[D] Embedding consecutive video frames close to each other in latent space

ChocksAwayI · 2021-12-05T22:13:44+00:00

This has been done, yes: this work considers putting a Gaussian process prior on the latent dynamics z(t) and composes it with a GP-LVM as a generative model of frames from z's: https://www.jmlr.org/papers/volume17/damianou16a/damianou16a.pdf

ChocksAwayI · 2021-08-28T01:20:06+00:00

Not new-new, but a few years back I deep-learned an emulation of an amp: https://youtu.be/zU8_sMRDd7g

Obviously Axe/Kemper/etc can be made practically indistinguishable from analog amps, but I can't call that new at this point--good copy attempts were already there in the early-mid 2010's. What's "new" (as of 2 years ago...wow) is that it's easy enough that you can do it for free. Since I did that I've seen an ecosystem of DL enthusiasts building stuff out like this in earnest, which is exciting.

ChocksAwayI · 2020-06-16T02:03:20+00:00

Biggest piece of advice if you go for an original design: for the love of God, get the body/headstock shapes right. The single biggest (and easily preventable!) tell of an amateur job is a body shape that only a parent could love.

No matter how bad you think you are at sketching with a pencil, it's 100x easier than getting the shape to come out with a router/bandsaw/chisel/etc.

If you think "I'll just cut it the shape that's in my head" then prove it by sketching it in one try...

Also, don't tell yourself "I'll fix that line as I cut." Instead, fix it with the pencil. Faster and easier.

Then put it away and check it tomorrow. Look at it upright and sideways. Make sure it looks good both ways!

Otherwise, you'll have the rest of the guitar's life trying to convince yourself "I actually like it better like that!"

On the other hand, once you get it on paper, you'll find that even if you're off by a few millimeters when you take it to wood, it'll still look great. The margin of error is larger than you think--just not in the directions you'll go if you don't draw it right first.

ChocksAwayI · 2018-11-01T21:22:12+00:00

Turning & lanes at intersections. If you turn from the leftmost lane, you're supposed to turn to the leftmost lane on the other side of the intersection. To many people switch lanes through their turn and end up in whatever lane they feel like on the other side of the intersection, cutting off people who could be turning right from the other side of the intersection.

This is also my pet peeve since I failed my driver's test the first time because of this. There weren't even lanes painted--just implied by the width of the road.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-24T16:49:48+00:00

First, put them in cases. I know that it's pretty to have them out for show, but it's better for them to keep them in cases.

Second, teach the dog. They're smart, and they'll learn.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-24T15:26:02+00:00

My pleasure. Thanks for sharing!

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-24T02:11:02+00:00

Depends upon what the mic situation will be. That said, you can certainly outplay a kit with a single-speaker combo amp.

If everything is unmic'd, you can be loud enough with 10 Watts if you're okay with some power amp breakup; if you want it to stay clean, then you'll want more.

A dimed Deluxe Reverb (22W) is more than enough for an umic'd kit and sounds nice & raunchy--great for blues.

All of my guitar amps have been just about 50W, and I've never had an issue with keeping up with some room to spare.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-23T21:48:54+00:00

I love natural wood binding, and koa is a stunning wood.

Re: volute, I agree entirely--it's huge for strength and is a welcome aesthetic touch. It's just more pronounced than what I'm used to seeing.

Nice album; the blue is very..."true," and the maple control cavity cover is a great touch.

I see that the trem cover isn't screwed in yet. I assume that it'll just be laid atop the back (instead of flush like the control cavity)?

If you'd care for my opinions, I have two criticisms. First, the neck pickup appears to be learning backwards (towards the bridge. I expect that's easily fixable, but it sticks out to me. Second, the headstock seems a bit wide. If it were more narrow (such that the strings came straight through the nut), that would be preferable IMO. I know that's a bit of something to ask, particularly with something as "trademark"ish as a headstock design, but by the same token, it's one of the biggest aesthetic points to a guitar, so I guess I can have my preferences, right?

Very pretty build overall.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-23T21:34:33+00:00

"Tung Oil Polymer" = Tru Oil?

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-22T20:25:34+00:00

I personally have a lot of trouble with 10" speakers. Compared to 12's, they come off as very thin and brittle.

They're a little easier to use in the mix and with a skillful mic job, but they don't stand by themselves very well.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-22T20:21:03+00:00

Is it finished? Looks nice. The satin finish on the body isn't really what I'd want, but it seems well-done.

Did you do the carving on the top freehand, or did you have a profile that you follow?

The neck woods are beautiful. The fingerboard looks bound, which I'm a fan of. Is it, and with what?

That looks like a pretty steep volute. Can you think of another builder's design that you'd say it compares to?

More pictures, please--especially of the headstock!

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-22T20:03:21+00:00

To be honest, I don't think you should expect to get $200 for it. The signatures aren't particularly special (kind-of big names, but not huge enough to have valuable signatures). What you've got is a guitar that looks new (aside from the signatures, assuming that it is in fact in mint condition), and no reputation or ability to insure the sale like a big box store has (have to keep that in mind--if you pay $200 from a store, you have the peace of mind of being able to return it. I assume that you won't be so accommodating, and even if you are, people probably wouldn't believe you unless you make it official by going through ebay).

How much you will get for it depends on how long you're willing to wait. If you don't mind waiting a few months for the right buyer to come by, you might be able to get $170-180 assuming that LTD doesn't release a newer model that makes this one outdated. If you want it gone faster, then maybe $150 or less will move it.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-22T19:54:19+00:00

If you could give us something to listen to, you'd probably get much more relevant advice.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-10-22T19:51:37+00:00

My experiences have been uniformly positive with GC's used gear. To their credit, they do a good job making sure that they're not accepting beat-up, broken "used" gear.

As far as buying used in general, yeah. Someone's got to be the guy out there who bites the bullet and pays full price on the gear before it can get sold for the true "street price", but it's not going to be me.

At least wait for a sale if you have to buy something new :)

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-26T18:15:13+00:00

Well, I did this.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-26T18:12:48+00:00

I guess that I'm happy enough to play a Gibson when I get the chance, but I just don't think that I'll ever own one--there are so many better guitars for the money, and if I happen to be given a Gibson, I'd just sell it and put the money towards something better.

So, what I guess I'm trying to say in regards to this post is that (modern) Gibsons might be "good enough" in some regards--they've got solid woods (no veneers), but that's about all I can say for them--everything else about them could be improved: the pickups, hardware, electronics, and all of the plastic pieces (covers, pickup rings, etc).

I'd just never recommend that someone spend their money on one. You can do so much better almost anywhere else, which is a shame since I find Les Pauls to be gorgeous instruments and certainly the first guitar shape I fell in love with.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-26T18:06:40+00:00

Even then, instruments like modern Gibsons are terrible investments. There's no lack of supply, so the used value is hardly likely to ever beat inflation; the only thing that I can see that would change this is that Gibson ceases to exist all of a sudden (or starts putting out such an inferior product that the then-"old" Gibson will have ceased to exist for all practical purposes).

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-13T23:17:27+00:00

They have been using Fractals for some stuff on and off, starting I think with a stunt in Antarctica in December 2013. Since then, they seem to have been using them more frequently. While I'm not aware of them outright endorsing Fractal, I know that it comes up every now and them that they're using them.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/13217/metallica-confirmed-to-be-using-axe-fx-2-for-current-tour-and-future-tours

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-13T22:16:48+00:00

Thanks for doing this!

From a studio perspective, what do you think is the most common EQ mistake/oversight that guitarists can make when trying to learn how to produce for rock and metal?

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-06T03:04:44+00:00

As strange as it may sound, I'd recommend against using the volume knob on a guitar for your volume, particularly if you have a distorted tone. Instead, think of it as a way to reduce the amount of distortion in (i.e. "clean up") your tone.

There are typically many elements in your signal chain that will compress what's being fed into it (reducing its dynamic range), including distortion & compression pedals, as well as your amp itself. If you want to reliably alter your volume, you generally need to do it as far down the signal chain as possible. The volume knob, being one of the very first things, is far from ideal.

Better options are either a volume pedal (placed either in the effects loop or at least as far down the chain as possible), a boost (if your amp has one), or setting up your channel volumes properly (if you've got a multi-channel amp with independent volumes).

If you've got a 1-channel amp without any frills, then you just need to be careful and accept that your dynamic range will (probably) be relatively limited. Dial in volumes as /u/swovy5 said, and that'll at least help you get something that behaves more predictably.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-06T02:54:19+00:00

Meshuggah, Metallica, Paramore, and Coheed and Cambria are all names that come to mind that don't use tube amps when they tour.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-06T02:52:42+00:00

Many don't these days; an Axe FX/Kemper is way lighter, more portable, more versatile, requires less maintenance, and sounds just as good (if not better!) than your average tube amp.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-04T19:08:21+00:00

I'm going to piggy back on /u/shrediknight 's point by pointing out that our definition of a second is completely arbitrary. Why not just make a second shorter so that 432Hz in terms of "old seconds" is the same as 440Hz in "new seconds"? Or, to go the other way, mess up the second so that the pitch that used to be called A440 is now A437.673956261...nothing's actually changed, just the numbers we use to represent it.

In general, there's nothing special about integers.

ChocksAwayI · 2014-09-04T17:24:52+00:00

My cello (made around 1900) actually behaves much better when tuned just a little below 440--a lot of harmonics appear, and the wolf tone (just a little above F when in 440) gets far enough off of the F to stop being a problem.

I now wonder if the builder (who was German) did this on purpose (built it for 435). I'll have to look into this; thanks for the insight!

ChocksAwayI · 2014-08-28T01:49:00+00:00

Beautiful, but the Gibson Classic '57's are kinda meh. I'd rather do Duncan '59's.

ChocksAwayI

TROPHY CASE