Rendering to AVI ingame problems.

[ARM505]

Hi,

 

I know I've asked this before, but what happens when you select 'render to avi' after loading a track? I get chucked immediately back to the desktop, which seems wrong to say the least. Has anyone else had this occur to them? Any solutions?

 

What codec should I definately have in order to do this? If it is indeed a specifically required codec, a link to dl it would be much appreciated.

 

So, basically, help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

[Willy p.]

Ok, my question for help is along the same line. I have tracks that I recorded, and then try to use the LockOn AVI tool, button and I have had no luck in converting the tracks. What happens is this; it will just lock up and do nothing. I know that or I think that Xvid has something to do with it. Any links or suggestion that would help me out would be greatly appreciated

[FAFGargoll]

guys i'm in the same situation.

I tried several methods but none of them worked.

 

1st: theory

Record a track

video edit the track (change views, camera position, etc)

render to avi what you've done

 

Now what happens (i.e. problems):

1)Too many video and audio codecs. Which one is the best?

2)I tried the DivX one: awful compression, this was really ugly

3)Sometimes it strarts, then stops immediately. Why?

4)unable to record sound. Really impossible :/

 

I've just done something that works:

1)no Video nor Audio compression

2)do it for little tracks. if you want to do a video, you'll have to cheat. For exemple, each scene I'm making come from a unique track. With this method, you will increase your chances to make the avi tool work, because it will last only a few seconds.

 

known bugs (for me at least)

every time I quit lock on after doing this "render avi", I have a error message (memory can't be read)

 

Now my question is: What the hell did ED guys do with they last Black Shark video? Did you see the Quality? Did they use the lock on avi tool? I see Their video is a 720x576 resolution with 25 FPS, but How do they do that?

[Andrew_McP]

but what happens when you select 'render to avi' after loading a track? I get chucked immediately back to the desktop

 

If I remember correctly, this usually means you have a codec installed that LOMAC really doesn't like for some reason. The only solution is to uninstall any optional codecs you have installed.

 

Or it might just be that the codec you're choosing in 'render to avi' is causing the problem. Try 'no compression' instead to see if it still crashes. If so then the first part of this answer might be the problem after all

 

Willy's problem may well be the same thing.

 

Andrew McP

[Andrew_McP]

1)Too many video and audio codecs. Which one is the best?

2)I tried the DivX one: awful compression, this was really ugly

3)Sometimes it strarts, then stops immediately. Why?

4)unable to record sound. Really impossible :/

 

1) Google for alparysoft. Their codec works well. The files are fairly lossless and rather large unless you set it to minimum. But that gives you great quality rendering to load into an editor and compress to a final format there.

 

http://www.alparysoft.com/products.php?id=9&allthetime

 

2) Don't use highly compressed formats. When you edit these clips later into a movie the editor has to waste a lot of CPU decompressing them "on the fly". Better to use no compression or something like alparysoft.

 

3) No idea :-)

 

4) Open up your sound icon (speaker) on the system tray. Select options/properties, then select recording, ok. You're now looking at the various channels the pC can record from. Chances are you'll need to swap the tick from something like microphone to one of the ones right on the left hand side... stereo mix or something like that. It seems to be different on many PCs.

 

 

Now my question is: What the hell did ED guys do with they last Black Shark video? Did you see the Quality? Did they use the lock on avi tool? I see Their video is a 720x576 resolution with 25 FPS, but How do they do that?

 

720x576 is one of the .wmv formats which comes out of Windows Movie Maker2, and probably others as well. I make my movies in *huge* (1+Gb) format using alparysoft with little compression, then put the end result into Movie Maker which has a nice option to choose (roughly) the output size. Whether that's how ED did it I've no idea, but 25fps 720x576 is normal enough. The trick is getting decent raw material in the first place. Using the LOMAC avi-maker you can run the LOMAC settings at absolute max, remember, and record at 25fps (or more if you want). The only limit there seems to be screensize. I don't think it'll let you render a movie bigger than your current desktop size.

 

Ok, enough from me. Hope some of that helps.

 

Andrew McP

[FAFGargoll]

Thanks Andrew_McP

 

Now I can do it. And if there's a bug, I can solve it by stopping Lock On and running it again.

 

However, no matter what I do, I really can't get the same quality as ED did in their last BS video.

 

My graphic settings are maxed (everything is at its maximum, except visibility range), and my Graphic card (6800) is at its maximum too.

 

But still, the quality I obtain with the render avi is really under BS video.

 

Any idea about how they did that?

[Chizh]

About Black Shark video.

One of variants step by step operations.

1. Record track on the good FPS. For it you can decrease all graphic options except SCENES because it option will hard include to the track and you can’t change it later on.

2. After recording change all graphic options to high.

3. With LO AVI tool to render uncompressed video in required resolution with required FPS (for example 720 x 576 pixel, 25 frames per second. It is PAL DV standard) in short fragments (for example 1 min per fragment) because the full rendered video will have a huge size (1 min 720 x 576 pixel, 25 FPS have a 1.74 Gb size).

4. Edit fragments in any video editor with effects, transitions, sounds, subtitles etc.

5. Render final composition to video file. I prefer the WMV format in PAL standard (for standard computer monitors). It has good quality/size ratio.

 

This method has no claims to ideal solutions for all conditions. ;)

[FAFGargoll]

thanks Chizh,

 

That was basicly what I was doing, except that I recorded both track and video edit with graphic settings on High.

 

I also rendered the video editied track into an uncompressed .avi file, 720x576 @25fps.

 

Then I put this avi file into Windows Movie maker. Unfortunately, when I try to play it, I have a big stuttering video. That makes the video editing very difficult, as I have big difficulties to put effects, transitions, etc on the right moment, because of the stuttering.

 

But when I render the final composition, the stutter is gone, and I keep the 25fps ... I may try to find another tool to replace Windows Movie Maker.

 

Anyone knows a freeware to replace WMM?

[Willy p.]

Help...

 

Ok, all that went over my head. Now let us just say I have looked at the Xvid tool, the settings (do not understand how to use them) and it all looks Greek to me. How do I get from point “A” to point “B” on making a track into something I can edit using Vegas 6? Is there not a program out there that will take a LockOn track and convert it? Or are my hopes and dreams of making a LO movie never to happen because I am not able to use the AVI tool that came with my game? Just looking for some help people.

[Ironhand]

Ok, all that went over my head. Now let us just say I have looked at the Xvid tool, the settings (do not understand how to use them) and it all looks Greek to me. How do I get from point “A” to point “B” on making a track into something I can edit using Vegas 6? Is there not a program out there that will take a LockOn track and convert it? Or are my hopes and dreams of making a LO movie never to happen because I am not able to use the AVI tool that came with my game? Just looking for some help people.

I'm new at this video stuff, too. I use Fraps to capture a video file from the track as it plays. From there, you take the AVI file Fraps creates and load it into the video editor of your choice. That's the short version.

 

Rich

[Depede]

... indeed, Fraps is a way to go.

 

A small hint. Play your track on half speed and then double it in your video editor - it should give you smoother pictures and less stuttering.

 

The backside of Fraps is, that it is basically is thousands upon thousands of screenshots of what is happening on your desktop - inclusive stuttering etc.

 

The ingame videorendering is AFAIK calculations - hence no stuttering.

 

But Fraps is Sooo easy to use.

 

Pro's and Con's, my friend.

[ARM505]

Well, I've uninstalled a whole bunch of codecs, and configured those that were left to use no compression. When I select 'Render to AVI' however, it's still just the same as if I had pressed the 'Quit' button - straight back to the desktop.

[Willy p.]

Well, I made a movie! To bad it was not a LO movie, it was one for my work. I used a tool to convert rm. files to mpg. then used Vegas 6 to edit, converted then the mpg. then used windows moviemaker for the final movie. Yes, it was a big file (116mb) for 8 minutes, put two MP3 tracks on it and many small video clips. If they can put a man on the moon, metal in a microwave, why can’t I convert a lockOn track to and AVI? Or find some tool to do it, because the render tool that comes with LO doesn’t work for me. I know the masses will tell me to use another type of video capture program but I would like to use the track I have.

[zaGURUinzaSKY]

Try recording with GameCam (FullVersion), much better than FRAPS in my opinion... you can recrod both in .avi or .wmv with smart capture (variable compression rate based on real time performance).

 

 

 

Chizh, may you answer few questions please? thanx:

 

 

If I want to record a single minute at 1 hour after the start of the track, do I need to wait 1 hour and 1 minute for the sound recording?

 

 

Why my field of view is wider in the avi campared to original track? (recording at 400x300pixels)

 

 

I need 10 minutes to record 10 seconds with AVI Recorder, I hae P4 3Ghz, 1GB RAM and 7200RPM SATA HD.. is it normal 10 minutes?? (little difference from uncompressed to divx..)

 

 

IS it possible to do not record audio in the AVI Recorder ? (to save time)..

Thanx a lot!

 

edit: will you build a more robust, performing and userfriendly AVI recorder in next versions (or wmv video recorder..)?

[FAFGargoll]

If I want to record a single minute at 1 hour after the start of the track, do I need to wait 1 hour and 1 minute for the sound recording?

 

i got the answer for that.

on the top right corner of the render avi tool, you have "Start" and "Stop" (cf screenshot)

 

So if you want to render 1 minute after 1 hour, just enter (let's say your track begins at 12:00):

 

START: 1 /13:00:00

END : 1 /13:01:00

 

this way you'll record only 1 minute.

Press start to let the tool work. This will last a few seconds untill the track reach 1 hour of playing. Then the tool will render 1 minute.

Same for sound: this will take a few seconds, then it will record the sound in the minute you rendered. :)

[zaGURUinzaSKY]

i got the answer for that.

on the top right corner of the render avi tool, you have "Start" and "Stop" (cf screenshot)

 

So if you want to render 1 minute after 1 hour, just enter (let's say your track begins at 12:00):

 

START: 1 /13:00:00

END : 1 /13:01:00

 

this way you'll record only 1 minute.

Press start to let the tool work. This will last a few seconds untill the track reach 1 hour of playing. Then the tool will render 1 minute.

Same for sound: this will take a few seconds, then it will record the sound in the minute you rendered. :)

 

yeah thanx bud, I know well that procedure, but my problem is that it takes 1 hour and not few seconds... several minutes for the video, full time for the audio.. and when the AVI is finally ready it has field of view like 200° and not the same of the track..

[FAFGargoll]

yeah thanx bud, I know well that procedure, but my problem is that it takes 1 hour and not few seconds... several minutes for the video, full time for the audio.. and when the AVI is finally ready it has field of view like 200° and not the same of the track..

 

mhhhh strange

I didn't try the method with a big track. For my video, I edited several tracks, all of them last 30 seconds max. Then I render the moment I need: only a few seconds.

And every time, when the tool is working, I can hear that the speed of the track is doubled, untill it reaches the right moment.

 

Try a short track to test. Maybe yours is too long :(

 

For the field of view, did you try changing the ratio? (1.33 is the ratio by defaut)

[zaGURUinzaSKY]

 

 

For the field of view, did you try changing the ratio? (1.33 is the ratio by defaut)

 

I use ratio to 1 when exporting for computer video, and 1.3333 when exporting for PAL tv.. is this correct? btw it's always too wide.

[Chizh]

 

If I want to record a single minute at 1 hour after the start of the track, do I need to wait 1 hour and 1 minute for the sound recording?

Yes.

 

Why my field of view is wider in the avi campared to original track? (recording at 400x300pixels)

I dont't know.

The desired resolution can be set in corresponding field or manualy in the Graphics.cfg

 

I need 10 minutes to record 10 seconds with AVI Recorder, I hae P4 3Ghz, 1GB RAM and 7200RPM SATA HD.. is it normal 10 minutes?? (little difference from uncompressed to divx..)

I think its good enough.

 

IS it possible to do not record audio in the AVI Recorder ? (to save time)..

There are is one way. When recording of sound will start - press Escape button.

Thanx a lot!

 

edit: will you build a more robust, performing and userfriendly AVI recorder in next versions (or wmv video recorder..)?

May be, but I don't promise it for 1.2

[zaGURUinzaSKY]

Thanx a lot!!!

[Willy p.]

WoW! I've never seen that render screen before. How come it wont come up for me when I try to render?

[iVIPER21]

For making high quality videos in Lomac, I recommend the following guidelines (I think I included everything?):

 

Make/Load your mission in the mission editor. Open the Options dialogue from within the mission editor. Set everything to low except for Scenes and Haze - set them to High and Advanced. Both of these settings are hard-coded into the track file so you can't change them once you record your track (I found this out the hard way!). Turn off reflections and mirrors. Then follow these steps:

 

1. Record your track as many times as it takes to get the flight exactly as you want it. Don't worry about camera angles, just worry about if your bombs and missles hit their targets. At the debriefing screen, write down the times next to any of the attacks/explosions that you care about recording in high quality.

 

2. Edit your track's camera angles using CTRL+E for the entire length of the track (if you exit early, it doesn't include anything after the exit/quit time). Be sure to save this track as a new file, something like "A10Attack-edit-1" so you know which track is the original and which is the edited one. Also, I'd recommend making 2-5 different edited tracks using new camera angles for each in order to give you plenty of variety, especially during bombing runs, explosions, dogfights etc.

 

3. Open the edited track and set all Options to High, remember to turn on mirrors and reflections too! Play the edited track version(s) and use FRAPS (or similar program) for the recording of uneventful (ie less action = more FPS) portions of the flight - at half speed if required.

 

4. Now for the AVI tool. Open the edited track and be sure all Options are still set to high and that mirrors and reflections are turned on. Use the Record AVI tool to capture ALL explosions that you wrote down from the debriefing screen. Be sure to set the proper resolution and frame rate (I use 30 FPS and 720x480 for NTSC) and the same aspect ratio as in FRAPs. So... for example: If you dropped a bomb at 16:45:08 and it exploded at 16:45:13, in the Record AVI dialogue, set the Start Time to 16:45:03 and the End Time to 16:45:23. This 20 second window should be enough padding/footage to help you in the editing process when you trim the clip. If dropping multiple bombs at the same time, set the End Time to 10 seconds after the final bomb explodes. You can also use this technique for when you fly over detailed cities - if required.

 

5. Load up your editing program and get to work! Be sure to add in extra sound effects when needed. Pick your music and try to let the music guide the cuts and transitions. Another way to easily know when to cut to a different angle is to watch a clip, and the instant you feel an impulse to look at something else or another object in the clip, cut to a new angle/close-up.

 

6. Watch your movie again and again. If you feel like you missed anything or that the storyline is a bit confusing (times when the audience will be asking "how'd that happen, where'd he come from?") go back through your footage and insert a new clip. If you don't have the proper clip, go back to step 2 and make a new edited track and continue through step 6 again.

 

Anyways, that's how I do it and my results looks great. I don't care what anyone says - there is simply no substitute for the quality of the explosions you get when using the AVI tool.

:icon_jook

[Willy p.]

Thanks for you advice on movie making iVIPER21, and I will give it a try.

 

I know that my questions are like beating a dead horse to some. I have had LockOn for over a year now and have supported and defended LockOn in some knock down discussions in HL. This (rendering tracks to AVI) has always been something I did not devote a lot of attention and time to, until I wanted to make a recruitment video for my squad (44thVFW). Now I have tried in the past to render tracks, even talked to Grey Ghost on this subject and he advised me to try and talk to some experts who do this. But I have found out through this thread that there is a screen (for rendering) that has never appeared when I have tried to render in the past. So the smoking gun is there, why when after I click on the render to AVI tool, button…etc do I not get that window to come up? I have tried short tracks, and long tracks no success with either. All that happens is my current window that I clicked the render to AVI locks up. Then I just close LockOn down and give up, get on TS and fly with my squad. That was then, I would like “ED” to give me some advice on this situation and would also like to know if there are any plans to add a section to the manual that would explain how the render tool, window, page works. Some of us are no that (me anyway) smart on this subject and need a good block of instructions.

[bSr.LCsta]

If I want to record a single minute at 1 hour after the start of the track, do I need to wait 1 hour and 1 minute for the sound recording?

 

 

I need 10 minutes to record 10 seconds with AVI Recorder, I hae P4 3Ghz, 1GB RAM and 7200RPM SATA HD.. is it normal 10 minutes?? (little difference from uncompressed to divx..)

 

 

IS it possible to do not record audio in the AVI Recorder ? (to save time)..

Thanx a lot!

 

I thought I had posted a thread about the audio issue, but I can't find it???

If you use the screenshot method you do not need to wait for the audio to render. I know GURU has major issues with recording screenshots for some reason, but I guess you can way out which is a bigger pain in the ass for you. Wait for the audio, or convert screenshots back to AVI form.

 

From my experience to do what Chizh has suggested and hit esc during the audio rendering of an AVI file will cause the track to be corrupt and unplayable.

 

Your render time sounds correct although it is affected by the resolution and FPS settings. RAPTOR drives can speed up the process by near 30%.

 

:::EDIT:::

I found the post I made on another forum, re: Audio rendering.

If you use the # Screenshots method of rendering with the "in-game AVI tool" you do not need to render the audio portion!

If you are not understanding why this is nice I will explain....

If you have noticed when rendering portions of a track with the AVI tool it is necessary to allow the audio to render completely in order for the avi file to playback successfully.

 

EX:

If you have a track that is 1 hour long, and you want to render a 10sec AVI of the crash landing at 59m50s, you will wait with the loading screen for 59m49s while the audio plays (I suspect this is required in order to remember proper view adjustments), then the video will begin rendering during the "punch-in" time of 59m50s. Once the video render is complete at 60m, the audio render screen appears and again you will have to wait 60m for the audio process to complete.

To sumerize....you will be waiting 2hrs + whatever time it takes your comp. to render 10secs of footage if you want to use the in-game tool with any AVI options.

 

(Note: this is an extreme example, and you do have the ability to speed up the time by using "alt+A" to get to the part you want, so its not usaully as bad as I have described.)

 

When using the screen shot method with the above example, you will only have the initial 59m49s of audio playback (again, I believe this is required), then the 10sec of footage will be rendered via jpeg screenshots, and then when the audio render begins you can hit escape and return to the debrief screen saving you 50% time less your comps vid render time.

 

Not a huge break through but the process is so time consuming already every little bit helps

This also only applies to people who are not using the default audio track.

[zaGURUinzaSKY]

Thanx for your post bSr.L()Csta