In this tutorial I am
going to explain the basics of the camera mod and how to set up a camera path.
I.
Installation
a.
Get
the newest version (v7) of the camera mod here
b.
Unpack
the camera folder into your Quake 4 folder c:\quake
4\camera (not in baseq4 because camera is a mod!)
c.
Camera
includes following files:
demos :
you have to put your demos in this folder; includes an example demo (campath.netdemo)
avinetdemo.scriptcfg : script for avinetdemo settings (going to explain it later)
cam_commands.txt : includes all featured commands of the current camera mod
version
camedit.cfg :
config with settings and binds for creating a camera path
campath1/2/3.dat : includes the data for a camera path (going to explain it
later)
startmod.bat :
starts the camera mod
(the rest are the same as in baseq4 or/and
contains only things for developers)
Start the startmod.bat to start Quake 4 + camera
mod.
Start a LAN
server:
Multiplayer
> Create Server > dedicated: NO
or
console:
spawnserver mp/mapname (if you know
the exact mapname, e.g.: phrantic – swq4dm1)
Type exec camedit.cfg
in the console to execute the config for camera path editing.
III. Camera Path
Modify
example path:
Spawn a
server (spawnserver mp/q4dm1) and
type exec camedit.cfg & camLoadPath campath1.dat .
That’s what
you should see now:
Camera Objects:
camera path
(green line) : its like track on
which the camera moves along
frames
(white arrows) : defines the
frames/speed of the camera movement
waypoint : point on a
track that defines the position and viewpoint of the camera
controlpoint : point to define
the path (straight, curvy, etc)
target : the
target is a static point where the camera looks at (if a waypoint is set on a
target)
To get an
idea how the system works, press UPARROW (camEmulatePath).
That gives you a preview of the current path (emulating path).
Okay, lets
start: as a spectator you can move through the hole map. To edit a waypoint
move as spectator to a waypoint and press PGUP (camEditWaypoint). Now you’re on the waypoint’s focus and change the
position with your controlkeys (forward, backward, right, left, up, down) and
change the viewangle with your mouse. With RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW you can
roll the waypoint.
360° spin
(don’t set smoothing! Explained later):
waypoint: A B C
roll: 0° 180° 359.9°
Apply the
changes with END (camFinishEdit) or
if you want to discard the changes, press HOME (camCancelEdit). The camera at the waypoint will now look at the
same direction as you did. Move near a controlpoint and press PGDN (camEditControlpoint). I think the
easiest way to understand how controlpoints work is either testing or imagine
the following:
A cord is
fixed to two points (A and B). Grab the cord on the center and move it to all
directions, watch how the cord changes its direction. You can also grab it near
Point A, move it around and look how it affects.
It’s the
same way how the controlpoints work. The fixed points are waypoints, your
grabbing finger is the controlpoint and the cord is the track/path.
Editing a
controlpoint is the same as editing a waypoint, except the viewangle doesn’t
matter.
NOTE: when
editing a camera object, the object closest to your current gets edited. Don’t
forget to press END when you want to apply the changes!
Test to
modify the example path to get a feeling for the whole thing. Preview it by
pressing UPARROW.
If you want
to save a path, toggle console and type camSavePath filename.dat .
You can
also add a waypoint on an existing path. Just edit a controlpoint and press INS
to add a waypoint. To delete a waypoint, edit the waypoint and press
Creating
own path:
After
getting to know how to edit camera objects and got an idea of the camera mod’s
possibilities, this is the fun part. By creating paths you can be creative and
make your own crazy camera movements.
Spawn a
server and execute the camedit config. Move to a point on the map where you
want to have your startpoint and press INS (camAddWaypoint).
Look for a second point where you want your camera to go by and add another
waypoint – a path is drawn. Add waypoints wherever you want to change the
position or view of the camera. Edit the controlpoints how you want to affect
the track and define the camera’s movement.
You will
notice, that between waypoints with bigger distance, the camera moves faster
than between waypoints who are close together. When going into editing modus of
a waypoint (camEditWaypoint) and type
camGetSpeed in console and compare it
to another waypoint’s speed, you’ll see that the speed isn’t the same which
makes it look not constant. You can achieve constant or custom speed by setting
either for every waypoint or get the same speed for all waypoints of your path.
Customspeed:
Edit a Waypoint and type camGetSpeed . you see the current speed of the
waypoint. To change it, type camSetSpeed <value>
.
Commonspeed:
To set the same speed for all waypoints type camSetCommonSpeed <value> .
The speed
isn’t a real value because it calculates the frames between waypoints. To set
frames manually, edit waypoint and type camSetFrames <value>. To get the current frames, type camGetFrames.
Preview
your result. In 99% you will notice that when the camera arrives at a waypoint
it looks like a little stop and not very smooth, that’s because the different
viewangles between the waypoints. Solution:
Edit the
Waypoint and type camSetVaSmoothing <percent>
. By setting 100 percent you’ll get a total smooth transition between the
waypoints and the viewer wont even notice that there is a waypoint in between.
To smooth the viewangle of all waypoints type camSetCommonVaSmoothing <percent> .
Additional
info for ViewangleSmoothing:
It includes
acceleration and deceleration which means if Waypoint A has 100% VaSmoothing
and B has 0%, the viewangle change accelerates all the way. When A and B are
set to 100%, the va change accelerates the first half the way to B and
decelerates the second way.
Although
100% make it looks very smooth, the speed can get very unconstant, so I
recommend to use smaller values (around 10).
To create a
target, edit a waypoint and type camSetTarget <targetname> into console. Press END to finish the waypoint
editing and type camEditTarget now
you can edit the target as the other camera objects. To link a waypoint with
target, edit the waypoint and type camSetTarget <targetname> .
When a
target doesn’t exist, it will be create with camSetTarget, if it already
exists, camSetTarget will link the target with waypoint.
If you want
the camera to stops at a certain point for some time, edit the waypoint you
want to stop and type camSetWaitTime
<value>.
WaitTime
also includes a pause function which freezes (players stop moving etc) but the
camera movement goes on. To do that, set camSetWaitTime
-1.
I.
Rendering /
Capturing Screenshots:
Modify Scriptfile
To render
the camera path, you need to modify the avinetdemo.scriptcfg.
To do that, save your path (camSavePath <filename.dat>) and go back to the camera folder. Open the
script file:
Don’t get
confused by all the code – its very basic and you only need to adjust some
values.
(note: you
can edit the bold values)
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_fps", 30 );
Captures
the demo at 30 fps
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_useJpeg", 1 );
0: Captures
the demo with .tga images
1:
Caputeres the demo with .jpeg images (I prefer jpeg because it saves space)
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_saveDir", "SSDemo" );
Saves the
screenshots in “SSDemo” (I recommend to set separate folders for every path
otherwise screenshots from every path you render will be saved into this folder
and the screenshots get overwritten)
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_width", 800 );
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_height", 600 );
Defines the
resolution (width & height) of your screenshots.
Example:
800*600 =
4:3 (Fullscreen)
1280*720 =
16:9 (Widescreen)
sys.setcvar ("r_aspectRatio",
"1");
0: 4:3 (Fullscreen)
1: 16:9 (Widescreen)
2: 16:10 (Widescreen)
sys.Cam_RenderCamPath("campath1.dat");
the path
campath1.dat gets rendered
The lines
with // at the beginning of the lines are disabled. If you want to enable them,
simple erase the //.
Example
script (fps: 30; jpeg; folder: campath1; resolution: 1280*720; fov: 110;
widescreen):
namespace aviNetDemo {
void
Execute()
{
//
initialize
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_fps", 30 ); //max
62.5
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_useJpeg", 1 ); //
jpeg does not work for firstperson
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_saveDir", "campath1" );
//
width and height of the video: does not work for firstperson
//
change r_mode for firstperson.
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_width", 1280 );
sys.setPersistantArg(
"avinetdemo_height", 720 );
sys.setcvar
("g_fov", "110");
sys.setcvar
("r_aspectRatio", "1"); //
16:9
sys.Cam_RenderCamPath("campath1.dat");
}
}
Avinetdemo
To start
rendering, type avinetdemo <demoname>.netdemo
. All Items, Models etc which are on the camera’s view will be shown on the
final render.
Important
note: only demos that were recorded in baseq4 work which means you cannot use
the mod with q4max, ra4, gtr, xbm demos YET!
Another
issue is that you can only render clientdemos. Which means, you have to join a
server as a client and record a netdemo (recordnetdemo <filename>.netdemo). If you want to record a mapflythrough
(no players) just record a demo as spectator (you don’t have to fly around or
anything, just look at one point).
Recording demo on your own server:
Create a
shortcut of the startmod.bat,
rightclick and choose edit.
Type in the
following:
cd ..
start Quake4 +set fs_game camera
+set fs_savepath "J:\games\q4\q4 cam" +set win_allowMultipleInstances
1 +connect 127.0.0.1
change the
“j:\games\q4\q4cam” into a folder you want to save your demo.
Start a
dedicated server and the shortcut. You will auto-connect to your dedicated server.
Now you can record a clientdemo.
(note: the
recorded demo has to at least as long as you want to record your videomaterial)
Copy the
demo into \quake 4\camera\demos, and
record as explained above.
To convert
the screenshots into avi, read converting
screenshots to avi tutorial.
Additional
tips:
• to move
the camera objects more precise, set a lower pm_spectatespeed value
• if you
too low fps after loading a path, set g_editwaypath 1
• when you
get dark areas in the final render (no light), the areas weren’t covered in the
demo -> rerecord the demo and try to cover all the areas you want to have on
your camera path
Example
videos:
campath1 Video (by TTK-Bandit)
warforged
Video (by neRo)
I hope this tutorial helped you to learn the
basics of the current camera mod version. Have fun creating your own path and
show us your results in
#q4movie @ quakenet !
// neRo
VaSmoothing image
by Bandit – applause for his great painting skills =)