Highlights
Production
In revising sequences for the pilot episode, I have allowed them to grow somewhat, resulting in a need to adjust timing. In order to do lipsync animation on incomplete shots, I need to get the audio timing correct, and so I’ve done a number of retiming edits in Audacity, which then need to be integrated with the edit, matched to individual shots, and then exported to use in Blender for lipsync. This worked relatively easily with LA-2-B (where the camera zooms in on the Capcom as she says “Intermediate” (in Russian)). However, getting usable audio for the later LA-2-D shot was harder, because I needed the separate voice audio stem — the temp track mix had too much sound from the rocket (which shouldn’t even be in the MCR shots!).
By the end of the month, I considered the LA-2 / MCR setting shots to be “done”:
Probably-final versions of LA-2 shots, at the end of July.
In the process, of course, I had to create the video textures for two of the big screens in Mission Control. These involved elements rendered in Blender combined with effects in Kdenlive, rendered to a video textures folder in the project Library.
RIGHT monitor, showing the Soyuz in boost phase, with core and all four pods burning. This starts out as the regular exterior shot, then transitions to a video image.
CENTER video texture. This is a still-render of Space Station Alpha, with some movement added in Kdenlive, and then a video-glitch texture added, based on a free footage clip on Archive.org. Additional focus effects were added as well.
These aren’t rendered in the usual 1080HD aspect ratio, because they are rendered onto a rectangular element from the scene, which determines the necessary aspect ratio. I had originally planned to implement the transition from the flight camera view to the MCR monitor view using compositing in Kdenlive, but once added a moving camera element to LA-2-D, it was clear the screen had to actually be rendered on a panel in the shot file, since the orientation would change, spoiling any direct compositing effect.
I also decided to change the line Georgiana says when Sergei asks her if she’s alright. The original plan was for her to have no line here, and just signal with her hand or something (which I may still do). At the last minute, when we were using a still-image stand-in, I cut in a take of Georgiana saying “Yeah”, but it sounded pretty unnatural.
Some of that was due to a lack of filtering on the line, which I’ve now fixed. But it also just had the wrong verbal tone. So I found a less-committal “mm-hmm in the takes Ariel had recorded in 2012. It’s impossible to record pick-ups this long after the original recordings. Even an adult’s voice would have typically changed enough in 13 years to be a problem, though one can occasionally get away with that. But Ariel recorded these lines when she was 9, and she is now 22! She clearly sounds very different now.
If we continue the series, we’ll have to handle Georgiana differently. Ariel might still do the part — but if so, she’ll be an adult imitating a child, which sounds different, no matter how good you are. I’m unlikely to cast another child, though, so it would either be her or some other adult.
But, as I have four episodes of voice recording in the can, I will cross that bridge when I come to it!
Documentation
As a side project this month, I spent a fair amount of time producing icons for use in documentation, explainer video, news graphics, and so on. This grew into quite a large set, as I tried to cover different categories:
Fediverse Software
The entire top row are Mastodon forks, followed by a row of Misskey and Pleroma forks. After that are media-focused platforms, and then micro-blogging platforms targeting small or single-user instances. The last four (lower right) are backend software: relays and libraries. I wanted to have icons for any Fedi platform I might mention in my video logs. And also icons to use in diagrams or tables of Fediverse software.
Programming Languages
I started out trying to cover all the languages that might be used in modern web and Fediverse development. But I also had fun creating icons for older and more obscure languages that aren’t as likely to come up (though who knows if someone out there is trying to implement AP protocol in Ada — or Cobol!
Packaging & Distribution Systems
Packaging and distribution formats for software are particularly important for documentation I want to create about Fediverse software, since it’s very important for accessibility to show what options exist for installing the software. I have seriously bought into using YunoHost and the available “apps” for it — so if a Fediverse instance is available as a YunoHost app, that makes it much more likely I’ll use it. Others require deploying virtual machines or use packaging systems, and may be a bit more involved to set up. And there’s always source — at least assuming the package is open source!
Production Management Abstractions
A few years back, I was planning to adopt Southpaw TACTIC as a production and asset management solution. To do so, I would have to do a lot of theme development work, and so I spent quite a bit of time developing these icons. These icons were meant to represent “S Types” in the TACTIC lexicon. Basically, nodes to which information could be attached in the system. You’ll note that these do not make merely-technical distinctions, but also include intent. So for example, there are several different icons for audio clips, depending on whether they are intended to be voices, special effects, music, or ambient sound — as well as an extra for uncategorized clips.
There are also icons to represent different levels of film subunit, ranging from compositing elements for a shot, to entire series of episodes.
I had lost track of where these icons were located, but this month, I tracked down the source file (on a backup volume!) and revived them, re-exporting to large size PNG images. I think these will be useful outside of TACTIC, and I may be using some as news graphics in my video logs.
Writing
I’ve been ruminating about the issues around the use of generative AI in art, writing, and production. And early this month I came across an extensive (if somewhat one-sided) discussion of the subject on the Fediverse. I feel that people have taken this political, and gone a bit far. Propaganda is getting out of hand, and people are losing sight of the facts and especially the nuance around the various ethical, moral, legal, economic, and aesthetic aspects of the issue. So I started working on this.
So far, my essay on this has wandered and drawn in more relationships and analogies than I thought it would! It’s not flowery, but it’s not exactly concise, either, and it’s become quite long — well over 6000 words and over 25 illustrations. I’m even considering if this might need to also be used as the basis for a video essay. At the end of the month, it still does not feel at all resolved. I’m hoping to finish it in August, maybe.
I also started an article about political issues, ostensibly to follow up on the “Entering the Dark Forest” article. But I have little inspiration for it. It’s easy to catalog all the awful stuff happening, but I don’t feel I should bother if it doesn’t also say something about what I intend to do about it — and so far, I have little to offer there.
IT Work
Rosalyn has gotten an account on our tv.filmfreedom.org PeerTube server, and posted her first video: only to get an “automatically blacklisted” message! What happened? Well, there’s an innocuous-looking option to make it so that users require moderator approval on every video, which I had set up on the instance. It seems like a wise precaution, especially considering the concern over uploading disturbing or adult content on video sites, to check what people are uploading until they’ve been around for a bit. And this is what it looks like to the user!
Frankly, the terminology is a bit tonally inconsistent. “Automatically blacklisted” seems like it’s pointing a finger at you to say you’ve done something bad. While the administrator’s point of view says something neutral, like “Moderator Approval Required”. And the setting to turn this off for a user is “User bypasses video verification by moderators”. Yes, it’s technically correct, but it sounds quite inconsistent. You wouldn’t necessarily guess these are all referring to the same behavior.
Also, this month, we had the official hand-off for RealSocial.Life from Amanda Quraishi to me. So I’m now the official owner of the instance. I didn’t want to talk about this to anyone else until the transfer was completed. This is the server I have had my personal Fediverse account on from November 2022. This is a general-purpose Hometown server (Hometown being a fork of Mastodon). Amanda had been spending less and less time on the server, and didn’t want the responsibility or expense anymore, particularly as the user count has dwindled to a handful. In fact, as of this Spring, it’s mostly just me on there.
I plan to make some minor edits to the site branding and rules, but I don’t want to make any major, substantive changes. And then I’ll open back up for new registrations, should you be looking for a cozy spot on the Fediverse.
Development
The Lunatics Release website looked terrible on my InkPad Color 3 device, and I presume, on any e-ink device. This was because the slowly-drifting background animation effect caused it to constantly flash as it tried to update. This didn’t produce the background effect at all, but worse, it completed obscured reading the page. This is completely contrary to the purpose of this landing page!
But on the other hand, this is an entertainment-focused page, and I didn’t want to sacrifice the effect for devices that can display it properly. So researched the Media Query system in CSS to find a way to make this distinction automatically. I changed it so that the backgrounds are only animated if the device reports “fast updates” to the query, which should cover full-motion video displays, as on desktop and most mobile browsers.
It should also detect the “prefers reduced animation” setting, which users with serious accessibility issues will probably have set. Ultimately, I’d like there to be some kind of preference setting, though that may require a bit of Javascript.
For now, though, it is already much improved:
Demonstration of updated behavior on the Lunatics Release website. I did not take a “before”, unfortunately, but the behavior when it tries to play the video here is similar to what the whole web page looked like before.
Business
Narrowly avoided an overdraft on the (old) business account, because Digital Ocean’s charge reverted to it (I had intended to permanently switch the source to my personal account, but it didn’t stick). I believe I have got it set correctly, now. I actually deleted the old account from my payment sources on DO.
Lost access to the personal account online, due to a failure of their 2-factor authentication system. Had to go into the branch to get it sorted out, finally. I had to use a telephone verification option, because their system apparently can’t send emails.
Household
Acquired a plug-in electric push mower to handle grass and weeds near our house and buildings. Used poison-ivy herbicide to kill it around the trees near our door.
Have had some car problems that required urgent attention, including one breakdown on the road of my son’s car. These have turned out to be time consuming, stressful, and expensive.
July 2025 Timelapse
July Video Logs
Video Log 2025-07-07: Launch Retiming and Lip-Sync
Video Log 2025-07-19: Yet Another Slip & Mission Control Room Shots
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