[Help Thread] Yau4 Discussion

Thank yo very much! How to predict parity?

For OLL parity you can predict how many edges are flipped essentially so you can do that during the last F3L pair.

PLL parity is a bit harder and in honesty, I don't really need to cause I use modified Yau so have a Roux 3x3 stage so it is easier for me to see PLL parity coming so I'm not sure how to do it for CFOP.
 
I've got a bad solve for critique. My camera isn't so good, and my setup is worse, so I apologize for the video quality. I know a lot of what I'm doing wrong (pauses/look ahead), but I figure there might be something I'm missing and it's better to get feedback sooner rather than later. I'm sometimes absolutely terrible at finding pieces, and sometimes just bad. I'm hoping that will come with practice, but specific practice strategy suggestions wouldn't be out of place. My goal right now is to make the 1:30 cutoff for the Clocks N' Other Stuff 2016 competition on April 30, which I realize is most likely quixotic, but I'm going to try to get close anyway.


I've done 8 solves this afternoon. Times:
4:29.52
3:06.05 (video)
2:59.68
2:28.44
2:27.08
2:50.70 (double parity)
2:56.23
2:24.50 (pb)
 
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I figured out how to time splits more reliably. I just did 5, and this is the result:

First two centers:
11.71, 12.07, 12.87, 12.10, 12.29 = 12.21

3 cross edges:
14.27, 23.68, 25.34, 34.54, 27.84 = 25.13

4 centers:
24.89, 36.69, 21.82, 24.44, 30.24 = 27.62

Last cross edge:
11.68, 8.22, 9.47, 11.74, 3.56 = 8.93 Last one just needed a U2 to put it in place. Or maybe it was backwards and I put it in with U L F'.

Edge pairing:
33.24, 23.43, 35.46, (52.69 with f2l), 35.52 = 31.91

f2l/f3l:
24.82, (messed up the timer), 20.88, (messed up the timer), 20.5 = 22.07

Last layer:
35.27, (messed up the timer), 16.99, 31.73, 21.68 = 26.42 Variation due to parity.

Total times:
2:35.91, 2:47.98, 2:22.86, 2:47.94, 2:31.67 = 2:38.51

So where do I stand to gain the most?
 
i'd say first 3 cross edges and last edge especially in your example video, you don't seem very confident with those steps! you can really tell the difference between those steps and edge pairing where you seem to know what you're doing.

i'd do a bunch of untimed solves just making the first 2 centers and 3 cross edges and try and familiarize yourself with the method a little more :)
 
Thanks! Would it be worthwhile to drop color neutrality for the time being, just so I don't have to think as much about color scheme and which pieces I'm looking for when I'm building my cross edges? At this point I'm looking for the easiest two centers to solve to start, and then watching for the most obvious edge containing one of those colors to start my cross. Ultimately I think that's not a bad scheme, but should I muscle through and stick with that, or would I be better off to simplify until I'm better at tracking pieces?
 
When I do L4C I have my already solved centers on the left and the right to be able to finish L4C using only U and R based moves which I think is fast. I noticed that seems to be quite standard.

Now I tried to explain someone that having the already solved centers on top and bottom and using L and U based moves to solve L4C is slower but couldn't find a good explanation.

So, am I right, and if yes, why exactly?
 
  1. Know your colour scheme.
  2. Loads of practice.
2:45 is pretty slow, so if you're already familiar with your colour scheme and you've practised a lot and you're still averaging 2:45, you're probably doing something wrong.

Note that you don't need high tps to get to sub-1:30 with Yau; if you use around 160 moves, then a consistent 2 tps gets you to 1:20 average.

Also, protip: Ignore the times you get on the timer and just play with the cube. Realistically speaking, getting to sub-minute is not going to be possible within a few weeks, even if you fix whatever you're doing wrong now. Even getting to sub-1:30 is a bit of a stretch (but not impossible!). I don't know what the cutoff for your next comp is, but you shouldn't be too disappointed if you fail to meet it. Instead, focus on improving enough for the comp after that.
 
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I just learned reduction for 4x4 and I average 4 mins but I have some trouble being fluid with edge pairing. Anyway, how long should I use reduction before I learn Yau?
 
I've been using yau for 6 weeks and my average is still 1:05 when it was 55 with reduction, I then switch back for 3 solves and have surprisingly improved at reduction with a 52 second Mo3 so should I really keep trying or should i just switch back?

is it going to make me obviously faster (3 seconds or more) in a reasonable amount of time?
 
Depends on what you consider a "reasonable amount of time" and a lot of other variables that differ from person to person, so nobody can really answer this for you. It could be possible that plain redux is just better for you. (But also note that small averages mean almost nothing on 4×4×4 because the parities are a big part of the standard deviation.)
 
I dunno. Will you @Robert-Y?

But on a more serious note, it may be that you are just better at redux. The main reason most people use Yau or Hoya though is that the lookahead becomes easier with only a slight increase in movecount. It may be that you don't yet actually turn fast enough to have his difference.
 
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