It you would like to check out items, notify our current librarian via the meeting threads posted each week.  Just reply to the thread with the items you want. 

Rules:
Club dues payment of $5 required for usage of library.  This is for usage of the library for a semester.
Notify club librarian by evening prior to the meeting what items you want from club library listing on Google Docs (see last post).  They will try to let you know if something you asked for was already reserved for that week.  You can ask for items that will be due back by the meeting, but note that they may not be available if the member who had it forgot to bring it.
2 item limit (1 DVD disc = 1 item.  1 Manga volume = 1 item).  If you want to check out part of a multi-disc DVD set, we can give you a temporary case for the disc if needed.
Items can be kept for up to two weeks.  Items must absolutely be back by final meeting of semester.
A late charge of $0.10 per day per item will be placed for late items.  Late charges need to be paid in full before additional items can be checked out.
$10 charge for any lost items.  Club officers will determine when a delinquent item is considered 'lost'.  Late fees on items considered lost do not need to be paid if the $10 lost item charge was paid.

Wow, this is tommorow, came up so fast.

I read this and couldn't stop laughing ...Maybe i have a weird sense of humor ..Or its like Napoleon Dynamite and either is funny or its HUH? Diary of a deadly Japanese ninja who moves to the USA and gets a job as a pencil pusher (hilarity ensues) i guess the rescission hit the ninja business pretty hard. There are 3 installments so far  this could end up being something big...or he could get bored and just do something else remember to give Eric props!

part 1
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/7/24feezell.html
part 2
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2007/1/24feezell.html
part 3
http://mcsweeneys.net/2007/6/27feezell.html

I play TF2 and L4D1/2 whenever I find the time.

This guide is geared for people using Windows 2000/XP (NT 5.x) or Windows Vista/7 (NT 6.x).  I'll have a short blurb at the end for Mac users.  Linux users, I can assume you dudes know what the hell you are doing.

The source for this guide is from the excellent Niinii and can be found here.  This guide doesn't go into as much technical depth, and explains some of the reasons for why you have to do these things.

System Requirements

Basically, what does it take to watch anime?  Nowadays, there is anime out there in glorious Full High Definition 1080p.  In order for a computer to play high-definition video, you either need two things.  A high powered current-generation Quad-core CPU (think Intel core i5/i7), or in lieu of that, any Dual-Core (think Intel Core 2) Processor and a decent video card.  Basically, Video cards can actually assist in decoding video and it takes a lot of load off the CPU, which allows you to multitask even while watching that Blu-Ray disc rip.  The newer the video card, the better as newer ones support better technologies for decoding video. 

MAKE SURE YOU UNINSTALL ANY CODEC PACKS ON YOUR COMPUTER BEFORE PROCEEDING.  CCCP, DefilerPak, and KLite are good examples.

Prep Work

Before you begin.  A couple things.  Is your computer fully updated?  If you want to use your video card, do you have the latest drivers for it?  Mainly, you will want the latest version of your video card driver, and make sure your computer is fully up to date in Windows Update.  Mainly, you want to make sure you have .NET 4.0 installed, especially on 2000/XP to make sure you can use the latest video renderers.  If you're not sure, simply download and run the .NET 4.0 Installer If it says its already installed, you're not.  If it says it's not installed, well then you've already got the installer running.

Software

On windows, the best video player right now is Media Player Classic - Home Cinema.  It fully supports video card acceleration and soft subtitles.  I recommend using the 32-bit version, even if you are using a 64-bit version of Vista/7.

Before you do that, you'll want to install the Haali Media Splitter first.  This is to just help with playback on some of the video formats most anime use.  You can get it here.  When you download and run it, you will want to untick the box 'Associate .mkv and .mka files with Windows Media Player' under the Options portion of the setup

So, why did we just install that?  Haali Media Splitter basically has better support for the .mkv (Matroska Video) format container than MPC-HC, so were making it so it gets used just for that while MPC-HC can handle the rest.

Now that we got that out of the way, grab the MPC-HC installer here.  Remember, get the 32-bit version.

Once you have it installed, you will want to open it up and make some changes to the settings.  You can change the settings by clicking on View -> Options, or by pushing the 'o' hey as a shortcut.

First thing you will want to do is make MPC-HC the default video player, so in order to do that, click on Player -> Formats and click on the button labelled 'Video'.  Vista/7 users will need to click the modify button, accept the UAC prompt, and then click Video and then OK.

Next, click on the Playback tab.  Here you want to make actually sure that the checkbox labelled 'Auto-Load subtitles' is checked.  This will enable the MPC-HC internal soft subtitle rendering engine that works with its compatible video renderers.

Now, click on Playback -> Output to configure the video renderer.  As long as you have .NET 4.0 installed, both 2000/XP and Vista/7 users should use the renderer 'EVR Custom Pres.' under the DirectShow Video section. 

Moving on, you will want to configure Container/Codec support, so lick on Internal Filters.  On this screen look at the right column 'Source Filters', the following three items should be unchecked: 'Mastroska', 'MP4/MOV', and 'Ogg'.  On the right column 'Transform Filters', you will want to make sure that both 'H264/AVC (DXVA)' AND 'H264/AVC (FFmpeg)' are checked if you plan on using your video card.  If you don't want to use the video card, just make sure that 'H264/AVC (FFmpeg)' is checked and NOT 'H264/AVC (DXVA)'.  You do not need to look at/change any other settings on this page.

NOTE  If you are using an ATI video card, it is recommended that you double click on the 'H264/AVC (DXVA)' text and in the new window, look for the dropdown labelled 'DXVA(H.264) Compatability check' and set it to 'Skip all checks' and click OK.

Were almost finished up with the Options here, click on Subtitles.  Here, you will want to make sure that under "Texture Settings', that the following options are set:

'sub pictures to buffer' = 10
Check the box 'Allow animation when buffering'
Set the Maximum Texture dropdown to 'Desktop'

This will basically ensure that your subtitles are generated cleanly with no pixelation and plenty of memory space so it doesn't slow down the video.

Fianlly, click on Subtitles > Default Style.  Under 'Screen Alignment & Margins', you will want to make sure that the checkbox "Position subtitles relative to the video frame" is fully ticked.  You may have to uncheck it and recheck it to accomplish this.  Click the 'OK' button now to save ALL of your changes.

WHEW!  We have the Options set, but now we will need to configure the renderer as well.  We're almost there, guys.

To make changes to the renderer, you want to right-click on the video frame and look under 'Renderer Settings'.  The first thing we will want to change are the GPU settings, so to to 'GPU Control'.  Make sure all boxes here are ticked. 

Next, you will want to check the settings for VSync.  Look under 'VSync'.  If you are using Vista/7, make sure all of the options are unchecked.  2000/XP users should make sure the first two options are checked.  2000/XP users with an ATI video card will want to make sure all three items are checked.

The next thing you'll want to check out is 'Presentation'.  Make sure that 'Disable Desktop Composition' is unchecked and that 'Enable Timeframe Correction' is ticked.  Nothing else needs to be changed.

Last thing, I promise, Look under 'Output Range' and make sure only '0-255' is checked

That should be all you need to do. 

Troubleshooting

If you are having problems, I would make sure that you make sure that your video drivers are up to date, you have the latest system updates, and that you completely uninstalled any codec packs and rebooted before installing MPC-HC.

That said, most issues are either due to your video accelration not kicking in, or that you just need to make any tweaks because you don't have a lot of power in your system, CPU or video card.

A quick way to check during playback if video acceleration (DXVA) is working, right click on the video frame and go to Filters and select the MPC Video Decoder.  If the options say it's using it, then it's working.  If you see that it's not using it, make sure that he DXVA transform filter was set like I explained earlier.

If you are still having problems, you can usually disable subtitle animations by UNCHECKING  'Allow animation when buffering' under the subtitle settings, and maybe setting the buffer down from 10 to 5. 

Again, if you are still having problems, uncheck the DXVA transform filter and see if the CPU alone can carry you.  Be warned, you may not to be able to multitask as effectively as someone who can use their video card.  As long as you have a new enough video card with plenty of video RAM (over 256 MB), you should be fine.

If you have any weird or specific problems, let me know in this thread.

For Mac Users

If you're using a Mac, QuickTime will support most things out of the box, but certainly not .mkv files.  There is a utility that adds functionality to QuickTime for more container support and better soft-subtitle support.  It is called Perian.  Download it here.

A Universal Solution

If you keep having troubles, you may want to give another player a try.  VLC is well known for working on any modern OS, and is fully contained, so you don't have to make any changes for soft-subtitles and accelerated video.  Get it here

I will rewrite a guide on playing anime on your computer at some point.  Consider this thread officially outdated

Baka to Test to Shokanju
Working!!

See you guys in two weeks

Oh yeah, Here is a link to this weeks archives.

Angel Beats is something that I think should definitely be shown.
Kobato is a show I'd consider as a possibility for a running series. Even better, it's by CLAMP.

Coming out this summer (July 2010) will be quite a few shows. The one that piques my interest right off the bat is "Highschool of the Dead", which would be nice October fodder.

I'll add more as I find more.

Thank you so much for reminding me of Kobato!  I could have sworn we showed it, but I checked and apparently it slipped through the cracks somehow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=8VHeDos … re=related

Tomino really wanted his stories to be more bleak (Universal Century Gundam).  For example, Amuro was supposed to DIE at the battle of A Bao A Quao in the anime.  Zeta Gundam was a nice compromise, but Ideon was pretty much him unfiltered since it had nothing to do with Gundam.

Also with EoE, I finally realized in that part that NERV Headquarters is in the black egg.  It must have been environmentally sealed or something until everyone left turned into LCL goo.

OK, who can't forget the Nice Boat cutaway because the finale of School Days was, too, well...graphic, adding to the irony that the final scene actually took place on a boat if you looked at the DVDs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtuAOT_c2EA
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=FGoVQ2OcnWo