Sector Y v2.0

This was my final video before Sector Y (and myself) took a long hiatus. This was my “final epic video” that I always wanted to do, but couldn’t get myself dedicated enough to do for all my other videos.

This was my first, and maybe one of the first(?), videos that was fully created in After Effects. The original clip video (Spindox 2-05-00) was originally created as a test for my new Dazzle “video capture card.” It was essentially a bunch of footage, one-after-another, with a JPG image as the title. As I began to create more videos, I stuck with the JPG title screens. It was the only part of the videos that never really evolved. Towards the end of 2001, the titles started to have simple animations, like rotating logos, etc. But nothing was completely animated.When it came to PSY, however, I tried to do fully animated title sequences for most of the videos.

By the end of the PSY Project, I had gotten decent enough doing just title sequences, and wanted to see what I could do with animating actual video footage. I had the idea for this video for a long time, and so I got to work in what would end up being the most painstaking and labor intensive video I had ever made.

The idea behind the video was simple: have a grid of videos, and animate a camera to fly between various clips. The problem was my hardware. At the time I had an 866MHz Powerbook G4 with 512MB of RAM. And that did not play well with After Effects and the 100 clips I wanted to animate simultaneously in the movie.

Despite this, I pushed through and after maybe a month I finally was able to create the video that I wanted. The final render took about 75 to 100 hours to output. But it was totally worth it…despite the fact that only about 250 people saw the video. By the time this video was done, it was solely for the PSY DVD and was never placed online until now. Well, actually last year. I just forgot to update my site with it when Sector Y launched. Oops!

Video: Sensory Overload [ Vimeo | Download (720x480) ]
Music: War by Cunninlynguists (Produced by Kno)

Visions was another video that was a part of the String Theory DVD. It featured some content that had not been seen before, as well as some old tricks that were refilmed. Most of this content has been seen by now, but it’s still a good look back to the turn of the century.

Video: Visions [ Stream | Download ]
Creator: Gabriel Lozano
Music: I forget…anyone remember?
Length: 3:26

This was a combination of the Nationals 2001 contest video as well as the second PSY trailer. It featured not only footage from the 2001 National Yo-Yo Contest, but also various clips sent in from around the world. I believe this video was the internet-debut of Arthur Staykov, one of the B3 members from Poland.

Looking back at the video, we start to see the emergent trend of faster tricks as well as more complex string tricks. By 2003, these trends eventually led to a new renaissance in 1A where more emphasis was placed on getting as many string-hits into a single combo as possible. This is one of the last glimpses of the 1A of yesteryear. Aside from the PSY/String Theory DVD, this was one of the last videos I released publicly on the old Sector Y.

Title: National Breakthrough [ Stream | Download ]
Creator: Gabriel Lozano
Date: October 21, 2001
Music: In the End by Linkin Park, One Million Miles Away by J Ralph
Time: 3:53
Resolution: 640×480 (SD)
File Type: Quicktime H.264

Here are some of the top freestyles from the EYYC 2010. Congratulations to all winners! These freestyles have been aggregated from two sources: Hellsing135‘s Youtube Channel, as well as CzechYoyo‘s Vimeo account. (more…)

The year 2000 was one of yoyoing’s strongest years. 1998 and 1999 created the craze, and in 2000 the bar was raised. Everyone brought their A-game. Everyone who started with the boom now had over 2 years of practice, and string tricks continued to push forward. This video is a look back at the innovation that exploded around the turn of the century.

Title: 2000 Revolutions [ Download | Stream ]
Creator: Gabriel Lozano
Date: Created 2004, footage from 2000.
Music: Days of our Livez by Bone thugs-n-harmony
File Type: Mpeg-4

Jason Lee’s original Superman was a pioneering trick. While common now, tricks with Spirit Bomb mounts were rare and difficult in the early 2000s. Jeff Longoria made the mount well known, but Superman was the first real demonstration that the Spirit Bomb mount could produce smooth, flowing string tricks.

2002 was the year of the sequel. With tricks like Orange Tulips, Yellow Airplanes, and Breeze all pushing yoyoing forward, it was only appropriate that one of the most significant tricks in modern yoyoing got a sequel. Thus, Superman II was born.

Title: Superman II
Creator: Jason Lee
Resolution: 640×480 (SD)
File Type: Quicktime H.264