Author Topic: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists  (Read 49863 times)

Codewalker

  • Hero of the City
  • Titan Network Admin
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,740
  • Moar Dots!
Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« on: October 09, 2012, 03:15:05 PM »
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:








GuyPerfect

  • Mary Poppins
  • Titan Staff
  • Elite Boss
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,740
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2012, 06:32:53 PM »
Is that Whatchacalit Wharf in the screenshot?

Codewalker

  • Hero of the City
  • Titan Network Admin
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,740
  • Moar Dots!
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #2 on: October 09, 2012, 06:51:35 PM »
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

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 296
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2012, 11:33:36 PM »
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

  • Guest
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2012, 01:47:41 AM »
Oh, finally. Paragon City gets a gas station.

redgiant

  • Lieutenant
  • ***
  • Posts: 63
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2012, 04:44:00 AM »
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

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,466
  • There are some who call me... Tim?
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2012, 07:52:13 AM »
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

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,466
  • There are some who call me... Tim?
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #7 on: December 02, 2012, 08:48:46 PM »
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

  • Titan Staff
  • Elite Boss
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,859
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #8 on: December 02, 2012, 10:23:53 PM »
Oh, after doing Demorecords of our Supergroup bases, I have nothing but LOVE for this tool.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
"Work is love made visible." -- Khalil Gibran

Arachnion

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 642
  • Professional Cynic
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #9 on: December 02, 2012, 10:33:05 PM »
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.
I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go
Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder

Waiting for an invitation to arrive
Goin' to a party where no one's still alive

corvus1970

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 758
  • A true ruler is as moral as a Hurricane.
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #10 on: December 02, 2012, 10:34:45 PM »
Is that Whatchacalit Wharf in the screenshot?
Kallisti Wharf :)
... ^o^CORVUS^o^
"...if nothing we do matters, than all that matters is what we do."
http://corvus1970.deviantart.com/

Arachnion

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 642
  • Professional Cynic
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #11 on: December 02, 2012, 10:45:06 PM »
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.
I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go
Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder

Waiting for an invitation to arrive
Goin' to a party where no one's still alive

TimtheEnchanter

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,466
  • There are some who call me... Tim?
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #12 on: December 02, 2012, 11:03:26 PM »
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

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 642
  • Professional Cynic
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #13 on: December 02, 2012, 11:08:47 PM »
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...  :-\
I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go
Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder

Waiting for an invitation to arrive
Goin' to a party where no one's still alive

Codewalker

  • Hero of the City
  • Titan Network Admin
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,740
  • Moar Dots!
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #14 on: December 03, 2012, 04:34:47 AM »
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

  • Lieutenant
  • ***
  • Posts: 76
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #15 on: December 03, 2012, 04:53:37 AM »
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

  • Lieutenant
  • ***
  • Posts: 76
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #16 on: December 03, 2012, 04:57:16 AM »

Tahquitz

  • Titan Staff
  • Elite Boss
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,859
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #17 on: December 03, 2012, 06:11:05 AM »
Kallisti Wharf :)

10,000 Internets for anyone who has the .cohdemo of this zone for us to peruse.
"Work is love made visible." -- Khalil Gibran

Megajoule

  • Lieutenant
  • ***
  • Posts: 98
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #18 on: December 03, 2012, 09:34:59 AM »
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

  • Lieutenant
  • ***
  • Posts: 76
Re: Cameraman: A tool for Machinimists
« Reply #19 on: December 03, 2012, 01:29:30 PM »
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.