There've been a few film viewer threads but I've not seen a comprehensive list of the problems with it. Here's a list of the major flaws, the ones that keep Aces High II film-makers from making cinema-quality works like those of the Lock On and Pacific Fighters communities.
1. Broken padlock: if the film was recorded a certain way (I believe it's with TrackIR on, but there may be other factors), in the film viewer the padlock will act as if "snap" mode is on and will not move smoothly. It will also often lose track of the target even when the target is in plain view. It does not make a difference whether internal or external views are used.
2. Lack of mouse control: it's impossible to pan the camera smoothly and with precision. The smoothest option is the keyboard, and that often cannot keep up with the aircraft. Moreover, it does not allow for slow panning. If mouse control were incorporated, it would also be important that the mouse be hidden for cinematic reasons.
3. Icons required for padlock: the viewer will not allow padlock unless icons are on. This means that any film using padlock must have letters floating on the screen. This is terrible for cinematic quality. Moreover, it means that padlock can
never be used when looking from an enemy aircraft towards the player's.
4. No static cameras: static cameras are unavailable in the film viewer. The control tower is proof that static cameras can exist in the game, but unfortunately film-makers have no option to use them. Again, this greatly hampers film-makers.
If you download some of the great videos made with Lock On: Modern Air Combat or the lousy IL-2 Sturmovik series, you should immediately see that they cannot be replicated in Aces High due to the limitations listed in this thread. Some of the limitations would doubtless require some serious effort, but it is my believe that this would be worth it. If nothing else, giving the film-makers a decent set of tools would give rise to a set of series of player-made videos of such high quality that they would convince people to try Aces High.
I was convinced to buy Lock On: Modern Air Combat soley from watching a film recorded and edited by a player. Several others were as well.
By the way, the film that got me to purchase Lock On was Maximum Gee, although I have since seen videos that surpass it, such as Unleash Hell and Superior Fighters. The best IL-2/Pacific Fighters movies I've seen were Bellum and Pictures of War. After some time searching on Google, I've found low-quality versions of the following films:
Maximum G,
Superior Fighters,
Unleash Hell, and
Pictures of War. Unfortunately, I cannot locate Bellum, which was the best aerial combat simulator film I've ever seen, in regards to moving the audience.
