Moviemaking tutorial

1) Introduction
2) Graphic Card settings
3) Programs and files
4) Image + ET
5) Config
6) Action 1 + Virtual Dub
7) Vegas
8) Compression (Megui+Avisynth)
Advanced
9) Effects
10) Camtrace3D
11) Pk3 files
12) Custom pop-ups
13) common questions and problems



Download PDF File: http://www.upload.ee/files/278232/Moviemaking_tutorial_by_blitz.pdf.html



Introduction

Hello, my name is Ram "blitz" and im a moviemaker for approximately 2 years.
First, not everyone is going to like my quality, my settings or my progress, but that’s the way im doing it and on this tutorial ill share my settings and Ill learn you how to make a movie from the beginning.

Here you can see my previous works:

blitz + Adeto the movie - http://www.crossfire.nu/?x=movie&mode=item&id=953
Chmpp – No place to hide - http://www.crossfire.nu/?x=movie&mode=item&id=929
Crod – On the move - http://www.own3d.tv/watch/crod---on-the-move,14334.html

And some more in my profile.

Here is hopefully what we are going to create:




The progress:

1) Installing the new image, placing the CFG and Tweaking the graphic card and some of the program's settings.
2) Translating the game to .tga pictures (Capturing).
3) Putting the .tga pictures back together into a .avi video file.
4) Editing the movie.
5) Rendering the movie.




Graphic card settings

Before we begin the whole process, Set your graphic card settings to HIGH (AA+AF).
Here is what im using with my nvidia 260GTX, ATI Users should try to use the same lines as im using in my nvidia control panel.



Then press Apply (Down at the right) and restart your computer.




Programs, files and their explanations

lets start to gather all the required programs and files.
Create a new folder and call it Moviemaking programs so its wont be messy.

* Image + Enemy Territory – Because of the fact that I'm using the new Image, I wont need to use my currently ET Installation for the moviemaking, but we will have to copy some files from there.
Links at the (4) Image page.
* ET Moviemaking config – for getting the best hud / quality settings we need to work on the config settings, more information about the config commands can be found in the (6)Config page.

blitz.CFG: http://www.impulze.net/paste/13976/
open a text file and copy the commands (Without the numbers line) and save it as autoexec.cfg
Many other moviemakers posted their configs on their profile / tutorial or just ask for it in private.

* Virtual Dub – This program will make a .avi video file from the .tga files that we are going to capture

Virtual Dub - http://rapidshare.com/files/313399844/Virtual_Dub_1.9.1.rar.html

* Lagarith – this is a compression method without damaging the quality (maybe some of you heared about Huffyuv or Uncompressed, its almost the same).

Lagarith - http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Lagarith_Lossless_Video_Codec.htm
Right click on Lagarith.inf and press Install to activate the codec.

* Vegas – vegas / After Effects are the editing programs, im using vegas so I wont be able to guide you through AE.

Sony Vegas Pro 9 - http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/trials/vegaspro
Crack - http://www.upload.ee/files/295260/Vegas_9_Crack.zip.html (Read it carefully)
Plug-Ins – NewBlueFX / Magic Bullet / More - http://www.upload.ee/files/290670/blitZ_s_vegas_effects_pack.rar.html

* MeGUI – Our final compression program.

MeGUI 0.3.1.1056 - http://sourceforge.net/projects/megui/
X264 - http://mirror01.x264.nl/x264/revision1352/x264.exe (See www.x264.nl for more versions)
Put the x264.exe file in this folder: C:\Program Files\megui\tools\x264

* Avisynth – related to MeGUI.

Avisynth 2.5.8 - http://www.free-codecs.com/download_soft.php?d=4980&s=110

* Camtrace3D – Editing program to make some nice looking ingame camera scripts.

Camtrace3D v0.9 b442 - http://ct3d.twen.name/common/ccount11/click.php?id=102

* K-Lite Codec – Install this codec pack to be able to watch our final video file.

K-Lite Codec 5.4.4 - http://www.free-codecs.com/download_soft.php?d=5476&s=775


Image
Last preparations.
• create a new empty folder named IMAGE-ET with two subfolders named etmain and etpro
• copy the following files from your current game folder
/ET.exe
/etmain/mp_bin.pk3, pak{0-2}.pk3, cgame_mp_x86.dll, ui_mp_x86.dll
/etpro/etpro-3_2_6.pk3, cgame_mp_x86.dll, ui_mp_x86.dll
• also copy into etmain custom maps such as adlernest.pk3, etc.
• extract the contents of image-et into IMAGE-ET
• optionally create a shortcut pointing to image-et.exe and add +set fs_game etpro +exec autoexec to the target line
• create a subfolder named demos inside of etpro and place your demos in there
Taken from Madscientist's new Image tutorial.

EDIT: New Image link + Organized folder: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3GIKI4KT


Config

Here is the part that we control the visual game effects, hud, quality and binds.

Open the config file we made ealier blitz.cfg.

I Tried to make an easy organization of the commands In order of quality/hud etc
Here are some usefull commands that you may wanna check/change (Just a few):

Gun Position
seta cg_gunZ "0"
seta cg_gunY "1"
seta cg_gunX "1.9"

Custom Resolution
seta r_customwidth "1280"
seta r_customheight "720"
seta r_mode "-1"

Draw / Hide hud (Texts/Bars ETC)
cg_draw2d "1/0"

Game Effects
Lights:
seta cg_coronas "1"
seta cg_coronafardist "6000"

Atmospheric effects (Radar rain):
seta cg_atmosphericeffects "1"

Explosions lights:
seta r_flares "1"

Objectives highlighting:
seta r_ambientScale "1.45"

Blood:
seta cg_bloodTime "120"
seta cg_showBlood "1"

Quality, brightness and contrasts:
seta r_intensity "1.85"
seta r_mapoverbrightbits "1.2"
seta r_picmip "0"


Binds and scripts:

seta roundtimer2 "cg_draw2d 1; cg_drawroundtimer 1;set roundtimer vstr roundtimer1"
seta roundtimer1 "cg_draw2d 0; cg_drawroundtimer 0;set roundtimer vstr roundtimer2"
seta roundtimer "vstr roundtimer1"
seta cg_drawRoundTimer "0"
seta cg_drawReinforcementTime "1"
seta popups2 "cg_draw2d 1;b_hudyoffset -600;b_althudflags -1;set popups vstr popups1"
seta popups1 "cg_draw2d 0;b_hudyoffset -600;b_althudflags 1;set popups vstr popups2"
seta popups "vstr popups1"

bind escape disconnect
bind l freecam
bind c vstr roundtimer
bind v vstr popups
bind z wav_record
bind x wav_stoprecord
bind d "+moveright"
bind 1 timescale 0
bind 2 timescale 1
bind 3 timescale 10
bind 4 timescale 100
bind e "toggle img_depthoffield"
bind 7 "img_depthoffield 0;img_motionblur 1;wait 5;cl_avidemo 1;timescale 1"
bind 8 "img_depthoffield 0;img_motionblur 0;wait 5;cl_avidemo 0"


Image Commands

cl_avidemo [!] toggles capture. Any non-zero value will start capture while zero will stop it.

img_captureFps [1~] sets the output framerate of captured screenshots. Put this value in virtualDUB or any other software that you may have. Commonly used values are 25 and 30 while power users will want to capture at higher framerates such as "90" or "100". Any greater value is discouraged for it will impact performance with little gain in quality.

img_demoLatency [0~999] sets the amount of latency to compensate while viewing demos by re-adjusting aim and movement. Since all demos are recorded at zero ping, everyone will benefit from using this cvar and not just high pingers. A value of "50" should give great results for most low pingers while others will have to experiment with values close to their ping. Use with caution.

img_demoSeek [~] has a dual purpose. First one is to seek to absolute server times, e.g. img_demoSeek 623572200 will in most cases instantly seek to that position. Second purpose is to seek to relative server times, e.g. img_demoSeek -1 will seek one second backwards. First use of this cvar might be a little slower due to the current implementation, but further use will seek faster, from instantly to a few seconds.

Previously, timescale were used to jump forward through demos. While this method works, it's not precise and can lead to bugs such as "flying" hats.

img_screenShakes [0~] sets the intensity of screen shakes from being hit or shot. Using a value of "0.5" will reduce screen shakes by half while zero will disable screen shakes.

img_aperture [0~] sets the f-number or the amount of blurring when depth of field is enabled. Using a value of zero will result in no depth of field while a high value will slow performance, therefore not recommended unless you have a good PC. Recommended values range from "1.0" to "3.0".

img_exposure [0~1] sets the shutter angle or the amount of blurring when motion blur is enabled. Using a value of zero will result in no motion blur while a value of one will result in maximally blurred frames. Recommended value is "1.0".

img_depthOfField [!] toggles depth of field

img_fisheye [!] toggles fisheye lens

img_motionBlur [!] toggles motion blur

img_blur_samples [1~] sets the number of blur samples when motion blur and depth of field are enabled. Higher samples will increase quality and is directly proportional to capture performance, e.g "128" samples is twice as slow as "64" but yields better quality.

img_fov_samples [1~] sets the number of subdivision samples when fisheye lens is enabled. Higher samples will increase quality but will reduce capture performance depending on the surroundings.

img_msaa_samples [1~] sets the number of samples for multisample anti-aliasing in window mode when off-screen rendering is enabled. Maximum samples and performance will be affected depending on your hardware capability. Recommended values range from "4" to "8".

img_focusDepth [0~] sets a fixed focus depth when depth of field is enabled. This cvar is useful in scripts to force focus at specific depths.

img_focusSpeed [0~] sets the speed at which focus will change when depth of field is enabled. Using high values will force instant focus.

img_focusTarget [-1~] sets a fixed target to focus at when depth of field is enabled. Targets can range from players, grenades, missiles, items, etc. A value of "-1" will default to auto-focus mode while values ranging from "0" to "63" will target specific players. Any other value will target the corresponding entity. One way to get a list of entities and their IDs is to use etpro's b_debugSnapEnts cvar. A feature to make this process easier is currently under development.

img_hdr [!] toggles high dynamic range rendering. HDRR will prevent bright and dark colors from clipping and improve contrast ratio. When in HDRR mode, any values can be used for r_mapOverBrightBits including decimals, while post process corrections such as r_gamma and r_overBrightBits are suppressed. Enabling this cvar is recommended for highest quality raws.





Ofcurse you can change, edit and modify my config as you like, you can find a great commands list with explanations for must of them here: http://www.trickjump.me/tjmod/et_cvar_backup.html






First action + Virtual Dub

Now we can start to work, Place the config file (blitz.cfg) in the IMAGE-ET/ETPro folder.
Run the image.exe shortcut we made earlier or just run it from the IMAGE-ET Folder.
If you cant see the screen in 1280x720 Resolution so write /exec autoexec in the config and then /vid_restart to activate all the settings.
Go to mods and pick ETPro (Not necessary if you're running the shortcut)
Go to Demos and run your demo. (Loading may be slow, don’t push your mouse/keyboard while its loading because it wont load the demo)
Once you are ingame, press "2" (Timescale 1) and check if you like the game appearance.
You can show/hide the popups by pressing "v" (Toggle).
Now lets start to capture!
Press "7" to start the capture progress, which is going to be very slow, but we can use the console or minimize the game thanks to Image.

Notice: Using img_captureFPS "30" will give us the same result, except for slowmotions so think about using it for tests.


When we done, press "8" To stop the capturing, and quit the game.

Now go to IMAGE-ET/ETPro/Screenshots, and open the folder with the demo name.
Open Virtual Dub (Don’t forget to install Lagarith [more information up]) and grab the first .tga picture file to virtual dub.




Now in VDub go to video -> Frame Rate (Ctrl+R) And do "Change frame rate to (FPS): 90"
Use the same FPS value as you used ingame, 90 as default.
Go to video -> Compression (Ctrl+P), pick "Lagarith loseless codec" and press OK.
Now go to File -> Save as .AVI (F7) and save the video file - call it MovieTEST and save it in My Documents



Vegas

Now we got the video file ready but uncompressed, and we can start editing it.
So first of all, open vegas and start a new project with those settings:



Now open the video file we saved earlier:


And grab it to the video track.
Grab a music file near the video track, to get a nice song in the background.
It should looks like this:



Here are some basic vegas tricks:

Slow/fast motions – Hold control and move the end/start of the Video/Audio track



Fade In/Out – Hold the end of the video/audio track and grab it till you get to the desired spot



Cut – If you want to cut a part of the clip so just stand where you want to cut and press "S"


Adding an effect – Go to the Video FX Tab, pick the desired effect and grab it to the video file that you want to be effected





Now you can change the effect as you wish, and save it if you want.

Event Pan/Crop – This feature is allowing us to move the video track position, Also possible to make it in motion (Watch Keyframes).



Keyframes – Keyframes will allow us to change the effect in a progressive way, just create a new keyframe point and change the effect settings on this point, now the video will change the effect from the first point to the second point in a progressive way.


You can find that option in the Video Event FX window (Down).


Now when we got some of the basics, and we made a nice video with effects and soundtrack, lets get our video ready to compression.

Go to File -> Render As.. press Custom and make a new template, call it ET Movies and use those settings:



In the audio tab:



And project tab pick "Best"

Press OK, name it to "Untitled.avi", change the "Save as type" to .AVI and press Save.
Make sure your settings looks like this:



Now vegas is rendering our video file after we added some effects and made some edits, this rendering is uncompressed (File is still huge).
Please be patient, it will take a few minutes if the movie is "long" and you added some effects.
When the compression is done, do the same process but this time change the "Save as type" to .Mp3
And save the file, now we have 2 files (Untitled.avi, Untitled.mp3)


MeGUI + Avisynth

Lets finish when we've started, the last step is to render our video.
Make sure that both programs, MeGUI and Avisynth are installed, open a new text file and copy this:

AviSource("untitled.avi")
ConvertToYV12() # A must have

Now save it as Movie.avs and keep the file.
Open MeGUI, press "Config" near the Encoder Settings line, and start to edit your megui rendering settings, you can find my settings here:

Faster process, nice quality (Good for tests):
Very slow pricess, Better quality: http://rapidshare.com/files/313455829/New_Megui_Settings.txt.html
http://www.upload.ee/files/293014/New_Megui_Settings.txt.html

Now back to the main window, import the file we made earlier Movies.avs to the first line (Avisynth script)
And press "enqueue"

Note: Make sure you are changing the video encoding settings and not the audio settings which are placed down.

Now go to the "Queue" tab and press start, our movie is now rendered to get a normal file size aspect with a little quality damage.

When its done, go to MeGUI again, go to Tools -> Muxer -> Mp3 Muxer.

Video Input: Movie.avi (The file we just compressed using megui)
Audio Input: Untitled.mp3 (The file we rendered with vegas back in time)






That’s it, you got your own .mp4 video file!





Advanced


Effects: here are some useful effects for vegas that you should try to add and tweak:

1) HSL Adjust
2) Levels
3) NewBlue Film Look
4) Magic Bullet Look Suite
5) NewBlue VE Color Fixer Plus

3-5 are needed to be installed, watch the plugins pack.


Camtrace3D: First go to Game -> Settings and make sure its looks like this:



Second, go to ETMain, pick the map that you want to make a camera at (IE: Supply), open the map using Winrar and search for the file Supply.bsp, take it out and go to Camtrace3D.
Go to Map -> Load (Ctrl+B) and pick the file Supply.bsp.

Now you can see the look of them map, Add 2 points by clicking in different places. Change to
3D View:



And press Lock.
Now you can change the camera by holding the right click and moving it. Change the view by holding the left click and moving it.
Now you can watch what you got so far by pressing "Start from the beginning button:
|
\/



Now go to the "Curve" tab and put the FPS value as what you need, what can I know what is the right value for me?
Simple math: Fps x img_blur_samples = FPS
It will be a very big value, it should be 90x128=11520, but im using 64 Blur samples for my cameras, so I only get 5760, don’t forget to set img_blur_samples 64 if your using my method (5760 fps @ Camtrace)

Press "Create…" Down at the right side and you got a camera.

Write "exec cam" in the console to activate the camera.

Note: run the camera ONLY after you started to record, so it should be like this: "7" (Capturing) "o" (Running the camera) and when the camera is finished (You cant stop it before anyway) so press "8" (Stoping the capturing progress).


Pk3 Files: There are a few quality improvements and skins out there, you can take a look at this pack: http://returntocastlewolfenstein.filefront.com/file/HDET_HighDefinition_Enemy_Territory;98233

Or use my pack:
Z_blitZ (Link soon)

You can also edit the texture, open the file pk0.pk3 in the ETMain folder, take the object that you want to change, put it in photoshop and start working on the colors/look.

Custom Popups: Some of you may want to try adding the pop-ups manually.
For doing this we need to create templates at photoshop first, or you can use mine:
http://www.upload.ee/files/293022/weapons.rar.html

After getting the templates, we may want to change the nick/colors.
How can I know the exactly color codes? I made a list for you:

1 - #ff0000
2 - #00ff00
3 - #ffff00
4 - #0000ff
5 - #00ffff
6 - #ff00ff
7 - #ffffff
8 - #ff7f00
9 - #7f7f7f
0 - #000000
q - #ff0000
w - #ffffff
e - #7f00ff
r - #00ff00
t - #0e10ae
y - #676867
u - #05e5e4
i - #ff0033
o - #e5e675
p - #000000
a - #f19219
s - #ffff00
d - #007fff
f - #3399cc
g - #ccffcc
h - #006633
j - #a01b1a
k - #923202
z - #b5b5b5
x - #e47404
c - #7f007f
v - #e405e4
b - #027979
n - #e4e4ac
m - #919232
l - #cc9933
: - #acadac
| - #0c640c
< - #027902
> - #0a0b69
\ - #027902
. - #ffffbf
/ - #d6d76e
! - #ae6f1e
@ - #7a3e03
# - #7f007f
$ - #0870d7
% - #6e0ad4
& - #3399cc
* - #f2f2f3
( - #076134
) - #ff0033
_ - #7f0000
+ - #993300
- - #808036
= - #7f7f00
{ - #bfbfbf
} - #777708
[ - #bfbfbf
] - #6f6f10
' - #aed9ae
? - #7f0000

copare it to this:

When you want to write blitz in red, just mark the text, and press on the color at the text bar, and change it to this code: ff0000.

Now save the file, and grab it to vegas in a new video track.
If you want to put 2 popups at the same time, right click on one of the popups track, pick Video Event Pan/Crop and change the X Center value -25, if it was 640, change it to 625 and so on.
Regular popup is 5 seconds long with 1 second of fade, center popup is 2 seconds with 15 seconds of fade.






Common questions and problems

Q: I Made a camera but its going crazy (360) how can I fix it?
A: In camtrace3D, go to LookAt tab, and make sure that the yaw value isn’t too far between the points, if the first camera is set to 0 yaw and the second one is 360 yaw so the camera will make a completely 360 degree, sometimes its happens, just change the yaw value by turning the camera look 360 degree using the left click.

Q: I Made my own pop-ups but how can I usetransparented background?
A: just save the popup text as a photoshop (.PSD) File.

Q: After trying to make a movie, I got 60 FPS Limit in my real ET Game, how can I change it back to 125?
A: Restore your graphic card settings and restart your computer.

Q: When trying to get the megui rendering started i get the following message:
"An error eccurred: x264 [error]: invalid argument: b-pyramid =--no-weightb"
A: Go to "Frame Type" tab, disable the "Keep some B-Frames as references" option and enable the "Weighted prediction for B-Frames"





Links

#Rainbow www.rainbow-prod.blogspot.com
#Image http://image.webartdesign-eu.com/?p=6
#Moviemakers.et www.crossfire.nu
#most-hated www.mosthated.tk
#MTM-Studios
#Webartdesign
#Ultraviolet www.ultravioletproductions.co.uk