Category Archives: Trance

Under the Stairs is a small studio based in Zagreb, Croatia, and on July 14, its first game finally hit Steam. From a small, tight-knit team, Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom yielded a 5/5 score in our review for its unique take on, and fresh approach to, the roguelike genre.

The roguelike genre isnt my favourite. While you can catch me ploughing hours beyond hours into various sims that require a tonne of grinding, roguelikes have never been able to keep me hooked for all that long. Eyes in the Dark, however, felt like a breath of fresh air, and almost like it was made for people like me. For people that have just never gelled with the genre.

We sat down with Under the Stairs director, Vladimir Bogdanić, to talk all about how the studio came together, and how Eyes in the Dark came to fruition. From indie development, inspirations, music, and even what the future holds for Under the Stairs, heres our insight into the world of Under the Stairs and its quaint game, Eyes in the Dark.

How did Under the Stairs, a tight-knit group, come together? And how did the idea of Eyes in the Dark come together as a result of that?

Vladimir Bogdanić: At a game jam, we made something, but we werent quite sure what it was. A bunch of people left, but the idea stayed, and it wasnt really until a couple of years after that we finally started as a studio. Mostly because I didnt really have access to any funding or anything.

The company itself was founded when we found investors in the UK, and then it really became a much bigger thing where we suddenly had money and could hire people, and we could start working on this properly.

Up until that point, I ran a small web development company on the side. And I still kind-of do. I was basically using the funds from the web development stuff to bootstrap the game development efforts. We werent sure what we were getting ourselves into, but it worked out in the long run.

Ive read that the team at Under the Stairs all have interests across different genres. How did these come together and inspire the game?

Vladimir: It was definitely kind of a tug-of-war thing where a lot of us are coming in with different interests and perspectives. What happened was that all of us and our different backgrounds came to reinforce the idea by simply solving problems uniquely or offering different perspectives.

There were moments in development when there was a consensus around a particular problem and how to solve it, but then one person really wanted to do something else and made a really good case for it. That became the solution. Speaking more in broad terms, I think thats really valuable to have on small teams; people coming from different backgrounds and giving their own unique viewpoints.

There are not a lot of opportunities in Croatia: a lot of us have grown used to working different types of jobs who require a different skill set, so over time you tend to learn a lot of different things, and when you get to a project like this one, it all really helps.

I also learnt that you used to be a resident DJ for quite a few labels. Did music, and your experience with it, tie into the development of Eyes in the Dark and its soundtrack at all?

Vladimir: Oh, absolutely. I know a lot of artists from the psychedelic-trance music scene, and Ive toured extensively, so I have a few contacts there. When we were thinking about what to do with the soundtrack, I had a pool of people that I could touch base with.

As opposed to the art style and direction, which was Filips [Filip Neduk, Game Designer] thing, the music was more of an iterative process in the sense that I have a lot of unused tracks on my hard drive. There is a lot of music that hasnt made it into the game for whatever reason, and I think the good thing there is that I have the experience of curating tracks for record labels. So, I know what it takes to build a music compilation, and that has been really useful in nailing down what type of feel we want for the soundtrack.

The game has a very flat art style with no depth or blurring; how do you make music that accompanies that? Initially, we had lots of reverbs, echoes, and more orchestral-type tunes. Eventually, we got to scrap all of that and went more along the lines of let's have some more chip tunes; something that sounds kind of flat, but when you listen to it, there are layers in there, but its all compressed and matches the style better.

Another key thing that I think really helped is increasing the tempo and making sure that no matter what youre doing in the game, theres some kind of beat to keep the pace going so that you dont get bogged down. That was a key decision that we made that influenced the entire soundtrack.

What you think makes the flashlight stand out? And did it, alongside light combat, pose any issues during development?

Vladimir: There were definitely a tonne of issues. Theres not one specific thing here that I would say makes the flashlight the best thing ever, its more a combination of multiple smaller changes over the course of a really long time. Its small touches like when you activate the flashlight it doesn't immediately turn on, theres a little bit of a delay.

Challenge-wise, when we initially started with the idea of using the light as a combat mechanic, there was no tinkering. You werent combining bits and pieces to get a flashlight. We had a flashlight, some matches, a flare gun, and we had some cherry bombs. We were just messing around with using those in any scenario. So, youd start exploring, and youd waste things like battery charges, fire, or whatever it was, and the game slowed down to a crawl.

For the flashlight, it mostly came down to using it as a melee-like weapon more like a shield, honestly rather than something that pushes you forward. Then we kind of crystallised there, into lets have these three different categories: the flashlight, projectiles, and gadgets.

Thats how it evolved. The main differentiator was that this is a flashlight, we want someone to tinker with it, and every flashlight has a place for batteries. So, what if you could put different types of batteries in there to change how it works?

Its taking inspiration from a real world object, and giving it a power trip fantasy, so that you can go wild with it.

Eyes in the Dark captures the gloomy, gothic mood of the mansion through both its design and inspirations, and the experience is true to a child being scared of the dark - is this what you were aiming for?

Vladimir: Im really happy to hear you say that, because its definitely a feeling that we were trying to capture. One of the inspirations, for me, was the Beetlejuice cartoon. If youre watching it from a distance, theres always that Oh, this is really weird and creepy, what the hell is going on? but everything has a really light-hearted tone. Its really fun and engaging.

I think a lot of horror and related games dont often go that route, its more jump scares or gore or whatever.

Another thing, in terms of architecture and level design, is that a lot of roguelikes have random level generation. We wanted our game to feel like an actual place. That comes at a cost from a production point of view.

Theres more manual labour involved, but the end result is that it feels like a place; a place youd want to visit. You enter a room, and its not just a random set of tiles and levels, its an actual room in a mansion. That was the intent all along, and I think the narrative helps to reinforce that.

What made you decide to make the game non-linear, and did any other games inform you of what you did not want to do with Eyes in the Dark?

Vladimir: We definitely love the roguelike genre, I could name titles like Binding of Isaac its been a huge inspiration and Im a huge fan of Spelunky, for example. But also games like Slay the Spire or Dead Cells.

We didnt say we really love this one game, were gonna rip off half of it then do our own thing. We looked at the entire genre, and we figured what can we do here that will set us apart? What can we do to try and push the genre in a different direction? I honestly think that the genre has a tonne of potential for some cool and innovative stuff.

Initially, we had something that was more traditional; you finish a run, and maybe gain some experience, unlock some information, but it was more grindy. One of the things that I dont like about modern roguelikes is that they tend to lock a lot of the content behind a grind, and look, I have a 10-month-old son, I dont have the time!

I want to just play it, and I want to be done with it, but at the same time, I like being able to return to it now and then and maybe get a different type of feel for it.

Are there any aspects of the game, now that its out there, that you wish you could change, and do you have plans for any post-launch updates?

Vladimir: The narrative overall has been the hardest one to nail, initially we had more of a quest-based system. It became a big problem because youd become confused; when does a quest end? Is it when you pick up a couple of items? But then youre done with the quest, so whats the incentive to keep going?

That was a huge thing that we iterated on a lot. In the end, we decided to do something where you will gain some sort of narrative information; something that is going to expand the storyline further and progress everything. But, its still a run where you have to finish everything from beginning to end. I think that was the right choice to make.

In terms of what we want to add, I would like to add more bosses and enemies, maybe more zones that rotate depending on what run youre doing. I think we left the structure, overall, open enough so that we can add more items, impediments or perks. It mostly boils down to how the next couple of months look for us.

In terms of the general structure and how its been done, I would probably not change much. Were really happy with the end result, especially for our first game.

Do you have plans to do anything differently on your next game?

Vladimir: Were in the very early stages, so I cant really share information. The only thing that I would say is, as you said, Eyes in the Dark hopefully makes roguelikes more accessible to people who dont generally play them.

Lets just say that I would like to do the same thing with a different genre.

Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom launched on July 14, 2022 on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

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Eyes in the Dark interview: How Beetlejuice, psychedelic-trance, and innovation inspired a studio's first game - VG247

DANCE legends N-Trance will be coming to Halton for a night of dancing and dabbing at a popular bingo venue.

Best known for the 90s dance classic Set You Free, selling six million copies across the world and covers of popular songs, N-Trance will be performing a DJ set at Buzz Bingo in Widnes.

The event, Bingo Revolution, combines the classic game of bingo with singalong tunes, comedian hosts and life-changing prizes ranging from a tin of beans to a 6ft inflatable dinosaur.

Speaking about what people can expect from the night, Bingo Revolution owner Stephen Hunt said: I always say its about three things: dancing, laughing and dabbing.

Its a real singalong event with classic tunes, its just a really great night.

With regular bingo its all about cash prizes.

We have that, but we also have prizes like a 6ft inflatable dinosaur, a kettle and a tin of beans.

People get more excited about the dinosaur than they do the cash to be honest.

Ben Coxhill, head of events and entertainment at Buzz Bingo, said: Regular bingo games are filled with anticipation, so add DJs, drag queens, 90s bangers and life-changing prizes into the mix and youre onto a winner.

The event will be taking place at Buzz Bingo Widnes on October 7.

Tickets are available from the club or online at http://www.designyournight.com

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N-Trance to host DJ set at Buzz Bingo Widnes - Runcorn and Widnes World

PAUL McKENNA has called for hypnotic gastric bands to be made available on the NHS to tackle Britains obesity crisis.

The hypnotist spoke out after it was revealed this week that almost half of women have done no vigorous exercise in the past year, while a third of men have also given it a miss.

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The figures, from the Nuffield Health charity, come as Britains weight crisis is soaring.

Latest figures reveal 64 per cent of adults were either overweight or obese in 2019.

However, Cancer Research UK predicted last month that more than 42million adults will be overweight by 2040 a shocking 71 per cent of us.

So today Paul shares techniques from his updated international best-selling book The Hypnotic Gastric Band and an online trance exclusively to help Sun readers get thin this summer.

He is also offering a special discount on his Hypnotic Gastric Band app.

In an exclusive interview, Paul said: This is the closest thing to real magic Ive ever witnessed, as a hypnotic gastric band can help you smash off the pounds and get thin.

We should be prescribing this procedure on the NHS.

You can get CBT, EMDR, hypnotherapy, counselling why is this any different?

This summer Britain is facing an epidemic of obesity. As a nation we have never been fatter. But the reasons why people become overweight are very complex.

The scientific research is overwhelming for most people diets dont work.

Additionally, during these times of massive anxiety, stress, boredom and emotional challenges due to the pandemic, millions have been trying to change the way they feel through drinking, drug-taking, gambling, sex, shopping, television and the worlds drug of choice food, and particularly sugary food.

Thats why Im sharing what Ive learned over the past decades, along with additional techniques so Sun readers can change their lives.

As I guide them through the process in my trance audio online, I will get readers to do all the things they would have done, had they had a real gastric band fitted.

As we know, the real band is very expensive, and there is a potential risk, as with any medical procedure.

The beauty of the hypnotic, or psychological gastric band, is that it is safe. You go into a trance, you are told you are having this procedure, but you dont have to worry about physically going under the knife.

Your unconscious mind is instructed that the hypnotic gastric band has shrunk your stomach from the size of a melon to the size of an apple, so you will feel full faster.

You eat far less, without feeling that you are missing out.One man who lost 300lb later told me, Its like a switch has been flipped in my head.

It wont work for everyone, but in studies weve done, we have found significant success rates, with seven in ten people finding it works for them.

The eyes of love

PEOPLE who are overweight often tell themselves: I hate myself because Im fat.

One lady told me shed look in the mirror and her internal voice said: Fat cow.

You need to stop dishing out abuse to yourself, as in the past the solution to stop the feeling was to eat.

This technique gets you to a place where you love and accept yourself.

And by respecting yourself, you can lose weight.

Read through this whole exercise before you do it, so you know what to do.

1. Close your eyes and think about someone who loves and respects you.

2. Imagine that person is standing in front of you now, looking at you and smiling.

3. Next, imagine floating out of your own body and into theirs, and look at yourself through their eyes. See yourself through the eyes of love and respect. Feel the smile on their face as they look at you. Notice how you smile in return.

4. Notice all the things they love and respect about you. Take all the time you need to do that. Notice absolutely everything, even the little things, that you can see. Notice how it makes you feel.

5. Finally, take a snapshot of yourself in your mind and imagine seeing it up to the right in front of you.

6. Keep this feeling in mind, and any time you want to be reminded of it, look up to your right and see that picture again.

ALONGSIDE my online trance, these four golden rules are the foundation of my system and will help to support the changes you are making.

1. When you are hungry, eat: It is important to make a distinction between true physical hunger and emotional hunger. Real hunger comes on gradually. It is clear, constant and you feel it in your belly. It is not a reaction to fear, embarrassment, stress or anger, or a distraction when you are bored.

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2. Eat what you want, not what you think you need: All diets involve limiting and depriving the body. Healthy people eat what their body really wants. After hypnotic gastric band surgery you can eat what you wish.3. Whatever you eat, do it consciously: Give your food your complete attention. Turn off the TV. Slow your eating speed right down to about a quarter of your usual speed. With each mouthful, put your knife and fork down and chew your food 20 times.4. When you think you are full, stop eating: Listen for the signal from your brain that you are full, then stop. Its like a muscle the more you use it, the stronger it gets.

If at first you are not quite sure if you are feeling the full signal correctly, stop eating for three or four minutes and see if you are still actually hungry. If you are still hungry, eat a bit more and watch out for the signal again.

ITS important to no longer use food to change your feelings, or you will put on weight.

To feel good and interrupt or change your emotions, use this Havening technique, created by my friend Dr Ronald Ruden.

Please read through the following exercise before you do it.You should practise this sequence of eye movements, body touches and visualisations several times until you know it off by heart.

Then you will be able to use it any time you need to get rid of unhappy feelings and swiftly feel calm and relaxed. Many people experience remarkable positive changes immediately after a Havening session. Even if you are one of those people, keep doing this Havening exercise regularly.

1. Pay attention to any stress or unhappiness you wish to remove and notice what it looks like in your imagination and how stressful it feels.Now rate its strength on a scale of one to ten, where ten is the most powerful and one is the least. This is important, as it lets you measure how much you are reducing it.

2. Cross your arms, place your hands on the tops of your shoulders and close your eyes.

3. Now stroke your hands down the sides of your arms from the top of your shoulders down to your elbows, and keep doing this downward-stroking motion again and again throughout this process.

4. Now clear your mind, or just think about or imagine something nice.

5. As you carry on stroking the sides of your arms, imagine you are walking on a beautiful beach, and with each footstep you take in the sand, count out loud from one to 20. One, two, three...

6. Keeping your head still, while continuing to stroke your arms, move your eyes laterally to the left and laterally to the right ten times.

7. Still stroking the sides of your arms, imagine you are walking outside in a beautiful garden. With each footstep you take in the grass, count out loud from one to 20. One, two, three...

8. Now open your eyes and check on your scale from one to ten how much lower the number of the stress feeling is now.If it is way down the bottom of the scale, congratulations you have personally changed your feelings.

If you think that the stress feeling is not yet reduced enough, just repeat the Havening sequence until it is reduced as far as you want.

PEOPLE who are overweight tell me they are either hungry all the time, or they dont know when they are full.

From now on, never go below three or above seven again.

1. Physically faint

2. Ravenous

3. Fairly hungry

4. Slightly hungry

5. Neutral

6. Pleasantly satisfied

7. Full

8. Stuffed

9. Bloated

10. Nauseous

As you find it easier to live in the middle section of the scale, your relationship with food, your self-control and your body will all change for the better.

Offer: get the hypnotic gastric band app for 4.99

SUN readers can get an exclusive discount on Paul McKennas hugely popular The Hypnotic Gastric Band app.

For the next 72 hours you can buy it at the reduced price of 4.99 (usual price 6.99) from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store using this QR Code until 23.59 on Monday 1 August.

Readers can also listen to Paul McKennas online trance all this weekend for free at thesun.co.uk.

THIS simple technique helps to recalibrate your hunger settings.

1. I want you to remember a time when you felt really hungry remember what it felt like in your stomach and your mind, and your feelings.

2. I want you to remember a time when you felt really stuffed remember what it felt like in your stomach and mind.

3. Again, I want you to remember a time you felt really hungry.

4. Now I want you to remember a time when you felt stuffed.

5. Once more, I want you to remember a time you felt really hungry.

6. And again, I want you to remember a time you felt really stuffed.

Can you notice the difference now, between feeling hungry and feeling full?

You can listen to the gastric band trance here

Originally posted here:

Forget diets I can train your mind to think its had a gastric band and heres how... - The Sun

Viewers are losing it over this hysterical TikTok video of a dad vacuuming every individual tassel on the living room carpet.

When it comes to cleaning, everyone has different standards. No one knows this better than parent and TikToker Ally Cormier (@allyycormier), who recently shared a hilarious video of her husband meticulously vacuuming each tassel on the living room carpet, and viewers have many questions, particularly in the context of his astrological sign.

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The clip opens with a shot of Cormiers husband in their living room, vacuuming the carpet with a handheld vacuum while their toddler plays in the background.

Yeah, I would love to go with the flow, but like, what time does the flow start? asks the videos audio as the camera slowly zooms in on Cormiers husband in a trance-like state, gingerly vacuuming each of the carpets tassels from right to left.

Hes dead serious, Cormier notes in the on-screen text while her husband goes to painstaking lengths to clean and straighten every last tassel.

As the video comes to a close, Cormiers toddler crawls across the room, reminding viewers that those carpet tassels wont stay neat for long.

Kim Petras opens up about her creative process, her legacy and Coachella:

Viewers found Cormiers video to be highly amusing and relatable.

This is the same man that cleans the garage when company comes into town, joked one user.

My dad always used a comb, lol, one TikToker shared

[I] read that they make fringe rakes on Amazon for this very thing, another viewer mentioned.

Many were especially fascinated by the astrological aspects of the mans cleaning habits.

Gemini sun, Virgo moon, Capricorn rising. Locking in my answer, affirmed one TikToker.

Im an Aquarius, and [I] do the same but with a comb, shared another astrology aficionado. While the correlation between zodiac signs and cleaning habits remains a mystery, Cormier ensured viewers that her husband is a Gemini who takes carpet cleaning very seriously.

Story continues

Christian Cowan grew up idolizing pop musics biggest stars and now hes dressing them:

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If you enjoyed this story, check out this mom who thought her floors were spotless, until a professional cleaner revealed the filthy truth.

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Dad meticulously vacuums every single tassel on the living room carpet in hilarious TikTok - Yahoo Sports

Luke Strominger| Guest columnist

Week in Review: School field maintenance, Cape Canaveral roundabout and Amazon in Cocoa

Not yet a subscriber? FLORIDA TODAY's Rob Landers brings you some of the subscriber exclusive stories you might have missed this week

Rob Landers, Florida Today

One night on a moonlit beach, I witnessed a natural wonder that I will not soon forget, as aloggerhead turtle made her way from the Atlantic Ocean to lay eggs in the sandy dunes of Canaveral National Seashore.

This incredible experience was made possible by the Seashores Turtle Watch program. We gathered at dusk in the parks visitor center, where a ranger gave a presentation about these magnificent animals and ongoing conservation efforts by the park service to protect them. All of us then eagerly awaited a call from scouts scouring the beach to say they found a nesting turtle.

The turtle, who we named Aria, paced along the dunes until she found a spot in the sand that was just right. We were guided to Aria while walking along the dark beach, illuminated only by the moon and our red flashlights so as to not disturb the turtle when she was making her nest.

As we slowly approachedher, she began laying eggs in a trance-like state, solely focused on laying all of them. The park ranger told us they operate mainly by instinct. We were shown a sea turtles skull earlier that evening and saw the very small slot where the brain had been.

We stood in awe around Aria as she laid approximately 100 eggs, watching each contraction as she raised her back flippers and dropped eggs into the nest. After time passed, we quietly followed her as she went back into the ocean.

I will remember this excursion for a long time to come not only because it taught me more about sea turtles, but I was also able to better understand the Seashores environment, and the ecosystem-wide issues facing the turtles.

One such issue is that turtles gender is determined by temperature. As the ranger said, warm sand brings hot chicks and cold sand brings cool dudes. With the warming climate, there is concern that more females will be born, causing an imbalance in population numbers.

So far though, thanks to the park's conservation efforts, nesting numbers have thrived. Canaveral National Seashore is 24 miles long, the longest stretch of undeveloped land along Floridas east coast. Thousands of sea turtle nests have been recorded here since 1985. The nesting season runs from April to October, with most loggerheads nesting between May and August. As I write this, there have been 7,333 nests recorded at the Seashore this season, 5,124 of which have been loggerheads like Aria.

Prior to human intervention, about 98% of the nests succumbed to predation by raccoons. For a period of time, the park placed wire frames over nests to prevent them from reaching the eggs. As a result, 80% of the nests survived. Raccoons also consume ghost crabs, another predator, so maintaining a balanced ecosystem is important. Currently, wild pigs are the biggest threat to the turtle nests.

Without the Turtle-Watch program I would have never known the complex variety of threats and management efforts targeting sea turtles at Canaveral. Participating in events like these helps everyday peoplelike me become educated about how our actions impact these animals, and ways we can help at the local level.

One quick step that goes a long way in protecting turtles is making sure to clearyour sand castles and filling in holes youve dug before leaving the beach. Nesting turtles and hatchlings are at risk of getting trapped in these structures and dying as a result. This has been exacerbated by a recent TikTok challenge encouraging users to dig deep holes.

After seeing Aria lay her eggs, I hope to one day witness a nest "erupting"with hatchlings and guide them to the ocean. Only one out of 1,0 turtles reach adulthood. Therefore, it's important we protect these incredible animals through effective local action and continue to stay educated about them.

Luke Strominger is a Florida native and member of the American Conservation Coalition.

Support local journalism and become a subscriber. VIsitfloridatoday.com/subscribe

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Conservationist witnesses wonder of sea turtles in Brevard | Opinion - Florida Today

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are driving improvements in accuracy and decreasing latency of automated captioning for broadcast content.

The technologies supporting automated captioning have improved significantly over the last few years while dropping in costs, making it possible for broadcasters to more economically caption their content than relying on human captioners alone. The trend toward using hybrid and cloud models rather than only on-prem for the captioning portion of the workflow continues.

Vendors say the benefits of using automated captioning and transcription services extends beyond meeting regulatory requirements and makes it easier for people in noisy environments, such as bars, to enjoy content, because it makes content searchable and therefore more useful to the broadcaster and prepares it for translation or translates it verbatim on the fly with minimal latency.

Improving technologies have managed to overcome some of the issues that made accurate and fast automated captioning difficult.

Auto-transcription, auto-translation and natural language processing are the main tools we have today, and they are helping us in a big way, says Sana Afsar, engineering manager at Interra Systems.

In the last few years, these technologies have improved dramatically while becoming more affordable, she says. Languages are evolving, and machines are getting better and better, but they are not 100% accurate.

Things like background noises, dialect and slang can lower accuracy, as can switching languages in mid-speech, which might happen when words are adopted from one language into another, Afsar says.

Even with these challenges, the companys Baton Captions automated captioning still works well, and machine-assisted review processes can flag sections of the captioning where confidence is low in the accuracy, she says.

Matt McEwen, VP of product management for TVU Networks, says accuracy of speech to text can depend on many factors.

AI [artificial intelligence] engines are getting better at detecting accents and different languages, he says. Theyre learning engines, getting better and better. Its amazing to me in the time weve been doing this, how much its improved.

TVU Transcriber is an independent microservice that can be added to any TVU Networks product, McEwen says. It is available in the cloud on a pay-by-the-minute model, although the module started out on-prem in a TVU hardware box, he says. TVU Transcriber can automatically detect if a stream has captions, then add captioning when they are not present, he says.

Some customers use us just for captioning, he says.

Background noise can be a factor, so ENCOs enCaption tool focuses on the vocal range and ignores sounds outside the vocal range, Bill Bennett, media solutions and accounts manager for ENCO, says. Its all about accuracy. But its also all about speed. Theyre intertwined, he says.

Bennet calls enCaption a solution that is cost effective and as accurate as humans in traditional live situation and faster than humans for file-based captioning. We have been honing the technology for almost two decades to get it to a sweet spot where both live and file-based workflows are handled by a single product, he says.

EnCaption started out on-prem, but ENCO has been evolving to meet the move toward hybrid and cloud workflows, Bennett says.

Were growing a native cloud version of our enCaption product, he says. Its completely being rebuilt from the ground up.

Voice Interactions Audimus.Media uses deep neural networks and machine learning algorithms along with a large amount of data to be able transcribe speech to text automatically, Voice Interaction CEO Joo P. Neto says.

Audimus.Media can produce live English-to-Spanish translation.

Transcribing content creates time stamps of certain words in a video, making it easier to search and index the content, Neto says.

We are getting very accurate results, which is much better than a manual operator who might have more errors, deletions and dropped words or sections of content, he says.

Latency still persists, however. He says even with a fast engine that transcribes from speech to text, latency can be necessary as the engine waits to gather enough context to determine what the speaker said to provide an accurate transcription, he says. Low latency, he says, is two to three seconds between spoken words and the output of the words on closed captioning.

Russell Vijayan, Digital Nirvanas director of product, says a number of different technologies, like natural language processing algorithms and speech to text, are the foundation of captioning tools.

All the technologies combined is what helps broadcasters produce quality captions, he says.

User interface for Digital Nirvanas Trance captioning software.

Ed Hauber, director of business development at Digital Nirvana, says, The machine-generated process can produce a highly accurate transcript, meaning 90% or greater in terms of accuracy.

Incorporating quality automated speech to text technology helps broadcasters in two fundamental ways by reducing costs and time, he adds.

Vijayan says using a hybrid or cloud-based system for automated captioning provides the ability to update dictionaries when names or words such as COVID Omicron are not spelled properly but says an on-prem only system cannot be updated in the same way.

The first time, it will get Omicron wrong, but the cloud communicates to the system on-prem, so next time, on the fly, it will give you an accurate spelling, he says.

Digital Nirvanas Trance is a web-enabled enterprise-class tool that Hauber calls a DIY self-service captioning tool

It enables operators to do the work themselves. They have the staff and workflow to produce the media, he says.

Caption Services is a turnkey version of Trance that delivers the captioned content back to the client.

ENCOs enCaption5 HTML5 Web browser interface showing in-browser editing and viewing of automation schedule for Word Model loading, and encoder and speech engine control.

Matt Mello, technical sales manager at EEG, an Ai Media company, says that human captioning will remain an option but that the technology behind automatic captioning is getting better all the time and costs are going down for it.

Ai Medias Lexi is an automated closed captioning system, while Smart Lexi adds human intervention.

With Lexi, you can also add custom words, phrases, peoples names, teach it what it should be listening for, Mello says.

Mello anticipates that broadcasters will need to caption all OTT content, saying regulations in place now are somewhat vague in how they related to closed captioning for OTT.

Broadcasters are starting to add closed captioning into workflows that are different to what they do live, he says.

And that means more demand for closed captioning.

Bennett says that captions do more than help broadcasters meet FCC regulations.

When captions exist for video, they can find the nugget they are looking for directly in that video, making it searchable, he says.

That helps viewers as well as producers and editors, he says.

Additionally, he says, captioning does more than serve the audience of hard of hearing and deaf people. Its useful in noisy environments or where the video may be muted

If you dont caption your content, you miss getting in touch with your audience, Bennett says.

And transcribed is just a short step away from translated.

In early July, ENCO bought TranslateTV as part of its drive toward real-time translation between multiple languages

Its a form of universal translator. You feed in English words and get English text and Spanish text and ultimately the other way around as well, and far more languages in the future, he says. Were a multi-language, multinational world now.

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Automated Captioning Rises To The Cloud - TV News Check - TV News Check

Guavatron threw down an astonishing set Friday, July 15, at Dunedin Brewery, along with new St. Petersburg jamsters MiniM. How would they follow that up on Saturday?

Answer: with two completely mind-blowing sets of jamtronica, fusion, trance-dance, prog rock, and a Talking Heads cover!

Importantly, this was the 26th anniversary of the local landmark, and this Guavatron performance was the perfect pairing for this auspicious event.

Set one opened with three tracks from the groups album Momentous, released earlier this year. Things I Forgot get the night rolling before Awake, a tune that has been in the repertoire for some time. After that 15-minute gem, they played the familiar chords of Spring Roll, a song that has been in rotation for years. It was amazing.

Observers had noted that there was a synthesizer set up next to Roddy Hansens keyboards that looked suspiciously like Michael Lyn Bryants Korg Prologue. A dozen minutes into the heady Spring Roll jam, Bryant came up to twist some knobs and make things weird in the very best way.

At some point, it became just drummer Casey Luden and bassist Conor Crookham playing with Bryant. Then Adonis Guava and Roddy Hansen grabbed drum sticks and attacked the cymbals and drums. Even sound engineer Chris Fama (who had the boys dialed in perfectly both nights) got in on the percussion orgy.

From there, the group fell into a cacophonous section before Spring Roll proper re-emerged, a magnificent 32-minute romp. To close the first set, they offered up a tight Cousin Kelly. As they reached the jam section after the incendiary beginning, Guavatron hit that very Dead-like groove they often achieve, with Adonis Guavas guitar so reminiscent of Jerry Garcias, reminding of the transition from China Cat Sunflower to I Know You Rider. Just WOW.

Set two exploded instantly as they tore into the very metal tune GRIT, crammed with Conor Crookhams space bass, prog rock, screaming metal and more. They took a breather after that 27-minute outing before kicking into another great song, Get It On. Hansen, already all over synths, electric piano, and organ, added clavinet to this one, which almost picked up a reggae lilt at times.

The Guavatron boys were on fire. They played killer funk (Hot Sauce), a short one to shut down the show (almost). But of course there was one more. This encore featured the only cover tune, Talking Heads This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody). After playing the head of the tune, with Hansen nailing that little synth part, the groove once again turned into a Dead-like jam, the perfect way to send us home happy, sated, and ready for the next show.

Mazel Tov to Dunedin Brewery for 26 years of great music, great beer, great food, great service, and great friendship. On to the next 26!

[GUAVATRON: SET 1: Things, Awake, Spring Roll, Cousin Kelly; SET 2: GRIT, Get It On, Hot Sauce; E: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)]

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Roddy Hansen & Conor Crookham - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Conor Crookham - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Adonis Guava - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Conor Crookham - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Percussion jam w/ Chris Fama - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Michael Lyn Bryant w/ Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Conor Crookham - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Roddy Hansen & Conor Crookham - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Adonis Guava - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Conor Crookham & Adonis Guava - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Casey Luden - Guavatron - 07.16.22. : Funk Eye Media

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Massive Night 2 Trance-Dance Fest with Guavatron at Dunedin Brewery MUSICFESTNEWS - Music Fest News

click to enlarge

VIA ARTIST BANDCAMP

Released in April, Eric Dont's five-song EP Dont Play With Me fearlessly melds fantasy and reality.

It just comes from being an alt black boy from the hood that likes experimental music, Dont says of his self-defined genre ghetto trance, which he describes as a combination of hip-hop, R&B, punk and trance, with a taste of experimental and cutting-edge atmosphere.

While many may be familiar with Eric Dont, who has been performing in the city since around 2016, it can be hard to keep up with the prolific artist. Donts first full-length album God Dont Like Ugly, came out that year, and his EP A Lamp in the Room was released in 2018, featuring standout single and video Nothing. Since that time the rapper has stayed busy, posting freestyle videos, new singles and collaborations with local musicians including singer-songwriter and producer Zaethone.

The past six months have been an especially fruitful time. Dont put out the stellar EP Dont Play With Me, started a new rave collective, opened for New York rapper billy woods at Columbia venue Cafe Berlin and was featured on Paris-based musician Sicaas song Departure Unknown, with a music video collaboration with St. Louis royalty Maxi Glamour.

Filmed by Donts longtime videographer and collaborator Dylan Schnitker, the video came out in March, starring Dont and Maxi as futuristic green and blue aliens. Sicaa and Dont met through the Black Marble Collective, and their track Departure Unknown echoes a glittery outer space beat alongside the music videos dream-like gauziness. Glowing in their sprite ears, Dont and Maxi excitedly roam around south city in search of gas station treats.

Dont says that his music videos are very important to him. When Im writing music, I already see how I would like to be performing in the music video, he notes. The collection of videos he's released over the years feels like a treasure trove, where one might reach in and find goth vampires, fairy-tale makeovers and a big rainbow wig.

Prior to the pandemic, Dont lived in Chicago for a couple years, where he continued performing and writing music. At a party in Chicago one night, Dont met producer Jeremiah Meece. The two quickly hit it off.

I had already heard of [Meece] because they had produced for other artists I love like Mikki Blanco and Mister Wallace, Dont says, The night we met, I just put it out there that we could snap on a track together. I could tell they got that all the time so I didnt really force anything. About a year later, they hit me up.

Out of the beats that Meece sent over, Dont picked the ones he loved, creating the five songs for his latest EP Dont Play With Me. Released in April of this year, the record fearlessly plays with fantasy and reality, seduction and humor, vulnerability and coolness. Even its shortest song, the intro Tried to Take Me Out, carries one of the catchiest choruses, managing to sound both soulful and spooky. Meeces beats and keys provide a retro and often hypnotic force over which Dont adds playfulness with his versatile voice.

Every track beckons a different mood: Homie Whaddup imagines a good day from good sex, getting paid, or maybe you might be high. Horror Movie revolves around Donts love for scary movies. Perhaps Donts voice is the director of the movie, and we, the listeners, are the main characters instructed to keep running from the scream around the corner. Feel So Good, the last track, switches to a more ethereal and misty place than the rest of Dont Play With Me. Dont rhymes and sings intimately (your stomach, I kiss it) about feelings between two people, where nothing else matters.

Although under a singular moniker, Eric Dont is always surrounded by collaborators and community. His music videos naturally incorporate groups of fellow local artists, and this culture of inclusion is a huge part of Donts ethos.

Think back to the 1990s rave scene in St. Louis: The address to the rave was often kept secret, revealed at the very last second to a select group. Today, Materia, a new arts collective which Dont helped form, is bringing rave parties to St. Louis, with yes, an address attached to each flier. Materia is composed of other electronic musicians and DJs Nadir Smith, Manapool, Umami and Sweeet, who all had the same vision for experimental music raves, which dont happen often here, in Donts telling. The monthly shows have mainly been inhabiting house venues and basements, influenced by a lack of club venues in the city since the pandemic and perhaps by an experimental desire to stray away from the constraints of traditional venues. Dont defines their audience as the weirdos, the outcasts. Our events make everyone feel comfortable, everyone is welcomed.

Donts carefree party-performer persona doesnt hide his genuine vulnerability.

I grew up feeling unheard, and when I started doing music, I think people really started paying attention to how I may really feel. My music is the more assertive version of me, Dont explains. All of [my] music is about things I actually experience and go through. I want people to know you are in control of your own narrative. I want my music to make people feel like they can rule the world.

Eric Dont seems ready for a world takeover guided by his stacked future plans: a possible headline show, Dont Play With Me music videos, learning how to DJ and a promise of more songwriting. I have so much in the vault I cant wait to put out, he says.

Like many St. Louis musicians, Dont wants the wider country (or intergalactic universe) to notice St. Louis as a place of creative gravity, and also really fun shows. He has hopes to show the world what STL is made of through vibes and song, he says.

So far, everyone tells me they wanna visit here. I make it look fun. Im like, it isss!

Go here to see the original:

Eric Dont's 'Ghetto Trance' Is Taking Over St. Louis - Riverfront Times

Cast: James McAvoyVincent CasselRosario DawsonDanny SapaniMatt Cross

Geners: ThrillerCrimeDramaMystery

Director: Danny Boyle

Release Date: Mar 27, 2013

A violent gang enlists the help of a hypnotherapist in an attempt to locate a painting which somehow vanished in the middle of a heist.

Trance never made it to Netflix, unfortunately. Still, Netflix holds a variety of shows one can watch for subscription plans that costs $9.99 per month for the basic plan, $15.49 monthly for the standard plan, and $19.99 a month for the premium plan.

At the time of writing, Trance is not available to stream on Hulu through the traditional account which starts at $6.99.However, if you have the HBO Max extension on your Hulu account, you can watch additional movies and shoes on Hulu. This type of package costs $14.99 per month.

No, Trance is not streaming on Disney Plus. With Disney+, you can have a wide range of shows from Marvel, Star Wars, Disney+, Pixar, ESPN, and National Geographic to choose from in the streaming platform for the price of $7.99 monthly or $79.99 annually.

Sorry, Trance is not available on HBO Max. There is a lot of content from HBO Max for $14.99 a month, such a subscription is ad-free and it allows you to access all the titles in the library of HBO Max. The streaming platform announced an ad-supported version that costs a lot less at the price of $9.99 per month.

As of now, Trance is not available to watch for free on Amazon Prime Video. You can still buy or rent other movies through their service.

Trance is not available to watch on Peacock at the time of writing. Peacock offers a subscription costing $4.99 a month or $49.99 per year for a premium account. As their namesake, the streaming platform is free with content out in the open, however, limited.

Trance is not on Paramount Plus. Paramount Plus has two subscription options: the basic version ad-supported Paramount+ Essential service costs $4.99 per month, and an ad-free premium plan for $9.99 per month.

Trance isn't on Apple TV+ at the moment, sorry! In the meantime, you can watch top-rated shows like Ted Lasso on Apple TV with a subscription cost of $4.99 a month.

No dice. Sadly, Trance hasn't made its way onto the Chili streaming service yet.

Link:

Where to Watch and Stream Trance Free Online - EpicStream

As you all know, Above & Beyond are coming to The Gorge this weekend. This Thursday, July 21, two of Seattles most prominent clubs, Q Nightclub and Ora, will be hosting a slew of Anjuna artists to warm us up before heading to The Gorge for the main event, Group Therapy Weekender 2022!

If your sonic tastes are a blend of trance and progressive house, Ora will be hosting Amy Wiles, Fatum, and Genix. If you gravitate toward the deeper sounds, Q Nightclub will have Eli & Fur, Marsh, and Olan.

The rosters are an excellent reflection of whats currently hot and Anjunas current direction and vision. It features a combination of the up-and-coming and solidified mainstays. Learn about all the artists at Anjunas Seattle showcases below!

Credit: Anjuna

Limited tickets are still available here

Long-time friends of the label, the U.K. duo has the flair for moody and dark dance paired with mysterious, brooding vocals. They have releases on Defected, Spinnin Deep, Anjunadeep, and their own imprint NYX Music. The duo has proven that their songwriting roots can be successfully paired with a club-oriented side. Check out their recently released Cercle Set live from the snowy mountains of Italy.

U.K. born, California-based DJ and producer Marsh is easily the labels current superstar and a fan favorite (a personal favorite too). Showing no signs of slowing down, Marsh has taken on Europe, Asia, South America, and North America. His enchanting deep and progressive house instills hope and healing. As he continues his incredible upward path, he has already solidified modern classics with Come Together and My Stripes.

A quickly-rising star and newcomer to the Anjuna family. Olan got her start with the label from her collaborations with Mat Zo and Nourey. Her sound is an eclectic melting pot, serving as a reflection of her own diverse upbringing and background. Aside from her electronic prowess, she sings and plays guitars behind the decks. She is an inspiring figure, being a colored queer woman in an industry dominated by straight white males. She is one to watch closely.

Credit: Anjuna

Limited tickets are still available here

London-based DJ & producer who got her start with Anjuna as a resident DJ in 2018. Wiles eventually took the reigns as the labels product manager. She has showcased for Colorized and Anjunabeats at Creamfields and Tomorrowland. Her performances have been primarily U.K. based, so this will be the beginning of her debut U.S. tour.

Genix has deep roots in the trance scene going back to 2003 and has become one of the most exciting acts on Anjunabeats. His formidable sounds take fans on unexpected twists and turns. He provides a high octane cocktail of trance, techno, and progressive house. Fun fact: he holds the Guinness World Record for the longest DJ set which clocks in at 84 hours.

The U.S.-based duo has been a solidified global dance music act. Fatum are Grammy nominated, Billboard Dance toppers, and winners of best EDM via Hollywood Music in Media. They have releases on huge labels such as Armada, Ultra, and of course, Anjunabeats. They capture the essence and euphoria of trance, showcased with strong notions of industrial techno. As curated tastemakers of dance music, they continue to put out their forward-thinking tunes.

Where will we be seeing you before Group Therapy Weekender? Let us know on social media and check out more of local nightlife events happening here!

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Ora and Q Nightclub hosting dual Group Therapy Weekender pre-parties this Thursday - Dance Music Northwest