Behind the Scenes: Belladonna Cove | Episode 4.3

Timothy and Vivian cuddling under the stars

This episode didn’t go as planned. I wanted Timothy and Sally to go to the gym and then, after returning to the apartment, Timothy would take Vivian out on a date. But I wanted Timothy to dance with Sally, so that he’d roll the want to reach Body skill level 1, and then I wasted time at Cratus Gym because I wanted photos and footage of Sally and Timothy floating on their backs. (I could have adjusted their fun bars, seeing that testingcheats is always on because of the Community Lot Time mod, but I clearly didn’t think of doing that at the time.) Yeah. So, because of that, when the Riley family finally left the gym, it was too late to take Vivian out. 

When I was done filming, I was a little disappointed with the episode (disappointed because it didn’t go as planned, because it could feel a little rushed*) but when I looked at the finished product, I thought that it really wasn’t that bad. (But, of course, what I think and what others think will differ.) I’m so happy that I made Timothy interact with Etsu because, in the end, there was a connection between Sally and Vivian, Sally and Etsu, and then Timothy and Vivian, but the last link – between Timothy and Etsu – hadn’t been forged yet.

Now, about my comment concerning finished products.

Basically, I have the rendered episodes of this Belladonna Cove series on a hard drive, and I was looking at the earlier episodes. I can only say this: wow! It’s been more than two months since I uploaded episode 1.1, and I do see a difference between the first episode and episode 4.3, which is currently the last episode. The biggest difference sits in the quality of the video. The footage. I’ve been playing with the data rate of a video in the export settings (this is just before I render a video), and back when I rendered episode 1.1, I kept the data rate quite low.

I don’t know why I did that. 

But first, let me explain: when you keep the data rate of a video quite low in the export settings, and then render the video, then you will potentially lose quality. You’ve seen the difference between 480p, 720p, and 1080p, right? The video sizes are different, but basically, the bigger the better. The bigger the resolution – 480p vs 1080p – the clearer the picture will be. But a 1080p video should contain enough data so that the picture you’re seeing is clear and sharp.

When the video, which is basically a container, doesn’t have enough data, then the visual quality of the video will suffer. A 1080p should have at least so much in terms of a data rate, otherwise it will lose quality. And that is what happened in episode 1.1. When I would move the camera around, the footage looks a bit grayish, a bit pixelated. That’s because the video lost quality after I rendered it.

Data rate and so on isn’t important for the casual viewer, but if you ever want to create your own videos, then I can give you tips. But then, in the end, it’s also important to make mistakes and learn from them. I try my best, but gosh, I’ve made mistakes, and I don’t like it that episode 1.1 has clear dips in quality, because it’s the episode that introduces viewers to me, the series, and my channel. First impressions, you see. 

*About the comment of the episode feeling rushed. I wanted Timothy and Vivian to get engaged late Thursday and then have an elopement on the Friday, but I didn't quite follow that plan, so they got engaged and then married pretty close to each other. That's why I initially felt that the episode was rushed. But then I thought about this: Vivian and Timothy’s biographies are all about each other, about them becoming one unit. That's the story. 

Then I thought: what's the point of delaying the marriage? We've met the Cho family, and then the Riley family. If they don't get married on the Friday, then they'd have to get married on the Saturday during the Cho family's second round, just before 6pm because I'd want the ages to be right. Also, if they didn't get married then, I'd have to wait for the end of the Riley family's second round. And I didn't want to wait so long because, again, their household biographies are linked. It felt inevitable that the two families would unite. So why keep them all apart?