One episode of the backlog complete… three to go!

 

I think they should do one on if transformers are liable to human trafficking.

 

Moo ?

 

No Spoiler Section Guy? Lame.
Still a great episode.

 

The only law I obey is FARARAB.

 

I\'m a rirfib activist if firrib

 

SSG is currently enjoying his retirement over in his Miami-based condo. We wish him well.

(In reality: I don’t have the file for that little clip, and until I saw this post I completely forgot he existed. Will he return? Who knooooows.

((I will probably forget by the time Earthspark’s First Season, Part Two: The Second Third is recorded and edited.))

 

I love Earthspark Arcee but I disagree about the whole "let her be a real transformer". Her alt mode just evaporated when she transforms and there's no way they can deliver a Deluxe of that design that doesn't have her wearing that on her back. I kind of felt like that was intentional as a poke at the G1 design but I don't know. Like "what if we have this big body sedan turn into a slender robot? that'd be funny!" It honestly broke my heart because they had a chance to reinvent Arcee and threw it away

 

I agree with TJ on Alan Tudyk's Optimus Prime's voice, I don't think it's bad but it doesn't make me think "Optimus Prime" maybe in time. There's definitely some weird stuff going on facially for most of the humans, not just Alex, especially during close-ups, and the 2D/cel shaded look for the vfx looks alright for laser blasts, but for smoke or fire (as seen with Grimlock) it just looks plain bad. The show's sappy-ness did get to me a few times, started rolling my eyes real hard whenever they start going all "We're a family!" "Families help each other!" or "Getting all the feels from Mo and Robby!" and Dot calling the bots her "babies" will always be weird to me. I also find a lot of the robot designs to be pretty lackluster, Optimus in particular, especially the head, same for Starscream and Soundwave.

I did like the show, for the most part. I thought the vocal performances where good, except Wheeljack, and I like the world building with Quintus Prime and the Emberstone. I find the post war setting interesting and I hope we get to see more what happened in the past, mainly because it seems like the Great War had some pretty low stakes if all Optimus had to do was blow up a space bridge to end it.

Also, what the hell are Mandroid's spiders made of? They can be tossed around by full-sized Transformers and still be functional and yet Robby and his Dad wack a bunch with a couple a sticks and they're out of commission?

 

I don’t mean to sound rude and it’s not my intention. As a long time listener, it’s nice to get episodes more frequently, but I’ve been noticing some issues since the new editor took over.

Is anyone from the podcast listening back to for the quality of the podcast as of late? While I know editing long podcasts can be an arduous task, it has been pretty rough from an audio production stand point.

Volume levels have been all over the place. I’m constantly adjusting. Some hosts too loud, others way too quiet. Some episodes have had a ton of audible distortion. There is a general lack of noise suppression to the point where I can hear someone clacking away on their keyboard or banging on their desk while another host is talking, and this usually goes on throughout entire episodes. Intro music or random cut-ins also vary widely in volume levels, from being way to quiet to ear splitting. Unfortunately this all makes for a really hard listen, and I’ve found myself starting to either tune out or turning off the episodes completely as a result.

This is coming from the ears of a musician, someone who worked in radio broadcasting, and who uses production software on a daily basis… so admittedly while I am more sensitive to this sort of thing, I think it’s something worth looking… or, listening into (ha. So funny) I did ask some other people to take a listen in case I was being too harsh, but they had similar feedback.

Again, I don’t mean this in a rude way. I do apologize if it comes off as such. It’s a lot harder to convey the tone I’d like to in text format. I’m sure the editor is more than capable of fixing these issues!

 

Hey, first of all thank you for the feedback! It is appreciated!

Audio levels are something I will fully admit I've struggled with, and it's part of the reason 627-630 are running behind (as well as some IRL stuff that I don't care to personally get into, but that's besides the point) as I've recently received a bunch of tips on how to improve on that stuff. There have been some minor audio issues (including a semi-corrupted recording a few episodes back where I had to have some assistance from a certain Internet Personality) and new hardware/setup things that I've been trying to tweak to make the episodes more normalized across the board. Same with the intro/cut-in stuff.

The keyboard clack thing is... unfortunate to hear. Aside from the EarthSpark episode, I normally go through and completely erase any sort of background noise/keyboard clicking that I can find unless it's something fully integrated with what an actively speaking host is saying (I believe last episode or the one I'm editing now, a host is searching for something while typing) or part of a greater bit (The Child Death Trampoline.)

The last thing I will say? Audio levels can be entirely different from a user-to-user experience, as I've also had a few people take a listen to make sure things sound okay but *more* feedback is ALWAYS going to be appreciated. Personally, I find audio levels that are harsh on my at-home headphones come out way softer on my work earbuds and it's something I want to try and figure out as fast as possible. That being said: If you have any more feedback or even advice? I'm open to it. The last thing I want is to make a show hard for someone to listen to, and if there's even something so slight that I can do to make it better? I want to know about it. Feel free to contact me over in DMs, on Twitter @AnArmyOfBees or even Discord at AnArmyofBees#6969.

 

May I ask which software you are using to edit?

If you are having trouble with audio levels with just your ear alone, keep an eye on your VU meters. It’s a good idea to introduce add a compressor and limiter on each of their tracks too. Just don’t drive them too hard or you will end up pushing too high into the red and introducing some ugly digital distortion.