Tutorial: Making CoH videos - everything you need

[Storm_Knight]

Hiya all,

I've finished version 1.0 of my movie making guide.

It tells you what you need to know to record demos, capture video and edit video.

It's only version one, and if anyone has any good ideas for stuff to include, please email me.

It's available for download here (http://www.richgaunt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/coh/StormknightsVideoGuide-1_0.pdf)
(793 KB)

[Twist_NA]

good stuff duder :)

[LITTLEBITSOFTER]

Very nice!

You should linkify the URLs ;) Faked me out with the blue text.

[ACowboy]

hm just made a small movie,but right at the point where i wanna go inset music,you direct us to other tuts :( now im stuck

[Storm_Knight]

Sorry about the hyperlinks - they work as hyperlinks in the MS Word document I created. I used PDF Factory to convert to a PDF file and it seems to have not made them into links. Bah. Will have to see if I can do that.

Okay, as for tutorial on how to use Movie Maker to put video sequences together and add music, I'll be taking a look at that for the next version of this guide. I haven't used movie maker much myself, as I have Pinnacle Studio, but am aiming to get to grips with it.

Will keep you posted.

[Omnicrola]

<shameless plug>

There's an enourmous and growing list of NPCs, Player configs, FX, and MOV available at http://www.cityofvillans.com which is very handy for swapping out commands in your demo file.

</shameless plug>

[Nether_Elf]

Awesome job, way to be, and thanx

[ACowboy]

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry about the hyperlinks - they work as hyperlinks in the MS Word document I created. I used PDF Factory to convert to a PDF file and it seems to have not made them into links. Bah. Will have to see if I can do that.

Okay, as for tutorial on how to use Movie Maker to put video sequences together and add music, I'll be taking a look at that for the next version of this guide. I haven't used movie maker much myself, as I have Pinnacle Studio, but am aiming to get to grips with it.

Will keep you posted.

[/ QUOTE ]

w00t youre l33b :)

thx

[TheClaus]

To bad that COV site you posted isn't mozilla friendly at all. Remember not all of us heros use IE.

[Omnicrola]

I wasn't aware of any serious problems with Mozilla, but I'll look into it. It is unfortunatly not high on our priority list, due to the fact our web stats indicate less than 10% of you use Mozilla.
This IS however, higher than Netscape users, which account for about 1% :p

[Storm_Knight]

It's not too bad using Mozilla Firefox 0.9 - it's mostly the reveal page that mucks up.

[Storm_Knight]

I've updated my site, so there's a proper link on there to the guide now and, with the film competition turning up, I intend to update the guide in the next few days as well.

StormKnight's "How to make CoH movies" guide (http://stormknight.net/coh/index.php?f=guides)

It covers using alternative software to FRAPS if any of you are having trouble with that.

[Cruiser_7]

Tutorial is great; thank you. I tried to dowload your COH editor about a dozen times and it always timed out. Is it so popular that bandwith is an issue? :)

[Storm_Knight]

I have been using the freecache.org service to improve downloads, but it's in beta and is unreliable.

I've fixed it now, so that the software downloads directly from my webspace, so no delay problems.

Apologies for the problem!

[Thump]

Okay, call me Johnny Smacktard, but I can't get the Game Cam software to work properly. I've checked their web site and they don't make any mention of what's happening to me in their FAQs or troubleshooting.

I fire up my demo using the valiant Storm Knight's demo edit software (thanks, btw, that's nifty :cool:) and what I get is the demo running with a black screen for the capture area and a black screen for the thumbnail screen. When I exit, I've got an .avi file that's black throughout.

I've tried the free version of Fraps and that works just fine, I'd just rather use something that doesn't have a watermark. I've also tried lowering my in-game resolution for capturing the CoH demo (I normally run in 1280X1024)

Anyone have any ideas what I'm doing wrong here? :o

[Insatiablue]

I am having the same trouble as you did, black boxes in my demo. Did you ever get it to work? The only thing I could find to fix the problem was a download for a codec.
I did download it, which was cool it fixed my alt/tab out of game where the out of game was twice as large to view as it should have been but it did not fix the game cam black screens in my demos.

[Tenzen]

Hey Strom I need some help. How do i take more angles besides the one that you can do with the mouse bottons. I want to take a shot from the feet of my character and the camera going slow till the head. Can I do that in any way? And my Game Cam is not working. When I start the game y see a medium size window all black in the NW corner of my screen and a little withe one in the SE corner. And when I record something everything is blank. Whats going on here? Can you help me?

[Battery]

[ QUOTE ]
I wasn't aware of any serious problems with Mozilla, but I'll look into it. It is unfortunatly not high on our priority list, due to the fact our web stats indicate less than 10% of you use Mozilla.
This IS however, higher than Netscape users, which account for about 1% :p

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't quite tell if this is just another misspelling or what, but your site url doesn't work. Villain <> villan....I'm at a loss.

[Scuzzbopper]

[ QUOTE ]

I can't quite tell if this is just another misspelling or what, but your site url doesn't work. Villain <> villan....I'm at a loss.

[/ QUOTE ]

The cityofvillans.com site went down months ago.

I have compiled all the demo models, animation, and effects that I have found here (http://home.twcny.rr.com/scuzzbopper/coh/models.html).

[Battery]

I found that site through another thread....it's awesome! TY! :D

[House_Call]

Thread rez! Anybody have a more up-to-date list of all the FX and MOV's available for use in demos now?

[PlasmaStream]

[ QUOTE ]
<shameless plug>

There's an enourmous and growing list of NPCs, Player configs, FX, and MOV available at http://www.cityofvillans.com which is very handy for swapping out commands in your demo file.

</shameless plug>

[/ QUOTE ]

Link doesn't seem to be working?

[Zloth]

Yeah, afraid that web site is long gone. :(

[Psydekick]

City of Heroes Codex (http://home.twcny.rr.com/scuzzbopper/coh/models.html) has a lot of model names, animations, and other cohdemo data, but is missing signature villains.

[Scuzzbopper]

[ QUOTE ]
City of Heroes Codex (http://home.twcny.rr.com/scuzzbopper/coh/models.html) has a lot of model names, animations, and other cohdemo data, but is missing signature villains.

[/ QUOTE ]

I should have most of the signature villains up soon (thanks to WitchChild). I was away from the game for about a year, but I'm back now and will be working on the Codex again in the coming weeks.

[EarthFury]

Great guide!

I have a question but I'm not sure how to articulate it, so here goes. What are the standard video styles used to capture specific emotions or feelings for the demo I want to create. For example,

I want scene A to evoke a lonliness feel, so I do film school 101 standard sequence X. I want scene D to evoke a panic feel, so I do film school 101 standard sequence Y. I want scene C to evoke sad feel, so I do film school 101 standard sequence Z, etc.

Director's use these standard filming "devices" all the time in movies I think.

Maybe there is a website with an index of Emotion storyboards, something like:

* Lonliness - Single person. Close view. Zoom out slowly while turning.
* Panic - Quick zoom directly on face. Quick cut to person A. Quick cut to person B. Quck cut back to me.
* Buildup - blah, then blah, then blah.
* Mysterious intro - this, then this, then that.

I hope my question makes sense. Maybe my question is too complicated for a website and I need to go to film school, lol.

[November]

[ QUOTE ]
Great guide!

I have a question but I'm not sure how to articulate it, so here goes. What are the standard video styles used to capture specific emotions or feelings for the demo I want to create. For example,

I want scene A to evoke a lonliness feel, so I do film school 101 standard sequence X. I want scene D to evoke a panic feel, so I do film school 101 standard sequence Y. I want scene C to evoke sad feel, so I do film school 101 standard sequence Z, etc.

Director's use these standard filming "devices" all the time in movies I think.

Maybe there is a website with an index of Emotion storyboards, something like:

* Lonliness - Single person. Close view. Zoom out slowly while turning.
* Panic - Quick zoom directly on face. Quick cut to person A. Quick cut to person B. Quck cut back to me.
* Buildup - blah, then blah, then blah.
* Mysterious intro - this, then this, then that.

I hope my question makes sense. Maybe my question is too complicated for a website and I need to go to film school, lol.

[/ QUOTE ]

As a former film student - I'd give you one bit of advice... three times.

Story Board - Story Board - Story Board.

Get a stack of paper - draw squares on it - and draw it out just like a cartoon to get the look you want.

You mentioned several "stereotyped" (and frankly overdone) visual motifs for various emotional states.

But the fact is - to really make something work well you need to consider what you're doing and when you're doing it in your story.

If it's a quasi-rock video, well the bit with the close up and fly-out effect might work. But frankly I'd be more concerned as to what builds up to that shot.

Here's an example:

[ QUOTE ]
One: Open on Scene of Hero walking - head down - along the street.
Two: Hero stops at base of statue ... looks up.
Three: Slow pan up base of statue to sunlight cresting over top of statue - from the flare of the light we see a set of wings beating flying out of the light at high speed..
Four: Hero at base of statue turning and following running after ... as the winged flying hero zooms out of site... Our Hero running futily after them... tripping and falling...
Five: Close Up on Hero With Determined Look...
Six: Hero Stands ... begins powering up...
Seven: Close Up on Hero... pull back as power explodes from them... and they shoot up into the sky.
Eight: As they fly up - behind them - they are now at the height of the statue behind them and the light flares off of them like the sun...

[/ QUOTE ]

In this - sure the shots tell a story but there's already some kind of a story there. Man on street sees hero - wants to be hero - and becomes one. Story-board it out - even if it's stick figures and very simple script like that. The example above has very few camera directions.

Best advice in film school they give you is when writing a story - to visualize how you would see the story and then write down those camera directions... "Close Up On Face" "Camera Pulls Back and we see...". Literally write it up exactly as you see it in your minds eye. If you see only the blinking eye of someone staring - then "Extreme Close Up On XXX's EYE IN ANGER - FX - SEE REFLECTION OF GLOWING FIGURE MOVE ACROSS PUPIL OF EYE".

There's no sterotypical formula for expressing an emotion. Tell a story first - worry about camera angles later. True - close up shots are personal and provoke intensity. Long Shots are usually place holders or to show desolation - distance. But placement of characters - cool camera angles and FX don't give you a story, and even your best music videos at least tell some kind of story.

Don't limit yourself to the limitations of the DEMO program here either. A bit of photoshop - and careful editing and you can create that effect (the one of a glowing figure passing across just the close up eye). I've seen some really amazing videos done just that way around here.

Tell a story first. Know your story - then worry about how you have to shoot it. You'll come up with the angles and the tech if you need to.

[Everest]

Do u just do the same thing to get video footage from City Of Villains? Cause i dont own City of Heros.

[SoulVax]

Anyone have any ideas what I'm doing wrong here? :o [/quote]

i might have awnser to your problem i wont be able to explain how to fix but here's where you need to go to find out.......

Go to Search. Then put it to look under Player Guides, then username to (Choff) make it more the (Days), and click enter or submit.

There you have it click his post and inside that all you need to do is click a post saying (Guide) in the second post upwords.

Hope i helped!

[TasmanianTiger]

This guide seems to be a bit old. Anyone know if there is an updated version around.

So far I am having 2 problems

* The GameCam program I just downloaded doesn't seem to capture footage from the game (even though it is running in the background, I don't get the preview when I go to load my demo)

* How do I remove player named from my demos? I can remove everything but those.

[RagManX]

So the PDF link no longer works, nor does the COHed download. Does anyone still have these available? I've finally decided to play around with capturing and working with demos.

Thanks,

RagManX

[PsychicMan]

Yeah, sorry to necro this, but i'm also looking for StormKnight's demo editor. iirc, there is an option in it that replaces objects for you, and it isn't as complicated as in Zloth's (No offense, Zloth :P)

[Lycanus]

time for a bit of thread necromancy, can anybody give me these files?

[_nelz0r]

I agree.

Necro.