File formats.

Subject: File formats.
Author: Huinesoron
Posted on: 2013-04-10 21:57:00 UTC

I'll be putting things together in a combination of Audacity and, er, Windows Movie Maker, probably, unless I run into something better. In general, I can probably deal with most formats. The ones I've historically had most trouble with have been Apple's formats - whatever it is that Quicktime uses, and I think m4a. Given their feud with Microsoft, it's not really surprising that they don't make the transition easy.

For sound, the 'best' option is probably mp3, but I can work with most things (although I don't think my email can handle .wav). For video... I don't know. I tend to work in .wmv. My camera makes .avi, but those are massive, so I usually shrink them down in WMM. Is there a 'generic' non-avi movie format?

hS

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Filming a PPC Documentary (still!) by Huinesoron on 2013-04-08 10:13:00 UTC Reply

Okay, I've finally had a chance to collate everything together, and I think we can start actually filming.

From the previous thread - that top post explains what I'm talking about, and yes, there will be opportunities for people not on that thread to join in - I have five people who want to operate mostly as voice actors fro others (which is fine): World-Jumper, Cassie, Karen, Myrddyn and Rina. There are a wealth of quotes which need reading out, and several people who want to write something but not read it out (which, again, is fine). Anywhere I have a notation of '???' (in the Reader column) or '[TEXT]' (by a person's name), it would be astonishingly helpful if someone could volunteer to record the audio for that piece.

Equally, to anyone who is either already contributing or wants to, there are a handful of items with [VACANT] in their comments slot. Anyone who wants to volunteer for that slot (video, audio, or text contributions are welcome) should do so!

So without further ado (but with significant trepidation), the timeline, with parts assigned:

Date - Event - Comments from - Reading - Reader

2002 - Creation of the PPC - - Reading from Rambling Band - Cassie
May-02 - The exile from FFN - Kaitlyn
Aug-02 - Launch of OFUM - Myrddyn on OFUM - OFUM Chapter 1 - ???

Featurette: How We Write
- How the PPC impacts young writers - DawnFire [TEXT]
- Writing OFUs and their effect on the PPC - hermione of vulcan [TEXT]

Mar-03 - The Board relaunched - World-Jumper on how we deal with newbies
2003 - The PPC Lounge - BeautyID
2004 - The Oxford Gathering - [VACANT] on PPC Gatherings

Featurette: Games We Play - by Huinesoron for simplicity's sake

2005 - The Reorganisation/Crashing Down - KittyNoodles - Excerpt from Reorg - ???
2005 - The Snowfight - Starwind Rohana - Excerpt from the Snowfight - ???
2006 - The Multiverse Monitor - Starwind Rohana
- The IRC - Vixenmage & Techno-Dann
Jan-08 - New Caledonia - [VACANT] on the PPC city, myMiniCity, and how it's impacted the shared universe
Mar-08 - Radio Nutmeg - Undis Closed
Mar-08 - Fifth Anniversary Party - - The SO's Fifth Anniversary Message - World Jumper

Featurette: Defining Canon - also by hS, possibly with solicited comments from other people

May-08 - Generic Surface - hS
2008 - Ypur invasion - - Troll post - World-Jumper
Oct-08 - PPC wedding - hS & Kaitlyn
2009 - PPC: The Lost Tales launched - [VACANT]
Aug-10 - PPC appears on TVTropes - [VACANT] on the effects of this
2012 - Postcard Exchange - KittyNoodles

Featurette: Who We Are
-How did you find the PPC? - Everyone
-Why did you decide to stay? - Everyone
-What has changed since you started? - Everyone
-If you could say one thing to Jay & Acacia, what would it be? - Everyone

[These final 'Everyone' questions need reasonably short answers. Actually, what I mean is they will be short answers on the film. Feel free to ramble as long as you like - and I'll be rendering all the videos down to text for the supplemental materials, so that isn't a problem - but you'll probably get about five seconds actually on the film]

To anyone who wants to contribute their own words but can't find a [VACANT] to suit them - it's absolutely fine to just record your answers to the Who We Are questions. If you want to do so but are unwilling to appear on video, record audio. If you don't even want to do that, write it down, and we'll find you a voice.

All 'comment' items are going to take one of two forms:

a) Preferably, you can just stand in front of a camera/microphone/bit of paper and talk a little (2-3 minutes I guess, but less is fine too) about the topic you're listed under.
b) If you prefer, you can treat it as an interview. Either you can write your own questions (preferred for simplicity's sake), or if needed, you can ask here and someone will give you some.

Obviously the flip-side of that is that if you see someone asking for questions, feel free to throw a couple at them! You don't have to answer every question you're asked, and it would be good if you could phrase your answers in a way that doesn't need the question to be spoken, but in general, it's wide open.

And, of course, remember: this is the PPC. We're allowed to be funny. ;)

The Plan

In order to actually get this done (!!! I know, I know), we need a plan. So here it is:

1/ If you're on the list above, please reply to let me know you know what you're doing - or that I've misunderstood and you don't want to do that. That includes both comments and readings.
2/ If you want to claim a [VACANT], [TEXT] or ???, also reply here, to let everyone know it's taken. [VACANT]s can be done as a [TEXT] if you wish, but please make it clear you're doing so, so that someone can come along and be your voice!
3/ If you wish to just answer the final four questions, please also reply here. That isn't a problem - the more the merrier! - but it's good to know who's contributing.
4/ My email should appear above. Please send your recordings or text to me within one month from today. This includes whatever comments or readings you've signed up for, as well as your answers to the four Who We Are questions.
5/ If you are contributing text, it would be good if you could send it across earlier than a month, because...
6/ I will email text entries to the people who volunteered to voice them as and when I receive them. To facilitate this, it would be helpful for voice actors to email me straight away so I've got your addresses.
7/ Your email should include your Board username (real names will not be used in the Documentary). This will make things easier, rather than me getting a dozen emails from ralph_agnostico@scramble.ez saying "Hi, this is Fredericia, I'm ready to do my part!".
8/ ... well, 8 is the bit where I put everything together and try and make it work. Any further help I need at that point, I'll be asking for it then.

Any questions? Ask away!

(Some preemptive answers:

Yes, there will be music, and I'll be pulling it together on the fly.
Yes, there will be visuals, and I may need to ask for help with those.
Yes, I know how hard this will be. That's why I put this post off so long.)

hS

Whoops, should have answered earlier by DawnFire on 2013-04-15 11:07:00 UTC Reply

I'm still fine to do the PPC and young writers, as well as answering the questions, as long as you don't want it before the end of April :) On the other hand, I see you've mentioned the 10th of May, so that's fine (I hope). Depends how many holidays I get flooded with in between.

~DF

Let me know... by Huinesoron on 2013-04-15 12:50:00 UTC Reply

... if you need a bit longer; I'm sure we can sort something out.

hS

A bit longer... by DawnFire on 2013-04-15 13:01:00 UTC Reply

...might be great, since I'm in the middle of holidays now, I get the feeling I have another holiday two weekends from now, and also everything's just been switched around at my school, so it's kind of chaotic. Maybe give me until mid-May? I think that could work...

~DF

I'm not seeing your email... by Guvnor of Space on 2013-04-12 03:00:00 UTC Reply

...and I have a transcript of what I plan on reading. I'd like you to look it over before I read it, if you don't mind.

Okay, then... by Huinesoron on 2013-04-12 08:25:00 UTC Reply

(Does the link in the username not work?)

Either way, you can send it to huinesoron@hotmail.com.

hS

Ah! I see it now... by Guvnor of Space on 2013-04-12 22:05:00 UTC Reply

...and it tries to open outlook on this computer. Which I don't have set up. So the answer is it works, I think.

Oh, and... by hermione of vulcan on 2013-04-10 18:05:00 UTC Reply

Is there a deadline? Because I'll probably never write it if I don't have a deadline. I am a horrible procrastinator, so if left to my own devices it'll never get written.

One month. by Huinesoron on 2013-04-10 18:23:00 UTC Reply

So that's the... oh, let's say 10th May. A.D. 2013, please, though I'll also accept 2013 C.E. :P

hS

Still can do the OFU one. by hermione of vulcan on 2013-04-10 18:03:00 UTC Reply

I was thinking a brief overview of OFUs and OFU writing, then a comparison with PPC writing. Good?

I'll answer the "everyone questions" here, if you don't mind. Feel free to edit for length.

1. How I found the PPC...that is a long story. It starts in late 2011 - no, earlier. Much earlier, when I first started to read fanfiction. I was browsing fanfiction on Deviant Art (a rather stupid idea, in hindsight), and came across a fic involving my favorite Star Trek character ~~and also Lust Object~~, Lt. Commander Data. Unfortunately, said fic was plotless smut between Data and a female character I'd never seen before, who had no character development whatsoever. Then and there I vowed to hate those sorts of characters for eternity. Later, I found a fanfiction called The Official Fanfiction University of the Federation - a one chapter beginning to a Star Trek: TNG OFU. It seemed to me to be a godsend, and I left a glowing review and waited for an update. It never came.
~skip a couple years~
My sister and I got Kindle Touchs, which have rudimentary Internet. Fanfiction is very comfortable to read on them, and she asked me for fic recs and I went to find the Official Fanfiction University of the Federation. In rereading it, I noticed a recommendation for OFUM in the author's note, and went to read it. I thought it was awesome, and went to find the second part. There was a crossover chapter with HFA in the second part, so I read HFA, which had references to the PPC. I found the Original Series on Miss Cam's website, and somehow found the wiki. From there, I found my way to the Board, and here I am.

2. I decided to stay because I'd been lurking around the wiki, and I'd gotten the impression that you guys were pretty awesome. I became aware of the PPC sense of humor, developed agents, found badfic to spork, etc., before posting on the Board. So posting on the Board was really just a way of alerting you to my membership.

3. Lots more newbies have joined, and a lot of them are Star Trek fans. And lookit! World-Jumper and DawnFire already have Permission! The newbies grow up so fast...

4. Jay and Acacia...hm. Just that I'm grateful to them for starting this awesome community.
How about... by Karen on 2013-04-10 15:03:00 UTC Reply

The OFUM one? It looks like it's still open?

The reading? Sure. by Huinesoron on 2013-04-10 18:28:00 UTC Reply

I'm glancing over Chapter 1 and I'm thinking the text from the beginning ("Somewhere - it does not really matter where") to the end of One's speech ("Upon successful completion you will be given a licence to write LotR fanfic. All clear?") is the most coherent unit. It'll probably need abridgement, but if you have no problem with recording the whole of it, that would be awesome.

(If you feel like recording the entire chapter, I'll be throwing all the documents I had to abridge or miss out up somewhere, too. But don't feel obligated to do it all.)

If that's too long, I can hash out some abridgement before you record. No problems there, just let me know.

hS

I shall do my best, sir! by Karen on 2013-04-10 19:27:00 UTC Reply

*very bad salute*

If the TVTropes one still isn't taken... by Guvnor of Space on 2013-04-10 03:32:00 UTC Reply

I'd like to claim it. I can write it if you want me too, and can video myself talking. Whatever you need, and such.

Also, kind of cool to see the postcard exchange on here. I got at least two people in trouble with their parents for that one. Still, it was fun. I think I tried to do three too soon after two, but I'm thinking I might try it again soon.

That would be fantastic. by Huinesoron on 2013-04-10 07:31:00 UTC Reply

Video is always better (it just is), of course.

hS

PPC documentary by the Irish Samurai on 2013-04-09 19:04:00 UTC Reply

I should be able to answer the 'everyone' questions at least. I'll record it as audio, assuming that I work out how to - do you have a preferred file format (or any to avoid)?

File formats. by Huinesoron on 2013-04-10 21:57:00 UTC Reply

I'll be putting things together in a combination of Audacity and, er, Windows Movie Maker, probably, unless I run into something better. In general, I can probably deal with most formats. The ones I've historically had most trouble with have been Apple's formats - whatever it is that Quicktime uses, and I think m4a. Given their feud with Microsoft, it's not really surprising that they don't make the transition easy.

For sound, the 'best' option is probably mp3, but I can work with most things (although I don't think my email can handle .wav). For video... I don't know. I tend to work in .wmv. My camera makes .avi, but those are massive, so I usually shrink them down in WMM. Is there a 'generic' non-avi movie format?

hS

Ooh, allrighty! by Cassie on 2013-04-09 08:28:00 UTC Reply

I'm still up for this, definitely. My only query is "Is there any particular excerpt from Rambling Band that's been selected to read, or should I just choose a section?"

Because I'm the type who'd end up reading the whole thing, left to my own devices. :P

I'm also willing to fill in for any of the others that need it, at our director's discretion. Preferences are OFUM, Reorg or TVTropes.

Hmm. by Huinesoron on 2013-04-09 11:22:00 UTC Reply

My original thought was that, for the start of the documentary, we'd have the start of the very first PPC story. So by that logic, it'd be the piece before they even go into the fic. In fact, I still think that's the best idea for that introduction.

But. But but but.

There's no reason other pieces couldn't be played throughout the film. It'd be sort of nice to run the story almost in parallel with the documentary, actually. Assuming it works...

Basically, I think we need the very beginning. After that, it's up to you how much more you read, and whether you do it as a continuous narrative or just excerpts.

Helpful? I thought not.

hS

Fun! by Cassie on 2013-04-09 20:33:00 UTC Reply

I'm happy to do sections for you to pick and choose from. I'll break out the microphone over the next few days and see what I can do.

I wondered what was going on with this by Myrddin on 2013-04-08 21:08:00 UTC Reply

*scoops up mini-boarder Myrddyn, then begins to grumble because she starts to question where the "y" actually does go in her name for a minute*

Well I suppose since I've volunteered to be a reader, I can read my own piece about OFUM. XD I'd be happy to take on DawnFire's - How the PPC impacts young writers, if it's not volunteered for already, and things needing voice that wind up unclaimed later are fine to send my way too. :)

*wanders off to email Huinesoron since she claimed to be up to voice acting* Totally launching my career with this!
Re: Visuals by doctorlit on 2013-04-08 18:49:00 UTC Reply

If you're not looking for anything too dramatically detailed, I could probably make a drawing or two in the next month or so.

If you were even looking for drawings. And if no one else is available to draw, since the majority of people here are probably better artists than me.

Re: Visuals by KittTheCat on 2013-04-09 17:48:00 UTC Reply

I can help you (even though i'm not that great)
Concerning drawing: by Huinesoron on 2013-04-09 09:43:00 UTC Reply

At this point, I don't know what will need drawing. That will grow out of the precise words people say in their pieces. Rest assured that I'll keep you in mind when I know what's needed.

hS

Ten-four. (nm) by doctorlit on 2013-04-09 14:34:00 UTC Reply

My art ain't good, but I'm happy to help out! (nm) by Nue Houjuu on 2013-04-09 05:39:00 UTC Reply
I'm a sucky artist, but I'll draw stuff! (nm) by Karen on 2013-04-09 02:31:00 UTC Reply

Hum. by Karen on 2013-04-08 17:16:00 UTC Reply

I'm around to do whatever needs doing, by which I mean whatever nobody else wants to do.
Oh hey. by Neshomeh on 2013-04-08 16:03:00 UTC Reply

I should maybe contribute to this, seeing as I've been around for a good deal of it. ^^;

I AM the webmistress over at The Lost Tales, so I can give you something about that. There's not really much to say, though—GeoCities announced its death throes, there was a scramble to grab stuff, and a bunch of it ended up there, with more ending up on the PPC LJ and/or individual archival LJs (Calista did a bunch of this, IIRC) and/or your webplex. I actually found a lot of the material I ended up with was already on ff.net or hosted by Miss Cam, which was a bit frustrating after I'd put the work in. Some of the unique items I've got there actually went missing separately from non-GeoCities sites, like the original APD missions and Teena and Wyldehorse's spinoff. Odd Lots going down prompted more of the same, and I think you grabbed all or most of the stuff hosted there, right?

What other kinds of things do you want to know? I guess I could talk about re-hosting and editing TOS...?

I actually put together an <a href="http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/TVTropes">article about us and TV Tropes on the wiki a while back, so if you don't mind me submitting that, I could cover that section, too.

I am unsure whether I want to, or even can, read aloud. I have a mic, but it hasn't been very reliable lately, and anyway I sound dumb in recordings.

Also, is anything more slated to go into the How We Write featurette, like how missions work, or Permission? Speaking of which, where does Jay and Acacia's departure and the first Permissions Givers fit in? What about the first elected rather than appointed PGs? What about the So Sue Me incident, which made us re-think the definition of "Mary Sue"?

... And shutting up now before that list of questions gets any longer.

I'll come back with some answers to the Everyone questions a bit later, or e-mail them to you.

~Neshomeh

Oh hey yourself. by Huinesoron on 2013-04-08 17:51:00 UTC Reply

I'm wildly amused by the fact that you followed 'there's not really much to say' with a massive piece about what you had to do... I think the original entry for that item was 'The closure of GeoCities and launch of the Lost Tales', so it was the preservation/centralisation I was thinking of. Re-hosting TOS falls into the same broad category - a sort of 'We've been here for most of a decade now, we can't just keep stuff on dead websites!'.

For TVTropes - I certainly wouldn't mind you contributing. I'm not sure the Wiki article quite works - it's a very fact-heavy piece, which I'm not sure would work too well in spoken form. But if you think you can edit it...?

How We Write exists because two people suggested ideas that didn't fit into the formal timeline. Bearing your (good) suggestions in mind, I'm thinking of the following tweaks:

Aug-02 - Launch of OFUM - Myrddyn on OFUM - OFUM Chapter 1 - ???
Mar-03 - The Board relaunched
2003 - Jay and Acacia leave - [VACANT]

Featurette: How We Work
- How we deal with newbies - World-Jumper
- The Why Of Permission - Neshomeh? [TEXT]?
- What Is This Mission Thing Anyway? - Neshomeh? [TEXT]
- Writing OFUs and their effect on the PPC - hermione of vulcan [TEXT]
- How the PPC impacts young writers - DawnFire [TEXT]

2003 - The PPC Lounge - BeautyID
etc etc

The Why... would be a piece about how, when J&A left, they appointed Permission Givers, how we eventually turned it into an election, and (obviously) why we have them at all. What Is... would be a brief description of a mission, explaining what we actually write. It gives How We Work an internal structure (a sort of PPCer's Journey) which makes it slot nicely in.

As to So Sue Me... I wasn't particularly involved in that, and on the two previous occasions I've begged people to add things to the timeline, no-one mentioned it. :P If you can hang a date on it, it'd be great to slot it into the appropriate place as a 'We interact with people/let's make ourselves perfectly clear' kind of thing. (I suppose 're-think' is accurate - we did a lot of thinking - but I don't think we changed our definition of a Mary-Sue)

(And, of course, you don't have to record anything - we can certainly find someone to read your stuff out!)

hS

PS: I grabbed /some/ of the OddLots stuff... not all, I don't think. ~hS

In a startling coincidence... by Neshomeh on 2013-04-10 18:46:00 UTC Reply

(I seem to be racking those up lately.)

Anyway. It looks like the So Sue Me thing happened almost exactly three years ago; JulyFlame posted about it on the Board on April 13, 2010; Araeph posted a response to the PPC LJ on April 15; and I posted another response to the LJ on April 18. The Board discussion went on until about April 19-20, with some stragglers posting on the 23rd and 26th.

What happened during and in consequence of all that is fairly complicated. I'll try to sum it up as best I can, and e-mail it. I don't want to prompt a rehashing of the whole thing here, hence not posting any links to the stuff I mentioned. It was a pretty sucky time.

Since Guvnor has volunteered to take the TV Tropes section, I'll bow out. I was only peripherally involved—actually, I think it was KGarrett who got himself banned for "whitewashing," if you want to get in touch with him.

Permission is easy enough, and so's missioning. I can provide explanations of those processes.

Be amused all you want, but that paragraph I already wrote about The Lost Tales is really almost all there is to say about it, as opposed to some of these other topics, which could be discussed for pages. Still, I'll try to flesh it out. {= )

~Neshomeh