Half Life: Alyx - Jeff - Update #3

Good evening everybody. Just to provide another update after a couple of weeks on Half Life Alyx. Things thus far are going smoothly. I've managed to get to roughly 8 minutes and 30 seconds edited out of 26 minutes. So roughly 32% done so far.

Here's a shot of the timeline. With the After Effects comps (pink) and overlays (yellow and green) creeping across the screen as work is underway.

Being completely honest, I've not been as efficient as I could be owing to all the complexities surrounding the house move. Whilst that's all going well, it has been providing major distractions. Appointments that couldn't be skipped or delayed.

For example, yesterday the entire loft had to be sprayed down for woodworm. And then an internet engineer had to install the box thingy on the wall. The sort of afternoons where one cannot simply zone out and keyframe.

But things are gradually taking shape. One by one the cardboard boxes are being unpacked and things are being put in their places. The work routine is settling back into place.

On editing this video, I'm having to remind myself to be as efficient as possible.

Format wise, it's very similar to the Alien Isolation videos of old. In the sense that there's rarely any direct focus on the screen (at least when the monster isn't present) meaning that a lot of the time the text needs to be static on the page, covering what I'm saying and what I'm describing.

For this reason, I need to remind myself that Adobe Premiere has perfectly capable title tools that can efficiently create text in an identical style.

I don't need to go into After Effects and make everything into an .aep file.

As tempting as that often is for an over editor like myself.

The more.aep files there are, the more lossless .avi files I'll probably need to create. The more overall complexity I'll introduce. When a simpler tool can get the job done faster. And if I need to keep it simple, I should reach for those.

Besides, the video already features many opportunities for frame-by frame-keyframing. Especially when boxes and bottles start coming into play. With things flying across the screen and shattering with a bit of pixel polly. Meaning I need to dedicate most of the editing time to the locations where it will be most appreciated. Not every single piece of text.

If I try to make everything fancy, then a 26 minute long video is going to take months. I'd rather be speedier than that. So efficiency first, then go back and do some special flourishes in the place where there'll be most effective.

Another thing I'm discovering again is that VR motion can be very jittery. Autotracking in this instance is a very poor idea.

For the tracking can be far too precise. Putting in every little wobble at a time when you want the text nice and smooth.

For this reason, I'm trying to do manual keyframing work as often as possible. Using the spatial 'bezier' tool to make nice smooth curves, rather than jagged pathways of motion. Experimenting with refinements to try and make it look right, even if its not strictly speaking, inheriting the movement of the subject.

Thus far I've covered the run up to the vodka factory, the initial encounter with Jeff. And tomorrow I should be able to edit the freezer encounter.

Then next week I need to cover the chase sequence across the top of the factory. And the week after the 3 power cores and the conclusion.

So far so good. It's all coming together scene by scene. I'll keep you informed if there are any issues. Thanks all.