compatibility, which I'll be going over in this guide.

Prerequisites

The first thing you need to play Fin Fin is a x32-bit Windows XP Virtual Machine. I won't be covering how to set it up in this guide, but there are plenty of guides you can find online for how to do this depending on your operating system. For the guide, I will be using VirtualBox as my hypervisor.

Next you'll need the actual Fin Fin game, specifically the 5 World Deluxe Edition released in the US. The other thing you will need is a patched version of 'teoboot.exe', the main Fin Fin executable. Both of these can be found on the Fin Fin Archive which unfortunately seems to have become inaccessible sometime in 2022. Luckily, the site and all required files were saved on the Internet Archive. The site is accessible but not using a secure connection, so for ease of download the links are from the Internet Archive. The main game discs can be downloaded here. And the patched game executable can be downloaded here.

Setup

Once you have the Virtual Machine configured and the setup files download, you can install Fin Fin. In your Virtual Machine, attach FinFin70_1.iso as a virtual disc.

Then press the start button in the bottom left, then navigate to my computer. You should see the disc appear in the window that appears next under 'Devices with Removable Storage'. You will then need to right click the disc, and select 'Explore'. Then enter the 'Installj' folder and right click the file titled 'SETUP', then select 'Properties'. Then navigate to the Compatibility tab at the top, and turn on Compatibility mode for Windows 95.

After you have done this, double click the file to run it, and proceed through the installation process. During the setup, there will be a Microphone Setup and a Sound Recorder Setup. For now, just press next on both of these, you can do these both later.

Next, we are going to setup the microphone. The steps to do this will vary depending on what hypervisor you used, but for VirtualBox you just need to enable Audio Input in the Devices menu. Once it has been enabled, you'll want to press the start button and open 'Control Panel'. In the Control Panel, select 'Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices'. Then 'Sounds and Audio Devices', and then navigate to the Voice tab. Once here, press 'Test Hardware' and go through the wizard to make sure the microphone is actually detected and working.

(Note: The actual volume of the microphone sometimes appears much lower than it actual is in this wizard, don't worry about this)

Once you have confirmed that the microphone input is working, you will then want to run the Microphone Setup and Sound Recorder Setup that we skipped earlier. You can access this and all other Fin Fin shortcuts by pressing the start button, hovering over 'All Programs' and then hovering over the folder titled 'fin fin'. First run the Microphone Setup and adjust the volume as necessary. Next, run the Sound Recorder Setup and record your voice clips.

(Note: Due to some compatibility issues, when recording voice clips in the Sound Recorder Setup do not let the bar progress to the 2 second mark, always manually stop it before it gets there. If you do not stop it, the program will freeze and you will need to forcefully close it using the Task Manager, which can be opened by right clicking the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and then selecting 'Task Manager')

Finally there is one last step before you can play. You need to replace the original teoboot with the patched one. To do this, you need to get this file onto the Virtual Machine in one way or another. Again, this will vary depending on your hypervisor and I can't reasonably cover all possible ways. For VirtualBox, you can install Guest Additions and then enable Drag and Drop to drag the file into the Virtual Machine.

Once you have the patched teoboot on the Virtual Machine, you will need to replace the original with this one. Press the start button and navigate to 'My Computer', and then 'Local Disc (C:)'. Then go to 'Program Files', 'FUJITSU', and then 'fin fin'. Delete the existing teoboot and copy the patched version into here. You can do this by right clicking the patched one, selecting copy, and then pasting it in the destination folder. You then need to set this program in Windows 95 Compatibility mode the same way you did with the SETUP earlier.

Playing Fin Fin

The Setup is now complete. Congratulations, you have installed Fin Fin! All that's left to do is play. You first need to create a profile by going to the start menu and opening the shortcut titled 'New contactee'. Once you have completed this, a new shortcut will appear in the fin fin folder titled 'fin fin(Fullscreen)', this is how you launch the game. Before you can play the game though, you need to remove FinFin70_1.iso and insert FinFin70_2.iso instead, as this is where all the game data is actually stored.

(Note: Due to some compatibility issues, when you exit Fin Fin after playing you will need to open the Task Manager and manually close the teoboot process, as it will not close on its own)

If you want to get more info about the game and its mechanics, navigate to the fin fin folder and double click the file titled 'finfin.hlp' with a question mark icon.

If you want even more Fin Fin content, I highly recommend checking out www.finfin.de and www.finfin-archiv.de. Both contain a plethora of archived Fin Fin content worth checking out, such as music, animations, screensavers, galleries, the official Fin Fin rhythm game TanTanTEO which works natively on modern operating systems, and much more!

I hope you all have fun with your new best friend Fin Fin!

[bizarrequazar]

06-01 (CST) Twitter Space on Deepfake Tech. Notes

This was a Twitter space held at the start of June discussing deepfake technology and the NRTA memo that came into effect the day prior. Due to personal circumstances, I was unable to take notes for the full space and the recording has unfortunately now expired. [original tweet]

I thankfully did take notes on the first hour’s discussion on deepfakes. This was spoken by a guest speaker, Ferdinand, who works as a computer engineer and has experience with AI. Please let me know if you have any corrections.

Specialized computer software is needed to make deepfakes, some of which can be downloaded off the Internet such such as in the form of apps.

Many photos from various angles are provided to the software as a reference to what the subject looks like

The video starts with a base of an actual video of someone with the face overlaid onto it, which is how the facial movements are able to look so realistic

The programs have been trained with many other faces as well in order to better map key points of the face, such as the bridge of the nose and the corners of the eyes, making it better able to swap faces even with movement

AI programs created to detect deepfake videos can be confused by the video subject’s face not being straight on (ie. sideways) or partially obstructed (ex. wearing a hat). The results of these tools are very dependent on the data they’ve been programmed with.

Detection programs are created by being given databases of both real and fake videos in order to program them to be able to detect patterns present in deepfake videos that are too minimal for the human eye to be able to detect

Deepfakes themselves are programmed much the same way. The more good quality photos and voice clips that have been provided to them, the better the deepfake will be. 

Algorithms nowadays do not need a tremendous amount of voice data in order to create a replication. Some free programs available can do a pretty good replica with only fifteen minutes of data.

Recent advances in the technology, some of which are available through open access, allow for voices to be changed in real time

Very different software is used for visual vs. audio deepfakes, which are done separately. Deeplearning algorithms can be used to run them simultaniously, or they can be created separately then later put together; some software is programmed to match an audio recording to the timing of recorded lip movement. Audio and visual therefore should be analyzed separately when trying to detect a deepfake.

Other than AI detection programs, pretty much the only way to tell if a video is a deepfake is to have an expert look at it who will know signs to look for. Ex. In videos with quick motion, there will often be blurring artifacts or jumps.

Publicly available deepfake detection websites do not work, especially due to the technology constantly evolving.

Some companies creating deepfake technology for legitimate reasons encode a watermark into any video created that is very difficult to detect or remove, but which they would know how to check for.

Laypeople don’t have the technological means to test if a video is a deepfake, therefore it often comes down to context: Does it make sense? Is it consistent with who the person is? “You have the bring a healthy dose of skepticism.”

It can be argued that Chinese companies are leading over the west in terms of deepfake technological advancement due to having more commercial applications. It’s hard to find publicly available information due to laws regarding deepfakes.

Take with a large grain of salt: Based on western companies, a 7-10 minute video with both audio and visual would have a cost of somewhere in the $1000s and would take a week or two. It depends on the desired quality. Imperfections could be later edited to be made nicer, though this would be more easily detectable. 

Producing an online video would be cheaper than something being created for something like a movie due to it being shorter, of lower video quality, and having only a single audio track. Likely more in the $100s.

There have been recent efforts by major studios to use deepfake audio to dub movies in other languages using the actors’ original voices. 

The only hardware necessary to make a deepfake is a computer with a supported GPU.

Followup thread by Flora about one audio detection program discussed

[daredevil-podfic-community]

New: Daredevil Podfic Community

Hello fellow Daredevil fanatics!

I’m happy to announce the piloting of a new community dedicated to producing podfic for Daredevil/Matt Murdock-centric fanfiction.

Why make podfics?

Since Daredevil is the most badass visually impaired superhero (that’s just a fact), it makes sense that we should try to make fics about him as accessible as possible for our vision impaired fandom friends! Screen readers are fine, but they often fall short when it comes to delivering enjoyable, satisfying fiction. Non-dictionary words are mispronounced, formatting marks are read out in inconvenient places, and everything is read in the same flat voice.

Why make a community?

Podficcing is a lot more work than people realize at first. Reading 10k words can take about an hour, and then editing can take twice as long. So you can imagine that long fics are a huge commitment and a labor of love! Having a friend to work on it with you - either a collaborative reading or having someone read while someone else edits or just having a cheerleader in your corner - makes it much less daunting.

There are also a lot of resources that are necessary to make a podfic happen, and not everyone has all of the resources. You need a good mic, a good reading style, audio recording and editing software, and somewhere to host the file online. Some people may have a few of these but not know how to get the rest handled. Pooling our resources can make podficcing more accessible to new people.

And then there’s the feedback... a sad reality of podfics is that they get WAY less feedback than other forms of fandom media. Many people download a fic, listen to it offline, and then forget to go back and comment or kudos later. I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon, but having a community of podficcers with you to listen to and cheer on your work can fill in that feedback gap.

How can you participate?

If you’re a fic author who has written Daredevil fics, you can grant permission for podfics of your works either by making a note in your AO3 profile, registering with FPS List, or sending us a message to let us know you are interested.

Participate as a podfic reader, either solo or with others joining for voice acting different parts. If you haven’t podficced before, we can get you started!

Participate as a podfic editor, going through readers’ recordings to edit out mistakes, pauses, sneezes, etc.

Participate as a podfic spicer, adding sound effects, intro/outro music, or other audio effects to make podfics more engaging.

Join us on Discord: for the time being, we will be granted a little corner of the Marvel Dumpster server (18+) to operate out of. If we get too big, we may make our own space.

Follow this blog to read updates about the project! Eventually, we will be posting links to podfics here as well.

Do you or a friend use a screen reader or otherwise find podfics more accessible than text? Send us a message or ask to let us know if there are any specific authors, topics, or stories that we should prioritize!

Let’s get podficcing!

[meichenxi]

Hey, could I ask you how you do shadowing? Like the different ways you do it? You mentioned in your tag that shadowing is good and I'd love to hear how you do it! I do not attempt shadowing much so I don't really know what helps, etc. ToT (my studyblr is rigelmejo)

Hellooo! Thank you for the interesting question!

Tbh I think I do it fairly basically - I don’t use any particularly fancy software, but software like Language Learning with Netflix has certainly made it easier. There’s a whole video on how to get the most of it here: [on mobile, link didn't work - How to study Chinese with Netflix! by Chinese Zero To Hero] (I’d recommend checking out all of their videos actually, they’ve done a bunch of livestreams recently and they place a lot of emphasis on shadowing + the course they are trying to sell you is…actually phenomenally good)

(Also, I have to preface this by saying that I have been very lucky in terms of pronunciation: I learnt about 80% of my current vocabulary by ear without characters or pinyin. I have been in China for eight months in total, and while I didn’t speak Chinese for all of that, I was constantly soaking in info on natural sentence intonation. I still often don’t know officially what the tone of a vocabulary item is, especially if it changes tone like 教, 为 or 相, but I don’t get yelled at so I have definitely internalised a lot of those changes. I definitely would have more trouble with this if I hadn’t had that experience - my other areas are waaaay weaker because of this though- my reading SUCKS lmao and I can literally handwrite about ten characters)

Anyway. How I shadow:

1) Quite simply by playing the line, and repeating it with all the emotion it has!! I usually use Netflix or Viki for this. I try to do it as fast as possible, and if I can’t do the whole thing, I ‘chunk’ it: if I were doing the sentence 我们还不知道他会不会来, I would start from the end with 他会不会来, then 不知道他会不会来, and then the whole sentence. Notice that this isn’t breaking it down into words or even grammatical phrases, but intonational phrases: it would be perfectly sensible to just do 会不会来 without the 他 but realistically, since this is a question, it’s likely that a strong stress will be placed on the first 会, and you wouldn’t be able to replicate that without also included the more weakly stressed syllable before.

2) I locate (intentionally or subconsciously) the main locus of stress within the sentence, and I focus on that accordingly. Tones may become less extreme if they are not stressed, and may become more exaggerated if stressed. This is always a good exercise. I accompany this with physical actions - I throw my hands down, I sigh, I groan!

3) I put away the text, and don’t look at the tones or even my computer screen - more on this below.

4) Finally, when I think I’ve got it reasonably accurate, I’ll record them speaking the line into my phone with an appropriate pause for copying and play it back to myself at various points throughout the day.

5) I then go and find other words with the same tone contour to slot in, and copy it again. After that, I find words that are slightly different tonally and pop them in too.

6) I finally do fun things like hold a conversation with myself. This can be really simple phrases imbued with some kind of emotion - 这个女子到底是谁呀？为什么不认识我？应该是新手吧。You can do this either really informally, or very formally, or both - trying to speak in the latter way is very fun! So then it’d be idk something more like: 那位姑娘是何人，来自何处？This is fun because you can really slow down your speech and sound as elegant as you like!! (this will sound stilted if you do it for modern speech, but it’s a very fun exercise)

Choosing your media!!

1) Don’t use donghuas. Seriously. The voice actors usually speak at a ridiculous pace and not with the same range of ‘normal’ intonation

2) Your Chinese is definitely good enough to recognise when anyone is quoting poetry or speaking in a paricularly sexy literary way so, uh…don’t do that. That rules dramas like Nirvana in Fire OUT.

3) Modern dramas and reality TV shows CAN be great, but they can also be quite intimidatingly quick and almost too mushy at times. I’d recommend informal speech in guzhuang dramas more, because they have professional voice actors and extensive sound editing, meaning that although it might be fast and the vocabulary harder, it’s actually much more accessible and easier to copy. You don’t want to be stuck with the awfulness of 50% failed foreigner and 50% 12 year old boy who can’t enunciate properly!!

4) CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON WISELY. I try to find characters that speak in a dramatic, whiny or childish way. This is so important! There’s literally no use copying Lan Wangji unless you want to be able to have that particular cadence and tone of voice you get reciting poetry. Childish/whiny/dramatic characters on the other hand stress some words very strongly, and rush others together - this is great for hearing what actual real speech sounds like. Whininess wins. In The Untamed, characters like Wei Wuxian (not yllz!wwx but just…regular wwx), 一问三不知 Nie Huaisang, Jin Ling, and Jingyi are all great. Also Jiggy, who is just very extra constantly and speaks much slower as well, which really helps. In SHL characters like Gu Xiang are good.

5) CHOOSE YOUR VOICE WISELY! If you are really aiming to copy them 100% (which you should try at least sometimes), you want somebody with your pitch range to sound normal. I have a sort of party trick in Chinese that because I’ve spent so much time listening to women in guzhuang dramas I can change my voice and sound like a) a scheming concubine with honeyed words, or b) the voice of the Beijing metro. My teacher found it hysterically funny. But it’s not my natural voice, and if I speak like that for too long it hurts. The women usually are too high for me, and the big burly manly men too low - so I’d recommend finding a man with a higher voice, or an older woman (like some of the female characters in Nirvana in Fire). Again, sorry that this is mostly the Untamed (I’m just most familiar with it) but the voice actors for Wei Wuxian and some of the juniors (+jiggy) has a higher voice. Likewise Chengling in Word of Honour.

On intonation in general:

- The thing is that whilst shadowing is useful it requires prior ability in a whole bunch of other skills that you can train - it relies on your ability to accurately mimic pitch, emotion and other contrasts. Training this in ANY language, including your native one, will help your ability to do this in Chinese - so I’d recommend spending a fair amount of time practicing shadowing (or speaking just after somebody whilst listening to a string of text, like monolingual simultaneous interpreting) in your native language too. Any training copying accents or mimicking other people is going to similarly help, regardless of the language.

So, with that in mind, further tips:

1) Hum / try to copy the intonation without any words. What this does is force you to pay attention to what the intonation actually is, versus what you may think it should be.

2) Don’t look at the text! Do! Not! Look! At! The! Text! If you look at the characters or pinyin you’re telling yourself ‘ok this is a third tone here’ etc, but you want to override the part of your brain that has gotten into bad habits and is supremely self-confident in how you’re pronouncing the third tone, and actually just go straight back to mimicking.

3) Don’t be afraid to do it with vocabulary that is way beyond your level. Actually, I find this can sometimes be helpful, because you don’t have a prior idea about how a particular tone pair should be useful - and you don’t know which tone you should be producing.

4) Learn vocabulary by ear - listen to a vocab podcast or even make one yourself (I often do this; I record my daily Anki and listen back to it through headphones copying throughout the day - if you’re not confident in your pronunciation you can get Google Translate to do it). Similarly, pick unknown vocabulary out of a longer segment and remember it, trying to internalise the tones instead of figuring out which tone it is.

5) Find emotional sentences, and copy them with emotion. This is SO CRUCIAL!!! We remember things when we relate to them, and when we imbue them with emotion - and it also helps in hearing exactly how an angry second tone sounds, for instance.

6) When you’re copying, look up, and imagine you are having an actual conversation. Carry yourself with conviction and poise!! Really try to whine like wwx or slime like jgy. After a couple of turns copying them, try to turn off the audio and keep delivering it in the same manner.

7) Swap individual words out. Once you have a line properly figured out, swap a word or two that has a different tone pair, and focus on delivering it with the same pattern of stress.

8) Finally, practice doing this in your native language too!! It’s a skill that we don’t use often, and it can be trained. Some people are terrible at it at first go even in their native language, but you can work on it!

About intonation in general:

1) I think a lot of pronunciation problems with people sounding unnatural or stiff ultimately come down to a fundamental misunderstanding of what intonation looks like across different languages. In English we mark it by pitch: and we are so used to the rhetoric that Chinese has ‘tone’ and not ‘intonation’ that we try and focus on blindly copying every single word textbook perfect without listening to how it actually sounds.

2) Chinese does have intonation!!! Except that, unlike English, when you stress a word, the pitch doesn’t change, but the tone contour is exaggerated - basically the only time you will ever hear a full third tone is in isolated or very exaggerated speech. If you have a Chinese friend, get them to record a sentence like the English ‘I didn’t ask her to steal his rucksack’, and put stress on the different elements of it - I didn’t ask, I didn’t ask, I didn’t ask, and so on. Notice and copy how the tones change. When shadowing, you should always be paying attention to where the stress is in the sentence: when you speak by yourself, practicing saying a sentence neutrally, and then with stress on one component, the next, and so on. If it feels unnatural, it’s because you might not have practicised like this before - it’ll get better!

Hope that’s somewhat helpful / interesting!

- 梅晨曦

[astermacguffin]

The semantic logic of AMVs

I finally finished the post I promised to @katebushstandean , so here's my contribution to the blossoming field of spn amv studies.

In this post I made about fanworks and intertextuality, I argued that AMVs can be referred to as a "discourse between discourses." What I meant by that (and I elaborated on this in the post) can be summarized in this argument structure:

(1) AMVs are typically a dialogue/discourse between a song and a show/film.

(2) A song is already a discourse of its own (i.e. it's the dialogue between music and lyrics).

(2) A show/film is already a discourse of its own (i.e. it's the dialogue between the visual and auditory elements of the show/film).

(C) Therefore, AMVs are typically a discourse between discourses.

I want to push this argument even further and argue for a more generalized theory of meaning that should (ideally) be applicable to any piece of media.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION

Let's start by analyzing at least just one medium at a time. Take music, for example. Without lyrics, how does music convey meaning at all? Now, I won't go too much into either music theory or the psychology/sociology of music (since I don't think I'll be able to give these subjects any justice anyway), but I want us to look at music more structurally/linguistically. (I am certainly not a linguist, but I am a training logician and I think it would be interesting to extract the logical/semantic relations that occur in music if we treat it as a "text".)

If we want to break down music into its smallest possible units of meaning (the same way we break down language into morphemes in morphology), then we would probably end up with notes, beats, and chords as our basic units (among other stuff, like timbre). Obviously, we cannot subject music to the same reductionist approach we do with either natural or formal languages (e.g. breaking down language into morphemes/propositions/subject-predicate relations/functions).

This is due to the fact that music doesn't really agree that much with the principle of compositionality—that "the meaning of the whole is a function of the meanings of its parts and their mode of syntactic combination." (If you disagree with Montague semantics, you might even argue that the same is true for natural languages and that only formal languages are truly compositional, but I digress). Generally, there is "more than the sum of its parts" when it comes to music; the meanings of a chord don't solely depend on the meanings of the individual notes that make up the chord.

Anyway, back to music and meaning-making.

Yip Harburg has this interesting quote on songwriting, which Adam Neely references here at this mark (15:29–16:10), a quote he originally got from Ben Levin. The quote says: "Music makes you feel feelings, lyrics make you think thoughts, songs make you feel thoughts." I think this quote best encompasses what I mean when I argue that songs are "discourses" of their own.

But even without the lyrics, music on its own is already "discursive." A single note played once doesn't really "mean" much, in the sense that we can't really gather as much meaning out of it alone. The note's relationships with other musical elements is what opens up the realms of meanings that we can attribute to it. (This concept is explored much better in here.)

The same thing is true with natural languages. Morphemes and words have meanings on their own, sure, but they don't really say that much on their own until you place them in a specific order with other morphemes/words. A single sentence is already a discourse between the units of meaning that compose the sentence.

I have been using the term "discourse" a lot, but what do I mean when I use the term? Without spending too much time explaining my own theory of discourse, let's define a discourse as a "series of discursive units." A discursive unit consists of two parts: a prompt and a response. What's important to know about responses in a discourse is that you won't really be able to fully grasp what they mean without knowing what the prompts are (i.e. what they are responding to).

When I describe song and lyrics as "discourses", what I think I really mean is that they are "discourse-like" (hence the description, "discursive"). The words of a sentence treat each other as their own prompts/responses; they're not as meaningful alone, but when taken together, meaning emerges. The same goes with music.

Taking this to a more macro scale, we can treat each episode of a show as their own discourses, and each episode "responds" to the others in some way. The harmonies, tensions, and contradictions that emerge from the "conversations" between these episodes are what we often respond to when we make fanworks (fanart, fanfics, meta, and the likes).

Generally, there are two kinds of "conversations" that happens within and among pieces of media:

The intra-discursive (the conversations that happen within a single text, like how a show's episodes converse with each other), and;

The inter-discursive (also called the intertextual, or the conversations that happen between different texts).

Now that we have established these terms and concepts, we're FINALLY talking about AMVs.

THE DEAL WITH AMVS

I've already touched upon this in my intertextuality post, but it's worth repeating. What I believe AMVs do is reveal the intra-discursive using the inter-discursive. What this means is that by making the subject text converse with other texts (e.g. by making clips from Supernatural "dialogue" with a song of your choice), you are somehow extracting the implicit discourses present in the original text.

When we talk about fanworks (and transformative works in general), we often talk about it in terms of recontextualization, as well as adding something new that wasn't there in the original text (e.g. fix-its). But a neglected aspect of fanworks that I believe AMVs bring to light is the revelatory power of fanworks, like the way it makes the people (may it be the audience or the original creators) confront the implications and implicit meanings already present in the text.

(Learn more about the semantic logic of AMVs below the cut)

Another interesting thing that AMVs do is that it often makes the subject text subservient to the song. More often than not, it's the show that has to adjust to the song; it's the show that has to be sliced and diced in order to fit the song. This is simultaneously a form of violence and a form of liberation—violent in the sense that goes against authorial intent (with "author" here used loosely to refer to the forces that brought the piece to life, may it be a single person or an entire production team) and liberating in the sense that the latent or supressed narratives are brought to light.

Even before the AMV is done, this discursive process is already made explicit by the act of editing. In most editing softwares, you get to see the timeline of your material and an explicit divide between the audio and the visual elements. The audio stream is already a discourse of its own, and the same goes with the video stream.

When you vertically slice these juxtaposed streams and cut out a portion of it, you now have what I call a "semantic moment" locked in time. We can imagine the audio being divided into these little semantic moments (e.g. the chords, a key change, a shift in dynamics or tempo, etc.) and something similar can be said with the video (e.g. vital scenes in the show). Now, a semantic moment doesn't have to be special or eventful; in fact, most of them aren't. In fact, all of experience is nothing but a series of semantic moments (i.e. moments of extractable meaning).

Now, imagine an AMV playing in front of you right now. Let's represent the audio as a series of semantic moments from A1 to An and do something similar to the video, from V1 to Vn. If we represent the flow of time from left to right, then we can talk abstractly about experiencing an AMV like this:

A1-A2-A3-A4-A5...-An

V1-V2-V3-V4-V5...-An

Every moment of our experience of the AMV can be divided into a series like this. AMVs are art objects that unfold over time: they are temporal, and therefore we cannot immediately access all parts of the semantic "discourse" of the text all at once—we have to wait for them to happen.

Let's say I want to analyze Semantic Moment number 6 because something interesting happens there: the chord suddenly shifts into a minor key while at the same time, the video shows a character turning their back to the camera. Now, there are three possible ways to handle this (none of which are mutually exclusive; we usually perform these modes of analysis simultaneously):

Vertical analysis - analyzing the discourse between A6 and V6. What meanings are brought up when we take these two elements in conjunction? What associations do we have with minor keys, with people turning around, and how these associations influence the other?

Horizontal analysis - analyzing the discourse between A6 and its earlier counterparts, A1-A5, or between V6 and V1-V5. Earlier, we have discussed that a single chord or a single word on its own doesn't mean that much; it's their relationships with other elements that bring out their "meaning space." What "narratives" or "metaphorical gestures" are brought upon when you consider these semantic moments as discourses/texts as a whole?

Diagonal analysis - analyzing the discourse between A6 and V1-V5, or between V6 and A1-A5. Here, you make the semantic moment converse with the "history" of its counterpart. What are the events that happened in the earlier parts? For example, knowing that the earlier parts of the song were in major key before the turn-around scene might influence our reading of it. Similarly, knowing that the earlier scenes depict a happy relationship might influence how we read the minor shift.

Again, we often do these analytic slices as quick as possible (and often simultaneously); it's not something that we often do consciously (unless the subject text is actually that dense and difficult). It's instinctual to us to bring up these comparisons and engage with the explicit and implicit discourses of meaning happening with any kind of text we interact with.

Now, here's where it gets more complicated. Unless the AMV in question is just a scene lifted from the show and overlaid with a song, it would usually involve a bunch of cutting and joining between different scenes/episodes. What this means is that you're taking an already temporal object and reassembling it into a new order in time. This means that we might've initially thought of as V1-V2-V3-V4-V5...Vn might actually be V3-V1-V6-V19-V8...Vn or some other permutation.

Again, this process is simultaneously violent and liberating—violent because you are destroying its intended order, and liberating because you are negating the tyranny of linearity and contiguity. What I mean by this is that people tend to focus on the discourse of the semantic moments depending on how close they are in space and time. For example, we might focus on how V1 is in dialogue with V2 and how V2 is in dialogue with V3, but the farther the semantic moments are, the less likely we are to notice their discourse.

What AMV editors do is rebel against the tyranny of this habit and bring into light the connections that might have gone unnoticed without the intervention. We often talk about how certain fanworks are more analytical than transformative (e.g. fanfics that function more as character studies and meta analyses of the source text), and there certainly is a spectrum of this among different genres of fanworks. I believe that AMVs, no matter how transformative they are, cannot help but invoke a certain analyticity in their production and reception.

And that concludes my AMV essay. I'll probably add more to this when I gather more thoughts (like how these three posts are related in some way).

Lemme know if y'all wanna hear more about my theory of discourse or something else related. Support your content creators and reblog!