Posts by Thrik

  • Silent Hill revelation

    Quote from D3ads

    Point being though that the first one was really good, not perfect but certainly one of the most important actual horror films of the last 10 years. That's a credit to director Christopher Gans and the original Silent Hill writers!

    Really...? Not that I'm belittling your opinion, but my memory of Silent Hill was that most people I knew found it average at best and it received negative to mixed reviews across the board. Better than most video game movies perhaps, but that's not saying much considering the near-universal shittiness of them.

    I haven't seen either so for all I know I could enjoy both, but it seems to me like both fit in the 'average' category and so you're liable to enjoy or hate it depending on your film preferences.

  • Skyfall

    Just saw it, absolutely splendid film. I seem to be in the minority as someone who really enjoyed Quantum of Solace, but I do think this was a step in a more 'Bond' direction, which let's face it has always held not taking itself too seriously above all else.

    Casino Royale was sublime, Quantum of Solace tried to take its formula of 'dark and complex' too far I think, and Skyfall has reverted to being something between the earlier Bonds and Casino Royale — a very good balance IMO.

    Quote

    Javier was a god damn excellent villain, although ultimately I think it's a shame such a powerful adversary limited himself to a pretty much suicidal personal mission. I'd really like to see a more traditional 'world domination' theme next time around with an honest-to-god supervillain at the helm. Quantum is still kicking around right?

    Oh, and props to the new soundtrack dude. I really liked David Arnold who's handled every Bond soundtrack made in my lifetime except one, but Newman did a fantastic job of applying his relatively quirky style to the Bond format and respecting the traditions.

  • Let's talk gaming mice!

    My Logitech G9 is still chugging away. It really is remarkable how well Logitech builds its mice, this thing has literally thousands of hours of heavy use on the clock and doesn't even have any real signs of wear like my older mice did (coating wearing off, etc)!

  • Random Photo Thread

    Lovely photos, agree that the noise needs some work though. Noise in itself isn't a problem and lends a cinematic feel to a picture, but it looks a little too much like the default Photoshop noise filter which isn't particularly realistic as far as the film grain look you're probably pursuing goes.

    There is actually a film grain filter elsewhere in Photoshop I recall, but what I usually do is use the noise filter on a new/copied layer at 100% (so it's completely black and white), then use gaussian blur to soften it a bit like real film grain rather than being all hard. Then I'll set the layer mode to colour burn, as real noise doesn't really affect highlights — the noise is essentially the camera failing to pick up detail in darker areas.

    Moderation is the last thing to be wary of. Your noise probably wouldn't look too OTT if it weren't so intense.

  • Post ideas/feedback about new forums here

    Not all functionality is available in the mobile view, however it's easy to switch to the regular design if you scroll to the bottom — you can even switch to the mobile view on a desktop down there if you really want to.

    It should save it as a cookie so when you return it continues to use the regular design. It's certainly optimised more for phones rather than tablets, the code probably sees the tablet identifying itself as a mobile device and assumes it's a phone.

  • Mapcore CSGO Server

    Awesome, this is a sweet thing you've done Psy.

    What I could do is post an article that introduces the server, and also provides details of the session on Tuesday. You send me a PM (or just post it here, up to you) with the downloads you want me to include and I'll be sure to simultaneously post the article plus Twitter/Facebook announcements whenever you think is best... say, tomorrow, or Monday?

    I'll figure out a way of getting the server information into the design too, perhaps add a new sidebar block with such info.