With a service like that, it helps to have scene detection capabilities as well - so you don't end up having to look at lots of very similar looking thumbnails. So - as opposed to extracting frames at pre-set intervals, extract them when things sufficiently change in the video. That also lets you vary extraction interval between fast action and static talking head-type scenes.
We've done a lot of similar work, will be happy to compare notes.
> We decided not to open source Lumberjack. At the end of the day the whole project is just some business logics around the open source projects I mentioned on this post.
once we fix caching and improve the nginx locations I'll make sure to release under github.com/nytimes but you'll see that there's no much going on over there, just some config files and the lua app. :)
Please don't use the word "retarded" like this. If you suspect you're asking a question with an obvious answer that you've missed, try saying "forgive my ignorance" instead.
There's nothing wrong with asking questions without self-deprecation, but if you're going to self-deprecate, try not to use hurtful language.
Is 'retarded' actually harmful/hateful? Or is the attitude toward people with mental retardation (hence the name, retarded) harmful? The way the word is used, more specifically the attitudes that are demonstrated when the word is used, is generally done with avarice.
Now I see your point, though, he is associating his slowness-to-the-punch with people who are unfortunately physiologically slow-to-the bunch, and according to you this type of lateral association is bad because...?
Because it is shameful to be wrong or ignorant, and therefore associating the shameful act of a non-retarded person with the unshameful reality of being retarded creates a subconscious association between being retarded and shame--- is that it?
If so, isn't it harmful to consider being publicly wrong or ignorant shameful? Should we not have patience with others who know less?
I understand there's a spartan-esque utility to being brutal in a highly competitive skills-based situation (like most engineering). So I am unsure as to where to position myself with this question!
I'm not the person you asked, but I agree with their post.
It's often hard to have this discussion without it devolving into an argument over "political correctness" [0] so hopefully that can be avoided.
Easiest answer is that the term retarded originally was an acceptable term for people with disabilities, but now has a negative connotation, and when used pejoratively as OP did carries the (possibly unintended) implication that people with disabilities are of less value.
I think Wikipedia entry on Retard (pejorative) [1] is a good summary.
It's also worth mentioning "ableist language" and "ableism" here. [2]
And where do we stop? Calling something "stupid" is hurtful to stupid people who are usually not at fault for their lack of ability. Calling something "dumb" is hurtful to mute people. There is no end to this PC treadmill, so I will continue to say "retarded" until the Speech Police kick in my door.
Purely curiosity at this point - it was something I wanted for a project a while back that has been retired - does anyone here know of the best way to get a good thumbnail from a video using ffmpeg?
I think back then I was looking to take 5-10 snaps somewhere between the 30-50% mark and then use the largest (I guess in theory more detail - not a blank frame) image
Does anyone have a better way, or even just know how to pull a snapshot at "30%" using ffmpeg? I think at the time I used outside code and ffprobe to figure out where 30% is, there's bound to be a better way than that
If you look at the thumbnails extractor, it calls libav methods that are essentially the core of ffmpeg. One of goal of this service is so journalists and editors can easily play and create thumbnails without command lines and terminals :)
We've done a lot of similar work, will be happy to compare notes.
https://twitter.com/iTrendTV/status/814543110399229952