LESSON 2: FILMING

[LuckyLewis]

Looks excellent Brig, Nice work. Using a nice amount of tips there!

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

The 29 FPS and Youtube is an odd thing, not entire black and white. There are limits to what the human eye can distinguish. High FPS is definitely a good thing. But during the rendering process, the raw .avi files are compressed into the more manageable .wmv format...and some quality is lost. Now, if you are running TW and get some gaudy FPS averages like 40 or higher with all settings cranked, FRAPS running, with the N button pressed, well then you are a lucky SOB. The high FPS won't be overkill. It will mean that during low performance spikes, you aren't likely to dip so low as to be noticeable. For musicians, it is why a 100W guitar amp is not necessarily built for high volume, but for improved performance at low volume (giving lots of 'head room').

For me, to attain 29 FPS, with graphic setting on anything decent with FRAPS running, I need to run and film in slo mo and double the speed later to achieve 29 virtual FPS (my computer isn't very good).

Also, and this is very much extra information that isn't really relevant in a basic course, but 24 FPS is an interesting number to work with also. In fact, I render all my vids at 24 FPS. That happens to be the 'Hollywood' framerate of nearly every big movie you've ever seen (with some 3D and digital exceptions). Turns out, we as a society have grown up with a subconscious FPS expectation when you go to the theatre. Part of the "movie look" is 24 FPS...even though the technology has been around for much longer to crank it higher, audiences just intuitively want THAT look. Television programs, with the distinct "tv look", tend to run around 29 FPS...think of the clarity of a daytime soap opera. Of course, many people smarter and more creative than I have played with this alot, but more sophisticated editing software is needed to give you these kinds of options, so this is just background info.

[John Doe]

I used Cineditor for M2, and I have movement of great amplitute in very short time by doing a matrix style vid (with the camera turning at high speed around a soldier throwned into the air by a cavalry charge). If I render at 150fps, will I get a smooth video by going at 1/5 speed in movie maker?

[MasterBigAb]

I used Cineditor for M2, and I have movement of great amplitute in very short time by doing a matrix style vid (with the camera turning at high speed around a soldier throwned into the air by a cavalry charge). If I render at 150fps, will I get a smooth video by going at 1/5 speed in movie maker?

I don't know much about movie maker, ther lucky is the one to talk to (if i'm right) but normally the advantage is that you can render smooth scenes with the cinematic editor, and the after editing programm shouldn't change that....

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

I used Cineditor for M2, and I have movement of great amplitute in very short time by doing a matrix style vid (with the camera turning at high speed around a soldier throwned into the air by a cavalry charge). If I render at 150fps, will I get a smooth video by going at 1/5 speed in movie maker?

I don't think there is a way to manipulate the speed of a clip in MovieMaker with that kind of precision. I know of only 1/2 speed, and 2x speed. But if you are getting 150 fps, its going to look pretty slick.

[LuckyLewis]

Master and Nanny are correct. However, in one of the later lessons, the one to do with editing and all that, I have files that allow you to slow down in increments of 25%, 50%, 66%, x3, x4, x6, x8 and speed up in increments of 25%, 50%, 66%, x3, x4, x6, x8. A far better improvement than the original limited Movie Making effects but we can get onto that later. I haven't tested it thoroughly myself yet, but it certainly increases precision of speed editing.

[John Doe]

I circle 4 times around the guy in less than 3 seconds (about 46 key frame), I think a 25% speed will do (120fps)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Also I have problem to figure out what that button does?

[MasterBigAb]

I circle 4 times around the guy in less than 3 seconds (about 46 key frame), I think a 25% speed will do (120fps)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Also I have problem to figure out what that button does?

A question, why don't you just circle 4 times around that guy in about 12 seconds, that would make things way easier
And the button i don't use, I am not sure what it does, i think it has something to do with the "fluctuation" of the camera when you do some big camera "jumps" in a very short time...

[Maximus IV]

What do you mean by saying " Did you film live or replay, or both? " I dont understand. How we can film replay? Thanks.

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

well, there are 2 points at which you can film a battle in ETW and NTW: while you are actually playing the game and controlling the units, or when you are watching a saved replay of the battle. The only reason we make the distinction here is that some of the camera controls that work in "live play" and not in "replay"...you have more options in "live play". However, filming during replay allows you to be free of some of the distractions you find when trying to film and fight a battle at the same time.

[Maximus IV]

Oh !! I understand it . Thank you sir.
Ehm the deadline is till 30th or 31 of May?

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

I've had 2 or 3 requests to extend that beyond the 30th because of people running into challenges who've never done this before, and because of some school exams, but I'll leave that person specific and I'll take responsibility for helping them catch up individually since they let me know well in advance. So May 30th it is, but everyone is working in different time zones anyways so I'm not going to get my knickers in a knot for a day or two I'm just putting the finishing touches on the next lesson so that will be released on the 30th regardless.

[Maximus IV]

Okay !! . Thank you sir.

[John Doe]

Here's my home work

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I successfully used the following 3 camera techniques
*minimal UI (sliding control)
*use of delete to lock on a unit (with M2 can't move the camera the runner unit as easy as in empire/napoleon )
*using the camera using the keynoard, as long the relative speed between camera and filmed unit is low, the image isn't too blur (changed the ingame camera speed movement so that it match the movement speed f the unit)

I had difficulty with the following camera techniques
Finding the right place and the right angle, it is never exactly where I wished it was.
As said above, the runner unit is hard to set up in M2,
I'm used to a bird eye's view, it take some time to adjust to close up (inner fight between the gamer vs movie maker)

Did you film live or replay, or both?
Both (I used cineditor, don't know if it counts as a third way?). Replays are great to catch/isolate combat animation (shame about the radar), simple camera movements are in game, and more complex are with the cineditor.

I tried using the following pro-tips
Switch off a lot of stuff in the control panel/device manager
Switch off sound
lowered game video setings
using the keyboard only when no other option and in slow movements
edited my medieval2.preference.cfg to remove flags, markers, tooltips, cut scene animation....

Cinedit pro tips
copy/paste my medieval2.preference.cfg in a safe place






Focus on one unit, 3 points are not always enough. What I did is atfer findind a starting point and get inside the camera ("tab"),

1. right click a moment later on the time scale
2. shift right click WITHOUT MOVING THE MOUSE so the 2 lines exactly match
3. insert a key frame
4. use the other buttons as to get a straight line with all coordonates between keyframe
5. click the >> so the movie jump to the new key frame
6. select the last created key frame (using "]")
7. use the wasdrf and arrows keys to position the camera (where I make sure it's a straight line with the previous camera's coordonates)
8. go back to 1
9. when the all trajectory is setup, use the other buttons in the tool bar to smooth the camera movements

While filming, I learned that...(name one significant learning experience)
It's easier said than done, it's way more time consuming than I expected

[empr guy]

my homework

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I successfully used the following 3 camera techniques...
1- delete key to fix camera
2- intelligent zoom
3- arching

I had difficulty with the following camera techniques...
- runner unit, during replays it was a bit difficult because units moved in ways i didnt expect/want meaning the shot wasnt what i was looking for.

Did you film live or replay, or both?
-I tried a bit of both

I tried using the following pro-tips...
-turning down settings to see if i got better frame rates and turned off the "extra" graphics.
-Tuned off units flags.
-close ups as opposed to distance.

While filming, I learned that...(name one significant learning experience)
Filming at more then 29.9 FPS is wasted on youtube. I probably would have tried to get a higher FPS rate and made the graphics worse then they needed to be.

ugh, now i have to do real homework.

[Finlander]

I successfully used the following 3 camera techniques...

changing the camera position
deleting scenes
focus

I had difficulty with the following camera techniques...

Following the arrow!

Did you film live or replay, or both?

Replay

I tried using the following pro-tips...

Following the units
Camera shake
Differend perspectives

While filming, I learned that...(name one significant learning experience)

If something does not look very good, I can do it again.

[Maximus IV]

2nd Lesson

My Homework

I successfully used the following 3 camera techniques: Clearing The Screen Intelligent Zoom Delete key I tried also the insert key and the Q/W/E/A/S/D/Z/X/C keys. I had difficulty with the following camera techniques: Intelligent Zoom(Problems with camera correct setting) Insert Key Did you film live or replay, or both? Live. I will try film replay perhaps later. I tried using the following pro-tips: I've used almost all the tips given . To get the most our of your FRAPS, in the FRAPS settings (under movie tab), you have to change to FULL SCREEN...half screen will give poor quality...also select 29.9 (lowest) FPS capture...above that is wasted for YouTube. Smoothness and higher framerates are by far more important than in game high quality graphic settings. A choppy video is very distracting. Anti-aliasing and in-game graphic setting goodies have a high FPS cost, especially with FRAPS running. Anti-aliasing in particular is much less important a visual effect when watching a video, and should only be used on the most powerful computers. Remember: high FPS outranks in-game graphic quality...I would sell my grandmother for 10 more FPS. Shut down any other program that could be draining your computer's resources, such as any IM or even any virus protections. Turn off all in-game music. Not only will it interfere with your audio later, it eats up valuable CPU, thus decreasing FPS. Get in close: high aerial shots do not translate very well in video, and should be use quite sparingly. Unless you need to show a particular strategy or tactic, get in close. Really close. Pretend these are real people, and make your video personal. Turn off all your unit flags, firing range markers, movements markers...anything that reminds the viewer that this is a game, and not real life (unless you are shooting a vid that needs to demonstrate tactics). Keep camera movement to a minimal. The FPS hits are hard on quality. If you want movement, fix the camera to a unit that you are not focusing on. This is effective if you are approaching the enemy line, who are in a stationary position: if you want a panning shot over the enemy line, fix the camera to your moving troops, then move the camera to the enemy line. Organize your raw .avi clips. After filming, you will find life to be much easier in Movie Maker if you go to your default FRAPs recording folder and start organizing them. Do an initial sort/purge. Delete obviously bad footage (accidental records, stuttering clips, clipping, or just plain bad shots). Then rename the clips that survive to something practical (e.g. French firing line, Prussian cannon firing, French firing line2, etc.). You can divide them into separate folders. While filming, I learned that...(name one significant learning experience): I was excited with the Intelligent Zooming with N key. It was really wonderful and im happy that i've learned that technique. Thank you Nanny ,MasterBigAb and Luckylewis for all the awesome and new stuff !!! Thank you !!

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

Hello everyone...After looking at the progress of the class so far, I'm doing a bit of a re-think as to how best to take you through the next steps of introducing you to Movie Maker and how to edit your video. I had a plan and lessons worked out, but looking at how well everyone is doing, I'm now realizing that the pace for the next 3 lessons was going to be far too slow for this group of talented and enthusiastic folk!

I am going to combine lessons 3 and 4 into one lesson...it will now be "Navigating Movie Maker and Editing Your Video". I'm not into creating needless work for myself, but I would rather get this right than have people sitting around, anxious to get on with their vid, and have to wait because the prof stuck to a flawed plan!

I'll need another day to make these changes and to test them out, so the next lesson should be up sometime on Monday. Thanks for your patience

Cheers,

Nanny

[Demetrios of Messene]

Lesson 2, homework:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1. I successfully used the following 3 camera techniques...
Most of the camera techniques mentioned in the tutorial are not directly applicable to RTW replays. Nevertheless, I did try to:
- simulate fixing the camera
- simulate focusing
- smoothly move the camera around in order to get the views I wanted to without disrupting the frame rate.


2. I had difficulty with the following camera techniques...
- Getting the views from the exact points I had in mind.
- Setting a camera movement speed was a problem that I could not solve.
- I searched twc and the internet for useful console commands in rtw shell, but I could not find anything.

3. Did you film live or replay, or both?
Replay only.

4. I tried using the following pro-tips...
- In the FRAPS settings (under movie tab), you have to change to FULL SCREEN, also select 29.9 (lowest) FPS capture. / Ok
- Anti-aliasing in particular is much less important a visual effect when watching a video, and should only be used on the most powerful computers. / Anti-aliasing had a huge impact and was turned off.
- Shut down any other programs. / Ok
- Turn off all in-game music. / In-game music did not have a big impact on my fps, but I turned it off for most clips, because I decided to use more external music.
- Get in close. / Check!
- Organize your raw .avi clips. / Deleted more than half of the clips shot and proprly named the surviving clips.

5. While filming, I learned that...(name one significant learning experience)
- It can take several tries to get the shots you envisioned and rtw replay system is not very user-friendly! Pre-planning is very very important!!!
- Sometimes you have to make adjustments to your original plan. Instead of 10 parts, my story-board will include 9 (part 7 deleted) and I changed the order of two parts (part 4 will be shown before part 3).

My product at the end of this lesson is 13 raw clips amounting to 6.39GB and 4.04 min to be trimmed and combined into one film with 9 parts (plus credits) and total duration 2 min .


EDIT: Further to Nanny's post above mine, I just like to say many thanks to all the tutors for their proffessional approach to this class!

[BURNY26]

this is my homework

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1.roll
focus
noise

2.getting the wanted views ,it is incredibly hard to get that first try, it really took me a looooooooooong time
getting clipped when the camera is between the men
having the timing of the passing of the soldiers and the passing of the camera properly

3.replay , since im trying out cined

4.first person
noise

5. Cined is not too be underestimated ,it is easier to get going with milkshape and adobe ps than this editor

This is a brief summary of the assignment ,truth be told i still dont get the feeling i really got this assignment... so im going back in
Also had to work on those unique models since they arent finished yet and get familiar with cined since i thought i was going to do this with FRAPS.
Hope final results will be good.

EDIT: are there ways to edit the road your camera follows ? or do you have to add several cameras to make the path of your liking ?