djpretzel

Hmmm, there's another issue I forgot to mention... probably more important for some users: in addition to ads, there are a couple other reasons why disabling the default vbulletin theme and making the OCR theme mandatory would be beneficial. Namely, we could then do minor template variations on certain forums (remixer specific info on remixing forum, links to mixes on remix reviews forum) and have them automatically override the default OCR theme. I need to do a little research on how many are using the default theme currently, but given the issues of ads and of sub-templating per forum, both of which are big issues, I'd really like to do this...

Such a note is indeed a good idea, imo, as we do want more folks registering and participating.

I know most people are going to read this thread topic, jump to all sorts of assumptions, and come in with guns blazing, but please remember a few things: We had google ads on the footer in the later days of PHPBB; one option being discussed is to reinstate those less annoying ads, since the site footer for the rest of the site already has them. A lot of sites wouldn't even discuss this on their forums, they'd just do it; I realize that things like this tend to rub people the wrong way when they just show up one day, without any input being solicited. We're doing a little bit better than breaking even with our current ads, but every time we do something big - a big shirt run, album promotions, etc. - it wipes us out or puts us in debt, where I end up funneling a lot of my own money in to tide us over, then funneling it back out months later. I'd like to have more financial headroom before we do things like bumper stickers, posters, etc., and to stop taking large amounts from my personal account (which is rather low these days) to temporarily keep us afloat. Only google ads or other non-pop-up, non-audio ads are being discussed. I hate pops and audio ads and that crap as much as any of you. On the other hand, I can easily tolerate text ads, and sometimes find things I'm actually interested in. Please don't respond to this thread with instructions on ad blocking... this site literally would not exist without some form of revenue, and currently our google ads provide 80-90% of that. Donations and shirt sales alone would NOT pay the bills, by a longshot, unless some very generous millionaires showed up. So, there are a couple options for integrating ads on our forums: Footer (consistent with rest of the site, least obtrusive) Between initial thread post and first reply Vertical ad on user profile pages (far right) Some combination of the above Other ideas (??) One option, apparently, is to enable the most obtrusive option - between the initial thread post and first reply - for guests only. Meaning that if you're logged in, you don't see it. I see that as a best of both worlds scenario and think that, in combination with footer ads (like the rest of the site) and perhaps a vertical ad or something else on user profile pages (which we intend on sprucing up a bit), we'd be bringing in extra revenue with minor impact on the community. But, hey, what do I know... share your thoughts. There's only so much I can do to assure you that my motivations are for the best interests of the site; recently we've been accused of being "businesslike" or "corporate", which is laughable in one sense since fiscally we'd have the worst business model imaginable, giving everything away, etc., but we ARE trying to get more exposure, pursue conventions and events, etc. in an orderly fashion, which takes both time and money, unfortunately...

Next time just pull a DjNeTisra and tell them you're djpretzel, and that you run a website dedicated to remixing video game music. I can't begin to TELL you the action this has gotten me. It's like swimming in a pool of Axxe!

The material has been removed, which was my primary goal, so I'm unsticking this. Thanks to everyone for assisting with pursuing this; I'm sure there are other instances of the content policy not being followed, but this went well beyond that.

Alright, I like you, so I'm going to be nice, but: "ghey" conveys no information to me other than your inability to choose better, more descriptive adjectives. The judges are already strapped for time; making them listen to 10-minute mixes which may or may not justify their length seems counterproductive. We receive many submissions via email, and many email systems (we use gmail) have caps that impose their own limit. Having a bitrate cap and no length cap could theoretically allow hour long mixes... we really don't want that, however "balls" it is that the limit could affect shorter pieces. There will always be a max file size limit; whether we choose to increase it slightly to reflect bandwidth circumstances and other factors like judges time and email compatibility remains to be seen.

http://djnetisra.otaku-mx.net/index.php?paged=2 This fellow appears to be ripping off VotL and claiming it as his own. Does anyone speak this language well enough to pursue contacting him, his host, or his ISP, and putting a stop to this blatant rip off? It'd be appreciated... Sigh...

You're on it right now

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What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Agree with Larry and Jimmy; this one is borderline form rejection, not sure it should have made the panel. The different sections aren't really meaningfully connected, production and samples are weak, and there is unintentional rhythmic disparity/disjointedness. NO

While the definition of music can be broad enough to consider a percussive/synthesized effect repeated at an increasing tempo as qualifying, in this instance our standards clearly spell out that sound fx alone are off limits. The increasing tempo of the effect in question is truly menacing, and represented a milestone for game audio, but "game audio" and "game music" are two different things, and for the purposes of remixes, we're focusing on the latter. I do want to add that, for what it is, this is a creative and well-executed piece. NO

Like Jesse says, not bad, but the original portions, which are neither dark nor gothic in my book, aren't substantive - so far as I can tell, almost all other non-drum elements drop out, and you've got a bassline doing filter sweep fx over the beats. Don't get me wrong, we do want original additions, but when the arranged material outshines the original additions to this extent, it seems like the new bits are added in simply to comply with OCR's arrangement standards, which isn't the way to go - things need to sound natural, and extended bars of what amounts to electronica filler isn't the way to accomplish that goal. If I sound a bit harsh, it's only because the actual arranged bits here were really quite good - outside from some repetition issues on the drums, things were produced well, the mix was crisp and clean, and solid decisions were made on instrumentation. I was expecting this to be a closer call. But the original portions don't hook up with source material, and aren't particularly compelling, to boot, which is a double whammy. NO

I do think the rhythm guitar gets repetitive, and I do think the recording could use both some more low-end and a little more clarity in the high-end (though perhaps after some hiss removal), however, I gotta hand out the mad props for doing something with a theme we've all heard a thousand times, a thousand ways, that's new. This has a Kill Bill / spaghetti western feel to it, and it actually took me longer than it should have to recognize the theme, I was so into that whole mental image. I'd like to hear what other judges think and get some more feedback for the remixer, so... YES

Jesse and Larry are correct in assessing the arrangement - there needs to be more interpretation. Some other comments: piano sounds decent but strings are a little thin, could be octave-doubled or something. Also, the underlying pattern you've come up with is nice and fits the melody well, but it's a bit overused. NO

This piece definitely has a lot of things working FOR it; excellent dynamics and tempo modification in the performance, production that indeed gives off a wintry, isolated feel, esoteric source material that's addressed well. I think my biggest problem is the left-hand writing as well, or rather, its repetitive nature; for three plus minutes, the same pattern/rhythm is repeated, and while I do think that (very common) pattern can sustain significant portions of a piano arrangement, not changing it up at all at any part - a cadenza, for instance - but instead letting it ride the entire arrangement out is problematic. We're going to be more detail-oriented on solo piano arrangements because there's nothing else to compensate - it's the arrangement, and the piano - and here, I really think the arrangement needs more left-hand action. As does Vigilante. NO

EAMix: It's in the Mix! ™

I'm glad this was bumped, because as it happens I was thinking more about it this morning. One of the downsides of blogs elsewhere is that they often require registration; OCR blogs would be integrated, so anyone with a forum account here could post comments. Honestly, from my perspective, I think MORE people would comment on my own blog posts if they were here as opposed to on www.djpretzel.com, and I think this might be the same for other artists as well. Plus, well... we've got plans to add all sorts of stuff to OCR in the next four to five months. I won't get into specifics, but some of these additions are huge, and constitute what equates to "OCR 5", although the visual design won't be changing much, if any. As the site grows, it seems like integrated blogs would really be a huge advantage in particular for album/project coordinators, site staff, mixers, me, and any forum goers who are trying to collaborate on other group projects or initiatives. I can see arguments for and against and honestly find it difficult to say which side is stronger; I think perhaps the only way to see if the pros outweigh the cons is to try it out...

Regarding XP themes vs. how Media Center looks - download the free Royale theme: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/Themes/Royale-Theme-for-WinXP.shtml I use it on all my XP boxes, and imo they look just fine.

You know, I need to blog on why I too now think that Vista sucks, because it's for totally different reasons than most others. I don't have major beef with the interface, the DRM didn't prevent me from doing anything I wanted, I loved the media center, and in general most of what they added I was fine with. Where it falls apart is with.... basic file and networking I/O!!! Now, come on... I'm one of those folks who sees the good and bad on both sides of the fence. I do PHP, Java, and .NET, I administer MSSQL and MySQL as well as IIS and Apache, and I'm familiar enough with Microsoft's desktop and server operating systems and various Linux distros to speak knowledgeably on a fundamental level. I've always been reluctant to demonize anything from either side, because doing so almost always involves oversimplification and polemical blabber... which I get enough of on slashdot, thanks But seriously... file I/O? Network I/O? These are things that should just be invisible to end users, but my experience with Vista makes them front and center - I've routinely encountered file transfers that inexplicably stopped or slowed down to almost nothing and - worse - could not be canceled. I mean it. It says "Copying file", it's not doing anything, I finally give up and click cancel, it says "Canceling", and that dialog just sits there... forever. I think there's a way of killing the specific svchost.exe process responsible for the dialog, but... should I really HAVE to do that? By the way, it's not just me: http://www.theregister.com/2007/03/26/vista_copying_bug/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/19/vista_security_analysis/ The second link there talks about my other huge issue, unpredictable and degrading network I/O - it'll simply stop responding to file sharing requests of any kind, for no apparent reason. Oddly, RDP will still function normally, but mapping any of the drives on that Vista machine will be impossible. I've cleared this issue up ONCE by repairing the connection, but even that doesn't work all the time, and again... this is basic, it worked in XP, it's broken now... what could be the excuse? I'm sure after a service pack... or two... these very fundamental issues will be worked out. But as a frequent advocate of the good things that Microsoft does manage to accomplish and the innovation it does manage to produce, amidst blunders or derivative works, this is simply... embarrassing. I can't defend this operating system, or the company that decided to release it, if I can't copy large files or move them back and forth over my network. I've already rebuilt one machine back to XP SP2 after trying Vista (Ultimate x86 and x64, btw), and now I'm going to do the other. Quite simply: inexcusable. Forget the FUD, forget the DRM paranoia, forget the resource consumption issues and the silly DX10 debates... if you can't work with files, those are all tertiary concerns. Stay away until these issues are conclusively resolved.

You could try our help forum, but honestly, we're not the best resource for this sort of thing, and asking around on AMV forums or using Google would probably yield better results. 1. Absolutely, though you'll need to figure out how to split the prizes amongst yourselves, should you win 2. Last Order is available on the Japanese Advent Children DVD and probably... elsewhere. AMV forums or googling might be more beneficial; for obvious reasons, we can't just post links or host it ourselves. It's pretty cool, btw - I've seen it. If it wasn't in one of the actual games, then its use should be minimal. 90% or more of the FF7 category needs to be verbatim material from those sources. If you want to create what sounds like machinima, which is cool, you might consider the original category, which allows for pretty much anything. I hadn't thought of machinima for that, but it'd certainly be allowed.

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Excellent catch; fixed. Thanks!