This place is too quiet. So Im going to try it out

[Member_of_STARS]

Im not a creative person, I lack artistic skills but about a year or so ago, I finally manned up and started trying video editing software. Its all been down to footage that inspired me and my goal is to become good enough to do great-to-watch frag videos (kill montages) with speed and skill so that it wouldnt clutter my mind or my HDD.

So, after getting a spark of inspiration for COD4, after having a few good killstreaks, Ive decided to start a project. Heres how it would look like on paper-

Intro -> Flyby with flashes of empty and action filled map 1 -> a few random impressive kills and moves -> a longer killstreak -> a short (2-3 seconds) segment of hackusations and a good scene with incoming airstrike or chopper to signify the long killstreak. This will continue for about 2-3 cycles, to reach 5-6 minutes of footage.

I dont usually post nor tell anything until my proogress is done, but considering I might need help with some picture editing, Im going to use this thread if I have an idea (for example, a watermark on the footage) but cant quite execute it myself.

Ive finished the intro sequence, was waiting for my brother to make me a suitable audio background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndDQQ2FSN5I

Heres the videos I use as reference and inspiration (and at some point, blatant plagiarism, I know Im shameless).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU3BRnLfPP0

This is the inspiration for my video, the track is also going to be used. Its MoozE´s "Butchers Tunnel".

Theres a number of videos that are amazing in detail, and the importance of syncing the audio with the video perfectly is shown in this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaVCD_8pSE4

This is like a quality benchmark

Motion blur, depth of field are all utilized to perfection. Unfortunately COD4 has a very limited demo mechanism which means the footage is going to be limited. No impressive external footage, so the video has to be impressive with excellent syncing, clever effects and balance between effects and footage.

Im not really skilled, Ive experimented and played around with Vegas a lot, so I know how to do what, and Ive done a few frag videos which Ive never uploaded anywhere, so this is going to be the first "public" video which Im actually putting a lot of effort into.

I would also like this place to be lively again because videogame art is something I really enjoy.

Heres where I currently stand.
Video planned out
Intro finished
Demo files for the first flyby done
Demo files for all frags done, but not properly sorted out
Music chosen
Effects and general idea, presentation (colours, effects, little things) planned out and chosen

Since I need high resolution videos with at least 60 frames per second, Im going to have to use FRAPS (video capture software) on a high grade machine, transfer the footage back to my lappy and finish the work there.

[Raven088]

I like the intro, good job :thumb:

[Urya]

If there's one game I never thought that looked or was interesting, it would be Counter-Strike. But you've managed to make it look pretty damn awesome. If I wouldn't have tried it before, this would have me run to the shop to fetch a copy. Amazing job.

[Member_of_STARS]

If there's one game I never thought that looked or was interesting, it would be Counter-Strike. But you've managed to make it look pretty damn awesome. If I wouldn't have tried it before, this would have me run to the shop to fetch a copy. Amazing job.

Haha, I wish it was mine. No. I just used the video as an example of how high Im aiming. The video is quite remarkable on its own right, it won the frag montage contest this year (or 2008) and is composed entirely of competitive game footage.

[ShaydeZehetbauer]

Awesome stuff you've got there dude, it's great to see another CSS player on the Capcom forums!

[Revenant]

Since you mentioned a demo mechanism, I assume you're playing on PC. That said, you already have some leeway with angles of view due to use of the codplayer. As a long time player of the CoD series, and someone who has frequented youtube's many "montages" (I dislike use of that word with gaming videos), I'd just like to make a few recommendations.

First of all, I would scrap any excessive special effects in mind. Excessive comes down to common sense, but people generally know where the line is. That said, I have seen a good few amazingly but excessively edited videos, but the real beauty of a frag compilation is the actual killing, not the quality of video editing.

In regards to actual kills, you'll have to keep in mind that CoD 4's been around for a long time now. There's a lot of videos up already, and a lot of exceptional players. I'm not going to attempt to give advice about how to deal with the retarded flock that is youtube's call of duty community, but I'm just going to say something that has always irritated me personally as well as many people I know.

Montages in general showcase only a few kill streaks and a number of single kills stringed together, which is not only repetitive but redundant, such as the 'no scope' montages. What most montages fail to show is the person dying. A montage is just a string of them killing people and not dying. It doesn't showcase true skill, and most people know that.

Showing yourself shooting nine guys in a row via a single doorway isn't interesting, nor skillful. It's boring, and lacking in a number of aspects. Obviously I don't know what kind of player you are, but some of the best videos I've seen are of peoples' abilities to deal with multiple targets at a time at close range. In the "I'm going to run into this room with 6 people and kill them all with my last clip" kind of dealing. Not the "I am going to snipe people with the semi-automatic M16 at long range" kind of dealing. That's boring, anyone can do it. People want to see quick reactions and pinpoint, reflexive aim. I'm not going to call it 'calm'- I consider myself an exceptional player, and you do not stay calm when riding a 25+ kill streak along. While the message popping up is a huge ego boost, it also builds the pressure on you as the opposing team gets frustrated.

... Sheesh, that was a bit Tl,dr; even for me. I hope the points I was attempting to get across were clear, before I started rambling like an insane asylum escapist.

[Member_of_STARS]

Actually this is exactly, to the note, what I also think frag videos are about. Although I do disagree about the dying part, thats not what the video is about. While you might say dying is a sign of someone being humble enough to admit they lack in certain aspects, frag videos are a compilation of skill and entertainment. The way I see it is, I only use longer killstreaks and memorable kills/maneuvers in the video. If I come up short with footage, I wont be filling it with random kills like a string of simple and easy shots.

I wouldnt call myself exceptional, Ive seen the heights of COD4 as I follow the North American competitive scenery but I do have a few good shots and a drive to do something with Vegas 9 :P

[Urya]

Haha, I wish it was mine. No. I just used the video as an example of how high Im aiming. The video is quite remarkable on its own right, it won the frag montage contest this year (or 2008) and is composed entirely of competitive game footage.
Oh hah, I need to read stuff before posting.

Either way, I hope you can reach this level when it comes to making a video. Because if there's one thing hard, it's making a shooter look attractive on video.

[Revenant]

Actually this is exactly, to the note, what I also think frag videos are about. Although I do disagree about the dying part, thats not what the video is about. While you might say dying is a sign of someone being humble enough to admit they lack in certain aspects, frag videos are a compilation of skill and entertainment. The way I see it is, I only use longer killstreaks and memorable kills/maneuvers in the video. If I come up short with footage, I wont be filling it with random kills like a string of simple and easy shots.

I wouldnt call myself exceptional, Ive seen the heights of COD4 as I follow the North American competitive scenery but I do have a few good shots and a drive to do something with Vegas 9 :P

I've attempted to use Sony Vegas, myself! It's cheaper then Adobe Premiere and has a number of guides on the internet, but it's still a hell of a step up from Windows Movie Maker.

If you were a PS3 player, I'd ask for your information, myself. I prefer to play on PC but mine's not well-geared enough to actually run it... even on the absolute lowest settings, it's still a dull and painful crawl.

Oh hah, I need to read stuff before posting.

Either way, I hope you can reach this level when it comes to making a video. Because if there's one thing hard, it's making a shooter look attractive on video.

I'll agree with that. But many people have pulled it off in the past... I would much rather attempt and fail to produce a gaming video then some ridiculous mash-up anime video with an overused song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7A7zsUaJqE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BENZpqN0QmQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1bCeCgzQYc

Not to go offtopic (though I feel like I'm turning this into more of a casual discussion unfortunately), but these are some pretty good examples of videos I've seen before, the first two displaying console gaming and the last being on PC, of course being the most insane.