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Machinima Possibilities - Can GS do this?
#58135
10/27/05 09:41
10/27/05 09:41
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5
Timlon
OP
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5
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Hi, I am considering GS for use in my hobby of "film" making using realtime game engines. To be able to utilise GS for this I need to be able to do the following things within GS: 1. Pause and save a screenshot without the engine thinking time has passed and making up for lost time (tweenings) - even better still, to be able to make the engine update without performing any "tweening" and such like OR for me to be able to tell the engine how much time has passed. - in other words I need the engine to be able to switch between being time driven and being frame driven 2. change the aspect ratio of the camera I have tried other engines only to find they are unable to do what I want as they are (quite rightly so since they are game engines after all) tied into updating by time passed to overcome lag. If anyone can answer this / point me to who can, I would be very appreciative  Thank you. Timlon.
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Re: Machinima Possibilities - Can GS do this?
[Re: Timlon]
#58136
10/27/05 10:02
10/27/05 10:02
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
ulillillia
Senior Expert
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Senior Expert
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
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Quote:
Hi,
I am considering GS for use in my hobby of "film" making using realtime game engines. To be able to utilise GS for this I need to be able to do the following things within GS:
1. Pause and save a screenshot without the engine thinking time has passed and making up for lost time (tweenings) - even better still, to be able to make the engine update without performing any "tweening" and such like OR for me to be able to tell the engine how much time has passed. - in other words I need the engine to be able to switch between being time driven and being frame driven
You can set the position of an object directly using my.x = 52; in a script. Yes, you can take screenshots as well then stitch them together to form a movie. If you add "*time" in the script, then the time passed will use "tweening", but if you add to the vector without using the *time at the end, you can set the position directly (and do a million frames per second if you wanted that way). If you need help, the community is always available plus the manual helps explain some of the stuff.
Quote:
2. change the aspect ratio of the camera
Not sure, but I believe you can. Someone ran into an issue where the 1280x1024 resolution (5:4 aspect ratio) was causing distortion issues compared to the normal 4:3 ratio used. This, however, only stretches it, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure out a way to get the standard 16:9 aspect ratio. I don't know how to do it myself though.
Quote:
I have tried other engines only to find they are unable to do what I want as they are (quite rightly so since they are game engines after all) tied into updating by time passed to overcome lag.
If anyone can answer this / point me to who can, I would be very appreciative
Thank you.
Timlon.
I have intentions on making movies myself, mainly to reproduce some of my over 250 dreams I have. You can certainly make animations (videos). You'll need a freeware program called Virtual Dub to stitch your movie together though from the bitmap images used.
Edit: try downloading the free trial version and see how 3DGS is for you. The link to it is at the top of the downloads page. The downloads page is found in the bunch of links at the bottom of this page.
Last edited by ulillillia; 10/27/05 10:03.
"You level up the fastest and easiest if you do things at your own level and no higher or lower" - useful tip
My 2D game - release on Jun 13th; My tutorials
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Re: Machinima Possibilities - Can GS do this?
[Re: ulillillia]
#58137
10/27/05 10:50
10/27/05 10:50
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5
Timlon
OP
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5
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ulillillia - thank you very much for taking the time to respond, much appreciated The ability to use or not use tweening is perfect Does this apply to the animation also? As in, if I have say a character walking along without tweening applied to his movement - can I do the same for his animation also? Thanks again ulillillia
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Re: Machinima Possibilities - Can GS do this?
[Re: Timlon]
#58138
10/27/05 11:02
10/27/05 11:02
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
ulillillia
Senior Expert
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Senior Expert
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
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Quote:
ulillillia - thank you very much for taking the time to respond, much appreciated
The ability to use or not use tweening is perfect Does this apply to the animation also? As in, if I have say a character walking along without tweening applied to his movement - can I do the same for his animation also?
Thanks again ulillillia
Tweening, assuming that's where you have a frame "between" another frame from averaging the two frames together, sort of like converting my best 2D animation from 10 frames per second to 20 frames per second, you can use it if you want or you can use a "hard" frame rate where everything moved based strictly on that frame rate only (if you want, say, 30 frames per second, typical for movies (sometimes 60), just change the position of the objects based only on 30 frames per second and avoid multiplying by time. I know the tricks to making animations, including how to turn 2D into 3D without triginometry.
If you build your map (scene) where 16 quants (coordinate units) is one foot, if you want to move 100 feet per second (about 68 mph), and you want 30 frames per second, just do the math.
100 feet per second is 1600 quants per second. At 30 frames per second, you'll move 53 1/3 quants per frame. For this, you'd have my.x += 53.333; in your script. After all positions are processed for all objects, just execute a screenshot in the script then update the positions and get another screenshot. Not much to it. Need help with most of the math, I can help with that.
"You level up the fastest and easiest if you do things at your own level and no higher or lower" - useful tip
My 2D game - release on Jun 13th; My tutorials
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Re: Machinima Possibilities - Can GS do this?
[Re: Timlon]
#58140
10/27/05 11:08
10/27/05 11:08
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
ulillillia
Senior Expert
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Senior Expert
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
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Not directly by you acting it out. You could write DLLs to make use of those sensor equipment pieces to check for positioning of the actors and place the models into the scene, but that's the best you can do if you, yourself, want to act it out.
You can animate models you create with 3DGS as well, and position them as needed. If you're making a movie to later become, say an AVI file, you can throw in a lot of details (even though the engine may render 5 fps, just setting the positions directly and taking screenshots from that, you can easily get 60 fps or more. I made a sample of such a case from my old, abandoned project, but the file size is extremely large. I have another one, only 300,000 bytes or so that's much more worth it (download size though).
"You level up the fastest and easiest if you do things at your own level and no higher or lower" - useful tip
My 2D game - release on Jun 13th; My tutorials
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Re: Machinima Possibilities - Can GS do this?
[Re: Timlon]
#58142
10/27/05 11:12
10/27/05 11:12
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
ulillillia
Senior Expert
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Senior Expert
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
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Yep, you can update the animation frames. Just use something like my.frame = run4; in the script for the 4th frame of the run animation. I'm not familiar with character animation, but the manual (and the community) will help you with that.
If there's one way to do it, there's always another.
Why not just try downloading the free 30-day trial version and see how it is. Then you can, if you like 3DGS, buy it. You don't have to have Pro edition right away. You can use Commercial, Extra, or even Standard edition for that. I'd recommend at least Extra (otherwise you'd get the A6 appearing in the corner from standard). Commercial has the most features for the money and the best buy.
"You level up the fastest and easiest if you do things at your own level and no higher or lower" - useful tip
My 2D game - release on Jun 13th; My tutorials
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Re: Machinima Possibilities - Can GS do this?
[Re: Timlon]
#58144
10/27/05 11:32
10/27/05 11:32
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
ulillillia
Senior Expert
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Senior Expert
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,818
Minot, North Dakota, USA
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If you ever need help, the manual and this community will help you as needed. Anyway, good luck.
I forgot to mention though, if you do decide to buy, you can later upgrade when the budget is more worth it. That is, if you buy Extra edition, you can then upgrade to Commercial or Pro for a discount.
"You level up the fastest and easiest if you do things at your own level and no higher or lower" - useful tip
My 2D game - release on Jun 13th; My tutorials
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