Movie Maker's Feature Suggestion Thread

[Stormin]

I know how difficult it is to make these videos. We have provided lots of tools in the way of camera angles and positions but there are always new ideas that can make something better.

We're not making any promises, but we would like feedback from the guys who know the strengths and limitations of Lock On's video capabilities. Please share with us what you would recommend for a new product with regard to video recording.

We appreciate your feedback.

Cheers,
Carl

http://home.comcast.net/~ccnorman/public/storminsig3.jpg
__________________________________________________ _______________
Carl C. Norman
Executive Producer & Consultant
The Fighter Collection/Eagle Dynamics

Disclaimer: I am a representative from the Developer of Lock On: Modern Air Combat. I am NOT a spokesman for Ubi Soft nor am I a Moderator for their forums. Official announcements concerning release dates will come directly from Ubi Soft. All features and dates mentioned in this posting are variable and subject to change at any time.

[Stormin]

I know how difficult it is to make these videos. We have provided lots of tools in the way of camera angles and positions but there are always new ideas that can make something better.

We're not making any promises, but we would like feedback from the guys who know the strengths and limitations of Lock On's video capabilities. Please share with us what you would recommend for a new product with regard to video recording.

We appreciate your feedback.

Cheers,
Carl

http://home.comcast.net/~ccnorman/public/storminsig3.jpg
__________________________________________________ _______________
Carl C. Norman
Executive Producer & Consultant
The Fighter Collection/Eagle Dynamics

Disclaimer: I am a representative from the Developer of Lock On: Modern Air Combat. I am NOT a spokesman for Ubi Soft nor am I a Moderator for their forums. Official announcements concerning release dates will come directly from Ubi Soft. All features and dates mentioned in this posting are variable and subject to change at any time.

[UCLANUPE]

Stormin, I am sure that guys will come up with some stuff for ya. However, the only real limitation that keeps me from using the AVI tool is that it takes too long to use it easily. One thing that would help us is an on and off record button that can be actived and deactived in the misssion. This way we could record much shorter track and get only the action we need. As it is now I have to watch a track multiple times noting when and where the action occurrs. Then go back and record the camera angles, then render to AVI only the portions that have the action. Very cumbersome and overly time comsuming.

I do not have a problem spending time making these movies. I have spent more than a month on one production, but the way it is now using renders from full track just takes too much of my limited sim time to use it. Still thank you for giving it to us and asking us what would make it better. You guys have done a great job with LOMAC and dealing with the community. S!

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-----------------------------
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt

[Raven119]

stormin, you have indeed made it easy to make movies, and for that i thank you.

most of the camera angles are there, but i would like to suggest more

when in F11 view (i.e. detached from your plane) would it be possible to put a toggle button so that it changes the movement of the camera

i.e. when you are in f11 view currently you use * and / to move and the numpad (or mouse) to 'pan' the camera.

would it be possible to add a toggle button that when the keypad is depressed the camera moves in the direction of the keypad pressed (if 6 is pressed the camera 'moved' to the right, with the direction of travel 90 degrees to what you can see)

in technical terms this shot is known as a dolly

its kinda hard to explain (as my poor explaination shows) but this is a camera feature that i would like, otehrwise keep up the good work

http://www.freeuploads.co.uk/uploads/tornado.jpg

[- Brun -]

I'll assume that 'new product' excludes Lock On 1.03? http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Having not actually gotten around to making a full movie meself yet I'm not exactly the best qualifed to be be making suggestions, but what the hell...

1. More control over time. Rewind would be pretty handy.

2. The ability to set markers, i.e. 'Ctrl + 1-9' could mark a point in time, and then the corresponding number key could be used to jump directly to it. Noticed that keys to this effect are in the keyboard options, but I gather it's not implemented in the release.

3. Trimming tracks. When the interesting bit happens in the middle of a 20 min track, it's a bit of a pain to get to. Would be good to save a specific portion of a track seperately.

I guess the above depend largely on whether the track recording system can handle jumping around in time. Is this why the roll-back feature isn't functional in Lock On?

4. Different keyboard layout for video edit mode. Since we're not concerned with flying planes anymore, it might make sense to make more use of the available keys. Any extra functionality might make this a necessity.

That's me exhausted for the time being. Might have had more suggestions if I could stop flying the bloody thing and actually make some movies.

Brun

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/brown.i/lockon/files/ForumSig.jpg

[Cynical_Saint]

I'm surprised noone has mentioned these yet.

1) The AVI tool is the best solution, but seeing as how all movies over 2Gig corrupt, that would be a good thing to fix. I cannot get more than 30 secs of film before reaching 2Gig.

2) The AVI tool again has some "bugginess" to it. For some reason it doesn't like to hold on to camera angles. You can spend 15minutes setting up a perfect camera angle in Track Edit, but then when the AVI tool starts recording, it reverts to a completely different angle.

The above two things are probably more bug reports than new feature requests, so perhaps they have a chance of making it into a patch. ?? http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[BSR_RuGGBuTT]

Having used the AVI tool exclusively I'd like to see one thing fixed. When you destroy your primary objective and save the track, if you go back to edit your camera angles it won't save. This is directly related to the primary objective. The rest of the posts here w/the punch in/out, and the diff edit modes are all great ideas. So is a better AVI tool so that you can open more than 2 gig files.

Saint, try the Huffy codec. I was recording uncompressed and mixing down the final into DivX 5.1.1 and there is no difference between starting uncompressed and w/Huffy. Additionally, when you go to your first camera angle record from 1 second before that. The AVI tool will remember the camera angle. Using these 2 tips you'll be able to record 2 minute clips. Additionally, I'll be messing around with Morgan JPEG (MJPEG) w/my next vid but it looks like there won't be a degradation in quality w/rendering from the AVI tool to Morgan. If thats the case you'll be able to record 10-15 minute clips using this codec. I'll keep you guys posted.

http://www.teambsr.com/Pictures/ruggbutt01.gif

[Glowing_Amraam]

Ok, making movies in lock on is very easy, i must say. But to make it even better:

- Would love to have more camera angles (like under the wing, on top of the plane looking backwards, stuff like that...)

- Better zoom control (not just instant zoom when you press it.. Like, slower zooming maybe)

- Have the option to have a shaky camera in F-11 view.

- Oh, like mentioned above: A rewind function. Very very important, IMO.

There's probably more..but i can't quite think of anything else at the moment. These suggestions are just some of the things i would find usefull http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-happy.gif

Btw, it's 00:15 now, i'm tired, so i might build on this list tomorrow http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-tongue.gif

__________________________

http://www.x-plane.org/users/12thiaptbone/glowingamraam.jpg

[davidwan_99]

how do you record your game track???
I want to make a movie for myself....but can't figure out how to make a track so I can playback and see how I did

[Cynical_Saint]

When you are looking at the map, instead of clicking "Fly" hit Ctrl-R.

Then when you are finished it will take you to a save screen where you enter and name and click save.

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http://home.carolina.rr.com/cynical/lomacav.jpg

[davidwan_99]

I recorded a file call test.trk.....I know I can play it back in "show replay", but is there anyway I can change the game's camera angle?? and save as avi file??? thx alot

[BSR_RuGGBuTT]

CTRL+E edits the track. Save it as a different name.

http://www.teambsr.com/Pictures/ruggbutt01.gif

[Karlchen1]

Thanks Stomin to support us "Spielbergs".

1. a rewind-button would be helpfull

2. possibility to select/deselect objects from view circle

3. (has nothing to do with video) : turn on/off fire-smoke

MarkFountan

[bSr.LOCsta]

I disagree with the AVI Tool being easy to use.
It is one of the biggest pain in the a**'s i've ever encountered. However, the quality is much better so I will probably continue to try and use it.

I would say everthing in the posts above would be a tremedous improvement, but the key improvments/fixes in my opinion are:
1. Punch-in/out recording and editting.
2. The ability to correctly save and render camera angles/changes during punch-in/out rendering.
3. A more controlable zoom and pan sensitivity. (Maybe a speed slider or something to make small precise camara changes. Currently just a tap of the buttons even on slow settings will jump the camera 5+ feet or more depending on distance. ie, try to get a good close-up undercarage shot of your plane while in the f5 view on another plane. (it is possible, but a mjaor pain)).

Here is a bug that might be affecting alot of movie makers out there:

Try recording on any day other than "001" (January 1st). You will notice that the render will not work with any other day. It jumps directly to the sound render and skips the video portion. (at least for me)
This was a point of extreme frustration for me in the beginning, so I hope it helps someone http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

The final and BIGGEST glitch I have personally found to be the most frustrating is the following:

1. Flying and recording a track.
2. Either editting or watching the replay and..
The track replay does not play out the same as how it was flown??? ie, Hit by a missle that you dodged in the actual flight, fly into a mountain that you had easily cleared, or crash on the landing.
It seems to me like the timing gets off or something. I think longer track files may have something to do with it, but I have not pin pointed the cause or found a work around.
If anyone knows a work around please post http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

to summerize-
I think more overall stability is the key!!!
Making movies with this game is so fun, but I have put in countless hours of work only to end up throwing it away because of the above listed problems.
It would be great to see some or all of these issues addressed in an upcoming patch.
thanks

[This message was edited by bSr.LOCsta on Wed March 10 2004 at 06:55 PM.]

[BSR_RuGGBuTT]

There are alot of good suggestions here.

Thanks for asking Carl.

http://www.teambsr.com/Pictures/ruggbutt01.gif

[Skarp-Hedin]

since you might add some more options to the views and stuff why not add a tool bar thing that you can use to edit the track during the editing of the track. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif

that could be pretty cool...don't want to go overboard with this just would like the bugs delt with first in my opinion.

~[AeA]-Skarp

[Vattila]

1. Track reliability.
2. Track compatibility across versions.

I think these would help both movie makers and training track authors immensly. I know that training track authors really feel the pain and frustration when things break, rendering a lot of work useless.

Having compatibility across versions would allow users to run old tracks, and also allow movie makers to rerender movies and benefit from visual improvements, improvements in the AVI tool, new cameras and parameters, etc.

I guess compatibility is a hard nut to crack, but hopefully it is solvable (even if it means replicating the code from every version).

[BSR_RuGGBuTT]

I don't think track compatibility across versions is ever gonna work. Case in point: Ghost Recon has had replays (tracks) since day one, but the tracks were never compatible w/the patches. It has to do w/code being rewritten and such.

http://www.teambsr.com/Pictures/ruggbutt01.gif

[Vattila]

BSR_RuGGBuTT,

You're probably right, although the fact that it has never been done before doesn't necessarily mean it can't or won't be done ever. ED has surprised us before!

From my work, I have a little experience of what's needed to keep compatibility with older versions of application files. Basically, it needs (a) versioning (storing and recognizing version numbers), and (b) keeping all the old code around (or create new adaptors) to support old files.

LO:MAC would in addition need to separate out and keep previous versions of all code that affect the simulation (and henceforth the playback of tracks). This could be done by putting the code in DLLs and loading the right version for the track.

Code versioning would not alone fully solve the problem though. Configuration files and the 3D models themselves can also affect the simulation (vehicle parameters, collision detection etc.). So you would need versioning of these as well.

All in all, cumbersome, but not rocket science --- but to a large degree pointless, if reliability isn't solved beforehand.

[apollosmith]

- One word: REWIND

- An option to have the details off in external view. I've almost worn out my Y key.

- Ability to MOVE camera side to side, up/down in F11 view. As mentioned above, a toggle for this would be cool. It's a pain to point the camera, go forward, look and see where you're at, repeat.

-Smitty

[RMC.SBS]

How about using 'Fraps'??maybe not ideal,BUt records well.
www.fraps.com (http://www.fraps.com)

http://free.one.picturehost.co.uk/RVS4.jpg

[BSR_RuGGBuTT]

I personally don't like FRAPS. I'd rather use the AVI tool.

http://www.teambsr.com/Pictures/ruggbutt01.gif
I will redouble my efforts based upon your inspiring and encouraging message. Thanks very much for the show of support.

[Glowing_Amraam]

God, i just thought of something that, IMO, is very much needed in this sim (at least when it comes to movie making): The option to control the mouse sensetivity (external views, CTRL-F11 view, for instance).

When in CTRL-F11 view, and you zoom in on a plane, and you try to follow it with the mouse, the view is very jerky and not very smooth. If the sensetivity was lower, the view would look a lot smoother, and the vids would come out nicer. http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-happy.gif

Just a suggestion, which i feel is important (in my case anyway http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/images/smiley/16x16_smiley-very-happy.gif )

__________________________

http://www.x-plane.org/users/12thiaptbone/glowingamraam.jpg

[Raven119]

agreed amraam, smoother panning, that would definetly help me

http://www.freeuploads.co.uk/uploads/tornado.jpg

[Jex_TG]

Is that not definable in the inputs section under options?

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www.tacticalgamer.com (http://www.tacticalgamer.com)

[WytRaven]

Ok first let me state something. I bought Lock On for 2 reasons.
1. To be able to fly my favorite aircraft, the A-10 Thunderbolt II
2. To be able to record above experience and transfer to DVD.
These to reasons are equal value to me.

Now here's my experience with video recording...it's useless...
Why is it useless?
1. 2GB AVI limit.

...and therefore...

2. Inconsistency between multiple takes on same track.
3. Inconsistency between video recording and audio recording when performing multiple takes on same track.

For anyone that wants to create high quality DVD movies from Lock On the AVI exported must be uncompressed (or use a lossles compression codec like HuffYUV). Even with HuffYUV you still wont get much more than 1:30 - 2:00 per 2GB file @ 720x576(PAL 4:3 DVD). You may as well forget about doing multiple takes as you will find things like cloud cover is different between takes, explosions are different, etc.
So you are basically left with one option; use bad lossy compression to capture any flight worth having...which will end up little more than a blured mess once its been through MPEG compression as well and you are still limited in time by the 2GB AVI limit.

So thats my point. It's useless for anything but crappy little wmv's that nobody wants anyway.

Now to get constructive. Here are two things that would go a long way to making this actually possible.
1. Divide AVI recordings into 1GB chunks automatically. I mean as the program is recording it should automatically create multiple AVI's if necessary. This way simulation integrity is maintained and 2GB filesize limit is circumvented.
2. Record audio as one single seperate wav file rather than embedding in AVI. Not only that but whilst recording AVI an audio 'track' should be simultaneously recorded that store information about sound sample trigering times, etc which is then used to buiild the wav after video recording. This would prevent inconsistencies between video simulation and audio simulation.

These changes (or something that achieves the same end) should be made available in the form of a patch as soon as possible. I do not believe I should have to wait and pay for another product which no doubt wont feature the A-10 (in which case I won't buy it) just to be able to do one of the things I bought this product for. The feature is broken, it's not just inadequate for the task I have in mind, it is inadequate for any task. I respectfully request that my concerns and ideas by taken seriously.

[WytRaven]

BTW for those that are interested in making DVD ready AVI's set the following section in the graphics.cfg file:

For PAL:

DisplayMode
{
resolution = {1024, 768};
bpp = 32;
fullscreen = 0;
aspect = 1.333333373;
Interface
{
resolution = {1024, 768};
bpp = 32;
fullscreen = 0;
}
Simulation
{
resolution = {720, 576};
bpp = 32;
fullscreen = 0;
aspect = 1.067;
}

For NTSC (havent tested but don't see why it shouldn't work):

DisplayMode
{
resolution = {1024, 768};
bpp = 32;
fullscreen = 0;
aspect = 1.333333373;
Interface
{
resolution = {1024, 768};
bpp = 32;
fullscreen = 0;
}
Simulation
{
resolution = {720, 480};
bpp = 32;
fullscreen = 0;
aspect = 0.9;
}

I have two graphics.cfg files. 1 for normal play and recording of tracks and one for recording AVI's set with the above info.

[letterboy1]

The 2 GB file size limit is a limitation with the FAT 32 files system (used by Win 98). Win XP can use the NTFS files system (and does so by default) which does not have this limitation. But if this does not pertain to the problem mentioned in the previous posts, then please forgive my ignorance.

[BSR_RuGGBuTT]

NTSC is the format used for DVD's. I found that I couldn't codec w/mpeg2 at PAL settings.

http://www.teambsr.com/Pictures/ruggbutt01.gif

[moose-HuBBa]

Letterboy. You are partly right. The 2 GB limit used to be an filesystem issue with FAT/FAT32 vs NTFS. However that stuck into a different aspect aswell. There are two versions of AVI 1 and 2. AVI 1 is old and can only adress up to 2 GB worth of film. AVI 2 can adress a whole lot more.

Unfortunately, Lo-mac uses AVI 1 and cannot do videos larger than 2GB, Huffyuv or any other codec. This is a major limitation as it's not fun rendering a movie for 8 hours full resolution and then see it snuck 150 kb over the limit and you just wasted 8 hours.

Imho, this really could use some fixing in the next version/addon.

http://moosesquadron.mine.nu/aerobatic/images/bannerhubba.jpg (http://moosesquadron.mine.nu/aerobatic)

[Muttley_]

It's been a while since the last post and, to make matters worse, the topic starter, Carl, is not involved directly with LOMAC anymore. I was wondering if any developer is willing to carry on with this subject and give us some feedback about what's planned for Flaming Cliffs in this regard.

To make sure this information is accessible to them, I'll try to "transfer" this thread to Eagle Dynamics own forum. If you're interested, please show your support there.

Thanks,

[Muttley_]

Well, it's been here (http://forum.lockon.ru/viewtopic.php?t=2767&sid=4b2b9ec3aa04ff9c1c254dbd667b3edd), but it seems nobody really cares... http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif