Magic.X

20th February 2003 12:18 UTC

First Pack released
This is my first Pack release although i'm AVS'ing for nearly 2 Years now. (It's the same pack as in the Pictures Thread)

After all it contains 40 Presets of my best Stuff.
Unfortunately i had to leave out some very cool ones because they use very large avi's and bmp's. Nevertheless, i think it's pretty good for a first Pack :D

And here are the APE's you'll need:

channelshift
amoeba
amoeba3d
flame
flock
fyrewurx
metaballs3d
screenreverse

Get it here

Jaheckelsafar

20th February 2003 15:04 UTC

Man, Space travel was great, and I do believe crytalica is the best use of a bass spin I've ever seen.

Raz

20th February 2003 18:15 UTC

Its a good first pack, there are some sweet looking presets in there but a lot of them just look the same. space travel and time wheel were the best.

Phaze1987

20th February 2003 23:01 UTC

Hey magic :) Here`s a fat ass review in raz`s style( :P ) :

TAELON2000-too damn colorful! I like colorful presets but this one is beyond :) Anyway i like it...
BALLZ-pretty nice...water + stars in the background aint a good idea ;) Try to put it under water and set the stars red
CHILLUM WAVES-could go at a party but for the small avs windows neaaah.
CRYSTALLICA-nice use of the bass spin,it looks good
FASTSPIN-damn its fast :) Its a bit grainy and dark but its ok.
FLUIDFLOW CHILL-relaxing one hehe...i really like it,the water kind effect is very nice
FUSION GENERATOR-seen and done too many like this :)
GAMMATRIX-those colors suck dude...no offence but its ugly.I included a remix with another color scheme
GRAPHIC-it looks nice but the effect is getting repetetive in your pack bro...experiment more!
HOM-i like the writing in the back but the colors suck.
HYPNOTIC TUNNEL-sorry to say this but its awful!my eyes feel like crap after fullscreen with that preset...
LIGHTFORMING-pretty nice but it has been done before for a lot of times
LIQUID CRYSTALS-nice,nice but SLOW! Try replacing the tentacles with a superscope(particle one would be great!look in UnDefineD`s third pack,he has some there)
MANDALANDRA-trippy...im sure you used it a lot at that party ;) Goes better without the mirror
MATRIX-nice idea but get rid of those timescopes...
MEGATESTS-like`em! they belong to the kind of presets that arent complicated but can be watched for hours :)
OMEGATRIX-done it some time ago...quite noobish preset
OOZE-hah! sweet ! i love it :)
ORACLEs-tentacles again...?
OVERLOAD1-yack! that effect is blinding me and my cat !
PSYCHOPOD-nope...too many colors!Look at the remix :)
PSYCHOWAVES3-too colorful and S L O W
PULSING PLASMA-been there done that..
ROTORIX-auch! hurts like shit!
SPACE TRAVEL-pretty sweet :) One of my favourites in this pack.
SPEEDSPIRAL-looks nice but i have a dejavu feeling when i see it...
SPLASH-it looks like the presets in the beggining
SUPERGRAPH-nice...dont like it too much but its ok
SWIRLING OBJECT-oh look ! serious coding hehe :) I like it :)
ALIEN LIGHTFORMS-aah...you can release a new pack name DM+MIRROR
TIME WHEEL-kewl :) love those colors and the movement
TRANSWARP-double auch ! after writing and viewing presets for 40 minutes this is a pain in the ass
TRYANG- PSYCHOPOD without DM and with replace not xor hehe :)

Yay :) Finished my review ! Overall - 2<->4 stars. Some presets are eye candy and some suck :) Code more to create more objects and quit those kaleidoscopic presets

Raz

20th February 2003 23:40 UTC

edit: ups accidentally pressed submit while typing the review below.

anubis2003

21st February 2003 00:34 UTC

Very many of these are very similar, but there are some nice ones for your first pack. I don't like the use of the render APE's in there(tentacles, metaballs, etc), but even with them you are a step or two above the average noob. Some of these are a bit too colorful also. Try to calm down with using the water effect and blurs, but very good presets in here for a first pack. Keep up the good work. I would give one of my big ass reviews, but you have a bit too many presets for me to do that.

Overall:3.0

Raz

21st February 2003 00:51 UTC

Ok time for one of my ™ big ass reviews... *deep breath* here goes:
"Its a good first pack, there are some sweet looking presets in there but a lot of them just look the same. space travel and time wheel were the best."

TAELON2000 - waaay too bright, take out the fast brightness and the mirror and it looks 10 times better. Nice smooth flowing colour, without the mirror and fast brightness would be really good. Also dont use the default code on the superscopes. Its not necesarily stealing code but its just as tacky. 2.9/5.0
BALLZ - not a bad effect at first glance but its basically a very very noob preset with meatballs APE attatched, it looks ok but id not use water and things like blitter feedbak/roto blitter and starfields but overall not a bad effect. 2.0/5.0
CHILLUM WAVES - i like the colours in this one, the white fog sort of 50/50 blend effect isnt too nice though, i'd change that. also make it do more than just rotate in a mirrory sort of effect, distance changing, more colour changing etc etc. OK but too similar to the others. 3.0/5.0
CRYSTALLICA - good use of the bass spin, nice colours and good crystally effect. could change around a little more. Try to make the bass spins out of superscopes (its really not that hard) and then you can manipulate them however you want. overall nice effect though. 3.0/5.0
FASTSPIN - this is kind of nice, its got a nice effect to it and the colours look good. Its a bit on the grainy side though, i'd lear that up and make it more 3D somehow, maybe bring bits of it out using a movement, something like "d=d/(sin(y)+1)" would work ;). not sure thats just off the top of my head. This is one of the better ones but needs work. 3.1/5.0
FLUIDFLOW CHILL - again one of the good ones, that water effect is nice. Very nice use of the DM's there, its just a little grainy, i would work on the colours a little more and smoothen it out a little. Maybe put something swimming in the water... Nice. 3.5/5.0
FUSION GENERATOR - augh, it just looks so noob. it dosent look that bad but its been done so many times that it looks awful to me. Try making some scopes to work with that effect and maybe it'l look better but right now... no. 1.8/5.0
GAMMATRIX - good colour effect but the DM has a glitch with the left hand side and makes it look ugly when you can see it. The shiny effect isnt bad but at times, the colours fade out and you can nly see a few and it irritates the hell out of me to watch it for some reason. make it so the colours change more and the density is more consistent. Also make a new, better DM for it. 2.7/5.0
GRAPHIC - now this i like, the colours are nice and smooth, The DM is smooth and the shapes look good. I would have more different shapes appearing in the colours though, maybe something similar to the water effect in fluidflow chill. 3.0/5.0
HOM - again pretty nice colours, i would make the scope change around more, set the n value to a something random in the beat section maybe. Its a bit boring but not bad. 2.3/5.0
HYPNOTIC TUNNEL - meh, again with the same colours but it looks way to grainy, i would smoothen it out and make the scopes into something different. This is essentially, a very very noob preset. Also dont use roto blitters like that. very easy to substitute with DM's. eg:
frame: ax=ax+a;
beat: a=getosc(0.5,0,0.5)/100;
pixel: r=r+ax;
thats just off the top of my head though, dont expect that to be too great im just showing how easy it is to rotate something. 2.0/5.0
LIGHTFORMING - this also has been done waaay too many times. the blue is too bright for my taste and it looks too grainy, i would have much more distance changing and rotation and colour differentiation. Try making a DM for it. 2.6/5.0
LIQUIDCRYSTAL1 - now this looks nice, i love the colours in this one. looks very smooth as well. i would have more happening and make the crystal move around the screen. use a DM or something, it needs more happening but otherwise, very nice. 3.0/5.0
LIQUIDCRYSTAL2 - should've left this out IMO, it looks exactly the same as the first except the crystal is thinner and taller. 3.0/5.0
MANDALANDRA - wow, this looks sweet, smooth colours and nice movement. stared at this one for a while. Looks very abstarct and good. I would have something clearer in the middle like a glowing star or something like that. Nice. 3.8/5.0
MATRIX - its not been done thousands of times but its been done too many times to see another one. UnConeDs is by far the best. I did my own but im not releasing it because its been done. This isnt bad, i like the way the timescope stretches into the distance but the 1's and 0's arent really matrix like. not bad. 2.7/5.0
MEGATEST1 - nice movement to it but it looks just like a lot of the others. maybe add this movement to graphic? Its not bad but you've used this effect way too much in the pack 2.8/5.0
MEGATEST2 - see above
MEGATEST3 - this one looks slightly better because of the meatballs APE but still the above comments stick.
MEGATEST4 - meh megatest3 with a tentacles instead of a meatballs ape.
MEGATEST5 - megatest1
OMEGATRIX - this dosent look bad, the blue looks a little too bright. i would have more shape change, rotation and better colours added too it. It dosent look bad but its boring as hell. I like that shiny effect though, thats nice. 2.6/5.0
OOZE - meh, tentacles with a noob preset on the end. My suggestion is to shift the tentacles and make something of your own in a superscope and make the colours less noob. 2.1/5.0
ORACLE - not a bad effect but again with the random mirror, it just dosent look good on everything, try using a movement like: x=-x, with the blend box checked or something like that. just do something different occasionally. i like the background effect you got though. 2.2/5.0
ORACLE2 - much better than the first, i like the colours, despite the fact that they're a little too bright and the rotations, this has been acheived by sacrificing the good effect in the first one though. 2.3/5.0
OVERLOAD1 - no offence, but this is awful. its flashy and bright and irritating and has bugs in it. get rid of the stars and add a scope, stop the flashing and change the DM so it dosent make those squares, agh i really dont like this :down: 1.6/5.0
PHSYCOPOD - meh, grainy, sunburster, noob colours. i like that cirles effect though, put it onto something better. change the colours and get rid of that god forsaken sunburster. 2.0/5.0
PSYCHOWAVES 3 - now this is nice, i like the colours and the smooth swirling effect, make it so that the number of swirls change onbeat and make it do more and this'l be really nice. 3.0/5.0
PULSING PLASMA - not bad, the colours are kind of nice and the effect is ok, could change a little more and make it so its not just blue. Not bad but need a lot more work. 2.4/5.0
ROTORIX - gah, my eyes!!! it burns.. it buhuhurns!!! change it so its not so grainy and chaotic. Make the colours less bright and make it change direction, also try and make it so you cant see those ugly lines you get with a roto blitter at the edges where its rotating. 2.2/5.0
SPACE TRAVEL - this looks very nice. very good but could have something else. like a ship or something. save this for later when you can make some awesome scopes ;) cause youve got a very nice space effect there 3.0/5.0
SPEEDSPIRAL - not too bad, the effect is a little chaotic and theres too many little distortions going on at once. Make it change more, different rotation speed/directions and the like, the colours look nice though. 3.1/5.0
SPLASH - not a bad underwater effect but you should use something smoother than a beaming effect, more of a swirly effect out of one of the other presets. not bad. 2.6/5.0
SUPERGRAPH - this is quite nice but i dont like it for some reason. Maybe its the colours, i really really REALLY hate that bright colours and white colour effect in most noob presets. the scope is pretty sweet but again with the mirrors. needs work but on the right track :up: 3.0/5.0
ROTATING OBJECT - meh, its not bad but it bored me. it dosent seem to do anything except move around slightly. make it more reactive to the music and take off that scatter-like effect. in the makings of a good preset but again, needs work. 2.9/5.0
ALIEN LIGHTFORMS - meh, the same as most of your others but that is a nice light effect. do something different with it and it'l be good. 2.8/5.0
TIME WHEEL - this looks sweeet. i really like that colour effect. the DM stays exactly the same on the left hand side though, fix that but otherwise very nice preset. :up: 3.8/5.0
TRANSWARP- wow, the colour effect in this is awesome, this looks really really nice. good job. I would have some different shapes etc etc appearing in the colour. 3.2/5.0
TRYANG - very nice effect but needs to change on beat, direction, speed, etc etc. looks sweet but needs work. really like the colour spraying out effect. 3.2/5.0

whew that took me an hour and a half... crap i need sleep. overall this pack is ok. most of the presets need work but some of them are just slight mods of others. you should select the ones you think are best out of all the similar ones before releasing. some of the DM's and scopes are great so your on the right track. overall 3.0/5.0.

jesus that was a big post...

Magic.X

21st February 2003 08:47 UTC

WOW amazingly detailed Comments.

The Pack: it i'snt really a Pack after all, no theme or style, it's just an overview of what i got (40 out of 180). I'm trying to upload the rest (my newest and the AVI/BMP presets) somwhere but it's gonna be a 15-20 Megs Pack

Noobish Presets: these are mostly my very early ones (like hypnotic tunnel) i've already deleted half of the old ones but kept the best to give my set a bit more variety.

Aaaagh-my-Eyes-Presets: Well i created those flashy bright and colourfull presets to flash the peopel on parties away - thats just what happend to you now :D

Same looking Presets: Well i consider this as my personal handycap - i just love Onbeat Roto + Random Mirror effects ;) i wont be able to stop me from making another bunch of em.

Scatter effect in Swirling object: Its only there because UnConeD suggested me to create a scatter effect.

General brightness of Presets: as i use them for Projections, cou have to be aware of all the influences like other light sources etc.
Furthermore it looks much smoother when its on a 3m*2m Screen. Just look at the Pictures Thread, there you can see Rotorix an large screen.

Yeah, it think i gotta sort it and make multiple packs out of it.
-Rotomirror Pack
-Noob Pack
-Flashes-your-Ass-off Pack
:D

anubis2003

21st February 2003 12:36 UTC

I wouldn't split them into packs based on type of preset because then instead of having some that look the same, all of them would. Try to keep a good mix of different kinds.

Raz

21st February 2003 15:31 UTC

yeah, anubis is right. I wouldnt have all the same kinds in a pack. Give them a good mix in each pack and then there wont be too many of the same type in one pack.

dirkdeftly

22nd February 2003 05:41 UTC

umm...when i click that link i get something called "attachment" of file type " Document" with the space...i'm not sure if i trust it :igor:
could you just attach it here, please?

Clinical

23rd February 2003 00:22 UTC

^^^ I get the same thing... I can't open it by any means whatsoever... how did the rest of you d/l it? :igor: I wanna see it too, because learning from other people's packs is as good as learning from your own. :D

anubis2003

23rd February 2003 01:05 UTC

Just rename the file as a .zip file. Then you can unzip it.

Raz

23rd February 2003 01:38 UTC

edit: made a big error, deleted embarassing mistake :)

Phaze1987

27th February 2003 14:42 UTC

Ok...raz you win ! Your comment is bigger :) Your the obi wan and im anakin but the padwan is learning hehe

Magic.X

27th February 2003 14:53 UTC

... and going to lead a life on the dark side...

Phaze1987

27th February 2003 21:20 UTC

Like i care...Bad guys always win !

Raz

28th February 2003 01:12 UTC

the bad guy wins in real life. but if we wanted reality we wouldnt be watching sci fi type films now would we.

anubis2003

28th February 2003 01:22 UTC

Bad guy doesn't always win in real life though. I think movies should have the bad guys win sometimes. It can be done well.

Raz

28th February 2003 01:31 UTC

yeah, bad guy wins and takes over the world in a fiendish plot to make money and control people... sounds familiar. I still havent slept anubis, im begining to crumble. crappy shitton of Art and I.T coursework i got really behind on. /me is very bitter towards crap art teacher who didnt appreciate my hours upon hours upon hours of hard work so me takes it out on keyboard/winamp forums. bah :/

shreyas_potnis

28th February 2003 05:21 UTC

magic.x, your pack is good, i would give 3-4 stars for it.
actually, i sent my first pack too. but, its not a first pack. earlier about 1 1/2 yr ago, i sent some of the presets i made.
they were not complete, but i sent them anyway.
the pack isnt published yet.

uNDefineD

28th February 2003 11:59 UTC

Ah, a fan of Earth Final Conflict, are we (TAELON 2000)? :D Full review coming soon.

Magic.X

28th February 2003 14:40 UTC

Yeah Undefined, got me right there :D

I had Tealon (without 2000) before and the colors really look like Taelons. I attached it. Its one of my early Presets, no big thing so far. 2000 is Hyperactive compared to the original.

Phaze1987

28th February 2003 21:57 UTC

Earth Final Conflict ? Movie ? Game ? Porn ? Movie ? Porn ? :D

dirkdeftly

28th February 2003 23:41 UTC

Okay, finally got around to downloading this...

TAELON2000: Awesome work - the mirroring is implemented very well. It's too brite tho...maybe just a small regular Brightness instead of the 2x? 8/10
BALLZ: I REALLY think that using Metaballs/Tentacles 3D is rather tacky...they were UnConeD's work that were done as presets in and of themselves, and I just think using them is kind of like taking someone else's preset, changing the colors, and releasing it under your name :/ 4/10
CHILLIUM WAVES: Nice, but the kaleidoscope isn't done as well in this one, methinks... 6/10
CRYSTALLICA: Great, for an old-skool preset, tho I'm not very fond of them. 6/10
FASTSPIN: It's kind of bleary and confusing...the colors should change more. The movement is nice, tho. 7/10.
FLUIDFLOW-CHILL: Great flowing feel, but it should be more dynamic. The changes are few and far between, and it's just a rotozooming effect :/ 5/10
FUSION GENERATOR: A lot less than I'd expect of you, I must say :/ Sorry, I just think this is really lame...especially using the example scopes :( 3/10
GAMMATRIX: Same as above - but this time my major complaint is that "chaotic" DM. I HATE those things :/ 3/10
GRAPHIC: Much better - I love this mirror effect. But the texture should have a little more. 9/10
HOM: Same as FUSIONGENERATOR. 4/10.
HYPNOTIC TUNNEL: Nice variation on and old, old theme... 7/10
LIGHT FORMING: Needs to be a bit more dynamic, but otherwise very good. 8/10
LIQUID CRYSTAL 1: Great colors, great movement...except the DM in the background is really ugly :/ The Tentacles 3D thankfully is not the center of attention, however a better render could be used here. 7/10
LIQUID CRYSTAL 2: Same as BALLZ. 4/10
MANDALANDRA: Nice scopes and movement...very minimalist feel, without being "too little." Very well done. 9/10
MATRIX: Like I haven't seen this enough times :rolleyes: 5/10
MEGATEST: It's okay...not too "catchy", really. 7/10
MEGATEST2: I liked the first one better :/ 6/10
MEGATEST3: This one's really good...but it's SLOW. Took a look inside...it's the metaballs. Like I said before...if it ain't the center of attention, you can use something else.
MEGATEST4: Same as BALLZ...but it's pulled off a little bit better cos of the mirroring. 6/10
MEGATEST5: All I can say is "ick" :( 3/10
MEGATEST6: Reminds me of CHILLIUM WAVES, and the texture isn't much better or worse. 6/10
OMEGATRIX: The texture is nice, but the beat response is just awful :( 5/10
OOZE: Sort of like a cross between CRYSTALLICA and MEGATEST3...still the same reaction as BALLZ. 5/10
ORACLE: Again, I don't like the use of Tentacles 3D, but it's pulled off OK. 6/10
ORACLE 2: You kinda destroyed the original Tentacles 3D effect, so you could probably get rid of it and use something else. Good remix/remake/followup. 7/10
OVERLOAD: Same as MEGATEST5. 3/10
PSYCHOPOD: This is EXCELLENT. It might just be cos I love XORed pallettes (I'm starting to sound like UnConeD here... :confused: ), but I love this effect. However, the DM could use some mirroring to make the edges smoother. 9/10
PSYCHOWAVES 3: Same as ORACLE - but I really like the effect created here. 8/10
PULSING PLASMA: It's nice, but it needs to be more dynamic. The colors should change also - when I think "plasma" I think warm colors, not icy blue :) 7/10
ROTORIX: It's okay, but it needs to rotate the other direction sometimes, and the colors should change a bit more. 7/10
SPACE TRAVEL: Almost looks like a tunnel...almost. Otherwise it's, again, just a nice variation on a very old theme. 7/10.
SPEED SPIRAL: It needs to rotate, and the ugly edges should be fixed - either a mirror or a zoom effect would do nicely. Other than that I really really like this one. 9/10
SPLASH: Same as MEGATEST5. 4/10
SUPERGRAPH: Excellent "remix" of the old Spirograph scope/theme. 8/10
SWIRLING OBJECT: I don't like the scope very much, but the movement and colors are nice. 6/10.
ALIEN LIGHTFORMS: I don't like this one too much...I don't know what else to say, sorry. 5/10
TIME WHEEL: Same as GAMMATRIX. 3/10
TRANSWARP: Same as MEGATEST5. 3/10
TRYANG: Now this one is really good - in fact, very very good. I don't see it reacting to anything though, and when I take a look...guess what, it isn't. This effect shouldn't go to waste :) 8/10

OVERALL: Not to many really good presets in here, and WAY too many mediocre/downright awful ones. Not to mention the fact that this pack is waaay to big. As for most the ones that aren't too good...I know you can do better, cos I've got the rest of the pack to base that on. It's a pretty good job, but it needs some work. 7/10

FYI: Always put APES that you intend to use in the installer for the pack - also, if you intend to release this, use a real NSIS installer instead of a ZIP.