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A few weeks ago, if you guys were attentive to the forums, I posted a question regarding my problem about some of my AVI files' audio and video not synching. (Reference: http://devpinoy.org/forums/thread/10708.aspx) I finally got the software that could help me re-synch them. It's called VirtualDUB, you can download it at http://gnuwin.epfl.ch/apps/virtualdub/en/install/VirtualDub-1.5.10.zip -- it's about 665 KB in length and it's FREE!
Anyways, to solve the out-of-synch problem, we gotta change the the time the audio enters in our clips, whether it enters too early or it enters too late. You can do this by clicking Audio > Interleaving... on the main menu. Then in the bottom part of the dialog, you'll see the Audio skew correction part. Remember, the value here is in ms -- so if your audio is delayed 8 seconds relative to the video, then you must enter -8000, when in reverse, enter 8000. (1 sec == 1000 ms).
That's it! Now just sit and wait for it to recompile. :D
But, this is one of the stupidest things I've done. The audio in my files weren't really out of synch, I was just missing some CODECs... :)) But it's ok, because I learned much from that experience anyway.
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Hmmmmm... did you ever buy a PC and found that when you go to My Computer, right click, then hit Properties, the logo of the place where you bought the PC appears on the lower left side corner of the properties box?
Did you ask yourself, damn that <insert name here>, I don't want their logo to appear here!
Well here goes, let's replace it.
First, you must have your logo or anything you want prepared. Then in Photoshop, make a 180 x 114 pixel canvas. Paste your image, resize if necessary. If you are satisfied with the image, got to File > Save as... the choose BMP as the filetype (Windows/24bit), then type OEMLOGO.bmp on the filenamebox.
Next, create a text file with the following contents;
[general]
manufacturer = Anything goes here
model = As well as here...
Then save it as OEMINFO.ini.
Once all of these are done, copy the 2 files we have created then paste it in you //WINDOWS/system32/ directory.
Done! Go on and check! It should somehow look like the image below;
PS: BTW, if you want to have transparent parts in your image, just fill the supposedly transparent areas with the color #FF00FF (Like what you see in most game sprites, purpulish/pink color). But, be sure to save it as a 256 color bitmap in order for it to work, else it wouldn't.
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Let's tame the AA once more. Sometimes, when we resize stuff, we want to keep the aliasing of an image. Let's make-up a little scenario.
CLIENT: Hey, could you generate me a barcode image.
YOU: No problem, this will just take a minute. (You generate the barcode).
YOU: Here it is! What do you think?
CLIENT: It's too small, make it bigger.
YOU: Ok, just a sec... wait, there's no option to make it bigger in my generator!
CLIENT: Why don't you just resize it in Photoshop.
YOU: Ok, I'll try. (Then you try...)
... only to find this;
See how anti-aliasing ruined the barcode?
Awwww! How do you fix this? Actually, it is very easy, just follow me;
1) Open the image (of course!).
2) Go to Image > Mode > Indexed Color...
3) See my settings below, then click OK.
4) Resize the image.
Wow! Look how sharp it is!
CLIENT: Great job!
YOU: No sweat!
Other applications:
One other application I can think of it the resizing of game sprites. This is very helpful since you don't want to redraw the whole sprite animations just to resize it right?
Well, that's it, see ya!
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Anti-aliasing, AA as some of you know it. For those uninitiated, Anti-aliasing or AA in short, is a technique in graphics wherein semi-transparent pixels are inserted to edges to give a smoother look.
If you have IE7, you would notice that the texts in sites look a little more clearer (but blurier) compared to the texts if you use firefox. That is because IE uses the anti-aliasing trick. Another example is the icons for Windows XP and 2000 (and below), notice how the desktop icons of the different Windows version varies? XP has anti-aliased icons while 2000 and below have aliased edges.
But, sometimes this feature can be helpful, sometimes a pain in the ass. So this time, I will teach you a little trick to control anti-aliasing in type layers (text layers) using Photoshop.
To the naked eye, there seems to be no difference between the 2. But take a closer look, and you'll see the problem. See how the 'I' in Specimen A became blurry? Compare it to Specimen B. It is crispier right? So let's fix Specimen A by;
1) Enter type edit mode (click on the text using the Type Tool).
2) Move your cursor until it looks like the one in the screen capture I attached.
3) Click and drag a horizontally. Do this slowly to see the effect.
4) Once the correct anti-aliasing is achieved, commit the changes.
*Note, moving the layer out of edit mode has no effect.
Well there it is! Yeah, maybe some of you might think this has no importance, but trust me, it pays to know these little details. Hope you find ways to make this tip useful. Until next time!
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I think this would be useful to all YouTube junkies. (Actually, lamia asked me about this just this morning.. hehehe.)
Did you ever want to download a copy of a video you see in YouTube, maybe for personal archiving, reference, smooth payback or <gulp> blackmail? Wonder no more because here's a site that does just that. Here's the instructions to get you started;
1. Get the URL of the movie you want to keep. Copy that to your clipboard.
2. Head on to http://keepvid.com/.
3. Paste the URL on the top-most textbox, hit enter!
4. Wait for a few seconds, and wala! You will be presented with a download link.
But wait, there's more!
If it happens that the downloaded file is a .FLV file, you may need an FLV player. Don't worry, the site also has a link to a free copy.
So what are you waiting for! Download na!
NOTE: This is not an advertisement. I am not related to http://keepvid.com/ in any way.
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Hmmm... Sometimes we have a limited access. Sometimes, you know, we can't execute the cmd, no run command, no links to it, no access to the Windows directory to execute my previous dark tip...
Well, here's a little hack to access the command prompt on a limited account;
1. Open notepad.
2. On the 1st line, type 'cmd' without the ''.
3. Save as a batch file (Example: cmd.bat).
4. Double-click. Done! You should see the command prompt now.
All that's left to do is follow the steps I have posted here and you're all done!
Enjoy!