Author Topic: Demo Editing questions.  (Read 2863 times)

Cryfire

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Demo Editing questions.
« on: December 28, 2012, 04:32:11 PM »
Hi, new to the whole Demo Editing, Never did more than putting all of a servers characters together for grooup screenshots before. So anyways I've been looking at all the demo editing pages I've found but still have some simple questions.

1.How to make a character walk from point a to point b smoothly.

2.How to make a character do one thing then do something else.

3.How to make a demo that's only a few seconds long to say a minute long or longer.

That's it for now. I'd appreciate any help with these questions, thanks.

« Last Edit: December 28, 2012, 07:19:42 PM by Cryfire »

The Fifth Horseman

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Re: Demo Editing questions.
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2012, 05:00:56 PM »
1. You have to insert positions for each individual frame. Currently there is no easy way of doing that.
2. Same way as you make them perform the first action: by using the MOV command.
3. There is no way to do slow down playback. You could extend the length of the demo by artificially inserting another frame with a large time offset, but the characters will not move or act during that period other than in animations started before.
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Torroes.Prime

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Re: Demo Editing questions.
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2012, 05:31:36 PM »
Fifth is sort of right when he says there's no easy way to map the movement. There are ways to make it easier, but no simple way. I'm going to assume you're using a basic text editor when I give this explanation.

In order to have an object move from location 1 to location 2 smoothly you need to tell the game engine to move the object enough times so it's a continuous move rather then point 1 to point 2 to point 3 to point 4.

Lets say you have entity 99 at location 100 100 100 and you want them to move to location 150 100 100 in 5 seconds. You can't just do:

1000 99 POS 100 100 100
5000 99 POS 150 100 100

Because what will happen is 99 will be at the first location, and then 5 seconds later will be at the second location. it won't move, it will just blink. So you have to tell the engine to render Entity 99 several times along the path you want the entity to be at. These instructions to render along the path are referred to has steps. Generally I've found 24-30 steps per second of demo to give a smooth motion. You will need to increase this number of steps if the entity is moving faster though. so back to the example.

I was the entity to take 5 seconds to move from location 1 (100 100 100) to location 2 (150 100 100)
I'm going to have 30 steps per second of demo.
so 5 seconds times 30 steps per second gives me 150 steps.

That's 150 times I want the engine to render entity 99 as it moves from location 1 to location 2.

So now I have to figure out where those points will be. Since this example is only using 1 coordinate change it's fairly simple. First subtract the lower value from the higher. 150-100 gives us a distance of 50 feet. So along a path that is 50 feet, I want to place 150 locations for the entity to be at. So roughly every 1/3 of a foot meaning every 1/3 of a foot along the move I will have a new POS notation for entity 99. So it'll be like this:

1000 99 POS 100 100 100
35   99   POS   100.33   100   100
35   99   POS   100.66   100   100
35   99   POS   100.99   100   100
35   99   POS   101.32   100   100
35   99   POS   101.65   100   100
35   99   POS   101.98   100   100
35   99   POS   102.31   100   100
35   99   POS   102.64   100   100
35   99   POS   102.97   100   100
35   99   POS   103.3   100   100
35   99   POS   103.63   100   100
35   99   POS   103.96   100   100
35   99   POS   104.29   100   100
35   99   POS   104.62   100   100
35   99   POS   104.95   100   100
35   99   POS   105.28   100   100
35   99   POS   105.61   100   100
35   99   POS   105.94   100   100
35   99   POS   106.27   100   100
35   99   POS   106.6   100   100
35   99   POS   106.93   100   100
35   99   POS   107.26   100   100
35   99   POS   107.59   100   100
35   99   POS   107.92   100   100
35   99   POS   108.25   100   100
35   99   POS   108.58   100   100
35   99   POS   108.91   100   100
35   99   POS   109.24   100   100
35   99   POS   109.57   100   100
35   99   POS   109.9   100   100
35   99   POS   110.23   100   100
35   99   POS   110.56   100   100
35   99   POS   110.89   100   100
35   99   POS   111.22   100   100
35   99   POS   111.55   100   100
35   99   POS   111.88   100   100
35   99   POS   112.21   100   100
35   99   POS   112.54   100   100
35   99   POS   112.87   100   100
35   99   POS   113.2   100   100
35   99   POS   113.53   100   100
35   99   POS   113.86   100   100
35   99   POS   114.19   100   100
35   99   POS   114.52   100   100
35   99   POS   114.85   100   100
35   99   POS   115.18   100   100
35   99   POS   115.51   100   100
35   99   POS   115.84   100   100
35   99   POS   116.17   100   100
35   99   POS   116.5   100   100
35   99   POS   116.83   100   100
35   99   POS   117.16   100   100
35   99   POS   117.49   100   100
35   99   POS   117.82   100   100
35   99   POS   118.15   100   100
35   99   POS   118.48   100   100
35   99   POS   118.81   100   100
35   99   POS   119.14   100   100
35   99   POS   119.47   100   100
35   99   POS   119.8   100   100
35   99   POS   120.13   100   100
35   99   POS   120.46   100   100
35   99   POS   120.79   100   100
35   99   POS   121.12   100   100
35   99   POS   121.45   100   100
35   99   POS   121.78   100   100
35   99   POS   122.11   100   100
35   99   POS   122.44   100   100
35   99   POS   122.77   100   100
35   99   POS   123.1   100   100
35   99   POS   123.43   100   100
35   99   POS   123.76   100   100
35   99   POS   124.09   100   100
35   99   POS   124.42   100   100
35   99   POS   124.75   100   100
35   99   POS   125.08   100   100
35   99   POS   125.41   100   100
35   99   POS   125.74   100   100
35   99   POS   126.07   100   100
35   99   POS   126.4   100   100
35   99   POS   126.73   100   100
35   99   POS   127.06   100   100
35   99   POS   127.39   100   100
35   99   POS   127.72   100   100
35   99   POS   128.05   100   100
35   99   POS   128.38   100   100
35   99   POS   128.71   100   100
35   99   POS   129.04   100   100
35   99   POS   129.37   100   100
35   99   POS   129.7   100   100
35   99   POS   130.03   100   100
35   99   POS   130.36   100   100
35   99   POS   130.69   100   100
35   99   POS   131.02   100   100
35   99   POS   131.35   100   100
35   99   POS   131.68   100   100
35   99   POS   132.01   100   100
35   99   POS   132.34   100   100
35   99   POS   132.67   100   100
35   99   POS   133   100   100
35   99   POS   133.33   100   100
35   99   POS   133.66   100   100
35   99   POS   133.99   100   100
35   99   POS   134.32   100   100
35   99   POS   134.65   100   100
35   99   POS   134.98   100   100
35   99   POS   135.31   100   100
35   99   POS   135.64   100   100
35   99   POS   135.97   100   100
35   99   POS   136.3   100   100
35   99   POS   136.63   100   100
35   99   POS   136.96   100   100
35   99   POS   137.29   100   100
35   99   POS   137.62   100   100
35   99   POS   137.95   100   100
35   99   POS   138.28   100   100
35   99   POS   138.61   100   100
35   99   POS   138.94   100   100
35   99   POS   139.27   100   100
35   99   POS   139.6   100   100
35   99   POS   139.93   100   100
35   99   POS   140.26   100   100
35   99   POS   140.59   100   100
35   99   POS   140.92   100   100
35   99   POS   141.25   100   100
35   99   POS   141.58   100   100
35   99   POS   141.91   100   100
35   99   POS   142.24   100   100
35   99   POS   142.57   100   100
35   99   POS   142.9   100   100
35   99   POS   143.23   100   100
35   99   POS   143.56   100   100
35   99   POS   143.89   100   100
35   99   POS   144.22   100   100
35   99   POS   144.55   100   100
35   99   POS   144.88   100   100
35   99   POS   145.21   100   100
35   99   POS   145.54   100   100
35   99   POS   145.87   100   100
35   99   POS   146.2   100   100
35   99   POS   146.53   100   100
35   99   POS   146.86   100   100
35   99   POS   147.19   100   100
35   99   POS   147.52   100   100
35   99   POS   147.85   100   100
35   99   POS   148.18   100   100
35   99   POS   148.51   100   100
35   99   POS   148.84   100   100
35   99   POS   149.17   100   100
35   99   POS   149.5   100   100
35   99   POS   149.83   100   100
35   99   POS   150.16   100   100


Since this a simple and straight line you can use Excel or another Spread sheet program to do a lot of the work for you.

Just set up the first couple lines with each piece in a separate cell like so:

[35] [99] [POS] [100] [100] [100]
[35] [99] [POS] [100.33] [100] [100]
[35] [99] [POS] [100.66] [100] [100]
[35] [99] [POS] [100.99] [100] [100]

and then you can select each column and lengthen it and Excel will fill in the corrosponding numbers based on the rate of change displayed in the first few lines. Since the time, entity ID, POS markers, Y coordinate and Z Coordinate do not change they will simple be repeated.

As for the slowing down question, yeah. Can't be done I'm afraid. Demos are done in real time. You can delay when an event happens, but not the speed at which it occurs.
Strength and intelligence make no requirement of one another. Power demands both.

Globetrotter

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Re: Demo Editing questions.
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2012, 05:45:44 PM »
Well you can influence the speed by chaning the time stamp
In the example you used above, when you set the first parameter to 100 instead of 35, they go slower.
If you use 1000 instead of 35, each step takes one sec isntead of 35 milliseconds etc.

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Cryfire

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Re: Demo Editing questions.
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2012, 07:38:38 PM »
Thanks for the help Fifth Horseman, Torroes Prime and Globetrotter.  :)


Torroes.Prime

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Re: Demo Editing questions.
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2012, 04:55:54 AM »
Well you can influence the speed by chaning the time stamp
In the example you used above, when you set the first parameter to 100 instead of 35, they go slower.
If you use 1000 instead of 35, each step takes one sec isntead of 35 milliseconds etc.

no that won't affect the speed of the action, only the time the event takes place.  Like lets say it's take .75 seconds for the left_upp_punch MOV to be used. That's 750 miliseconds from the time the engine is told to initiate that particular MOV to the time that same MOV is complete.  If you tell the engine to begin that MOV 35 miliseconds after the previous event, it still takes 750 miliseconds to complete that MOV. If you change the delay to 1000 miliseconds, the MOV still takes 750 milisecond to complete. It just starts later. 
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Globetrotter

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Re: Demo Editing questions.
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2012, 11:30:00 AM »
True, Torroes, I was thinking of moving the character only, like walking or running or flying.
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