demoplayback and videomaking

[kriste]

holla guys
i would really like to know how the demoplayback works in etqw.
i hope its not like q4 cause its a big pita to get a constant speed
in your final avi. lot adjustments have to be done with demotics and stuff...
i guess thats the reason for such less high quality vids from q4, most are done with fraps :(
so it would be nice to hear that u guys at sd are doing some different then raven and maybe do it more how it works with rtcw, et or quake3.
btw hell of a game, love it.

[GreasedScotsman]

For the movies I did here:

http://community.enemyterritory.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6252

I recorded a demo while I played, then used FRAPS to capture the playback of that demo.

Install FRAPS and start it. Set the key you want to use to start/stop recording for fraps. I use Scroll Lock because it's out of the way enough I'll never bump it by accident.

Then start ETQW and bind the Demo Record/Replay key (default is F12 I think, but you can change it from the Controls -> Misc tab in the Options menu). Join a server and press the Demo record key once to begin recording a demo. You'll see a old-fashioned camera icon show up in the upper right-hand corner of the screen to indicate the demo is recording. Pressing F12 again will stop recording. Once you've recorded whatever demo you want, disconnect and go to the main menu. At the bottom right of the menu screen, you should see a "Replay" button. Click that, and then find your demo in the list (default names are "demo0001," demo0002," etc. Click the one you want and press the Play button.

The ETWQ client will "connect" to your demo and start playing it back. At this time, you can press your FRAPS record key to capture the demo playback.

This method is quick and easy, and requires no real fuss for the person recording since there's no impact on gameplay recording an in-game demo, and chances are you don't care what your framerate is when playing back the demo that FRAPS then records.

After I have the footage in AVI format, I then use a video editor to make whatever edits I want, and compress the final product to a suitable format.

[N3utro]

Use a resolution of 800x600 in ETQW then use fullscreen capture in fraps @ 30 fps and the result will be great.

[GreasedScotsman]

I put my 250GB external hd to use and do 1600x1200 full captures. ;)

[BlackCats]

goliathvt, thank you for the great infos on that!! I have watched both of your vids and one of it was with a "free camera" - looks pretty cool.

Is there a way to get rid off the HUD symbols completely in ETQW?

[GreasedScotsman]

Yes, you can completely hide the HUD with g_showhud 0.

I also highly recommend taking a look at a great demo-recording config put together by Joe999 that creates binds for slowing/pausing playback, as well as altering camera speeds on the fly.

Kinda wish I had seen this "before" I did my videos as they could have been made a lot more interesting. ;)

http://community.enemyterritory.com/forums/showpost.php?p=101821&postcount=7

[BlackCats]

:dance: Fantastic !! You guys rock !! Thanks a bunch for the clarification, goliathvt :)

So we gonna see cool Machinima vids of ETQW, too - awesome.

Btw. i have just a few minutes ago read about cleandesperado's rocking ETQW Tweaker utility (http://community.enemyterritory.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5413). His Quake Wars Cvar list (PDF) (http://cleandesperado.googlepages.com/quake_wars_cvars.pdf) shows a lot of stuff to dig in, i think ...

[Hakuryu]

Yes, you can completely hide the HUD with g_showhud 0.



g_showhud is cheat protected, so you can't use this online... are you saying in a demo playback it works?

[kriste]

holla guys

i guess thats the reason for such less high quality vids from q4, most are done with fraps :(


nice try but if u read my first post in this thread u know that i wont make any movie with fraps. why? because of the lack of quality u get instead of using a avicapture-method like cl_avidemo in et or avidemo in q4. with that u simply do like u wrote. record a demo play it back and then bind or enter the command that is needed to start taking tga´s; later u put these together to an .avi. u wont have "any" loss of quality. what u see is what u get and ur demoplayback hasnt to run smooth while capturing.
what im waiting for is the cvar for taking the avidemo cause im sooo tierd of frapsvids.

[kriste]

:dance: His Quake Wars Cvar list (PDF) (http://cleandesperado.googlepages.com/quake_wars_cvars.pdf) shows a lot of stuff to dig in, i think ...

taken a look. got bad feelings when i found avi_demotics :(

[aEku]

rendernetdemo

if you write this in console you see what you have to put in..

rendernetdemo demo_00001 30 0 60000

something like that,
plays demo 1 with 30 frames per second from 0ms to 60000ms

then you should have 1800 tga picture files, simple drag&drop to virtualdub and then export as uncompressed .avi

then open in ulead or adobe to finish..

[Sibuli]

When using rendernetdemo.. Remember to use these commands to set the resolution you want to your movie:

com_aviDemoHeight
com_aviDemoWidth

By default the resolution is 256x wich is a little too low.

[kriste]

in other words its almost the same pain in the ass procedure like in q4.
all that u wrote is no big deal but have any1 tried it out? taking renderdemo and making the avicapture wasnt a big number in q4 aswell. but to get this whole thing to run in a constant speed was for me the worst...cause u have to play with these ***** demotics cause the speed changes when it wants.
thats how i got it in mind and that was the reason for almost only suxxors-fraps-vids.
but i will give it a try, maybe its a bit different.
thx anyway.

//
the [fps]-thing might be a good way to get away from these demoticswhorething. just tested and seems to work fine.
thx again for the rendernetdemo info.

[3bigdave]

is there a way to move the destination folder for where the game writes the .tga files? Having it in my docs is just to damn inconvenient, hard drive space wise.

[TTK-Bandit]

set fs_savepath to the path you need, but that also changes your configs savepath.

[3bigdave]

it says "fs_savepath is write protected". I've been playing with it but getting no where. help is appreciated!
thanks bandit for the info

[Kamikazee]

You need to supply the fs_savepath CVar at startup. To do so, start the server using +set fs_savepath <dir> as a parameter.

If you use the server launcher, go to the advanced tab and add it to the parameter list.

[DarkangelUK]

I believe it's fs_userpath to change where screenshots are saved etc.

Rendernetdemo will cap and give the proper playback speed for what fps you specify (you don't need to specify an ms range if you're capturing the whole demo), but there's a problem at the moment with the client movement commands syncing with the cap rate, so really you're stuck with 30fps.. changing the demo_Scale won't resolve this either as that only seems to adjust playback framerate and not actual demo speed. All the demos/trailers were captured using the in game rendernetdemo method so it is a tried a tested way of working.. just depends on what you want to do really.

[kriste]

nice to see a master of moviemaking is watching here.

[kriste]

i tried to capture tga sequenzes via rendernetdemo, the loads...spawn entities loads but then i get an error. im from germany and thats the reason why i wrote the error in german its called:
die anweisung in "0x1805a540" (<--can change) verweist auf speicher in "0x00000000" (<--allways the same). der vorgang "written" konnte nicht auf dem speicher durchgeführt werden. klicken sie auf ok um die anwendung zu beenden.
nice. first i thought my memdimms are broken or some like that...tested both (2x1024mb 667 in dualchannel) work fine. cause of my odd windows installation i set up a new install of win (xp home sp2). but i allways get this error message again. i tried with only one dimm...the same. the hard disk has space free like 180 gigs in the drive were demos and screens are saved.
anyone else get such a problem or knows a solution?
thx forward.

[reyalp]

I've only had it crash when I give rendernetdemo bad options. If you just use

rendernetdemo <demoname>

it uses the default settings, meaning capture the whole demo at 30 fps.

The if you want to give it options, they are as follows

renderNetDemo <demoname> <fps> <start time ms> <end time ms>

My understanding is that values of FPS other than 30 may not work correctly anyway. You can render a subset using with the start and end times, which are in milliseconds.

edit:
Some useful software links
virtualdub (http://www.virtualdub.org/) good for turning the .tga files into an AVI, and basic editing or re-compressing
ffdshow tryouts (http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/) good free codecs. You'll want to use h.264, xvid or something like that. Most of the default codecs that come with windows stink.

[Ragnar_40k]

My understanding is that values of FPS other than 30 may not work correctly anyway.
Yep, I tried to render a slow motion by using a higher fps value, but it didn't worked. ETQW rendered some images with 30 fps and then it rendered one frame over and over until the fps count was "ok" again, then it rendered some images with 30 fps again, ... and so on.

[kriste]

my stuff was rendernetdemo demo_00001 [30] for example cause i wanted to capture the whole demo wich was not big. just one mb.

[SlippytheWeasel]

:dance: Fantastic !! You guys rock !! Thanks a bunch for the clarification, goliathvt :)

So we gonna see cool Machinima vids of ETQW, too - awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhK9j2F0xt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUubA5udYas


Slippy

[kriste]

forget what i wrote here. me was really too stupid to write 1 word correct :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhK9j2F0xt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUubA5udYas


Slippy

forget to mention. its funny but looking horrible. fraps+wmm? i guess this is the most u can broadcast via youtube...?

[GreasedScotsman]

YouTube restricts sizes to NTSC and 100MB or less I believe. It's pretty horrible for any high-quality stuff. Much better as a free quick-vid or preview service to get people to check out the high quality version, in my opinion.

[kriste]

but before spreeding vids in such less quality i would prefer the longer download from filefront.

[GreasedScotsman]

Yeah I'm a HD/high quality freak... if there's a link to something w/ higher quality, I go for that first and only. ;)

[kriste]

actually im working on about 38.000 tga´s for more quality :)

[rglaf]

Is it possible to rewind and fast forward without using scripts etc?

[Sublim3]

HD is truly great video.

Im currently putting together a video using Sony Vegas, going to render it in HD 1280x720 @ 50fps, should be pretty clean.

probably about a week or less left till its done hopefully.

[reyalp]

HD is truly great video.

Im currently putting together a video using Sony Vegas, going to render it in HD 1280x720 @ 50fps, should be pretty clean.

Is this an etqw video ? If so, how are you getting it to capture correctly over 30 fps ?

[Sublim3]

Yes its a ETQW vid.

I first dissable the hud from the QW demo, then i capture what i need using FRAPS @ 60fps full screen (1440x900)

I import/cut/edit these AVI captures in Vegas and output in HD 1280x720 @ double PAL which is actually 50fps. Depending on the size of the video when the full thing is rendered is if im actually going to use the 50 fps or not. If its too large i will be using the NTSC standard of 30.

-edit-
This is my first large peice so im kinda learning as i go.
Ive already rendered small samples to check quality and it looks great.

[zweiosx]

If you use rendernetdemo does it crank the graphics up for the render? or does it use the settings you have programmed in? What res does the standard demo come out at? Is it whatever your screen is set at?

I'd love to not have to change any graphical settings to get great quality on final output.

[reyalp]

If you use rendernetdemo does it crank the graphics up for the render? or does it use the settings you have programmed in? What res does the standard demo come out at? Is it whatever your screen is set at?

For the most part it uses whatever your current settings are. The size is controlled by
com_aviDemoHeight set com_aviDemoWidth
You can get AA in the recorded screens by using com_aviDemoSamples (the normal ingame AA settings are unlikely to work AFAIK)

I'd love to not have to change any graphical settings to get great quality on final output.
The simplest way to do is to make two different .cfg, one for videos and one for playing. If you don't want to mess with actually editing cfg files, you can set the settings you want in the menu, and use writecfg <filename> or copy the resulting etqwconfig.cfg.

@Sublim3
If i'm not mistaken, demo playback is capped at 30 FPS, so recording at 60 in fraps would just give you duplicate frames. rendernetdemo has an option to capture at other frame rates, but as perviously mentioned, it's broken.

[Sublim3]

@Sublim3
If i'm not mistaken, demo playback is capped at 30 FPS, so recording at 60 in fraps would just give you duplicate frames. rendernetdemo has an option to capture at other frame rates, but as perviously mentioned, it's broken.


:(

well i guess since its all beta footage then its a beta video lolol.

I'll just make my next video using the proper tga capture when its fixed.

Thnx for the info :)

[rglaf]

Is it possible to rewind by using commands?

[reyalp]

The keyframe stuff looks like it should allow this, but I'm not sure anyone has made it work. It may be broken in the beta build.

[rglaf]

Another one for you demo heroes; is it possible to watch it in 3rd person or is it like CS that it only records in 1st person?

[kriste]

havent found that command actually. my first tries are all in 1st personview. anyway im testing a bit around now with best capture settings.
weird thing, i capture tga with default options in 1024*768 resample them in ps to 856*480. after putting them together to an .avi the scope sometimes isnt visible sometimes yes. another problem. if u capture ur tga´s in a diff resolution then ur actual ingameres is; for example: demo runs in 1024*768 and u capture in 856*480 or whatever i got visible fragments of the two overlaying frames such as explosions or killmessages. hope that stuff is fixed in the final product or maybe i can find a hint anywere cause me is too stupid.

[SlippytheWeasel]

Another one for you demo heroes; is it possible to watch it in 3rd person or is it like CS that it only records in 1st person?

Here's the thirdperson cvars:

pm_thirdPerson enables third person view
default: 0 (false)

pm_thirdPersonAngle direction of camera from player in 3rd person in degrees (0 = behind player, 180 = in
front)

pm_thirdPersonClip clip third person view into world space
default: 1 (true)

pm_thirdPersonHeight height of camera from normal view height in 3rd person


pm_thirdPersonNoPitch ignore camera pitch when in third person mode
default: 0 (false)

pm_thirdPersonOrbit if set, will automatically increment pm_thirdPersonAngle every frame
0 = no orbit. any other number is degrees per second the view orbits.

pm_thirdPersonRange camera distance from player in 3rd person



You could also use demo_noclip to move freely around the map in the demo.


Slippy

[rglaf]

Thanks a bunch slippy, creds :)

[hannes]

I first dissable the hud from the QW demo, then i capture what i need using FRAPS @ 60fps full screen (1440x900)

1440x900 @ 60 fps is not HD :) + Fraps and HD doesnt really match.

if you really want HD footage you'd go with rendernetdemo.

In my movie config i got about 4fps, in some scenes even 11 and in some scenes i got stunning 2.

Im currently capturing @ 1920by1080 30p which is TRUE hd (except the leak of 60 fps which is not yet possible because demos are capped @ 30 fps)

hint for you: use: com_avidemoheight 720 com_avidemowidth 1280 and avisamples 16 for a 720p movie. then get the footage with the rendernetdemo command.

Now you are "well" prepared, at least footage wise.

havent found that command actually. my first tries are all in 1st personview. anyway im testing a bit around now with best capture settings.
weird thing, i capture tga with default options in 1024*768 resample them in ps to 856*480. after putting them together to an .avi the scope sometimes isnt visible sometimes yes. another problem. if u capture ur tga´s in a diff resolution then ur actual ingameres is; for example: demo runs in 1024*768 and u capture in 856*480 or whatever i got visible fragments of the two overlaying frames such as explosions or killmessages. hope that stuff is fixed in the final product or maybe i can find a hint anywere cause me is too stupid.

All the bugs you mentioned, I already reported to SD and will most likely be fixed in the first patch

[JBRAA]

Sexy stuff

Luve your other videos. Cant wait to see the sexyness in an ETQW video. ETA??? :cool:

[hannes]

Luve your other videos. Cant wait to see the sexyness in an ETQW video. ETA??? :cool:

ofc you will hear from me / us in ET:QW

[Arkmoniac]

I thank all of you for your excellent advice info and comments. This is exactly what I needed to know.

[Jacker]

i wonder why i cant see my gun anymore when i do rendernetdemo..
i mean i have ui_showgun 1 and it shows normaly on the screen before the game starts taking tgs:s it did work fine when i started the record from the start of the demo but when i did "rendernetdemo frags2 30 520000 555000" it took the screenshots fine but like without the gun on the screen.. You guys having the same problem?

[ogrec]

You guys having the same problem?Yes, same problem here

[DarkangelUK]

I'm getting a.. well.. different type of problem..

Look at the knife (http://darkangel.source-dq.com/video/testjump.html)

[kriste]

I'm getting a.. well.. different type of problem..

Look at the knife (http://darkangel.source-dq.com/video/testjump.html)


that is the same what i got with my gun + the scope is visible sometimes and sometimes not....
nice jump btw.

[DarkangelUK]

Smooth said you need to use com_unlockfps 0 before capping and that should resolve the problem, did a test clip (in case you missed it on the other thread)

http://darkangel.source-dq.com/video/testjump2.zip

[kriste]

seems to work :)
next thing is how to record the ingame sound?
some like record_wav?

[morstua]

i dont get the timeline command

Guys if i have to record demo0001 at 30 fps starting from 10:45 and ending at 10:20

what is the exact command? and can u explain how u exctract the right numbers? thank u :D

[timestar]

i dont get the timeline command

Guys if i have to record demo0001 at 30 fps starting from 10:45 and ending at 10:20

what is the exact command? and can u explain how u exctract the right numbers? thank u :D

You need to give the time in milliseconds. (1 second = 1000 milliseconds)

[hannes]

Here is a tutorial for the whole capture process

http://myhannes.info/stuff/index.php?dir=movie%2FQuakeWars%2FTutorials%2F&download=EnemyTerritory-QuakeWars_in_motion.pdf

[hozz]

I can only advertise hannes' way! MUCH better than fraps/camtasia/whatever direct capturing software.
It's even faster!
1. record demo
2. open console, enter: com_avidemowidth 640, com_avidemoheight 512, rendernetdemo demo_xxxxx.ndm
3. do the virtual dub steps, this takes less than a minute!
Now you have a 640x512, directly captured, no-lag, no stuttering, no whatever-else-stupid-thing perfect video!

[morstua]

You need to give the time in milliseconds. (1 second = 1000 milliseconds)

i knw 1 sec = 1000 ms
but how do i calculate it? time is not in seconds,it's in minutes
Do i have to write a number like 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00 ??

[marmil]

i dont get the timeline command
Guys if i have to record demo0001 at 30 fps starting from 10:45 and ending at 10:20
what is the exact command? and can u explain how u exctract the right numbers? thank u :D

For time in miliseconds, here are some examples:
5:00 = ((5min x 60seconds/min) + 0 seconds) x 1000miliseconds/sec = 300000
3:45 = ((3min x 60seconds/min) + 45 seconds) x 1000miliseconds/sec = 225000
0:12 = ((0min x 60seconds/min) + 12 seconds) x 1000miliseconds/sec = 12000
Is that what you were asking?

[morstua]

yes thats it

why the hell so complicate? :(

[whiteaden]

yes thats it

why the hell so complicate? :(

it aint complicate.. it's pure obviousity :P

[Donnovan]

I want to record the sound effects too, it's possible?

Thankyou!

[BerenAndLuthien]

AFAIK fraps does record ingame audio.

[Donnovan]

BerenAndLuthien, thanks for the help! It worked, Fraps record sounds :)

[Donnovan]

I used another approach, this one does not need Fraps and you can record sounds.

0 - first you need to record the demo file.

1 - Use "rendernetdemo" console command to generate the video from this demo file.

2 - Run the demo in normal mode (not timenetdemo) and record the sounds with any record software. You need to set the record device in windows to "Stereo mix" (I think this the same of "What U hear").

2.1 - Cut the wav file to have exactly just the demo sounds (you will need some clue to find the exactly time the demo started to play when you recorded the sounds).

3 - Open the TGA files (done in 1) and sound wav (done in 2) in virtualdub.

4 - In the VirtualDub frame rate options see the value showed in "Frame rate to make the video match the sound length". If this frame rate is not exactly 30, and you want to use 30 for frame rate, you will need to resample the wav file to it's length match the video length (video and sound can have different lenght, even if you did all right in item 2.1).

5 - After resampling the wav file (with or without preserving pitch), you just need to render the movie file with the compression you want.