SpudFiles

*rimshot*

Thread is kinda dead, but i gues ile try some CPR (im certified now 8) )

First vid, just threw together.

Rag, not sure if I suggested it before but your next project should be called WOUND

Weapon Of Unbelivably Nefarious Destruction

something like that...

Not exactly a damage vid, but possibly worth a look if you didn't run across it in the post from yesterday (well, my yesterday). This is a fuller version of the closing take from the HEAL video, showing it in it's full form with both shots, and the only current recording of HEAL firing more than one shot in reasonably rapid succession.

I cut out the second shot and reload for the video because of my badly fumbled left handed loading - you'll see that it's not exactly graceful if you watch it.

It's a higher resolution, and this version has also been cleaned up a little, and features the higher quality audio recordings I took at the time instead of the camera's less impressive sound (couldn't use them on the old video. Movie Maker will only handle one audio stream, so it was music or improved audio).

Nothing too special, but it's kinda cool to see it reworked to a better quality, and the firing vapour isn't bad either. Possibly worth watching just to get a better idea of what it actually sounds like - the sound still isn't as sharp or dramatic as it is in real life, but it's getting closer.

Mildly rapid second shot.

Afraid this short clip doesn't come with the works of Nightwish (and of course, in the case of Last of the Wilds, the additional talents of Troy Donockley and Nollaig Casey), which was actually one of the most praised elements of the original video. I was taking a bit of a gamble on that one, stepping away from the common habit of putting spudgun videos over a heavy metal soundtrack, but I'm happy to say I think it paid off.

Probably because it didn't overpower the visuals, and I made a cursory attempt to sync the two - if I'm allowed to be mildly immodest for a second, I'm pretty pleased with the way the opening works where the can explodes in time with the guitars and drums suddenly coming into join the opening theme of the fiddle.

I'll admit that I'm surprised that a song with a strong celtic theme could work. Actually, I can't even remember why I picked that song. It must have been a fairly snap decision. The album it was on had been released for only about six weeks, and looking at the dates on my computer, I'd only had the album about half that time.
I must have just been thinking: "Hey, I like this song. How would it fit?"
I remember reading Pete on UKSGC saying that he thought the heavy rock/metal was overdone for launcher videos, and I'm pretty sure that was in my head, but in three weeks, it somehow managed to convince me it was the better of songs I'd been lining up to use in videos for ages.

One of my all time favourites now in fact.

This does however leave me with a dilemma. Given the music was one of the main successes of that video, that's something I want to repeat in future ones... I'll need to find something good, and preferably instrumental again.

I have a couple of ideas (might go with the celtic theme again, but people would probably start to think I'm Irish) - Nightwish has realised a special edition of their Dark Passion Play album, the one off which Last of the Wilds comes from, where all the tracks are instrumental, and some of those sound like they'd be great.

Last of the Wilds itself is an instrumental version of Erämaan Viimeinen, a track that was written and sung in Finnish - Nightwish of course being a Finnish band - but the reason it wasn't originally released with the lyrics is that the current singer for Nightwish is Swedish, and doesn't speak fluent Finnish, so it was later released on a single album with a guest singer.
The two songs, apart from the lyrics (obviously), are only notably set apart by the lack of canticle ending on the vocal version.

And I'm rambling again. I'm tired, and I always seem to be more loquacious when tired.
I'm also competing with another personality in my head. I've been writing for my webserial again (not posted yet though), and it's a story told from the perspective of several first person narrators - and what this means is at this time of night (well, morning) I take on some of the traits of the characters I'm writing - I get into character a bit too well.
You're lucky I wasn't writing Silva this section, because then I'd have gained the personality of an angry bitch soldier rather than a slightly drunk and rather talkative smuggler with a tendency to go off on tangents.

@Jack: I was thinking more like Minorly Adjusted and Improved Model. :tongue3:

More seriously, the next model is currently under the project name of 3vo, but I have considered giving it the official name of Trojan. No acronyms involved, I just thought calling a cannon Trojan would be cool - and I can't find any reference to the name being used for a cannon on either here or the Spudtech archive, so it's certainly got some originality (unlike "The Anti Materiel Cannon", which comes by every few months).

It should be noted that I have now called dibs on the name, at least until I get up with JSR quoting Monty Python at me because of it.

Let's hope it's not This Ragnarok Opus Just Achieved Nothing

Phew, one post of "leaping out of the rabbit" dodged...

I kind of want to leave the acronyms behind for a while. I spent a lot of time giving cannon concepts acronym names, or "meaningful" names - for example, there's a file in my ideas folder called Cyclone, a modification on the vortex BBMG I've been designing for some time.

I want to go back to things like HEAL's predecessor, Behemoth. It might not have been anything very large in spudding standards, but it's easily the biggest cannon I ever made. In it's biggest version, it was a clean 8 feet from end to end, and weighed about a stone and a half. (Firing it single handed was a lark) It wasn't as powerful as HEAL though in spite of it's size.

It can be seen in it's 6' 4" guise here:


It was pretty imposing - the name had some meaning, but not too forced. It was also the fastest firing cannon I have yet built, by virtue of having a large re-purposed fire extinguisher as a rapid refill source. Once got off 10 shots JUST within a minute, but not elegantly.
It was also horribly length inefficient, that 193 cm version only had a metre of barrel, for a 52% ratio. (For comparison, HEAL is 85%, and 3vo/Trojan will improve on that.)

The other thing was that it made me look a complete badass. Or was it a definite serial killer? I can never remember. :tongue3:
That picture made the first page in my school leavers year book (they all knew I was nuts anyway) - wait, I got most likely to be a Mass murder, it must make me look like a serial killer.

Damn, I was so hoping for Most likely to be an Evil genius.

Ragnarok wrote:The other thing was that it made me look a complete badass.

Nope, not enough facial hair.

Or was it a definite serial killer?

again...

Damn, I was so hoping for Most likely to be an Evil genius.

Ask your prime minister for some advice on adopting a more dour, thoughtful expression

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:Nope, not enough facial hair.

Hmm. I cite the biggest and coolest badass on the planet not always having a beard.

Also, 90% of photos of me have to make me look like a serial killer anyway, with or without facial hair. It's Sturgeon's Law in action.

Ask your prime minister for some advice on adopting a more dour, thoughtful expression

That's partly because he's blind in his left eye, something quite a lot of people forget.

However, yes. I also cite this earlier post of mine.

Grow a beard.

Drink lots of coffee to widen eyelids.

Smoke pot. Only enough to get your eyes bloodshot.

Wear only BDU pants and jungle boots. No chest hair = fail.

Swim 100 yards through a muddy river.

Try again at badass photo.

Could you demonstrate that with a vid, or at least, show the result?





Side note:

A major hijack.
It is present in this thread.