Call of Duty 2: Create .roq intro videos - Revision history

CoDEmanX: added troubleshooting

2012-01-12T11:05:54Z

added troubleshooting

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:05, 12 January 2012
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	=Testing purposes=		=Preparation=
			==Testing purposes==

	The [http://www.videolan.org/vlc VLC Media Player] is capable of playing RoQ videos, although please note that the video typically will not play back in VLC the exact same way as it would appear in the game, although it might help determine if the RoQ was built properly or not.		The [http://www.videolan.org/vlc VLC Media Player] is capable of playing RoQ videos, although please note that the video typically will not play back in VLC the exact same way as it would appear in the game, although it might help determine if the RoQ was built properly or not.


	=Input video=		==Input video==
	The source file you want to convert MUST meet these '''video requirements''':		The source file you want to convert MUST meet these '''video requirements''':
	* The video must be in '''AVI''' Format		* The video must be in '''AVI''' Format
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	=Input audio=		==Input audio==

	You also have to extract the sound from the .avi as a .wav file (e.g. using [http://virtualdubmod.sourceforge.net/ VirtualDub]) to include it later in .roq file.		You also have to extract the sound from the .avi as a .wav file (e.g. using [http://virtualdubmod.sourceforge.net/ VirtualDub]) to include it later in .roq file.
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	You may use [http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity] for necessary changes.		You may use [http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity] for necessary changes.

			=Encoding=
	=Get the converter=		==Get the converter==

	Use SwitchBlade v4 for the .avi to .roq conversion - [http://icculus.org/~riot/gfg/sbvideo.html SwitchBlade]		Use SwitchBlade v4 for the .avi to .roq conversion - [http://icculus.org/~riot/gfg/sbvideo.html SwitchBlade]


	=Creating CodeBooks=		==Creating CodeBooks==

	Run the '''sbcodebooks4.exe''' file, which will prepare the video for the next stage.		Run the '''sbcodebooks4.exe''' file, which will prepare the video for the next stage.
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	=Building the RoQ visual content=		==Building the RoQ visual content==

	Once the previous step is completed, run '''sbvideo4.exe''' to generate an actual RoQ.		Once the previous step is completed, run '''sbvideo4.exe''' to generate an actual RoQ.
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	=Adding a Soundtrack=		==Adding a Soundtrack==

	This last step is optional, depending on whether or not an included soundtrack is desired.		This last step is optional, depending on whether or not an included soundtrack is desired.
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	=Sources=		=Troubleshooting=
			==Switchblade crashes==
			Switchblade v4 may crash shortly after the preview window pops up (window title: SDL_app).

			This seems to happen if the input video is bad. You may try '''uncompressed AVI''' as encoding (use VirtualDubMod).

			If it's still crashing, try an older version of Switchblade or use an alternative encoder (see below).


			==Alternative Encoder==

			* Download [http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/planetwolfenstein/tramdesign/roq.zip this] and unzip to e.g. <code>C:\roq\</code>.

			'''Important:''' The path name must not have more than 8 letters!

			* Launch VirtualDubMod and load you AVI. Go to '''Video''' menu and set '''Full processing mode''', otherwise you'll get this error on export:
			Output settings must be 16/24/32-bit RGB, uncompressed in order to save as TARGA sequence

			* Go to '''File > Save image sequence...''' and set the output directory to the folder in which you unzipped the above encoder (e.g. C:\roq\).

			* Set the minimum number of digits in name to the number of numbers of the last frame filename (e.g. 3 if your video has 100-999 frames, 4 if 1000-9999 etc.)

			* Leave the format set to TARGA and click OK.

			* Run '''RoQCreator.exe''', File > Add TGAs and add the .tga files you just created

			* RoQ Directory will be set automatically, but you may set a different RoQ Filename and specify a Sound file (put all files into the same folder and remove the pre-set paths, just type in the filenames with extension)

			* Click Make RoQ to generate a .param file and automatically run the converter

			An error may occur if you try to add more than 510 TGAs. If you create a .param file yourself, you can use the converter without the GUI and avoid the error. Example:

			<pre>
			INPUT_DIR C:\roq
			FILENAME out.roq
			SOUND myaudio.wav
			INPUT
			002.tga
			003.tga
			004.tga
			005.tga
			006.tga
			...
			799.tga
			800.tga
			END_INPUT
			</pre>


			'''Sources:'''

	* [http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/SBTut UFO Alien Invasion Wiki]		* [http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/SBTut UFO Alien Invasion Wiki]
	* [http://modsonline.com/Forums-top-71137.html#753051 MODSonline.com Forums - User explo32]		* [http://modsonline.com/Forums-top-71137.html#753051 MODSonline.com Forums - User explo32]


	--[[User:CoDEmanX\|CoDEmanX]] 20:59, 9 January 2012 (UTC)		--[[User:CoDEmanX\|CoDEmanX]] 20:59, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

CoDEmanX: added categories

2012-01-09T21:01:29Z

added categories

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:01, 9 January 2012
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	--[[User:CoDEmanX\|CoDEmanX]] 20:59, 9 January 2012 (UTC)		--[[User:CoDEmanX\|CoDEmanX]] 20:59, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

			[[Category:Call of Duty 2]]
			[[Category:Singleplayer]]
			[[Category:Video]]
			[[Category:Cinematic]]

CoDEmanX: Sticked wiki article and forum post together

2012-01-09T20:59:58Z

Sticked wiki article and forum post together

New page

=Testing purposes=

The [http://www.videolan.org/vlc VLC Media Player] is capable of playing RoQ videos, although please note that the video typically will not play back in VLC the exact same way as it would appear in the game, although it might help determine if the RoQ was built properly or not.

=Input video=
The source file you want to convert MUST meet these '''video requirements''':
* The video must be in '''AVI''' Format
* The input video codec must be fully AVI compatible and not Directshow-Only (standard '''MSMPEG4''' format)
* Frame rate must be '''30 frames per second'''
* You should use a resolution of '''512x512 pixels'''.<br>Both dimensions, width and height, must be a multiple of 2, up to a maximum of 32768.

=Input audio=

You also have to extract the sound from the .avi as a .wav file (e.g. using [http://virtualdubmod.sourceforge.net/ VirtualDub]) to include it later in .roq file.

'''Audio requirements''':
* 22KHz frequency
* mono or stereo
* 8 or 16 bits

You may use [http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity] for necessary changes.

=Get the converter=

Use SwitchBlade v4 for the .avi to .roq conversion - [http://icculus.org/~riot/gfg/sbvideo.html SwitchBlade]

=Creating CodeBooks=

Run the '''sbcodebooks4.exe''' file, which will prepare the video for the next stage.

The program will ask for an input AVI file, (which it will not modify, the input source file will still be there afterwards) and then generate codebooks, which will take a while.

If all goes well so far, you should see the individual frames from the input file being displayed one by one on-screen as the program works on it.

Much like any other rendering, it can take time.

=Building the RoQ visual content=

Once the previous step is completed, run '''sbvideo4.exe''' to generate an actual RoQ.

This is the step where you can specify quality in bits per second to control filesize.

If the resulting RoQ needs to be re-rendered at a different quality setting, you do not have to re-generate the CodeBooks file created in the last step, you only need to go back to this stage (that you are reading right now).

=Adding a Soundtrack=

This last step is optional, depending on whether or not an included soundtrack is desired.

If sound is to be in the video, run '''sbmux4.exe''' and follow the prompts to combine a video-only RoQ with either a WAV or AVI file that has a soundtrack.

(If an AVI is used in this step, it should be at 16 bits, according to the SwitchBlade documentation.)

=Using .roq video=

When you have your .roq video done, you can change its name for example to <code>cod_intro.roq</code> and put it in the <code>main/video</code> folder (or in video folder inside your own .iwd archive). After this, when you launch the CoD 2 SP, instead of intro, you will see your movie

You can also copy, for example, <code>movie_africa.d3dbsp</code> from <code>iw_02.iwd</code> and rename it to <code>yourmovie.d3dbsp</code>
(the d3dbsp files are all the same for videos as well as for the slideshows).

Then you make your own .gsc and .csv file (you can also make your own loadscreen which will be loaded before video) and edit them.

Find similar files in <code>iw_07.iwd/maps</code>, e.g. <code>movie_africa.gsc</code> and <code>movie_africa.csv</code>.
Look them up to know how your own files should look like. The last thing is to put them in the right folders in your own .iwd file:

* <code>yourvideo.roq</code> in <code>/video/</code> folder
* <code>yourvideo.csv</code> and <code>yourvideo.gsc</code> in <code>/maps/</code> folder
* and <code>yourvideo.d3dbsp</code> in <code>/maps/</code> folder too.

=Sources=

* [http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/SBTut UFO Alien Invasion Wiki]
* [http://modsonline.com/Forums-top-71137.html#753051 MODSonline.com Forums - User explo32]

--[[User:CoDEmanX|CoDEmanX]] 20:59, 9 January 2012 (UTC)