The absurdity of WA videos. [Archive] - Team17 Forum

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Vader
14 Aug 2006, 19:51
You've probably all thought it (or at least those of you who have tried to convert a wagame to video) but I figured I'd express my disappointment here.
I tried to convert a wagame to video. All I got was a series of .png files. Am I missing something?
I mean, it's not such a bad deal, really. I can convert the .png files to my preferred video format in VirtualDubMod.
I do, however, find it a bit gutting that 6 seconds of gameplay at 50fps (read: full-speed, no frameskip) takes up around 9MB on disk. Now, 9MB isn't a lot of space but then 6 seconds isn't a lot of gameplay. Barely a shot, in fact. Most of the games I play last 30-45 minutes.
Now, if I wanted to export a 45 minute wagame to video I'd have to ensure that I have about 4GB of disk space free on my hard drive. That's a fair whack, considering you only really need about 20GB to run XP with all the usually applications and a bunch of games. Oh, and I should mention the amount of fragmentation this appears to create.
When 9MB of .png files is compressed to XviD (at least with the settings I use) the .avi file comes out at under 2MB. That's a saving (or shaving, depending on how you look at it) of 7MB - more than triple the MB of the compressed .avi file. So, at this point there is a total of 11MB of 'footage' on my disk when I only need 2 of them. I have to delete the other 9MB of .png files myself.
I don't mean to be fussy, but shouldn't it say "Export series of .png files leading to excessive free space usage and manual video compression which may even lead to having to download seperate, unaffiliated applications" instead of "Export video"?
If it's going to stay this way I'd really like to see the user given control over where these .png files are dumped to (or at least told and not left to work it out for themselves). I'd be a lot less bothered if I knew I didn't need to worry about fragging and disk space and I'm sure others would agree.
It is, however, a really nice feature to have. I'm just a bit disappointed and it's left a slightly bitter smell in the back of my eyes.

bonz
14 Aug 2006, 20:36
Hmm...
1500 .png imgaes with 640*480 and frameskip 2 are 61.9MB large and I compressed them with Xvid to 11.7MB.
DivX 6 even compressed to 4.7MB.
(both with the standard settings, though the quality is worse with DivX.)
What I find more disturbing is that it takes ages to export the image sequence.
shouldn't it say "Export series of .png files leading to excessive free space usage and manual video compression which may even lead to having to download seperate, unaffiliated applications" instead of "Export video"?
Well, a series of images makes a video.
If it's going to stay this way I'd really like to see the user given control over where these .png files are dumped to (or at least told and not left to work it out for themselves).
Reading the readmes helps!
A video capture feature has been added. Right-click on a .WAgame file and choose "Export Video...". A dialog box will pop up with some options; you may modify the options to your liking then click OK. An image sequence will then be saved in PNG format to a folder named after the replay file, under User\Capture.
AFAIK, Deadcode intends add audio export as well. I can't remember if he wants to add compression too.

CyberShadow
14 Aug 2006, 20:50
Oh just use FRAPS (http://www.fraps.com/) and record playing the demo as usual.

Muzer
14 Aug 2006, 20:53
*sigh* you have to pay MONEY or you can only do 30 seconds!
PS before anyone thinks I'm mad, I mean fraps.

Vader
14 Aug 2006, 20:54
Well, a series of images makes a video.
Almost. A series of images linked back-to-back in a seperate, unaffiliated application makes a video. I couldn't send 4GB of .png files to a friend and say "Check out this cool video!", could I?
Reading the readmes helps!
I agree that if I had read the readme, I would have found out. Luckily it was easier and faster for me to just work it out.
I don't think it would cause a lot of harm to display the location in the little window which pops up or better yet, give the user control over where the files are actually dumped to.
AFAIK, Deadcode intends add audio export as well. I can't remember if he wants to add compression too.
I think he said something about adding on-the-fly compression. It would be very nice to be able to select from a few quality levels, too. I mean, the resolution and framerate obviously affect the .avi file size but still, it would be nice.
I don't mean to sound like I'm not grateful for what we can now do. I was just disappointed with the result.
Oh just use FRAPS (http://www.fraps.com/) and record playing the demo as usual.
That's a workaround, not a fix.

Lex
14 Aug 2006, 22:05
Vader, I agree with you. Yes, Deadcode added the feature quickly for those who wanted to make WA videos on CL2K forums. It's too bad he didn't look into adding OpenDivX to WA for video compression and avi-saving.

Vader
14 Aug 2006, 22:34
Indeed.
It renders exporting to video more or less obsolete on my machine unless I'm 'cropping' the game. :(

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