Recent Posts

2376

Living Room / Re: How do you spend your time on the computer?

« Last post by nudone on January 08, 2007, 09:15 AM »

from what i've observed - my computer is using me for something and not the other way around.

2377

Living Room / Re: How to think, act and live better - great books!

« Last post by nudone on January 05, 2007, 06:07 AM »

books that changed my life:

A Brief History of Time by S.W. Hawking http://www.amazon.co...?ie=UTF8&s=books
i pretty much hated the idea of reading books because of what i was forced to read at school. i then picked this up in my early twenties and realised i was a complete moron and that there were people out there that knew things i couldn't even imagine.

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins http://www.amazon.co...?ie=UTF8&s=books
after being introduced to the marvelous world of popular science by mr. hawking i then read dozens more by popular science authors. reading the selfish gene was not unlike being woken from a dream - or to be more dramatic - like the scene in 'the matrix' when neo discovers things aren't quite what he thought they were.

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell http://www.amazon.co...?ie=UTF8&s=books
i don't read many novels but this is one i read at school. i think it fair to say it shaped my view on the world from that point on.

2378

Living Room / Re: Jay is Games Flash Competition 2: Need Ideas!

« Last post by nudone on January 05, 2007, 01:56 AM »

sounds very good but i've never played one of these tower games so i'll need a few hints.

2379

General Software Discussion / Re: Motion Jpeg (.mjpeg) player or convert to mpg?

« Last post by nudone on January 04, 2007, 05:29 AM »

unfortunately, nothing seems to want to play the .mjpg file, except for mplayer.

videolan plays it too quickly - like within a millisecond.
gomplayer and kmplayer don't like it.
mpc, i've removed but i doubt it will play it as the above won't.
virtualdub(mod) won't even open it.

i'd guess that avisynth will be able to do something with it but i'm not hunting for the information.

2380

General Software Discussion / Re: Motion Jpeg (.mjpeg) player or convert to mpg?

« Last post by nudone on January 04, 2007, 01:24 AM »

the method using mplayer should adjust the speed of the clip - you can try typing in a different number other than the '12' as that was assumed to be the framerate of the original clip. if you try a lower number like 5 then you'll see the output clip's framerate become slower. if you don't then the player you are using must be ignoring the framerate information completely.

you'll probably need to experiment with a few number between 5 and 12 to get the perfect output framerate.

as for the sound - i don't know what can be done about that (i wrongly assumed there wasn't any audio with the original clip). looks like the mplayer method isn't that good afterall. maybe there is audio encoding information somewhere that you can find regarding mplayer.

2381

General Software Discussion / Re: Motion Jpeg (.mjpeg) player or convert to mpg?

« Last post by nudone on January 03, 2007, 10:04 AM »

you might get somewhere with virtualdub with the right mjpg codec installed - it didn't work for me after installing one but then i didn't reset the machine? i know i've used mjpg codecs in the past but i can't remember if it was with virtualdub.

dos smosh. i know you are right but i'm sure i'll have forgotten your wise words next time i need to refer to the command prompt and just call it dos anyway.

2382

General Software Discussion / Re: Motion Jpeg (.mjpeg) player or convert to mpg?

« Last post by nudone on January 03, 2007, 06:08 AM »

after experimenting with the file that you sent me, i4get75, the method that appears to work and is free is this...

download 'mplayer 1.0rc1 windows' from this site http://www.mplayerhq...u/design7/dload.html

extract the contents of the download to somewhere you can easily get to using a DOS command prompt, i.e. extract to a folder called 'mplayer' that is on the root of your C: drive (make sure that this folder 'mplayer' has the contents of the archive directly inside it and not yet another folder called 'mplayer' that then has the contents inside it - this is important for using the DOS commands.)

put the mjpg file you wish to convert into this 'mplayer' folder, i.e. so that the file is with all the other files that were extracted.

when you've done the above...

open a DOS command window - do this by opening the 'run' window in your 'start' menu.

in the 'run' window type cmd and press enter

a DOS window will appear

type cd\ then hit enter

type cd mplayer then hit enter

type mencoder.exe -ovc copy -ofps 12 yourfilename.mjpg -o out.avi and hit enter

this will convert the mjpg file named 'yourfilename.mjpg' to a file named 'out.avi' so you need to change the name of the input file name part in the command prompt above.

this information came from the 'digital video forums' http://forum.digital...p?t=64584&page=2

if this doesn't work i'm unfortunately not going to help much more as it worked perfectly here.

this method relies that you have the correct dos paths and directories in the right place so if you don't understand how to navigate around windows you'll not get very far.

good luck.

2383

Living Room / Re: BooksFree.com - Renting Paperback and Audio Books

« Last post by nudone on January 03, 2007, 01:46 AM »

So basically it's like paying for library service, except you have to wait for shipping?

-Deozaan (January 02, 2007, 07:33 PM)

haha.

(oh, you're right.)

2384

Developer's Corner / Re: The Escapist - Boutique Massively Multiplayer Online Games

« Last post by nudone on January 03, 2007, 01:38 AM »

seriously, is this something that could be done without dedicating your life to?

if we could do a LMMOG (little massively multiplayer online game) then i'd be interested in being on the team.

2385

Living Room / Re: Public transport, anno 2007

« Last post by nudone on January 02, 2007, 11:19 AM »

how much are the furs (fares)? groan.

2386

Living Room / Re: "What is Cody's breed?" Contest

« Last post by nudone on January 01, 2007, 10:17 AM »

i once asked cody what he was and you may well be right about him not being from this planet. i really couldn't understand his twittering but it sounded like he said he was related to the Dodo, well, to be precise, he said Doco (sound familiar? hint, hint). i could be wrong it - it was very windy at the time and i was having a great deal of trouble remaining perched on the branch so i wasn't paying too much attention.

2387

Living Room / Re: What present should we get Cody for xmas?

« Last post by nudone on January 01, 2007, 06:09 AM »

it's time to announce the winner of this little contest, to which there were many great suggestions. the charity idea was very commendable but it has been agreed that there are better places for such things (at the moment, at least).

i'm a very pragmatic kind of guy and i know what cody likes so the winning suggestion for 'cody's xmas present' is:

the birdhouse

congratulations to Arjen for thinking of such a simple but excellent idea. cody does indeed require a birdhouse of which i'll post an image of when the construction people have finished building it.

thanks to all that participated in the competition.

2388

Living Room / Re: OFFER: book - beginning flash game programming for dummies

« Last post by nudone on January 01, 2007, 04:54 AM »

i've decided that it's too long to wait until the 7th of january so you get the book, Mizraim.

just send me your postal address via a personal message on this board.

well done - you are the winner!

2389

Living Room / OFFER: book - beginning flash game programming for dummies

« Last post by nudone on December 31, 2006, 05:07 AM »

anyone want a 7 day old book - beginning flash game programming for dummies - it's free, i'll pay the postage.

state why you would like it and i'll pick who gets it on the 7th of january.

2390

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: First Draft Maker

« Last post by nudone on December 31, 2006, 05:04 AM »

think of it like a typewriter simulator.

-mouser (December 31, 2006, 03:55 AM)

ha, that would be even better. something that worked just like typewriter - with the tap, tap and ding noises - well, maybe that would become annoying pretty quick.

i'd like to see the program created though.

2391

Living Room / Re: Winterbells - Orsinal does it again with today's Flash Game of the Day

« Last post by nudone on December 31, 2006, 01:53 AM »

i've only just seen this thread.

just wanted to say that the orisinal stuff looks fantastic.

(correction made.)

2392

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: First Draft Maker

« Last post by nudone on December 31, 2006, 01:21 AM »

that's an interesting idea.

2393

General Software Discussion / Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?

« Last post by nudone on December 30, 2006, 02:37 AM »

i love virtualdub but it's not really something you'd use for serious editing - you know, moving video clips and audio around on a time line (i.e. NLE).

but now i've reread the original post i see that isn't what was asked for anyway.

2394

Official Announcements / Re: Anyone feel like doing some semi-regular original blogging at donationcoder?

« Last post by nudone on December 29, 2006, 01:34 PM »

none of the original column/blog people coming out of the woodwork?

it would be nice to see Carol carrying on from her abrupt cancellation...

2395

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2006 / Re: LifeHack.org 2006 roundup - 50 Best Hacks for your Life

« Last post by nudone on December 29, 2006, 09:55 AM »

looks very good.

2396

General Software Discussion / Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?

« Last post by nudone on December 29, 2006, 07:58 AM »

i've not tried it but it's open source http://www.jahshaka.org/

2397

General Software Discussion / Re: Why piracy is the better choice

« Last post by nudone on December 28, 2006, 11:23 AM »

i'm not really up on all this but from what i see the only real difference you are going to get with vista is the directx 10 game stuff - eventually.

like i said, i don't really know. but i would assume that directx 10 would be made available for xp or are microsoft going to deliberately keep it to vista.

i might have missunderstood all this directx 10 stuff so forgive me if i'm talking rubbish.

2398

Developer's Corner / Re: tutorial movie - how to animate a character in flash

« Last post by nudone on December 27, 2006, 05:28 PM »

anyone know of any more movie tutorials for flash character animation (and game design)?

i like to learn via movies and haven't really come across any in this category.

2399

Official Announcements / Re: cody flash animation pack (walk v01)

« Last post by nudone on December 27, 2006, 05:24 PM »

i'm pleased you like it dhuser. a more 'fluid' version is on the way plus several other animations - or they might be reserved for a special DC project that is being planned.

i see how the example swf file above could be used as a banner though that wasn't really what it is for - if there was a demand for such a thing then i'd create a more well thought out design.

2400

Post New Requests Here / IDEA: cross program links

« Last post by nudone on December 26, 2006, 09:52 AM »

this is somewhat of a half-baked idea - maybe it's impractical, maybe it's asking too much, maybe it's already possible.

i know i'm not the only person that can't decide on which program(s) to use for managing their data - or, it might be better to say that there isn't a single program that covers our requirements. instead several programs have to be used that overlap in functionality or perhaps just don't offer enough options singularly to get the job done.

so, my idea is, instead of waiting for the ultimate program to be created that does everything you require - i'm talking about organiser programs and the like - how about combining a few programs into a single way of working.

i use surfulator, mylifeorganized, desktop notes, acdsee, etc, etc. and i often find i'm not entirely sure if i've put the right data into the right program - there's quite a bit of crossover OR sometimes there just isn't enough crossover.

i'm suggesting (and wondering if it would work) that a universal super 'link' or 'shortcut' system be created that can be used with any program. you could then create an entry or file or image or whatever in one program and then link this piece of information with another piece of information inside a completely different program.

the 'link' system would be in the form of a word or number or code that could be entered as standard text inside the program - as this is universal. this 'link text' would then reference another piece of information with the same 'link text' inside another program. highlighting this 'link text' and pressing a hotkey would then open up the program that had the same 'link text' and hopefully take you to the right entry.

the 'link' system works by a continuesly running program (in the system tray) that can translate these bits of 'link text' into macro actions to open the correct 'linked' program and file within it.



now that i've typed that out i can see how difficult it would be to implement or, at least, i see how MORE difficult it would be than i first imagined. or maybe it isn't that complicated???

perhaps just defining a system that would work with 'text links' can be done manually and that would be enough.

if anyone understands what i've outlined and can suggest a practical manual way of defining these links then i'd be interested to hear that also.

my first thoughts are that maybe something along the lines of using a structure like this may work:

example...

entry 1a in surfulator relates to information in MLO for project 2b and also image 3c in acdsee. the universal 'link text' for this information would be "surf1a-mlo2b-acd3c" but a 'real' link would undoubtedly be longer because of the names of the information referenced.

perhaps i'm simply asking for a project management system?