vantablack

vantablack@cyberpunk.lol

🏴‍☠️ VANTA'S GUIDE TO SETTING UP YOUR OWN INTERNET PIRATE RADIO STATION 🏴‍☠️

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: “pirate” in the title refers to cheekily theming your station after the “yarr matey” swashbuckling type of piracy, NOT illegally broadcasting music. i swear

(UPDATED: 1/16/2024)


FOREWORD

be gay, do crimes, and remember to have fun ✨


WHAT YOU'LL NEED

🖤 basic linux command line knowledge

like enough to SSH into a server and navigate and shit

🖤 access to a server

it doesn't have to be anything beefy, just better than the specs listed here: https://www.azuracast.com/docs/getting-started/requirements/

you can get one for free easily using the oracle cloud free tier https://www.oracle.com/cloud/free/

🖤 optionally, your own domain name to point to the server. if you wanna be more fancy, and use HTTPS. these can be rented from various providers for a variety of different prices.

🖤 mixxx

on your home machine you intend to broadcast from

it's free and open source DJ software for windows, linux, and mac

https://mixxx.org/

🖤 azuracast

on the server

follow the instructions here to set it up https://www.azuracast.com/docs/getting-started/installation/


STEPS

ZERO: gain access to a server, somehow

the easiest way for a total newbie will probably be via the oracle cloud free tier which i linked above in the “things you'll need.” sign up for an account and follow these instructions to provision a server https://docs.oracle.com/en/learn/cloud_free_tier/index.html


ONE: once everything is all set up, SSH into the server and install azuracast

using the instructions on here https://www.azuracast.com/docs/getting-started/installation/


ONE POINT FIVE: (optional) set up your own domain to point to the server and enable SSL

using these instructions https://www.azuracast.com/docs/administration/ssl-and-lets-encrypt/


TWO: start up mixxx and fiddle with some of the settings

like you'll probably wanna set the crossfade between tracks to zero. you can then use the auto DJ to sequence sets. more info here https://manual.mixxx.org/2.3/en/chapters/djing_with_mixxx#auto-dj

also on windows you should open up the task manager, find mixxx.exe under “details,” right click it, and set priority to “realtime.” this'll keep the queue from getting jammed, which it can tend to do otherwise especially on lower-end hardware. there are also ways to automate this but that requires editing the registry and is thus outside the scope of a guide for beginners


THREE: begin putting together your first show!

for vantaradio i tend to do three songs, followed by a handful of bumpers sandwiched between two thingies that say something like “you're listening to vantaradio.” but you can do whateversies, really

i use yt-dlp on linux https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp

or yt-dlp-gui on windows: https://github.com/dsymbol/yt-dlp-gui

to download bumpers from youtube. just funny little things like a “smoke weed every day” super mario remix or “lose yourself by eminem but it's mr. blue sky” or something like that

as far as song selection itself goes, you can probably just use your own music library. you should definitely only use stuff you have explicit broadcast rights to and not just download shit using a resource like https://rentry.co/megathread because that'd be illegal! and i'd never condone illegal activity ;)


FOUR: go live!

enter the station details you got during installation, using the info for “source,” as per https://manual.mixxx.org/2.3/en/chapters/livebroadcasting#configuring-mixxx


FIVE: promote your show!

post it on the fediverse, or wherever! be sure to use some hashtags for discoverability too! you can use the azuracast web interface to track how many viewers you have! feel free to thank me if this guide helped you at all :)

thanks for reading!!! i hope you have fun!!!!! 🦜

VANTABLACK'S GUIDE TO VIDEO EDITING FOR NEWBIES

(updated: 10/31/2022)


ZERO: FOREWORD

let's get one thing out of the way right now: VIDEO EDITING IS ABSOLUTELY BADASS

i never saw video editing as a serious career path or as anything more than just a hobby for over a decade because it's not glorified anywhere

but it should be, it's utter magic, and you become a bona fide Media Mage by harnessing it

television and movies and videos in general are so common in our world, yet also so powerful. they can form whole subcultures out of thin air (as was the case with “the wild one” which spawned biker subculture as we know it today), they can influence so many things in so many ways, they can even change lives

by learning to edit videos you will harness this power

you become able to chop up clips and bend them to your will as you see fit. no longer a mere consumer of media, you become a creator. the possibilities are truly endless!!! like, the ability to edit and remix videos is the ability to edit and remix CULTURE ITSELF — and influence it more broadly, if enough people see your thing

okay so yeah without further ado... the guide


ONE: SOFTWARE

okay, obviously you're gonna need to know what software you wanna use right out the gate. you DON'T need to splurge on some fancy shit like vegas, nor resort to piracy, and you probably will never need to (or only will way later)

for the purposes of a beginner, a free and open source alternative will suffice. kdenlive is the only thing i personally use, and i highly recommend it. but i will list all the FOSS video editing programs here, i encourage you to try them all a bit and see which one fits your flow the best. you never know, maybe one day a different software will become preferable. in no particular order...

⚫ kdenlive

⚫ olive

⚫ openshot

⚫ flowblade

⚫ shotcut

⚫ da vinci resolve

⚫ pitivi

⚫ LiVES

⚫ cinelerra

i know it's a hell of a list, but try to make the same short video in each software, and see how each one feels. for example, something where you'd just replace the audio from a tv show scene with funny music. or, you could do a lyric video for a song. or... the possibilities truly are endless!

how to download the clips, you might ask? no matter if you're on linux, windows, or mac — a handy thingy called “yt-dlp” is your friend!

the following commands are for linux but they should be the same or similar in windows or mac. consult the documentation if you need help figuring it out

do this command “yt-dlp —extract-audio —audio-format flac (youtube link here)” to download an audio track from youtube

and do “yt-dlp (youtube link here)” to download a video

if it doesn't work the first time you might have to put the URL in between quotes “like this”

okay, now that you've got the files you need, it's time to get editing!


TWO: EDITING BASICS

okay so now you've got the song or video or song and video you need. what's next? importing them into the editing software! if you have a large number of things to import you can put them all in a folder and select that folder to be added to the bin (see the relevant “getting started” documentation for your editor to find out how if it's not immediately obvious)

or, if it's just a small amount of stuff, you can drag the clips directly onto the timeline. well, at least you should be able to. if the software you're using doesn't allow that... maybe try something else

a few random editing tips:

⚫ use multiple monitors if possible, with the preview window on a separate screen from the timeline

⚫ if playback is choppy try decreasing the resolution on the preview

⚫ learning the keyboard shortcuts once you settle upon a software is key. the few seconds you save each time really start to add up quickly. the most important will be using the left and right arrow keys to move forward/back a frame

okay so you've got the clips on the timeline. now what? i'm gonna explain this in terms of replacing the audio from a tv show scene with something else but this advice should be good generally no matter what concept you have. i just need an example to be able to illustrate it lol

now, you're gonna wanna ungroup the audio and video from the tv clip

it should be under the right click menu when you select the clip

this separates the audio and video so they can be moved and edited on their own (don't worry — you can group/regroup clips too!)

then you're gonna wanna move the new audio to where the video clip is. but chances are, they're not gonna be the same length. so how can you make it end early without suddenly cutting out the song? two ways: either a simple fade out, or a more complicated beatmatching

a fade out is self-explanatory, beatmatching is when you crossfade between two audio tracks and try to match their beat so the transition isn't super obvious and jarring. the best way to do it is basically to fuck around with what looks like it might work til you find something that does

video editing entails a lotta trying til you find something that works. it's definitely not gonna be right the first time or few times or maybe even several times you make an edit. it takes time to perfect! you just kinda have to make changes then play em back to see how they look

like it's lotsa repeating the same short sections over and over again lol, that's why editing a video to a song always ruins that song for me for a while, i get sick of hearing it bc i've heard one small section looped over and over and over and over and over again

so now you've got your tv show clip, new audio, and even a beatmatched outro. what's left? well, you may as well sign your work! that's what i do. all of my videos end exactly the same way — with a cut to black, then a few seconds later “by vantablack” comes onscreen as white text against a black background in the default kdenlive title font and size for a few seconds

but you don't have to do what i do. try fucking around with the titles a bit! don't be afraid to click or hover aimlessly and see what all the different buttons do

repeat this process with all the different softwares you're gonna try til you pin down whichever you think is the most solid and have refined the concept. for the purposes of this guide we'll assume you wish to share the finished product next

okay, so once you've got your project completed — how to share it with the world?


THREE: RENDERING

you gotta render it! the best analogy i can use to describe this is it's like code compiling or exporting something out of an image editing program kinda. it takes all the tiny little bits and flattens them into one readable file

so, the format you export in is pretty important. personally, in kdenlive for youtube uploads i just do 30fps vp8 webm with the “custom quality” thingy checked and slider set all the way up. that creates a 1080p video which usually suffices. look into vp9 if you're doing really high quality stuff tho, like 4k and all that

WARNING: raw rendered video files are usually pretty huge. always bigger than you're gonna expect. make sure you have enough space to store large files so you don't run out. if you have access to one, an SSD is highly preferred for video editing. HDD's are painful

ANOTHER WARNING: if you don't select something along the lines of “render selected region only” it will render to the end of the last clip in the timeline. so i always recommend making a habit out of rendering the selected region only. consult the documentation of the software you're using to figure out how if it isn't immediately obvious

so yeah, this is gonna take a while. but with an SSD it will at least be a relatively reasonable amount of time. go grab a snack or hit of weed or something to celebrate a video editing mission well-done. you've earned it! as a video editor i've had to learn the hard way to only work on projects when i'm in the right headspace — knowing when to disengage and come back less burnt out is always a good life skill to have

so yeah, let that render for a bit and go do something to take your mind off of it. seriously, the last thing you wanna do is sit and watch something render. it's painful. a watched pot never boils!

once it's done, you should have a bigass video file ready to share with the world


FOUR: PUBLISHING

i upload all my stuff to youtube. it's just the place where it's easiest to be seen. but i should also mention free and open source alternatives like peertube. that's where all my stuff that youtube's copyright detection gets too mad at goes

guess what? more waiting! lol. not done yet!!!

it's gonna take a while to upload, and a while to perform all the checks and such

while it's uploading you can take the time to fill out the title and description. i highly recommend also taking the time to throw together a custom thumbnail instead of just selecting one of the default ones! it can really enhance the presentation of a video

this can be just a special moment from the video, or something else related to the subject

okay so after it's been uploaded and you've filled out all the relevant data, now comes what's arguably the funnest part of the video editing experience — sharing your creation with the world!


FIVE: SHARING

obviously, i post my things to mastodon/the fediverse. reddit is also a good option, but be careful about specifying you're the creator of the video — that place has some wicked fucked attitudes toward self-promotion

relevant discord servers and forums can be other good places. don't be afraid to take a chance on sharing your work! the worst thing that happens is your submission gets deleted, and even then maybe a few people will have seen it

share it with your friends too, but remember they're not obligated to watch it!


SIX: CLOSING

there's a video on youtube called “how star wars was saved in the edit” that PERFECTLY illustrates just how powerful a tool editing can be, and the extent of what is possible with it. i highly recommend watching it

there's a certain je ne sais quoi to video editing that can't be taught, but must be learned. a bit of intuition that comes from starting to pick up on what works and what doesn't

it's just a sixth sense that takes time to hone, a general idea of how your software works and also how first-time viewers will interpret your work. like an ability to see things through the perspective of a fresh audience

it's why i'm always rewatching my videos obsessively after publishing them while trying to imagine i'm someone else

things will start to come naturally eventually if you just stick with it!

i will leave you, now, with my favorite quote about video editing:

“the notion of directing a film is the invention of critics — the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room.” —walter murch

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