WIP Director Movie/Camera addon

[Grizzle 0]

This is an addon called Director. It's a randomized and automated camera tool for simply watching battles or creating videos using your favorite video recording software. It also allows you to create your own camera scripts for use in missions (Intro/Outro).

Beta 0.2 Released!

Get it HERE. Please read the enclosed PDF for installation and usage instructions. More detailed instructions on using the new Create feature will be added later, but there should be enough to get you started messing around with it. Experiment!

Change Log:

Beta 0.2

• Updated Orbit Subject to work with fast moving vehicles. The speed of the orbit is still random so when it's fairly slow the effect may not be entirely apparent.

• Fixed a bug with preload.

• Fixed a bug with the dialog.

• Tweaked some functions and scenes for better performance

• Rearranged a few things on the main dialog

• Added a More… button for future use (options and what-not)

• Updated subject list to fix some issues. Bias slider is now ignored if the bias subjects do not exist in the subject list.

• Fixed – Main dialog now only movable using the top of the dialog (click anywhere on or above the mission name)

• Setting the scene length to 0 (zero) now means infinite length. To switch to a new scene, you will need to use the skip key.

• All selections are now executed in real-time – this includes scene selection which previously only switched when the scene timed out or the skip key was hit.

• Added a slight horizontal offset to the Fly By scene so the camera isn’t centered on the subject as it passes over. Most noticeable when men are the subject.

• Added the ability to create movie scripts for mission intro and outro. This requires a separate windows application to capture the movie data so it can be saved to an SQF file. This will be included with the next release. It is written in C# and will require .NET 2.0 runtimes if you don’t already have them installed.

Other notes:

This is my first attempt at an addon so there are some intricacies of Arma scripting that seem to block my attempts at certain features. One of them being the HUD's and trying to get rid of them properly. showHUD doesn't work consistently and operates differently depending upon where it's placed (script, description.ext, config.cpp) so I'll have to get that sorted out. I've tried modifying some of the base classes to remove the HUDs but haven't had much success.

I welcome comments, criticism and feature requests.

The videos were recorded using FRAPS and Dxtory at a game resolution of 1280x720 so the dialog is smaller on higher resolutions.

Watch on YouTube for HD. (recorded in FRAPS and Dxtory - some spots are 'jerky' )

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTbjMDga-WM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTbjMDga-WM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_sLKETCgic&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_sLKETCgic&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Edited March 25, 2010 by Grizzle

[Mr Sarkey 0]

This looks great, certinaly encourage more people to start filming in Armed Assault.

Cool stuff :cool:

[Sgt.Spoetnik 10]

Looks indeed a great tool, and handy to use, nice job

[Aeneas2020 10]

exactly what ive been looking for...do we have an ETA for this?

[mosh 0]

exactly what ive been looking for...do we have an ETA for this?

same here, will give this a try for sure

[jeza 5416]

Perfect, looking good, will put this to use on release :)

[rübe 127]

Awesome work dude! There is just one thing that annoys me: i'd prefer to have clean/direct cuts and no blackouts between the sceens. Hope you'll make it an option or get completely rid of it.

Btw. I did something similar to this some time ago with the same idea in mind: to easily watch a setup battle. Plus I tried to time to shots to the rhythm of some music, haha, so maybe you wanna check it out and maybe you'll find some inspiration for your fine addon!

btw. it would be nice, if one could use your addon for scenes, intros and such in ordinary missions, no?

[Schancky 10]

Looks awesome! nice work Grizzle

[Grizzle 0]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Ruebe - The scene fading can already be turned on or off, but I found that depending upon performance and several other factors that sometimes the cuts are really bad seeing stuff happen that isn't pretty :)

It works great on say Utes and likely other less stressing islands, but Chernarus is such a hog that the fade really helps to hide some things. I'll check out your mod as it sounds like you have some interesting things going on with it. Who knows, perhaps you're up for a collaboration? You could probably teach me a few things about scripting and save me the hours and hours of trouble finding things out on my own ;)

Edited February 23, 2010 by Grizzle

[bushlurker 46]

This sounds like one of those little ideas that becomes a totally must-have!

I struggle badly trying to produce basic camscripts on the few occasions I've tried... It would be a big bonus to be able to produce a reasonable little vid to showcase an item in action, or an area of terrain, or whatever with less fuss than it currently involves...

Good luck with this one!

B

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

This sounds like one of those little ideas that becomes a totally must-have!

I struggle badly trying to produce basic camscripts on the few occasions I've tried... It would be a big bonus to be able to produce a reasonable little vid to showcase an item in action, or an area of terrain, or whatever with less fuss than it currently involves...

Good luck with this one!

B

I know how ya feel. I can't wait for this myself.

[Steakslim 1]

You know a long while back in ArmA1 i pondered the idea with the rise of popularity with machinema as to why such an addon like this hasn't been made, for ArmA and other games. I'm glad someone with the knowhow on making such an addon had the same idea.

[An Fiach 10]

Looks fantastic, great idea.

[dmarkwick 261]

Oooh very nice :) I want it.

If I had this, I could sell my television and all my DVDs.

[voodoonice 0]

:eek2: That's exactly what I wanted to do without the skills.

Congratulations ;)

[schaefsky 0]

This is such a cool idea! :cool:

[Binkowski 26]

Good video and good concept. Damn WMG.

[Grizzle 0]

First beta released. Link is in the first post.

Use it, enjoy it, hate it or whatever, but please let me know of any problems you encounter or any suggestions for new features or improvements you'd like to see.

[An Fiach 10]

Woohooo

[jeza 5416]

Excellent!

as Rube said would be good also if possible that these scenes created could be used an intro's and outro's for user missions, i.e saving your commands into a file while your creating the movie ingame i.e like Camera.Sqs.

Still its looking fantastic, keep it up mate.

Edited February 26, 2010 by Jeza

[[frl]myke 14]

Grizzle, this is excellent work.

One suggestion if you don't mind: some camera positioning don't work well with fast moving objects (planes) right now. Orbiting fails completely while stationary is pointless as those vehicles are too quick too far.

I agree that these might be horribly to catch but i hope you will keep an eye on this aspect.

Maybe an additional camera movement for air vehicles where the cam is behind the vehicle, copying view vector from vehicle (looking same direction) and moves slowly (in the set timeframe) from say bottom left to top right in a transitional movement. Hope i could describe it in a way you understand...if not, blame my english knowledge. :p

Keep it up, i'm eager to see the final version. Sure as hell as this will be a much anticipated addon.

Oh, one last point: you might consider to introduce a check if ArmA 2 is currently running in MP and then deactivate all scripts as this could be used as exploit. There are commands to check that so you could catch this case easily.

[Grizzle 0]

jezza - Yes I have given some thought to being able to create intro/outro scenes and will put it on the list.

Myke - Due to the random nature of things there will be shots (especially of fast moving vehicles) that don't work out so well. It does currently take velocity into account, but I can probably tweak that a bit more. Orbit works best for objects that aren't moving though it does still impart camera movement when viewing moving objects. Currently the best 'scenes' for fast vehicles are Follow, Fly By and First Person. Stationary pan is one I don't use much myself unless I'm interested in a more scenic view with the *possibility* of seeing some action. Will definitely put the check in for MP as it really isn't designed for MP to being with, but I may be able to add that capability in subsequent versions.

As noted in the original post, I appreciate any and all feedback and as this is as much for the community as it was for me, suggestions are always welcome.

Edited February 26, 2010 by Grizzle

[bushlurker 46]

Wow! Just noticed the beta! Fantastic... I'll check it out immediately...!

Just one small point regarding MP capability...

It would be extremely handy to actually be able to use this addon in an MP environment - where it could happily take care of smooth camera movements, while a few friends being "actors" provide the action... much easier and more immediate than having to script AI action for a scene...

For that reason I wouldn't like to see an automatic MP block...

This kind of addon of course, has no place on a normal gameserver - it would only be in use, and therefore a key in place, by prior arrangement anyway...

Would properly keyed and signed be sufficient to prevent exploits? I don't play on many servers so I rarely encounter these things?

Just an idea, since some sort of cunningly arranged "stage set" MP mission and a few friends failing to fly impressively was how I thought I'd approach the whole videoing thing - using this tool to move from one actor (and disasterous outtake) to the next.... :)

B

Edited February 26, 2010 by Bushlurker

[Aeneas2020 10]

Great addon i look forward to seeing what you do with it in the future! there are a couple of niggles here and there but keep it up man.

[Grizzle 0]

Great addon i look forward to seeing what you do with it in the future! there are a couple of niggles here and there but keep it up man.

I accept suggestions to improve niggles too :) The more you guys tell me what you like and don't like the more this will become a better tool for everyone.