Hot to make in game tutorials

kakemann · 04-25-07, 04:54 AM

Hi!

Just a question.

I gave Silent Hunter 4 as a birthday present for a friend and he is new to Silent Hunter games.

I know that some people here made some video tutorials with speech when playing the game and I would like to make on of these in my own language to give to him. Then I can learn him step by step.

What programs have you guys making these videotutorials been using?

Thanks guys!

FooFighters · 04-25-07, 05:00 AM

ahh.... indoctrination

The more skippers the better

kakemann · 04-25-07, 05:02 AM

Yeah I know!

I'm trying to convert him to a real subsimmer by learning him all the way!

He never tried any of the SH games, poor guy.

kakemann · 04-25-07, 05:49 AM

What did uncle Neal for instance use?

CaptainCox · 04-25-07, 06:14 AM

Check out FRAPS

Quote:

Realtime Video Capture Software - Have you ever wanted to record video while playing your favourite game? Come join the Machinima revolution! Throw away the VCR, forget about using a DV cam, game recording has never been this easy! Fraps can capture audio and video up to 2560x1600 on dual-core CPUs (1152x864 single-core) at up to 100 frames per second!

http://www.fraps.com/

If you want to do a voice over I guess its a bit more complicated. Never did that but I would probably use FRAPS and then run that with Adobe Premiere to overlay the voice stuff. I guess there is "free" audio software that does that stuff, but if you want Movie/Sound, I don't know of a better app then Premiere.

Chock · 04-25-07, 07:33 AM

To create my new intro for SH4 (which essentially involved the same process you want to use to create a tutorial) I used FRAPS, which saves your 3D games as video clips (warning, these are BIG files).

When I had all the shots I needed, I then arranged them and overlayed sound using Windows Movie Maker (I recorded the sounds with a basic PC headset mike in media player). You'll find windows Movie Maker in the Windows start menu under accessories.

This method is probably the cheapest and easiest way to do that kind of thing, as the movie file you eventually save when it's all edited to your satisfaction, has lots of options to get your file size as small as possible.

Although you would have to buy FRAPS to do it this way, which I seem to recall cost me about 20 quid (US 40 Dollars approx), FRAPS is great fun and probably a must if you like to watch replays of your games and sims and make movies from them.

kakemann · 04-25-07, 07:41 AM

Thanks for all your help! I'll try FRAPS

Tuddley3 · 04-25-07, 09:22 PM

If you have your Mic plugged in while recording ingame footage, your voice will be recorded as well. No need to edit in Windows Movie Maker or Ulead VideoStudio.

Chock · 04-25-07, 10:28 PM

Although it's true that you could have your mike plugged in and speak while you do the mission for your tutorial, recording your narration as you do the actual work is probably not a good idea for several reasons.

Number one reason would be that you'd have to be word-perfect on exactly what you are doing, as you do it, and that's a skill very few people possess, it takes practice, and I know, because I train people for a living! Everyone can get a bit tongue-tied at times, and this is even more likely to happen while you are busy working out a firing solution, so you'd probably end up with a lot of 'erm's and awkward pauses in your narration.

Coming a close second to that would be the fact that you'd probably want to edit out the boring bits to keep the pace going in your tutorial, it would be rather a boring tutorial if it featured a twenty minute wait while the target approached an end-around position, not to mention it would also be uneccesarily long, thus making it a big file.

Another reason is of course that if you talk while you record FRAPS, you'll have a hard time using the file in an edited form as your narration would not flow well.

So, overall it would be far more sensible to do, for example, a convoy attack, record it whilst you do it with just the sim sounds on, then edit all the FRAPS files into something which covers everything you want to teach people about in a concise way. When you've got that, watch it yourself a few times and work out a script for your explanations of what you are doing and why. Timing is important, so write it out on a bit of paper and read it while you watch your edited tutorial, this way you'll know what works and what doesn't, and you can change words about so that things time up properly.

A good trick to get you up to speed on doing this kind of thing is to watch a few news bulletins and listen to the reporter. What you'll find is that the reporter, if he or she is any good, will let the pictures speak for themselves and expand on what you are seeing with explanatory comments.

Windows movie maker will happily let you marry up a FRAPS recording with sound, to a further WAV file of your narration, and this is a very intuitive way of editing stuff so everything sits just right.

Good luck with it, making something like that really isn't as tough as I've made it sound there, it's actually quite good fun when you get into it.

04-25-07, 04:54 AM	#1
kakemann Samurai Navy Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pretty close to the big german cruiser Blücher in Norway Posts: 568 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	Hot to make in game tutorials Hi! Just a question. I gave Silent Hunter 4 as a birthday present for a friend and he is new to Silent Hunter games. I know that some people here made some video tutorials with speech when playing the game and I would like to make on of these in my own language to give to him. Then I can learn him step by step. What programs have you guys making these videotutorials been using? Thanks guys! __________________ My SH4 releases compatible with SH4 1.5 and earlier: Kakemann and ATR-42's Silent Hunter 4 Music FIX Kakemann and Lurker_hlb3 Destroyer sensors and radar FIX Tutorial: How to add new music tracks to SH4

04-25-07, 05:00 AM	#2
FooFighters Grey Wolf Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 813 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	ahh.... indoctrination The more skippers the better __________________ This forum is not the same without you Dave.. we'll miss you buddy

04-25-07, 05:02 AM	#3
kakemann Samurai Navy Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pretty close to the big german cruiser Blücher in Norway Posts: 568 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	Yeah I know! I'm trying to convert him to a real subsimmer by learning him all the way! He never tried any of the SH games, poor guy. __________________ My SH4 releases compatible with SH4 1.5 and earlier: Kakemann and ATR-42's Silent Hunter 4 Music FIX Kakemann and Lurker_hlb3 Destroyer sensors and radar FIX Tutorial: How to add new music tracks to SH4

04-25-07, 05:49 AM	#4
kakemann Samurai Navy Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pretty close to the big german cruiser Blücher in Norway Posts: 568 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	What did uncle Neal for instance use? __________________ My SH4 releases compatible with SH4 1.5 and earlier: Kakemann and ATR-42's Silent Hunter 4 Music FIX Kakemann and Lurker_hlb3 Destroyer sensors and radar FIX Tutorial: How to add new music tracks to SH4

04-25-07, 07:41 AM	#7
kakemann Samurai Navy Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pretty close to the big german cruiser Blücher in Norway Posts: 568 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	Thanks for all your help! I'll try FRAPS __________________ My SH4 releases compatible with SH4 1.5 and earlier: Kakemann and ATR-42's Silent Hunter 4 Music FIX Kakemann and Lurker_hlb3 Destroyer sensors and radar FIX Tutorial: How to add new music tracks to SH4

04-25-07, 07:33 AM	#6
Chock Sea Lord Join Date: May 2005 Location: Under a thermal layer in chilly Olde England Posts: 1,842 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	To create my new intro for SH4 (which essentially involved the same process you want to use to create a tutorial) I used FRAPS, which saves your 3D games as video clips (warning, these are BIG files). When I had all the shots I needed, I then arranged them and overlayed sound using Windows Movie Maker (I recorded the sounds with a basic PC headset mike in media player). You'll find windows Movie Maker in the Windows start menu under accessories. This method is probably the cheapest and easiest way to do that kind of thing, as the movie file you eventually save when it's all edited to your satisfaction, has lots of options to get your file size as small as possible. Although you would have to buy FRAPS to do it this way, which I seem to recall cost me about 20 quid (US 40 Dollars approx), FRAPS is great fun and probably a must if you like to watch replays of your games and sims and make movies from them.

04-25-07, 09:22 PM	#8
Tuddley3 Grey Wolf Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Maine USA Posts: 905 Downloads: 170 Uploads: 0	If you have your Mic plugged in while recording ingame footage, your voice will be recorded as well. No need to edit in Windows Movie Maker or Ulead VideoStudio.

04-25-07, 10:28 PM	#9
Chock Sea Lord Join Date: May 2005 Location: Under a thermal layer in chilly Olde England Posts: 1,842 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Although it's true that you could have your mike plugged in and speak while you do the mission for your tutorial, recording your narration as you do the actual work is probably not a good idea for several reasons. Number one reason would be that you'd have to be word-perfect on exactly what you are doing, as you do it, and that's a skill very few people possess, it takes practice, and I know, because I train people for a living! Everyone can get a bit tongue-tied at times, and this is even more likely to happen while you are busy working out a firing solution, so you'd probably end up with a lot of 'erm's and awkward pauses in your narration. Coming a close second to that would be the fact that you'd probably want to edit out the boring bits to keep the pace going in your tutorial, it would be rather a boring tutorial if it featured a twenty minute wait while the target approached an end-around position, not to mention it would also be uneccesarily long, thus making it a big file. Another reason is of course that if you talk while you record FRAPS, you'll have a hard time using the file in an edited form as your narration would not flow well. So, overall it would be far more sensible to do, for example, a convoy attack, record it whilst you do it with just the sim sounds on, then edit all the FRAPS files into something which covers everything you want to teach people about in a concise way. When you've got that, watch it yourself a few times and work out a script for your explanations of what you are doing and why. Timing is important, so write it out on a bit of paper and read it while you watch your edited tutorial, this way you'll know what works and what doesn't, and you can change words about so that things time up properly. A good trick to get you up to speed on doing this kind of thing is to watch a few news bulletins and listen to the reporter. What you'll find is that the reporter, if he or she is any good, will let the pictures speak for themselves and expand on what you are seeing with explanatory comments. Windows movie maker will happily let you marry up a FRAPS recording with sound, to a further WAV file of your narration, and this is a very intuitive way of editing stuff so everything sits just right. Good luck with it, making something like that really isn't as tough as I've made it sound there, it's actually quite good fun when you get into it.