Shameless self-promotion: My Mass Effect 2 Videos...

[SpellAndShield]

Narrated

 

Shotgunning as an Infiltrator:

 

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

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ14H4-89QU

[SpellAndShield]

Silent

 

Claymore Soldier Collector Ship Platform Insanity:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01KO2fqh7xE

 

Classic Infiltrator Sniping; Insanity Collector Ship Platform

 

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

 

More to follow in the future (probably)... :thumbsup:

[LHammonds]

Tip:

 

1. Record your video without talking and concentrate on what you are doing.

2. Play back the video and record an audio file with your commentary. Edit audio as necessary...helps to record audio in small chunks.

3. Use a video editor to overlay the audio files on top of your video.

 

It also helps to prepare a script for what it is that you want to say, then clean up your draft document, continue to refine it until it says exactly what you want to say. When you create your video, you know what you'll be saying and in what general order so it will help you to create a very short video that allows you to get your point across very quickly.

 

LHammonds

[SpellAndShield]

Tip:

 

1. Record your video without talking and concentrate on what you are doing.

2. Play back the video and record an audio file with your commentary. Edit audio as necessary...helps to record audio in small chunks.

3. Use a video editor to overlay the audio files on top of your video.It also helps to prepare a script for what it is that you want to say, then clean up your draft document, continue to refine it until it says exactly what you want to say. When you create your video, you know what you'll be saying and in what general order so it will help you to create a very short video that allows you to get your point across very quickly.

 

LHammonds

 

These are very good tips....I didn't even know it could be done; eh, not sure how I do that? What programmes, software do I need to do an audio overlay?

 

Thanks

 

Incidentally I never had the concentration problem with games like BG2 or DA:O I just find intense shooter action, well intense and takes up concentration...

[LHammonds]

These are very good tips....I didn't even know it could be done; eh, not sure how I do that? What programmes, software do I need to do an audio overlay?

I am fairly certain Movie Maker that comes with Windows XP will let you do this. It has been a long time since I've used it and won't even run inside a virtual machine (that's the only way I see WinXP anymore)

 

If you are running Windows 7, Movie Maker simply does not ship with the OS anymore...however, you can still download Movie Maker 2.6 (for Vista) here and it will work on Win7. And while yer at it, go ahead and grab Photo Story 3 in case you want to make some nice videos from still shots.

 

I have been using Camtasia Studio for making professional-grade tutorials but found a MUCH cheaper alternative that does just as well (editing-wise). I now use a product called AVS4YOU Video Editor. I originally purchased the Video Converter to handle my HD camcorder files but I found out if you buy just one of their programs, you get to have all of them for no additional cost!!! Anyways, AVS4YOU editor is very-much like Windows Movie Maker except it is much more stable and doesn't blow up on you if you look at it cross-eyed...and it has a lot more options in each feature category.

 

To record video, I've actually been using my iPhone (believe it or not!). The quality of the audio happens to be much better than any microphone I own. Keep in mind that all microphones I own are accidental and nothing was purchased with quality recording in mind. :wink:

 

Other ways to record audio is the built-in tool called Sound Recorder which comes with every flavor of Windows (even Windows 7...le gasp!)

 

If you need to do any editing of the audio, Sound Recorder is probably not going to be very useful other than trimming the edges of the sound file and modifying volume. That's were freebie tools such as Audacity or WavePad come in. You can get the installable client from SourceForge or you can get the portable version that does not need to be installed on your OS from PortableApps.com. WavePad 3.05 was the last "free" version the company put out so grab it and enjoy. :)

 

Incidentally I never had the concentration problem with games like BG2 or DA:O I just find intense shooter action, well intense and takes up concentration...

Regardless of "what" it is that you are demonstrating / driving, just the mere act of trying to demo something while trying to give a somewhat legible audio overview is a VERY hard thing to accomplish and most people cannot do so successfully without rehearsing many times. Even then, doing a demo and talking at the same time without hesitations, stutters, excessive "umms" and going off on tangents would mean that you have rare presentations skills that many companies would kill to have...and could make a career out of doing just that!

 

But for the rest of us, to make the end-result look good, we have to plan, draft, refine and do things in small chunks and then stitch all the individual pieces together into a final product.

 

For something like what you are doing, I would probably record a long sequence of action shots but in post-processing, I would probably "cut" the video into different chapters in order to cut excess and only show the cream-of-the-crop with a nice audio overlay to tie it all together into one coherent presentation. Maybe even throw in some background music and intro/outro credits to let everyone know what all was used to create the video.

 

Here is an example of such a process that breaks out the dialog as a written text 1st, then a demonstration that was recorded silently but following a scripted path...knowing what I would be saying. Then finally edited together...usually one audio file per sentence/paragraph with titles, music and even a logo added in.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4pr3J45ESo

 

EDIT: A key factor in the clarity of the end-result is the capture of the video in the exact size you intend to use. For this Blender tutorial, I wanted the TEXT in the buttons to be perfectly clear which required no re-sizing or the clarity would be lost. I recorded the Blender and NifSkope windows in 1024x768 and the end-result video was 1024x768 which allowed the text to be clearly visible in that resolution. Not so much when re-sized for YouTube, but the High-Res version of the video you can download from TESNexus is absolutely clear.

 

LHammonds

[SpellAndShield]

These are very good tips....I didn't even know it could be done; eh, not sure how I do that? What programmes, software do I need to do an audio overlay?

I am fairly certain Movie Maker that comes with Windows XP will let you do this. It has been a long time since I've used it and won't even run inside a virtual machine (that's the only way I see WinXP anymore)

 

If you are running Windows 7, Movie Maker simply does not ship with the OS anymore...however, you can still download Movie Maker 2.6 (for Vista) here and it will work on Win7. And while yer at it, go ahead and grab Photo Story 3 in case you want to make some nice videos from still shots.

 

I have been using Camtasia Studio for making professional-grade tutorials but found a MUCH cheaper alternative that does just as well (editing-wise). I now use a product called AVS4YOU Video Editor. I originally purchased the Video Converter to handle my HD camcorder files but I found out if you buy just one of their programs, you get to have all of them for no additional cost!!! Anyways, AVS4YOU editor is very-much like Windows Movie Maker except it is much more stable and doesn't blow up on you if you look at it cross-eyed...and it has a lot more options in each feature category.

 

To record video, I've actually been using my iPhone (believe it or not!). The quality of the audio happens to be much better than any microphone I own. Keep in mind that all microphones I own are accidental and nothing was purchased with quality recording in mind. :wink:

 

Other ways to record audio is the built-in tool called Sound Recorder which comes with every flavor of Windows (even Windows 7...le gasp!)

 

If you need to do any editing of the audio, Sound Recorder is probably not going to be very useful other than trimming the edges of the sound file and modifying volume. That's were freebie tools such as Audacity or WavePad come in. You can get the installable client from SourceForge or you can get the portable version that does not need to be installed on your OS from PortableApps.com. WavePad 3.05 was the last "free" version the company put out so grab it and enjoy. :)

 

Incidentally I never had the concentration problem with games like BG2 or DA:O I just find intense shooter action, well intense and takes up concentration...

Regardless of "what" it is that you are demonstrating / driving, just the mere act of trying to demo something while trying to give a somewhat legible audio overview is a VERY hard thing to accomplish and most people cannot do so successfully without rehearsing many times. Even then, doing a demo and talking at the same time without hesitations, stutters, excessive "umms" and going off on tangents would mean that you have rare presentations skills that many companies would kill to have...and could make a career out of doing just that!

 

But for the rest of us, to make the end-result look good, we have to plan, draft, refine and do things in small chunks and then stitch all the individual pieces together into a final product.

 

For something like what you are doing, I would probably record a long sequence of action shots but in post-processing, I would probably "cut" the video into different chapters in order to cut excess and only show the cream-of-the-crop with a nice audio overlay to tie it all together into one coherent presentation. Maybe even throw in some background music and intro/outro credits to let everyone know what all was used to create the video.

 

Here is an example of such a process that breaks out the dialog as a written text 1st, then a demonstration that was recorded silently but following a scripted path...knowing what I would be saying. Then finally edited together...usually one audio file per sentence/paragraph with titles, music and even a logo added in.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4pr3J45ESo

 

EDIT: A key factor in the clarity of the end-result is the capture of the video in the exact size you intend to use. For this Blender tutorial, I wanted the TEXT in the buttons to be perfectly clear which required no re-sizing or the clarity would be lost. I recorded the Blender and NifSkope windows in 1024x768 and the end-result video was 1024x768 which allowed the text to be clearly visible in that resolution. Not so much when re-sized for YouTube, but the High-Res version of the video you can download from TESNexus is absolutely clear.

 

LHammonds

 

Thanks, this is a lot to take in, especially for a tech idiot such as myself. I just wish this stuff were simpler to use (for people like me); I will definitely investigate some of it. Thanks again.

[LHammonds]

Sorry for turning this thread into a video-making thesis with tons of techno-babble but I figured it was better to give too much information than too little. I'm kinda hardwired that way to a fault sometimes.

 

LHammonds

[SpellAndShield]

Sorry for turning this thread into a video-making thesis with tons of techno-babble but I figured it was better to give too much information than too little. I'm kinda hardwired that way to a fault sometimes.

 

LHammonds

 

No, you are right. It is kind of my fault. It just seems for every little thing I want to do I have to spend 10 years learning some programme or something related. I know it's necessary but I find it so difficult. That's why I made the suggestion a while back for someone to open up a school for this stuff where people can pay to take courses and people like you would be the teachers. :thumbsup:

[LHammonds]

You'd be surprised at how much demand there is for my services. hehehe. I get paid very well for my contracting jobs. :D

[SpellAndShield]

You'd be surprised at how much demand there is for my services. hehehe. I get paid very well for my contracting jobs. :D

 

Actually I am not surprised at all, which is why a school or franchise that specialised in teaching these sorts of things; making videos, audio layovers, 3Dmax, modding, etc...would not only be helpful but an excellent source of income and would be profitable.