Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

At 8/15/11 11:28 AM, Quinny wrote:

02) [16: 36%] [Trophies: 24/ 109/ 391/ 1670 | 2194 | +211] - Black-Ops : NGBlackOps
03) [16: 52%] [Trophies: 09/ 104/ 444/ 1858 | 2415 | +249] - Papo : PapoSwing

Typical, spent AGES going through everyone and double checking EVERYTHING and I just have to balls up two people at the top.

*HEAD ON FLOOR*

Hey babe, we appreciate you.

I am sending an email to all authors who have sent in submissions and that we have accepted. If you do not get an email, it's likely you did not make the cut.

However, we are still accepting new submissions. Just... you know.... get you shit together, you don't have much more time.

Wow, I really did not expect this kind of response. Thanks so much for your support everyone. You guys rock!

At 8/5/11 11:24 AM, Monsieur-Monsieur wrote: Nevermind, I've buy a converter!

That's slightly risky. Recently there have been hacking problems with those kinds of sites. Your credit card info may be easily compromised.

There are several out of date threads like this. I think I might post this as a general topic for people to refer to. (Note: This gets buggy if you are using a v-cam)

There are several (good) ways of doing this but this is by far the safest (you don't have to buy any sketchy programs) and most efficient method I've found to get the best quality Flash to Youtube transfer. The reason for this is that pretty much all video capture software will drop or add frames. Or won't read actionscript or symbols properly.

1. Download the Kurst SWF Renderer flash extension HERE Install it into Adobe AIR.
2. Restart Flash. Export your SWF.
3. Convert your SWF into a PNG sequence (make sure all the settings are correct).

You can carry on from here in several ways.
4a. If you have AfterEffects, import the PNG sequence. you can use AfterEffects to export in any video format you like.

4b. If you don't have AE, then re-import the PNG sequence into a new Flash Document. Now that you don't have any more symbols to deal with, the exported video should come out just fine.

5a. If your soundtrack is simple, then you can just re-sync them into the project in whichever program you're using.

5b. If it's very complex, then the best thing to do would be to create a new .fla and copy all the frames with sound at the same time from your original .fla (so that they stay in order and the whole thing is the same length as the project) into the new .fla. Then, export the new .fla as a very high quality audio file. That will give you an audio file you can re-import into flash and stick next to your video. The audio file should exist even where there is no sound.

Video Compression: There is no agreed upon method about this. I usually export as .F4V or .FLV depending on how big the file is. Here is a good starting point.
H.264 video codec set to 2000Kbits/sec (2Mbits/sec or 250KBytes/sec)
320×240 video size (deinterlaced or simply use one field)

Audio Compression: Mono audio with AAC codec at 64 Kbit/sec (or 128 Kbit/sec for stereo)
Best Encoding Quality

Let me know if you can work it this way, so I can figure out how to put it when I make a thread.

Just makes 2012 stronger.

At 8/7/11 09:40 PM, ClockworkSpace wrote:

At 8/7/11 09:31 PM, EKublai wrote:

At 8/7/11 09:25 PM, ClockworkSpace wrote:

No it didn't, also note i want to know what a human bean is not a human being

oh im sowwy then try this one here is dissection

actually, that's more accurately a bisection.

i will trisect your mama

I will sire your next sister.

At 8/7/11 09:25 PM, ClockworkSpace wrote:

No it didn't, also note i want to know what a human bean is not a human being

oh im sowwy then try this one here is dissection

actually, that's more accurately a bisection.

At 8/6/11 09:08 AM, mastereon43 wrote: Ok, so I've been trying to figure out Flash Ads. I read through the tutorial, and did everything correctly. I got an output message saying the connection to the API Gateway was successful within the flash document. Now what? The NG tutorial just stops there. What is next? Will an ad go automatically onto my animation, or do I have to re-upload it with all the API stuff now in it. PLEASE help, it's very very frustrating!

First of all. The ad box that comes with the api package needs to be placed on the stage. And yes, you have to re-upload the .swf with the new version.

Then you need to enable Ads in your API settings for your movie.

Go to the settings for your entry, under API TOOLS there's a section called Flash Ads. Agree to the terms and conditions and hit "enable flash ads"

Hope this helps.

There are several out of date threads like this. I think I might post this as a general topic for people to refer to. (Note: This gets buggy if you are using a v-cam)

There are several (good) ways of doing this but this is by far the safest (you don't have to buy any sketchy programs) and most efficient method I've found to get the best quality Flash to Youtube transfer. The reason for this is that pretty much all video capture software will drop or add frames. Or won't read actionscript or symbols properly.

1. Download the Kurst SWF Renderer flash extension HERE Install it into Adobe AIR.
2. Restart Flash. Export your SWF.
3. Convert your SWF into a PNG sequence (make sure all the settings are correct).

You can carry on from here in several ways.
4a. If you have AfterEffects, import the PNG sequence. you can use AfterEffects to export in any video format you like.

4b. If you don't have AE, then re-import the PNG sequence into a new Flash Document. Now that you don't have any more symbols to deal with, the exported video should come out just fine.

5a. If your soundtrack is simple, then you can just re-sync them into the project in whichever program you're using.

5b. If it's very complex, then the best thing to do would be to create a new .fla and copy all the frames with sound at the same time from your original .fla (so that they stay in order and the whole thing is the same length as the project) into the new .fla. Then, export the new .fla as a very high quality audio file. That will give you an audio file you can re-import into flash and stick next to your video. The audio file should exist even where there is no sound.

Video Compression: There is no agreed upon method about this. I usually export as .F4V or .FLV depending on how big the file is. Here is a good starting point.
H.264 video codec set to 2000Kbits/sec (2Mbits/sec or 250KBytes/sec)
320×240 video size (deinterlaced or simply use one field)

Audio Compression: Mono audio with AAC codec at 64 Kbit/sec (or 128 Kbit/sec for stereo)
Best Encoding Quality

Let me know if you can work it this way, so I can figure out how to put it when I make a thread.

At 7/10/11 11:42 PM, Proteas wrote:

To which I say; don't feed the trolls.

You should admit though, you were just being argumentative from the start.

I really like what you've done here on this thread. You've really taken the time to know everything about your character.

I think you're a little too focused on the idea of getting it "perfect" the first time around, but that's better than the opposite scenario. I'd say go and make a first draft.

Hey my laptop (Alienware m17x) keeps shutting off every time I move it significantly (am on a train, take it up and down stairs, accidentally hit hard on the side). Does anyone know what's up with this. It doesn't seem to crash, though sometimes it will, but most of the time it just shuts completely off and I have to reboot it.

I feel like I'm using the most powerful laptop in the world and it's acting like my freaking SNES.

Man, let's just go to Portillo's, dawg.

At 7/11/11 10:59 AM, 4urentertainment wrote: It's good to see that things are still in motion. It seems you guys have been putting in a ton of work in the whole thing. I'm just curious about the final publishing/selling part of the whole ordeal. I remember that wasn't even guaranteed at the beginning. Any info on that?

When all is said and done, there will be correspondences regarding one-time contracts with the authors. I will carefully weigh how much compensation (again, it is not expected that we will make any profit off this as ideally the sales of digital copies would help manage the cost of physical book copies).

The plan in my head is that we will sell the book from the NG Store. Digitally, for a very cheap price (around $5 or so sounds reasonable for a book of this size). Physical copies of the anthology will be considered "luxury" and be more expensive, though you will have the benefit of the physical book with some snazzy cover art by NG artists.

That's the basic plan right there.

CALL FOR A NEW EDITOR and SUBMISSION NEWS

Hello Everyone,

It is my unpleasant business to inform you all that my co-editor Adam Cook has been forced to step down from his role. "Real life" is a malaise to any sort of volunteer work, and few are able to reason with its demands. Sometimes, there are simply not enough hours in the day.

But, the show must go on.

And it will.

If you are interested in helping out with editing, please PM me with a writing sample and examples of you helping other writers (perhaps critiques you have posted on this very forum).

Description: As Assistant editor, you will be responsible for helping organize the production of an anthology of short stories and poetry. Nothing about this anthology has changed since the first post of this thread. Editors read every entry that comes before them, make an initial judgement of its suitability for inclusion in the anthology, and then work toward making accepted entries as polished and workshopped as possible. We are making this anthology not only to show the literary talent of Newgrounds but to help our authors become better writers. This position is, of course, unpaid. This anthology is not about making money. To be honest, nothing about fiction writing is about making money.

Qualifications: At the risk of sounding snobbish, I want to emphasize that editing is high-skill job, one that benefits from being well-educated in the craft of writing as well as being practiced as a writer. For this reason, there is little chance that someone who is not at least a junior in high school is going to be prepared for this kind of job. Just a warning. You will also have to be timely with our back and forth communications.

Notes: When Adam and I received this anthology over seven months ago, we did so on the agreed upon co-editor relationship. You will not be treated as I would treat Adam, at least not at first, however. I will, of course, treat you with respect, but you will have to give me a good impression that we can bestow the same kind of trust that was had between Adam and I.

In other news: At this point, I just wanted to let everyone know that we are actually nearing a monumental point in this anthology's production. We have (arguably) the minimum amount of acceptable stories in our possession to cease actively seeking submissions. Now, I know I have spoken to some of you personally about stories you are currently working. I am NOT including you guys in that number of acceptable entries.

I am, of course, still asking for people to send in their entries, but what I am saying is that there is finally a light at the end of this tunnel. If you have had a WIP sitting on your computer for the past two months, it's nearing the time that it needs to make its debut.

I am definitely keeping the call for entries open up until the end of August, and probably until the end of September. But not much longer than that. I am excited with every new entry that comes our way, but if you can't come up with something substantial by the end of the summer there's little reason for me to suspect you might come up with something during the school year, when "real life" rears it's ugly head again.

That's all for now, more updates soon!

At 6/29/11 02:37 PM, Yokumashu wrote: Log onto UC3 BETA

Beta crashes after ~10 minutes of playing.

Pretty cool guise.

It's called a beta for a reason. It's not a demo. They're actively working to fix all the bugs happening. In fact, I barely have any problems now. They've done amazing in just two days.

I can't sing and the extant of my piano is me banging on keys until something sounds interesting. I am writing a musical right now and have about 5 songs planned for it so far.

I think we're talking about songs right? With Lyrics?

My favorite would probably be "Snake Eater" form mgs but recently i like "Fade Away" from the end of Infamous 2.

I don't have a story for you, but I do have a punchline.

The group of survivors find their way to a Church as they try to escape Eastview. There they meet a man praying before the altar. It is a pastor that Lance knows.

The Zombie virus is revealed to have been engineered by this religious zealot who believes that the Zombie Apocalypse is the the Second Coming of Christ. He reasons that because Christ rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven, the only way into Heaven is by doing the same. He released the virus to bring salvation to humanity. Lance and the pastor pull guns on each other (Boss battle?) Suddenly, a hoard of zombies rush through the Church doors and devours everyone.

The story should end with voice over narration of Lance.
"Everyone around me fell to the army of the Dead. Soon enough, the last rushes of humanity began to leak from me as well. I stared at the beast that had sunk into my forearm, trying to wrench away... when I noticed something strange about the look of hunger in its eyes... It was... familiar. I had seen that hunger before" (flashback)

The flashback is set in the same cathedral except its during Lance's childhood. The congregation listens in rapt attention as the pastor (perhaps the same crazy pastor) holds up bread and wine and says "This is is the flesh and blood of Christ. Take it, eat it, and be blessed. Praise be to God." The congregation responds with Praise be to God. the last voiceover narration says "Looking back on that, I realized that there is very little difference between being a zombie and being alive."

k that's the best I got for ya.

At 6/26/11 05:01 AM, 4urentertainment wrote: Thank you both for your replies!

That's exactly what I thought I was doing with the new intro, none of that "chains and container" stuff. However, it seems I've fallen into another pitfall?

I think I've heard that "telling vs showing" a million times, but I can never seem to grasp it. Now that I think about it though, you mean that, instead of the character saying for example: "I hated this fact, it made me feel horrible" he should just say "It felt horrible knowing this fact.." ? Something like that?

Also, once again, thanks for the enormous help and guidance throughout my writing endeavors Deathcon!

Deathcon has mostly got it right, but RWT's advice is more important here, primarily because what you have here is not a beginning but an opening paragraph to a beginning. That isn't to say that all beginnings are always more than one paragraph, but that you've created a need for more than one in this particular case. Deathcon's reaction is understandable because he's trying to work with what you're giving him, but that isn't very much.

The beginning of a story ends only when something goes wrong. That's called the inciting incident and it kicks off the plot. For example, I'm sure the inciting incident of your story is not that this guy has found himself in a filthy situation. Sure maybe to someone who hates messes that's wrong, but is the story going to be about cleaning? An example of the end of the beginning of this story would be the man recalling what put him in this position (the flashback would end the beginning).
\
Your second "beginning" is slightly stronger, but both would be better with less fluff. Don't try to establish a minor tic of your character while also describing his present situation, it leads to a wild aim. You need a focused plan of attack right now. Readers are won and lost in the first page and a half. Tell them what's important about this character and give them an idea of what's to come. Here's your second beginning made better simply by leaving some stuff out and switching two sentences around.

Intro 2

I heaved a heavy, somewhat disgusted sigh as I shifted in my seat. I couldn't move any farther. My body was simply refusing to obey. I sat amidst a heaping of pile of empty bottles, food containers, and stray electronical equipment. Several objects rolled off my body, among which were some leftovers of dinner, or perhaps it was lunch? I would have usually been mortified by the mere prospect spending an hour, let alone a day in (this) state. However, I simply could not move.

Still not a beginning, but the reader gets what he needs. Here's a breakdown of how this paragraph grows.

1. Character is seated, disgusted. 2. He can't move. why? 3. His body isn't listening. Oh. 4. Info about his location. 5. Interaction with environment reveals more details and that character doesn't know what time of day it is. 6. Character trait summed in one sentence. 7. Pulling the reader back into what's important: the fact that he cannot move.

Notice how no sentence has the same purpose in the story. Even those two sentences that are almost identical. "I couldn't move" have different purposes.

At 6/27/11 01:21 AM, MintPaw wrote:

At 6/26/11 11:48 PM, EKublai wrote: Classes. If you're not good at drawing naturally, it's unlikely you'll make major strides without classes. Make sure they focus on drawing people.

Wow, that's really not what I wanted to hear. >.<
I will have to wait till college since I'm in my last year of HS. :/

In the meantime, pad, paper, pencil, go outside, draw everything. Good online tutorials should help a little bit, but you really need someone who draws well to scrutinize your work

At 6/26/11 11:39 PM, MintPaw wrote: So, after a while of thinking I've decided to learn to draw before I try to animate. How do you guys suggest best learning?
Online tutorials, maybe videos? Trying to duplicate a drawing you are looking at? Drawing completely from memory? Tracing? Suggest drawing exercises?

I simply cannot draw, I can't even explain why not. Everything just comes out completely different then I imagine it.

Classes. If you're not good at drawing naturally, it's unlikely you'll make major strides without classes. Make sure they focus on drawing people.

At 6/22/11 02:55 AM, MintPaw wrote: Well I've been using flash for quite some time, but I've always been a hardcore code, never touched animation.

But about a week ago my friend practically gave away a tablet PC. Not a great one by any means, no pressure detection or anything. Just a pen normal touch tablet PC.

So I thought I'd get into animation, I've always wanted to. So I have some question.

1. I'm using flash right now, and using a smoothing setting of 0. What do you suggest?

I set smoothing to 42.

2. I tend to have to pick up my hand quite a bit while drawing, because my hand doesn't slide very well on the surface and I end up drawing with my fingers in odd positions otherwise. Is this bad?

The thing about digital animation is that you can redo your actions.

3. How much time do you suggest working on a frame, sometimes I just go by and draw a real quick sketch and go to the next, because I figure that they go by so fast(30fps) that it wouldn't matter, and when I try to spend a lot of time on them, they take to long and look odd.

It takes everyone a different amount of time. You definitely have to weigh the cost/benefit of every frame. Also don't think of it so much in terms of sheer number. Every character movement has a beginning, middle, and end. Those are the most important frames to get just right.

4. How much would it benefit me to learn to draw still images well? Was never very good at it, how much of a factor is it in animation?

Good drawing is essential to good animating if you're going to go beyond stick figure. You need to understand weight distribution and need to have consistency between frames.

5. Any tips, help, links, or suggest any books, videos on the subject?

Thank you in advance for your time. :3

The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams

At 6/2/11 09:45 AM, WritersBlock wrote: Hey, are you guys still using the contact information/email address from the start of the thread?

Yes we are.

Alienware m17x r3 has an hdmi input *thumbs up*

Before i go into what I do, I want to say that names are not important, and it is very easy to overthink names and have them become reading obstacles. If you do care about names, then you need to be as sublte as possible so as to not interrupt the story.

I tend to want to have fun and be clever with my characters in the same vein as a writer like Flannery O'Connor does. Often these name are ironic or satirical.

Take Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People", the protagonist is an educated, but very arrogant and ugly girl named Rose, who changes her name to Hulga, possibly one of the ugliest names ever devised. Hulga never gives a reason for changing her name, but it doesn't matter because the action is in keeping with her character, and the resulting name suits the character as well.

I wrote this story about an ugly dentist's assistent who had ovarian cancer and as a result cannot have children. Her name is Virginia Stone. Her first name refers to the fact that she has never had a relationship (perhaps due to the fact that men want their partners to be able to bear children eventually). Her last name Stone, is of course a very mean reference to her womb.

Another example is the dentist herself, whose name is Susan Charrise, but she has a "nick-surname" that she tells everyone to call her. Cherrie. This is motivated because the character Susan Charrise likes to portray herself as sweet (in temperment) like a cherry.

The dentist's patient is young fat boy named Remy Monday. His last name refers to the plot in which Remy has many trips to the dentist and each time you don't quite know what to expect except that something bad is going to happen. So in this case, Remy Monday as a character is a catatyst to the plot and the name is an indentifier that says "Beware".

Lastly, his mother's name is Evelynn Monday. This one's more simplistic as she is a flat character. She's a terrible mother to Remy so I chose Evelynn because I thought it sounded close enough to "evil"

That said. Names are not important.

I won't spoil anything but I really enjoyed the latest round of submissions. Good job you.

At 6/15/11 05:57 PM, Deathcon7 wrote:

At 6/15/11 02:38 PM, EKublai wrote: We would like everything in the anthology to be 100% exclusive if possible (which is becoming more likely as the story pool becomes stronger every week.

Hmm, you're right. Perhaps I let my ideas get ahead of my better judgement. Thanks for the feedback, boss.

Only the second time in my life someone's called me "boss". I like the sound of it this time.

Seriously guys, you have one chance to entice me to join your little parade and the best grammar you can muster is "On Click for A Roman Orgy"

And that's just the ad on the right side of the webpage.
What about lefty?

"Mature Enough to play?"

What is "play" not important "Enough" to capitalize?