New Member and He's Irish!

[SaltyFranklin]

Hello everyone who read the title and decided to read this intro. I'm betting that very little people read this but anyways. I like to write quite a lot so prepare for this to be quite long.

I've seen this forum a few times and finally came on it about 2 weeks ago and I really liked it so I finally joined. My name's Frankie which explains the 'Franklin' part. As for Salty....it comes from a random character I created ages ago, a stereotypical chubby mexican with a sombrero and moustache. Sorry if it seems racist, it never meant to be in the slightest. I was just young and dumb but it sort of stuck. Getting back to me: I am 19 and reside in Ballymena in the North of Ireland. It's an alright place, boring and cold.

I have been into Pokémon from a very young age. Since they came out actually. Red and Blue came out in 1999 over here and I got Red over a week later for my 7th birthday. Needless to say I was hooked ever since. My best friend got Blue which was awesome. I realised after a while I couldn't catch Sandshrew...broke my heart. I finally got him in a trade for an Ekans.

I then got Yellow a year later and really liked it too. Was confusing at first about how to defeat Brock, with his rock types. I've always used the strategy of catching Mankey near the League entrance and levelling it up to level 9 to learn Low Kick. That's probably what everyone does.
I think I played Yellow more than any other version. I set myself little goals in it but the biggest one was catching Mewtwo with a Poké Ball. Glorious moment.

Gold/Silver came out soon after, I got Silver first, everyone else had Gold. I chose Cyndaquil first, I always have a rule of starting with a fire type lol. I think Gold/Silver have a reputation of being the greatest Poké games and I admit they are incredible, but I've always thought they were a tad overrated.

Ruby/Sapphire was next and I absolutely loved them. I feel bad for this Gen because this was when all my friends stopped playing and I always heard people saying that some of the new Pokémon looked too weird. I really liked this Gen a lot and think it produced some of the coolest Pokémon: Aggron, Gardevoir, Camerupt, Salamence and Walrein are some of my faves. Needless to say, Groudon is one of the biggest badasses ever.

I ran and got Emerald on the day of release since a lot of my younger days was saving my money like crazy toward the next Poké game. I liked the way they changed the 8th Gym Leader/Champion for this game. Idk, that change has always stuck out.

Diamond/Pearl came out when I was nearly 15 and some of my friends thought it was silly and stupid that I was still playing and getting exciting for a Pokémon game to come out. I didn't care because I thought and still do think it's awesome. This series produced one of my favourite Pokémon ever, Dialga. Any time my team was getting pummeled, I unleashed one Roar of Time and made everything ok. Naturally I picked up Platinum and put like 600 hours into it. The ability to switch Giratina's form was amazing.

I got Soul Silver when it came out and some people I knew that had ditched Pokémon years ago were interested in picking it up but when they found out some more up to date Pokémon where in it, they backed out.

Then Black and White came out and around this time, I was in college. I brought my DS one day and was playing Platinum about 2 weeks before B/W came out. Mostly everyone asked what I was playing and at first were like "Wow really?" One of my friends in the class was like "Wow I miss Pokémon" and downloaded the VBA emulator and started playing Leaf Green. Everyone else in the class got obsessed as well and started playing it. When B/W came out, like three quarters of the class got it. Was awesome that it was because of me bringing my DS in lol.

I had got the Black Version and even though White had Zekrom which looked badass, I had to get Black. Reshiram is a Fire/Dragon. Best types ever. We traded among the class like crazy and nearly completed the Dex. Of course, breeding was common everyday at the daycare lol.

I know Black and White 2 were announced recently so I'm very hyped for it. I saw pictures of Reshiram and Zekrom fused with Kyurem.. I think lol. Looked incredible.


I've played a lot of other Pokémon games along the way. The Stadium series will always have a place in my heart. I loved Pokémon Snap, I lost the cartridge a while back, so sad :(

I've been playing Super Smash Bros Brawl a lot recently with my girlfriend, she's better at it than me lol. I always play as Pokemon Trainer since Charizard is there. You have no doubt guessed he is my favourite lol.

That's a summary of my Pokémon history. If you're still here lol then here's some other non Poké stuff about me:


I like to write a lot. A lot, a lot, alot. I've written many stories over the year about different things. I stay away from fan fiction and try to be original. I wrote a novel about pirates last year, it took a long time with research. I've never bothered to do anything with it. It has about 25 chapters and don't know what to do with it. I'm currently working on a post apocalyptic story inspired mostly by The Walking Dead and the Fallout 3 game.

I aspire to be a director when I'm older and have made some short films and videos, a lot of them silly things lol. It's probably my biggest passion in life. I read about films and production a lot of the time. I thought I wanted to work in video games and did a 2 year course at college but thought it wasn't for me at the end. There were a lot of things I liked about it, like designing the game, story and gameplay. But when it came to building it, like making 3D models and such, it wasn't for me.

I would like to join or start a team to build a Pokemon game, which is what I have been mostly looking at on this forum. If anyone is interested then message me and we can talk about it or something.

I like football a lot (soccer to you americans) and support Chelsea. I love football as much as Pokémon and watch it all the time. I have a big interest in golf and would like to take it up but it's so expensive. Maybe someday lol.

I'm going to stop writing now lol. I could go on for much longer but I won't. I apologise so much for writing a lot. If you make it this far, you have my sincerest thanks. Great to be part of this forum now.

 

[Barrels]

Good grief, sir, you write as much as I do. (Which is not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that people tend to faint from oxygen deprivation halfway down the page. Ah well.) In other words, hi. ;) I be Barrels - nice to meet you, Frankie. On the scale of awesome, you've already beaten me by being Irish, but... but I caught Lugia in a Poké Ball once. Does that even us up? It doesn't? Oh.

I for one would love to read your pirate novel, so if you ever post it somewhere or get it published, give me a poke. Also, post-apocalyptic stories are awesome... I wrote one once that started in a hotel room. (Then I rewrote that hotel room at least fifty times. In the end it sucked as much if not harder than it did at the start, and I'd lost the enthusiasm I'd had to begin with. But that's my own fault for not bashing out a first draft and then editing it, I guess. Silly self.)

And you're thinking about going into movies? Sweet. Again, if you've got a YouTube or anything, stick it up here and I'll definitely take a gander. Has too much time on his hands. Favourite film/TV show/camera-related-lifeform? TELL ME ALL YOUR SECRETS. *waggles eyebrow*

Feel free to give me a VM anytime if you're looking to make friends - I'm on here a lot. Too much, perhaps. Anyhooo... see you around the forums! (And nice sig/avatar, by the way. :D)

 

[Yottabyte]

Welcome to PokeCommunity, SaltyFranklin! I just joined these forums yesterday, and, believe me, there's tons of great Pokemon discussion to take place in. It was nice to read about your life with Pokemon, and I found it hilarious that most of the people in your college class were playing Black and White. I guess that just shows how much fun Pokemon can be at any age. Anyways, if you're ever bored or anything, shoot a PM/VM my way, and we can chat or something. I hope you have fun here! (^^)

 

[SaltyFranklin]

Good grief, sir, you write as much as I do. (Which is not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that people tend to faint from oxygen deprivation halfway down the page. Ah well.) In other words, hi. ;) I be Barrels - nice to meet you, Frankie. On the scale of awesome, you've already beaten me by being Irish, but... but I caught Lugia in a Poké Ball once. Does that even us up? It doesn't? Oh.

I for one would love to read your pirate novel, so if you ever post it somewhere or get it published, give me a poke. Also, post-apocalyptic stories are awesome... I wrote one once that started in a hotel room. (Then I rewrote that hotel room at least fifty times. In the end it sucked as much if not harder than it did at the start, and I'd lost the enthusiasm I'd had to begin with. But that's my own fault for not bashing out a first draft and then editing it, I guess. Silly self.)

And you're thinking about going into movies? Sweet. Again, if you've got a YouTube or anything, stick it up here and I'll definitely take a gander. Has too much time on his hands. Favourite film/TV show/camera-related-lifeform? TELL ME ALL YOUR SECRETS. *waggles eyebrow*

Feel free to give me a VM anytime if you're looking to make friends - I'm on here a lot. Too much, perhaps. Anyhooo... see you around the forums! (And nice sig/avatar, by the way. :D)

Thank you for replying Barrels! Could never catch Lugia with a Poké Ball lol. I tried several times. I just gave up sadly.

I'll try and get that pirate novel posted somewhere. I wouldn't mind getting some other feedback. I've never re-wrote it so it's just the first draft. I think I was just eager to get it finished. I know what you mean as well by focusing on editing something to much and losing interest. I've done it so many times. I'm quite into the post-apocalyptic one currently, still researching though, be amazed if something actually gets written..

I do have a YouTube channel, started it not too long ago so I'm trying to keep it professional to some degree. Only have one proper video uploaded thus far. I tried to post the link but need to post 15 times. I'll link you to it in the very near future.

Welcome to PokeCommunity, SaltyFranklin! I just joined these forums yesterday, and, believe me, there's tons of great Pokemon discussion to take place in. It was nice to read about your life with Pokemon, and I found it hilarious that most of the people in your college class were playing Black and White. I guess that just shows how much fun Pokemon can be at any age. Anyways, if you're ever bored or anything, shoot a PM/VM my way, and we can chat or something. I hope you have fun here! (^^)

Thank you Yottabyte, very cool name. Yeah it was funny that they all ended up playing it after criticizing it for so long. Thanks for the offer, it'd be good to get to know some people here.

 

[Brickbusterx]

Hi there and welcome to PC! Wow... lots of stuff about yourself which is really nice to see! :P Also seemed like you got most of the games in the series which is pretty cool, I got all of the games up to emerald and stopped getting the games. (wish i got a ds and got the games but too late) I still need to play platinum, soul silver, and white which i really should get on with since it's been out for so long. :P I'm so tempted to go to class next year and just make everyone play Pokemon now... great job man, you deserve a medal. :P Pokemon stadium and Pokemon snap... I really liked those games and still have them! I played them about a month ago actually. :P I would imagine your stories would be great considering on how well you type, plus the quantity is pretty impressive even here. I actually used to make videos myself as well, really liked doing it but stopped about 3 years ago and went into game programming instead. (pretty much the opposite of yourself :P) Never was much of a sports guy but I enjoy hockey or baseball every now and then but i'm a passionate gamer/ programmer for life. :) You'll be able to make a team or work with a lot of people here in making your own game for however you decide to make it. (RXMP or Rom hacking) I'm personally into Rom hacking and making my own game as of now, you can learn a lot here and the people are very helpful. If you decide to make your game that way id be more than happy to help any way i can. :) (RXMP I have little to no skill in) Well i think i'v officially wrote just about 1/4 of what you did so I think that's a nice job on my behalf. :P Anyways hope you enjoy yourself, hope your game goes well, and hope to see you around! :)

 

[Barrels]

Could never catch Lugia with a Poké Ball lol. I tried several times. I just gave up sadly.

BAHAHAHA I WIN.

I'll try and get that pirate novel posted somewhere. I wouldn't mind getting some other feedback. I've never re-wrote it so it's just the first draft. I think I was just eager to get it finished.

Yeah, post it! (But if it's good enough, you could always try getting it published first. Since, you know, it's kinda hard to get people to buy your book when it's available for free on the interwebs. :P)

I'm quite into the post-apocalyptic one currently, still researching though, be amazed if something actually gets written..

Research is ftw. I never do enough of it, to my shame, and end up writing things nonsensical to anyone who knows the first thing about my subject matter. Apocalypticness sounds epically fun to research though. Survival methods, guerrilla warfare, a Big Bad that's already won the battle and is proceeding to lord it over the remnants of mankind... definitely interested in having a look. If you ever write anything, natch. :P

I tried to post the link but need to post 15 times. I'll link you to it in the very near future.

No worries dude, I took it as a challenge. :P Or my good friend Google did, anyway. This is you, right?

...If it is, lol, then I loved your Atmosphere vid. :D My favourite clip was probably when you focus on the Skips packet and then we slowly realise that you're tracking the insect. Verry nice.

Just cos I'm curious, what do you use to edit? If you've not got a lot of money (and even if you have), I heartily recommend Sony Vegas. 9.0 is a bargain right now at £20 and thousands of YouTubers (and a couple of professional filmmakers I've known) swear by it. /advertisment

But, um, yeah. I'm just going to evanglise about Vegas for a paragraph or so now, because I've been itching to do this forever. So. Speaking as someone who's used all the major packages - Pinnacle, FCP, even a bit of Avid - and most of the minor ones like iMovie and Movie Maker, Vegas puts them all to shame in various departments.

Pinnacle's joke of a UI makes just about everything harder than it has to be, especially the panning/cropping which Vegas does so well. FCP is obviously the industry standard but is incredibly irritating in certain areas (random example: speeding up/slowing down clips uses a freakin' dialogue box. No. Just no. If you can't be arsed to implement a simple stretch function without an idiotic eight-point tool, maybe you should've spent less time on your shiny complicated interface). Avid is excellent but way, way too expensive for pretty much anyone outside the studios, and the home editions are so crippled that you'll have a job adjusting from one to the other. (And then feel utterly robbed of £100.)

Vegas, on the other hand, can do pretty much anything you want it to out-of-the-box, and if it can't do exactly what you have in mind then you can usually fake something up that still looks damn good. Case in point - if you buy a load of stock from DetFilms but can't Screen it over because the layers don't support blending modes, just apply a chromakey plugin and you'll actually get more exact results by picking the source colour. Or, if you've messed up your colour correction in shot, a combination of Gradient Maps, Curves, Levels and Contrast can set you up with just about anything you like. (One of the most convenient Curves presets turns day to night in a click. Sure, it might take a bit of tweaking, but it's saved my life on numerous occasions.) Or if you're doing compositing work, it's entirely possible to create your scene in Photoshop/GIMP and play with the alpha until you get something that looks seamless by animating it frame-by-frame over the top. Or... but I'll stop. ;) Seriously, though, damn good software.

...I need to stop writing now lest I develop carpal tunnel syndrome, but yeah. :) Also your accent is awesome and not at all annoying, but the lack of jump cuts threw me. I dunno, it's just a vlog thing, right? Vlogs without cuts are like peanuts without butter... or something. ;)