Dark Shikari
1st November 2008, 03:02
I told you there would be cake (http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=41). Here is its story.
A few weeks ago, we realized that revision 1000 of x264 was coming up, and it was going to be big. I mean, 1000 revisions of x264? That's about 5 years of development from the thin shell that was the original x264 in 2003. I had already prepared many commits for the actual thousandth revision (in the end, a total of seventeen were simultaneously committed, the list can be found here (http://git.videolan.org/?p=x264.git;a=summary)). But such a milestone was certainly worthy of more than just a flood of commits--it needed a party. And there's one thing you pretty much have to have for a party. So, we got a cake:
http://i36.tinypic.com/5zjgnb.jpg
But where would we have the party? And how would we get many people to come? I mean, x264 users are spread far and wide, and I don't even live anywhere near Akupenguin, the other primary x264 developer. So we considered various locations. And we decided that... what better place to have the party than...
... DivX headquarters?
http://i34.tinypic.com/wranw9.jpg
I mean, considering Project Remoulade (DivX's beta H.264 decoder and encoder), DivX's buyout of Mainconcept, and their recently announced plans to enter the H.264 market with their "DivX 7", what a perfect place to have a party!
We first entered with the cake not hinting at who we were; the opening of the cake with the x264 logo was covered with some papers and a CD-ROM. But our identity was soon revealed (to the utter shock of the DivX folks out front), so we took some quick group pictures (me and some of the DivX guys) before the cake was devoured by ravenous DivX employees. I'm on the right of the image, in my Avail Media T-shirt.
http://i38.tinypic.com/23jh91z.jpg
Now, interestingly enough, today was also DivX's Halloween party.
http://i38.tinypic.com/xkq1rb.jpg
And the creative geeky costumes were out in force.
http://i38.tinypic.com/e7l6s4.jpg
As were the pumpkins.
http://i38.tinypic.com/2ihp0t5.jpg
We were introduced to the party right in the middle; certainly, nobody had expected us. Upon the mention of x264, the room broke out in cheering, and I introduced myself and the cake.
While its hard to see, the cake originally read "Congratulations on Project Remoulade", with the x264 logo in the middle. It was devoured rather quickly by the DivX staff (after being cut up into macroblocks, of course) and the various others who had showed up for the Halloween party.
http://i37.tinypic.com/1z589aw.jpg
After some fun partying and discussion with various people at DivX, we were led on a short tour of some of the facilities. I also presented the cards, including one from Guillaume Poirier, who, being an x264 developer in France, was not able to attend the party.
http://i35.tinypic.com/m8icua.jpg
I also got to discuss the upcoming DivX 7 profiles and their various restrictions--while they're still not official or released yet, hopefully this will lead to more communication in the future! Though I only had about two or three hours there total, it was an incredibly fun and surprisingly productive experience (and, quite tasty, one might say).
Thanks to the guys at DivX for a great party and good discussion on various video topics--along with the showing of their hilariously creative costumes (including John McCain, a Rick Astley imitation, the above Tetris group, and many others). Despite the surprise of an x264 developer turning up on their doorstep on Halloween (and without a costume, too!), they were extremely receptive. And the cake was delicious!
(Oh, and you ask who was the "we"? A certain will-not-be-named former DivX employee was kind enough to drive me down from Los Angeles to DivX's headquarters in San Diego, but requested he not be named in this post for certain reasons. ;) Thanks also to him for paying for the cake and various other logistical aspects of this. )
A few weeks ago, we realized that revision 1000 of x264 was coming up, and it was going to be big. I mean, 1000 revisions of x264? That's about 5 years of development from the thin shell that was the original x264 in 2003. I had already prepared many commits for the actual thousandth revision (in the end, a total of seventeen were simultaneously committed, the list can be found here (http://git.videolan.org/?p=x264.git;a=summary)). But such a milestone was certainly worthy of more than just a flood of commits--it needed a party. And there's one thing you pretty much have to have for a party. So, we got a cake:
http://i36.tinypic.com/5zjgnb.jpg
But where would we have the party? And how would we get many people to come? I mean, x264 users are spread far and wide, and I don't even live anywhere near Akupenguin, the other primary x264 developer. So we considered various locations. And we decided that... what better place to have the party than...
... DivX headquarters?
http://i34.tinypic.com/wranw9.jpg
I mean, considering Project Remoulade (DivX's beta H.264 decoder and encoder), DivX's buyout of Mainconcept, and their recently announced plans to enter the H.264 market with their "DivX 7", what a perfect place to have a party!
We first entered with the cake not hinting at who we were; the opening of the cake with the x264 logo was covered with some papers and a CD-ROM. But our identity was soon revealed (to the utter shock of the DivX folks out front), so we took some quick group pictures (me and some of the DivX guys) before the cake was devoured by ravenous DivX employees. I'm on the right of the image, in my Avail Media T-shirt.
http://i38.tinypic.com/23jh91z.jpg
Now, interestingly enough, today was also DivX's Halloween party.
http://i38.tinypic.com/xkq1rb.jpg
And the creative geeky costumes were out in force.
http://i38.tinypic.com/e7l6s4.jpg
As were the pumpkins.
http://i38.tinypic.com/2ihp0t5.jpg
We were introduced to the party right in the middle; certainly, nobody had expected us. Upon the mention of x264, the room broke out in cheering, and I introduced myself and the cake.
While its hard to see, the cake originally read "Congratulations on Project Remoulade", with the x264 logo in the middle. It was devoured rather quickly by the DivX staff (after being cut up into macroblocks, of course) and the various others who had showed up for the Halloween party.
http://i37.tinypic.com/1z589aw.jpg
After some fun partying and discussion with various people at DivX, we were led on a short tour of some of the facilities. I also presented the cards, including one from Guillaume Poirier, who, being an x264 developer in France, was not able to attend the party.
http://i35.tinypic.com/m8icua.jpg
I also got to discuss the upcoming DivX 7 profiles and their various restrictions--while they're still not official or released yet, hopefully this will lead to more communication in the future! Though I only had about two or three hours there total, it was an incredibly fun and surprisingly productive experience (and, quite tasty, one might say).
Thanks to the guys at DivX for a great party and good discussion on various video topics--along with the showing of their hilariously creative costumes (including John McCain, a Rick Astley imitation, the above Tetris group, and many others). Despite the surprise of an x264 developer turning up on their doorstep on Halloween (and without a costume, too!), they were extremely receptive. And the cake was delicious!
(Oh, and you ask who was the "we"? A certain will-not-be-named former DivX employee was kind enough to drive me down from Los Angeles to DivX's headquarters in San Diego, but requested he not be named in this post for certain reasons. ;) Thanks also to him for paying for the cake and various other logistical aspects of this. )