making a cutscene

[Daves_Gaming_Adventures 10]

I plan on making an opening cutscene for my next mission, although I don't want to do it the traditional way of setting up the camera.sqs and copying the co'ordinates into the script and messing about with it like that. I am actually a video editor so What I plan on doing is recording footage using Gcam and editing it into a cutscene video file. What I need to know is what file format does the video have to be, and how do i set it up so my mission plays the video from the start? I need to know external scripts and ingame triggers that link to the scripts. Trust me If someone can help me with this, I am pretty much unstoppable and will be bringing down some really good story based missions with voice acting, the lot

[Kydoimos 916]

Hello there! Right - I ought to be able to help on this one :) First off, your video will need to be in an OGV format. However, everyone in the community is struggling a bit to match BIS' codec - essentially, stunning looking videos can be done - but be prepared to struggle with audio sync issues. I've tried myself and still have no way of getting the audio to work properly with the playVideo function. It's been assigned on the Feedback tracker for over a year now, I think. My own experience is that there's a 2-3 second delay in the audio. For short scenes, without much audio, you should be fine! PM me too, if you're looking to hire any voice actors. Also, to get the basics of how the playVideo function works, dePBO some of BIS' missions, or download and dePBO one of mine, and look in the init.sqf. It might be helpful, just to get the framework etc.

This - http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=18026 - is our main stumbling block at the moment! :) If however, you manage to get an OGV file working with the audio, please, please share your codec :p

Good luck mate, and again, PM if I can help any further!

Looking forward to those missions! ;)

Edited July 4, 2015 by Kydoimos

[R3vo 2654]

Maybe that will help you. Click me!

[Daves_Gaming_Adventures 10]

If audio being out of sync is your main issue when using a video file I think I may have a solution, as a 3d animator, visual fx and video editor, I tend to problem solve a lot of these things. So if the audio lags about 3 seconds behind the video, the answer may be quite simple. Just go into your video editor (mine is sony vegas) and slide the audio track 3 seconds in front of the video file, deliberately putting it out of sync. so when it plays in game, the lag should then align it correctly. In theory it will still lag, but now play at the right time of the video.

[Kydoimos 916]

Hi mate - I tried that solution :) Unfortunately, the lag seems to be accumulative - it starts off a few seconds out of sync and then gets progressively worse. I've tried playing around with the audio on the video (moving it a bit ahead etc.) but it is inconsistent and gradually falls out of sync. I even tried adjusting the audio in relays to match but still had problems!

[MrSanchez 243]

Bohemia...please tell us your codec secrets...pretty please...as an early Christmas gift...