Difference between revisions of "Talk:Creating a Worms movie"

From Worms Knowledge Base

Jump to: navigation, search
(New page: I'll be writing a guide here before submitting it as the WKB page. Please suggest changes or needed WKB "standards" where you see fit. ~~~~ {{ParentArticle|Guides, FAQs, and ReadMes}} Cre...)
 
m
 
(22 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
I'll be writing a guide here before submitting it as the WKB page. Please suggest changes or needed WKB "standards" where you see fit. [[User:OutofOrder|OutofOrder]] 16:20, 17 February 2010 (UTC)
+
== AVISynth + MeGUI ==
 +
I've been told to add instructions for encoding the final movie using AVISynth + MeGUI's One Click feature. Adobe Premiere Pro apparently doesn't naturally support AVC encoding, so adding such instructions would need to specify that the editor should render his movie first using a lossless codec, then re-encode with MeGUI.
  
{{ParentArticle|Guides, FAQs, and ReadMes}}
+
Since I've got no experience on MeGUI (and it doesn't seem to properly work out-of-the-box), this will have to wait until I understand how to configure MeGUI, as long as it doesn't take too many steps, or until someone else better informed does it. [[User:OutofOrder|OutofOrder]] 13:43, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
Creating a Worms:Armageddon movie is a process that involves several steps. This article will mainly cover the technical aspects of them.
+
== Preliminar advice ==
+
The most important thing when creating a movie is to '''have a clear idea''' of what you want it to be like. '''This includes having a script''' (a mental sketch of it may be enough, but writing down the story or timeline works even better) '''and having replay material''' available containing the moves you're planning to add to the movie. Consider and fetch the music and/or sound effects you want to use. Sometimes ideas are born out of the material you already have, sometimes you get the idea first then create or collect your material, and most of the time it's both.  
+
  
In the process of making a movie, you will find yourself reviewing your idea and changing details, maybe going back to creating new replays or rewriting the script. This is a natural process that will make your final movie better and more enjoyable. Do not expect your movie to be awesome simply because you're choosing the highest frame rate or the best codec settings. Be patient, take your time and follow the steps. It will eventually come out nicely.
+
== Why not FRAPS? ==
 +
The article should also explain why not use live video capturing tools (such as FRAPS) instead of the game's video extracting tool. Live capture is common practise between many videogamers that also make videos, and they will choose those tools without hessitation.
 +
Main disadvantages of live capture:
 +
* These tools use lossy compression, while W:A lets you encode full quality video.
 +
* Those tools can't pause the game while it is writing frames. Unless you own a high-end PC, parts of the video animation will be choppy (missing frames).
 +
* W:A lets you use the same frame rate as in-game animation, unlike these tools. It's inevitable that live capture tools save frames with framerate-conversion artifacts.
 +
[[User:OutofOrder|OutofOrder]] 14:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
  
{{Warning|The process of making a movie '''may take a considerable amount of your hard disk space'''.
+
== Maybe needing another template ==
If you want high quality video, please have in mind that a 10+ minutes long movie can fill hundreds of Gigabytes of uncompressed raw video.
+
  
You can reduce the space taken by raw video by compressing it before the editing stage, although this will reduce the final video quality. This will be mentioned later in the article.
+
The warning present in [[Creating_a_Worms_movie#Exporting_video_frames_from_a_replay_file|this section]] isn't really a warning, more like an advice or tip. But since there isn't a better template for this I chose to add it as a warning. Also if it was added just as regular text, it may go unnoticed. Or worse, it may clutter the rest of the section (which consists of indications for the reader to follow, not guidelines or tips). That's why I lean to use a template there.
}}
+
--[[User:OutofOrder|OutofOrder]] 03:32, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
  
== Getting started ==
+
Do you mean that you need [[w:Template:Ambox|this template]] (with <code>type=notice</code>)? And how about using
From now on, it will be assumed that you already have script and material ready. You will also need the following software:
+
:'''''Note:''' blah blah blah''
* '''Worms: Armageddon''' installed and updated.
+
instead?
* '''[http://www.virtualdub.org/download.html VirtualDub]'''
+
* One of the following:
+
** Adobe Premiere Pro
+
** Sony Vegas Pro (not Movie Studio, which is a more limited version than Vegas Pro)
+
** Any other timeline-based video editing software of your preference.
+
  
=== Getting W:A ready for video extraction ===
+
EDIT: Or how about this?
.WAgame replay files contain the gameplay you want to show in your movie. W:A will extract video frames using the same interface configuration you have chosen for in-game play. So here are a few things to have in mind before extracting video:
+
* Disable the background gradient (presing the '''Insert''' key in-game), because otherwise it will greatly increase your final video size. Do it unless you really need to display the background gradient, objects and clouds.
+
* If the replay was played online, you can disable the telephone animation that shows up when chat lines are sent. If you want to do this, open the '''Phone_Disable.reg''' registry tweak found in the Tweaks folder.
+
  
== Creating the movie ==
+
:[[Image:Info_Generic.png|20px]] blah blah blah
=== Exporting video frames from a replay file ===
+
--[[User:Explorer09|Explorer09]] 10:29, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
The video extracting feature of W:A allows you to extract video frames from a replay file. Each frame is stored as a PNG file. If your replay file is named TESTVIDEO.WAgame, your video will be extracted to a User\Capture\TESTVIDEO\ folder
+
:Hmm I suppose the second suggestion works ("Note"). The Ambox template is nice too, catches your attention and looks good. But I guess it's not justified to import it to this wiki just for this article, or is it? --[[User:OutofOrder|OutofOrder]] 21:57, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
  
Repeat these instructions for every of your collected replay moments.
+
Done --[[User:Explorer09|Explorer09]] 14:12, 6 May 2010 (UTC)
 
+
# Browse to the folder containing your chosen replay file.
+
# Right-click a replay file, then choose Export video...
+
# In the dialog box that opens, fill in:
+
#* Frame skip: You should always leave this value in 1 if you want the smoothest possible framerate. Other values are not recommended, unless you don't have spare disk space. Choose 2 if you want to take used disk space to half, at the cost of choppy framerate.
+
#* Start at/End at: fill in the start and end moments of the particular move, turn or series of turns which you want to extract.
+
#* Resolution: Low resolutions result in smaller video files, but also show a smaller part of the action. High resolutions allow for better quality and broader perspective but take much more disk space. You should choose any resolution not smaller than 640x480. Recommended values are 800x600 or 1024x768. Widescreen resolutions are also supported.
+
#* Basename: and each frame will be saved using this basename value.
+
# Click Ok to start extracting the video. In-game action will be captured, but you may still override the automatic camera by left-clicking and moving the mouse around if you want to focus somewhere else.
+
 
+
=== Converting frames to video files ===
+
 
+
=== Editing ===
+

Latest revision as of 14:12, 6 May 2010

AVISynth + MeGUI

I've been told to add instructions for encoding the final movie using AVISynth + MeGUI's One Click feature. Adobe Premiere Pro apparently doesn't naturally support AVC encoding, so adding such instructions would need to specify that the editor should render his movie first using a lossless codec, then re-encode with MeGUI.

Since I've got no experience on MeGUI (and it doesn't seem to properly work out-of-the-box), this will have to wait until I understand how to configure MeGUI, as long as it doesn't take too many steps, or until someone else better informed does it. OutofOrder 13:43, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Why not FRAPS?

The article should also explain why not use live video capturing tools (such as FRAPS) instead of the game's video extracting tool. Live capture is common practise between many videogamers that also make videos, and they will choose those tools without hessitation. Main disadvantages of live capture:

  • These tools use lossy compression, while W:A lets you encode full quality video.
  • Those tools can't pause the game while it is writing frames. Unless you own a high-end PC, parts of the video animation will be choppy (missing frames).
  • W:A lets you use the same frame rate as in-game animation, unlike these tools. It's inevitable that live capture tools save frames with framerate-conversion artifacts.

OutofOrder 14:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Maybe needing another template

The warning present in this section isn't really a warning, more like an advice or tip. But since there isn't a better template for this I chose to add it as a warning. Also if it was added just as regular text, it may go unnoticed. Or worse, it may clutter the rest of the section (which consists of indications for the reader to follow, not guidelines or tips). That's why I lean to use a template there. --OutofOrder 03:32, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you mean that you need this template (with type=notice)? And how about using

Note: blah blah blah

instead?

EDIT: Or how about this?

Info Generic.png blah blah blah

--Explorer09 10:29, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Hmm I suppose the second suggestion works ("Note"). The Ambox template is nice too, catches your attention and looks good. But I guess it's not justified to import it to this wiki just for this article, or is it? --OutofOrder 21:57, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Done --Explorer09 14:12, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Personal tools