EDIT: Forgot to respond to a couple things. I'm using Sony Vegas HD for video editing (since there's no decent free NLE video editors for Windows that had all the features I needed) and as for my voice... I don't actually know what Richard Garriott sounds like so I couldn't compare. I'm Canadian, but most people don't make that guess too quickly. *shrugs*
ADDiCT wrote:- this is probably nitpicking, but still: in the video(s) you're talking about the "Distributor" of a game. That should be "US Distributor" IMO. An estimated 90%+ of games have been distributed by various companies in different countries/regions. I've been working on a number of game-related database projects where i had to find solution(s) for this issue, so I think I know what I'm talking about here (; .
*nods* I thought about that, but if I list every distributor/publisher/developer for a game I'm going to potentially confuse people if I don't know why those companies are involved. In System Shock's case, I know EA had something to do with the game but I couldn't figure out exactly what their involvement was which is why I didn't mention them.
It's difficult to find out exactly why certain companies are involved sometimes, and sometimes there's simply too little info to go on. For example, how many of you knew that Apogee actually helped out with Descent? (Proof is in the credits in-game, but beyond that, I have no idea what exactly they did to help.)
I have a corrections section on each video page on my website though so when I get more information I can add it in text form. ;)
ADDiCT wrote:the episodes I've been watching all had the game's FM synth music in the videos. I know that capturing video + MIDI using DOSBox is a lot of work because you have to record MIDI separately and mix it with the video manually. For many games MIDI would IMO sound so much better than synth though. If including MIDI for a whole video is too much work you could maybe add a brief sequence where you compare MIDI with synth. I'm not sure how important this info is for a "casual viewer", but it may be worth pointing out the differences.
Yeah... this is because the system I'm doing this all on has an onboard audio chipset and its MIDI wavetable is awful. That said, many of us grew up only able to listen to the MIDI in its synth form so I suppose this is a point that may simply be a matter of taste... but still, if I get the audio card upgraded at some point to something with a decent wavetable I'll be sure to start using it more often. ;)
ADDiCT wrote:as I've said the video editing and quality is top-notch IMO, but the voice-over quality doesn't quite match that. I don't know what type of mic you're using, but your voice sounds tinny and has a rather low volume level. Maybe a better mic and/or different placement would give it more "oomph". I don't think this can be achieved by editing the audio, as the source signal seems to be pretty "weak" to begin with. It's also not a matter of compression I believe, as the volume level of your voice seems to be quite constant. Btw, you're talking very clearly and you're pretty easy to understand, which is a plus for non-native speakers. I have no troubles understanding what you're saying, contrary to many YouTube vids where some 12-year old with a horrible accent is mumbling into his cheap plastic mic (; .
As you guessed, my mic is lousy but I haven't the money to replace it. I'm doing a considerable amount of audio editing after recording to improve bass, hand-normalize the waveform, remove background noise, add compression... which doesn't seem to do much >_>;
I do agree though, I need a better mic. That'll be the first thing I upgrade for the sake of the show once I can afford to!
--- Kris Asick (Gemini)
--- Pixelmusement Website: www.pixelships.com
--- Ancient DOS Games Webshow: www.pixelships.com/adg