newkidfan

It is strange...

2014-10-22T18:27:45Z

...to be around here again. I've been away for so long. I'm doing good. How are you?

lolz

2013-04-29T13:31:15Z

OMG I'm still 30 in my user info bio. I'm 33 now.... I feel like crying a little.

Last post was six months ago... :/

2013-04-29T13:19:38Z

When you update so that your account isn't purged, it means it's time to make a change...

Hey guys! Still alive. Life's been busy and eventful. I may tell you all about it soon. This place is dusty. I need to do some cleaning!

I won't even attempt to catch up with the 5000 and some messages in my inbox. WHAT?

:)

Vid : Meaning (Teen Wolf, Derek/Stiles)

2012-09-07T18:49:34Z

Meaning (Sterek) | Spoilers for seasons 1 and 2. | Beta-ing by the amazing saucefactory on tumblr / saucery.

+ Download (xvid, 38mb, 2:45min, mediafire)
+ Streaming embed below. Posted on tumblr as well.

Vidlet: Hindsight (Glee, Kurt/Blaine)

2011-03-23T16:35:30Z

Hindsight | Glee, Kurt/Blaine. Spoilers through 2x16.
Tiny vidlet is tiny but compact! Thanks to anoel for beta-ing. :)

If your speakers are not very good, headphones are recommended as the audio track is mostly bass.

+ Download (xvid, 7:10mb, 35s, mediafire)
+ Streaming embed below. Password: nothinghurts

Vid: Family Business (Supernatural) + Art by aesc

2010-05-19T17:05:35Z

Family Business | Supernatural, Dean/Castiel, complete AU: assassin!Cas, FBI!Dean | Music by Erik Satie.
An enormous thank you to aesc for her enthusiasm, her gorgeous art and for coming up with the title. You are amazing!

He put on justice as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head. / He put on the garments of vengeance, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.

+

+ Download (xvid, 16mb, 1:14min; mediafire)
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or below:

Link to aesc's post so that you can tell her how awesome she is!

Vidlet: Eyes Like Bottles (Southland)

2010-05-17T16:16:31Z

Eyes Like Bottles | Southland, John Cooper/Ben Sherman. Spoilers for seasons 1 and 2.
Song by Trespassers William.

+ Download (xvid, 19,65mb, 1:37min; mediafire)
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or below:

Art: "Simple" (NCIS)

2010-03-06T16:53:30Z

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Tim/Tony
Resources: Pictures from team-ncis.com
Notes: Little photoshop-doodling because it had been way too long since I had done anything. Real life is still taking up all my time. Miss you guys!

Even though those pictures are of Sean and Michael, I choose to see them as Tim and Tony here. I also usually have a backstory when I create something but this time, I don't...well, except for the part where they're happy and in love. I'll let your imagination fill in the blanks. :)

Vidlet: Somebody (NCIS)

2009-11-26T22:32:44Z

Somebody | NCIS, Tim/Tony. Spoilers for 7x07.
This is a tiny episodic vidlet for "Endgame". A big thank you to lamardeuse for beta-watching! :)

+ Download (xvid, 4.71mb, 23s; mediafire)
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or below:

Vidlet-animations: Booth/Sweets (Bones)

2009-10-13T23:11:05Z

terribilita asked if I could repost my Booth/Sweets animations in a public post, so here they are... This post is terribly incomplete. There are many more silly animations I could make, want to make. Alas, time is a rare commodity these days, and their oh-so-beautiful UST will have to keep until I have more time on my hands.

3x04 - The Secret in the Soil

4x04 - The Man in the Outhouse

4x07 - The He in the She

Vidlet: "Timmy," Tony says. (NCIS)

2009-10-10T15:50:18Z

"Timmy," Tony says. | NCIS, Tim/Tony. Spoilers up to 7x03. | Song from the Tsotsi soundtrack, composed by Mark Kilian & Paul Hepker feat. Vusi Mahlasela. | This, my friends, is last night's procrastination. Since I can't afford to procrastinate more than that --as I'm drowning in work-- it's only a vidlet. *goes back to work*

+ Download (xvid, 11.15mb, 55s; mediafire)
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or see embed below.

Vid + Art: "Blade Runner" (Merlin)

2009-09-25T16:56:24Z

Blade Runner | Merlin, Arthur/Merlin | Music by Vangelis.
Made for reel_merlin. My movie was Blade Runner. Wonderful beta was meivocis, thank you!

In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to engineer replicants, beings with magic abilities used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. Arthur Pendragon is a Blade Runner, a cop who specializes in terminating replicants whenever they become a liability.

+ Download (xvid, 23mb, 2:58min; mediafire)
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or stream + artwork below:

ETA: Apparently, people who don't have a LJ account do not see the art. I'm not sure why as I made sure the security level of the pictures (which are hosted on my LJ scrapbook) is set to public. Here, have a screenshot.

Art: "Across the Lines" (Supernatural)

2009-09-24T22:09:51Z

Fandom: Supernatural
Pairings: Sam/Ruby, Dean/Castiel
Resources: Screen captures by the lovely oxoniensis.
Notes: Had a flash of inspiration this evening. Opened PS. :)

Across the Lines

Icons - Credit newkidfan if/when using, thank you.

1. 2. 3.

Teeny vidlet: Weakness (Supernatural)

2009-09-12T13:39:30Z

1. This happened while I was thinking of artsy prompts for animotus.
2. This may become her prompt, along with a few selected pictures.
3. This is ~~a bit~~ a lot random.
4. I can't even take the credit for telling something new with clever editing, because, let's be honest, it was all already there.
5. Tiny vidlet is tiny. 13s.

Weakness | Supernatural, Dean/Castiel. Spoilers for s4.
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or below:

Vidlets: Human & Monster (Supernatural)

2009-09-07T10:25:45Z

Human & Monster | Supernatural. Spoilers for 4.21 and 4.22. | Song Muscle, Bone & Blood by Mia Doi Todd.
Human & Monster are a set of companion vidlets dealing with the end of season 4. An enormous thank you to meivocis for beta-ing; you are wonderful! ♥

To oxoniensis and animotus, who were never far away from my thoughts while I was vidding those.

Human | Dean & Castiel. Episodic vidlet for Lucifer Rising (4.22). Can be gen or slash depending on your goggles.
+ Download (xvid, 19.24mb, 1:25min; mediafire)
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or see embed below.

Monster | Sam & Dean. Episodic vidlet for When The Levee Breaks (4.21) and Lucifer Rising (4.22). Can be gen or slash depending on your goggles.
+ Download (xvid, 17.22mb, 1:20min; mediafire)
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or see embed below.

Feedback very much appreciated, as always.

Art: Wallpapers! (NCIS, Tim/Tony)

2009-08-27T16:13:55Z

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Tim/Tony
Resources: Picture from team-ncis.com, here.
Notes: Last night's procrastination. All desktops are 1280x1024.

From simple to complex: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Art: "Ever" (Torchwood, Jack/Ianto) + 4 icons

2009-08-02T17:43:43Z

Title: Ever
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Spoilers: Children of Earth!
Resources: Promo and episode pictures from the BBC website. Cap of CoE by Emma Jane.

Icons - Credit newkidfan if/when using, thank you.

1. 2. 3. 4.

Vidding notes for "Blood Makes Noise"

2009-07-30T17:02:49Z

purecreation asked, "At 1:37, how did you do that stretched streak/blur on Juliet's face? Also, could you perhaps post some of the curve and color settings on some of the colorful shots?"
kiki_myserychic wanted to know "about the ending shot, 3:00" and how I made it "look like the shudder was closing on the edges."
mystisblom wrote: "Oh I would love to see how you made it :)"

I tried to cover your requests as well as I could. If you feel like I have overlooked an important information in my explanations, do not hesitate to let me know.

To make this video, I used the following tools: VirtualDub, Sony Vegas Pro 8, Adobe Photoshop CS3. This post should be understandable and translatable even if you use other programs though.

You can watch "Blood Makes Noise" here.

Because of mystisblom's request, I decided to do a sort of commentary of my project files, show you how I organized things. This is not a tutorial on how to use Sony Vegas though, and throughout my ramblings, I assume that you already know how to set up a project, add effects to a layer vs adding effects to a clip, change composite mode, create a gradient, animate effects with keyframes, etc...

I do not own the Lost DVDs (yet!) so I had to work with the high resolution divx files available on the www. I clipped and converted them in VirtualDub. My lossless codec of choice for editing is huffyuv. I organize my vid folder like so:

The folder names are pretty straight-forward, but here's a short description anyway:
+ HUFFYUV contains my VirtualDub-converted video clips.
+ MP3 contains the audio track, and any other additional sound effects I may use. In the case of this vid, there was none.
+ PICS contains the pictures. For this vid, it means the dharma-like frame I made in PS which you can see all around the vid, and a cap of Ben's radio.
+ SOURCE contains the divx clips I extracted from the various episodes of Lost.
+ .veg files: For this vid, I had two veg files; blood.veg is the main one and where I did all the editing. The second file, frame blood.veg, is where I added the dharma frame, as well as the blurring around the edges of the video.

Let's open blood.veg:

Top left, you can see listed my project media files. I find that having my clips labelled in a systematic manner helps me save loads of time. My system --which is only one amongst many-- is the following: season and episode number, divx clip number from which was extracted the converted clip, a short description. Top right, the preview window. Bottom part, the various video layers and audio layer. There are 13 layers in total: 1 audio, 1 for the frame (which doesn't really count), 5 "fancy-it-up" layers, 6 coloring layers.

Layer 1: the audio track (Suzanne Vega's Blood Makes Noise).

Layer 2: the Dharma frame. As you can see in the screen capture of the veg file, this layer is muted. It's only there so that when needed, I can check that the frame won't be covering anything I wouldn't want to be covered. The frame will only be added to the video in the second veg file (see further down).

Layer 3: The top layer of the 5 "fancy-it-up" layers. What I call "fancy-it-up" layers are layers I use for adding textures, a light effect, overlaying-footage, etc. Set to "add", layer 03 was used to brighten the footage by creating spots of light.

Layers 4, 5, 6: Those layers are set to "screen". I used them to create halos of light, to add texture and overlay footage. I mostly used layer 6; layers 4 and 5 were used when 6 was already filled with a clip -- you can see how everything's piled up quite clearly in the blood.veg screenshot.

Layer 07: Last of the "fancy-it-up" layers. This one is set to "substract". I only used it occasionally to overlay the blood or x-rays in negative.

Layer 8 to 13: Those are the coloring layers. Right from the beginning, I knew I wanted to play with different colorings and rather than edit the coloring of each clip independently --which would have been extremely tedious for this vid-- I opted for editing the coloring of the layer. I created one layer for each type of coloring:
+ 8 inside: it accentuates the abundant green of the footage and tints the highlights a light blue. I used it mostly for in-door scenes (the cell, the operating room) hence the name.
+ 9 red: colorizes the footage in red. The contrast was adjusted at clip level, not the layer's, as it varied greatly from clip to clip.
+ 10 b & w: makes the footage black and white, also increases the contrast and luminosity lightly. Then if needed, the contrast was adjusted further at clip level.
+ 11 outside: colors the out-door footage with a light yellow wash.
+ 12 clip coloring: there's a small contrast adjustment of the layer, but the coloring is done at clip level. I used 12 when the other layers were already full or for when I wanted a coloring I didn't have already elsewhere.
+ 13 remove yellow: I think I used this layer for three clips only. It removes the yellow wash of the scenes in the operating room.

Examples of how I used the various layers:

1) footage + stock footage + circular gradient

2) footage + footage + stock footage

3) footage 1 + elliptical gradient + solid color with mask + footage 2

4) footage + footage + stock footage + circular gradient 1 + circular gradient 2

Those four examples are pretty representative of the various combinations I used throughout the vid. In the fourth one, you can see an example of how to combine two colorings through the use of a mask. At 0:17 in the video, I used a similar technique, but there, the mask is animated, making the red coloring change shape.

Here's another and more detailed example of mask + coloring that may interest you:

5)

A is the original footage.
B: Layer 12, clip coloring. I reduced the size of the footage and masked everything but Juliet and the light behind her. The mask is animated to follow her as she moves. The clip is also darkened to hide the border of the mask; it was still too visible as I had to keep the feathering to a minimum since I didn't want Charlotte to show.
C: Layer 6, screen, red halo made with a red/black circular gradient with an opacity of 50%.
D: Layer 5, screen, copy of the clip on layer 12 to bring out Juliet a bit more. Opacity of 60%.
E: Layer 4, screen, moving dust in water footage, with an opacity of 70%.
F: Layer 3, add, white/black elliptical gradient, with an opacity of 30%.

And that's pretty much it as far as the coloring is concerned. purecreation asked for curve and color settings so here they are for inside, red, outside, black and white. Those settings were applied to the layer; I did not include the settings that were applied to each clip. My favorite effects for coloring are color curves, color balance and color corrector.

Once I finished editing the video, I rendered a lossless copy and created a second vegas project to add the frame and the blurring. I decided to blur the edges for two reasons:
+ I found it visually interesting. It went well with the frame and the mood of the vid.
+ Technically, I needed to hide the abc HD logo. I had removed the logo in VirtualDub but the removal was not seamless in every shot. Blurring the edges was a way to smooth those imperfections out.

Let's open frame blood.veg:

Layer 1: the dharma frame
Layer 2: a black/transparent gradient. The layer opacity is set to 50%.
Layer 3: is the video file to which is applied a gaussian blur effect. Then I added a feathered mask to mask out the center so that layer 4 could show through.
Layer 4: is the video file, unchanged.
Layer 5: is the audio track.

You can see how it builds up below.

From left to right:
the video file as rendered from blood.veg (note that you can see a blurred rectangle where the logo used to be)
the video file + the video with blurred edges
the video file + the video with blurred edges + elliptical black/transparent gradient
the video file + the video with blurred edges + elliptical black/transparent gradient + frame

And I was done! :)

***
Now, on to kiki_myserychic's question "about the ending shot, 3:00" and how I made it "look like the shudder was closing on the edges."
The answer is simple, I did nothing. The shudder-like effect was already in the original footage --the flickering lights are the ones responsible! *g* It may have been accentuated by the coloring I chose: black and white for the corridor, colors for Jack and Juliet.

***
purecreation asked, "At 1:37, how did you do that stretched streak/blur on Juliet's face?"

Download mp4 (16.40Mb; better quality than the stream), or watch streaming:

Questions, comments, chocolate, and hotsexymen are much appreciated, as always.

Vid: 'Blood Makes Noise' (Lost)

2009-07-18T13:04:27Z

Blood Makes Noise | Lost, Jack/Juliet. Spoilers for s3 and s4. | Song by Suzanne Vega.
Thank you to meivocis for beta-ing and to kiki_miserychic for coming up with the idea for the song.

+ Download (xvid, 22mb, 2:02mn; mediafire)
+ Stream on BAM -- you have to have an BAM account to access the site -- or below:
(The streaming quality is not that fantastic, but it's still better than nothing I suppose.)

Feedback very much appreciated, as always.
ETA: There are now vidding notes!

Vidlet: "9 to 5" (Merlin)

2009-06-22T21:36:54Z

The good thing about being without easy Internet access for a little more than a week is that you don't get as easily distracted by the shiny of your flist and/or wonderful fics, and you end up having time for silly vidlets. Example:

Title: 9 to 5
Fandom: Merlin
Characters: Merlin, Arthur. Guest appearance: Gaius.
Spoilers: None. Season 1 footage.
Notes: Big thanks to mamoru22 for instant and last-minute beta.
Plot: The life of a manservant is hard work.

download (mediafire)
xvid. ~11Mb. 1:20mn.
Video embed below.

Vid: Language (Stargate: Atlantis)

2009-06-06T18:53:53Z

Title: Language
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Characters: John and the people he loves.
Pairing: Well, um, there's either none *or* depending on the ship goggles you're wearing, there can be John/Rodney, John/Teyla, John/Ronon, John/Elizabeth, *or* one big orgy. It's up to you.
Spoiler: Up to the first half of season 5.
Notes: Big thanks to wyomingnot and valika56 for betaing. You were very helpful.

Plot: Thank you. For everything you... meant to say. ~Teyla to John in "Sateda".

download (mediafire)
xvid. ~40Mb. 3:42mn.
Video embed below.

To elli, because she's wonderful and fantastic, and I love her like woah.

Art: "Elemental" (Merlin)

2009-05-24T20:39:33Z

One afternoon of Photoshop frolicking later...

Title: Elemental
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Notes: el·e·men·tal
+ Powerful and wild; like the forces of nature.
+ Basic and fundamental; being the basic or essential constituent of something.

Gaius' hands shake as he sets the book on his lap. The prophecy is about two boys; one is not entirely human, and the other was brought into existence by the same forces that made the first. It only says fig.7, no names or dates, but Gaius can't help but think the resemblance is uncanny. He traces the boy's tattoo with the tip of his finger and wonders if Merlin will ever look like that, or if the tattoo will reveal itself as his essence unleashes.

Icons - Credit newkidfan if/when using, thank you.

+ + +

Resources: This is very much a mixed-media piece. The boys were drawn directly in PS with the help of reference pictures I'm sure you all recognize. Some of the flowers are scanned from a book of flower illustrations I own, and others are scans of my own watercolours. The unicorn is a picture of a horse I found via a google search. Finally, the outline of the castle was made from pictures I took when I visited Pierrefonds. As I said, this is a mixed-media piece. :)

(Old) Vidlet: "Shadowman" (Lost)

2009-05-21T15:00:29Z

Title: Shadowman
Fandom: Lost
Character: Jack
Spoilers: "White Rabbit" (1.05), though I'm not sure it can still be considered as spoilery. *g*
Credits: The footage comes exclusively from the white rabbit episode. The song's called "Shadowman" by K's Choice.
Notes: I made this vidlet a long, long time ago: 24 Feb. 2006 (original post, f-locked). I was sorting through my vidding folder and found it again. The quality was horrendous --it was one of my first vids-- and I suddenly felt the need to give it a second life: I re-vidded it, using the exact same clips (but one) and cleaned up some of the transitions. I've decided against more thorough changes --even though I would do things diffently today-- because I'm sentimental like that. The quality is still not superb as, like the first time, my source footage is still a crappy divx, 350mb file, but it's significantly better than in 2006. It's always nice to have confirmation that one's skills have improved over the course of a few years. :)

download (on vimeo)
xvid. avi. ~10Mb. 30s.

Password: jack

I'm now hitching to vid more in Lost, but I don't own the dvds yet, so it will have to wait ... though I do have S3 in HR, so I could vid that season. *thinking face* I welcome other people's bunnies, especially if it involves S3 Jack/Juliet, as well as soundtrack.

Crack: Princess!Arthur and maid!Merlin

2009-05-13T14:07:06Z

First and foremost, I would like to say and emphasis that it is all lamardeuse's fault, who posted about how few manips of girl!Arthur vs girl!Merlin there are out there, and made me want to help change that. Second, unlike for my previous collage in which I turned Merlin into Holly Golightly, I am very, very sorry. Third, should Colin Morgan or Bradley James ever stumble upon this post, my sincere apologies. Really.

So as I said, all lamardeuse's fault: wanting to find inspiration for a future Photoshop session with girl!Arthur, I did a basic Google image search; keyword: "princess". Among the various pages of paintings of real-life princesses and Disney characters, I stumbled upon these sparkling atrocities craved by most little girls the world over, and experienced a massive brain freeze. (To my defense, it was quite late into the night already; the brain wasn't working at full capacity.) I cackled for at least five minutes in front of the laptop, just thinking about what I was about to do, BECAUSE ONCE THE IDEA WAS IN MY HEAD, I KNEW IT WAS NEVER GONNA GO AWAY AND THAT I WAS DOOMED TO DO IT. As soon as I regained use of my brain and basic motor functions, I opened Photoshop and proceeded to cry with barely suppressed manic laughter throughout the making of this, laughter interspersed with moments of pure mortification. Once done, I thought to myself: self, let's wait until tomorrow to post this little horror ... you don't want to do something you'll regret. It is tomorrow, and oddly enough, though I am still mortified and very, very sorry, I can't seem to regret it. Most bizarre.

ANYWAY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. CRACK AHEAD. Also, I want to make very clear that this is NOT my official contribution to the girl!Arthur shrine.

And because I may as well go ALL THE WAY: ICONS!

+ + +

saucery said it best when she wrote her microfic meme:

"Merlyn," hissed Artheia, "is there a hole in my corset?"

Art: 'Morgan' (Merlin) + plot bunny

2009-05-10T22:10:55Z

Fandom: Merlin
Title: Morgan
Genre: Modern times AU.
Pairing: Gen, but the plot bunny that goes with the art is definitely Merlin/Arthur.
Notes: This is what happens when I read too many genderfuck fics in a row.
Bunny: Morgana has launched her own line of cosmetics, partly because she wants to, but mostly because it drives Uther bonkers to see her invest her fortune in something as frivolous as cosmetics. She couldn't be more delighted when her latest fragrance, "Morgan" (designed for men and women alike), stirs a small controversy in the most conservative circles of society -- read Uther's circles of society -- due to the androgynous nature of its scent, name and advertising campaign. Against his better judgment, Arthur becomes fascinated by the face of "Morgan", a young man by the name of Merlin... (read more under cut)

picture heavy

For those interested, the story running through my head while I was making this went about this way: Morgana's latest rebellious endeavour against Uther has been to launch her own line of cosmetics. She doesn't waste an occasion to rub it in his face, and takes an evil pleasure in loitering the living rooms and boudoirs of their mansion with beauty magazines, purposely left open on the (slightly provocative and controversial) advertising spread for her latest fragrance. Against his better judgment, Arthur (who follows faithfully the path Uther laid out for him) becomes fascinated with the male model posing on them. When Arthur meets him for real, well ... LET'S JUST SAY THERE'S LOTS OF LUST AND UST AND FALLING IN LOVE. :P

This bunny is, of course, up for grabs. I may even, very possibly, cry from joy if someone decided to write the AU that goes with all of this. Any takers? ♥

Nb: In case you haven't recognized the original picture, the body belongs to Audrey Hepburn.