Video Contest

[Zaria]

Netharius - wow! that was really awesome! =)

[Netharius]

@Brontu, Zaria
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun making it

@Befallen:
I've used video capture cards and recorded from one PC to the other in the past. I didn't have an S-Video out after I upgraded my video card, so I had to use an onscreen capture tool.

I tried a few different tools (Camstudio, Taksi, Gamecam) but settled on FRAPS as it was the only one I could get to record well without loss/skipping.

I set my EQ Client to 1366x768 resolution, Windowed Mode (I normally play in higher resolution, but the source AVI's were GINORMOUS) as that provided a good balance between size and quality (I was shooting for 16:9 aspect ratio in HD).

I recorded at 30 Frames per second with no compression. I had about 15 minutes of source footage which took up about 20GB of storage on my hard drive!

I edited the captured footage with a tool called Cyberlink PowerDirector 9, which came bundled with the last video capture card I purchased.

For the Sleeper's Tomb sequences, I was 3 boxing the SK, one of the clerics and the mage, and had the "camera man" filming from outside of the group. I really wanted to get kerafyrm in the video, but unfortunately, the cameraman kept dying from to the AoE DoT as he was outside of the group and wasn't getting junkbuffs/heals...I may have him spawn his own bot next time and see if I can keep him alive long enough to film Kera's big, crystaline buttocks being kicked in the video next time .

@Dreadspirit
I feel your pain , I ended up installing a 3rd Harddrive just for video captures since it was taking up so much room on my other HDs ...I've done editing with movie maker in the past, and it's actually turned out pretty good! You might also look at Video Spin, it's freeware and has a lot of neat features/effects!

[Banderas]

I like it!!!

[Lillu]

Awesome, finally a video!

Sent you a pm.

[Netharius]

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of you for your kind words of encouragement! I felt that you all deserved and encore, so I created a Brand New video!

The Hidden Forest: A Beginner's Guide to Gearing up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s6zmm482QY


Background
I felt that my last video lacked a lot of cohesion, so I set out to create a short tutorial that focused more on THF custom content, specifically, the starter armor, charm 1.0 and epic 1.0.

Even though the total running time on the video was just under 1:18, it took me about 7 hours to complete from start to finish. Why so long?

The Music:
I composed the background score from scratch using Skale Tracker, music composition program based on the DOS application, FastTracker ][. I've been writing music using Amiga Module wave-table synthesis for about 15 years, so it only took about an hour to write the background score, export it to WAV, master it, and export it MP3 with Audacity.

The opening Title/Closing Credits backgrounds:
This took up the majority of my time as I sketched these by hand...it took a lot of time to get it "just right" ...

Brand new (to me) effects:
This was the first time I used a transparent PNG to superimpose images on top of my videos. I accomplished this by taking screen shots from the THF alla/magelo clones and cropping them out. I wasn't even sure that I'd be able to do this until I tried, so I'm glad I did as I'm very pleased with the result!

Production details:
I turned on Luclin models, advanced lighting and shadows for this movie. As a result, I occasionally saw the shadows of an NPC on the other side of a wall, so I had to re-position my camera to get it out of the shot.


Post-Production details:
In the course of filming, I had to discard a few scenes for continuity purposes - the shot I had of Bootless running to the fairy to teleport to Paludal was taken after he turned in his epic and some pieces of ornate armor, I had another one of him getting buffed by Sune but had to cut it for the same reason...

I wanted to keep the video short and to focused on the theme. I took some footage of Unrest and CoM, which I may use in my next videos, but left them out of this one and shortened the theme from "Life as a Beginner on THF" to simply "Gearing up as beginner".

Even though it took a very long time to put together, I had a lot of fun, so I hope you enjoy this one too

[Brontu]

another well done video. Something we have needed for a long time is a simple way for people to get started here (cant count how many times ive heard "how do i get my 1.0") hell i probably asked the question 3 or 4 times when i first started too.

great work!

[Netharius]

another well done video. Something we have needed for a long time is a simple way for people to get started here (cant count how many times ive heard "how do i get my 1.0") hell i probably asked the question 3 or 4 times when i first started too.

great work!

Thank you again! I think the next one is going to be a walk-through of The Hidden Grove NPC's, kind of a guide to where things are...after that, I have a humorous one I'm planning on making which is sure to be a lot of fun ...

[Reid]

I like humorous! Sign me up for a cameo / acting gig in that one Netharius.

I'll watch these when i get home and i'm not on company bandwidth, but thanks for the submissions regardless. I've been wanting to do some beginner / quest walkthroughs for THF for a while, but my 70gb HDD is already full to bursting with assorted necessities and has no room for footage.

I hope your work inspires some effort in others.

[Netharius]

I like humorous! Sign me up for a cameo / acting gig in that one Netharius.

I'll watch these when i get home and i'm not on company bandwidth, but thanks for the submissions regardless. I've been wanting to do some beginner / quest walkthroughs for THF for a while, but my 70gb HDD is already full to bursting with assorted necessities and has no room for footage.

I hope your work inspires some effort in others.

Thanks Cheapness! I've seen you around in game and would be happy to help you make a short movie at some point! Just be aware that we might have to do a lot of takes to get the shot just right so be patient with me ...

On that note, I'm getting ready to post another tutorial that shows people interested in playing on THF how to get started! I'm adding the subtitles now, so hopefully I'll have it posted in the next hour or two depending on how long it takes to upload.

[Netharius]

New Video (yes another one ...)!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqfK4iG3bws

Ever had a friend that wanted to try THF but was intimidated by the setup and configuration process? Now they can Watch the whole process, step by step!

This tutorial covers all of the steps in Lillu's tutorial, the only deviation being that I went the EQ EMU account route because you can always register it on the THF login server but not the other way around.

Also, the video only covers the Titanium Edition as that's what I use, but the instructions are written so that someone using any of the supported clients can follow the guide.

Stay tuned for the next one, which will cover the starting NPC's in The Hidden Grove!

Thanks all!