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News Archives
Dec 20, 2006 4:25 pm:
The mindcandydvd.com website is now updated with all of the new juice. :)
We are now taking advance orders, for both PAL and NTSC! Everyone who was on the reservation list should've received an email by now. We hope you'll be able to get your discs before the vendors run out. :) Word is, people in Europe are already starting to get their PAL DVDs in the mail! The "official" release date of the NTSC disc is still January 16th, but those of you in North America who've been anxiously waiting are welcome to order now through us (Fusecon). If you're patient, we'll have free stickers to include with orders starting around the new year.
Enjoy the new website, DVD, holidays, everything!
-- Phoenix Dec 17, 2006 2:01 pm: For those who live near Portland, Oregon, Dan Wright will have a small (5-20 people) DVD release party on the 21st of December. E-mail him if interested (dmw at fusecon dot com) and he'll provide you with the details.
Dec 13, 2006 11:41 pm:
It's official -- MindCandy 2 is done! I received my PAL edition today and I got weak in the knees and had to sit down. Every single thing about volume 2 has been improved over the original and any fan of the scene will find more than their money's worth in the final product.
There have been many trials along these last four years, but I am happy to say that the end product exceeds what I had envisioned for it four years ago. Soon, the NTSC version will also be finished, and in a few weeks we'll have the mindcandydvd.com website updated with all of the new juice. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
The end is near! No, not the end of the world, but your chance to finally own MindCandy 2. All video and audio production work is completely finished for both PAL and NTSC!!!
At this point we're trying to stitch up the final loose threads, such as finishing touches on the booklet, cover and disc art, and also a pesky Dolby Digital audio encoding thing we didn't handle properly the first time around.
While things can still go wrong, they're mostly going right, and I think it's safe to say that you'll be holding the DVD in your hands in about two months. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
He warned you, and commentary submission is now closed! Trixter has recorded all uncommented tracks, and is now going through the painful task of subtitling. (that's a verb, right?) -- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
BTW, any commentary we don't get will be recorded by Trixter. You have been warned! -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
It may look like no progress is being made, but we've secretly been working frantically to make the Christmas season. All menu assets have been done; we ended up doing it ourselves, because we couldn't find any volunteers (or any non-free "volunteers" who would meet our quote). All video has been edited and is encoding as I write this. 5.1 remixes by Phoenix are finished. All in all, we will have a PAL product shipping before Christmas (and, if we hustle, the NTSC product as well).
However, only half the commentary is done -- if we're waiting for you to submit some commentary to us, please hurry! -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
OK guys, this is it, our last desperate plea for audio commentary on MindCandy Vol 2 from the original, remaining Amiga demo groups. Our goal is to get at least 20 out of 30 commentaries from (original) members of the demo groups featured on the disc. Wouldn't you like to hear them reminisce about their demos after all these years? We would.
The Disc Contents page has a fairly accurate listing of which demos we definitely have commentary for (under the Comm column).
Groups we have NOT heard back from. Help!:
-Dual Crew/Shining (Klone)
-Kefrens (Desert Dream)
-Maturefurk (Lapsuus)
-Melon Dezign (Human Target)
-Polka Brothers (Friday at 8)
-Virtual Dreams (242, Love, Sumea)
Groups who MIGHT be making commentary, but an extra push wouldn't hurt :) :
-Razor 1911 (Voyage)
-Lemon. (Groovy)
-Nerve Axis (Relic)
-Ozone (Smokebomb)
-Spaceballs (State of the Art, 9 Fingers)
Groups who have DECLINED to make commentary. You should only try reaching them if you know them personally enough to change their mind:
-Andromeda (Nexus 7)
-CNCD (Deep remix, Closer, Killer)
-Silents/Crionics (Hardwired)
Given how many emails we've sent out to these groups, we'll leave you guys to find your own (maybe better) ways of contacting them.
BTW, groups who do commentary get 3 free DVDs or 50 euros per demo. If you successfully refer them to us, you'll probably get a free copy too. :) They can contact Dan (dmw(a)fusecon,com), Jim (trixter(a)oldskool,org) or me (vossa(a)snet,net).
All empty commentaries will eventually be filled in by us or other volunteers.
Big thanks.. -- phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Just a quick note that we've received almost half the commentary for the disc! And a special thanks goes out to our friend h0l (Simon Carliss) who has offered to supply commentary for any demos that we can't get a hold of the authors for. Another big big thank-you goes to Michael at Cloanto (the Amiga Forever guys) who tracked down people at Breakpoint and got commentary from them. I was and continue to be inspired by the scene's willingness to help the project. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Progress has been slow the past few weeks, and will continue to be slow until the end of the month. This is because Trixter is busy working on a video for the MobyGames booth at the upcoming GDC.
In the meantime, if you can reach any of the groups who still have "No" underneath the Comm(entary) column on the Contents page, beg/force/bribe them to record commentary for their demos! It's really important to us that we have some from as many featured groups as possible.
-- phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
We finally have permission to include all demos on the contents list. -- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
The entire demodvd.org/oldskool.org/mindcandydvd.com infrastructure was shut down by a flurry of traffic from digg.com :-) which was flattering. We'll be moving our content to an infrastructure which is more robust in the coming week. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
If there is a silver lining in every dark cloud, ours is more features we can add to the project. For example, now that we're not scrambling to meet a deadline, we've added a production featurette to the project plan. This small featurette will demonstrate what went into this project from a technical/post-production standpoint, including:
- How we captured the video (genlocks did not provide enough quality so we had to purchase a big gun)
- How we post-processed the video (used some tricks appropriate to Amiga's color palette)
- How the PAL->NTSC transcodes were created
- How we created the 5.1 audio tracks using the original MOD files
...and Much Much More! -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Believe it or not, we're not dead. The project is still on and thanks to a new hosting plan we're going to have some previews online for you to enjoy. If we're quiet during December, it's probably because of the holidays, so enjoy yours and we'll see you in January. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Thanks to Crest and Franky for two flattering reviews of the preview disc! It looks like the final may not be finished until early next year now, but we'll guarantee a top notch product. -- Phoenix Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm: The preview DVD for Volume 2: Amiga Demos is ready for download! We assure you the 1 GB download is well worth your time. :) Spread the word! And feel free to leave feedback through email or our web forum. Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm: We have completed the volume 2 preview disc. Look for free copies at Assembly 2005 in Helsinki. It will be a DVD-R in PAL format, limited to about 180-190 copies (we will press around 200-210). Tomcat, who is expected to release his book Freax, will have some of these promo DVDs to hand out. The rest will be handed out by Assembly organizers and maybe some others. After the party, everyone will be able to download the DVD trailer and ISO images of the preview disc, in either NTSC or PAL format. We'll post links when that happens.
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
As you can see, the project is having some problems with momentum, mostly due to Trixter's personal problems. That being said, we are working on a 5-demo preview disc that should be ready in time for Assembly 2005, and will be freely downloadable after the party.
Feel free to offer up some words of encouragement :-) -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Oops, I just realized that all contact/permission/help submissions have been bouncing for the past three weeks or more. I've changed my contact email, so if you have tried to submit a contact, permission, or help form in the past month PLEASE SUBMIT IT AGAIN! Thank you. -- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Please check the blog as things are moving again quite nicely. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
What is going on with the project? Why no updates? Real life, and a lack of motivation on my part. I have created a developer's blog (see link at top) to try to document the trials and successes the project is going through. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
All group contacts have been found. Thanks to everyone who helped track down those retired Amiga sceners. We're confident every demo you see on the list will be permitted by its makers.
-- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
After some discussion with Trixter, I've made a couple updates to the Help Wanted page. Those of you making intro clips, we'd prefer you make BOTH PAL and NTSC versions, as a native NTSC clip would look better than one converted from PAL. Second, for the menu music, 24-bit is preferred to 16 - or at least a high-bitrate (320kbps) MP3. The same goes with audio commentary. We'd prefer stereo there too, but if you submit it in mono, 160kbps is okay.
We're pleased with the many offers we've gotten for menu music and commentary transcribing. We should have a decent number of intro clips too. But we still need some volunteers to do audio commentary. It's really fun to do in a group.. as long as you don't have any children running and screaming upstairs. ;) Of course, in a perfect scenario, we wouldn't need anyone commenting other than the groups themselves, but even with all the free stuff we're offering to them, it will be a challenge.
-- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Are there any Amiga diskmag issues due out in the next couple of months? We would like to submit some articles. If you know of any, contact us. -- Phoenix Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm: OK, here are the real website changes, as promised:
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Dan and Andy were in San Francisco last weekend for the #trax 10 year reunion (www.trax10years.com). Rob (Xten) also visited briefly. Postcards for Volume 2 were handed out, so attendees got a first glimpse of what the cover will look like. More should be available for the major upcoming parties.
As usual, work has been slow but steady. You should see some significant updates to the content on this website soon. -- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
If you've noticed that the reservation list for volume 1 is gone, that's because more are now available! We've done a repress, which also gave us the opportunity to fix small mistakes in the printing. Go to http://www.mindcandydvd.com/order to order yours today.
Volume 2 has gotten off to a very slow and rocky start due to some heavy personal issues with one of the team members, but those are now mostly resolved and a project plan is almost finished. Unless some major blows occur, vol 2 will be shipping in Q3 2004 (that's this fall, for those not familiar with biz-speak). -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Been quiet lately. This is due to a couple of things, most notably a family emergency, but all is going much better now and things are ramping up. Jope / Instant Ejakulation was extremely kind in providing us with a modded A500 for our PAL testing, and that unit confirms that for anything that runs at the full framerate we need a true PAL box to avoid dropping fields (the horizontal scanning rate is every so slightly off from real PAL, but it's a hell of a lot better on a real PAL box than on an NTSC box degraded to PAL!). With that, preproduction on volume 2 has officially begun.
Now, anyone willing to lend us a PAL A1200 or A4000 with /060 and/or PPC?
We are also going to be soliciting the scene community for some "intro" clips to start the DVD off, and will also need some help with translating commentary to subtitles (we have English and Dutch covered, but will need help with other languages). Stay tuned for a section on this website that will explain how you can help. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
We are now proud sponsors of scene.org, the world's largest PC demoscene archive. -- Phoenix Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm: If you have a working PAL Amiga, you may be able to proudly serve your community by donating or loaning it to the DemoDVD crew, for use in the production of the upcoming DVD, MindCandy Volume 2: Amiga Demos. We are in need of a PAL Amiga 500, preferably with KickStart 1.3 and at least 1MB RAM. We are very interested in other PAL hardware as well, such as a 1200/030, 040, or 060. We will pay for all shipping costs, and promise you, at the very least, a free copy of the DVD when it's available. Help make the next MindCandy DVD beautiful - for everyone! Please contact: trixter at oldskool.org.
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Phoenix was able to hack together a Volume 1 Reservation List for those who missed out on Volume 1 and want to request a re-pressing. We need to justify a repressing (we don't want the project to lose money), so if you would like to request additional pressings, please add your email to the list. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Release Candidate 2 of the new demo list is up on the Disc Contents page. There are only a few changes, but we still encourage you to take a look. We're one step closer to the final playlist.
In Volume 1 news... we are almost sold out! If you've been putting it off, now would be a good time to get a copy :). Amazon is out of stock, and Fusecon only has five (5) copies left for sale. Our other distributors still have over 100 total copies, but Bjorn Lynne expects to sell his remaining stock at Assembly. Keep an eye on the order pages on www.mindcandydvd.com and www.fusecon.com to check if it's still available near you. -- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Amiga pre-production is officially underway! We have finally obtained the base equipment we need: An RGB Spectrum Videolink 1650x broadcast scan converter, a professional NTSC/PAL video monitor... and, oh yes, an A500, A1200, A3000, and A4000 (the latter with an '060 accelerator and 3D card).
The 3D accelerator was an unexpected contribution -- are there any Amiga demos out there with support for 3D accelerator cards? Along those lines, we also have a CD32 -- were any CD32 demos ever made? Please contact us if you have answers to these questions.
We're trying to get a teaser trailer ready for Assembly 2k3, which we will post here the second week of August. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
We've unleashed the RC1 demo list on the Disc Contents page! Drool, dream, and try not to complain too much. ;) We are still working on our responses to the survey questions. -- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
This week will be your last chance to participate in the public survey for the next phase of the DemoDVD Project - MindCandy Volume 2: Amiga Demos. The survey will be CLOSED on Sunday, June 1st. Filling it out is the easiest way to support the DVD! You can choose the demos you want to see on the next DVD, and how they will be shown. We will count the results and post Release Candidate 1 of the demo playlist in early June. -- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Look out for several of the MindCandy guys at the Breakpoint demoparty in Bingen, Germany on Easter weekend! (April 18th-21st) Dan, Jeremy, Phoenix, and Stony will be attending the first edition of this highly anticipated event. We are sponsoring the party with 10 "ice blue" edition Volume 1 DVDs in the prize pool, including some autographed copies.
Meanwhile, we will officially announce the next project, Volume 2: Amiga Demos. There will be survey sheets to fill out for what people want to see on it. We'll be filming footage for the featurette, so if you're eager to appear in it, just approach any of us who have a camera! You'll be able to pick up some free stickers and postcards, and we will have a few limited edition MindCandy shirts (short and long sleeve) for sale. Phew! We hope to find some time to just plain party. See you there! Going to The Gathering instead? Fear not, we'll have DVD prizes there as well.
Of course, you can pick up a copy of Volume 1 at Breakpoint, as well as The Gathering (courtesy of Geekstuff).
-- Phoenix
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
We now have our Reservation list up and running, so if you're interested in getting notified when Volume 2 of MindCandy is ready to order, please sign up!
Actually, let me put a little spin on the above: We use the reservation list to determine how many copies we should make. If we make too many, we lose money; if we don't make enough, then we run out prematurely. So for everyone who would like a copy, please do indeed sign up. -- Trixter
Dec 3, 2006 4:57 pm:
Volume 2 pre-production has begun! You'll notice that all areas of this website have been updated with as much information as we have about Volume 2. For one, the decision has been made to focus 100% on Amiga demos. Also, we're going to master a native PAL version as well as an NTSC version. Poke around the site and learn what's new. -- Trixter |