Cutscene tutorial - Revision history

Sunjammer: /* Cutscene Tips and Tricks */ Fixing formatting

2013-12-21T13:51:19Z

‎Cutscene Tips and Tricks: Fixing formatting

Lord Methrid: /* Using GAD */

2012-05-15T05:52:23Z

‎Using GAD

Lord Methrid: /* Position and orientation keys */

2012-05-15T05:36:57Z

‎Position and orientation keys

Lord Methrid: /* Timeline */

2012-05-15T05:13:26Z

‎Timeline

Lord Methrid: /* Viewports */

2012-05-15T05:08:04Z

‎Viewports

Lord Methrid: /* Timeline */

2012-05-15T04:44:16Z

‎Timeline

Sunjammer: Fixing images

2011-08-10T22:32:55Z

Fixing images

Show changes

Proleric1: /* Adding dialogue */

2011-04-20T16:44:46Z

‎Adding dialogue

Proleric1: /* Adding dialogue */

2011-04-20T16:43:45Z

‎Adding dialogue

Proleric1: /* Adding dialogue */

2011-04-20T16:43:16Z

‎Adding dialogue

@@ Line 322: / Line 322: @@
-=== Cutscene Tips and Tricks ===
+== Cutscene Tips and Tricks ==
-Here are a few tips and tricks that might save the cutscene creator some time and perhaps hair pulling.
+Here are a few tips and tricks that might save the cutscene creator some time and effort:
-- Head tracking is often used to look at another actor or a visible item in the cutscene. However you can further manipulate the head of the actor by having the actor look at invisible objects. You can have the actor look from one invisible object to another or move the invisible object around in the cutscene to get the actor to look at things independent of visible actors or items.
+* Head tracking is often used to look at another actor or a visible item in the cutscene. However you can further manipulate the head of the actor by having the actor look at invisible objects. You can have the actor look from one invisible object to another or move the invisible object around in the cutscene to get the actor to look at things independent of visible actors or items.
-- You may find it useful to give meaningful names to your cameras if you are using more than one or two. (You might name a camera after the actor or placeable that it follows or name one camera ‘close-up’ and another ‘wide-angle’ for example.)
+* You may find it useful to give meaningful names to your cameras if you are using more than one or two. (You might name a camera after the actor or placeable that it follows or name one camera ‘close-up’ and another ‘wide-angle’ for example.)
-- If you are panning a camera around a room following a series of actors or placeables and you find that the camera suddenly decides to rotate in the other direction you can force it to stay moving in the direction you desire by adding or subtracting 360 degrees from the position/orientation you are using to move the camera.
+* If you are panning a camera around a room following a series of actors or placeables and you find that the camera suddenly decides to rotate in the other direction you can force it to stay moving in the direction you desire by adding or subtracting 360 degrees from the position/orientation you are using to move the camera.
-- Feel free to experiment with animations. Try using animations that are not normally meant for your actor type, you might find some interesting or bizarre movements for your actor.
+* Feel free to experiment with animations. Try using animations that are not normally meant for your actor type, you might find some interesting or bizarre movements for your actor.
-- You can put multiple actions along one track as long as they do not overlap rather than using many different tracks.
+* You can put multiple actions along one track as long as they do not overlap rather than using many different tracks.
-- Pay attention to what your key frames ‘transition out’ are set to when moving your cameras. Step will jump the camera from position to position while Bezier and Linear will move the camera in a smoother motion. If you are not getting the desired effect when moving cameras check what your key frames ‘transition out’ are set to.
+* Pay attention to what your key frames ‘transition out’ are set to when moving your cameras. Step will jump the camera from position to position while Bezier and Linear will move the camera in a smoother motion. If you are not getting the desired effect when moving cameras check what your key frames ‘transition out’ are set to.
-- If you have a longer more detailed cutscene you can keep the number of cameras you use to a reasonable number by just moving one (or more) around while another camera is the ‘active’ camera.
+* If you have a longer more detailed cutscene you can keep the number of cameras you use to a reasonable number by just moving one (or more) around while another camera is the ‘active’ camera.
-- For testing purposes change the length of the cutscene in the cutscenes properties to a smaller value and enlarge that number as you add on to the cutscene. In this way you won’t need to wait for a long period of time for the cutscene to end.
+* For testing purposes change the length of the cutscene in the cutscenes properties to a smaller value and enlarge that number as you add on to the cutscene. In this way you won’t need to wait for a long period of time for the cutscene to end.
-- After placing an animation on a track you can speed up the animation by left clicking on the small circular arrows on one end and dragging it shorter or make the animation play slower by dragging the animation longer on the track.
+* After placing an animation on a track you can speed up the animation by left clicking on the small circular arrows on one end and dragging it shorter or make the animation play slower by dragging the animation longer on the track.
-- You can make the content of your scene seem to change by placing invisible objects in the cutsence, using an fx to obscure the view and making the object visible while the fx is playing. (For example you might have some invisible rock debris. Use a cave in fx with clouds of dust to obscure the screen. While the fx is playing make the debris visible. When the fx is finished your debris will be in place.)
+* You can make the content of your scene seem to change by placing invisible objects in the cutsence, using an fx to obscure the view and making the object visible while the fx is playing. (For example you might have some invisible rock debris. Use a cave in fx with clouds of dust to obscure the screen. While the fx is playing make the debris visible. When the fx is finished your debris will be in place.)
-- If you find that your actor is walking across surfaces (such as water for instance) when they should be following the ground you can set ‘items follow surface’ in the area that your cutscene is based on. The actor should then walk on the ground and thus wade into the water. Conversely if you want a character or placeable to not follow the surface of the ground (for instance if you want a placeable or actor to be near or on the surface of water) move the actor or placeable higher by adjusting the Z axis of the boat or actor. (An example of using a placeable partly submerged in water might be something like a boat.)
+* If you find that your actor is walking across surfaces (such as water for instance) when they should be following the ground you can set ‘items follow surface’ in the area that your cutscene is based on. The actor should then walk on the ground and thus wade into the water. Conversely if you want a character or placeable to not follow the surface of the ground (for instance if you want a placeable or actor to be near or on the surface of water) move the actor or placeable higher by adjusting the Z axis of the boat or actor. (An example of using a placeable partly submerged in water might be something like a boat.)
-- In a cutscene you can only activate things that are unique. As in if you plopped down three identical chests in an area, when trying to activate them all in a cutscene it will not allow this and gives you a warning message. In the example above you would have to make three different chests (though they could look the same) to be able to activate them all in the cutscene.
+* In a cutscene you can only activate things that are unique. As in if you plopped down three identical chests in an area, when trying to activate them all in a cutscene it will not allow this and gives you a warning message. In the example above you would have to make three different chests (though they could look the same) to be able to activate them all in the cutscene.
 {{Languages}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:52, 15 May 2012
Line 215:		Line 215:
	Once we've set a key frame and have set the action's "Play Gad" option to true you'll see that the actor now moves forward as he walks. This is good, but since we started him off in the position he's meant to end in it results in the actor walking straight through the campfire. You'll need to move the actor back so that he starts farther away from the fire.		Once we've set a key frame and have set the action's "Play Gad" option to true you'll see that the actor now moves forward as he walks. This is good, but since we started him off in the position he's meant to end in it results in the actor walking straight through the campfire. You'll need to move the actor back so that he starts farther away from the fire.

−	Note ~~that if~~ you~~'ve~~ already set a keyframe as described in the previous section you~~'ll~~ need to ~~re-~~set it for the actor's new location (or alternately set the "update keys" mode with the [[Image:IconUpdateKeys.png\|link=]] tool), otherwise the moment the animation starts the actor will instantly jump back to the place he was ~~where~~ you set the keyframe. Once you set a keyframe for an actor, moving the actor around in the cutscene editor ~~doesn't~~ really change ~~its~~ position unless you re-set the keyframe to the new position. Keyframes and the curves interpolating between them always take precedence.	+	Note: If you have already set a keyframe as described in the previous section, you will need to set an additional one for the actor's new location (or alternately set the "update keys" mode with the [[Image:IconUpdateKeys.png\|link=]] tool), otherwise the moment the animation starts, the actor will instantly jump back to the place he was before when you set the first keyframe. Once you set a keyframe for an actor, moving the actor around in the cutscene editor does not really change the actor's position unless you re-set the keyframe to the new position that your actor is in. Keyframes and the curves interpolating between them always take precedence.
−	^	+
−	\|	+
−	~~(ED: This need extreme explanation by someone that knows how to do this properly because this paragraph is obtuse!!)~~	+

	{{sidebox\|		{{sidebox\|

@@ Line 173: / Line 173: @@
 {{sidebox|
-* Objects be moved over time by setting "key frames" on their position and orientation tracks.
+* Objects can be moved over time by setting "key frames" on their position and orientation tracks.
 * Intermediate frames are interpolated between key frames.
 * You can set the curve type between key frames with the "transition out" property for each key.

@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 }}
-Below the viewport is the timeline. Along the top of the timeline is a time scale; it can be set either to show frames (at 30 frames per second) or milliseconds by changing the "Time Scale" property of the cutscene in the object inspector.  A marker indicates what point in the timeline the viewports are currently showing.
+Below the viewport is the timeline. Along the top of the timeline is a time scale; it can be set to show in frames (at 30 frames per second) or milliseconds by changing the "Time Scale" property of the cutscene in the object inspector.  A marker indicates what point in the timeline the viewports are currently showing.
-Below are a set of rows containing the various actors, cameras, and other objects active in the cutscene. This is where most of the editing is going to take place. Each object will have a number of "tracks", which will contain commands that are sent to the actors at particular times in the course of the cutscene.
+Below is a set of rows containing the various actors, cameras, and other objects active in the cutscene. This is where most of the editing is going to take place. Each object will have a number of "tracks", which will contain commands that are sent to the actors at particular times in the course of the cutscene.
 [[Image:Cutscene tutorial timeline.png|border]]
-The first object in the track list is the "MASTER" object. This is a special object that every cutscene has exactly one of. The MASTER object is the cutscene equivalent to the root node of a conversation tree, a repository for global settings and effects. For example the MASTER object contains the track that determines which camera is active at any given time. The MASTER object cannot be deleted. By default, a MASTER object appears in the cutscene editor as a small greenish sphere; you can change the MASTER object's appearance in the cutscene option settings.
+The first object in the track list is the "MASTER" object. This is a special object that every cutscene has exactly one of. The MASTER object is the cutscene equivalent to the root node of a conversation tree, a repository for global settings and effects. For example, the MASTER object contains the track that determines which camera is active at any given time. The MASTER object cannot be deleted. By default, a MASTER object appears in the cutscene editor as a small greenish sphere; you can change the MASTER object's appearance in the cutscene option settings.
 A new cutscene also has a camera, called Camera 1. This camera can be deleted or renamed if you like; we can add new cameras as needed later on.

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 When you set a viewport to show the view through one of the cutscene's cameras, it's a good idea to turn on that viewport's "Safe Frame" option as well. This will put a border on the viewport showing what will be visible when the cutscene plays.
-Note that when you play the cutscene in the cutscene editor, only the currently selected viewport (the one with the blue title bar) will show the cutscene "live" - the others won't update the view displayed in them until they're selected. To preview the cutscene as the player would see it, then, you should set one of the viewports to "Active Camera" and ensure that this viewport is selected when you play the cutscene in the editor. If the "Active Camera" viewport turns gray, try setting the cutscene property "Enable Level Effects" to false.
+Note that when you play the cutscene in the cutscene editor, only the currently selected viewport (the one with the blue title bar) will show the cutscene "live" - the others won't update the view displayed in them until they're selected. To preview the cutscene as the player would see it in the game, you will need to set one of the viewports to "Active Camera" and ensure that this viewport is selected when you play the cutscene in the editor. If the "Active Camera" viewport turns gray, try setting the cutscene property "Enable Level Effects" to false.
 === Timeline ===

@@ Line 282: / Line 282: @@
 There's already a tool in the toolset that is designed for handling all of these things; the conversation editor. Actors in a cutscene can be given "Speak Line" actions that cause them to deliver lines from an existing dialog, with all three components added together into the actor's performance automatically.
-Here we are going to add dialogue to a cutscene (though sometimes it is better to take a [[http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Conversation#Conversation-centred_approach conversation-centred approach]]).
+Here we are going to add dialogue to a cutscene (though sometimes it is better to take a [[Conversation#Conversation-centred_approach | conversation-centred approach]]).
 To create the dialog for this cutscene we'll now create a new conversation resource. This conversation is not going to be used in the game directly so we'll be able to ignore many of the more advanced features and settings covered in the conversation tutorial; its only purpose is to serve as a repository of dialog lines for use in this cutscene.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:43, 20 April 2011
Line 281:		Line 281:

	There's already a tool in the toolset that is designed for handling all of these things; the conversation editor. Actors in a cutscene can be given "Speak Line" actions that cause them to deliver lines from an existing dialog, with all three components added together into the actor's performance automatically.		There's already a tool in the toolset that is designed for handling all of these things; the conversation editor. Actors in a cutscene can be given "Speak Line" actions that cause them to deliver lines from an existing dialog, with all three components added together into the actor's performance automatically.
		+
		+	Here we are going to add dialogue to a cutscene (though sometimes it is better to take a [[http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Conversation#Conversation-centred_approach \| conversation-centred approach]]).

	To create the dialog for this cutscene we'll now create a new conversation resource. This conversation is not going to be used in the game directly so we'll be able to ignore many of the more advanced features and settings covered in the conversation tutorial; its only purpose is to serve as a repository of dialog lines for use in this cutscene.		To create the dialog for this cutscene we'll now create a new conversation resource. This conversation is not going to be used in the game directly so we'll be able to ignore many of the more advanced features and settings covered in the conversation tutorial; its only purpose is to serve as a repository of dialog lines for use in this cutscene.