HD Video Encoding for Youtube

A few people have been asking how I encode my gaming videos because they look good at all qualities Youtube has to offer as you can see below with one of the Half-Life 2 Videos I have uploaded.

Check out the settings that are below as these are the ones that I use when encoding my videos in Sony Vegas for uploading to Youtube. Click the images for a full size illustration of what Im on about!

Video Settings

  • Source Codec : Fraps
  • Source Resolution : 1280×720 @ 60fps
  • Codec ( Video Format ) : Sony AVC
  • Resolution : 1280×720
  • Profile : Baseline
  • Entropy Coding : CAVLC
  • Frams per second : 60
  • Field Order : None ( Progressive Scan )
  • Pixel Aspect : 1.0
  • Bitrate : 20mbps

video settings

Audio Setting

  • Audio Codec : AAC
  • Sample Rate : 44,100
  • Bit Rate : 128,000
  • Audio Coding Mode : Stereo

video settings

System Settings

  • File format : MP4

video settings

Project

  • Rendering Quality : Best

video settings

Downgrading my iPod to 3.1.2

I have been trying so hard recently to find a suitable way to downgrade my iPod back to iOS 3.1.2. There have been several methods that I have tried.

One of which is putting my phone into recovery mode and then downloading the 3.1.2 ipsw file from http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/ and then trying to “restore” it back to 3.1.2 in iTunes 9.1 ( it has to be a version pre iOS 4.0 ) with Apples guidence. No matter how I did it, it was a complete fail!

I made made an appointment with Apple for tomorrow afternoon at their West Quay store so hopefully they can help me get it back to 3.1.2.

My iPod is still under watrrenty which should mean that its not going to cost me a penny to get it sorted out. Then again, thats if they can even do what I request which is unlikely!

I will be posting what Apple do to the iPod if anything in another update tomorrow and hopefully be able to pass this on to everyone else who wants to downgrade!

–Edit

Unfortunately, Apple were unable to do anything and said this was impossible!

I have a bug in my screen!

This summer I have had some problems with the bugs! Now, these bugs are highly annoying. Not only do they annoy me by landing on me, but they some how managed to get inside my monitor! Now normally, you would think that this is no major problem, but they have some how got inbetween the LCD screen and the outer protective screen! Check it out below!

bug in screen

Not only have they got inside my monitor and inbetween the LCD layer and the outer protective layer, its died there! Now, I have a black smudge like thing permanently there almost in the centre of the screen!

All of the things I have been reading on the internet about this problem have told me the same things;

  • Don’t squash the bugs – as this just leaves squashed bugs in your screen.
  • Don’t take your screen apart – as you might break it.
  • Turn off your screen – they are attracted to the light and heat.
  • Put a lamp near the top of the screen while off – this should attract them to that.
  • If all else fails, use a small suction cup over the area to prise the outer layer away from the LCD screen – be very careful as this may damage your screen and leave a permanent mark there, but please wait until it dies!

Unfortunately I only found this information after I had squashed the bug in my screen. Now its there permanently, but I hope this little guide can help others with their problem. These solutions are not limited to PC monitors, but are helpful with TVs aswell!

All tips here you can try at your own risk and you cannot hold me accountable for any damages caused by following these!

My sisters 18th Birthday!

It was my sisters birthday on the 18th, she turned 18! Well congrats to her. I went to my mums ( which is in Kent ) by train, which was a lovely 2 hour 30 minute train ride to spend the weekend with her. Which turned out to be quite good. The kids throughly enjoyed theirselves which is a bonus!

We got there on the Friday afternoon, with no one expecting us to be there until there evening, which ment we couldnt get picked up from the train station so we had to get a taxi to their house. Which doesnt cost too much, so that wasnt a problem!

Saturday we went to a place called Swanley Park which was 27 miles away so the journey wasnt too bad! I was in the car with Christina and her dad and his other half. The good thing about the journey, was the fact that we used my phones GPS and Navigation App for directions. We took a different route to my mum, and we got there faster, which was a bonus! Over the entire weekend, I tested out the GPS to its fullest potential, and I was really happy with it!

Ryan had a go on this go cart type ride. He owned this other kid on it! Check out the video below!

Check out the picture below for the ones taken at the park.

christinas 18th

christinas 18th

christinas 18th

Saturday evening, we decided to have a BBQ. Here are some pictures from that!

christinas 18th

christinas 18th

Sunday, we went to the cinema then was going to come home, but the film I was watching ( Inception ) was a lot longer than we thought, so we ended up staying another night! We went for a meal at the Toby Carvery Restaurant in Margate, which was lovely, then took a nice strole on Margate beach in the evening!

christinas 18th

christinas 18th

Geocaching at St Catherines Hill

I remember talking to several people about Geocaching which is basically a “hunt for treasure” type of game that is played right across the entire world! So I decided to download and install the c:geo app on my phone! For more information about geocaching, check out the video on youtube or the official Geocaching website!

While we were up at the retro hash point, we decided to wonder back over the M3 and up St Catherines Hill to take a look at what exactly a geocache was! We had a lovely time walking around the massive hill, and I had fun finding the cache! Luckily I had a good app to help me find it – C:Geo!

Check out the app in the images below! ( these were taken just now! On Android you cant take screen shots with out a computer unfortunately! )

cgeo

I took some photos of the cache too!

st catherines

st catherines

st catherines

st catherines

st catherines

Before finding the cache, I took a few photos, check them out!

st catherines

st catherines

st catherines

Retro Hashing!

On Saturday we decided to take a trip up to an old Geohash. One where I took Ryan but Chloe was still in a pram which ment Kate couldnt come with us. Now that Chloe is out of a pram, we all went up there and checked to see if everything was still all good with the hash point.

All was NOT ok with it! It had been completely destroyed and all that remained of the hash point was a pin left in a post that aimee had used to put up her poster. The scroll that Mike had placed was missing, so I assume some one had found that and nicked that as well. Also my marker that I left was destroyed and all that remained was a mess of stones on the ground. This really annoyed me that some one could destory something that had meaning to others! They were information markers, why would someone want to take them away ?

This is all that remained!

St Catherines

Winchester Hat Fair!

The Wincnester Hat Fair was on, on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of July this year, and we decided to go and take a look to see what it was all about!

It seems that the Hat Fair is all about street performers. We all stayed and watched one, and then made our way up St.Giles Hill afterwards for a nice picnic with the kids, as it wasnt really something that we really like. While we were there though, we did get some pictures and a couple of videos of one of the acts. Admittedly they were pretty good!

hat fair

hat fair

hat fair