New Dirt 1 guide

Audio/Surround/Home Theater Audio Formats Myths.md

@@ -98,6 +98,28 @@ FALSE. Objects can move, and channels can't. This is what makes an OBA system su
 ### Channels & static objects are equivalent
 FALSE. Objects can be partially imaged between multiple speakers. But channels must have a 1-1 mapping to a speaker (except for C & LFE). This might be a problem with DTS-X 7.1.4 & non-7.1.4 speaker layouts
 
+
+### The distinction between objects and beds will be carried over to the home
+FALSE. Spatial coding for Atmos Home converts everything to objects.
+
+### Beds array at home
+FALSE. Due to spatial coding, beds don't array at home. If they did, the combination of spatial coding & arraying would make beds & objects sound unstable due to fluctuating object size.
+
+### Using beds only is fine since most users won't have more than a 7.1.2 system anyway
+FALSE. Due to the geometry & panning of beds, bed can only use half of the available area. Objects can use all of the area. The effect of objects can be heard on:
+
+- 5.1 & 7.1 systems (due to downmixing)
+- 7.1 wide & 9.1 2D systems
+- 7.1.4, 7.1.6 systems
+- 9.1.2, 9.1.4, 9.1.6 systems
+- **Headphone users** (due to 7.1.4 rendering)
+- or >90% users.
+
+The only users which won't hear the effect of objects are users with exactly 5.1.2 & 7.1.2 systems, or <10% users.
+
+### Beds can address all available speakers
+FALSE. There are some speakers that aren't a part of any array group so can't be addressed with beds, like WL WR, CL CR, BC. You must use objects to use the.
+
 ### If you have a 5.1.2 system, but have an object at height front, it will phantom image between front & height side speakers
 FALSE. It may play back using height speakers only (Atmos), or ELL (DTS-X).
 
@@ -113,8 +135,6 @@ FALSE. If there is a circular pan @ 100% height, it will get all downmixed into
 ### Channels are always at ear-level and objects can only be at the top
 FALSE. Atmos FC Base is 7.1.2, 2 side height. Objects can also be at ELL.
 
-### The distinction between objects and beds will be carried over to the home
-FALSE. Spatial coding for Atmos Home converts everything to objects.
 
 ### Objects will be very dynamic on movies
 FALSE. Unlike this [object visualizer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfpncHDYM6I) demo, movies usually have static music & ambience beds. Combined with an object limit, typically, the movement at ELL will be very restricted, and you may get a bit of movement at height.
@@ -168,6 +188,7 @@ FALSE. Atmos for consumers is generally 12-16 channels or objects, but the FLAC
 ### The Home rendering is the same as cinema rendering
 FALSE. Home rendering may have decorrelation pre-applied to the objects depending on how big they are, and may have surround audio lowered.
 
+
 ## For Consumers
 
 ### There is only 1 version of the Atmos Home and DTS-X Home decoders
@@ -389,5 +410,5 @@ Auro-3D charges an annual codec license. [ref.](https://www.auro-3d.com/buy/)
 
 Special thanks to the individuals that have contributed to my understanding.
 
-Date: Dec 2020
+Date: Dec 2020 - Dec 2021 
 

Computers/How to choose PC Parts.md

@@ -142,7 +142,11 @@ Most laptops these days don't have a ethernet ports, and if you want guaranteed
 - [Ethernet adaptor with USB hub](https://www.orico.cc/us/product/detail/4058.html)
 - [Ethernet adaptor with USB hub, HDMI, and card reader](https://www.orico.cc/us/product/detail/7119.html)
 
-NB: If you get a USB2 Ethernet adaptor then you can only enjoy 100mps network speeds.
+NB: If you get a USB2 Ethernet adaptor then you can only enjoy 100mps network speeds. Some Ethernet adaptors with USB hub may corrupt data, so if you want to be cautious, avoid using USB storage with them.
+
+## bootloader
+
+GRUB supports windows, but install windows first, to avoid windows overwriting GRUB.
 
 ## HIDs
 
@@ -158,4 +162,6 @@ You can pick any mouse, but I use the [A4tech OP-620-D](https://www.a4tech.com/p
 
 ### Other
 
-Trackballs, trackpads, and tablets exist if you want alternative, RSI-friendly input devices. Keyboards with trackpads exist. Wired Keyboards with trackpads [also exist](https://www.logitech.com/en-nz/products/keyboards/k400-plus-touchpad-keyboard.920-007165.html), but rarer/more expensive like the [HP FK218AA](https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=FK218AA&opt=&sel=DEF).
+Trackballs, trackpads, and tablets exist if you want alternative, RSI-friendly input devices. Keyboards with trackpads exist. Wired Keyboards with trackpads [also exist](https://www.logitech.com/en-nz/products/keyboards/k400-plus-touchpad-keyboard.920-007165.html), but rarer/more expensive like the [HP FK218AA](https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=FK218AA&opt=&sel=DEF).
+
+IF you're looking for a graphics tablet, the [Huion Kamvas](https://www.amazon.com/HUION-13-Graphics-Full-Laminated-Battery-Free/dp/B083TTQFKJ) is worth a look as many reviews say it's nice & cut-price.

Games/Dirt 1 Guide.md

@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+# Dirt 1 (2007) Game Guide
+
+## Introduction
+
+Dirt is a off-road racing game by Codemasters, a UK studio. Released in 2007 for PC, PS3, xbox, XXX.
+
+
+## Background
+
+Colin mcRae dies in 200x
+
+This is the 1st Codemasters game to have 3D menus in 2007. They would go on to expand to 3D text with GRID in 2008.
+
+DIRT differs from previous games in the series as the 1st to include other types of cars & racing. Previously, the CMR game were focused on Rally, Crossover, and Rally circuit with road cars. But DIRT expands to Rallycross, raid, hillclimb with the addition of buggies and trucks. This could be seen as integrating the Race Driver Grid philosophy of multiple types of race into the CMR franchise. As a result, rally has been removed from the RDG/GRID series altogether.
+
+This was mostly to positive acclaim. A small number of people were probably not that hjappy with the change in direction ofthe franchise, and Dirt 2 would shift to a more rally-oriented world tour philosophy. After Dirt 3, the series effectively splits off into 2 parts, Dirt which continues the mixed-type racing, and DIrt Rally which focuses on the classic Rally of the previous games.
+
+## Addons
+
+There is a good reason why I'm discussing addons early in this document, cuz it's almost essential to gameplay IMO.
+
+## Patch
+You should be running patch  >= 1.2 since it allows moving savegames across different computers (if I'm understanding it correctly) . The way that it was phrased in the patch notes is a bit awkward.
+
+Patch level will affect use of trainers.
+
+
+## Trainers
+There are trainers for this game which allow you to cheat. But it is recommend NOT to cheat, since you can measure & improve your skills.
+
+## Utilities
+
+GFX utilities to remove the bloom/hdr/blur. Makes racing easier.
+Reduce unrealistic strong brakes
+
+
+## Car setup
+
+The CPU will probably be using a stock setup so this is your edge over the CPU.
+
+Transmission: I suggest a shirt 2/5 ratio to get better acceleration. 1/5 is probably too short and you will hit your top speed, allowing the CPU to take over.
+
+Suspension: If you're in anything bigger than a sedan, you want 0.1 or so as your ride height, which will make your vehicle handle better, especially if it's a truck.
+
+AWD:  I suggest a 50/50 or 40/60 back bias.
+
+
+## General tips
+
+YOu will see this advice a lot. Drive to 90% of your ability. If you drive to all of your ability, you will drive too fast & make mistakes, losing time. 
+
+I drive fast on corners 6-5, and maybe ease off the gas at tighter corners. Don't take big shortcuts. You may be tempted, but many of the off-course surfaces significantly slow you down (for safety reasons IRL), which will actually make your time longer.
+
+## Event
+Career is where you earn money by winning events. You use this money to buy cars & liveries.
+
+These choices are based on my skill level.
+
+For live events such as rallycross & raid,  pick medium/Amateur. When you get to the front, you can block CPU cars. But remember to still build a lead, lest they overtake you at the finish line.
+
+For timed events like rally, crossover, pick medium-low/clubman. You can't block cars & it will be more challenging.
+
+DIRT uses a new engine called neon to take advantage of the new multi-CPU and graphics capabilities of next-gen consoles. 
+
+## Vehicles
+
+To repeat what I said in car setup, if you're in anything bigger than a sedan, you want to lower your ride height.
+
+### 4WD
+1. Citroen C4 concept, X: It's short & grippy, but this car is fast, so you can recover from slow corners for a crossover. You'll want to buy this ccar for its performance & it's needed for a career event.
+2. Misubishi Lancer Evo 9, Ralliart: This is a fun car to drive since the wheelbase is long, you can slide it around corners. Except it has a tendancy to slow & spin out as well, which is not so good for your times. You can buy this car aorund tier 1-2. (this was my 2nd "favorite" car, but actually something I *do* want to drive)
+3. Fiat Punto, default: You get this car for free & you'll need it to complete many early events (so many that it was my 1st "favorite" car even though I'd rather be driving something else). It might understeer? I can't remember.
+
+
+### FWD
+1. Citroen C2 S1600: Probably the best FWD in looks & performance, but being a FWD it understeers
+2. Renault Clio: You get this for free, & you'll need it to complete some early events.
+
+### Classic
+1. Toyota Celica GT4, Castrol: 
+
+### Big Rig
+1. Kenworth T2000: This truck's handling is more vague than cars in NFSHP2
+
+### Rally Raid T1
+1. Mitsubishi Triton L200, default: You get this for free. It's not the fastest, but with smart driving & setup, you can beat the CPU.
+### Rally Raid T4
+1. Kamaz 4911, default: You get this for free. Again, it's not the fastest, but with smart driving & setup, you can beat the CPU.
+
+## Tracks
+
+### Australia
+
+Fast & Narrow. We've come a long way since the CMR2 days where a bush could be made of titanium, but you still want to avoid them.
+
+### Japan
+
+It's always raining in Japan in CMR3. It's not raining in CMRD, but it's just after the rain. Cue $this.
+
+## Germany
+Long straights, but with tough to see corners marked by barrels etc. Not nice to drive at.
+
+## Italy
+Italy sortove replaced Greece in CMRD. It's sorta the same too, gravel roads with generous margins.

Music/Mixing Notes/Anime Mashups Mixing Notes.md

@@ -7,4 +7,10 @@ During July 2020, I was listening to the Lucky Star Remix albums. The Glucosa mi
 ## Irony-BDD
 Original finished Aug '17-ish. There was feedback in the past about how it was out of key at times. I revised it shortly after, but pitchshifting sounded awkward. My Nexus-Mutsuki mashup didn't do so well on r/Oreimo, but there was a positive comment which encouraged me to revisit this for a post. I finished replicating the pitch shifts for the rest of the song & infrastructure upgrades. I was about to call it finished, but then I realized it missing a bit of contrast due to the missing bridge. I cautiously extended the song.
 
-The vox needs some shifting to appear in key for the instro bridge. But it might be a 5th out. Copying a technique from my SOMH-Haruna mashup, I make another track for a few small sections that need zplane retune. The instro is shortened at the final chorus & ending to avoid boring repitition. The ending chords are off key, so I shift them, but only some of them, again, to create variety & avoid much repitition. There is a pre-final-chorus bit that I could fill in w/vox since I filled that part earlier in the song, but I feel it could use a break in energy.
+The vox needs some shifting to appear in key for the instro bridge. But it might be a 5th out. Copying a technique from my SOMH-Haruna mashup, I make another track for a few small sections that need zplane retune. The instro is shortened at the final chorus & ending to avoid boring repitition. The ending chords are off key, so I shift them, but only some of them, again, to create variety & avoid much repitition. There is a pre-final-chorus bit that I could fill in w/vox since I filled that part earlier in the song, but I feel it could use a break in energy.
+
+## Prism Sympathy - Perfect Area Complete
+I revisit this in 2021 to fix some things. The project is too slow so the instro has shifting artefacts. I make it a bit faster, but still audible. I also replace the infrastructure with my own tools & make the instro wider for more surround activity. Some bit loop obviously to keep the timing so I make some changes to make it less obvious. Ther is a break near the end so Musically, it would make sense to raise the key. But production-wise, woudl be bad due to pitching & quality reasons.
+
+## Perfect Area Complete-Hanayamata
+I had to check whether I had duplicated the aca/instro on another mashup since I want to avoid doing so, and I recall using  of these songs in a previous mashup (*see above), which I wanted to revise. I haven't., so this mashup can go ahead. PAC centers around tonic/dominant chords in the verse, but HOI centers around mediants. So I need to chop the HOI instro and make a loop which starts with a tonic so that it sounds OK. HOI ends a bit abruptly so I add a reverb to the end to keep the energy going for a bit.

Music/Mixing Notes/Anime Mixes Mixing Notes.md

@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ I target -18 LUFS as usual, but there's quite a range of measured LUFS over the
 The FX is about finished, time to shorten. I can cut the outro of TLT & Ghost rain easily to move the mix along quicker. It's hard to cut Nuclear Steam since almost all the sections are unique and it's got lots of progressive building up that to cut it would make the progression noticable abrupt. I could only cut a small bit at the end. Named Race Queen due to songs form Racing games.
 
 ## Touhou 6
-I think I made To4 & To6 in a hurry while I was trying to listen to them, make 8olei xsitions quickly, etc. Originally it might've been TT, OIH, ATS, FUTK & then I added BoT to the start. After I addded BoT, it was about 29m,so I did some cutting to being each song to a fair & reasonable length. Now it's about 25m. In Feb 2021, I cut out the wubstep section from FUTK since the ostinato motif is obscured, while a distorted synth plays. After my To4 & inspecting the LUFS for the songs, I now know why they differ in values. Different levels of bass. I decide on a target of -25dB for the bass.
+I think I made To4 & To6 in a hurry while I was trying to listen to them, make 8olei xsitions quickly, etc. Originally it might've been TT, OIH, ATS, FUTK & then I added BoT to the start. After I addded BoT, it was about 29m, so I did some cutting to being each song to a fair & reasonable length. Now it's about 25m. In Feb 2021, I cut out the wubstep section from FUTK since the ostinato motif is obscured, while a distorted synth plays. After my To4 & inspecting the LUFS for the songs, I now know why they differ in values. Different levels of bass. I decide on a target of -25dB for the bass.
+
+I re-add the  wubstep section from FUTK since it's some added variety to catch your attention. The transition from TT>OIH, there is some pitching up & down with OIH, when paired with TT, sounds dissonant. I thought of using zplane repitch, but there's no need. I can just use clip pitch automation for the 1st bend. The 2nd bend I need to pitch TT uo instead since the lead saw comed in OIH.
 
 ## Orchestral 2
 So AC4 Blockade & Megalith are in the same key, but vastly different BPM so they sound awkward when joined. I was going over the the RE-RESIST album recently & I noticed that Invitation to the nihility was in a similar style/BPM/key as Blockade. I tried joining them together & they fit OK (with a house-style overlapping join). 1 thing to care about is EQ during the transition, and EQ across the tracks. ITTN needs a high cut, to match Megalith. Megalith needs a bass & drum boost to match ITTN. I think Megalith also had live recorded elemnts as there's uneven tempo across the song, like both clips need stretching to match the BPM of the Megalith intro. I also wanted to extend the mix with more songs. I started looking at the Classics boxset from Hybrid, since they do a similar orchestral-electronic style. I know Dreaming Your Dreams, it's good, but it's too fast. There's In Good We Trust which is a similar BPM, but it's slightly lacking drums, rather short, & it feels a bit too dark. If you know any songs in a similar style, key (D or Dm), & BPM (75 +- 10%), lemme know & I might extend it

Music/Mixing Notes/Music Mashups Mixing Notes.md

@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@
 
 So, I had the idea for NGU-Nexus when I was listening to a cover of NGU, and noticed the chords sounded like 4536, It would go well with Osanpo biyori instro, except I had already used it with Nexus aca. So I need to use it with the Nexus instro. I tried shuffling the chords in Nexus, originally 3456 to 4536. But the original 3456 sounded more natural due to piano & etc fill. I originally had the proj @ 120bpm since the vox was at 117. But due to stretching & a pitch shift of the vox at the end of +2st, and the fast speed of the original instro, it would sound bad, so I raised it to 128. I thought about using Mai Kotone's Renai Circulation House cover, and the speed matches a bit better, but the minimal instrumentation and spectrum conflicted with NGU, so I reverted back to Nexus. I set the bpm to 124 and made the vox go only up by 1st at the end to reduce speed issues.  Elastique VST2 now works, but I'm hesitant to use it in a project .
 This is also the 1st project that has FFTMT sustain control used from the start, but FFTMT Noise/GF works better.
+There was an instro available of NGU sometime, but the instro differs at the end so I need to use ML-derived vox. DUring the bridge, ML results aren't great  so I need to chop & replace looped lyrics to sound OK.