How To Capture And Edit Video
By Kyle Scott
We've all had that moment of thrill flying the flightsim, to hit the print screen button and capture a snapshot of the beautiful setting sun, or the stormy approach. But with the advances of video cards, creating a video of your flying experience is very simple and just as rewarding.
Making a small movie of roaring low over the water or seeing old gun camera footage still brings a smile to the face! But to make the video, three things are required: somehow record the output of the video card, play back that recording, and creating the final video to watch.
RECORD THE VIDEO
An essential part of the process is to have a quality video card that has a
video out as well as a VGA out. Most of these cards are labelled "VIVO" or
Video In Video Out, and with the newer cards available on the market today,
come as a standard option. The VIVO card enables the output of the video
card to be recorded somewhere, anywhere, while still providing normal
monitor video.I'm using a Leadtek Ti4200 that comes with 128 mb on board, and has VIVO. The nVidia drivers have an option, under the settings, to clone the desktop onto both video outputs, which is what you want. That way, you are simply doubling up the video that you see on your monitor - one for the monitor to fly with, one for the recorder to record.
I've simply plugged the video out into an old Hi 8 video camera I have laying around, which also sits comfortably on the desk. To check what I'm recording, a quick peek into the viewfinder is all that's needed. It is possible to plug your video cable into a VHS machine too, or any other device that can record video. But your challenge here might be space - have you enough room to have a VHS machine laying next to you?
Sound is also a key component to videos, so make sure you can plug an audio out cable into the recorder. Luckily my motherboard comes with dual audio outputs, so one cable for the recorder, one for the speakers.
Hit record, and start flying!
PLAY BACK THE VIDEO
An easy step, thanks to the VIVO card. Simply plug the video out from what you used to record (I'm using a Hi 8 video camera) into the video in on the video card. And of course plug the audio out from the recorder into the audio in on your computer.Now to the trick of viewing what you've just flown.
Microsoft have released an amazing program called Movie Maker for free. Currently there is a v2 beta on their web site. I'd recommend you visit them and download this nifty program (v1 comes free with XP). Movie Maker will allow you to record video onto your computer, edit them, add titles and captions, video effects, transitions and then recompile the whole thing into one smooth video. It will automatically adjust the size of the video you want from 720x576 for VCD/DVD to play on your TV, all the way down to 320x200 for downloading of the www.
CREATING THE VIDEO
Using Movie Maker is extremely easy. Select 'capture from video device' then select 'start recording' and 'stop recording' - remember you don't need to record 20 minutes of flying to create a 2 minute clip.
After recording the video back onto the computer, simply select the video
clip you want to play, trim the beginning or end to chop out stuff you don't
want, and drag and drop down onto a timeline. This shows you what the video
sequence will be. This concept is exactly the same as professional
broadcasters use, and it works. Clips are displayed in front of you, and a
double click on a clip will launch the preview player automatically. Don't
like the clip? Simply highlight and hit delete to remove it from the
timeline.
Finally select Save to my Computer and Movie Maker will create the file for you in a format you decide. It's really that simple.
One area to watch out for is the size of the video file. At 320x200 a minute of video can end up to 5 mb in size. The more video compression you have, the lower the quality pictures. But here are some tips. Black and white footage compresses better than color, and short sequences of 10"-15" look better than 2 minutes of just final approach. If you can, keep the resolution to 320x200 at 25 fps, and it'll look superb. For real fun, compile the video onto VCD and watch it on the TV.
VIDEO CLIP TIPS
The key to creating good video sequences though is planning. Plan what you want to see first, then go ahead and fly and record. Just like in real life, TV production is well planned and camera shots and angles are thought out in advance. Usually the entire sequence is hand drawn first, so the director and cameramen know what to expect.For example, if you want to create a sequence of landing in stormy weather, think about how you would see it in a movie. A wide shot to establish where the aircraft is with stormy weather. Close up from the cockpit. Underneath the aircraft as the gear comes down. Tower view. Cockpit as the plane is buffeted around. The rumble of thunder. Low angle ground shot looking up. Tracking along crossing over the threshold. The sweaty palms of the pilot! And so on.
Planning what you want to see as an end result will enable you to enjoy the video all the more. I've had a lot of fun creating WWII gun camera sequences using this setup and a little planning.
If you're after something a little different from just screen shots, video recording and editing is the way to go. Enjoy.
Some gun camera sequences I've created can be seen at http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kylebsc/flying/
About Me:
Well I kind of cheated, I'm an ex video tape editor for a TV station, now a studio news director. So using the video stuff for me I think is very easy. And planning video sequences is as easy as tying up my shoes. However my daughter picked up on what I was doing in about 10 minutes, so I'm sure the readers can to.
Kyle Scott
kylebsc@ihug.co.nz
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kylebsc/flying/
