View Full Version : Request - SCREENSHOT Requests
Hi everyone !
I have a request.
Can someone with a TOP end rig, please take the following screenshot for me ?
Settings
Widescreen mode.
1.02 Movie Cam enabled (would be ideal but not required).
MAX settings.
TIMURID Khan's Guard.
Charging, lances down.
One or 2 men in focus.
Extreme Close up shot showing all detail, face masks etc.
Preferably banners disabled.
No interface showing.
Arid, Northern Iran-like landscape.
Or arid steppe.
No enemies visible
Sunrise.
Cloudy weather.
You can see in my current sig an example of what I mean. However that shot is a little too high up, it would bebtter a bit lower from horse level. If I can have more than one shot i.e a sequence to choose from and if more than one person does it, even better.
Let your creativity flow !
Many thanks to anyone who can do this.
Salute !
I'd do so, but you'll have to wait a few more weeks, the laptop ain't exactly "high end". :grin: Maybe post some pointers how to get a good screenshot? I know I am not artistically inclined at all... am guessing there are probably quite a few others who aren't. So got any tips? :sweatdrop:
:balloon2:
Thanks for the offer mate.
Well there is a list there, in my first post.
If you look at this sig, this is a perfect screenshot.
NOTE: blur is induced, orignal shot is clear. You can see all the detail, the eyes, mask, links in the chainmail. etc...
https://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/ShahedK/M2TW%20Signatures/Seljuks_SigL1.jpg
Hmm... pointers on how to get a good screenshot .... ??? I don't understand.
:dizzy2: :embarassed: :dizzy2:
Hmm... pointers on how to get a good screenshot .... ??? I don't understand.
:dizzy2: :embarassed: :dizzy2:
I mean like literally how do you do it? Load up a custom battle with a single unit? Multiple units? How do YOU personally set them up? Do you set them up all way back against your rear border and then charge them forward? Do you stagger them? Camera angle suggestions?
If no one else has done by the end of this week, I'll have a shot at it.
Bit busy at the moment, though
Oh I get it. That's a good idea. About how to... I'll have to put it in words. Bascially you just ... take the shot. UGH! Well ... using your questions:
how do you do it?
Press the Print Screen button, next to pause on the keyboard. It's saved to M2:TW/tgas folder.
Load up a custom battle with a single unit?
That's a good question. You can do it many ways, but the simplest is to load a custom battle with the units you want, terrain, weather etc. The best way is to do it during a campaign game, or modify your files so you start with the units you want to take shots of. Then you march out with those units and find a natural battle, this is the best way, because you get everything, but it takes longer to set up.
For purposes like the above screenshot request you should just load a custom battle. You only need the units that you want in the image, in this case 2 units of Khan's Guard is enough, with one enemy Armored Swordsman or something small that does'nt show easily, as the request says no enemy visible.
How do YOU personally set them up?
I have'nt done it for ages since I fried my GFX card, I post requests usually at the TWC and get my screens from there. This onboard card I have now is useless. If I were to do it myself I would do it the long way, setup a campaign mod, then launch a campaign. I believe most of the screenshot artists (like Crypel, the legend) do it this way. the following is the result that can be achieved, these are Crypel's screenshots.
NOTE: Those shots are SO PERFECT, I ISSUE A CHALLENGE to anyone to improve them.
https://img409.imageshack.us/img409/6558/mtw1bz9.jpg
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/12743/2006098262850012149_rs.jpg
http://aycu04.webshots.com/image/12923/2006287870736643924_rs.jpg
NOTE: For my screenshot request you do NOT have to have this quality. I'm a newb so anything is fine.
I'm learning anyway. It does of course help, the better the quality of the base image, the beter the end result.
Do you set them up all way back against your rear border and then charge them forward?
It depends on the shot. If you want it natural deploy as natural. If it is staged, deploy in the manner you have in mind. That sounds a bit obtuse, you know what I mean ?
Do you stagger them?
Depends on what result you want. to achieve a roaring charge result with many units you would stagger the units. If you mean stagger the camera, then yes, you always take a sequence of shots. Like a photographer you take hundreds and then you select one.
I have posted requests before and received over 100 shots for ONE single shot that I wanted.
NOTE: You do not have to do that, just a few screens 5-6 is adequate.
Camera angle suggestions?
Also depends, the best camera angle is the one that gives you the best shot at that time. if you want panorama, go high and aim low. If you want extreme close up, go down to man level aim high as if you were looking from the round up on the object.
Hope that helps, fire away if you have any other questions.
If no one else has done by the end of this week, I'll have a shot at it.
Bit busy at the moment, though
NP mate. Thanks for the offer. I appreciate it. :2thumbsup:
_Tristan_
05-15-2007, 16:50
The following is the result that can be achieved, these are Crypel's screenshots.
NOTE: Those shots are SO PERFECT, I ISSUE A CHALLENGE to anyone to improve them.
[.
I can't believe these shots were taken in game...MY comp is not state of the art but it lets me play with almost everything on high and the result is nowhere near that... Those have been reworked, haven't they ? Please tell me they have... They look so much like some oil paintings...
Daveybaby
05-16-2007, 08:53
Yeah theyve been reworked afterwards in photoshop or somesuch. Still bloody stunning work though, both the original composition and the added effects are amazing.
If i had a high end rig i would have a go myself.
Thanks for the offer Dave.
They are all worked at different levels. The 1st two are least reworked.
That is the whole point. A) Excellent base screenshot. B) The quality of image editing.
To edit an image like the 3rd one will take an average person days or possibly even weeks. That's pure talent right there, and it probably took him very little time. I'd hazard a guess at 20 hours but it could even be 20 minutes if he worked on the concept first for many hours, then he applied the concept on this shot.
Art.
Durallan
05-18-2007, 13:23
I would but I don't have a widescreen monitor. Highest I can go is 1280x1024.
dummyaccount15
05-19-2007, 21:50
Greetings,
Long time lurker - first time poster. I joined the Total War saga a bit late with Shogun "War Lord Edition" being my first. I've enjoyed every Total War game (Vanilla) and expansion ever since.
Until reading this post, I'd never taken a single screenshot! I've decided to use this request as an excuse to start. I'll take any feedback that anyone can give. Most important right now are: Is my video card good enough? How do you get rid of the playback box in the movie player?
The link to the screenshots will be in my next post seeing as I can't post URL's yet...
dummyaccount15
05-19-2007, 21:56
Here are my efforts so far. (http://www.sendspace.com/file/4fl8n3) About half of them have obstructions and need to be cropped. I've set the angle of those shots to include a lot of extra unneeded sky so nothing is lost in editing.
-dummy
Hi mate unfortunately I have not been able to look at them even till today. Will post back when I have. THANKS very much for the shots!
Ars Moriendi
05-25-2007, 17:29
1.02 Movie Cam enabled (would be ideal but not required).
How do I do that ? I tried searching the forums and google for some pointers, but all I got was "-movie_cam" switch from RTW (tried it, didn't work) and cinematic editor tutorials (too complicated, all I want is some better angles for screenshots).
Well to do that you have to enable the movie cam. You can get much better shots with it. It takes a few hours to get usd to but after that it's the best thing about TW since Shogun (slight exageration). Caliban's basic tutorial is a good start if you want to use that. This is what cinedit can do:
Image courtesy of Inquisitor (.com)
https://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/ShahedK/MTW2%20General/ya20papist20bastard.jpg
5 Second movie with sound. (http://fs04n4.sendspace.com/dl/8d4e6a6aff1abac3206bf24fb8b6b5b1/46570d3e5eae9e33/y7nywi/Quickie.wmv) (<-link)
I've posted the following requests on .com and TWC, if anyone here wants to give it a shot:
Screenshot 1 DONE !
CAM:1.02 Movie Cam enabled.
GFX: MAX settings.
Banners: DISabled.
Terrain: South European map, Andalusia, Arid Spain type
Weather: Clear
Lens: Close range so you can see nice graphical details.
Time: Afternoon.
Set: Spainish Tercio Pikemen. NOT using swords, using pikes. Line of them advancing. Fighting Portuguese Dismounted Conquistadors
Heavy canon fire flying over their heads or landing closeby.Screenshot 2 DONE !
CAM:1.02 Movie Cam enabled.
GFX: MAX settings.
Banners: DISabled.
Terrain: SandyDesert
Weather: Clear
Lens: Extreme close range, only one man in focus.
Time: Afternoon.
Set: Bedouin Camel Archer shooting the bow towards the camera.Example: Screenshot by RavenVW (.com)
https://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/ShahedK/MTW2%20General/camel1.jpg
Screenshot 3
CAM:1.02 Movie Cam enabled.
GFX: MAX settings.
Banners: DISabled.
Terrain: Scottish Highlands
Weather: Cloudy
Lens: Close range, showing 2-6 men.
Time: Midday.
Set: Gothic Knights & Scottish Highland Nobles fighting together side by side as allies.Example: Screenshot by Bafka (.com)
https://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/ShahedK/MTW2%20General/91089431dw0.jpg
Screenshot 4 DONE !
CAM:1.02 Movie Cam enabled.
GFX: MAX settings.
Banners: DISabled.
Terrain: Black Forest.
Weather: Heavy Fog, Winter.
Lens: Close range, showing 2-6 men.
Time: Sunrise.
Set: Tsar’s Guard with armor upgrade (face masks etc) charging with Lances down. Preferably no enemy visible in screenshot.Example: Screenshot by MagyarMatt (.com)
https://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/ShahedK/MTW2%20General/C.jpg
Screenshot 5 DONE !
CAM:1.02 Movie Cam enabled.
GFX: MAX settings.
Banners: DISabled.
Terrain: Rocky Desert or SandyDesert
Weather: Clear
Lens: MediumRange, enough to see 2 or 3 FULL UNITS i.e 80 plus men visible .
Time: Afternoon.
Set: Papal States Crusader Army including Crusader Sargeants, Fanatics, led by Knights Hospitaller, and Knights Templar marching towards the camera.Screenshot 6 NOT NEEDED !
CAM:1.02 Movie Cam enabled.
GFX: MAX settings.
Banners: DISabled.
Terrain: Any, winter.
Weather: Clear.
Lens: Close range showing approx 6 men.
Time: Afternooon.
Set: Norse War Clerics in a city with buildings in the background fighting Dismounted Polish Knights.Example: Screenshot by Mortain (TWC)
https://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/ShahedK/MTW2%20General/cavedited5rk1.jpg
Many thanks in advance for your help if anyone is up to it !
:2thumbsup:
dummyaccount15
05-25-2007, 20:55
Hi mate unfortunately I have not been able to look at them even till today. Will post back when I have. THANKS very much for the shots!
Since posting those I've started using the movie cam. I should be able to bang out some better shots now.
Yeah theyve been reworked afterwards in photoshop or somesuch. Still bloody stunning work though, both the original composition and the added effects are amazing.
If i had a high end rig i would have a go myself.
Well it doesn't have to run well necessarily. As long as you can suffer through the poor frame rate you're likely to get, you should still be able to get amazing shots by maxing settings. The main difference is how much your in-game performance will suffer - the shots should come out about identical even if you are getting 3 fps, lol. It may be more difficult to position the camera really well though if your performance becomes too poor.
Also I noticed that some people are getting the pause logo on their shots. It's probably not even necessary to pause the game anymore to get good shots. I'd actually recommend playing with the fine-grain time controls: you can probably run the important part of a battle at 0.1 or so and have plenty of time to maneuver the camera while not having to constantly pause the battle either. That also might be a worthwhile working solution for people with cards that will bog down at max settings - if time is only moving at 0.1, the choppiness should be MUCH less noticeable since everything in the frame will move a lot less in the space of a frame.
Ars Moriendi
05-26-2007, 08:16
A high end computer is not required to take great screenshots - it doesn't really matter if it's crawling at 5 fps when maxed out on details, you're not making a movie just taking stills.
Khan's guard charging at sunrise :
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/8776/wkhan242gt3.jpg
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/1301/wkhan25gl8.jpg
https://img524.imageshack.us/img524/1720/wkhan26bk9.jpg
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/1731/wkhan17zu9.jpg
A few more from the same battle, just for fun :
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/3316/underneathcv2.jpg
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6808/coughcoughbf9.jpg
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/4881/fellofxs1.jpg
https://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6652/kneelxv3.jpg
(there was a funny screenshot thread once, maybe we should revive it ?)
Since discovering the cinematic editor I've been playing around with a brief replay and seeing what I can do with it. Perhaps some of the info will help aspiring screenshot takers. One thing is that if you change the config file to avi = 0 instead of avi = 1, the game will render tga screenshots instead of AVI video. It seems to do 30 per second, and takes longer to do them than an equal length of video, too. Not recommended for more than a few seconds at once, but if you have a specific place where you want the shot to come from, bounding a few seconds in the vicinity and letting the game take ~100 tga's is a great way to get a selection of shots to pick from. This is especially interesting if your camera track has some motion during those few seconds, as you'll get pics from the camera as it moves along.
I've also had success getting good screenshots by pulling them straight from ripped AVI video. The editor produces uncompressed AVI, meaning you get a sequence of still frames that are completely untouched and are essentially a screenshot each. You simply open up a video editor that lets you grab a frame (I've been using VirtualDub as it is free and easy), navigate through the movie until you see a frame you want, and grab it for your screenshot. I figured this is worth mentioning because some people might think they have to use the editor to line up a screenshot and take it using print screen, or simply might not have thought to take the pic from rendered video. In actuality any of the automated rendering options at our disposal are quite a bit more useful than manually taking screenshots, and the ability to have 100s of potential shots available in either case I mentioned above is really handy in finding the best possible shot.
Here are some shots I just snagged from a custom battle. Perhaps you can use them for request #4, Tsar's Guard charging (in specified conditions of course).
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/Tsar1.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/Tsar2.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/Tsar3.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/Tsar4.jpg
Here are some possibilities for the Bedouin Camel Archers shot requested. I personally like the 4th one the best. I tried a few more directly from the front, but they turned out like crap. I think it's because the pictures just look bad if you view something at an angle such that it appears noticeably shorter than it in fact is... in this case, a bow.
Also, note that I'm not shopping these at all - I figure you'll want to do that yourself if you decide to use one.
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/BCA1.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/BCA2.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/BCA3.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/BCA4.jpg
BEYOND COOL ! Excellent shots guys ! Thanks a lot !
Woking em as I type, literally.... it's going to be a long night.
BEYOND COOL ! Excellent shots guys ! Thanks a lot !
Woking em as I type, literally.... it's going to be a long night.
Glad you're enjoying 'em :smile:
While I'm here, can anyone give me a step-by-step on how to get gothic knights playable for Scotland and make them look like HRE still? There's more to it than just the EDU file, which is the only part I'm really familiar with. I'm sure it involves copying unit meshes and such around, but not sure exactly what I have to do. I think it's the easiest way to approach one of the above screenshot requests if I can just put both under my control as Scotland to get the shot(s) I want.
Hi Foz !
I think the easiest way is to load a custom battle on Scottish Highlands, choose either HRE or Scots as your own faction, deploy as close to your ally (the other faction) as possible and rush on over to them, then march overlapping them and mimick their moves. Give the enemy a similarly slow unit so hopefully you get in your position first. It is tricky because you may not get there first.
About the unit change, might be an idea ot learn how to do this anyway but for the screenshot I'd say you'll probably make quicker progress with a custom battle HRE + Scots as allies. I have'nt done that myself but can point you to this (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=79633) thread where I think I saw a mention of how to change factions for a unit. There was also a thread in the modding forum if I'm not mistaken. Whacker was also modding in some units for the Byzantines, I don't think he finished but was looking into it about a month back.
ninjahboy
05-30-2007, 11:51
hmmm maybe i should start using this, might be a fun lil thing to break out the photo shop again :P
Ars Moriendi
05-30-2007, 20:01
Conquistadors, Tercios and cannonballs... (19 screens)
https://img525.imageshack.us/img525/3521/tercio18yt9.jpg
https://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4743/tercio22zq0.jpg
https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7209/tercio862ox7.jpg
https://img402.imageshack.us/img402/8099/tercio67ua0.jpg
https://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2648/tercio43by2.jpg
https://img75.imageshack.us/img75/8435/tercio30hh8.jpg
https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/1999/tercio78xu3.jpg
https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/9578/tercio82ul9.jpg
https://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9539/tercio48zn9.jpg
https://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1200/tercio40wp7.jpg
https://img75.imageshack.us/img75/5116/tercio25ei8.jpg
https://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2522/tercio62yv9.jpg
https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/1504/tercio85lj2.jpg
https://img408.imageshack.us/img408/575/tercio65cj4.jpg
https://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5596/tercio32xg4.jpg
https://img101.imageshack.us/img101/6578/tercio101ei3.jpg
https://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4549/tercio13nv2.jpg
https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/1804/tercio902nx6.jpg
https://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6206/tercio35il5.jpg
and a few more just for fun (3):
https://img441.imageshack.us/img441/3531/headshotbo9.jpg
https://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9936/dancingav8.jpg
https://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4358/22conquistgt5.jpg
Question : how do I remove the fps / time display in Cinematic Editor ?
JEEEEEZ.......
Speechless... this is why I have been part of this forum for years.
Thank you very much. Appreciate it greatly. Those are absolutely STUNNING.
Those MUST go into the Cineditor screenshot thread in the main .com forum. TOTAL carnage.
BTW some of them are not showing up, just an FYI, maybe broken links.
Thanks again to you as well Foz !
In between making sigs for others I made one for myself from one of your earlier shots.
I'll also post this to the Broken Crescent mod forum for the public once I've managed to get it just right:
https://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/ShahedK/M2TW%20Signatures/tempsig5.jpg
If either of you want me to have a go at one for you I'll do it.
Might take me a while to get to it because I have a backlog, but I will if you want me to.
Kobal2fr
05-30-2007, 20:36
Wow. That tercio82ul9.jpg shot is straight up Warhammer Battle army book cover art :)
Nice work Ars Moriendi. Are those shopped? I see what appears to be sharpening in several pictures, and if I had one comment to make it would be that they are a bit over sharpened, enough that background trees look really weird in some of the shots. You may get some mileage out of the unsharp mask instead - it achieves a lot of the same visual effect, but without the edge whiting sharpening can sometimes cause.
As others have said, though, that's some very nice stuff!
Here are some shots you might want for your Papal States Army request. I wasn't sure exactly what you wanted though, so I understand if none suit. I also couldn't help but edit these - they were so drab that I had to do something about it, lol.
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/PS1.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/PS2.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/PS3.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/PS4.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/PS5.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/PS6.jpg
WOOHOOO !!! Awesome ! Totally awesome ! THANKS !
Only I JUST finished that sig, found a shot on my HD. Anyway looks like I'm going to have to do it again. LOL !
https://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/ShahedK/M2TW%20Signatures/GG_Sig1L1.jpg
Ars Moriendi
05-31-2007, 05:03
I'm glad you like them - uploading them to imageshack was a pain, took me ~2 hours of repeatedly trying only to get "connection reset" errors.
@Sinan :
"BTW some of them are not showing up, just an FYI, maybe broken links." - links are ok, I checked, probably some bandwidth limitation imposed by imageshack - try hitting refresh once or twice, you'll get served eventually.
"Those MUST go into the Cineditor screenshot thread " - you mean the new thread opened by Foz ? Repost there ?
"If either of you want me to have a go at one for you I'll do it." Thanks for the offer, Sinan, if I come upon a screenshot and an caption idea that suits me, I'll place an order :)
@Foz : it's unsharp mask that's been used, although lightly, and only on those shots were low pass was applied - just to bring back some of the lost edges in armor details. It looks bad indeed on the trees and bushes - on some spots I went as far as to manually blend some contours. Note that I don't use Photoshop (everyone's favorite it seems) but Corel Photopaint 10 - not by choice, really, it's just what I have and know to use.
BTW nice work on those crusaders -Y'know what I'd like to see from that ? if you could put them on the hill and take some shots with those long lines profiled against the sky, like they're just about to come over the top...
Request for help :
1. I'd like to see some other's people [video] section from cine ed config file - I don't completely grok what's in there, and I'm having some problems - very slow (8-12fps) and quality not noticeably better that in-game (where performance goes to ~30fps at max) - if I could diff the files, maybe find out what's overheating my video card :(
2. please, some way to disable the fps /time display ? ruined a lot of shots for me, and a lot of time trying to get it out of camera fov, crop it or clone it out ... it will reduce 30% of the time required for these screenshots.
Thanks for all that time you spent. Really appreciate it !
There is a cinedit screenshots thread at the .com, excellent pics there:
http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/14103/Cinematic-Editor-Screenshots-only?page=40
They also have a calendar competition. TWC has a picture of the week competition
Well I have NEVER used unsharp mask before today, nor high pass. I love being a n00b, it's FUN. So that's something I learnt. I think your shots look great though. That is a great idea for the Cruaders. That will look amazing, it could even make a great movie clip. *ahem* ... now back to our normal programming. BTW I should emphasise that I really prefer completely unedited shots. I don't mind at all if you edit them but Í still love an orginal copy to play with. I ABSOLUTELY love the shots anyway so NO complaints anyway ! :2thumbsup:
Here is my complete cined.cfg:
[audio]
disabled = true
#-------------------------------------------
[camera]
campaign_map_smoothing = 1
default_in_battle = default
fov = 75
move = 30
restrict = 0
rotate = 10
#-------------------------------------------
[controls]
campaign_scroll_max_zoom = 30
campaign_scroll_min_zoom = 30
keyset = 0
minimal_ui = 1
#-------------------------------------------
[game]
morale = 0
blind_advisor = 0
campaign_map_game_speed = 15
campaign_map_speed_up = 0
disable_arrow_markers = 0
english = 0
event_cutscenes = 0
fatigue = 1
first_time_play = 1
fog_of_war = 1
infinite_missiles = 1
label_characters = 0
label_settlements = 1
limited_ammo = 1
micromanage_all_settlements = 0
mute_advisor = 1
no_campaign_battle_time_limit = 1
supply = 1
unit_size = 300
unlimited_men_on_battlefield = 1
disable_events = 1
#-------------------------------------------
[misc]
always_logfile = 0
chat_msg_duration = 10000
use_quickchat = 0
tv_banner_mode = 1
obstacle_cam = false
#-------------------------------------------
[video]
detailed_unit_shadows = 0
glints = 0
gloss_mapping = 0
reflections = 0
smoke = 0
splashes = 0
unit_shaders = 0
vegetation = 1
shadows = 0
unit_detail = medium
building_detail = low
terrain_quality = low
effect_quality = low
vegetation_quality = low
depth_shadows_resolution = 1
texture_filtering = 1
bloom = 0
anisotropic_level = 4
tga_aspect = 1.33333
tga_input_scale = 1
tga_width = 5000
widescreen = 0
show_banners = 1
windowed = 1
tga_reserve_space = 0
anti_alias_mode = off
battle_32_bit = 1
battle_resolution = 1280 720
campaign_32_bit = 1
campaign_resolution = 1280 720
cloud_transitions = 1
desync_animations = 1
graphics_adapter = 0
multi_texture = 1
no_background_fmv = 1
safe_refresh = 1
stencil_shadows = 1
subtitles = 0
triple_buffer = 0
ui_32_bit = 0
movies = 0
#-------------------------------------------
[replay]
play = 1
file = D:\Games\Medieval II Total War\Replays\F@W1.rpy
camera = camera\
show_battle_ui = 0
info = 0
#-------------------------------------------
[ai]
debug = 0
disable_battle_map_pathfinding = 0
no_battle_ai_update = 0
#-------------------------------------------
[features]
editor = true
mod = mods\crusades
#-------------------------------------------
[capture_tga]
enable = 0
fps = 30
dir = C:\video_capture\
#-------------------------------------------
[log]
to = temp\replay.log.txt
level = * warn
#-------------------------------------------
[debug]
window = 1
world_rnd_init = 1
world_rnd_value = -221724412
#-------------------------------------------
[core]
assert_ignore_always = 1
#-------------------------------------------
[io]
file_first=true
#-------------------------------------------
[debug_display]
no_unit_cull = true
#-------------------------------------------
[cine]
show = 1
There is no way that I know of to disable the counter, that is also the general consensus. Must be a way but no one in the public knows it. Like I said though for me there's defintely no need. In Photoshop I believe you can automate that process, I don't know how to yet.
Hey ! Did you notice my sig ? All those Khan's Guards are going into sigs eventually.
Sinan: I'll see what I can get you as far as the Scotland/HRE screenshot request goes. I tried a few times already and was unable to get in position. Would you believe the game actually started me halfway down a cliff, with the other two factions on top of the plateau? Needless to say I arrived... shall we say, late?
Ars Moriendi: the best solution to all your troubles is to setup Cin-Ed with one config for looking around and setting up camera tracks, and one for rendering cameras to video (AVI in this case). Then your editing configuration gets really low settings to keep frame rate up, and all you do in there is setup a camera track and change the bounds of what part of the replay the game will render. Then once you establish a camera, you simply run the rendering config which turns your camera into an AVI of game footage in whatever timeframe you specified (w/ max game settings, I might add). I realize that all might sound a bit crazy right now... so if it does, then hop on over to the Cin-Ed Guide (http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/16245/t/Cinematic-Editor-Tutorial.html) Caliban has helpfully created. It explains how to setup the two different configs, how to use the editor, a whole bunch of things really. Just note that you'll need ~1.5 GB free space for every 5 seconds of game footage you want to render... but if you have a sharp eye, you can easily limit it so it doesn't get out of control. Any given screenshot would only require about 2 sec to make sure you got it though, so you could even get by on a few hundred MB free space if you were careful about it.
The best part is that when the editor is in render mode, it doesn't display the numbers at all: just clean clear screenshots right to video. I've actually been grabbing video tracks (sometimes up to a minute) out of a given replay, and scrolling through it with a free video editing program to find frames to pull out as screenshots. It's actually really useful, and my recommended method.
For an example, look at the crusader shots I have earlier. The camera for that replay actually pans back and forth across the army several times, which I captured entirely to video. The screenshots are just particular stills that I liked from somewhere in all that footage. In case I'm not being clear enough, the camera doesn't follow what your camera did when you played it: you actually get to setup a camera to move automatically from point to point any way you want inside the entire replay. I can delve more into that topic if anyone likes, but for now I figure I'll leave you to get a bit better acquainted with your new toy, Ars Moriendi.:2thumbsup:
If you take any screenshots you like that aren't for requests, go ahead and post 'em in the new Cinematic Editor Screenshots Thread that I've started up. Hopefully some more people will realize how amazing this thing is and post some of their own shots too: I'd like to see a decent gallery in time. :smile:
Ars Moriendi
05-31-2007, 16:24
@Foz : Thanks for the pointers. I've already read Caliban's tutorial and his "dual cfg setup" - it's his render.cfg [video] section that I'm using now, with little modifications of my own. I didn't wanted to get into setting camera tracks and rendering, it seemed to complicated for my needs, but I'll give it a try now that you said it works so well.
Oh, and HDD space no problem, I've got about half a terabyte free [/bragging]
--------------------------------
Thanks for all that time you spent. Really appreciate it !
You're welcome. If it's anyone that should be giving thanks it's me, since if it weren't for you advertising this CineEd thing on these threads, I never would've bothered to learn to use it - I'm lazy and I'd rather play the game than read documentation.
There is a cinedit screenshots thread at the .com, excellent pics there:
http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/14103/Cinematic-Editor-Screenshots-only?page=40
Uh, so it's on another forum... I'll consider registering there, but , since the .org is already eating up some of my playtime it might not happen too soon. I'll check the artwork there, though, what I've seen so far looks good indeed.
Here is my complete cined.cfg:
That's Caliban's cine_ed.cfg, isn't it ? Hope you're not taking shots with that one, since it has most quality settings off.
There is no way that I know of to disable the counter, that is also the general consensus. Must be a way but no one in the public knows it.
That's really bad news.
Hey ! Did you notice my sig ? All those Khan's Guards are going into sigs eventually.
Yep, I noticed it, but refrained from praising it because that would be sort of self-promotion :beam:
EDIT : Forgot about this : Sinan, if there's one of my shots that you really need to have the untouched version, name it and you'll get it ; but please don't ask me to re-upload them all - for some reason ImageShack is slow as a friday afternoon and I don't wanna spend another two hours clicking the "retry" button again. MORE : I didn't snapped only 20 shots in that battle, but 100+. Any idea, post and I'll review them for something that fits your purpose better.
Foz, thanks !
Moriendi, HAHA ! Well I changed it temporarily now for a more modern version of cavalry!. Will change it back soon. Yep that's calib's cfg, I'm not taking many screens, my GFX card is too low spec-ed for this and I would'nt be satisfied with the results.
How's the weeeeeeeek END !!!???
So !!! anyone up for some artwork ? If so Kobal has an extremely precise and rather TOUGH though achievable request...
This one will probably be quite hard to do (or maybe not, I don't have enough disk space to work with the Cinematic Editor or even FRAPS so... I have not one clue, really. Like that's ever stopped me from talking) but here's one shot I'd like.
Picture this : close up on a French lancer or noble knight, dismounted during his charge on a pikewall (maybe fully upgraded Tercio ?) in that head-over-heels move knights sometimes do on impact, with the shot taken when he's halfway off his saddle.
Extra points if you can get frame/angle it in a way that looks like he's going to fly right into another pike.
Foz that's a cool sig ! Good work !
BTW if anyone does this shot, you can post it in the cinematic screenshots thread. Could be a nice addition to that thread.
Foz that's a cool sig ! Good work !
Thanks. I actually took an entire screenshot and just forced it to the appropriate size. Amazingly, the stretching isn't very noticeable at all - much less than I initially thought it would be.
In other news, what follows is the only usable screenshot I've managed to get for that request so far. And by usable I mean I was able to get men from both units in it, and got the ones in main focus to at least face the camera. Would you believe they've been turning their backs, facing all different ways, just trying like hell to avoid having a nice picture taken. I realize it's not exactly a great pic, but I wanted to post it anyway as more of an excuse to tell the story than anything :smile:
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/ScotlandHRE.jpg
Hopefully I can come up with something better soon.
LOL ! Yeah I know exactly what you mean. That is a hard request, specially to get them fighting together. That is a good shot though, only their disdain for each other is quite palpable, LOL. Look at the GK on the left he does'nt wanna see anything of the Scots!
Did you try rendering any video yet ? I think with your rig it would be beautiful. Takes forever to make a good video though.
Hey hang on Foz.
I forgot to post this earlier but I (finally) got a reply on my request thread at the TWC.
These were posted by yaelthecruel:
https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w253/yaelthecruel/5.jpg
https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w253/yaelthecruel/4.jpg
https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w253/yaelthecruel/3.jpg
https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w253/yaelthecruel/2.jpg
https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w253/yaelthecruel/1.jpg
This was posted by bdotward
https://img502.imageshack.us/img502/4554/gothichighlandct8.jpg
I could work with one of these if you don't want to go any further. If you do want to try the shot anyway, that's cool. It is a great idea, 2 of the mean 2 handers fighting side by side. It will make a great shot. It's upto you but I can already work with this. It's not ultimate fantastic quality and I think yael just started with the cinedit, but I can work with it easily.
Yeah go ahead and work on those if you like, I got frustrated and moved on to other things.
Speaking of those other things, that request about the guy getting unhorsed sounded like a ton of fun, so I set out to do that. 3 Shots of it happening:
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/KnightsVTercio4.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/KnightsVTercio5.jpg
http://www.goldeneaglecomics.com/pictures/KnightsVTercio6.jpg
I especially like the horse behind the unseated guy rearing up in the 3rd shot.
If those don't fit the bill, I can go back and get a shot with him more on the horse, but it might look too much like he's actually riding it - the change in posture was rather abrupt, and the shot with him parallel to the ground was the first one where you could really tell he was unhorsed for sure.
As for rendered video, I'm rendering truckloads of it, lol - I'm just only posting stills from among all that video. I don't have the ambition yet to go edit together any kind of release-worthy product...
They fit the bill dude. Case closed with a frekin sledgehammer. Thanks !
I think kobal wanted the guy's ass more up in the air, like you know looking utterly ridiculous, doggy style but IMO those are great.
Awesome quality, awesome shots. Can I ask what edits you added ?
They fit the bill dude. Case closed with a frekin sledgehammer. Thanks !
I think kobal wanted the guy's ass more up in the air, like you know looking utterly ridiculous, doggy style but IMO those are great.
Awesome quality, awesome shots. Can I ask what edits you added ?
Sure! First off, I always check brightness/contrast, color balance, and levels. In this case both auto color balance and auto levels would have removed the blue color cast from the shot, so I opted not to use those as it looks really nice blue-ish. Brightness/contrast optimization alone usually helps game screenshots a ton though, which was the case here.
Then I usually bump the saturation up some, as most shots can benefit from that - it makes colors more colorful. It's pretty subjective, but you'll definitely know if you push it too far, oversaturated pics from this game look really bad.
Barring any other obvious changes, it's then on to sharpening. I started out just using the built-in unsharp filter, but have since switched to layer-based approaches (using high pass filter as a central factor), as such methods give cleaner and more easily controlled results, not to mention eliminating most artifacts that arise from simply running sharp-type filters on the base image (specifically, the whiting common to filter-based sharpening, and some of the graininess it can cause as well).
A simple example is to duplicate the image layer, and set it to "overlay" mode. From there run a high pass filter on the copied layer. You'll want to play with the pixel width of the high pass filter until you find the best looking result - usually something between 1.0 and 3.0. Then... you're done! A high-passed copy of the original picture, when used as an overlay, ends up giving a selective sharpening effect that is noticeably superior to anything you can get with normal filters. I've been sometimes doing stuff more complicated than that, but it's not strictly necessary so I'll spare everyone the long and detailed explanation. The benefits of more complicated methods are slim anyway, especially compared to the large benefit gained by using a layered method instead of a sharpening filter in the first place.
Excellent Foz. Thanks very much. That's very helpful. Really appreciate it ! I've also read you post on how to use cinedit without having a high end system. I did'nt actually try that so I will. I have to reinstall M2 to try it. I still have like +-10 sigs to do, If it's not here, it's for the Broken Crescent mod. I have'nt actually SEEN the game for at least 10 days. I don't even remember the last time I played. LOL. Anyway this is lot of fun and I'm learning a lot. It's challenging as well (lot more than M2 AI anyway). Thanks a lot for the help again. I hope I can reinstall and try again soon. I did take shots using cinedit and the reder.cfg but hmm I don't remember them being any good. Anyway I'll have to check again.
Foz (or anyone else) do you have time for a shot of Timurid (Mongol) Mounted Heavy Archers, close up showing 2 to 4 men in detail, any pose, shooting, walking etc, does'nt matter, any terrain, any weather, cinedit though ? if not it's no problem, I have something I can use but I could use better if it's available.
You've been a great help. Thanks !
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