Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists

[Codewalker]

Hey all, I was inspired by a PM from Leandro asking if this was possible (who then went and quickly implemented something similar himself to prove the concept :)), and thought it might be useful to people who want to use the COH engine to make Machinima, even without a server available.

In short, when you're playing back a demo and press F2 to enter the free camera look mode, Cameraman steps in and does the following:

• Displays the current X, Y, Z coordinates of the camera.
• Displays the current rotation (PYR) of the camera.
• Allows you to copy the camera position / rotation to the clipboard in demorecord format.
• Allows you to change the flight speed of the camera. COH's normal camera speed is very slow and it takes ages to get to a position you want in large zone like IP. No more!

Here's some screenshots:

https://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww272/ft5512/cameraman/cameraman1_sm.jpg

https://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww272/ft5512/cameraman/cameraman2.jpg

Download!

[GuyPerfect]

Is that Whatchacalit Wharf in the screenshot?

[Codewalker]

Is that Whatchacalit Wharf in the screenshot?

Yes, that's over on the Villain side of the zone, just across the corner from the hospital and the black helicopter line, and near the collapsed exit tunnel with the crushed semi.

[Zombie Man]

Youse is geniuses!

Can you poll the memory and display any currently activating sound files or animations and display it in a similar fashion?

[voodoogirl]

Oh, finally. Paragon City gets a gas station.

[redgiant]

Ohhhh, if you know how to affect the mouselook events for speeding up, can you please, please add an Invert Y-axis checkbox to Cameraman?

I can't tell you how helpful that would be to anyone like me who always uses inverted Y. Especially with the wonderful speedup Cameraman provides.

[sorry for the slight thread necro, but with the game coming down soon I don't want to add new topics around this]

[TimtheEnchanter]

Oh sweet... I'd been thinking for a while that we needed something that could do this. And... there it is. :)

Oh, finally. Paragon City gets a gas station.

But... it's blocked by police cars.

There must've been a hurricane.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Codewalker...

I don't know what trick you're using to amplify the camera speed, so maybe this is an impossible request. Is there any chance you could expand on the slider function to slow the camera below normal speed, for extremely subtle movement? There are some video shots that call for VERY subtle movements, and it would also be useful for fine-tuning screenshots.

[Tahquitz]

Oh, after doing Demorecords of our Supergroup bases, I have nothing but LOVE for this tool.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[Arachnion]

when you're playing back a demo and press F2 to enter the free camera look mode

WAIT WHAT!?

Such a thing exists?

Oh. My. God.

[corvus1970]

Is that Whatchacalit Wharf in the screenshot?

Kallisti Wharf :)

[Arachnion]

Amazing program.

Amazing free camera mode.

I can't believe after six or so years playing I didn't know about that command.... thank you Codewalker.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Amazing program.

Amazing free camera mode.

I can't believe after six or so years playing I didn't know about that command.... thank you Codewalker.

The F2 function was snuck to live right around the time the shutdown was announced, I believe. This gives us much more control over it though. And the coordinate grabber is great for planning camera moves to be added via the Demoedit app.

[Arachnion]

The F2 function was snuck to live right around the time the shutdown was announced, I believe. This gives us much more control over it though. And the coordinate grabber is great for planning camera moves to be added via the Demoedit app.

I see. It works with Beta client demo files too.

I just flew around Peregrine Island.

Somewhat...  :-\

[Codewalker]

Codewalker...

I don't know what trick you're using to amplify the camera speed, so maybe this is an impossible request. Is there any chance you could expand on the slider function to slow the camera below normal speed, for extremely subtle movement? There are some video shots that call for VERY subtle movements, and it would also be useful for fine-tuning screenshots.

Yes, that should actually be quite possible.

If normal speed is 1.0, how much slower are you thinking? Like 0.5 and 0.25 settings?

[Glass Goblin]

The F2 function was snuck to live right around the time the shutdown was announced, I believe. This gives us much more control over it though. And the coordinate grabber is great for planning camera moves to be added via the Demoedit app.

Actually, if I remember what Black Pebble said when he revealed it's existence, it had been in the demo system for a while, but no one knew about it. The demo system was one of the least documented portions of the game, which is why when demo playback stopped including sounds, it was never fixed.

[Glass Goblin]

Download!

Bless you! This will be a tremendous help.

[Tahquitz]

Kallisti Wharf :)

10,000 Internets for anyone who has the .cohdemo of this zone for us to peruse.

[Megajoule]

I don't have that zone, but I do have pretty much all of the others:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0rmU0UrIINISHpfTjFOU3pWeEU

50.5 megabytes.  Paragon City, Rogue Isles, Praetoria.  Also the PvP zones, the Shadow Shard...
(It's all in the readme inside the zip file.)

[Glass Goblin]

I don't have that zone, but I do have pretty much all of the others:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0rmU0UrIINISHpfTjFOU3pWeEU

50.5 megabytes.  Paragon City, Rogue Isles, Praetoria.  Also the PvP zones, the Shadow Shard...
(It's all in the readme inside the zip file.)

Thank you! I'm trying to start a public demofile library, and your zip will be a terrific base for it.