I got a message from Blip explaining why they think the videos are being so slow to load. I set the video bit rate too high. I set it that way on the advice of a particular clown who shall remain nameless, but it’s made things a huge mess. I’ll have to re-render every video on Blip, and that screws all my previous blog posts up. I’ll also have to go change the embedded players on the other pages…agh, makes me want to pull my hair out just thinking about it.
But since I’m doing it, I thought I might correct a few things. I’ll be resizing the videos to 720×540, which is the original un-stretched format, and a little more manageable for the new site. I’ll also be cleaning up the Phantasmagoria videos so that the picture is uniform, and the breaks between “episodes” is more sensible. I’ve decided to split them up into hour-long segments instead of the confusing 10-minutes-on-YouTube, who-knows-how-long-on-Blip method I’ve been doing.
Now if you’re ready for the really confusing part, I’ll still upload the next Phantasmagoria segments on Blip somewhat piecemeal until the whole thing is finished. When it’s all done with, I’ll convert it all into the nice 1-hour long segments with the others.
It’ll take some time, though. Re-rendering all these files is damn slow work.
It’s rough going at the loony bin. Joey Fatone is still looking for latex and McNuggets, Ed Norton is shrieking like a banshee, and there’s a weird lady eating her own arm. Later, the drama reaches a fever pitch as Trevor finally reveals his dark secret: the Potato Story. Don’t miss it!
Several of my videos have been taken down, so here’s what you can do to find them. Also, news about the future direction of the Experiment, and what you can expect to see.
After taking a look at some of my web traffic statistics, I’ve been advised to start treating this damn website like Serious Business, because while my numbers aren’t great, they’re actually good enough that a guy like me can “turn pro” and start collecting some real cash. That’s the reason why you’re seeing ads creep onto the site. I’m trying to keep them as unintrusive as possible, but the changes around here have only just begun.
The Spoony Experiment is due for a complete overhaul. The site design right now is about three years old, and I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not very good. It’s basic, it’s relatively simple and the text is readable, which was the goal, but it’s always looked pretty amateurish. Makes sense, since I’m a complete amateur at web design, and I’m honestly amazed it’s worked as well as it has so far. We’ve had some pretty major disasters around here migrating the site to new servers, and it’s not all due to the size of the forum. I did a piss-poor job of coding this place, and whenever I had a choice between improving the site or creating new video content, I almost always chose creating more content. Probably the right choice, but it didn’t make TSE much more pleasant to be around.
So I’m tearing it all down. In 2009 this place will look completely different, from top to bottom. The content will remain, but the site is being restructured and redesigned so that all of the content will be much easier to access, and it’ll be easier to read. I’m still working out the details. The forum will remain relatively untouched, I think.
The conclusion of the Phantasmagoria review will also likely mark the end of my regular YouTube updates. I’ll probably change to posting small teaser trailers and funneling the traffic to the full-length videos on TSE where I can get some ad revenue. I owe a lot to the YouTube community, but I need to get some of that regular traffic to my site. I know it’s somewhat annoying, but those videos you watch add up to a lot of traffic.
Until I know more about how the new site will look, I’m hereby canceling all the requests I’ve made in the past for new banners. I’m definitely going to change the way those look into something narrower.
