Driftwood ~rabid

My first major Line Rider release in three years! Wooooooo! As always, this turned out to be far more work than anticipated, and ended up being my largest project since Bolted to the Wall, taking about 4 months longer than anticipated and being horrendously late for the contest it was supposed to be entered in, haha. But I am super proud of it all the same. Watch the credits for inspirations, fun facts, shoutouts, and special thanks! If any of my subscribers on youtube are still around, you can definitely expect more Line Rider uploads in the near future.

.sol: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88470717/Other%20.sols/driftwoodfinalsavedLines.zip

Obligatory Description Credits (all also in the video):

Spoiler:

ACwazHere wrote:First off, I've never personally been very into long intros. I can think of a handful that I actually really liked. I thought this one was pretty neat though. It did a good job in setting a peaceful tone for the track. I think the slow, slow fade from black was really creative.

Glad you liked it!

OTDE wrote:Now, in terms of the video, I don't actually think it's too long, but I do think there are some aspects of the video that could have been changed to perhaps better reflect the mood created by the song. The song is full of dark and warm tone colors. If the footage had perhaps a wamrmer palette, this would help.

Yeah, I did up the saturation a bit (as much as I could without it looking unnatural and psychedelic) but ultimately the lack of warm colors comes primarily from the weather. I was hoping for cloud cover except by the horizon so the sun would be shooting across the lake from the side and that would have made it nice and warm and stuff but the weather made it a little more overcast than desired. (And the footage was good enough I didn't want to reschedule a second ~6am film shoot)

TCR wrote:the intro could've been much longer.

Yeah I know it's one of the longest intros (possibly the longest intro) of all time. I kept trying to figure out how to trim the song down and it just kept feeling like it would be super lame and I eventually just decided to screw it and do a video to the whole song (which led to the idea for the film shoot) Also because ART! I am actually really happy with it even though I knew the length would make waves.

Rafael Leeuwis: Awesome dude!
Rafael Leeuwis: But you have to explain the intro to me
Ben Harvey: well I filmed it about a month ago. theme of beach and sunrise and one of the lyrics is "see you walk away", first half she is walking towards the camera, second half walking away
Rafael Leeuwis: ahh ok
Ben Harvey: probably most clear when it crossfades at the end of the naked track during the lyric to a shot of walking away

heliospavonine: was the intro your own footage, Rabid?
rabidsquirrel mod: yeah I shot it all myself hp

Spoiler:

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ACwazHere wrote:My first reaction was "holy shit this recording is so good." I can't remember the last time I saw such a smooth, pristine recording.

Thanks! theacp sent me a 40fps 1080p recording (because my laptop can't do 1080p) that captured every frame, and I slowed it down 75% to make every frame show up in a 30fps video. (This is the same recording technique I used for Silent Flame Scened and Dacite Scened, it makes any scenery track look fantastically smooth) Also making it all blue and having no gravity wells also made it look extra smooth and stuff.
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ACwazHere wrote:I thought the diagonal shading inside the tubular thingy was awesome. The subtle cross-hatching on the walls was also pretty damn cool.

Thanks. Both made possible by 3.4.X features kevans made (45 degree snap and angle indicator) subtle crosshatching inspired by the clouds/rocks x612nt13 did in Salvation and the orb thingies DaPoe did in Tech Cosmic.

sheldon1001 ban: what even is the first section
sheldon1001 ban: a floatingc cave?
rabidsquirrel mod: it's an abstract colon
sheldon1001 ban: really
rabidsquirrel mod: a study in pooping ueah
sheldon1001 ban: you studying shit?
sheldon1001 ban: is this a joke
rabidsquirrel mod: okay, freal
rabidsquirrel mod: it was like, clouds
sheldon1001 ban: well
rabidsquirrel mod: but what kind of a cloud has a giant flat line
rabidsquirrel mod: so I jsut went uber abstract
[...]
rabidsquirrel mod: but anyway, I went super abstract but I had the sunset/beach planned for the end, so I decided to make it like, start abstract and get more realistic

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ACwazHere wrote:Then the boards. Dat music transition was totally perfect for the track transition. You really synced to the flow there.

Yay! I found the song long after the track was done so that was the only spot that was intentionally synced but I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

shua wrote:I really liked that. The boards made it look like it was going to be incredibly bumpy, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it be super smooth, like, every 5 seconds of the track. Very cool track.

Woohoo! Great to see another one of my goals was achieved. I had to do some weird stuff changing the light source all over the place to get the "dark side" of the boards to be facing the track at all times to get it to properly cover the curves, but I think it turned out really good.
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ACwazHere wrote:When he dipped down towards the shore at 2:24 I made a :o face IRL. Nothing gets me going like some thick, bodacious scenery. The black of the ocean was SICK. The "line of white" you left around the boards in that part was a really good call. The dots for the beach were done well.

Thankee. Ocean style was lifted directly from Transcendental by TD (surprisingly easy to copy!), and the sand was something GhostY helped me come up with. Also, kevans had just added the dots feature so that made it easy (still took forever though)
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ACwazHere wrote:The fade from the sunset into the outro video was really creative.

Glad you liked it, AC!

Chuggers wrote:if you had a shot of the sun over the ocean with two being exactly in position to the last bit of the track the editing would have been the GOAT

I probably could have tried to line it up exactly and it might have worked. It did occur to me, not really sure why I didn't try it. Maybe because I didn't do a lot of cropping of the video and I liked the feel of using the "raw" footage. I was pretty happy with it anyway.
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ACwazHere wrote:The only thing I didn't like was the length of thet rack. But I understand it would have taken a thousand years if it was any longer.

Haha, yeah it was originally gonna just be a fun little project and then I started planning out the scenery and it slowly became massive

Chuggers wrote:also im not sure how you did it, but this 40 second track felt like a great journey, i thought it was of perfect length

Thanks! If you factor in the 75% speed, the slow zoom out at the end (which is actually even slower, at like 50% speed) and the long pauses at the start and end, it comes to about 1:15, so that might have something to do with it. But I'm really happy it felt like a journey to you. (one of my goals!)

OTDE wrote:This track is fantastic at establishing atmosphere. Very few tracks are able to do this effectively-- they either fail at maintaining a consistent feel, or end up being too consistent (Ideology and Marmalade Scened, respectively). These mistakes are averted, subverted, and deconstructed to the Nth degree. In driftwood, you've established two contrasting styles, but unlike Ingenuity, where it felt almost out of place, the styles are thematically structured so that the underlying feel of the track is preserved. In this way, the track can have a consistent pathos without verging on complacency and blandness.

Bold words! Thanks OTDE, glad it felt cohesive overall despite the huge difference between the start and finish

TCR wrote:First video on ages that is not highspeed or Stop'n' Go.
The scenery was sweet

Thanks TCR! I'm really hoping more people start doing scenery again in the coming years.
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ACwazHere wrote:Awesome job rabid. :') I'm always super happy and excited for someone when they finish something that I know they dumped their life into. Congrats on finishing this sexy, sexy, tubular, boardular, sexy video. You're one of few people who can pull off >100 hours of work and make something special.

Thanks AC! That means a lot.

Chuggers wrote:i really liked this, everything really worked as a whole

Thanks Chugs, that means a lot coming from you.

Getthim wrote:This is spectacular and extraordinary, i am glad to see a track release by yours truly and glad i could help with the first 3 secs.

Thanks Getthim!

OTDE wrote:This track was an experience, and every bit as awesome as I was hoping it would be. Kudos, Rabid, kudos.

Thanks OTDE, glad it met your expectations!

Cole Gewerth: It gave me chills..i loved it!
Ben Harvey:

efrazable wrote:The best compliment I can give to any track is that it's an original concept, and you got that all over this track!

Thanks efraz!

Helios Pavonine wrote:Holy cow I love the music so much, it fits everything so well At first I thought the track was too short, but then I realized you tried to show a concept or theme rather than a standalone scenery track... postmodernism, anyone? Solid work Rabid, well done!

Thanks hp! Glad you liked the music. Ulrich Schnauss is awesome.

theacp127 wrote:Your welcome 

Let me know when you're ready to record Clarifaction

devrayy
So good. Makes me want to play again.

Ben Harvey
+devrayy Dude you should! Glad you liked it

Thomas Booth: That sunrise literally had my jaw wide open
Ben Harvey:
Thomas Booth: That track was beautiful
Ben Harvey: thankee
Thomas Booth: Lets see here um, the cloud shading seemed a tiny bit rough, but it fit in with the rest of the scenery so I don't think it mattered
Ben Harvey: it was rough haha
Thomas Booth: And I was hoping for a super cool transition between the change is scenery styles
Thomas Booth: They're the only negative points I can make out about this track
Thomas Booth: Everything else was splendid
Ben Harvey: hmm, was there not a super cool transition?
Thomas Booth: Let me watch again
Ben Harvey: also thanks
Thomas Booth: Ok the transition was pretty cool
Ben Harvey: hsha
Thomas Booth: Seriously good job with this track
Ben Harvey: thanks
Ben Harvey: you didn't mind that I took a 40s track and made a 6.5 minute video?
Thomas Booth: The intro was a bit long not gonna lie
Thomas Booth: Lol
Ben Harvey: ART
Thomas Booth: Haha

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lukking2
Wow i was really surprised of the all blue.
I like that you covered the track lines really well. it feels like hes riding the plank.
would have liked a more zoomed out view of the scened track.

Ben Harvey
+lukking2 Thanks! Glad you liked the boards covering the lines (I did a lot of moving around light sources to make the dark side of the boards facing the track at all times, to cover the curves properly) I'm surprised at the reception of the naked track, I thought it was profoundly mediocre but everyone seems to like it, haha.
About the zoom level - it is interesting that the whole thing feels rather zoomed-in after the fact. May have looked better a bit more zoomed out but that would have been a ton more water and sand to draw... In any case, the scenery you see is all there is, if I made a slightly more zoomed out recording you would see the edges of the scenery in the recording. (That's what I mean when I say I frame my tracks, I don't do any work on stuff you won't see that way) You can download the .sol to see what I mean if you like.

gaoyubao wrote:Love your style, it's so clear. How are those manuals blue and SO SMOOTH? it's redekulous. Glad to be an inspiration.

Sheldon wrote:one of those manuals doesnt even make sense

Thanks gao/sheldon! It's really interesting, I think the boards scenery is what makes the manuals look so smooth. To me they honestly feel really off-balance and just all around poorly done for most of the track so I am surprised how much people like them. Maybe I'm better at blue manuals than I thought? Also, Sheldon, I'm curious which manual are you referring to?

Opal Rider wrote:On the subject of the track: I'm a total sucker for abstract styles, so it sort of fit that the first part stuck out to me the most. The cross-hatching just really worked to make it pop, and even with how successful the sync was into the boards section, I was sad to see that particular design go for more tangible objects. The monument did make up for it though, and for being such a large area in that scene, it didn't feel like we were missing out on something before you zoomed out to show the larger picture, and felt very coherent for only showing a small portion at a time.

Glad you liked the abstract section, I spent far too much time trying to decide on a style to shade that thing.
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gaoyubao wrote:But is that a sunrise or a sunset?

Damn it I called it a sunset in one of the credits. It was originally a sunset but then the film shoot was a sunrise so I kinda decided it was a sunrise but obviously i was confused. Probably could have just been like "it's ambiguous" but really I'm just not sure haha I think I like it being a sunrise better though.
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Sheldon wrote:also had the weirdest b0ner from the intro
wait just kidding fairly natural boner

Boner from footage of yourself? That's the gayest thing ever.

Opal Rider wrote:Did you tell Katie that the film shoot was for a line rider project? She seems like a total keeper.

Yeah I pitched the whole thing to her, she already knew about the track I was making and had seen most of it, but she was super enthusiastic about the whole idea and picked out the dress for herself and everything.
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Commandercoke wrote:Congrats on finishing another successful project rabid! The sand beach turned out great, and you did a great job maintaining a sense of consistency.

Woohoo yay!

Commandercoke wrote:However, like I feared, I think your attention to minor details (that really don't matter to an audience) held you back. You spent more time perfecting boards and sand than developing a solid idea. While being clean and clear, there's really not a sense of uniqueness in this track. Additionally, I personally didn't feel a sense of adventure in this track, which is unfortunate because I think you succeeded to do that in tracks like BTTW and Archaeology. Perhaps the length is to blame. I'm sure you and I will continue to discuss all of this in the near future, so I'm not going to dwell on it.

I might disagree about the uniqueness but I totally see your point about the adventure compared to Bolted and Archaeology, and I don't think it's because of the length. I was going for a mysterious feel but I dunno if that really succeeded and I'm still trying to figure out what I could do to capture that. Thanks for the feedback, I will be sure to keep that in mind as I keep making tracks!

Commandercoke wrote:Regardless of my criticism, I'm truly thrilled that you stayed interested in this project. I just know you could have pushed it a little further. The boards and beach are well done, you obviously put a lot of effort into detail, and the track itself was good for what it needed to be. What's your next project?!?

Next project is actually a naked track (first ever true srs naked track release from yours truly) but it shouldn't take too long. After that is that big scenery track I've been wanting to make since 2009. I have the naked track done, just need to add scenery. But it'll be a big project so it may be a while before it gets here.

Z_N-Freak wrote:I really liked the intro (hard not to; beautiful lass walking on the beach at sunrise...). I also liked the feeling you set with it and how it nicely fitted the track.

Thanks

Z_N-Freak wrote:The only problem I have with it, is that it ended so quickly. This setting really make me want to be in some sort of trance, watching Bosh glide through a world of amazingness for a much longer time (though I understand that track would take a lifetime to make, haha).

Haha yeah. It was originally just going to be a fun little track and then it got really big. I also wish it could have been longer but was also glad it wasn't, heh.

Z_N-Freak wrote:And everything does look really amazing, that beach especially, those grains of sand, my goodness.

Again, huge thanks to GhostY for helping me with that!

Z_N-Freak wrote:Like Commandercoke said though, I think you might have spend too much time on the tiniest details, considering that everything swoops by quite fast. I don't think the viewer really gets to appreciate the amount of effort that went into everything and I really had to pause the track a few times to admire the perfectionism. For the ending it was really visible, as we got to see part of the track in standstill while Bosh was stalled.

I think I've just accepted that my perfectionism is never going to go away. Buuut I do have to say that while I know you can't really admire the perfectionism in detail, I do think it really shows even as it goes by relatively quickly, because (hopefully) you see what I was trying to draw, whereas if it was sloppy you would see it as a huge confusing mass of detail, or worse, the worst parts of it would stand out. It did take its toll on me while making the track though.

Z_N-Freak wrote:The fading of the track into the real world could maybe have been done better (I'm not sure, as I have no experience at filming whatsoever), as it didn't match completely. It was still an amazing transition though and I happily admired the beautiful sunset as well as watching Katie walk along the beach.

Yeah I think I like it the way it is just because I took the element of cropping out of the picture and thus all the crossfades interact naturally via happenstance spatially. Sorry that probably is confusing. Just trying to say I actually like how it isn't a precise crossfade.

Z_N-Freak wrote:Kudo's for finishing this and I'm sure I'll be watching this again, for it is really different from any regular Line Rider track, because it creates this serene atmosphere. I can imagine watching this before going to sleep

Thanks This means a lot to me!

Purtle wrote:I like how certain parts synced with the song

Thanks it was really just the one spot where it switches between styles that was planned (song was found after I had planned the scenery) but the rest worked pretty well, I think.

Purtle wrote:and the boards section reminded me of Dapoe, but even better!

Wooo awesome! I basically copied the Millennium style to get a starting point for shading to boards.

Purtle wrote:I know there have been mixed reviews on the intro, personally I was not a fan.  Seeing the length of the video and while the intro was going it made me expect a more grandiose track in terms of length. The track was still great but I think the intro was too long for the track length.  I don't think 4 or 5 shots of your lady walking on the beach was necessary. 1 or 2 would have been more reasonable IMO.

Well, thanks for being honest. If I'm being totally honest I must say that the main reason I made such a long intro was because I didn't want to edit the song, but it was really fun to do the whole filming and editing thing and I am super proud of it. But I knew it wasn't going to be to everyone's taste.

Purtle wrote:Nevertheless it was great to see a new track from you!

I'll be making more soon I hope!

roflmaoqwerty wrote:Oh my god I love so much about this track.

roflmaoqwerty wrote:The track itself was super smooth and fit the vibe of the song and scenery perfectly. Manuals were extremely well done, especially that big tail halfpipe thing at the end. I literally can't think of a word to describe this track, scened or otherwise, other than "smooth," and that's a huge plus.

Thanks so much! I am proud of the tail halfpipe thing but I did think a lot of the manuals were pretty meh while I was making them haha. The wonders that scenery and a smooth recording can do! (that's my takeaway haha)

roflmaoqwerty wrote:The scenery was amazing on so many different levels. It was simplistic and didn't try to do too much, but what it did do was excellently and tastefully executed. Like, you could've drawn a huge ship or something out of the boards, but instead you chose to make the boards as high-quality as possible, and it definitely paid off. Even the monument had this fresh quality of looking simple but still beautiful. I can kinda explain this by relating it to performing music: the best performances are those that require a lot of work on the performer's part but that look effortless to the audience. Of course, this doesn't mean you were lazy with your work here, because you certainly weren't; it just looks like you were having fun and that you were comfortable within your signature style, and your choice to pursue that paid off big-time.

Wow, thanks. This kind of feels like you read my mind - CC actually told me he would have drawn a huge ship out of the boards haha. On the other hand I'm glad it looks like I was having fun in my signature style because I pushed myself more than I ever have before with this track. The water, the sand, and the clouds were all totally new things for me to attempt and it was scary because they were each so crucial to the track and covered so much area (Ultimately I am proud of the water but the sand and clouds I feel could have been better), and the sun was hard because when I looked into it I couldn't find any sunset that had been drawn before in Line Rider that I actually liked the appearance of so I pulled one together from lots of different places - but I guess that kind of thing is needed for us to push ourselves to make something new and cool in our art.

roflmaoqwerty wrote:Overall, huge props on this one; you're a true artist in the medium of Line Rider.

Thank you so much! That means a lot.

Wolf_Spirit wrote:That was a really, really impressive track, and that doesn't even take into account the amount of lag you suffered near the end!

Thanks

Wolf_Spirit wrote:The whole track showed many signs of you being a perfectionist, like the start part was practically flawless, all the shading the the right places and I don't think anyone else would take on the task of drawing all those pieces of wood, seriously, well done with all that!

Wooo thanks! The boards were kind of a long slog haha (not as bad as the sand or the clouds though, actually) The shading in the first section kind of felt like just shade-wherever-you-feel-like-shading* so I'm glad it came across to you as perfect

Wolf_Spirit wrote:However, I feel that the first section lacked a little, showing the white space in the background sort of took a bit away from it, this is only because of the lines within the section if that makes sense...But anyway, still looked good.

Yeah, I originally did it this way because it contrasts with the latter section in being self-contained, but part of me agrees with you and wanted it to go to the edges of the screen. I'll keep this in mind for future stuff.

Wolf_Spirit wrote:The wooded section was unbelievable, when it showed all the sand and the black sea, it was really breathtaking, everything came together so well and made an amazing effect ^^

woooo!

Wolf_Spirit wrote:The clouds were sort of varied in how they looked, some were perfectly fitting into the scene, some sort of looked wood-y, which of course was because of the lag and everything, can't really give too much criticism for that, hahaha!

I would love some feedback on which clouds look good and which ones don't - the lag was difficult but my own struggles with shading are much more to blame than the lag.

Wolf_Spirit wrote:Also, just have to say that it was fucking genius the way you made curves from the wood eventhough they were straight lines. Like, varying the thickness of line, really well thought-out!

Thanks I don't really have a story of how I came up with this I just started drawing boards like this as soon as I finished the naked track haha.

Wolf_Spirit wrote:Overall, a really amazing track, the scene right at the end looks just beautiful.

Wolf_Spirit wrote:The whole thing really gives off a sort of 'rabid' vibe:p Like 'I need this to be done and it has to be done in this way.' Which is both good and bad, well not bad, but anyway:
Like it shows the determination to finish it and take nothing less than perfection, the wood, sea and sand really do show this. But it also shows how you had this specific vision and didn't really stay from it, I might be wrong but it seems like that. As in, there weren't any additions other than the wood, sea, sand, clouds and sunset. Maybe it would have added more to have extra things like creatures, rocks, etc. But obviously it was your track, your vision and that's how it was done.
I doubt anyone else could create this sort of effect in a scened track. It was amazing!

No you totally hit the nail on the head. I guess that's "rabid style", haha. CC and I argued over this actually. Not sure if it makes the track better or worse to everyone else, but I like it better because I feel like... filling a track up with all sorts of stuff is, like, something that anyone can do, and sometimes it looks good, but keeping things consistent is harder and you end up with a more cohesive message in the end. Though in CC's opinion it makes the whole thing rather sterile. We'll see what happens with my next project, haha.

LineRiderGjert wrote:I love this! The scenery style screams "Rabid made this!!!", yet it's totally different from anything I've seen from you thus far. The track as a whole feels really cohesive, even though it had two completely different parts. And the mere size of the ending is beautiful. The fact that you kept seeing parts of the "ending monument" (it's more like an ending scene), without being able to see the whole thing (because of the zoom-level), made for an amazing build up of suspense!

Thanks! This means so much coming from you!

LineRiderGjert wrote:The sun's reflection was executed perfectly, I absolutely loved it. Also, I don't know how many "sand-scenes" there has been in Line Rider, but this one is definitely the best. The gradual change in spacing between the dots made for a beautiful effect.

Thanks! super proud of the reflection. And again, huge thanks to ghosty for the help with the sand.

LineRiderGjert wrote:Like CC said, BTTW feels much more like an adventure to me. However, I don't think that takes anything away from this. This track feels more like a work of art, like a majestic painting. Beautiful is the word that comes to mind. You've done an amazing job, Rabid!

I honestly don't know how I can respond to this, it's kind of overwhelming that you think so highly of the track. Thank you Maybe one day I will be able to watch BS and not think of you as an immortal, but I'm not quite there yet haha.