Warfare & Tactics

(Yeah i don't know what forum to put this in, sorry.)

1. What kind of rigs do you guys reccomend for a windows user?


2. Is windows 7 or 8 more friendly for video editing software?


3. How long does your average video take to make?


4. How easy it is to dual-box while running editing software (assuming the rig can handle it)?


5. Are there any tricks to getting 3rd party comms put into your video recordings, or does it just record everything you'd normally hear on your computer that's open at the time?


6. Does your software ever interfere with EVE hotkeys like pulling drones?


7. Gonna move up to 3 monitors. How do you guys get 1 specific monitor, or both monitors, depending on how many accounts you have open?


8. Other tips/tricks are welcome, plz!

Finally got the money for a new rig, and lacking much else to do, fraps'ing/video editing might be a fun new chapter. RnK videos are the main inspiration, and the general style I'd like to go for (story with narration, cutscenes, etc).

Just use FRAPS.

Lots of people will suggest some Adobe product for video editing but if you are patient Blender is just as powerful (most people don't even know Blender is also a video editor).

Comms should be recorded as they are part of the Windows 7 sound output. Getting fraps to also record your mic is easy especially if you use push to talk.

If your "rig" is playing EVE at full graphics settings without issues I'm sure it will be fine for recording.

Here's a hint: Record at 30fps, not 60fps. Most humans cannot detect the difference between 30 and 60 fps video without a frame rate counter, so you're really wasting frames. Any special snowfakes who claim they can tell are likely convinced they can but really can't. This is why TV is usually at 24 FPS.

EDIT: One more hint, you may consider using Dynamic Range Compression to equalize the volume on the comms so that nobody is disproportionately louder than anyone else (odds are your mic will be way louder than the comms you hear). You can use virtualdub or some other tool to split the audio out as a WAV file and then use audacity to range compress it, then use virtualdub to reintroduce the equalized audio track to the video. I usually do this in videos where I FCed because my mic is loud, it really makes a big difference!

I use fraps to record, usually on 30fps and sony vegas movie studio editor to edit and convert. Editing is good for cutting out the boring parts, fast forwarding through tidi, covering up chat windows with graphics, adding text, etc. I also use Handbreak for compressing videos that need compressing.

I know very little about this video junk so this info may be hazardous to your future video making but on the other hand if I can do it, pretty much anyone can

Feel free to grab me on comms Gavin and I'll tell you what I've figured out and how a video noob like me has managed (without throwing a thousand tech tems in the conversation to confuse you either)

1) I use FRAPS on a Windows 7 rig with a newish AMD graphics card, Intel i7 chip, and a solid state drive for the OS and application and I get clean videos. I can run my system specs for you when I get home if you really care but I've only noticed a slight freeze sometimes when first starting the recording.

2) No experience with Windows 8. But Windows 7 seems to be working just fine for me.

3) Videos encode and finish in real time. So no delay.

4) No experience dual boxing on the same hardware.

5) FRAPS has an option to record system audio (so any TS3 or Mumble you have running in the background will be recorded if you want). You can also turn that off and just use another PTT button to have only your voice narrations added.

6) I set the Record On/Off button to be the Home key which I don't use for any EVE hotkey but I imagine the two would conflict. I use the left-hand Alt button simultaneously, for TS3 PTT and FRAPS PTT.

7) Not sure. I run dedicated hardware for each monitor and a KVM switch for a common wireless keyboard/mouse.

8) No extra tips at the moment but I love flying in your fleets and look forward to the video captures!

Cool. Some other questions for ya:


What's a good, cheap (or free!) post-production video editing program? Premiere and Sony Vegas were suggested...any other good ones?

So far so good...all unpacked and overviews redone and got the voice comms to transfer over to fraps \o/

Really? Since when?

Ive used Vegas. It is good. Ive used Cyberlink Powerdirector. Its really simple to use, but the last high-def video I made from it got kinda blocky at the end. It may have been because it was Skyrim with all of the effects on, many HD texture mods + a snowstorm + an overspawn of mages throwing fire and lightning. I never got to the bottom of it. I havent made anything since so I am not sure. Its a good program with that one caveat.

If Vegas really is free - I'll go back to using that.

He means pirating a copy.

If you really want to edit something, you need to either learn Blender or fork over money for either Adobe Premiere Elements (around 80 USD) or Sony Movie Studio Platinum 13 (80USD, 130 USD for bundle with audio editing software).

I am one of those people who know nothing about the visual side of things.
This is a bit from a musicians perspective but it might help people who want their sound to be a step above the rest.

Look into Sonar Producer for your DAW if you use PC.
Home Studio version should be enough for non musicians.

https://www.cakewalk.com/products/sonar/

Buy an external audio interface and a pair of digital studio monitors (A fancy name for really good speakers that reproduce sound more accurately than the usual commercially available products) if you really want to get serious.
You will never look back.

http://us.focusrite.com/firewire-audio-interfaces/liquid-saffire-56
is what I use for my audio recordings.

There are smaller versions for people who only need a few inputs/outputs.

The Sony and Adobe products are not really something to take too seriously for audio production.
(They seem good at video - but as I said - not my knowledge area)

As with all these things - It depends how pro you wanna go.
But for under $2000AU these days you can build a home studio that is better than Abbey Road was only 20 years ago.
(Not including microphones etc but as far as recording quality - you can get amazing results on a home computer these days)