Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate This Thread
Hop To
#4383904 - 10/08/17 10:15 PM Why I did it  
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,500
Ironroad Offline
Senior Member
Ironroad  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,500
Good day all,

I was digging through some of my old LockOn videos I made back in 2008-09 and started thinking why I started doing this. Hopefully within this post I can share some of the things I have learned through the years video editing using the LockOn and later DCS series. This first post will provide some background as to the why and how I started. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, or share your own techniques within this thread.

Good luck and good hunting.


Why?

When I first started video editing with the series I knew wanted to be able to recreate scenes from some of the various military documentaries, recruiting videos, and training films I would see a child. At the time, Lock On was the only "modern-era" combat flight sim available that offered necessary tools to do some decent video editing out of the box. Yes, there was Strike Fighters Project 1 (which I was also an avid player) and amazing free/payware for Flight Simulator, but Lock On was well ahead of both when it came to mission editing, object placement, and ability to review your post mission activity via trakfiles.
SFP1 Editor???
[Linked Image]

LOMAC's Editor
[Linked Image]

Falcon 4.0 (Allied Force) Mission/Campaign Builder
[Linked Image]

Oh I miss being able to GCI link radar, SAM, and AAA sites


However, IMHO even the then state of the art LockON fell far short of its predecessors, most notably Falcon 4.0 and just about every major title in the Jane's EA series. To date nothing has come close to Falcon 4.0's dynamic campaign editor and Jane's immersive radio chatter and AI interaction. Even now with DCS 2.0, I still pine for some of the editing features i.e. assigning flight packages, wing creation, etc. that were found in sims from over 20 years ago.

How?
Despite the drawbacks, with LockOn's trackfile system I could fly the mission, review the the scenario, and then take screen captures/recordings of the parts I liked. In other words, I was flying the mission and not for the camera. Although I did not know it at the time, as I later honed my skills I was able to catch some stunning maneuvers and visuals from multiple camera angles. This allowed me to cut down on the number of "takes" and also adjust game graphics settings to my liking (finding that balance between eye candy and frame rates).


*I made this back in 2008-09 using the original LockOn. I'm almost ashamed to share it because it is so horrible. However, I did learn a lot making this video such as how to capture good camera angles and the most effective way of recording game play.


* By this video (made in 2016) I started taking the idea of camera angles to a new level. I wanted the film shots to appear more natural and at "eye level". I also started incorporating motion track software into my filming. Finally, I started letting AI do more of the "work". The mission was setup to mimic the USAF live-fire exercise William Tell, with me flying the chase plane. Throughout the mission everything was completely AI and the "winning shot" unfolded according to the AI's parameters.


That is all for right now folks. In part 2 I hope to cover how I capture my shots, what type of editing software I use, frame-rates I use (for recording and rendering), and how to get the most quality out of your uploads once they are hosted on Youtube.



Last edited by Ironroad; 10/09/17 03:44 PM.
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#4383983 - 10/09/17 11:45 AM Re: Why I did it [Re: Ironroad]  
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,943
Vince H Offline
Member
Vince H  Offline
Member

Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,943
Columbus, OH by way of Aiken, ...
Thanks for sharing this! Very informative!

#4384197 - 10/10/17 06:09 PM Re: Why I did it [Re: Vince H]  
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,500
Ironroad Offline
Senior Member
Ironroad  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,500
Originally Posted by Vince H
Thanks for sharing this! Very informative!

Thanks Vince H

If you are interested I will posted Part 2 here. I try to cover what I mean by "flying the mission and the camera", angles, shots (I think I can remember most of the camera keyboard shortcuts for DCS) and why I refuse to map POV to any of my sticks.

#4385021 - 10/15/17 12:25 AM Re: Why I did it [Re: Ironroad]  
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,500
Ironroad Offline
Senior Member
Ironroad  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,500
Recording


For the past 3 three years I have relied on Nvidia Shadowplay to record all my gaming action. It is easy to use, does not eat up a lot of memory and cpu, and quietly runs in the background ready to record once you have your hotkeys and Geforce Experience setup properly. Prior to that I used freeware versions of FRAPs and bandicam, but I it appears that Shadowplay has eclipsed them all in regards to is usability and practicality.

Flying the mission and not the camera...

When it comes to recordings I have found that it is best to set up and fly your mission first and worry about all other things second.

*Note I'm skipping a step here at many video editors preach from on high, which is the "story boarding" process. This process is very important but my goal in this post is talk more about mechanics.

The AI tends to be pretty dumb and predictable in DCS, I'm sorry but it is the cold truth and has been that way since LockOn.

That isn't to say you can't make some amazing AI only videos,

see here

just means don't expect to catch some amazing and organic action unless you have human elements involved.

Flying the mission means that you, "Meatbag pilot," can focus on trying to kill the enemy, pulling off that perfect Cuban 8, or "threading the needle" underneath that oil platform or bridge. It means that your aircraft's flight profile and characteristics will appear more natural you are not trying to focus on flying for the camera. Finally, it means that you can get better shots from multiple angles with the track review feature (hit watch track at the end of your mission :neaner): .

*Unfortunately the watch track feature is not a true recording of what happened in your mission, but instead a sort of "recalculation". In older versions of DCS this system was screwed, particularly if you were flying NOE or near a lot of ground clutter (mountains, buildings, etc.) But it has gotten far better in recent patches, almost syncing up verbatim to the previously "recorded action"


Getting your shots

I normally do two major recordings whenever I fly a profile or mission that I want to turn into a movie.

First, I record continuously "real time" in cockpit and in game.

Second, I go back and replay the trackfile and record external views (fly bys, enemy, etc.) *there will be a separate post on camera angles and view

Finally, I will go back and re-fly the mission to get any pieces I feel need to be touched up or emphasized. *This step is to polish your views, fly-bys, transitions, or small action sequences that do not require a significant set of external triggers.

*Sadly, recording at 1080-1440p at 59.999999fps does take up a lot of space. Also whatever recording software you use, make sure your bitrate is turned up as high as possible and if you have a slower machine you may have to limit the view distance or number of objects you are running in game (will save that topic for another post on environment/immersion).

For me step two is one of the more important steps of this process as it where you will get you spectacular action sequences and external views. And why will they be so spectacular? Because during step one your focus was on throwing your jet around the sky in attempt to dodge that SAM or transition smoothly from a ladder to a V formation. Step two is where I have found I have capture those "one off" moments that are hard to duplicate otherwise.

POV vs Headtracking vs Mouse

Ladies and gentlemen once I was introduced to TRACKIR I was sold as that being the only way to fly and fight in DCS. The movement is so fluid and the views are seemless. For those of you who don't have such software available, my next suggestion would be using the mouse. For actual flying a POV hat on a joystick or throttle is handy (if you don't have a head tracker) but even before I had TRACKIR is used the mouse (mapping trim to my POV switch).

TRACKIR does take some getting use to when you are making external shots and watching flyby views. But it makes your recordings come out more natural without that stilted viewpoint you get from using keys or a POV hat. You can also achieve this natural feeling with a mouse, but it takes a steady and patient hand.

To close this out I show you what I mean by "flying for the camera", which I advise against in your movie making.

I have two video, one made back in 2008 and one I made just a few moments ago specifically for this post.

Not only was this video shot horribly but the views and tracking were off. At that time I was relying on the keyboard to adjust my camera angles. I was also using external views to do my flying (trying to fly for what I thought looked good instead of flying and re watching the mission).

Although one of my first videos, the result was a mess



This most recent video, I use all three tools to get showcase viewpoints and panning.
First is TRACKIR
Second is the Mouse
Third is the keyboard
As I change view tools you can see the camera panning get more stiff and jittery.

Last edited by Ironroad; 10/15/17 02:16 PM.
#4385410 - 10/17/17 05:49 AM Re: Why I did it [Re: Ironroad]  
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,663
mdwa Offline
Member
mdwa  Offline
Member

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,663
Way over in Perth, Western Aus...
Thanks, interesting to hear how it's done.


mdwa

Moderated by  RacerGT 

Quick Search
Recent Articles
Support SimHQ

If you shop on Amazon use this Amazon link to support SimHQ
.
Social


Recent Topics
Carnival Cruise Ship Fire....... Again
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:58 PM
Baltimore Bridge Collapse
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:51 PM
The Oldest WWII Veterans
by F4UDash4. 03/24/24 09:21 PM
They got fired after this.
by Wigean. 03/20/24 08:19 PM
Grown ups joke time
by NoFlyBoy. 03/18/24 10:34 PM
Anyone Heard from Nimits?
by F4UDash4. 03/18/24 10:01 PM
RIP Gemini/Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford
by semmern. 03/18/24 02:14 PM
10 years after 3/8/2014
by NoFlyBoy. 03/17/24 10:25 AM
Copyright 1997-2016, SimHQ Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.0