DropTeam PR 2

[152mmDumbRocket]

I think I've found a good way to get in-game footage into a publicity video. I was digging around with the search function and found this:

Freeware 4 movies for Mac users

poesel, think you could make some more of those movies? The one you made in that topic was nice, all that's needed is for you to use that same setup, be unlocked from a unit, soar over the battlefield, make some commentary and mention our commentaries. Put in some effects, upload to YouTube, and we've got a really good video about this great game up for the video sharing world to see.

Think you can do all that?

Edit: Here's the gear poesel used to get Linux into iMovie:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815144006&Tpk=moviebox%2bdv

Edit 2: Sorry Moon, I didn't intend to make Edit 1's included link a hyperlink. It just happened automatically.

[ June 19, 2008, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: 152mmDumbRocket ]

[poesel]

Sorry, no. I have a backlog of 4 years of family videos lying somewhere which shows I'm not the fastest video producer out there.

[152mmDumbRocket]

Dang. But at least it's good to know that I've found that old page in the forums where you showed how you did it. By the way, nice video quality in that old movie. Back on track: Could anyone else get the video in a similar way to poesel or another way sometime this year?

Normally I'd do it, but it seems that I'm the only person out here who has never had a Linux machine before. I'm so impressed with the video quality in poesel's QuickTime video that I really am not as enthusiastic about Fraps, (given that I'm not certain how to get footage from there to my Mac) so I should get that Pinnacle MovieBox, hook it up to my HP laptop, and get cracking. (As soon as my budget permits)

[missinginreality]

Hi Folks,

I've been out of things for awhile and usually over at CMSF but was playing around with DropZone [hehe heaps of fun ] and then I read your thread here. I do a fair bit of post production and animation stuff so if someone wants to stick the footage up on a fileshare with sme notes about what you want i'd be happy to put something PR-wsie together for you. Also would be nice to give back to battlefront in some way too, am sooo impressed with their ongoing development and user-acknowledgement. Kudos to BF.

[152mmDumbRocket]

Posted by missinginreality

I do a fair bit of post production and animation stuff so if someone wants to stick the footage up on a fileshare with sme notes about what you want i'd be happy to put something PR-wsie together for you.

That's great! It's great to know that someone has the ability to do some work, given poesel's not a fast producer, jby is working out some graphics issues, and my attempts to get video in the first place ended in failure.

You could also always join in on the fun and do some Fraps or other video-capture software while you play. That way, you can get your video from the source (so to speak) without having to download another file. Of course, there are also the replay files we could send you, or you could do video capture while viewing them. DT could use some good PR, given that when Battlefront put some DropTeam videos up, they got some bad comments. But the majority of the comments were positive, and I believe that we could raise a lot of awareness about this great game. PR wise, here are some ideas I have:

</font>

• A weekly feature, to be put up on YouTube, about the Sunday and Wednesday games. (Right now it's the off season with summer on the way, but we had some awesome 9 and 7-player blowouts just a few weeks ago)</font>
• A machinima series, about the Clans fighting for survival. I've already outlined the plot of one to a member, but he hasn't responded. I could forward the email to you</font>

Finally, all of this should be in the Battlefront channel on YouTube, as per Moon's advice in the first DropTeam PR topic:

Posted by Moon

Sure... if you do, don't forget to also send them to our YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/battlefrontcom

Those that we have were not received too well (so we stopped making more).

Important: if you want them to be accepted, you need to email me first at martin@battlefront.com or via the YouTube message system. We're getting so many "XYZ wants to share videos with you" emails daily that I'm not looking at them at all anymore.

Martin

Here's hoping this takes off.

[missinginreality]

Hey 152, all sounds good but have only got demo and am on a wireless mobile link so probably not fast enough to play network online thus couldn't get a FRAPS vid worth showing I guess. I tried the demo server to see if was worth me buying the full version but it's offline and I don't want to go to the expense of shelling out the full version only to find my connection is too slow to play. Plus I'm on a 2Gb limit per month which might get a bit dented with online play?

Still, if you want to put up a quick demo replay file I can d/l and have a look at it that way?

Cheers

[missinginreality]

PS - can I save a replay with demo version? can't find how to

[152mmDumbRocket]

I've never played the demo, so the only questions I can answer are about the demo server and your connection. It's offline for a reason which I do not know. (I've put up a topic asking some questions about that here) You should definitely get the full version. It comes with a lot more maps, and a great online community. Your limit probably won't get too dented, given that we only play online on Sundays and Wednesdays, and right now we're in the off season. My question is what is your connection speed? I play online on a 384k cable connection and the only lag I ever experience is server-related. By the way, there is network play, but it's not what we use for the Sunday and Wednesday games. The only server we normally use is a dedicated server named Delta Pavonis.

[missinginreality]

Roughly d/l speed [with files] looks to be around 80-140 kbps.

I had a play with Fraps last night, taking multiple views all the way around, cut aways, long shots that kind of thing then edited it all together in bite-sized chunks of drop-team action Certainly possible to put something PR wise together no worries. Will play around a bit some more today and maybe stick something up on YouTube for you to have a qucik look at. Will let you know when I do.

[152mmDumbRocket]

Sounds great! If you put something up on YouTube, put it the Battlefront channel. Follow Moon's advice and e-mail him at martin@battlefront.com to let him know so he can accept it. And if you want the plot for my machinima idea, let me know and I'll e-mail it to you.

[missinginreality]

Hey there, have just uploaded a 60 sec vid to YouTube; not sure how to get it into the BF space so just uploaded it as normal under my Forum name and it's called "Battlefront DropTeam Demo" well, at least it will be of it gets there, uploading now. Emailed BF from there channel via my YouTube account and let them know too.

Comments on a postcard all welcomed

PS now up at

[ June 22, 2008, 04:21 AM: Message edited by: missinginreality ]

[152mmDumbRocket]

Really good job, mate! :cool: I'm not a YouTube member, so I won't be able to comment there, but nice job for PR. This could really do something. I'm wondering: What are your system specs? Just to see if you can handle FRAPS and the full version of DT at the same time. I'm running the full version on an HP laptop with a 1.6 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and a GeForce Go 6150 integrated graphics solution. The full version of DropTeam runs just fine for me at 800x600 with AA and the eye candy turned off. I'm not running FRAPS myself, but if your machine is a more powerful dual-core setup, I'm confident that you can run the full version and FRAPS at the same time.

[missinginreality]

Thanks for that Glad you liked it - was pretty much the full day Sunday putting it togther though the soundtrack took awhile coz I'm no composer [as you can probably tell!!].

Running HP laptop too, dual core 1.8Ghz 2G ram and nvidia GeForce 8400MGS so should be OK, though even on demo I do notice FPS drop with fraps and it's visible in the saved files though have tried to smooth it out a bit in post.

[152mmDumbRocket]

Posted by missinginreality

I'm no composer [as you can probably tell!!]

Actually, I loved the soundtrack! What was it and where did you get it? Today, I had some nice games with Stonewall and Ithai (2 players I frequently play with), and these 2 guys are just 2 reasons why joining the full version club is a good idea. Stonewall is a good all around player who likes to leave the base and shoot up the enemy rear when playing Blood, and Ithai is the one person who can rival my gunnery skills.

If you're running into lag, you could turn off dust, reduce terrain quality, or any number of things. I turned off AA because it didn't make that big of a difference, and I can have the terrain quality over 3/4, and view distance close to the max. Given your laptop's superior performance, you shouldn't have to do as much to eliminate lag entirely.

Hope to see you online with the full version, but you can keep up the good movie work with the demo if you want. (With the full version, you get a lot more maps, and some of the gameplay will be different. For example, vehicles, when hit, only have a small bit of sparking around the impact and some smoke for AP & HEAT rounds, and a hit may not always cause damage)

[missinginreality]

Ah Mate, I really appreciate you saying that. Made it with FruityLoops - a doof sequencer

Well I'm thinking when I get paid next I'll get the full DT version [probably better do some work then instead of making DT vids ] and give it a go seeing as the online stuff sounds so much fun nice way to while away a Sunday night with you folks.

Cheers

[poesel]

Hey, good video!

Has anyone tried this:

http://jumpcut.com/

This is an online video editing tool. I found it doing a quick search in my lunch break. If it works, we could collaborate on making videos so that not one person has to do everything alone.

[152mmDumbRocket]

Looks like a standard video editing feature for a video sharing site. I myself would prefer a dedicated editor, like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie. But suit yourself.

Posted by missinginreality

Ah Mate, I really appreciate you saying that. Made it with FruityLoops - a doof sequencer

I Googled it and it looks impressive. I've done some composing myself in GarageBand. I'm not the best, but I do have some talent.

As for our online games, we have the Sunday games at 3 PM EST, and the Wednesday rounds starting around 7:30 PM EST. You're wise to get some work done so you can get the full version (it had a price drop this February), and you should spend some time getting used to the game. When you feel ready, feel free to join us online. In game, I'm often referred to as "One-five -two" or "152". To chat with your teammates, hit enter, type what you want to type, and hit enter again to post. Follow the same steps for global chat, except hold control and then hit enter to start a global message. To use voice chat (this requires a microphone that your HP laptop has, I use the microphones that come with my HP laptop all the time), hold down P while talking.

Hope to see you real soon, mate. And poesel, nice idea for collaboration. :cool:

[__Yossarian0815[jby]]

cool video missingreality! the first track is very 1980ish music

the second tune reminded me of the system shock 1 midi tracks.

[missinginreality]

Yoss, thanks mate, haha yea, still stuck in the 80's me

152 - cheers, i checked the price yesterday and yup that's great bargain! Man BF are sooo accessable. Will DL later today and maybe catch you 7.30PM EST - I take it that's Oz EST? Or US?

Maybe when we do another you can do the muso then - I happily bow to greater talent and experience

[152mmDumbRocket]

It's US EST. What I'm wondering about is: How to take my composition from GarageBand or iTunes and attach it to an e-mail? I'm not certain about me having greater talent or experience, but I can give making the music a go if I know how to get it to you.

[missinginreality]

OOO That's twisting my head. On both the time and the garage export!

By my reckoning 7.30pm EST is 1130 a.m Thursday aus sydney time.

Just d/l's full version so will see you then

had a look at garageband and am stumped on that one - maybe there's an export to mp3 somewhere in there?

[152mmDumbRocket]

I checked using this website:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html It's actually 9:30 AM Thursday your time. And my head's twisted on the GarageBand question as well. See you tomorrow.

[ June 24, 2008, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: 152mmDumbRocket ]

[missinginreality]

9.30! Thanks bro, will see you then. I logged onto the server yesterday just to check all was ok and ran around with some bots for awhile if I'm there I'll be MiR, will look out for ya

[152mmDumbRocket]

Sorry to drag this up again, but I think we should make a movie about DT, maybe about a fort's siege and relief. It should be called: The Company, and we could film it on Raid. Inspired by this 2-part Halo 2 masterpiece:

Really nice, huh?

missinginreality, if you want to get a real machinima up and running: http://www.machinimafordummies.com/

[missinginreality]

Yes good call 152.A few notes I came to while doing the quick PR throw up the other week:

-definitely need a replay feature to get multiple views of same piece of action

-or multiple people running fraps

-be nice if it was commercial version to get rid of the watermark or we crop the movie down with letterboxing

-possible to clone out the watermark but really that lacks a bit of integrity and prefer not to do that

-takes a looong time to get it all together

-good soundtrack important

-good synching sound/video cuts important

-pace changes keep interest

-the strategy screen stuff is hard to make viewable/interesting but maybe we can present it a bit differently to acknowledge it's there and a real part of the action but viewable too

-be nice if it's OK with BF to make some visual changes to the footage too, sexy it up a bit beyond what's on screen, some postfx, visuals etc.

I got a bit bored watching the machinima stuff to be honest - 9 minutes of cg characters botting around doesn't make for hooking viewing for me; a good 60-120 secs of fast paced storyline/action beginning middle end stuff that makes me want to see th eoutcome is what's iportant for me. Kind of like the see-saw batt we had the other day - what a short that would've made - toasting the engineers, you taking out the sams, getting a cutter in, taking the two towers, getting pushed back, retaking, all good stuff and would've been worthy of a short in my mind.

Anyway, just a few thoughts but definitely worth pursuing.