Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Films and Screenshots => Topic started by: dtango on February 17, 2009, 05:31:55 PM
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Ladies and Gentleman, after a hiatus of 2 and 1/2 years since my last movie and thanks to the encouragement and prodding of my squadmates...
...Braunco Mustangs Productions presents...
Mustang Rhapsody II: Fighter Sweep
http://brauncomustangs.org/films/fighter_sweep5_nrs2.wmv
720 x 392 resolution, 85MB .WMV file
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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Visually it's very very nice. I like a lot of those angles and the quickness of them.
I don't feel it has the spirit that "Gunfighters" had though. Just being honest. :salute
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Very kool nice show of different skins :aok
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:eek: VERY AWESOME! Beauty of camera angles! You guys sure know how to watch each others backs :aok Truely one of the best videos I've seen.
Does Evanescence only have one good song? That's the only one from them I ever hear. :lol
And what do you set your convergence at?
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Visually it's very very nice. I like a lot of those angles and the quickness of them.
I don't feel it has the spirit that "Gunfighters" had though. Just being honest. :salute
No worries scotch :). Thanks for the honest feedback. I thought you might not like it nearly as much as "Gunfighters". "Gunfighters" told much more of a story of 1 v 1 air combat.
MR2 is pretty light on the story telling and is rather a squadron montage to capture some of the action in a typical 412th fighter sweep.
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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:eek: VERY AWESOME! Beauty of camera angles! You guys sure know how to watch each others backs :aok Truely one of the best videos I've seen.
Does Evanescence only have one good song? That's the only one from them I ever hear. :lol
And what do you set your convergence at?
Thanks for the comments. Hehe, Evanescence has some other really good songs IMHO - not many played on the radio. But I'm pretty eclectic in my musical tastes meaning ranging from classical to progressive rock and anything in between!
I've got all my guns set to 275 yds on my Ponies I think. Not sure what other 412th pilots have their's set to.
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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The Gunfighters film is a classic that will be hard to beat but I love this one best because I'm in it. :lol awesome work Tango <<S>>
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Good video quality and nice camera work! Not fond of seeing 109s going down in flames though. :cry
I like the song, but also agree with Latrobe. It seems to be overused.
Overall, thumbs up! :aok
Is there a link to this "Gunfighters" film?
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:aok :aok
Great work dtango!
Good footage, good camera angles and good storytelling. Very well done.
I can't wait to see more, hopefully soon. :)
<S>
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Well, perhaps it's apples and oranges and was unfair to MR2 to bring Gunfighters up. Your work shouldn't necessarily need to compete against your other pieces. You definitely spent some time and thought on this one and it shows. People can definitely watch this and aspire to create or improve their own work.
Because of my flying style I probably do identify with Gunfighters more. But it wasn't the story telling alone that drew me and others into that film. Your use of sounds in Gunfighters was great. Hearing the engines of the 51 and the Yak duking it out gives me chills and is something I'm trying to work on with my current k4 project. I was a little surprised not to hear any sounds other than the soundtrack in this one since you've definitely mastered it.
Wedge:
http://derstuhl.net/ahmd/uploads/Aces%20High%20Movies/Gunfighters.zip
PS: I did want to call a couple of those 51's picktards.... :devil
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Nice film! :salute
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Enjoyed the film, the storyline drew me in as well as the visuals, camera angels, the music which was nicely timed along with some of the kills. May i suggest next time you let some of the clips run a bit more? You kinda were switching camera angels on the fights a little too much but it was still overal a good movie. :salute
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Great shots!....loved the quick action I know that took lots of time. Sound effects would have been a nice extra. Great resolution
Forker
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I thought some of your camera shots were exceptional. For an MA/montage/whatever type film I thought it was very good. I think adding sound to it would have been a real deal breaker and added a lot to the film. Though it can be time consuming. I wasn't a fan of the sounds added to Gunfighters as they were not from the game and the doppler effect from the engine noises used, did not match with the video.
I was pleasantly entertained with the movie and the quality was very good. The shots were short and action packed, though the timeline in the dog fights between camera angles always seemed to vary a bit too much at times. As in, parts of the battle (only a few seconds) were skipped and planes did not seem to flow in a continuing timeline some one camera angle to another (confusing?).
8.765/10
I may be critical on very good work, but not as harsh as say Krusty :D
The more people have to say about your movies the better. One line sentences don't say much at all.
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The more people have to say about your movies the better. One line sentences don't say much at all.
I sure hope your not talking about me....until i make a beater movie then what i watched, i wont judge the small stuff.
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Nice film sir :aok :aok
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Could be the best film i've seen yet. I enjoyed it. :rock :aok
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That was so SEXY im hard right now :D :salute :rock
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I sure hope your not talking about me....until i make a beater movie then what i watched, i wont judge the small stuff.
I was not singling out anyone. Basically I'm saying, its better to have a lot of comments/thoughts/etc either good or bad than one line posts. Was not meant to criticize anyone.
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Very Nice Tango,
Uptown has been hounded by adoring fans all night tonight. for some reason they keep throwing little fire balls of love at him :D Sheesh It is like flying with Elvis or something !
I mentioned that I made a cameo in the opening scene but, I think it is going to Uptowns head. he is flying around in a rhinestone jump suite ( well really it is a thong ) signing ....errrm forcing people to take his autograph in lead. He even mentioned that he is demanding green M&M's in his dressing room and a new brush for is Ewe He also mentioned that his managment team is going to be in negoiations with 412th command to give him a star billing right right before the title sequence.
Then he flew off mumbling about being the next Jackie Chan or maybe it was the next Borat... I dunno.. :devil
BTW.... still trying to get rid of that used up little Ewe he traded me for another post :D
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(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/TheAmish/elvis.jpg) thank ya...thank ya very much. Cilla make me a peanut butter and jelly samich :cool:
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:O !!!! Please do not insist that the whole squad wear that flight suit in the next Movie :rofl
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Thanks for the comments. Hehe, Evanescence has some other really good songs IMHO - not many played on the radio. But I'm pretty eclectic in my musical tastes meaning ranging from classical to progressive rock and anything in between!
I've got all my guns set to 275 yds on my Ponies I think. Not sure what other 412th pilots have their's set to.
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
Hmm I like my guns at 350-400, just looks and feels right for me. Never went lower than 325, will have to try out the lower convergences (some very nice shots in there :aok )
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I've got my guns set at 250,275,300 inside out right now. But you have to be close before ya shoot. :salute
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:aok :aok
Great work dtango!
Good footage, good camera angles and good storytelling. Very well done.
I can't wait to see more, hopefully soon. :)
<S>
Kermit: Thanks for the kind words :). Coming from you that means a lot because you know how much work it is to do something like this even for a 4 minute video! Gave me a lot of practice for flying the camera around using the ahfilmviewer "setup shots" function.
...I like the song, but also agree with Latrobe. It seems to be overused....
Is there a link to this "Gunfighters" film?
Wedge: hehe well you can blame my 8 year old son for using "Bring Me to Life" :). I had him choose the song he thought we should use from a group of songs I had picked out. His 1st choice was actually a Foo Fighters song but it was locked and I couldn't use it so I went with his 2nd choice.
Scotch gave a link to "Gunfighters". Let me know if that doesn't work for you.
Well, perhaps it's apples and oranges and was unfair to MR2 to bring Gunfighters up. Your work shouldn't necessarily need to compete against your other pieces. You definitely spent some time and thought on this one and it shows. People can definitely watch this and aspire to create or improve their own work.
Because of my flying style I probably do identify with Gunfighters more. But it wasn't the story telling alone that drew me and others into that film. Your use of sounds in Gunfighters was great. Hearing the engines of the 51 and the Yak duking it out gives me chills and is something I'm trying to work on with my current k4 project. I was a little surprised not to hear any sounds other than the soundtrack in this one since you've definitely mastered it.
PS: I did want to call a couple of those 51's picktards.... :devil
Scotch & Fulmar:
In the end I was trying to make a video my kids would enjoy made up of some cool sequences that my boys would say "that was awesome dad!" :D. So I was looking to do something that wouldn't just plain kill me making it :P but would be short, light, and fun to do.
I totally understand why you and fulmar like the sound effects. I do to actually! The decision regarding the sound effects was partly based on effort (a lot more work to do it!) and partly by artistic design. I put sound effects in "Two Horsemen" which had a U2 song for a soundtrack in it. I've always been torn about doing that. It worked good in "Gunfighters" because the sound didn't compete with the cinematic musical score. In "Two Horsemen" I always thought that the song and sound effects competed with each other so this time I opted to just leave out the sound effects instead because of my song choice.
Regardless thanks for taking the time to respond with what you liked or not. It always gives me ideas for the next one!
...The shots were short and action packed, though the timeline in the dog fights between camera angles always seemed to vary a bit too much at times. As in, parts of the battle (only a few seconds) were skipped and planes did not seem to flow in a continuing timeline some one camera angle to another (confusing?)...
Fulmar & MjTalon:
Yea, I was really torn about the dogfight sequences. Most of those fights actually lasted a lot longer than what is portrayed. I could make whole movies just for a given dogfight :)! I had to condense those sequences down to just enough to try to give people an idea with what happened.
Continuity editing in an action sequence is hard enough to do as it is. On top of that all the dogfight sequences I had to figure out a way to try and condense time down, fit the pace of the music, and try to maintain continuity. It would have flowed a lot better if I decided to cut down the number of montages because I could plan out the continuity editing better with more time to spare to move the views appropriately with the changing "line of action" as they say in cinematography! I decided to trade off fluid continuity to fit more montage sequences to flow better with the rhythm of the music.
Again, thanks all for the comments!
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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Rabbit - so is that what all the fiery things flying at Uptown are - fireballs of love???? :D
Uptown - we should start calling you Elvis :rock hehe
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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Definitely up there in my favorites. The camera shots made it for me.
Kind Regards
FBClaw
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Very nice movie mate, I loved the fast paced action and verity of angles. Very refreshing. :salute
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Great movie dtango, I can see alot of hard work went into that. I loved the little things you did, for instance the timing between the soundtrack and the explosions...it was exceptional. I like this one and gunfighters for totally different reasons and I like that you changed up the style for this one.
:rock
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Simply Beautiful Tango. :aok :aok
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Very nice film :aok
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Scotch gave a link to "Gunfighters". Let me know if that doesn't work for you.
Link worked. Thanks, Scotch.
After seeing "Gunfighters", I have to say that this new movie is superior. You've definitely improved your camera work.
While video quality is more of a technical rather than creative factor, the lack of it in "Gunfighters" did make it hard for me to follow some of the action. The clarity of the new film made it that much more enjoyable.
Oh, I did like "Gunfighters", too. :aok
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Wow... As good as Gunfighters was, this is almost an evolutionary step forward.
Tango, your usage of the camera was fantastic, and those tracking shots are WONDERFUL. If there was any criticism I'd offer is that a few of the "tracking shot" scenes might have been cut between "cameras" too often/quickly for my taste. Other than that, I'm in complete awe as to what you did. Fan freaking tastic.
:aok
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Video gave me the chills sir, absolutly amazing!!! :salute
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It was pretty good, but I kept getting this entire line of corruption along the bottom border, throughout the video. I tried it in 2 different players and they both had it.
Anybody else get this?
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It was pretty good, but I kept getting this entire line of corruption along the bottom border, throughout the video. I tried it in 2 different players and they both had it.
Anybody else get this?
Nope.
Is there something wrong with your WMV codec?
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Excellent, excellent, excellent film bro! :aok
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I am not really a fan of AH2 films (just seem bland) but I really enjoyed this. Good job. :aok
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That was just superb!
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Very nice use of the camera angles. I also like to hear the engine roaring as a plane flies by, but I think the absents of the sounds didn't hurt this film at all. Very well done :aok
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Sweet!! :aok
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very nice :salute
was wondering what movie maker you used?
i really like that the planes are crisp and clean,
i have alot of trouble getting that quality of product so far!
again :salute thanx jeff
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Great film boss!
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very nice :salute
was wondering what movie maker you used?
i really like that the planes are crisp and clean,
i have alot of trouble getting that quality of product so far!
again :salute thanx jeff
Sony Vegas :salute
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Excellent movie, dont think the lack of added sounds (weapons/engine etc) detracted from it at all. Shots were nice and clear, action was easy to follow. Copied into my keepers folder.
Wurzel
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very nice :salute
was wondering what movie maker you used?
i really like that the planes are crisp and clean,
i have alot of trouble getting that quality of product so far!
again :salute thanx jeff
Editing and rendering done in Sony Vegas but the movie editing tool isn't really a key factor in image quality. Here are some that make a difference.
1) The raw footage must be of a high quality to begin with. You can't work with quality you don't have. That means start with a high resolution and frame rate footage. My AH settings are at 1280 x 1024. Anti-aliasing for my video card is turned on. This carries through the actual capture of the video as well. I use fraps and capture full screen. Because of nuances my fraps video converts my 1280x1024 to 1112x607 or something like that.
2) The rendering process is the next huge factor in affecting video quality. You want to produce something that is of good resolution, frame rate, and actual video bitrate. You'll have to optimize resolution, frame rate, and bit rate to produce something of high quality but not end up with too large of a file. For MR2 I chose 720x392, 30 fps, 3Mbps bit rate. Generally the higher the combination of resolution and bit rate, the higher the quality of the video.
3) When rendering use a good codec that compresses well. In the past I used the Divx or Xvid codecs. The Windows Media WMV codec has gotten really good so I just used the WMV codec this time.
These are the keys. With Sony Vegas there are some additional things you can do. A) make sure the capture video isn't resampled. Resampling automatically puts in a motion blur in it which greatly reduces the quality. B) I use a little artistic filter to sharpen up the images just a tad. This isn't necessary but I find that it brings out details like panel lines which adds to the detail.
Hope that helps!
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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Outstanding film.
The only problem I have with it is that I was probably one of the spits that got shot down!!
Excellent job.
I will probably use the film to recruit some new players.
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Which version of sony vegas do you use?
Do you record from aces high record mode during flight or can a key be mapped to sony vegas during flight?
I would like to make a film, but don,t know where to start.
Matt
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Editing and rendering done in Sony Vegas but the movie editing tool isn't really a key factor in image quality. Here are some that make a difference.
1) The raw footage must be of a high quality to begin with. You can't work with quality you don't have. That means start with a high resolution and frame rate footage. My AH settings are at 1280 x 1024. Anti-aliasing for my video card is turned on. This carries through the actual capture of the video as well. I use fraps and capture full screen. Because of nuances my fraps video converts my 1280x1024 to 1112x607 or something like that.
2) The rendering process is the next huge factor in affecting video quality. You want to produce something that is of good resolution, frame rate, and actual video bitrate. You'll have to optimize resolution, frame rate, and bit rate to produce something of high quality but not end up with too large of a file. For MR2 I chose 720x392, 30 fps, 3Mbps bit rate. Generally the higher the combination of resolution and bit rate, the higher the quality of the video.
3) When rendering use a good codec that compresses well. In the past I used the Divx or Xvid codecs. The Windows Media WMV codec has gotten really good so I just used the WMV codec this time.
These are the keys. With Sony Vegas there are some additional things you can do. A) make sure the capture video isn't resampled. Resampling automatically puts in a motion blur in it which greatly reduces the quality. B) I use a little artistic filter to sharpen up the images just a tad. This isn't necessary but I find that it brings out details like panel lines which adds to the detail.
Hope that helps!
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
i have been using the snoy vegas stuff for awhile now, but i have to run it thru wmm after it is finnished so as to reduce the size, as i am new at this stuff, but i am learning, soon maybe i will figure out the sony,
is there a place on it to set the size like there is on wmm?(as far as amount of mg), i have never been able to make anything on sony that was less than 100! i also use fraps, and get very high quality capture, but as soon as i move it to wmm it gets a little fuzzy
anyway i am at work for now, and my big computer is at home, i will try out the new settings on my next project, if i ever get time to fly again!!
thanx for all the help and info!!
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Which version of sony vegas do you use?
Do you record from aces high record mode during flight or can a key be mapped to sony vegas during flight?
I would like to make a film, but don,t know where to start.
Matt
Sony Vegas 5. There are other editors out there. Windows Movie Maker (free) is one example. A good free rendering s/w is VirtualDub. Movie editors aren't what you record from however.
I did a couple of searches in the forums but couldn't find anything quickly. I'm sure others have posted about how to create a movie before here somewhere :). I can't find them. Maybe Fulmar or Kermit have something they've posted they can recall. Generally speaking the process goes like this...
(1) Record the raw footage. Two ways to do this.
(A) use the AH Alt+R command to record an AH film. This creates an .AHS file that you can then use the AHfilmviewer to watch the film with. I use this actually primarily to study a fight to either learn or teach BFM/ACM with but of course now you have footage you can also use to make cool movies with ;).
Once you've captured the movie you then use the AHfilmviewer to play it, setup camera shots, etc. and then replay your shots in AHfilmviewer and record the footage with a screen capture program like Fraps.
(B) use a screen capture program like Fraps to capture footage in game. You skip the step of creating an .AHS file that you then have to record again from but it also limits you in other ways. There are pluses and minuses of this method. If you check out 33vortex's latest squad movie he primarily relied on footage captured directly in game via a 3rd party tool like Fraps.
The result of both of these steps results in a number of uncompressed .AVI files for each "capture" you do. Be prepared for large files!!!
(2) Use a movie editor to assemble your project
I use Vegas. There are other tools out there that will do the job just fine. Usually you assemble various uncompressed .AVI clips and do with what you want with them, add music, additional sounds, etc. etc. The fancier the editor, the more features: e.g. video effects and filters etc (e.g. camera shakes, lens flares, transitions, blah blah blah), .
(3) Render your movie!
Usually this involves compressing it. You're not going to deal with an uncompressed .AVI. For example a 30 sec segment at moderate resolutions will be Gigabytes worth of data. I mentioned rendering above already.
That's it in a nutshell. Of course the hardest part I think is really not the technical part of it but the art meaning the planning, directing, and editing of it all!
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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i have been using the snoy vegas stuff for awhile now, but i have to run it thru wmm after it is finnished so as to reduce the size, as i am new at this stuff, but i am learning, soon maybe i will figure out the sony,
is there a place on it to set the size like there is on wmm?(as far as amount of mg), i have never been able to make anything on sony that was less than 100! i also use fraps, and get very high quality capture, but as soon as i move it to wmm it gets a little fuzzy
anyway i am at work for now, and my big computer is at home, i will try out the new settings on my next project, if i ever get time to fly again!!
thanx for all the help and info!!
Not sure what version of the Sony product you have but I think they are generally the same. The "File->Render As" menu is where you want to go. In the render menu:
(1) Choose what type of format you are going to render the file to.
This is done under "Save as type" option. The two options that I use mostly are:
A) Movie for Windows - which lets me create an .AVI file usually compressed using a Divx or Xvid codec
B) Windows Media Video V9 - which creates a .WMV file just like what the Windows Movie Maker creates.
To create a .WMV file you obviously you want to choose Windows Media Video 9.
(2) Choose a "template" to use.
This is a key part. You don't usually want to go with the default. The Template dropdown gives you more options to choose from. Instead of using the dropdown I usually push the "Custom" button to set my own settings.
This is where you can adjust your resolution, frame rate, and bit rate variables. Remember the greater the resolution (assuming you aren't exceeding the resolution of the raw data) and the greater the bit rate, the higher the video quality.
Beware, setting the bitrate option resets the resolution to some presets. I go back to the resolution and set it to what I want it to be after I change the bitrate. 3 Mbps bitrate is what I've been using lately for the bit rate.
Hope that helps!
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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Sony Vegas 5. There are other editors out there. Windows Movie Maker (free) is one example. A good free rendering s/w is VirtualDub. Movie editors aren't what you record from however.
I did a couple of searches in the forums but couldn't find anything quickly. I'm sure others have posted about how to create a movie before here somewhere :). I can't find them. Maybe Fulmar or Kermit have something they've posted they can recall. Generally speaking the process goes like this...
(1) Record the raw footage. Two ways to do this.
(A) use the AH Alt+R command to record an AH film. This creates an .AHS file that you can then use the AHfilmviewer to watch the film with. I use this actually primarily to study a fight to either learn or teach BFM/ACM with but of course now you have footage you can also use to make cool movies with ;).
Once you've captured the movie you then use the AHfilmviewer to play it, setup camera shots, etc. and then replay your shots in AHfilmviewer and record the footage with a screen capture program like Fraps.
(B) use a screen capture program like Fraps to capture footage in game. You skip the step of creating an .AHS file that you then have to record again from but it also limits you in other ways. There are pluses and minuses of this method. If you check out 33vortex's latest squad movie he primarily relied on footage captured directly in game via a 3rd party tool like Fraps.
The result of both of these steps results in a number of uncompressed .AVI files for each "capture" you do. Be prepared for large files!!!
(2) Use a movie editor to assemble your project
I use Vegas. There are other tools out there that will do the job just fine. Usually you assemble various uncompressed .AVI clips and do with what you want with them, add music, additional sounds, etc. etc. The fancier the editor, the more features: e.g. video effects and filters etc (e.g. camera shakes, lens flares, transitions, blah blah blah), .
(3) Render your movie!
Usually this involves compressing it. You're not going to deal with an uncompressed .AVI. For example a 30 sec segment at moderate resolutions will be Gigabytes worth of data. I mentioned rendering above already.
That's it in a nutshell. Of course the hardest part I think is really not the technical part of it but the art meaning the planning, directing, and editing of it all!
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
Thanks Tango.
I'll start experimenting.
Once again, Outstanding film.
:salute