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vivaciouswordsmith · 7 years

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RTX 2017 Retrospective

Despite all the hiccups and shortcomings, I did still have fun this year at RTX. I might post about all the faults later, but for now, I’m just gonna focus on the positives.

Friday, July 7th

Since there are so many Mad Kings who have Edgars at RTX, I decided to be an Edgar with a Mad King. Unfortunately, since it was so hot in Austin this year, I never wore my cosplay more than a few hours.

I get to the convention center around 8 am. By some stroke of luck, I managed to get almost to the front of the line for the expo hall, and my wait was considerably shorter than most everyone else’s. (At least, when the line started moving, anyway.) There were security checkpoints to get into the expo hall this year, and by some stroke of genius, there were only two checkpoints set up on Friday. However, I did end up getting hugs and pictures with Shaun Bolen from Game Attack.

The expo hall was the quietest and least crowded I had ever seen it. I took the opportunity and signed up to get a tattoo from the Black Dagger booth, and in the meantime nabbed some RT sweg. The moment I got to the registers, my appointment was up, so I hurriedly pay and get out of there. After about twenty minutes, I was 1) the proud new owner of an AH logo tattoo and 2) starting to overheat. So I went and changed.

After seeing the line to get back into the expo hall, I decided to hang around for a while until the line for the AH panel started. The wait was long, but the panel was absolutely worth it. Michael had a hot dog t-shirt cannon, which Gavin used to shoot him in the dick, Ryan is now a lord with tithes over a 1x1″ piece of Scotland, there were a few games of keepy-uppy, and Geoff has apparently picked the worst year to be sober.

After the panel, I met up with some of the people from Ryan’s Twitch chat, and ended up having a lovely dinner at P.F. Chang’s with them. That was the end of my first day of RTX 2017. Few bumps along the way, but overall incredibly enjoyable.

Saturday, July 8th

I did not cosplay today, as I felt I wouldn’t be comfortable. I’d heard on the Discord that the line to the expo hall was being better managed, so I ended up back in the expo hall at 8:30 in the morning, wandered around for a bit, and finally sat down to wait for the AH guys to get on stage. They played several rounds of GMod: Murder, and I was happy to witness a quintessential Ryan moment. Also Geoff randomly showed up to talk shit.

Afterwards, I had lunch, and waited for 3:00 to roll around so I could head over to my signing. Right when my signing started at 3:30, the line for Theater Mode Live opened. I was antsy right up until I met the Game Attack guys. They were incredibly nice, and when I asked them to “vandalize” my AH hat, they joked about pissing all over it, and ended up writing “Sorry Geoff is a drunk” and “Sorry Michael is a bad dad” on the bill.

Then I proceeded to wait in a line for an hour to get a guaranteed seat at Theater Mode Live. It would stop for several minutes at a time while the Guardians let VIPs in. By the time I got my seat, it was fifteen minutes until the event started seating, so I grabbed a snack from 7-11, wolfed it down, met up with the rest of the Vagabonds, and went to sit in the smallest nosebleed section I’d ever seen. Despite my right foot going to sleep, I had a great time. The AH guys were in top form, and I don’t think there was a single minute without laughter or shouting.

We hung out for a bit after the movie ended, and eventually ended up splitting up. I went home, had dinner, watched the new My Hero episode, and passed out.

Sunday, July 9th

I managed to hustle today, and met up with some fellow Vagabonds to do the Escape Room. Somehow we ended up getting in there by 9:30 or so. I didn’t end up doing much (there were 10 people, and not than many tasks to divvy up between them), but still, I couldn’t help but be proud when we managed to make it out with seven minutes to spare.

Our team name was “It’s Ryan’s Fault.” Because it was. :)

Our meetup wasn’t until 3:30, so I wandered around the expo hall for a while, and eventually got in line for the Million Dollars, But panel. I ended up in the back, and had to listen to two dudes bash Lindsay and Frank for far too long, but eventually the panel started, and it was wonderful. We were shown the new episode (three words: Frat Boi Ryan) and watched them talk about different scenarios. My personal favorite was having to treat weddings like funerals and funerals like weddings. Blaine talked about throwing rice in the aisle while the coffin bearers were walking to the podium, and Burnie talked about tying tin cans to the hearse and painting “Just Died” on the back.

Good times.

After some more time wasting, I headed to the meetup. There were a lot more people there than I thought there would be, and it was nice to finally put names to faces. We waited in the room for fifteen minutes or so before Ryan finally showed up. We’d previously thought that we’d mill about and maybe get to see Ryan, but instead, we lined up, and each and every one of us got some one-on-one time with Ryan. When I got up there, I told him my username - he said he remembered me, and I almost died - gave him my backpack, and leaned back to take a picture of them.

Ryan: Wait, don’t you want to be in the picture? Viva: I’ll be in the next one. Now hold still.

We took some pictures, and he told me how much he appreciated my support and all of the people who made up his community. I nearly died again. I thanked him for the same, and hung out with my new friends for another hour or so.

He ended up being late for Off Topic. Several people watched the stream, and I watched Ryan answer his phone, and hang up with a trailing “Byyyyyyeeeeee”. (When I watched the stream later, I couldn’t help but smile when the others were wondering where he was. It was like being in on some huge prank). We hung out after he had to go, I got some stickers from fellow Vagabonds, and eventually left when the Guardians kicked us out.

I went into the RT Store one last time and picked up a few bits and bobs, wandered around one last time, and eventually left.

This RTX managed to be my favorite, even with all the shenanigans. I met so many wonderful people, and I really felt like I was among friends. Despite my reservations, I already can’t wait for next year.

That’s about it for now. :)

#rtx austin #rtx 2017 #rtx retrospective #rooster teeth #achievement hunter #game attack #ryan haywood #sortamaliciousgaming #how the hell do i tag the vagabonds #vaga-misfits #look at all the real tags #are you proud of me mom

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rwbyconversations · 6 years

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A retrospective on the first half of Volume 6

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I hated RWBY’s fifth volume. I felt it was a slog that started on the right foot but as time went on more and more cracks started to appear until the Battle of Haven episodes which were... unpleasant. I made my thoughts on them very clear over the summer. I will also note that I was very cynical regarding Volume 6 during the period between the V5 finale launching and RTX Austin, where we got Adam’s character short. Even with the short being good I remained only tentatively interested in Volume 6, since Volume 5 had good shorts too and look where that got the season proper. Volume 5 was a failure on many levels for RWBY, and while I’ve found things to enjoy about it, it’s ultimately my least favorite volume in the show. Coming off Volume 5, I felt concern that RWBY had peaked in Volume 3, and everything from there on in would just be a painful slide downwards in quality.

Thankfully, I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

ALL HAIL THE BRINGER OF END TIMES AS SHE BESTOWS THE FLAMING MERCY OF DEATH WITH A SMILE ON HER FACE

RWBY Volume 6 Chapter 7 is now out for First members, and as such, we’re now at the halfway mark of the volume. I have to say, going in with lowered expectations even in light of the Adam short, I have utterly adored this entire volume thus far, in fact it’s probably my favorite set of episodes in the entire show to date, and I’ve had very little to criticize in each episode beyond just “Give me more Mercury and Emerald.”

As such, this week at the perfect halfway mark of the volume, and to celebrate my third hundred post, I’m doing a retrospective of each episode of Volume 6 and see how the chapters do their best to avoid the slights that dragged down Volume 5. As well, I’ll be consulting comments made by Miles and Kerry pre-release of Volume 6, specifically concerning what they wanted to focus on this year. In particular, I’ll be cross-referencing Miles’ three points that the crew wanted to improve on for Volume 6. I’ll also look at most of the episodes and see how they handle elements that were previously condemned in Volume 5 (which also means some potshots at Volume 5 if that’s a thing you need to know). This gets long, forward warning, hope you enjoy.

0.5) Adam’s short

Adam’s short might have been thinly veiled damage control made with the intent of re-building Adam’s fear factor after the disaster that was his outing at Haven, but the short proved to be good damage control nonetheless. From an acting perspective, Garrett continues to grow his vocal talents and for fans of the gone-too-soon Sienna Khan, the short gave her some posthumous feats and showed her in the field. Really, none of my criticisms about the short were significant enough to lower my enjoyment- barring CRWBY’s continued love of the weapon spinning circle, both Adam’s solo fight and the fight that makes up the back half of the short were both enjoyable bouts. Adam’s short was the only short we got this year, but it proved to be an entertaining short that provided some fun battles and a killer song by Jeff- Lionized is already one of my favorite vocal songs in the show, I must have watched the first battle in the short like fifty times now just so I can hear the first verse.

You’ll see, I’m their hero, I’ll be Lionized!

All in all, a very solid short and a great way to win back some fans after Haven before the season started off.

1) Argus Limited, the beginning of the redemption arc.

Despite Adam’s short, my expectations were low for Volume 6, almost deliberately so. Volume 5 had burned me hard, and I wanted to avoid getting burned by my own hype. But you know what? Argus Limited might be the best premiere in the entire show. It’s damn near flawless in everything it sets out to do.

In the AMA, Miles set out three things that the CRWBY needed to improve on for Volume 6- more fights that better utilize abilities and weapons, giving Ruby more agency in the plot, and fixing the “tell don’t show” problem that plagued Volumes 4 and 5, especially whenever RNJR were stuck listening to exposition monologues. And for the most part, Argus Limited does take steps towards all three of these problems. RWBY get a great fight which sees Ruby and Weiss especially using a lot of their skill-set that had been left to the curb in Volume 5, which is my nice way of pointing out that Ruby never used her Semblance in Volume 5 and Weiss over-relied on her Summons, which was a huge point of contention among Weiss’s fans in the now-infamous “Weiss vs Vernal” debacle. Ruby’s also given a stronger sense of being a leader than she’s conveyed for much of the past few years, being quick to take command of the situation when Qrow and Dudley start getting into an argument and forcing the team to focus on the Grimm instead of Oz’s newest round of omitting the truth. While there is a fair bit of exposition in regards to the timeskip, we do get a lot of information shown to us- particularly the sendoffs of Sun and Ilia.

While I’m still bummed that Ilia didn’t join the team going to to Atlas since I feel her character would have greatly benefited that arc, alongside her interactions with Weiss, she still gets a touching sendoff. And my Sunny boi shines as he usually does when in the spotlight. Absence makes the heart go fonder and Christ I miss Sun already.

Argus Limited is unique in that barring Adam’s short scene at the beginning, it’s the only premiere entirely focused on the heroes. The even numbered volumes beforehand had started with Emerald and Mercury, with Volume 4 also formally introducing the rest of Team WTCH. Argus Limited focusing only on RWBY and JNR allows for each member of the team to contribute during the episode, and also allows for more time to be spent on JNR’s departure for the rest of the first half. Jaune and Ruby’s quick scene near the middle has a great dynamic to it.

And of course it goes without saying that the music is to die for. Be it the soft acoustic of Like Morning Follows Night as Sun bids Blake farewell, or the two new songs in Miracle and Rising, Jeff, Alex and Casey came out of the gate running musically. Argus Limited to conclude was a fantastic opening episode, so good that even notorious RWBY critic FatManFalling was impressed. And if that’s not a sign that even the most diehard of RWBY critics was impressed... I dunno what is.

2) Uncovered- the truth comes out

Uncovered is a setup episode for a lot of the remaining first half, but one that executes its set up well. We immediately open with confirmation that Cinder survived the Battle of Haven, which is as much the crew going “Look you know we didn’t kill her, she’s on the damn poster,” as it is an acceptance that everyone capable of narrative comprehension understood that she wasn’t dead. Cinder gets a new outfit, meets a board game villain, and displays shreds of character development that I hope are carried up on. Meanwhile with RWBY we get one last scene in the Dreaded House where Ozpin flat out lies and Nora undoes the bad will of “They really ARE magic!” with some fantastically funny lines.

“Can we ask for more wishes? CAN WE ASK FOR MORE WISHES?!”

I also love the camera shot of Ruby promising they’ll protect the Relic before cutting to her digging it out of the snow. I’m easily impressed with camera trickery like that.

Uncovered addresses a significant criticism of V5, specifically how RNJR’s plot devolved into them just sitting around and receiving exposition from Ozcar and Qrow. While we get another such scene in the House where Ozcar explains the Relic and its powers, it’s much more lively- the kids weigh in more and are much more dynamic, particularly Nora. They’re not just sitting in chairs in a circle, they actively move around or are on the floor packing. It’s the same vector of information delivery, but it’s much less passively received.

Ozpin’s debate with RWBY is also similarly well-executed. The kids were soundly mocked last year for just blindly accepting Ozpin at face value barring the one instance of Yang bringing up the birds. Here, Yang and Weiss are openly confrontational of Ozpin, and while his argument of not telling the team about the Relic attracting Grimm has a logical reason behind it, the girls are tired of being spoon-fed information, especially after Oz bluntly promised no more lies or half-truths (Yang really should have included “omissions” in that list too in hindsight). It’s an argument where both sides have their reasons and both have good points that are presented, with everyone getting to weigh in (barring Maria, who is super chill during all these shenanigans).

What’s that again? Oh. Good writing. Sorry, wasn’t used to it being there after “OZPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN,” “Because you’re afraid of Salem!” and “This is bad.”

Regardless, Uncovered is a stellar setup episode that flows smoothly into...

3) The Lost Fable- OZPIN FUCKED

The longest episode barring the Volume 3 and 4 finales, Lost Fable is an episode I was cold on when I first watched it- after Volume 5, numerous times, spelled out that Ozpin was shady and not to be trusted, I was expected some deep skeletons in his closet- that he created the Grimm, that he caused Salem to become evil, something so horrifying that the Gods saw fit to curse him with eternal life.

I didn’t expect the secrets to be “Ozpin’s first life looked like an isekai protagonist, he died of herpes, got Thanos’d like six times, fucked Salem at least four times and fathered the spiritual predecessors to the Maidens, had a life where he looked like my Starbucks server and... isn’t actually the bad guy.”

That Ozpin wasn’t too evil- more his secrets are because of lifetimes of dying over and over, he just has severe trust issues to work through- was something that caught me off guard. That everything is the Gods of Light and Darkness’s fault rubbed me the wrong way at first, since it felt like revisionism, the show going “We can’t have Oz be too evil so let’s just put most of the blame on the Gods and Salem.” That said I do like how the God of Darkness is actually surprised and pleased when Salem came to him for help. It was a nice bit of character to the God that no one ever came to him for help, just punishment, so he basically gave Salem what she wanted on the spot just because of that. As he says to Light, “you may bask in the powers of creation but you do not own them.”

Granted, there is still one massive story flaw in the episode- the handling of the Faunus just showing up during Ozma’s vacation in purgatory and slavery having already been implemented. It just feels like an awkward last-minute addition and one I do not very much like. It’s pretty much the one thing I outright hate about the episode, the rest execution wise is spot on. Hats off to CRWBY for the technical side of this tale, and to Salem, Ozma and Jinn’s actors for carrying this as well as they did.

I’m still not sure where I sit exactly on Lost Fable- it’s no doubt a well executed episode and answers/raises a lot of questions about Remnant and its mythologies (like how the moon is shattered because Satan yeeted out too hard), and the animation is some of the best in the show, barring some slight irritation at the understandable reasons for not seeing Ozma vs Salem onscreen. It’s technically very proficient, my problems are just a few small preconceptions of my own holding me back.

This planet empty. YEEEET.

... also that plushy dog was the cutest fucking thing and if we learn Salem kept that toy after digging it out of the rubble I may actually cry.

I will buy this dog plush if you just make it RT, you are passing up my money for God’s sake!

Also just so we’re all clear, that holy war Ozma accidentally helped start was totally Remnant’s version of the Crusades, right?

Also also, no, the kids weren’t the first Maidens, they’re the spiritual successors. Let’s just get that clear while I’m on a soapbox.

4) So That’s How It Is- Best Kids Finally Show Up

Merc and Em were in this episode so I’m contractually obliged to love it. Good thing I really do love their scene. It was good to finally see what the villains at large were up to while RWBY processed the knowledge Jinn had bestowed... while Qrow bestowed his fist unto Oscar’s jaw. In all seriousness, it’s good to see that RWBY retain the dynamic nature in the short final argument with Ozcar. Volume 5��s nightmarish scenes of just sitting around and passively listening are a thing of the past.

Mercury as usual is relegated to short but sweet moments, namely “Back off, freak!” and his being the first to realize that Salem’s about to snap. Please RT, give him things to do, don’t waste Spider Man while you have him in the booth. Pacing wise I suppose this was really the earliest we could have gotten Em, Merc and WTH unless the first episode got a lot of additional padding, but it still hurts to see my favorite characters all of once in the entire first half of the season. Like I said, absence makes the heart go fonder, and I miss the kids.

Also props for making me give a shit about Hazel again. Turns out he’s not a bad dad when you ignore the whole... “OZPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN” thing.

Ruby also gets a few short but sweet moments- she’s initially calm at the beginning, allowing Ozpin to explain his plan. She only gets more visibly angry after Ozpin admits that he has no plan, but doesn’t lose her cool like Yang does. She’s also the only member of the team to separate Ozpin from Oscar at this stage, taking the time to reassure him before they leave the train wreckage. It shows again that the crew are striving to make Ruby feel like a leader, by having her take charge and be there for everyone under her wing.

Meanwhile Yang’s only interaction with Oscar is to demand he bring Ozpin back. ... When you think about it Oscar must have so many issues that he refuses to talk about Jesus Christ someone give this kid a therapist.

I wrote about how much I loved how Salem conducted herself in the short clip released for RWBY Rewind, and while ultimately her temper did snap rather explosively, I love that she visibly tries to contain her rage, something the animators put a lot of painstaking work into.

On the hero’s side, this is largely a cooldown episode and a conclusion to the “arc” surrounding Jinn in the first half while getting the team in place for the Brunswick episodes. For the villains it’s a chance to check in, and also see what they’ll be up for the year. The villain scene alone makes this a delight, with Watts being snarky and Tyrian continuing to be a walking :D in every scene he’s in.

... also who flew the airship that MEH took to Evernight? We never see the pilot.

5) The Coming Storm-

Let’s get the obvious praise out of the way, Neo vs Cinder? One of the best fights in the entire damn show, like damn they knocked it out of the park!

Fun fact, I got an ask the day before this dropped asking if I thought Neo would be in this episode and I said no. This is where you all laugh at me.

Neo vs Cinder is a sterling example of the fights becoming more creative and better utilizing abilities. Neo’s Semblance shattering looks great in Maya (shame it came at the cost of her hair) and the fight flows smoothly. I was worried that if Neo came back, her fighting style wouldn’t be well-represented without Monty able to bring his magic, but the crew have managed to create a fight on par with Neo vs Yang in sheer spectacle. I especially loved the segment on the bar top where Neo used bowls as weapons. And if it wasn’t great enough, One Thing grants an additional look under the mirrors into Neo’s inner turmoil over Roman’s death- Casey finally got her wish of voicing Neo, at least.

Also between this and Lionized, why do the villains get the best songs?

The Brunswick segment may not be as dynamic, and I’m sure some people groaned when they saw RWBY would be in another house, but at least this time they use more than one room. Weiss and Ruby get a nice scene near the end and there’s a great unspoken moment of Weiss getting why Ruby doesn’t want Qrow to find the beer stash- since remember, her mother’s been a drunk for at least seven years.

I appreciate the continuity touch in the garage scene that Yang saw Adam in his Beacon outfit when she hallucinated him, as she hasn’t seen his newer outfit. Regarding the garage scene, I can’t help but feel like it was misread by... a lot of people who were looking more for romantic validation than they were actual character reasoning. I’m not a fan of how Blake has acted around Yang this year, she’s been almost... condescending to her. Rushing for her bag in chapter 1 when Yang already had, the whole “I’ll protect you” line. Blake doesn’t see Yang as the strong person who stared a Maiden down and won, she sees... damaged goods. And that’s the last thing Yang wants or needs to hear. Yang didn’t crawl her way into recovery and ride off to another continent just so the girl who ditched her the first time without even waiting for Yang to regain consciousness could provide empty platitudes about not leaving and then assume that Yang needs protection in a manner that felt very patronizing to me. I particularly disliked how Blake reached over Yang’s real hand to grasp the cybernetic one, and how that got spun hard. Yes, the gesture was well meaning from Blake but all it takes is one look at Yang's reaction and that moment is just... not great at all for them. Yang is still hurting and shut off when she made that good intentioned but horribly misunderstanding gesture. Blake is trying to be there for Yang like Sun had been for her, but she can't help her because Yang isn't communicating what's wrong. That's not romantic. It's so awfully, bitterly sad. Yang is hurting and Blake can't undo the damage that she did when she left during the Fall of Beacon. It's not development, it's insight into the poor state of their relationship (regardless of how you view it, I just mean friendship here myself) after the events and the distance they suffered. Barbara herself has said that Volume 6 would see Blake and Yang’s relationship would never return to the way it was pre-Beacon after Volume 6, and this may have been what she was referring to.

The Coming Storm has a great fight, so it’s already a great episode in my book, but it adds a cherry on top in some quietly good character moments as well.

And of course, Burrito Weiss is Best Girl.

6) Alone In The Woods- Ruby’s Redemption Arc

Right before Volume 6 started, I wrote a whole post about why the fandom had grown cold on Ruby in Volume 5. At the time I noted that part of me wanted to wait until Volume 6 just in case things either improved or Ruby’s character failed to develop for another season, giving me more citations regarding her developmental stump since Volume 3.

But thankfully, Volume 6 has been very good for Ruby so far, and this episode is the peak of that. Ruby takes initiative, drives the team forward, and actually gets angry at a few points. Lindsay sells this so well and I’m so glad she finally toned down Ruby’s squeak in the more serious moments, because this episode would have otherwise died on its feet if Ruby still had the Squeak. In fact, if this positive trend of Ruby development continues into the back half of Volume 6, I’m planning on a post talking in more detail about Ruby and her development.

The Apathy were terrifying, and are easily my new favorite Grimm. Funnily enough, in another case of me writing a post before Volume 6 that was partly addressed, I asked why the Grimm failed to scare the audience, and one of my ideas was just that with the protagonists being so strong, no Grimm can really pose a threat. Well the Apathy prove that such a thing is possible. Fans have been suggesting that the Grimm employ more psychological or emotional based attacks over sheer physicality for some time now, and it seems that all this time, the answer has just been waiting for the right moment. Miles revealed on Reddit that the Apathy was his “favorite Grimm” that he’s been working on getting into the show for a few years, and later added on Twitter that he’s been sitting on the idea of the Apathy since the start of the show’s creation, well over six years ago. It’s proof to me that Miles can have some stunning ideas when his heart and soul is dedicated into a project, and regardless of what some people on Tumblr, Twitter and/or Youtube may think, Miles cares about this. Add in the unsettling atmosphere and the amazing work that went into everyone’s eyes and making them dull and disturbing, and you have a stellar attempt at horror by relative newcomers to the genre. The Apathy worked at being terrifying for a large portion of the vocal audience, creating a villain that solved a problem that the Grimm have had since Volume 2, while also letting Ruby finally step up and gain the agency she’s needed for several years.

While Maria being a SEW was something most everyone guessed, it was good to finally see Maria gain plot prominence, since some people had been complaining about Maria joining RWBY feeling somewhat arbitrary. Regardless, she’ll serve as an important vector into getting SEW lore, which is one of the only major significant mysteries left now that we know about Salem, the Gods and the Moon.

I haven’t mentioned it in the prior segments, but I’ll stop here to give the writers praise for finally giving Qrow an arc. While it is a bit odd to go from Volumes 3 through 5, where Qrow’s alcoholism is played for comedy (in fact it’s the punchline of the first episode) to Volume 6 playing it very seriously, I will still take any development for Qrow. He was the hardest hit by Ozpin’s secrecy, learning Raven was at least partly right in leaving Ozpin and as a consequence, learning that Summer likely died for nothing. He fell into depression, becoming an invalid wreck of a man. The Apathy had little to do to make Qrow a desolate waste, had he been left in that bar he’d probably have drunk himself to death while his nieces died just feet away from him. It takes seeing the Apathy to finally break him out of the stupor that hung around his neck like a noose, and I wouldn’t be shocked if we see Qrow hanging up the flask for good by the end of the volume.

Alone In The Woods is probably the best episode of the season so far. Somewhat sloppy running animations aside it’s a stupendous attempt at horror in an action show, and signals our protagonist finally becoming our lead.

7) The Grimm Reaper- Tick tock, tick tock

I’ll be honest, when I saw the Haven vault in the Rewind for this episode, I expected Cinder to open the episode by kicking Vernal’s corpse into the water out of jealousy. I’m not sure if I’m impressed or not at how brazen Cinder’s loophole abuse is, but I am impressed at how both Cinder and Neo are visibly hesitant at different points in the scene to trust the other- the show is clearly setting up Neo backstabbing Cinder.

Maria’s flashback was amazing. I didn’t expect a new fight scene so soon after Neo vs Cinder but Maria hasn’t got time to waste on my opinions. She was such a badass in her youth. I loved her weapons (I still think they’re a reference to Darksiders 2, fight me) and as someone who’s wanted to see Gravity Dust in action for years, my expectations were more than met. Continuing the promise in the AMA of unique fights, we get Maria using Gravity Dust to whirl around the battlefield like a hurricane of sharp death, her weapons combining into a scythe was a cool moment. I loved how ferocious the fight felt, like there was barely any stopping for posing and everyone was moving. They even avoided using the Weapon Spinning Circles for much of the fight, which is always a nice touch. The ending was viscerally brutal too. I think it’s safe to say Maria vs Tock might break my top 10 favorite fights of the entire show, easily top 5 Maya era fights at least.

Tock continues the show’s trend of one-off villains having really cool first outings and making me wish they’d stop dying so quickly. Regardless, Tock was a great one-off villain. She got a fantastic fight, had cool weapons, a unique design, and she wasn’t a reference to Tracer you idiots go read Peter Pan. Anyway, Maria’s flashback was really cool and I loved every second of it.

Ruby got another great moment when after Maria destroyed herself and Qrow in the most vicious self-burn in recorded history, she tried to lift Maria’s spirits by asking her to teach Ruby to use the eyes. Ruby was said in 4 and 5 to be inspiring without much to back it up, and we see that now. Her bonds have grown closer with everyone on the team over the first half- even with Blake. Let me repeat, Ruby and Blake have interacted onscreen. I never thought this day would come.

I didn’t expect the show to reach Argus by the halfway mark, in all honesty. The city looks breathtaking, I love the San Francisco vibe to it and how the entire trip to Saphron’s house is in 3D environments, unlike the Mistral scenes in V5E1. I have to admit, I did miss JNR a little. Nora was in peak comedy this episode, Ren was... back to being the exposition guy, nothing much changed there but Jaune was pretty decent. Miles remains a criminally underrated voice actor, if he doesn’t go pro in the event he leaves RT, the VA community is worse off.

The handling of Saphron and Terra’s marriage was masterful, and I love the two of them already. V6′s new characters have been very consistently good I must say. I love how despite the first half of the episode being very dark and having someone lose their eyes onscreen, the back half is very cutesy. This time last volume we had the dinner scene, and the sandwich scene blows it out of the water. I love how everyone who talks to Oscar is far softer than they were to Ozpin, it’s good to see that the gang know the difference, and it’s good for the team to unwind before the next few storms hit their shores. Ruby and Qrow in particular were peak adorable.

I guess the baby was cute too but... look at them wiggling! :D :D

The Grimm Reaper was a great mid-season checkpoint. Getting another new fight was a surprise to be sure, but it being easy “standout fight of the year” material made it a welcome one. Argus looks like a fantastic location and I would kill for a spinoff here, it seems like such an interesting city.

8) Conclusion

Volume 6 had a lot of problems facing it on the onset- Volumes 4 and 5, 5 especially, had received lukewarm to poor reviews from the fans, and the pressure was on to prove that RWBY was a show worth watching. And judging by the first half of the Volume, Volume 6 is on its way to becoming the best volume in the entire damn show. We haven’t had a string of episodes this consistently good since Volume 3′s back half, and if Chapter 8 retains the quality, it’ll have exceeded that half numerically. Almost every major grievance I had with Volume 5- the protagonists being too passive, the excessive exposition, weak fights, the lackluster threat of the Grimm and Ruby’s placid lack of solid character growth- have all been addressed with gusto, as I hope I’ve explained above. At the very least, it does seem that the crew are meeting the three goals posted in the AMA with gusto. Add in some genuinely hilarious lines, spine-tingling horror and suspenseful action that rivals and at times exceeds what Monty was doing, and Volume 6 part 1 is this show’s redemption arc. While the second half could and likely will take a dip in quality, nothing short of a Battle of Haven level disaster can taint this volume, and I feel comfortable at this halfway mark saying we may be witnessing the new best volume of RWBY... if they gave Emerald and Mercury more screentime. But otherwise! New best volume.

I think it’s telling that while I roughly knew what to expect around this time last year for Volume 5, I have no idea where Volume 6′s back half could take us and that excites me. I’m being led along for the ride and loving every damn minute of it. Keep it up CRWBY, let’s make Volume 5 a distant memory in the rear-view mirror as the show and fans go onwards to greener pastures.

Or to put it in a more comedic way:

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed the piece, please share it around, Tumblr’s current state means that I can never be sure what works and what doesn’t so outside sharing goes miles.

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dailytechnologynews · 6 years

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Why the AMD keynote at CES was what it was

So, just like many of you guys I watched the AMD keynote, and I was also watching some commentaries as the livestream went on. What I saw in the commentaries though was a whole lot of "wtf why are you talking about this?" and "come on show us the product" comments. While these were understandable from an enthousiast/gamer perspective, I'd like to explain why the keynote was what it was to hopefully give you all a better understanding of what transpired.

First thing to understand is what the target audience for keynotes like these are. As much as you'd like to hope it is, they are very much not made for average consumers like us. Keynotes at big events like these are primarily made for investors and potential large corporate customers and partners.

See, AMD had a couple of things they had to prove and showcase here

Being able to compete with Intel in the CPU market

Being able to compete with nVidia in the GPU market

Having a clear path to increasing market share in existing market areas

Expanding into new and emerging market areas

And they did exactly that.

Now, let's break down the presentation, you can rewatch it here

16:30 - Introduction by Gary Shapiro

This is the general "look guys, we're important, some important guy from another big company is introducing us". Yes, it's boring, but it's there to prove a point that AMD is now one of the big boys again. The introduction even emphasises that this is AMD's first time having such a keynote at CES

20:58 - Lisa Su's opening presentation

This starts off with the usual "look where we came from and look where we are now" spiel to please investors and give the entire keynote some initial forward momentum.

She gives some initial hooks here that they keynote will try to build further on, such as pointing out what the projected growing demand for compute will be, then following up by essentially saying "we have answers for all of this". This is a flag again for investors and partners: the market will change, and we're the partner for you to face this challenge.

29:30 - High Performance PCs

This part of the presentation is mainly about content creators, which is why Threadripper takes center stage. This part build on from the introduction to expand on just how they have changed the market in the last 2 years and how they have made inroads in the existing, and quite lucrative, creators market. This is why they have those guys from Fox VFX talking, they want to show they have actual big customers using their product, which pleases investors and can get them potentially more customers, as this is a market where having references is a big thing.

As a sidenote, it's funny that she makes it sound like Threadripper was a planned product from the start, while we all know that Threadripper was a passion project by AMD engineers who basically went "hey, we have EPYC, maybe we can make a HEDT platform out of this too?".

35:35 - Ultrathin notebooks

This part exists to showcase "hey guys, we HAVE made great inroads in the mobile market, contrary to what you might have thought". Intel and Microsoft has also redoubled their efforts to make laptops relevant again in this modern tablet and mobile dominated market. This is why she points to the Modern Windows PC initiative. The showcase here is "we're not missing this boat now that we actually have something that is competitive". She ends this part with again showcasing they already have partners with products lined up, a flag for investors.

39:31 - PCs for education

This part is to showcase they have products to make inroads in the education market. Education is a BIG market. Depending on the area they either need powerful devices (STEM, research) or cheap devices (Chromebooks).

43:07 - Gaming : Microsoft

This part is to showcase their existing partnership with large players. Why Microsoft is here and not say, Sony, is that Microsoft represents 3 markets for them: console gaming (XBox One), PC gaming (Windows) and cloud gaming (Azure). Cloud gaming is an emerging market and is expected to grow significantly. It's another investor hook to show "look, we have a great installed base, and we're making great inroads into new market areas, which will lead to future growth of the company".

51:00 - GPU technology retrospective

This part is again a recap of what they have already created. It exists to emphasise their current market positioning and market share (which is again, a flag for investors and potential partners), and serves as a jump-off point for the next part.

53:40 - Radeon VII, part 1

The Radeon VII exists because they had to present something that could go toe to toe with the nVidia RTX2080. That was the only thing that mattered. This is emphasised by the comparison charts she projects. The game demo is a bit lame, but it just serves to showcase "we're not making this up, it does perform", and serves as a hook for the later "yeah it's 699, but you're getting games with it! So it's really not that bad!".

Ubisoft is on there, talking about how they are partnering in development with AMD. The hook here is to show that AMD is still closely working with game developers, and that it's not just nVidia being the only one calling the shots.

1:06:13 - eSports

Intermezzo. eSports is a decently big enough market to warrant another "hey guys, we're in this as well" showcase. Again, investor and partner hook. The guy from Fenetic is there to just drive the point home.

1:12:40 - Radeon VII, part 2

The pricetag is dropped: 699, but with game bundled. Yes, we (as gamers/enthousiast) all were dissapointed by this.

But, if I can make a sidestep here to explain why AMD made this move. As I mentioned: they had to have something to compete with the nVidia RTX 2080. But, the thing is, this is actually a really niche part of the market. Most of the market is in the RX560/GTX1050Ti range. When it came to raw specs, they had a product that would fit : the Radeon Instinct MI50, as it is based on 7nm Vega. But, the MI50 is a datacenter part, and is manufacturerd with 16GB of HBM2. Remember, this comes as one big package, to make an 8GB variant they'd have to create a whole new package. So AMD is faced with a choice

Don't compete with the RTX 2080

Create a new 8GB package

Use the existing 16GB package from the MI50

First one is not an option if they don't want to fall flat for their investors. Second one doesn't really have enough volume behind it to make any kind of positive business case, so all that was left was the third option. But, they can't quite sell these cards at a loss, so they were pretty much forced to use the 699 price tag. Is there some margin to lower the price later? Of course there is, but not enough margin to start the price off at 649 or lower.

The Radeon VII really is their "damned if you do, damned if you don't" GPU.

Will it sell? Of course it will, those who really want a 7nm Vega will buy it anyway, those people were clamoring for it loud enough. Will it sell in high volumes? We'll have to see.

1:13:34 - Cloud gaming

Another partner and investor hook showing how they're making inroads in this emerging market with their product stack. They showcase Google Project Stream, because hey, Google is a big partner to be able to show you're doing business with.

1:16:30 - High Performance Computing : AMD EPYC server CPUs

This reiterates what they already have in the pipeline for the datacenter world. Yes, it's CES, and the C stands for Consumer, but remember, investors and partners, and many of those partners will also be interested in servers.

She drops here that 2nd gen EPYC will launch mid 2019. This simultaneously shows that their product is nearing completion (in the server world, 6 months is nothing), but also is a small hint for what she will say in the next part.

1:24:57 - 3rd Generation Ryzen based on Zen 2

Here they had to showcase they were able to compete with Intel. Zen2 for desktop is still on engineering samples, but they had to showcase it (again, investors and partners), and they needed to show they could go toe to toe with the best Intel had to offer right now. And they did, even showcasing they did it for less power draw. The demo was simple, but it sufficiently drove the point home that she had to make.

Showing the delidded CPU was also an obvious hook to what is to come. We saw the IO die, we saw one 8 core chiplet, and we saw there is enough room on there for another component, be it another core chiplet or a GPU. This is deliberately done at the end of the presentation to end on a note that will get everyone hyped again for the possibilities of 16C/32T CPUs and 8C/16T APUs. It also served to soften the dissapointment of a mid 2019 launch. This mid 2019 launch window matches the 2nd gen EPYC launch window she mentioned early, pointing out to investors and partners that this is just the timeframe that is needed to get Zen 2 to the neccesary maturity level for a succesful product launch.

1:31:52 - Closing off the keynote

A recap of what was shown, and a re-emphasis that AMD is investing in what is needed.

To cap off my post

Well, this is probably the longest post I've ever written. It's based on my experience in the corporate world and with these kinds of presentations (I tend to go to some of these events for my job, so I knew what to expect of these kinds of keynotes).

I should note I originally posted this on /r/amd but the content was shadowremoved there for some reason.

#hardware #Computer #Technology #Tech #News

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creative-splurges · 4 years

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Ten Years

Every year on January 14th I like to mark the anniversary of the setting up of this site with a little acknowledgement post. But amazingly, it has been ten years since I first set up this site, so I felt that warranted a slightly longer, more detailed moment of reflection, since I haven’t done that sort of thing in a while.

I started this site on a bit of a whim in 2011. I’m still not really sure what happened at the start of 2011 that gave me the motivation to set it up and start posting but it was likely related to the bicycle I got for Christmas. Those initial months were pretty productive, with as many as 10 posts in a month – pretty much unheard of at the moment. Back then they really were Creative Splurges, I’d try something, edit the pictures and have them posted by the next day, no matter when it was.

I obviously haven’t maintained that level of posting over the last decade. Motivation is fleeting, and so, it turns out, is discipline, which between them are responsible for most of the posts on this site.

I never intended for Creative Splurges to be a purely photography site. At the time I set it up I was bitten by a major creative bug and envisioned the site having creative writing, videography, artwork, and even perhaps physical works such as clay sculptures. In the end, photography proved to me my main love, and although I have had a few posts of creative writing, drawings and videos, the site is about 99% photography.

Since it’s my tenth anniversary I thought it would be interesting to look at some of the stats for the last decade.

Most Popular Post

Undoubtedly Borough Market, because it featured on WordPress’s Freshly Pressed, their sort of ‘front page’ where they featured a daily selection of what they considered the best content on their platform. That has skewed my stat averages ever since, as about 50% of the views this site has ever had came in the month that I was featured.

Most Organically Popular Post

Aside from that one post with artificially inflated stats for spending a weekend in front of readers of the largest network of websites on the planet, my most popular post is Boscastle Pottery. It is slowly catching up on Borough Market and has over five times the views of any other post I’ve ever made. I put this down to the fact that this little pottery shop in Cornwall is relatively well known but doesn’t have any sort of web presence of their own, which has led to a few of the images from that post showing up on internet image searches. It’s even led to a few comments from people asking questions of the pottery, apparently mistaking me for the potter.

Favourite Post

Including retrospective posts such as this one, I have posted over 300 times on this site, so picking just one is a big ask. So instead, I will post my top five posts, in no particular order, even though the list is numbered (and not including Borough Market or Boscastle Pottery which would otherwise be on this list).

London Fashion Weekend

West End Wander

Greenwood Dance Show 2014

Return to Borough Market

RTX London 2017

I was also tempted to make a ‘favourite photo’ award but frankly there’s too many to choose from.

Some Other Rough Stats I Haven’t Had Time to Research Properly

Total Photos Taken: 50,000+

Total Computer Storage Used for Raw Photos: 1TB+

Total Photos Uploded: 8,500

Total website space used for compressed photos: 5.3GB

So what for 2021? As you may have seen from the increase in posts at the end of 2020, I am working on posting again, having used the extra time afforded me by working from home to edit the thousands of images I’d been neglecting. It isn’t quite that simple any more, however, because whilst I still have many many posts to bring you, I find myself with less time and energy all of a sudden because at the end of last year my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world, and we’re still very much in the first weeks where sleep and free time are fleeting. Indeed, I had a planned roundup post for 2020 but in all the excitement of the child’s arrival it was left half-finished. My next post is written and ready to go but after that we’ll see how things go.

So given I usually end these posts with a selfie, I will end with what is technically a selfie even though I’m not exactly the main subject of the image.

Happy 2021 and thank you, as always, for reading.

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#IFTTT #WordPress

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Crysis Remastered Review: Best Left in the Past

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The “But can it run Crysis?” meme may be the game’s longest lasting legacy, but when considering whether Crysis Remastered is worth your time, the better question is, “How well can it run Crysis?’

Even on medium or high settings in good old-fashioned 1080p, the visuals have obviously been improved in this remaster. With sun rays poking through the treetops, the foliage of the fictional Lingshan Islands looks almost real enough to touch. As explosions tear apart enemy huts, shrapnel flies in all directions, as flames shoot up into bright blue tropical skies over crystal clear oceans. It’s all very impressive, especially for a game that’s pushing 13 years old at this point, though regardless of your setup, character models are still a couple steps behind new AAA releases.

With a whole host of technical improvements, like HDR support, temporal anti-aliasing, and ray-tracing, Crysis Remastered looks quite stunning if you have the hardware to support it all. Crytek claims that even the mighty RTX 3080 can’t run Crysis Remastered at 30 FPS in 4K at maximum settings. And even though virtually no one has the hardware for it yet, Crysis Remastered on PC supports 8K resolution. Much like the original release, the graphics in Crysis Remastered have been future-proofed to the extreme.

The thing is, the original version of Crysis has been playable in 4K on PC for years thanks to mods. While this remaster looks even better, the improvements here are somewhat marginal over the modded version. Admittedly, it can be a chore to get the original release up and running with mods nowadays, so at least Cryis Remastered solves that problem. I had also forgotten just how great the sound design is in Crysis. Playing with headphones on is still a real treat, as you can hear exactly which direction bullets and explosions are coming from.

But Crysis Remastered, which launched exclusively on the Epic Game Store for PC, isn’t actually the PC version of the game that came out in 2007. Instead, Crytek opted to port the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of the game released in 2011. That means some slight differences in terms of the controls as well as the removal of the divisive Ascension mission near the end of the game.

Just don’t expect any real improvements outside of the graphics. Even the menus are exactly the same. There are also a few disappointing omissions. There’s no multiplayer, level editor, or remastered version of the Crysis Warhead follow-up.

So how does Crysis hold up in 2020? Honestly, it’s a very mixed bag.

Release Date: Sept. 18, 2020 Platforms: PC (reviewed), PS4, XBO, Switch Developer: Crytek Publisher: Crytek Genre: FPS

The story, which starts off as a fairly typical military shooter before revealing a much larger alien threat, remains strong. There are some very cool set pieces throughout the campaign that are easily on par with any modern shooter, though the game kind of loses its way in the later levels, which focus on the extraterrestrial Ceph.

But the actual gameplay is pretty weak. For one thing, no matter which gun you use (and there aren’t that many to begin with), aiming feels extremely floaty, and shots never feel like they have much weight behind them. Between that and oddly bullet spongy enemies, it can take an entire clip from an assault rifle to take out a single enemy. I do like that weapons can be modded on the fly with silencers and enhanced scopes, but that doesn’t mean much when stealth never works very well.

The AI is atrocious. Somehow, troops can spot you without from 200 yards away while you’re standing still and swarm you within seconds, but they’re also dumb enough to walk backwards right into the barrel of a gun when you’re a few feet away.

The nanosuit, which can either grant you invisibility or extra armor for a short time, remains a cool idea, but these abilities drain way too quickly. When you sneak into an outpost unseen, take out exactly one enemy, and then get spotted and have to shoot your way past a dozen very angry soldiers because your energy ran out, the experience quickly devolves into frustration. But at least it all looks gorgeous.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The original Crysis was always a better tech demo than an actual game, but in 2020, it’s a museum piece, an interesting retrospective of past innovations, but it’s not really worth spending much time on now. Nearly all of its best ideas have been done better by other shooters at this point. Far Cry, which was originally developed by Crytek, has spent years improving on the open-world FPS ideas seen here. Battlefield has mastered destructible environments. Even Call of Duty offers a better mix of stealth and action.

Ultimately, Crysis Remastered is a glorified texture pack tweaked to run on modern hardware without any hassle. And if you’ve already spent a lot of money on a top of the line PC, you might as well drop another $30 to see what it’s really capable of, but for everyone else, Crysis is best left to memories and memes.

The post Crysis Remastered Review: Best Left in the Past appeared first on Den of Geek.

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sachwlang · 4 years

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Nvidia RTX retrospective: What two years of ray tracing and DLSS got us

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One day, when historians look back at graphics cards that changed the course of gaming, Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 20-series could very well claim a top spot. But what does that mean for gamers who invested in the cutting-edge GPUs on day one? With Nvidia teasing the GeForce RTX 3090’s radical redesign ahead of a September 1 reveal of its next-gen graphics cards, we reflect on the last two…

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todaybreakingnews · 4 years

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Nvidia RTX retrospective: What two years of ray tracing and DLSS got us - PCWorld

Nvidia RTX retrospective: What two years of ray tracing and DLSS got us PCWorld

NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090, RTX 3080, RTX 3070 Specs Leak Out, Will Utilize 7nm Process Node – Up To 350W Flagship, 24 GB VRAM, 19.5 Gbps GDDR6X Speeds Wccftech

Zotac Seemingly Leaks RTX 3000-Series Ampere Graphics Cards Tom's Hardware

What to Expect From Nvidia's Next-Gen RTX 3080 GPUs - IGN IGN

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Custom Graphics Cards Listed Online – Colorful RTX 3090 Vulcan-X OC & ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3090 OC Wccftech

View Full Coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2YJB30U from Blogger https://ift.tt/31D4W53

#breaking news #news today #news headlines #world news #current news #headline news #recent news #Blog

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worldtopnewsoftheday · 4 years

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Nvidia RTX retrospective: What two years of ray tracing and DLSS got us PCWorld

NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090, RTX 3080, RTX 3070 Specs Leak Out, Will Utilize 7nm Process Node – Up To 350W Flagship, 24 GB VRAM, 19.5 Gbps GDDR6X Speeds Wccftech

GeForce RTX 3090, RTX 3080, RTX 3070 Potential Specifications Leaked Tom's Hardware

What to Expect From Nvidia's Next-Gen RTX 3080 GPUs - IGN IGN

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Custom Graphics Cards Listed Online – Colorful RTX 3090 Vulcan-X OC & ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3090 OC Wccftech

View Full Coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2YJB30U

#Blogger

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socialviralnews · 4 years

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Nvidia RTX retrospective: What two years of ray tracing and DLSS got us

Overall, it’s a mixed bag. While there have been some standout wins among Nvidia’s RTX technologies, there have been some considerable hiccups as well, and far fewer games than Nvidia had led us to expect.

To read this article in full, please click here

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#PCWorld

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componentplanet · 4 years

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Deep Space Nine Upscale Project (DS9UP): Technical Goals and FAQ

I’ve been needing to write a sort of “mission statement” and FAQ for this project, and this seems as good a time as any.

The goal of the Deep Space Nine Upscale Project (DS9UP) is to create a version of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine worth watching in the modern era of 4K and HD televisions and monitors. Topaz Video Enhance AI has been a critical part of those efforts to date, but I’ve spent the last month testing AviSynth, StaxRip, Handbrake, and at least a dozen other applications in the process of creating this encode.

Because image quality is intrinsically suggestive, I’m not going to claim I can somehow create the “best” version of Deep Space Nine, but I intend to map out multiple paths and settings tweaks that lead to different outcomes. I’ve gone back and specifically focused on the DVD encodes for two reasons:

1). We need every single scrap of data for upscaling (our results bear out the importance of this in several spots)

2). I’m creating a legal route for individuals to upscale a TV show they already own. I will not be creating or distributing any torrents based on my own work. I will be publishing a full tutorial on how to create what I’ve created, once we’ve reached that point.

To date, I’ve used two workstations simultaneously for DS9UP testing: An AMD Threadripper 3990X and an Intel Core i9-10980XE, both equipped with 64GB of RAM and an RTX 2080. I’ve occasionally tapped additional processing power in the form of eight-core Intel and AMD systems. Both systems have been excellent, but the 3990X is particularly good at running many encodes in parallel.

The current encoder preset I’m working with and wrote about earlier this week is codenamed “Rubicon,” after the runabout.

An interesting example of why source quality matters. While the ‘Artemis’ AI upscale algorithm is malfunctioning in both clips, it’s malfunctioning much less when given more source material to work with. Upscaled MKV on left, Rubicon on right.

I have far more compute power available than is typical for a project like this, and I’m using it accordingly.

Before we go further, here’s some surprise Season 7 footage I created.

youtube

Goals and Principles

The final upscaling and filter application process must be as simple as possible, to increase the likelihood people can follow it. No individual scene edits unless absolutely unavoidable.

Upscaling should require as little re-encoding as possible, to reduce source degradation.

When encoding cannot be avoided, re-encode in maximum detail. Storage is cheap and Topaz Video Enhance AI offers no control whatsoever over final output settings. Err on the side of caution.

Create a minimum of two workflows balanced around maximum quality versus sane processing time requirements.

Another example of how the Artemis-LQ preset struggles. It struggles with Rubicon and upscaled MKVs both, but it struggles more with the MKV.

The upscale should rely on the largest amount of free-to-use software possible. Topaz isn’t free to use, but it does include a 30-day free trial.

The non-upscaled video should still improve the underlying source image quality before upscaling is applied.

When in doubt, encode it, and compare it.

Render all results at near-maximum quality. When there are questions about what maximum quality settings are, encode all of the likely options simultaneously. When combinatorics makes this impossible, choose likely targets based on a close reading of the various filter settings.

Be willing to laugh at some of the ridiculously bad quality encodes you will occasionally create, especially if it takes 1-2 days to create them.

Address slow rendering times by leveraging greater parallelism. If you’re finishing 15-20 encodes per day, it won’t matter if it takes 12-36 hours to finish them.

Encode the entire episode at once, for easier spot comparison of any area.

Rubicon is not a perfect example of its own goals and principles. Like a lot of first season efforts, it needs further refinement. Currently, it relies on multiple pieces of paid software and the source is encoded more than I like. I’ve also been forced to use Handbrake as an initial ripper rather than MakeMKV due to persistent problems with audio/video muxing. Handbrake has no such issue and I’ve noticed no meaningful quality loss from a Handbrake rip on “Very Slow” with an RF of 2.

There are some nasty dependencies to contend with across applications. AviSynth doesn’t always like manipulating a video after it has been through DaVinci Resolve Studio and Topaz. DaVinci won’t ingest MKV files and doesn’t support MPEG-2 at all.

Creating Rubicon

Currently, Rubicon uses Handbrake for the initial rip, followed by StaxRip 2.0.8.0 as an AviSynth front-end GUI. After processing via AviSynth, I upscale the application in Topaz VEAI. This creates an intermediate step I personally call 5Sharp, mostly because “That one encode I like” was wordy.

Odd as it might seem, I’m very pleased with the result of this cloud. Upscaled MKV on left, Rubicon on right.

5Sharp is rather nice, IMO, but it struggles to resolve the judder issues caused by DS9’s party trick of flipping back and forth between 23.976 fps and 29.97 fps. I’ve come up with two methods of resolving this issue — the one currently deployed in Rubicon uses DaVinci Resolve Studio, while another option I’m considering relies solely on AviSynth.

The reason I’ve been a little vague about my workflows isn’t that I’m trying to be coy. It’s because it’s virtually impossible to describe them all without sounding like a lunatic. In the past week, I’ve experimented with the following:

Encoding from VOB files created by DVDDecrypter Encoding from MKV files created by Handbrake Encoding from MP4 files created by Handbrake Encoding from MKV files created by MakeMKV

I’ve encoded the VOB files at 23.976 and 29.97 fps to see the differences, experimented with various ways of extracting MKV timecodes in the hopes of fixing my A/V sync issue when ingesting via MakeMKV (no luck), attempted to use VapourSynth and StaxRip to invoke the VFRtoCFR script (no luck and I don’t speak Python), and experimented with multiple methods of adjusting frame rates in multiple applications. In video editing, doing A before B often produces different results than B before A, so I’ve also experimented with reversing the order of my own tests.

I’ve run various methods of adjusting frame rates on all of the sources above, to gauge the impact and evaluate how it impacts different source rips differently. I’m not “settled” on using Handbrake for initial ripping in any meaningful way, except that starting with Handbrake gets me aligned audio and video without locking me into either 23.976fps or 29.97fps the way ripping the VOB files currently does.

Are there solutions to these problems? I’m certain there are solutions to these problems. What I don’t want to do is leave stories littered with half-explained workflow questions that represent discarded branches of research.

Now that I’ve finished my most recent massive report, I plan to hook up with some of the other grassroots work being done on this project.

FAQ

Why are you using Handbrake instead of MakeMKV?

I’d love to be using MakeMKV. In fact, I’ve rendered MakeMKV-based source hundreds of times. There are two problems with MakeMKV that I have yet to solve.

1). Misaligned audio/video at the beginning of a stream. 2). How Deep Space Nine‘s variable frame rate is handled by many applications.

StaxRip, for example, will attempt to rip a MakeMKV stream into a hybrid constant frame rate (CFR) of 24.66fps, having apparently averaged the 29.97fps content frame rate with the 23.976fps content frame rate. Ripping the VOBs directly is possible — and this solves the audio sync problem — but this also forces the show into all one frame rate or the other.

Also, Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve doesn’t support MPEG-2 or MKV files, which is rather frustrating.

Tool recommendations are welcome.

How Long Does it Take to Encode an Entire Episode?

Honest answer: I’m not sure. It takes between 8.5 – 11 hours just to upscale a DVD source file by 4x. This is sometimes referred to as “4K,” but the final resolution on Rubicon is 2560×1920. It’s roughly a 5MP image. The reason I’m not sure how long it actually takes is that I typically run between 4 – 10 source encodes simultaneously with an upscale in the background.

Right now, I’d say it takes anywhere from 13 – 20 hours to upscale an episode, start to finish. 8-11 hours of that is out of my control. Topaz VEAI takes as long as it takes.

Do You Actually Know What You’re Doing?

I’m still a beginner at this sort of thing. In retrospect, there are easier shows to cut one’s teeth on than Deep Space Nine. My strategy for conquering this problem has been spunk, gumption, and overwhelming amounts of processing power.

Are You Aware You’re Doing It Wrong?

I am exquisitely aware that I am doing it wrong. I’ve been attempting to learn how to upscale and effectively remaster video from scratch, with some help from online and real-life friends. I take to video like a duck to vacuum. If you think you know something that might help, there’s a pretty good chance you do.

I’m not tackling this project because I think I’m somehow immune to the Dunning-Kruger effect. I’m taking it on because DS9 is 27 years old and nobody has done it yet. Paramount has made it clear they aren’t going to. We’ve started to lose the actors who starred on the show.

For the first time in my entire career, the tools to fix problems like this have become available to ordinary people. I and some other groups of people are availing ourselves of them.

You’ll Never Make It as Good as Paramount Could:

This one really isn’t a question, but I hear it regularly enough to make it worth addressing. It is not news to me that Paramount is capable of creating a remastered version of Deep Space Nine that would blow mine out of the water. Here’s a shot they created for the documentary “What We Left Behind” last year:

youtube

And, for comparison, here’s my own version of that clip, rendered in Rubicon — the best footage I’ve assembled to-date:

youtube

I know which one you probably prefer. I know which one I prefer. But since Paramount isn’t doing the work, I’ve got to work with what I’ve got.

The goal of the DS9UP isn’t to create a better version of DS9 than Paramount could produce — it’s to create the best version of Deep Space Nine that it’s possible to build (with allowance for individual taste).

Now Read:

Deep Space Nine Upscale Project Season Finale: What We’ve Brought Ahead

Deep Space Nine Upscale Project Update: ‘Sacrifice of Angels’

Upscaling Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Using Topaz Video Enhance AI

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/310224-deep-space-nine-upscale-project-ds9up-technical-goals-and-faq from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/05/deep-space-nine-upscale-project-ds9up.html

#Deep Space Nine Upscale Project (DS9UP): Technical Goals and FAQ

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jjr1971 · 5 years

Text

Anime Conventions 2020

So far, I’ve decided on and paid for exactly two; Delta H Con was a no brainer because it’s in town and I don’t need to get a hotel room...I just drive in every day from the suburbs and there’s ample free parking at the convention hotel. Delta H Con is TINY but it’s the little Con that Can and I always end up enjoying it more than I thought I would. I kill time between panels nursing a beer at the hotel bar and getting caught up on my favorite anime podcasts (AAA, ANNCast, AWO and Trash Pandas Watch Anime and Otaku Spirit) and gawking at the amazing cosplay on display. And I decided last night to take the plunge, branch out and attend SAN JAPAN 2020 for Labor Day weekend in San Antonio. I got early bird pricing for the con pass; the hotel wasn’t cheap but the later I waited the more the prices would climb. I may just do San Japan 2020 in lieu of Oni-Con 2020, the details of which aren’t even available yet. On the other hand, as my Oni-Con 2019 experience was cut cruelly short by my Dad’s untimely passing, I feel a weird determination to go back and enjoy it fully THIS year. The thing that sucked the most (after losing my Dad, of course) is that last year was the VERY LAST YEAR for the AMV Contest hosted by that cable access group from San Antonio. I at least got to watch their 10 Year Retrospective show on the evening of Day One. That was cool. But I missed the main show on Saturday night because my Dad was moved to the palliative care unit, which is basically a death watch ward. He passed away right after the con, on Veterans Day in the late afternoon. Anyway, I want to return to Oni-Con, enjoy grocery store sushi from the Kroger’s next to the con, etc. and watch anime in my downtime on my portable DVD player like I intended to last year but was prevented from doing so. I’m skipping RTX this summer because I need to keep my summer calendar open for any potential trips to Missouri we have to make for family business. I don’t know what time-period my Mom has in mind but we’re going up to my Dad’s childhood home in the Missouri Ozarks just outside Caledonia, Missouri to scatter his ashes as a final tribute. We decided we’d do it in either Spring or Summer of 2020, when the weather was nice(r) and everything was in bloom with new life. In 2021, I would like to try to make it to RTX again. In 2022, maybe even Otakon in Washington DC. One of these years I’d like to hit either Otakon or AX, and I’m leaning heavily in favor of Otakon. I’m sorry I missed RTX 2019 due to a personal health scare but it couldn’t be helped. I might’ve missed the RWBY Panel anyway (the only RT thing I care about, really) because I didn’t realize the smart folks stay in Austin the night BEFORE Day One so they can get to the RWBY panel early, etc. As much as I’d like to meet my favorite RWBY YouTubers attending again this year, it’ll have to wait until next year, I’m afraid. RTX is cool but my con budget isn’t infinite and again the potential family obligations in summer preclude my making advanced plans like that for that time.

#Anime Convention #2020 #plans

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velmaemyers88 · 5 years

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Squeezing out a few extra frames

If you are in the market for a $700 GPU for 4K gaming, you really have one option: the Nvidia RTX 2080. That will soon morph into the RTX 2080 Super, which is a beefed-up version of the card with better specs for the same price.

You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned AMD, and that’s because it still isn’t really vying for this part of the market. It does have the $700 Radeon VII … or does it? That card has sold out nearly everywhere, and AMD isn’t making more of them. And even if you could find it, a $500 RTX 2070 Super is faster in gaming (Radeon VII still owns for productivity, though).

AMD does have its new Navi architecture in the Radeon RX 5700 and 5700XT GPUs, but those are direct competitors for the RTX 2060 and RTX 2060 Super. An RX 5900 could be coming, but it’s likely still a ways off. The RX 5700XT uses a lot of power, and AMD will need to improve its efficiency.

Why does all of that matter for the RTX 2080 Super? Because this is exactly the kind of card you would expect to get from a company that isn’t feeling a lot of pressure from competitors.

What you’ll like

Performance

The RTX 2080 Super is a bit faster than the 2080. It’s nothing like the jump in performance for the 2060 Super and 2070 Super. Instead, it feels like the Super is able to squeeze a few more frames out of some games. And that makes sense when you look at the specs.

The 2080 Super has 3,072 CUDA cores where the 2080 had 2,944. For the clock speed, 2080 Super runs at 1,650MHz and boosts up to 1,815 MHz. The RTX 2080 OG had a base clock of 1,515MHz that boosts to 1,710MHz. The 2080 Super also has slightly more memory bandwidth at 496 GB per second over 448 GB per second. That improves its productivity performance. It also helps with streaming in high-definition textures.

Let’s take a look at the benchmarks.

The test bench

Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus X570 Master

Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Royal 16GB 3600 MHz

GPU: GeForce RTX 2080

Storage: Gigabyte PCIe 4.0 2TB

Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo

PSU: EVGA 800W

I tested the Radeon VII, the 2070 Super, the 2080 Ti, the 2080, and the 2080 Super.

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Odyssey was one of the anomalies in testing. Typically, Ubisoft games love memory bandwidth, but the 2080 actually came out ahead of the 2080 Super at 1440p. I run every test three times and take the average, so I think I’m going to chalk this one up to driver optimizations.

For 4K, however, 2080 Super runs 15 percent faster than the 2080.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

This Counter-Strike test is indicative of what I saw in most games. The 2080 Super is faster than the 2080. But that improvement was only 2% for 4K and less than 1 percent for 1440p.

You’re going to get more frames per second from the Super, but not a ton more.

F1 2019

The 2080 Super squeezes out a 4.5% increase over the 2080 in F1 2019.

Final Fantasy XV

For Square Enix’s epic role-playing game, you’ll get a 7% jump in average frames per second at 4K.

Hitman 2

Hitman 2 is relatively flat across both. The Miami level that I use for benchmarking relies heavily on simulation, which taxes the CPU.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

Total War: Three Kingdoms is up 6.5% for 4K.

Metro: Exodus

Finally, Metro: Exodus sees a whopping 25% jump at 1440p for the 2080 Super. But it’s only 3.5% faster than the 2070 Super at 1440p, which seems far more in line with how the card has performed so far.

It’s a great 4K card

The 2080 Super is honestly a great card for 4K gaming. You can pull off 2160p with the RTX 2070 Super, but you’ll hit 60 frames per second much more frequently with the 2080 Super instead.

This is also with minimal hitching. I compared frametimes to see the 1% and 0.1% low average framerates for the 2080 Super, 2080 Ti, and 2080, and all three drop almost the exact same frames in my testing. The 1% and 0.1% low is the average of the slowest 1% and 0.1% of all frames.

I’m not including any charts because the data just isn’t that informative in this case.

What you won’t like

Super or not, the 2080 isn’t a great value

Ever since Nvidia launched its RTX lineup of GPUs, the 2080 was always the odd one out. At launch, the 2070 was a pretty decent value and the 2080 Ti was the most powerful consumer GPU ever. Now, the 2070 Super is even better deal. But the 2080 Super didn’t accomplish the same thing.

When I take the average framerates for all the tests across each card, the 2080 Super is only about 6 percent faster than the 2070 Super. But it’s also $200 more at $700 versus $500.

If you try to look at the value of something like dollar/frame-per-second (which is not something you can apply universally), the 2070 Super is a much better deal. You’re paying about $5.70 per frame for the $500 card as opposed to $7.60 per frame for the 2080 Super. For comparison, the original 2080 comes out to about $8 per frame.

To be fair to Nvidia, this is how product segmentation works. High-end cards experience a lot of diminishing returns. The best bang-for-your-buck is always going to come in on the lower end of the spectrum. It takes a lot more energy to go from 250mph to 260 mph than it takes to go from 0mph to 100mph.

Conclusion

I had high expectations for the RTX 2080 Super. Nvidia may already have the RTX 2080 Ti, but that’s a mislabeled Titan. So I was expecting the 2080 Super to deliver a performance increase comparable to the GTX 1080 Ti versus the GTX 1080.

That’s not what the RTX 2080 Super is.

And in retrospect, I should have realized that. Nvidia didn’t raise the price over the 2080. And AMD doesn’t have anything to compete, yet.

But if you need a 4K graphics card, this is probably the one to get. Sure, the 2080 Ti is significantly better, but it’s also still $1,200. For $700, you can’t do better than the 2080 Super.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super is shipping now for $700. Nvidia provided a sample unit for the purpose of this review.

Credit: Source link

The post Squeezing out a few extra frames appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.com/squeezing-out-a-few-extra-frames/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=squeezing-out-a-few-extra-frames from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.tumblr.com/post/186500642767

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reneeacaseyfl · 5 years

Text

Squeezing out a few extra frames

Why does all of that matter for the RTX 2080 Super? Because this is exactly the kind of card you would expect to get from a company that isn’t feeling a lot of pressure from competitors.

What you’ll like

Performance

Let’s take a look at the benchmarks.

The test bench

Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus X570 Master

Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Royal 16GB 3600 MHz

GPU: GeForce RTX 2080

Storage: Gigabyte PCIe 4.0 2TB

Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo

PSU: EVGA 800W

I tested the Radeon VII, the 2070 Super, the 2080 Ti, the 2080, and the 2080 Super.

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

For 4K, however, 2080 Super runs 15 percent faster than the 2080.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

This Counter-Strike test is indicative of what I saw in most games. The 2080 Super is faster than the 2080. But that improvement was only 2% for 4K and less than 1 percent for 1440p.

You’re going to get more frames per second from the Super, but not a ton more.

F1 2019

The 2080 Super squeezes out a 4.5% increase over the 2080 in F1 2019.

Final Fantasy XV

For Square Enix’s epic role-playing game, you’ll get a 7% jump in average frames per second at 4K.

Hitman 2

Hitman 2 is relatively flat across both. The Miami level that I use for benchmarking relies heavily on simulation, which taxes the CPU.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

Total War: Three Kingdoms is up 6.5% for 4K.

Metro: Exodus

It’s a great 4K card

The 2080 Super is honestly a great card for 4K gaming. You can pull off 2160p with the RTX 2070 Super, but you’ll hit 60 frames per second much more frequently with the 2080 Super instead.

I’m not including any charts because the data just isn’t that informative in this case.

What you won’t like

Super or not, the 2080 isn’t a great value

When I take the average framerates for all the tests across each card, the 2080 Super is only about 6 percent faster than the 2070 Super. But it’s also $200 more at $700 versus $500.

Conclusion

That’s not what the RTX 2080 Super is.

And in retrospect, I should have realized that. Nvidia didn’t raise the price over the 2080. And AMD doesn’t have anything to compete, yet.

But if you need a 4K graphics card, this is probably the one to get. Sure, the 2080 Ti is significantly better, but it’s also still $1,200. For $700, you can’t do better than the 2080 Super.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super is shipping now for $700. Nvidia provided a sample unit for the purpose of this review.

Credit: Source link

The post Squeezing out a few extra frames appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

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