Video Production - For GTA.
This is not easy reading material, some of the items listed here are techniques used by professionals who get paid thousands of $$$ to produce videos for weddings, corporate presentations and studio broadcast work.
This guide will show you what these techniques are AND how to implement them into the SAMP engine, so if you would like to know more...read on.
CAMERA WORK
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Framing of shots
Before you go anywhere near the latest adobe CS package or high tech software that will make your video look like a Hollywood masterpiece, read this.
One of the golden rules of photography is the "rule of thirds", often when taking a photograph or video you will place the subject dead in the middle of the picture right? But could you be creative and place the subject elsewhere? An excellent introduction to the rule of thirds is located on this website, please do not continue reading my guide until you have read this:
Tutorial - Rule of Thirds
Choosing your shot
Now that you hopefully understand the rule of thirds, let's look at the 4 most basic shots you could use in video production.
- WIDE SHOT
Everyone knows what a wide shot is but not everyone knows how to do it right. If in your wide shot, the most important item there is a person standing in the shot then make sure the person is on the lower third or upper third, do not put him dead in the middle as this feels strange to the viewer. The purpose of a wide shot is to either show "something very large" like a crowd of people at a concert or it is to "show the context of the situation" If you ever have seen studio game shows on TV they always start with a wide shot of the stage and studio audience and then zoom in on the presenter after we have learned where we are.
- LONG SHOT
Quite simply, the long shot is placing the subjects eyes on the upper third of the screen BUT keeping his feet in the picture so you see the subjects entire body. It's important not to chop off his feet!
- MID SHOT
This time you are moving in closer, whilst keeping the subjects eyes on the third the camera is close enough so it is just above his waist but not any closer. Either go below the elbows or above the elbows but don't let the camera cut right on the elbows as dividing it up on body joints looks strange.
- CLOSE UP
You all know what this is...the nice ( or ugly ) face of the person on video, Remember...Eyes of the subject on the upper third!
There are many many more types of shot that exist and even more terms used to name them which we won't look into here, just remember the following when lining up your shots.
- Keep what is important on the thirds.
- If the subject is looking to his right, leave a lot of space on the image on his right than on his left and vice versa
- Try to avoid chopping off at body joints!
Recording a Shot
Right, your ready to press record, actors are in position all we need now is the camera man ( That's you and if you don't know that's you why are you reading this guide?... ) Now your ready to do those incredible pans and zooms, your ready to zoom down the barrel of an M4 rifle during a mafia gun fight or track a helicopter chase with your mouse across the screen and it will just look epic!
Actually....No.
It will look about as epic as a drunk man holding a camera whilst running on a tread-mill trying to film the above.
I have spent a lot of time trying to adjust the sensitivity of my mouse to work for camera recording in SAMP and sadly it just does not work, the camera is always shaky and jittery no matter how steady my hand is. MAYBE with a joystick setup it will be better but I have not used a joystick for this.
In order to over-come the limiting nature of SAMP here are a few suggestions
- Setup your shot with the mouse and keyboard then do not touch it whilst recording, let the actors do their thing and if you need to change angles STOP recording, move position, then hold it still and record again
- If you adjust the keyboard sensitivity you can "just" get away with using the pan control using your movement keys, but make sure the pan ( When you go from left to right ) is slow and steady.
- Remember to frame your shots according to the rule of thirds!
Even in the real world with human beings and camcorders, setting up a camera shot, leaving it alone and recording it that way is an easy way to turn "amateur youtube crap" into "Semi-pro" in a short amount of time, here are 2 videos on youtube made by the BBC, one of them is in handi-cam style the other is done with professional locked off none moving camera shots. [size=medium]MUTE[/size] the sound on both videos and just watch the camera work.
http://youtu.be/zyvrDmxNwBM
http://youtu.be/KgUemV4brDU
Now the "content" of the above videos might not be your thing but it draws a nice comparison between "handicam" and "lock off shots" - Some of the best AMVs, music videos and trailers for SAMP out there right now use fixed lock off shots...rather than waving your mouse all over the screen like a retard. The "better" videos that have come from IM use lock off camera shots as well.
And to recap
- When panning, keep it very slow and steady
- You can't realistically use the mouse to track the action, so setup a shot, record, stop record, then change shot then continue recording.
- Did you notice in BOTH the video examples I posted they used the rule of thirds
the eyes of the people were on the upper third lineCAMERA WORK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM IN VIDEO PRODUCTION
Did you read that? No?...Ok here it is again:
CAMERA WORK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM IN VIDEO PRODUCTION
Before you get to editing your footage, using the camera correctly has to be the foundation of what you will do, imagine your a chef in a restaurant. How easy is it to cook with quality fresh produce and to make something fantastic out of it compared to re-heated microwave crap from the frozen food section?
The camera lets you pick the ingredients...don't mess them up before you get to the kitchen!
EDITING WORLD
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Video editor
Right...now I'm going to tell you the best piece of software in the world to use video editing, you cannot argue with my opinion because it is one that is held by professionals across the world. Therefore any argument you come up with will be invalid when it comes to choosing software.
The ultimate video editing software is [size=xx-small]anything you want to use to get the job done[/size]
Perhaps you missed my point because the text was too small...let me explain.
Most of the video editors on the face of the planet will allow you to take in video, add a sound track, add text, then export it so you can put it on youtube.
What else do you want to do?
"I want to use epic effects and filters"
Err....why? Surely those filters will distract from the content? Whilst some filters may be appropriate for a situation often they are an unwelcome distraction to what is going on. An artist does not throw all the colors he has onto the painting, he chooses them carefully and with precise selection to create the masterpiece.
"I want to use the amazing transitions"
The best transitions are either a fade from one to the other or a hard CUT between shots, anything else must be used sparingly or not at all. If your transition horny, try making an entire video using NOTHING but hard cuts and fades...you'll be amazed at what you can do.
"I want it to rock, why the fuck should I not use the best tools on the planet?"
I have 2 workmen, one with $1000 worth of tools another with $100.
One has experience and skill, the other does not.
One builds a straight, solid 5 foot high wall that stands for years, the other builds a shaky, crooked 5 foot wall that falls over in a couple of years
The best tools do not make the best videos...the skill of the workman does this.
Still not convinced?...Go googling around and I can guarantee you will find many forum posts, website tutorials that will say the exact same thing.
Recording Software
Personally, I use Fraps full because that is always what I have used and I know it can give me a large full resolution video with a decent frames per second rate and at a good quality level as well.
Again, the tools do not make for a good worker but here are a few things you should watch for when looking for screen capture software.
- Will this capture the full resolution of the screen?
- What frames per second rate will I get?
- Can my editor handle the file that the recorder spits out? ( Try testing this before you spend 3 hours making a video IG )
- Am I sure my machine will run it?
That's about it for screen capture software...
How do I get a proper camera into SAMP?
Before I continue you need to understand this server rule:
Rule number 7: Do not use any third-party software.
Using any third-party software to give you unfair advantage over other players is not allowed. If you have questions about e.g. CLEO mods, speak to an admin to avoid any misunderstandings.
Example of forbidden mods:
CLEO(EMLS is allowed for LEOs)
Cam hack
Autoaim
Sobeit
Now the software you need to use a camera IG is called "Cam Hack" which is a forbidden mod to use IG, use of it can get you banned.
However, if you contact Ozzy/woot and ASK PERMISSION to use Cam Hack and give valid reasons why you wish to do so there is a chance they will say yes, I have been given permission in the past to use it as have other members of the community but please:
ASK PERMISSION BEFORE USING THE SOFTWARE ON SERVER
If you ignore the above and end up banned...Don't say I did not warn you
Now assuming you have permission, use the below link to find cam-hack
SAMP - Cam Hack
Now the shitty news...It won't work on Vista without a system tweak and I am not sure if it will work on Windows 7 at all as there have been complaints about it ( sorry ) I think it may work on W7 but I am not certain however it works on XP and Vista but Vista needs some help to get it working.
To get it to work on Vista, see below. Note this involves editing your registry, if you fuck this up I will not be held responsible for what happens, whilst the process in my instructions is safe, if you delete something you should not or change something else, that's your fault.
Download this:
dx8vb.dll
Then put that inside your Windows system 32 folder.
Then open the "Run" program.
Then type the following command:
regsvr32 dx8vb.dll
You will get a message telling you it was registered.
That's it!
Camhack is a wonderful tool to use, enjoy exploring it's many features!
[size=large]Fraps...Camhack....ACTION!
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Right, let's make the movie now! This section is for technical details and how to improve the "look" of the movie.
Before recording do the following:
- Press F7 to get rid of some of the GUI and text box
- Normally you won't be in the video so on cam hack press the button that toggles player visibility ( You can look it up in the cam hack config menu )
- Test record some random footage and make sure it works with your recorder properly.
- In your recorder, disable recording the sound as it gives the computer one less job and rarely will you want to use the IG sound. You can always over-dub gun fights with gun shot sounds or tires squealing ect.
Sadly, there is a horrible looking green bar at the bottom of the screen and a date/time stamp permanently there, the only method I have found to remove these is to zoom in on the video in my editor and have it that way for the entire video, try this out with some test footage. You'll need to consider how you film in order to get rid of the extra items, Either with cropping or scaling the video.
From this point on...your on your own.
If you would like to know more about the above, feel free to PM me with any questions.
REMINDER: You are not allowed under any circumstances to use Cam hack or any other third party software package WITHOUT permission. Please seek it before you even download the program.
