TRAILER COLLABORATION

Alright, this is going to be straight to the point - I think it's long past due that we organize and work together on this.

There are 2 PR goals as I see for the future, and those are to create a very appeal-able and exciting trailer and create a plan to spread around Xonotic as much as possible to the "press." This thread is going to discuss primarily the trailer, and I will create a secondary thread later on to discuss PR and our future with getting Xonotic out to the masses.

Introduction

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Perhaps the most important thing we need at the moment is a trailer that has good production quality and a lot of effort put into it. Currently there are several trailers which have been made in the past, but many of these are honestly of very poor quality or they are poorly thought out. Also they're all basically too outdated to even consider, so it's time for a new trailer that is plotted out.

Just quickly these are a few ground rules: This video is not intended to be a release video per se, but more just a teaser and eye-catcher for players. DO NOT MENTION ANY DATE OR RELEASE NUMBER, that way the trailer is future-proof and we can continue to use it for a while to come if need be. Of course we may want to do a new one eventually, but generally it should just be as an advertisement for the project as a whole. Another thing is that we should probably avoid showing the models too much if they may be updated by nifrek for example... I'm not totally sure what we should do here, i'll let you guys decide what player models and such we should use.


How it should be done

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K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple stupid): A good trailer is only a couple minutes long while still showing some gameplay and exploring the features of the game. We should come up with a theoretical time limit for the trailer, pick a song, and after that set up a timeline of events/features we want to show throughout the video which convey the future of Xonotic clearly.. Finally we can gather the demos and record the footage we want and put it all together with the best editing we can afford (lolol).

Something which might be helpful would be to look at other game trailers as examples... so that could be an early start for this thread.

Time: Keep it around 2 minutes long... a bit shorter or a bit longer is good too, but: too short and people forget about it, too long and people get bored with it. Find a happy medium.

Song: We should probably select the song before we go creating the timeline in detail - of course you can still suggest much of it anyway even before the song... regarding license and such, I'm not entirely sure about the legal requirements for the trailer if it is official, so it's probably better safe than sorry to go with a GPL song or in the least we need to contact the artist of the song to get permission to use it in the trailer. So I would basically limit the suggestions to something by, for example, chooksta or mickrip or unfa or nifrek or Sc0rp or any of the other very talented composers in the community who produce GPL music.

Ideally the musician and producer of the video should work together throughout all stages, so if we can find the volunteers for that... that would be absolutely fantastic.

As for the events, i'll have to leave that totally up to you guys... A few suggestions I saw earlier were having a ~10 second long intro with logo, then some information about the game, then cut to action... Gameplay such as CTF flag capture, some airshots with grenadelauncher, a few examples of weaponplay like electro combo and lasering or crylink or other such things, a race match, etc etc... Basically we want to give examples of what makes the game fast and fun. Plus we should also show some features like our hud setup system (VERY briefly, if at all) and also vehicles if we can. Of course, figuring out how we should display that information is up to you guys. Finally end the video with project information (email for the team, IRC, website, etc etc etc) that goes by quickly. Keep the credits to a minimum, I know you editors like to brag

Speaking of editors... We should probably pick just one person to handle the editing and recording of footage, but that would be a mighty big role. Just two things.. First, we're on a timeline so don't commit to this unless you're sure you can do it. A certain few editors we all know NEVER can be reliable *cough kojn cough*. Second, it would definitely help if you're actually skilled at this I know kojn/fisume/PCLizard are quite skilled in producing good video quality, but we should just make sure we go for the best possible producer who can dedicate themselves to this.


Recording and capturing footage

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Now... THIS is something EVERYONE needs to pay attention to... There are three parts to this, especially concerning the producer of the video.

1. Demos: Part one of capturing good footage is making sure that the demos are actually usable to the producer. Most of these demos will be staged as we simply need what is found in the timeline, so once we come up with the timeline we can record the demos... Now, as for the actual recording: There are some tricks you can do which make the demos far more powerful in the hands of a producer, and it stops them from being limited.. for example, turn off entity culling on the server you record the demos on. This way, the client ALWAYS gets the position of all other players and items, so they don't e.g. disappear behind walls. Normally this restricts producers and they have to work around this, but if we stage the demos from our own server we can control it. Finally, all clients that participate in the recording need to have at least decent connections... We want to avoid players skipping around on screen, so especially try and find players/servers where the players get ~50 ping. If you go into first person mode, we REALLY need it to be as smooth as possible.
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2. Recording: After the demos are completed, recording will be the next difficult challenge.. unfortunately this is basically entirely up to the producer, as the files will be too large to work with remotely. (I'll talk about this next) - There's some tricks you should know about capturing the video..... NEVER EVER EVER JUST USE THE SPECTATOR CAM TO RECORD. It is not smooth, and looks terribly unprofessional. There ARE actually smooth cameras (and chase cameras) you can use to record with, and you can control them via cvars. Basically you just need to go for the smoothest and cleanest look possible.
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3. Configuration: Simply choosing ultimate configuration isn't good enough here, there are even more things you can do to make the game look amazing. Remember, it's timestep recording anyway, so it's not as if you have to worry about playing with low FPS Though.. speaking of FPS... it's generally recommended to record at a high FPS (~50) and use the built in engine motionblur method (which can be tweaked to literally have the same results as recording at e.g. ~360fps).. This way it makes the game extremely smooth and clean, unlike the default which is 25fps. Also, the video format should be raw (.avi) to ensure the best quality... I'm not totally sure about what resolution to do, but 1080p probably is what we should go for if it's not too high.
   

Along the lines of recording and configuration, i'll provide configs later with better looking settings and such (as well as the camera information) so that we can actually do some good recordings.


Closing

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Finally I should just say that if we actually do manage to pull this off, i'm sure this could be the best way to gather attention to the game.. plus it would definitely be the best trailer Nexuiz/Xonotic has ever had If it works out, we can continue to do this in the future as well for new videos. Of course... that all depends on you, so don't let us down eh?


Pretty sure that's everything I needed to say... thanks, looking forward to your comments and suggestions.

0-o , sounds good , sure , ild love to give the tune side a go.

t

:^

Also, the video format should be raw (.avi) to ensure the best quality... I'm not totally sure about what resolution to do, but 1080p probably is what we should go for if it's not too high.

H.264, CBR Bitrate Encoding (~150-200 Bitrate [mbps]) for video,
AAC 320kbps for audio should work, that's what I lately use for projects.

I can help w/ demo-creating and voiceovers (if needed).

I have only some general thoughts to give for the planning stage: try to take a step back and observe the game from a neutral point of view. Then try to point out as many things about the game currently that would sway YOU when you would see the trailer.
What would be the WOW-factor that would make YOU look for the download link in the YouTube description?

I don't think stuff like the configurable HUD has a place in the trailer to begin with. That is the cool geek stuff that will make a player stay. It's NOT (in general) what would make them get the game in the first place, THAT is what showing off the awesome fast competitive and fun gameplay in different game modes needs to do, paired with fantastic visuals of course.

Antibody as voice-over would be a good move. Or at least another English speaking by nature member of the community.

That is all.

Except this: I do not think that using computer controlled players is a good idea. Unless it is a small clip to say "you can play against bots too!"). I am sure I am not the only one who hates seeing videos full of bot matches, when the ones who actually play them on a regular basis are a minority. Which makes you wonder if you should include that in the first place. So in short: no bot matches in the trailer :p

And if the final trailer shows Mirio talking over HUD configuration footage while preparing for a bot match, that is fine too

I could help recording demos for the trailer. If I set effects to "low", I can play with about 350 fps So there is enough space for special effects etc.

I'm a minsta player, but nobody in Xonotic now does that, so I think I can best record demos of the vehicles, I'm pretty good with them (all captimerecords in tZorks vehicle test server are mine ).

I only fucked up some things, so I think I first need to delete all my Xonotic versions of my computer (I have downloaded it over 5 times), and then download everything new, but then I can record in very good quality.

So I started today with making some cinematics for my project. Here you can see a short preview of how a space scene is going to look (probably):

That could be an awesome way to start off a teaser Fisume, Nice work

Pardon moi, but where are those graphics from? Did you render it from a 3d scene, or is it some kind of collage? I don't quite understand.

Pardon moi, but where are those graphics from? Did you render it from a 3d scene, or is it some kind of collage? I don't quite understand.

I took a Still and tried to fake a 3D Scene inside After Effects by different techniques. Then I added in the end some eye candy to it.

Could we use the same idea like Gears of War (1) teaser had? Very peaceful and calm music, while the actual action is brutal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccWrbGEFgI8

This is just a suggestion.

I think we should use some of the game's soundtrack or one of the many tracks that have been uploaded on here as that would give the viewer a better impression on what the game is actually like. There's been quite a few tracks including one that Kay recently did that I think would work well for a trailer.

Fisume: well, just amazing.

I could actually try to make something, but I am working on my own project at the moment so I really don't have the time unfortunately.

On the other hand..if it only needs to be 2 minutes, might not be that much effort to be honest.

Samual, next time your on IRC, can you give me the settings for the inbuilt motion blur..you said in your post with some tweaking it can look the same as if it's been recorded at 360fps? If so I want to try it out, because I think 400fps is what is causing errors in my video editing software a lot of the time..

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By the way, i'd suggest just giving video editors a deadline/timeline..1/2 weeks isn't enough, a month is better. Then just let whoever made video's submit them for then.

I can hep with the music and stuff.

My idea is to put variations on the menu track (orchestra, playing it on different instruments, alternating dynamics to match the slo-mo parts, and then play it normally on the Xonotic logo).

Now, as for the actual recording: There are some tricks you can do which make the demos far more powerful in the hands of a producer, and it stops them from being limited.. for example, turn off entity culling on the server you record the demos on.

Just a question - sorry I am totally clueless. Entity culling should be turned off server side, if I am not mistaken (would not make sense to me otherwise) - how can I make sure this is turned off? Also, is it turned off on srv02.xonotic.org?

Also, if stuff like melodical piano parts are needed like in http://soundcloud.com/halogene/title-not-included at 1:10 or 3:55 or similar to what is in fisume's video bit, I could help out with that if you want me to. Just drop me a line.

I can give you my voice.

Sorry for the delayed reply everyone, been busy/putting it off a bit --

So as to go with kojns suggestion (which is definitely a good point), i'm going to declare a deadline of July 9th for the trailer to be finished... Gives us about four weeks to work on it, I figure if we work together this is enough time to perfect an eye-catching trailer of sorts.


Music

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Please start suggesting the tunes we want to use. fisume for example was confused and didn't see any specific song to use or any suggestions at all really, and because of this he wants to just go ahead and use his own mix of music for it. Problem is, if you don't use free/gpl music, we cannot sponsor it on the main page without permission from the artists. Even if we really love the trailer it just can't happen i'm pretty sure.

As for the selections we can use... Personally i'm greatly in favor of using some remix of the title theme (the one which plays when you open the menu) -- Who made that song originally? If we can get in contact with them that would make it easier. If not we can always pick from some music thread, like seen here and here... Or suggest something you think would fit.


Settings

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As promised earlier, I shall talk a bit about the cvars and such for recording...

First, to disable entity hiding, do sv_cullentities_trace 0 as well as sv_cullentities_pvs 0 - ON THE SERVER ONLY. I will make sure the pickup server has this disabled soon... but only for recording. Specifically you should disable it for staged fights and pickup matches so that we can record matches and use those in the video. Quick note about this: Disabling it will incredibly raise the size of demos. The more the players/larger the maps, the more data will be saved to the demo. A 20 minute match with 10 people would be massive compared to normal demos.

Second, recording settings... It is recommended you use the built in motionblur for recording, so you don't have to record at e.g. 400fps, but you can still get the exact same effect

Code:

cl_capturevideo_fps 50 // capture fps to file -- higher looks smoother
cl_capturevideo_framestep 5 // framestep is a feature which allows motionblur to fake having higher FPS, making it look better without SAVING so many frames... You could raise this value to make the blur even smoother, as this is only 250fps effectively. (It is multiplied, every 5 frames 1 frame is saved to video)
r_motionblur 0.4 // 0.4 is just an example value, find what works best for you.
r_motionblur_bmin 1 // this makes it non-dependent on velocity, some people would want this for recording
r_motionblur_randomize 0 // this disables a feature used to avoid excess ghosting -- shouldn't be a problem for a video.

That should better explain how to handle that when recording... And of course there are other camera features, for example please experiment around with camera_ (hit tab in console) feature, as that can go around the map easily and nicely for videos.


Final notes

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Just want to say a few thoughts: It probably is a better idea to not have a voice over for this actually, I don't really see how that could be done in a nice way for a trailer like this... BTW, about the music style, a slow paced song with much action COULD work, but would require EXTREMELY good editing -- a more direct approach would probably be better I think. Finally, if you're gonna do a piano song.. get a real piano player please and not a machine ;D (I've been playing 20 years, so works for me.)


Thanks everyone, and keep working at it.

BTW, about the music style, a slow paced song with much action COULD work, but would require EXTREMELY good editing -- a more direct approach would probably be better I think. Finally, if you're gonna do a piano song.. get a real piano player please and not a machine ;D (I've been playing 20 years, so works for me.)

What about something along the line of the first 90 seconds of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG1q1EHyhvc
The intro would perfectly fit with the fisume's earth scene.
If you guys like it, just let me know. I personally know the author so it would not be a big deal to adapt it, and have a chance to make it opensource.

BTW, I will come up (hopefully in few days) with an ingame music contribution proposal of the same artist (Professor Kliq).

BTW, about the music style, a slow paced song with much action COULD work, but would require EXTREMELY good editing -- a more direct approach would probably be better I think. Finally, if you're gonna do a piano song.. get a real piano player please and not a machine ;D (I've been playing 20 years, so works for me.)

What about something along the line of the first 90 seconds of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG1q1EHyhvc
The intro would perfectly fit with the fisume's earth scene.
If you guys like it, just let me know. I personally know the author so it would not be a big deal to adapt it, and have a chance to make it opensource.

BTW, I will come up (hopefully in few days) with an ingame music contribution proposal of the same artist (Professor Kliq).

We actually did try talking to Professor Kliq before several months ago when we originally explored that idea, but I couldn't get a hold of him at all -- are you in contact with him currently? That song could work, of course, but it will definitely require artists permission first.

Why can't you put it on the front page? It's not as if your doing any kind of infringment surely, the game is free, and your not selling it, so I can't see the problem, it's the same as someone making a music video for a website, using video clips and music from a well known group.

We actually did try talking to Professor Kliq before several months ago when we originally explored that idea, but I couldn't get a hold of him at all -- are you in contact with him currently?

I am.
He's finishing a demo track specifically done for Xonotic.
I will let you know when done for feedbacks.

That song could work, of course, but it will definitely require artists permission first.

Permission is a detail, since Pf Kliq is highly willing to contribute to Xonotic.
I guess the biggest challenge would be to ensure that none sample used in this track is copyrighted.

I can help with the music composition & recording (should be epic!)

I'm working on something, but the best I can do is 720p quality as I only have the new version on this pc, and monitor can only go upto that so it'll have to do for now.

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Scrap that, I'll do it on the downstairs pc instead.