Capt. Pig Posted November 22, 2001 Share Posted November 22, 2001 I don't know if this is an original idea, but I couldn't find it via a quick search on the subject, so here goes. It finally hit me how I can make very cool movies from CM games. They are not interactive like the 1-minute VCR files at the end of each turn (i.e., they are like videos: you can't control the camera position). I hooked my digital video camcorder to my PC which has a TV out on the video card. Then I simply recorded video of the turns running, one at a time. This is VERY cool, because you can use the camera controls of CM to do things that Speilberg would envy. You can change shot angles, shoot the same moment a few times from different angles, and so on and so on. Use your imagination...it's great. Then I connected my DV camcorder to my Mac and brought the video into iMovie2 and edited things together. (If you haven't seen how easy iMovie is, you'll be stunned.) You can add music, narration, titles, etc. easily. Then you can either output to the camera and you could then go to VHS and watch them on TV. Or you can output to a Quicktime movie. Quicktime is very easy to work with, but it's a memory hog if you want anything large (720x640, I think). (A 4.5 minute movie took a gig of drive space...) There are ways to compress that, but that involves getting deeper into the DV software with something like Cleaner 5, etc. If there is interest in more details, I'll reply or maybe make a smaller Quicktime video and post it as an example. It's very cool - your battles now become movies, and you're the director! The one downside of this easy route is that the control bar from CM (bottom of the screen) is visible, as is the mouse cursor. But I can live with that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameroon Posted November 22, 2001 Share Posted November 22, 2001 There is another way also, use Snapz Pro (from Ambrosia Software) to record a Quicktime movie from the game. This is a Mac product, but you said you've got a Mac so... Granted, as you said it's a memory hog but it does avoid the sub-optimal transfer(s) to VHS. Gyrene did this and posted a short "film" not too long ago. He played with it afterward to make it look grainy, etc. Personally I wish I could record my games in their entirety (I heard rumors about this coming in the future, but not for CMBO), or at least portions (even a "save movie clip" button would do it for me *shrug*). <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>It's very cool - your battles now become movies, and you're the director!<hr></blockquote> Except neither side listens to you screaming "No! NOOOO! Don't go THERE!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanns Posted November 23, 2001 Share Posted November 23, 2001 What I'd really like to see is someone redoing the intro movie with all the new hi-rez mods. It's almost a shame having those clunky lo-rez graphics when the actual game is capable of so much more. If someone get's a wild hair and completes it, let me know. Thanks, Hanns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowMotion Posted November 23, 2001 Share Posted November 23, 2001 On the other hand the opening animation is a good reminder. Before and after MODS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krinks Posted November 23, 2001 Share Posted November 23, 2001 You actually watch the opening movie? I long since set it to skip that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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