Year’s End Reflection Part 02

Well, it’s the end of 2012, might as well wrap up my supposedly year’s end “reflection.” Yes, I was going to post more reflections, but ended up being too lazy until it’s, well, just mere hours from new year. 😛

As I have mentioned so many times, Accel World pretty much filled 2012 for me. Not only it brought back my interest into anime, it also made me do AMVs. I started with iMovie as it’s pre-installed on my Mac, and it’s very easy to use. Really, iMovie IMO is THE killer app on the Mac. However, as I progressed, I noticed many of the limitations, mainly the limit on how short a clip can be inserted into the project, the restrictions in titles and fonts, etc. I also started to learn how to sync clips to the music, and to actually think about the lyrics and the meaning in correlation to the clips that I used. As time progresses, I also learn more special effects, like transparency, split screen, etc. It can be seen on the Accel World AMV I made below, using Hikaru no Go’s OP, Get Over by dream. This is also the time I transitioned from iMovie to Final Cut Pro X, as the titles I used were still the simplistic iMovie titles. Kudos to Apple in making Final Cut Pro X more affordable so lay people can actually buy and use this pro software.

I also started mixing my favorite music genre, Eurobeat, in my AMV. The faster tempo and the higher energy of the genre really make Eurobeat a great music for AMV, although the lyrics are usually nonsensical love related theme, which makes it harder to find a good match for an AMV.

The last AMV I made in conjunction to the ending of the Accel World anime is probably my best attempt in making a quick AMV, focusing mostly on synced scenes with the Eurobeat track rather than special effects. Amazingly, it garnered 5000+ views with 20+ likes! Thank you! ^_^

Alas, after Accel World ended, my spirit in making AMVs also went downhill (plus real life stress keep piling up). I hope I can continue in making AMVs.
Well, in time before the new year (at the time of typing). Pretty much 2012 is the year of Accel World for me. Waiting for the second game and the second OVA. I really really wish for the second season!

 

Year’s End Reflection Part 01

Still waiting for Accel World Season 2… so I’m just going to do a reflection of 2012.
First of all, thank goodness the world didn’t end. If it did, the chance of seeing Accel World Season 2 dropped to zero. So yeah. 😀
My 2012 was illustrated heavily with, what else, Accel World! Looking at my past posts, I had quite a gap between Steve Job’s death and the iPad 3, I meant the “was new iPad” announcement. But then Accel World came into my world, and that’s what I was blogging most of the time.

Experiencing such an awesome anime also made me want to start making AMVs of, well, Accel World (duh, what else). The first one I did was simply using clips from the first arc, cut and spliced using iMovie with the first opening theme song, Chase the World by May’n. I checked Youtube’s stats today, and I was surprised it garnered 11000 views. LOL. Sure, it’s not much, but still I was quite amazed that my sloppily done first time AMV garnered that much interests (80 likes!). I didn’t even use RAW clips so the AMV was filled with subtitles. Well, I’m happy, and thank you for those that viewed and liked it. I will try to make another AMV if I have time.

A way to do a reflection is to simply read my own tweets on twitter. Good thing Twitter now allows you to request an archive about all your tweets. Early on in 2012, I was enjoying:
-my Galaxy Nexus
-Kamen Rider Fourze
-Gokaiger
-GoBusters

And I was bitching about:
-10bit MKVs
-tech companies
-Youtube
-Gundam Age
-Saint Seiya Omega

Until Accel World came, and all I was tweeting about were about Accel World. I even signed up for Hulu Plus just so I can watch Accel World before waiting for the fansubbers.
So yeah, 2012 didn’t start until Accel World. I just can’t stop liking this anime. I’m truly addicted. Can’t wait for the second game, can’t wait the second OVA, and cant wait for another season! SAO is great, but I need moar of Accel World!

 

WWDC 2012 final prediction

Well, it’s mere hours till the event, so here are my final prediction (since I’m bored due to the delay of Accel World Ep 10).
1. OS X Mountain Lion
Kinda obvious. The beta is already out. Probably just a bunch more iOS-related enhancements like notification, which could be useful. I can’t think of anything significant since the OS is so mature already. Wonder if Apple would just give it away for free through an update via the app store.

2. iOS 6
Announcement and start of the beta. Again, not sure what Apple would add to the maturing OS. The rumors are that Apple ditching Google Maps and using their own mapping technology. And maybe pimped up SIRI. All I want is shuffle-by-album feature on the music app, something that Apple neglected to do.

3. Refresh Mac lineup
This is where the rumors are hot. Every Macs, including the Macbook Pro and Mac Pro are going to be updated. Question is, how? The rumors are redesigned Mac Pro casing and MBA-style Macbook Pros. Also, rumor is the 17″ MBP is going to be axed. I don’t know. The MBP is Apple’s only “pro” laptop with desktop class processing power. I doubt that they would drop the 17″. I can see the 13″ and 15″ getting a redesign, ditching the optical drive in favor of more battery, possibly dual-HDD/dual-SSD/SSD-HDD combo, and retina display. The resolution update is overdue as the MBA now has higher screen res. Everything will be Ivy Bridge, and maybe USB3 (finally?). iMac with retina screen? Not sure as it will jack up the price too much at that size.

4. New iPhone? New iPod Touch?
Nope. Many rumors are hyped for a new iPhone, but there’s a reason why Apple released the 4S fairly late last year. I mean iOS6 is not even announced yet, so I doubt Apple would release a new iPhone without a new OS right off the gate. This WWDC will be dev-centric, the software development. iPhone will be later this year. Same thing with the new iPod Touch, which imo would be the larger screen device that has been floating around.

Well, there you go. My last minute prediction. I think the new Mac hardware would be enough for Apple to garner attention. I’m also predicting that the MBA-styled Macbook Pros will be the “One More Thing,” in addition to a standard MBPs with optical drive.

For the live blogging of the keynote, I’ll be following TheVerge and gdgt as they usually have great commentaries and pictures.

 

What would be on WWDC 2012?

I’m too focused on Accel World that I’m falling behind on the tech rumors. WWDC 2012 is coming, so what are the rumors? Every tech blogs out there seems to be talking about a larger screen iPhone. Personally, I think this year’s WWDC will pretty much be like last year’s.

1. OS X Mountain Lion.
OS X Mountain Lion has been out for testing for some time, but seems to be an even more minor upgrade from Lion. I’m sure Apple is ready to unveil some features that would entice people to upgrade. If not, what if they made it just $20, or even free?

2. iOS 6.
Nothing is much known about this, which leads me to believe that we won’t see a new iPhone till September/October like the iPhone 4S. To be honest, I don’t know what else to add for iOS, although I still have one gripe that has never been fixed. The inability of the iPod/Music app to do shuffle by album. This leaves the iPod Classic as the only iDevice that can do this.

3. iCloud updates.
Photo album sharing, or something like that. .Mac/MobileMe had a gallery where you can upload photos to be shared. This feature is gone on iCloud, which I find baffling for Apple to do so. I also hope Apple would bring back photo-casting.

I guess that would be my predictions. Maybe some new Macbook Pro/Air to excite the crowd and press? I do think we won’t see the new iPhone, and imo the next iPhone won’t be bigger. The bigger one will be the new iPod Touch, to compete with the PS Vita, as a portable gaming device. Plus, Apple has made the Touch so thin that the only sensible way to put in a higher performing chip and more battery without significantly increasing the thickness is to make it bigger.

I dunno. I used to be so excited on Apple events, but not anymore. Maybe because Jobs is gone. Part of the attraction was his keynote presentation. Or maybe because… Accel World! 😛 Burst-link!

 

The Avengers

Well, I finally watched The Avengers, the latest installment of Marvel’s super heroes movies. It’s the long awaited movie, bringing several previously standalone super heroes together: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk. Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, and Chris Hemsworth reprised their roles respectively, with Robert Downey Jr pretty much stole the show, or probably because Iron Man had the longest gap between his last movie and this one, and thus it felt more exciting seeing him again vs the other heroes. Anyway, here’s my quick impression, and yes, I will spoil the movie.

The story itself is a continuation of the setup from Captain America and Thor movies. Loki made a deal with some alien to use the energon cube, I mean that blue-cube-source-of-energy-thingy, to open a portal so the aliens can invade earth. Pretty straight forward, and the motive were already set for Loki, for revenge against Thor. Thing is, the last time we saw Loki, he fell from Asgard to the abyss. So how did he survive? I guess the “abyss” is space? Anyway, Selvig, the scientist from Thor movie is now investigating the energon cube from Captain America movie, and Loki used the situation to transport himself to earth. At the same time, he brainwashed Selvig and Hawkeye to work for him. Nick Fury then decided to assemble the heroes to get the energon cube back.

It started with Black Widow getting Bruce Banner. With the Hulk having 3 actors now with 2 non-related movies a long while back, it’s hard to relate to the character in this movie. By the way, at the end of Thor movie, Thor destroyed the bridge and thus stuck in Asgard. So how did he manage to go to earth again? And if he could, why didn’t he visit his girlfriend already? Yeah. Oh well, Iron Man is cool as always. As usual, Tony Stark arrived with the eye candy, showing how his landing pad automatically removed his Iron Man armor while he’s walking. Total geek fest. Captain America is pretty much a direct scene continuation from the end of his movie.

What’s great about this movie is the interaction between the heroes, especially Downey Jr as Tony Stark. The other heroes seemed stiff, but Tony Stark is just being Tony, making jokes and insulting everybody. It works great, and thus imo Downey stole the show. They also did a good job in balancing the heroes’ screen time. In movies with multiple main heroes, there’s a threat of having certain heroes taking a back seat. It didn’t feel this way in this movie. Even Hawkeye and Black Widow took quite big parts instead of standing by over the sideline.

How about fan service? This is something that many western movies sometime missed completely. Well, they are in the movies, enough to make fans happy, yet not too much that it makes the movie a bit corny. The best one I remember was when Iron Man and Captain America were fighting the aliens side by side, and Iron Man fired his repulser beam to Captain America’s shield and have the beams deflected to the surrounding aliens. That’s so awesome that the audience was cheering and clapping. Another hilarious part was when Hulk confronted Loki. Loki boasted how he’s a God, and the Hulk simply smashed Loki around like a toy. Again, the audience cracked up. It’s too funny. They did a really good job slipping these things in the movie. Another fan service is the Iron Man mark VII suit, which can fly on its own, matching itself to Stark’s bracelet and armored Stark on the fly, literally. It’s no extremis, but I’ll take it.

Any downside of the movie? Well, Shield is pretty much useless, i.e. they had the energon cube stolen under their nose, and their flying fortress were wrecked and did nothing during the invasion itself. The after credit scene can be hilarious and a huge eye roller at the same time.

Future storyline? It’s clear that Stark is going to use his tower as the Avengers Tower, and Thanos is going to be the next villain. My wishes? To have the X-Men and Spiderman franchise tied together with the Avengers. I want to see the live-action version of the Stark-designed Spiderman suit. Alas, Spiderman is pretty much Sony’s.

In short, The Avengers is a quick and fun action movie with enough toppings to please fans. It’s a great movie to distract me. Thumbs up, recommended. But enough distraction, back to making Accel World AMV now. 😉