Final Fantasy Crystal Clash - Congratulations to Tuberz McGee and Eino Keskitalo!

[MindWanderer]

Oh man... I've randomized each bracket 5 times to get the matchups. Some of them are just too perfect, I couldn't have made them better by hand. Others are.... well...... interesting to say the least.

I hope you guys are ready for this.

I hope you aren't even thinking about your entry yet. You kind of have an advantage here, knowing your second source 4 days before your opponent does. Perhaps you should PM them to let them know and level the playing field?

[Brandon Strader]

I've been focusing on getting everything else ready, I haven't even really thought of who I'm up against or what theme they have.

But.......... I will inform the other person. I will hope that they do not mix before Sunday night, but if they do, that's up to them. I am held to the same rules as everyone else, and I did not start a compo just so I could cheat against a random person.

Having said that I'm in the Darkness bracket so it's a non-issue until the 17th.

[Esperado]

is this the part where we all start talking trash while we wait?

[Ivan Hakštok]

Hakstockkkkkkk why

If he posted the bracket now, we'd have 4 extra days to mix.

I'm a fair man.

[Brandon Strader]

is this the part where we all start talking trash while we wait?

Yes please

If he posted the bracket now, we'd have 4 extra days to mix.

I'm a fair man.

It's true

And that is....

[Yami]

Trash? Trash.... Trash!!

[Brandon Strader]

Just so you guys know, I am personally making the sigs and putting them on people's walls as a visitor message. I'm going (somewhat) slowly but will get it done sooner or later.

Here's a sample:

Edited November 6, 2013 by Brandon Strader

[DarkeSword]

I've been focusing on getting everything else ready, I haven't even really thought of who I'm up against or what theme they have.

But.......... I will inform the other person. I will hope that they do not mix before Sunday night, but if they do, that's up to them. I am held to the same rules as everyone else, and I did not start a compo just so I could cheat against a random person.

Having said that I'm in the Darkness bracket so it's a non-issue until the 17th.

Brandon, just do the match-ups like 5 minutes before you post them. They're not that hard to do and you don't need to prepare them a day in advance or anything.

[Brandon Strader]

Brandon, just do the match-ups like 5 minutes before you post them. They're not that hard to do and you don't need to prepare them a day in advance or anything.

That's a good point. I've already made the bracket image for the Light bracket, but I can re-randomize the Darkness bracket since I haven't made that one yet. I am quite offended that people think I would cheat, though!

[Cash]

Thanks for the sig Sir Strader!

[MindWanderer]

That's a good point. I've already made the bracket image for the Light bracket, but I can re-randomize the Darkness bracket since I haven't made that one yet. I am quite offended that people think I would cheat, though!

I don't think anyone thinks you would cheat by actually sitting down with a DAW and working on it, but a few extra days to just have the two sources floating around in your head during your commute or shower might make the difference in having that one awesome inspiration that makes the whole thing gel.

Edit: Hmm, why is Hiryuu beige? It's blue in the game.

[DarkeSword]

That's a good point. I've already made the bracket image for the Light bracket, but I can re-randomize the Darkness bracket since I haven't made that one yet. I am quite offended that people think I would cheat, though!

You can also reveal the match-ups and do the bracket image later.

[Sir_NutS]

The sigs looks good but they are a bit too tall

[Cash]

The sigs looks good but they are a bit too tall

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, a bit tall.

[Sir_NutS]

I think Brandon can cut at least 1/3 of the height because most of it is wasted space. atm they take more space than the posts themselves

[Brandon Strader]

I think Brandon can cut at least 1/3 of the height because most of it is wasted space. atm they take more space than the posts themselves

Y'all are just embarrassed to wear the coat of FFCC for other people to see, I GET IT.

[Troyificus]

Y'all are just embarrassed to wear the coat of FFCC for other people to see, I GET IT.

Don't be sad B; some people have a hard time dealing with your size is all.

[HoboKa]

Y'all are just embarrassed to wear the coat of FFCC for other people to see, I GET IT.

You've just gotta sell it better

Also, where's mine you slacker!! JK, don't hit me with your donger again q.q

[DarkeSword]

12AM? You're revealing match-ups at midnight?

[Brandon Strader]

12AM? You're revealing match-ups at midnight?

Yes. That'll give people all day Sunday to continue working, rather than stopping at say, 3pm. I'll announce the match-ups before midnight of course, maybe around 6pm on Sunday.

It may not be totally convenient for the first Monday of peoples' weeks, but the extra day at the end will be very convenient, especially if people have to work on Monday but are off on Sunday.

Plus I'm a night owl, so I just naturally chose midnight. That'll make it convenient for me to count up all the votes at that time and have the next week's match ups ready for people by the time they get up or home from work or whatever their situation is.

[MindWanderer]

Yes. That'll give people all day Sunday to continue working, rather than stopping at say, 3pm. I'll announce the match-ups before midnight of course, maybe around 6pm on Sunday.

Ugh, I was hoping to have Sunday the weekend before Thanksgiving to work. I kind of hope I lose in round 1 now, or else I'll only have 2 evenings to work on round 2.

[DarkeSword]

Yes. That'll give people all day Sunday to continue working, rather than stopping at say, 3pm. I'll announce the match-ups before midnight of course, maybe around 6pm on Sunday.

It may not be totally convenient for the first Monday of peoples' weeks, but the extra day at the end will be very convenient, especially if people have to work on Monday but are off on Sunday.

Plus I'm a night owl, so I just naturally chose midnight. That'll make it convenient for me to count up all the votes at that time and have the next week's match ups ready for people by the time they get up or home from work or whatever their situation is.

Makes sense.

[Brandon Strader]

As of posting now, there is 1 day and a little under 15 hours left until the Light Bracket begins remixing. I wanted to share some advice for everyone participating in the compo.

- Don't get caught up on competing. It's not about winning, it's about fun, learning, and good sportsmanship. Trash talk is good in jest, and encouraged as long as it doesn't escalate into seriousness.

- Be prepared. Listen to your OWN source, and be familiar with it. Having a memory of the melody or any parts that stick out should help you arrange your theme.

- If you know you're going to be busy, use a template. Templates are loadouts for different styles, or even a session you've completed that you wipe all the notes out of and save so you can begin writing in it again. (example, orchestral template, acoustic band template, symphonic metal template, dubstep template, etc..)

I have some basic templates that are just a drum kit, and effect buses (reverb, compression, predelay)

Just to add, you could also be saving mastering presets if you aren't already. I always update my mastering chain, and tweak it with each new mix, making it better and better. You can't use the same settings for every mix (obviously) but having a solid starting point is always good.

- Relax.

[Sir_NutS]

- Don't get caught up on competing. It's not about winning, it's about fun, learning, and good sportsmanship. Trash talk is good in jest, and encouraged as long as it doesn't escalate into seriousness.

- Be prepared. Listen to your OWN source, and be familiar with it. Having a memory of the melody or any parts that stick out should help you arrange your theme.

- If you know you're going to be busy, use a template. Templates are loadouts for different styles, or even a session you've completed that you wipe all the notes out of and save so you can begin writing in it again. (example, orchestral template, acoustic band template, symphonic metal template, dubstep template, etc..)

I have some basic templates that are just a drum kit, and effect buses (reverb, compression, predelay)

Just to add, you could also be saving mastering presets if you aren't already. I always update my mastering chain, and tweak it with each new mix, making it better and better. You can't use the same settings for every mix (obviously) but having a solid starting point is always good.

- Relax.

-no

-nope

-no

-NO

[MindWanderer]

Also a reminder: You should avoid using sound sampled directly from any Final Fantasy game. Firstly it makes a remix ineligible to be posted to OCR for legal reasons. Secondly... SquarEnix is really touchy about this stuff, and it's possible that if someone on their legal team discovers sampled sounds, they could make Brandon take down the whole compilation and could possibly give djprezel and co. a hard time about even having the link on their forums. So be safe, don't do it.

Edit: @Brandon: I think you're preaching to the choir here. Templates and saved filter chains are great ideas if you're interested in replicating what you've done before. For folks like me, who've never come up with anything worth repeating, not so much. And anyone better than me already knows how to use these.

Edited November 10, 2013 by MindWanderer