iMacmatician's videos

Very nice paths! I like the series idea.

Awesome job, cool idea for a video.

Good idea for a series! The last run was amazing.

Great video and fantastic job!

Nice progress!

Does anyone understand how YouTube resolutions work? They allow you to upload 720/1080 video, but you can never actually view a full resolution video. I selected the 1080HD option for your video, but the only way to make it full screen was to pop it out of the main window FIRST, and THEN click full-screen. And even then it wasn't even full quality! It was 1080 but a bit short of 1920.

I'm not 100% sure myself, but here's what I think.

The 1080p resolution has a maximum viewing area of 1920x1080 (other sizes have different max resolutions). A video uploaded in a different resolution will be scaled so that it fits that particular resolution.

My high-resolution videos' (1440x900 not 848x480) aspect ratio is 16:10 instead of 16:9. I created the video at 1440x900 and exported it to 1920x1200, then uploaded the video. Since 1920x1080 is the largest possible video size for the 1080p HD setting, it was downscaled to 1728x1080.

For reference, resolutions of my videos:
Type - Native resolution - Exported resolution - Maximum YouTube setting
Fraps or CamStudio - 848x480 - 1280x720 - 1280x720 (720p setting)
Fraps - 1440x900 - 1728x1080 or 1920x1200 - 1728x1080 (1080p setting)

Marble Blast: No Jumping 1

The first of probably 3 No Jumping videos.

Learning to Roll (4.07): Over a year ago I tried this and unexpectedly got 4.11. I didn't get it on recording so I tried for quite some time to match or beat that time. I ended up with another 4.11 on .rec. Recently I revisited that run and I found that I could improve on it, so I tried recording again. That time was surprisingly hard to match/beat even now. I got 4.07, but I think I can go 0.04 better.

Ramp Matrix (22.18): Twice I let the marble almost touch the ground before using the Super Jump, so that I'd get less air height.
Possible improvement: 0.1-0.2

Half-Pipe (6.59): I had another path for this level (may upload it sometime) but then I found this one which turned out to be faster.
Possible improvement: 0.05-0.1

Slip 'n Slide (8.59): The key to getting this low time is to go very far back at the start so the marble doesn't edge hit after rolling off. Before the end slope hit you have to go fast enough to make it to the finish but slow enough so that you don't go too high and lose time.
Possible improvement: 0.1

To the Moon (9.09): I did a 2-D (sideways) traplaunch because I'm not as good on 1-D (corner) traps. The traplaunch can easily go above the height of the finish padI think a well timed and controlled trap could give an upside down finish.
Possible improvement: 0.05-0.1 (more if a lower trap gets to the Gravity Modifier but even this height requires a lot of movement to get there in time)

Ramps Reloaded (16.87): The Super Jump near the end annoyed me a lot because I kept hitting one of the ramps or didn't go far enough to hit the last gem. I try to have high accuracy with gems and collision boundary triggers especially in these types of levels (you can also see it in my Ramp Matrix (18.35)) and that is reflected in this video. Even so, this time was quite surprising, I was aiming for about 0.05-0.1 slower.
Possible improvement: 0.05-0.1

Whirl (21.21): Some months ago I was trying some No Jumping routes on this level and I was doing one particular one which is just like what you see in this video except the Super Speed goes up to the platform before the two end loops. During one such attempt, I screwed up the Super Speed launch and went all the way to the lower part of the finish platform! At that time I thought I was lucky and I didn't think I could redo that run, but recently I ended up doing so several times with the top time being 21.21.
Possible improvement: ~0.3

Diamond Round-Up (16.68): Nice level, and I really like the edge hit at the end. The landing after the 1st gem screwed up, but I couldn't get a faster run with a good landing.
Possible improvement: 0.3

Byzantine Helix (11.46): Initially I did this path with a start that goes back a bit before going forward (seen in the high 7 / low 8 path for this level) but later I realized there was no need for the extended start.
Possible improvement: 0.25

Song: Superchick - It's On

Very nice! Amazing To the Moon.

Good runs!

Marble Blast: No Jumping 2

2nd set of levels done no jumping.

Tube Treasure (38.12): This level is really modular in path nature, as I took bits and pieces off other path segments for the level and put them together for this path (I did the same thing for my 28.28 standard settings). I also added a few new ones too, but those are more to do with connecting different modular path segments together.
Possible improvement: 2 seconds (I like the paths, I just don't like doing them)

Perplexingness (52.56): For some reason I seem to need two swings of the cyclone to get me up to the diamond. After that it's just marble control and alignment for a good finish. The edge hit near the start was surprisingly consistent to do.
Possible improvement: 1 second

Pink-Fold Maze (14.06): This particular run was done quite well in my opinion (better than what usually happens with this level of path difficulty), the 3rd TM catch was the best one I got (I think). Getting the 4th diamond, Helicopter, and 5th diamond together was a big pain to get right.
Possible improvement: 0.3 second (1st TM can be gotten ~0.2 faster)

Orange-Fold Maze (28.79): Probably even tougher than Pink-Fold Maze. This path required precise marble movement and diamond catching for a good time. I had fun finding the path though.
Possible improvement: 0.3 second (more if I edge hit after the drop after the last diamond?)

Song: Lady Gaga - Paparazzi

Very nice! I never expected to see some of those with no jumping.

Well done on all the levels!

Freaking wow

Great job as always

I hear Le Gaga!

Epic job!

Marble Blast: No Jumping 3

Third No Jumping video, I previously said that there would be about 3 videos, there will actually be more, it's just that the others are likely to come some time later.

Mine Field (3.75): I got lucky on the mine hit, most of my runs of this path with jumping don't get this low.
Possible improvement: 0.1? (I got a very lucky 3.45 with jumping once...)

Monster Speedway Qualifying (22.18): This requires high precision with Super Speed catching, activating, and marble control. I messed up many times before getting a good time.
Possible improvement: 0.5 (I missed a ~21.6x)

Tornado Alley (3.11): Originally I did this level by angling the marble slightly to one side of the tornado, so it wouldn't get lifted as much and not bounce off the finish. Then I realized that keeping it straight but turning the camera hard right as it gets to the tornado saves ~0.02.
Possible improvement: 0.01

Dive! (15.17): I did not expect the edge hit to hit me that low and still be able to make it to the finish. Fortunately, I didn't miss the thin [from that angle] gap at the end.
Possible improvement: 0.20

King of the Mountain (10.73): This path involves 3 edge hits, although two of them are trivial. I did the 2nd edge hit because wall-hitting the bit near the sign to get to the Super Speed was quite annoying, and it saves time. I guess I'd rather do edge hits.
Possible improvement: 0.25

Let's Roll (2.59): Fast enough speed allows the marble to go over the gap without edge hitting or falling down (although in this run I think it edge hit very slightly). That's faster than going to the right of the pole.
Possible improvement: 0.03

Flight of the Marble (12.82): Precise marble movement is required for speed down to the 1st gem, then slowing down, speeding up to hit the wall, and a low wall hit to reduce wasted time afterward.
Possible improvement: 0.2

Mini Mountain (10.36): I did not expect such a low Speed Boost! Many of my runs got a much higher boost, but this one was low and fast, allowing me to hit this time. I reacted just soon enough to see the marble go in the finish.
Possible improvement: 0.3

Keep on Rollin (8.09, 8.42): Before you ask, the first edge hit is not one of those trivial edge hits where you only need a camera angle and a continuous jump pattern to get it every time. It's even harder because most of the edge hits don't even get up on the platform (or do, but the marble is slowed down a lot). The second video shows the short way to do the level, with no jumping, a second edge hit is needed. I thought that was the fastest way to do the level, but I found that the long way that doesn't need another edge hit is faster, resulting in the first video. For that run I was actually trying to do the 2nd edge hit, but I missed.
Possible improvement: 0.2/0.4

Convoluted Helix (14.73): Thanks to the hidden Time Modifier, I only wasted 2 seconds waiting for the Jump Boost to respawn instead of 7. A better edge hit can almost get to the Jump Boost and Time Modifer platform, even without jumping, so maybe a diagonal + jumping run up to the edge hit can do so?
Possible improvement: 0.5

Divergence (6.73): This run is modeled off some of my old runs playing around with this level with various settings. I might have done it with these settings back then with a 7.xx or so.
Possible improvement: 0.2

Michael's Adventure (7.79): Not an easy edge hit, especially with a Time Modifier catch right afterward and having to rebound to the main platform without falling off. I'm not sure if I could get the other TM too with another edge hit, but if so, it would be too hard for me.
Possible improvement: 0.4

Song: Toto - Africa

Amazing! I especially liked Dive.

Impressive!

Holy jumping turtles.

Holy freaks, nice!

Awesome!

Marble Blast Levels 5

It's been a while since my last set of Marble Blast Levels X, so here's #5.

Points of the Compass (7.11): Wasn't an easy path for me, but managed to get it down. I have to overshoot the 1st gem slightly otherwise I won't be able to make the jump pattern to hit the tightrope later.
Possible improvement: 0.05

Ramps Reloaded (15.09): 0.10 from the original Gold Time, I know I can do it but it's just a bit over me right now. Similarly to Ramp Matrix and my No Jumping Ramps Reloaded run, I tried to take advantage of collision boundaries of gems, but I screwed that up on the 2nd gem.
Possible improvement: 0.15

Whirl (7.06): I found this ending easier to do than the loop exit ending, as long as I knew exactly how to do it (activate SS almost but not too close to the other SS, press back continuously after the other SS is taken). The disadvantage to this method is that there's a slowdown of 0.1-0.2 because the marble has to slow down a bit to take the SS initially. The increased reliability of the ending canceled out that though.
Possible improvement: 0.2
Personal record: 6.99

Dive! (14.87): When I got that 15.17 No Jumping, I figured I could do better, but I didn't want to waste a really good run on No Jumping when I could speed up the start by jumping. So I did so and got sub-15, as I suspected this path could go. There's a lot of diagonal movement needed and since I did it diagonal right instead of diagonal left, it was a bit harder for me (I'm better at diagonal left), but I got the necessary accuracy.
I didn't jump over the hole after passing those blockers because when I didn't, I got more marble control than if I did, helping me to hit the edge hit more reliably.
Possible improvement: 0.2
Personal record: 14.24 (with loop exit path)

Ramps (19.76): About a year ago I was able to do the jump pattern from one of those gem platforms to the other (previously I used a slower pattern). That let me hit the Ultimate Time for the first time. Now I decided to do it again, and although it was a bit tricky at first I quickly got it down.
Possible improvement: 0.35

Take a Stroll... (4.89): I changed the catch of the 2nd TM from after the gem to before, because the latter way seemed a bit faster. I also made sure I jumped on the ice at the start rather than the slope.
Possible improvement: 0.1 (maybe more)

Sprint (20.71): The start of this path is inspired by JRONI's MBO Battlements path and video. (The other reason why I did this path was because the WR start is a pain and I can't flick my camera around that quickly, which loses time.) I used the checkpoint trick for better accuracy at the cost of some time. The ending was a bit messed up because I exited the tightrope loop later than best case scenario.
Possible improvement: 0.5, more if I don't use the checkpoint trick

Timely Ascent (2.61): I thought I got a 2.61, I don't know why the .rec shows 2.62, probably a small messup. (I have 2.61 on the LBs and I was on the LBs while recording this.) Anyway, I liked doing the start pad trick and wall hit on the gem, until it got annoying after several occasions of missing the 2nd TM and stuff like that.
Possible improvement: 0.01

Song: The Killers - Somebody Told Me

Freaking awesome!

Amazing!

Spork in the Road (17.35) and 3 other levels

Spork in the Road (17.35): I used another path and got a 18.28 late last year, and I recently thought that there might be a better path, at least one that I can do. I tried an old path I used a year or so ago just for fun, and I realized that it could be competitive with my current path with some tweaks. However, I wanted to beat my current record, so I made optimizations with the gyrocopter and landing. That got me sub-18 and soon this 17.35.
Possible improvement: 0.3

Eye of the Storm (6.78): Found a path that gets me a good time while not being too hard. TT bonus is about 24.4x/25.00 I think, although I don't always finish before time restarts.
Possible improvement: 0.7 (I make an extra bounce right after the gem catch that can be skipped for additional time savings. Best catch is 6.04, but this is my best finish)

Winding Steps (19.68): That second gem platform appears to be higher in MBP 1.1x than in 1.0x, since a jump onto another platform is needed before getting the gem.
Possible improvement: 0.5

Rolling to Eternity (1:13.28): One of the few long levels I've made videos of and this was intended to be one of the levels in my series of MBP / long level videos a few months ago, but at the time I couldn't do this level in a good time. (That series was stopped about halfway, but I haven't forgotten about it, and you will see all the levels I planned out...it's just that it's kinda delayed...) I tried to do it again and with some work I got the Ultimate Time.
Possible improvement: 5

Song: Dropkick Murphys - Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya

Defytastic!

nice job! cant comment/rate tho.

Great video! Rating system works for me.

Wonderful!

Catchy song.
Haroo... Haroo....

No seriously, great runs.