Hey guys Trigger here atttempting to make my first guide of the 2nd thing i do best, making battlefield 2 movies. (the first would be actually playing the game )
So, you wanna make a movie... well i say, good for you! movies can be a very expressive tool and can convey lots of emotions, or just pure ownage, depending on what your movie is about.
[The Basics]
First of all, your going to need a few tools in order to make your movie. i will list some options you could choose, along with some pros and cons for each
Screen Capture
Screen Capture is a program you use to record whatever is happening on your screen
FRAPS
Fraps is the only generally avaible screen capture device that i know of, so this is probably the only program you would use for screen capture. Before complaining that fraps drops your framerate, make sure that you are running the appropriate settings for your computer, as fraps s a very power-intensive program.
now, what im about to write is very general, and serves only as a guideline. actual settings you should run BF2 at to record FRAPS footage, will have to be done with trial and error on your part. mess around a bit with settings to see what your computer can do.
ATi RADEON 9600, NVIDIA 5900 = LOW
ATi RADEON X1300 , NVIDIA 6600 = MEDIUM
ATi RADEON X1900 , NVIDIA 7600 and above = HIGH
Video Editing
here i will list some common video editing programs, used to edit, compile, and apply effects to your program.
WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER
Pros: Almost everyone already has it on their computer, Easy to learn and use, great for getting started on movies
Cons: Limited effects, limited output options
SONY VEGAS 6.0
Pros: Balanced video editing program, intermediate video effects and output options.
Cons: longer learning curve, not good for beginers
ADOBE PREMEIRE PRO
Pros: All the effects youd ever imagine, hundreds of output options, designed to make professional-quality movies.
Cons: VERY expensive (800 USD), learning curve of a couple days
Upload Sites
you have some basic upload sites you can use to share your videos in streaming format, because most people dont like, or dont have the time to download a 40mb movie file.
some popular choices are:
Youtube
www.youtube.com
Google Video
www.video.google.com
and Putfile
www.putfile.com
try to see the pros and cons for each site, and decide which you want to upload to. i used to upload to google and youtube but now i only upload to youtube, because its more streamlined and doesnt take forever to verify.
Music
Music choice i will leave totally up to you, as music is personal preference, and i cannot recommend what music you shoud like. i can only tell you which songs are overused, and those would be:
BOOM by P.O.D.
Click, Click, Boom by Saliva
i dont know what is up with songs that have the word "boom" in them and bf2 videos, but if i hear those osngs one more time in a video, i will want to gourge my ears out.
Also, try your best to sync the video with the music, like having you kill someone right when the guitar line picks up and vice versa.
[/The Basics]
so, now that we have the basics covered, we can move on to ingame filming
[InGame Filming]
Unless you have te full version of fraps, you only have 30 seconds to record. if you know that there will be lots of guys around a corner youre about to turn, i would suggest turning fraps on then, since turning it on halfway through a fight will lag you up, which may kill you, and doesnt look good. This is where UAV and commander spotted comes in handy. try to stick near the UAV so that you know where there are guys and where there arent. this will help you on when to start and stop recording. commander spotted is the same thing. pay attention to it. if you find that youre lagging too much to record, then turn your settings down. if your already at all low, your either going to have to rough it, or upgrade.
[/InGame Filming]
keep the ingame filming tips in handy, they can help you save a lot of space on your computer hard drive.
[Compiling The Video]
When applying effects to a video, make sure not to overdo it. i hate it when people edit a video to change colors, super-slo mo, and zoom at the same time. it detracts from the video, really.
Making Titles
titles should be informative and simple in my opinion. you can make them however youd like, but try to refrain from putting "ownage" in the title. for my paddle happy series, i could have titled them "Shock Paddle Ownage" but that just sounds boring and dull. "Paddle Happy" sounds more interesting, and it goes along with my name, Trigger_Happy_92. so next time, dont call your video "c4 ownage" try something different like "The Bang Pack"
Making Credits
credits, as in titles, should be short and sweet. i dont want the last minute of your 3 minute video to be all credits, listing all the influences youve ever had in your life. for a short 3 min video, there should be no reason credits should be longer then 10-20 seconds. the important thing to keep in mind is to try to leave your name, and some kind of way to contact you, like your clan website or bf2s.com. if you finished filming a 20 minute saga, then its appropriate to have 2 minute long credits, because it must have taken you a while to make it, and the people who participated need to be recognized for all the time they spent. The only thing i hate more then 1 minute long credits on a 3 minute movie is no credits at all. i must say, that when i watch a movie where the music abuptly cuts out and the footage stops, i think to myself "wtf was he thinking" you have to have some type of closure to your movies, aburptly stopping in the middle of the song is not good.
[/Compiling The Video]
[/endguide]
well, i hope this guide will help you in making better, more enjoyable movies.
So, you wanna make a movie... well i say, good for you! movies can be a very expressive tool and can convey lots of emotions, or just pure ownage, depending on what your movie is about.
[The Basics]
First of all, your going to need a few tools in order to make your movie. i will list some options you could choose, along with some pros and cons for each
Screen Capture
Screen Capture is a program you use to record whatever is happening on your screen
FRAPS
Fraps is the only generally avaible screen capture device that i know of, so this is probably the only program you would use for screen capture. Before complaining that fraps drops your framerate, make sure that you are running the appropriate settings for your computer, as fraps s a very power-intensive program.
now, what im about to write is very general, and serves only as a guideline. actual settings you should run BF2 at to record FRAPS footage, will have to be done with trial and error on your part. mess around a bit with settings to see what your computer can do.
ATi RADEON 9600, NVIDIA 5900 = LOW
ATi RADEON X1300 , NVIDIA 6600 = MEDIUM
ATi RADEON X1900 , NVIDIA 7600 and above = HIGH
Video Editing
here i will list some common video editing programs, used to edit, compile, and apply effects to your program.
WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER
Pros: Almost everyone already has it on their computer, Easy to learn and use, great for getting started on movies
Cons: Limited effects, limited output options
SONY VEGAS 6.0
Pros: Balanced video editing program, intermediate video effects and output options.
Cons: longer learning curve, not good for beginers
ADOBE PREMEIRE PRO
Pros: All the effects youd ever imagine, hundreds of output options, designed to make professional-quality movies.
Cons: VERY expensive (800 USD), learning curve of a couple days
Upload Sites
you have some basic upload sites you can use to share your videos in streaming format, because most people dont like, or dont have the time to download a 40mb movie file.
some popular choices are:
Youtube
www.youtube.com
Google Video
www.video.google.com
and Putfile
www.putfile.com
try to see the pros and cons for each site, and decide which you want to upload to. i used to upload to google and youtube but now i only upload to youtube, because its more streamlined and doesnt take forever to verify.
Music
Music choice i will leave totally up to you, as music is personal preference, and i cannot recommend what music you shoud like. i can only tell you which songs are overused, and those would be:
BOOM by P.O.D.
Click, Click, Boom by Saliva
i dont know what is up with songs that have the word "boom" in them and bf2 videos, but if i hear those osngs one more time in a video, i will want to gourge my ears out.
Also, try your best to sync the video with the music, like having you kill someone right when the guitar line picks up and vice versa.
[/The Basics]
so, now that we have the basics covered, we can move on to ingame filming
[InGame Filming]
Unless you have te full version of fraps, you only have 30 seconds to record. if you know that there will be lots of guys around a corner youre about to turn, i would suggest turning fraps on then, since turning it on halfway through a fight will lag you up, which may kill you, and doesnt look good. This is where UAV and commander spotted comes in handy. try to stick near the UAV so that you know where there are guys and where there arent. this will help you on when to start and stop recording. commander spotted is the same thing. pay attention to it. if you find that youre lagging too much to record, then turn your settings down. if your already at all low, your either going to have to rough it, or upgrade.
[/InGame Filming]
keep the ingame filming tips in handy, they can help you save a lot of space on your computer hard drive.
[Compiling The Video]
When applying effects to a video, make sure not to overdo it. i hate it when people edit a video to change colors, super-slo mo, and zoom at the same time. it detracts from the video, really.
Making Titles
titles should be informative and simple in my opinion. you can make them however youd like, but try to refrain from putting "ownage" in the title. for my paddle happy series, i could have titled them "Shock Paddle Ownage" but that just sounds boring and dull. "Paddle Happy" sounds more interesting, and it goes along with my name, Trigger_Happy_92. so next time, dont call your video "c4 ownage" try something different like "The Bang Pack"
Making Credits
credits, as in titles, should be short and sweet. i dont want the last minute of your 3 minute video to be all credits, listing all the influences youve ever had in your life. for a short 3 min video, there should be no reason credits should be longer then 10-20 seconds. the important thing to keep in mind is to try to leave your name, and some kind of way to contact you, like your clan website or bf2s.com. if you finished filming a 20 minute saga, then its appropriate to have 2 minute long credits, because it must have taken you a while to make it, and the people who participated need to be recognized for all the time they spent. The only thing i hate more then 1 minute long credits on a 3 minute movie is no credits at all. i must say, that when i watch a movie where the music abuptly cuts out and the footage stops, i think to myself "wtf was he thinking" you have to have some type of closure to your movies, aburptly stopping in the middle of the song is not good.
[/Compiling The Video]
[/endguide]
well, i hope this guide will help you in making better, more enjoyable movies.