I've been asked various times over the last few weeks, how we made the „Untold Heroes Teaser“-Movie. (http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=40141) To say the truth, it took us a lot of time to find the right settings and software for the high-quality result, we were aiming for…
But to shorten this process for anyone who wants to become a little Spielberg ;-) too, here’s my guide:
1. HAVE A PLAN:
-Know how you want to entertain the people and stick to it. (I’ve seen much too many Bf2-movies without anything special; mostly they haven’t any storyboard nor funny scenes…)
-If you want make a movie with a story, make a storyboard. Determine how many actors you’ll need and ask your friends or the community for help. (http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=40928)
2. PREPARE YOURSELF YOUNG PADAWAN:
-Get Fraps: http://www2.fraps.com/FRAPS274.EXE
-Set it likewise:
Going down with the recording quality means a dramatic loss in quality of the movie!
HINT: Record to a different hard drive then Bf2 is running on; the Fps-Difference is dramatic…
-Have enough space on your hard drive; I wouldn't’t even start before I had 10GB free!!!
3. ACTION!
-Record your movie in a password protected environment.
-The graphic quality isn’t important in this phase.
-A great deal of discipline is a great deal of help!
-Talk through the scene, walk through the scene, run through the scene.
HINT: Determine a sign, which clearly shows the beginning of each recording phase. (Great for recording later)
HINT: Make a scene and restart after wards the map on the server. This shortens the demo’s length… (Great for recording later)
4. DEMOS
-Get the demo-files and rename them according to your scenes (UH2.Helicrash or so...)
-Place them in your Demo Folder (In my case: C:\documents and settings\John\Your Data\Battlefield 2\Profiles\Default\demos)
5. GET RID OF NAMETAGS
-Make a copy of the GameLogicInit.con-File (C:\Games\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2)
-Add to the GameLogicInit.con-File the line “renderer.drawNameTags 0”
Finally it should look like this:
rem *** Put non level specific initializations here ***
rem *** Load multiplayer free camera here
run Common/FreeCamera/Object.con
gameLogic.setDefaultNumberOfTickets 1 250
gameLogic.setDefaultNumberOfTickets 2 250
gameLogic.enableVoHelp 1
gameLogic.supplyDropHeight 50
gameLogic.supplyDropNumSecsToLive 300
renderer.drawNameTags 0
HINT: You have to change it back to its original state if you want to play online again!
6. RECORDING or THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
-Record your scenes using Bf2’s own Battlerecorder (http://www.battlewiki.com/wiki/index.ph … e_Recorder) and Fraps. If you have a decent machine this should bring enough quality.
-During the recording Fps shouldn’t fall below 30; if it does change video settings and/or control your Fraps settings. (Point 2)
HINT: If you got a crap computer, you should consider Battlelauncher (http://planetbattlefield.gamespy.com/Vi … amp;id=103) as an option. (Although we have some fine machines at hand, we tried Battlelauncher for a while. We changed back to the “Battlerecorder-Method” because we felt, that Battlelauncher wouldn’t give us much more quality and the Battlerecorder still is the more flexible tool.)
-Surely you want to get rid of the HUD. To do this, open the console and enter “renderer.drawHud 0”, to undo this type “renderer.drawHud 1”. Easy!
-1st Person view is kind of a problem during recording: no Hud means no Hud as stupid as it sounds. Therefore You have to decide in a vehicle if you want the Heads up Display AND the mini-map in the right upper corner or have them both not.
[Please PM me, if you have a solution for this problem; so I could add it here.]
-Try to use a lot of different and interesting camera angles. Don’t be afraid to run a scene a dozen times through; the perfect angle on the scene will make it worth.
HINT: As stupid as it sounds, but watching some movies like “Blackhawk down” brought me some nice Ideas for camera angles. Maybe this can help you too…
Do you recognise this scene? ;-)
7. CUTTING A MASTERPIECE
a. Your Choice was a wise one!
-The 1st thing you should consider is your choice of a video-editing software: Our choice fell on Adobe Premiere Elements. The reasons were Price (0 for the trial version), a lot of editing possibilities and easy handling.
-There are a lot of other programs out there like Windows Movie Maker (a bit too simple), Adobe Premiere Pro (very expensive) or Ulead VideoStudio (also nice), so see for yourself what fits your needs best.
b. The feeling comes with the sound!
-To fit the music and the pics together at its best, I think it’s the easiest way to set the music 1st. Make the movie cuts fit the music afterwards!
-You’ll need 3 sound layers at least; one for the recorded audio from fraps, one for the Music and minimum one for underlining voice and effects.
-There are a lot of sound effects within Battlefield 2 itself. Please check this link: http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=4643
c. Be aggressive!
Who says it can’t be done? Nobody, cause you can! Complicated cuts, whole dialogs with Bf2-voices are possible. Don’t be satisfied with the easy stuff, ause it makes your movie “like a hundred others”...
8. GOING PUBLIC
-Make your movie as small as possible; Auto Gordian Knot (http://www.autogk.me.uk) is great freeware tool for this.
-Show your stuff everywhere; if you made a great job, go and show it to the world and help the game to its full greatness!
We put our movie up on:
http://www.youtube.com, http://video.google.com and http://www.filefront.com
-Make and present some screenshots. People don’t like buying a cat in a bag…
-Add a ReadMe-File for the website admins (story, legal crap, etc.)
-Don’t forget to mention me and my clan as the “nice guys who inspired you soooo much”. ;-)
Please feel free to comment this or throw around some karma, k? I don’t mind any stupid questions so please PM me for them! If you have something useful to add, please PM me so I can add it here, thanks!
But to shorten this process for anyone who wants to become a little Spielberg ;-) too, here’s my guide:
1. HAVE A PLAN:
-Know how you want to entertain the people and stick to it. (I’ve seen much too many Bf2-movies without anything special; mostly they haven’t any storyboard nor funny scenes…)
-If you want make a movie with a story, make a storyboard. Determine how many actors you’ll need and ask your friends or the community for help. (http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=40928)
2. PREPARE YOURSELF YOUNG PADAWAN:
-Get Fraps: http://www2.fraps.com/FRAPS274.EXE
-Set it likewise:
Going down with the recording quality means a dramatic loss in quality of the movie!
HINT: Record to a different hard drive then Bf2 is running on; the Fps-Difference is dramatic…
-Have enough space on your hard drive; I wouldn't’t even start before I had 10GB free!!!
3. ACTION!
-Record your movie in a password protected environment.
-The graphic quality isn’t important in this phase.
-A great deal of discipline is a great deal of help!
-Talk through the scene, walk through the scene, run through the scene.
HINT: Determine a sign, which clearly shows the beginning of each recording phase. (Great for recording later)
HINT: Make a scene and restart after wards the map on the server. This shortens the demo’s length… (Great for recording later)
4. DEMOS
-Get the demo-files and rename them according to your scenes (UH2.Helicrash or so...)
-Place them in your Demo Folder (In my case: C:\documents and settings\John\Your Data\Battlefield 2\Profiles\Default\demos)
5. GET RID OF NAMETAGS
-Make a copy of the GameLogicInit.con-File (C:\Games\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2)
-Add to the GameLogicInit.con-File the line “renderer.drawNameTags 0”
Finally it should look like this:
rem *** Put non level specific initializations here ***
rem *** Load multiplayer free camera here
run Common/FreeCamera/Object.con
gameLogic.setDefaultNumberOfTickets 1 250
gameLogic.setDefaultNumberOfTickets 2 250
gameLogic.enableVoHelp 1
gameLogic.supplyDropHeight 50
gameLogic.supplyDropNumSecsToLive 300
renderer.drawNameTags 0
HINT: You have to change it back to its original state if you want to play online again!
6. RECORDING or THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
-Record your scenes using Bf2’s own Battlerecorder (http://www.battlewiki.com/wiki/index.ph … e_Recorder) and Fraps. If you have a decent machine this should bring enough quality.
-During the recording Fps shouldn’t fall below 30; if it does change video settings and/or control your Fraps settings. (Point 2)
HINT: If you got a crap computer, you should consider Battlelauncher (http://planetbattlefield.gamespy.com/Vi … amp;id=103) as an option. (Although we have some fine machines at hand, we tried Battlelauncher for a while. We changed back to the “Battlerecorder-Method” because we felt, that Battlelauncher wouldn’t give us much more quality and the Battlerecorder still is the more flexible tool.)
-Surely you want to get rid of the HUD. To do this, open the console and enter “renderer.drawHud 0”, to undo this type “renderer.drawHud 1”. Easy!
-1st Person view is kind of a problem during recording: no Hud means no Hud as stupid as it sounds. Therefore You have to decide in a vehicle if you want the Heads up Display AND the mini-map in the right upper corner or have them both not.
[Please PM me, if you have a solution for this problem; so I could add it here.]
-Try to use a lot of different and interesting camera angles. Don’t be afraid to run a scene a dozen times through; the perfect angle on the scene will make it worth.
HINT: As stupid as it sounds, but watching some movies like “Blackhawk down” brought me some nice Ideas for camera angles. Maybe this can help you too…
Do you recognise this scene? ;-)
7. CUTTING A MASTERPIECE
a. Your Choice was a wise one!
-The 1st thing you should consider is your choice of a video-editing software: Our choice fell on Adobe Premiere Elements. The reasons were Price (0 for the trial version), a lot of editing possibilities and easy handling.
-There are a lot of other programs out there like Windows Movie Maker (a bit too simple), Adobe Premiere Pro (very expensive) or Ulead VideoStudio (also nice), so see for yourself what fits your needs best.
b. The feeling comes with the sound!
-To fit the music and the pics together at its best, I think it’s the easiest way to set the music 1st. Make the movie cuts fit the music afterwards!
-You’ll need 3 sound layers at least; one for the recorded audio from fraps, one for the Music and minimum one for underlining voice and effects.
-There are a lot of sound effects within Battlefield 2 itself. Please check this link: http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=4643
c. Be aggressive!
Who says it can’t be done? Nobody, cause you can! Complicated cuts, whole dialogs with Bf2-voices are possible. Don’t be satisfied with the easy stuff, ause it makes your movie “like a hundred others”...
8. GOING PUBLIC
-Make your movie as small as possible; Auto Gordian Knot (http://www.autogk.me.uk) is great freeware tool for this.
-Show your stuff everywhere; if you made a great job, go and show it to the world and help the game to its full greatness!
We put our movie up on:
http://www.youtube.com, http://video.google.com and http://www.filefront.com
-Make and present some screenshots. People don’t like buying a cat in a bag…
-Add a ReadMe-File for the website admins (story, legal crap, etc.)
-Don’t forget to mention me and my clan as the “nice guys who inspired you soooo much”. ;-)
Please feel free to comment this or throw around some karma, k? I don’t mind any stupid questions so please PM me for them! If you have something useful to add, please PM me so I can add it here, thanks!
Last edited by [TNT]Ghostrider (2006-09-13 23:59:17)
