Author Topic: Prophet's Guile Preview Video  (Read 2561 times)

FaustWolf

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Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« on: January 08, 2008, 03:44:01 am »
Gah! I had a perfect draft cut and then -- most of it blacked out due to some encoding error. So this thread is merely a placeholder for when I re-create what I had earlier for everyone's perusal. In the meantime, if anyone's interested in taking a look at what scenes can be included, have a gander at this vid, which is just all the footage I took smushed together:
http://rapidshare.com/files/82145062/TestCut_Original.avi.html

The video and audio have been demuxed, so this should be silent. I took the liberty of capturing a few more scenes than what Zeality had suggested because I found lots of foreboding quotes that were extremely gripping. If anyone thinks there's anything too spoilerific for a preview vid in this raw footage, let me know. Also let me know if I missed something totally awesome that viewers should see and wasn't included (though, note that I can't get into the Ocean Palace itself yet in SNES9x due to my patched ROM freezing). I had to force myself not to include the scene on Mt. Woe where Melchior pulls out a can of whoopass a la Yoda in Star Wars Episode III (even if he doesn't win that confrontation, it's effin awesome), but I'm sure I have an appropriate savestate somewhere if we want that footage in too. I'll have a draft cut tomorrow night.

As far as capabilities, I can do fade-ins and fade-outs just fine now, though I'd really like to implement the kind of transitions that Chrono Trigger does when it goes through its own intro loop -- you know how one scene gets wiped away just as another "pushes" in? I'm not sure what it's called, and it could be a figment of my imagination at this point anyway. But if anyone can do snazzy special FX, let me know and I'll either hand over the upcoming draft cut for further editing or step aside completely and let you work your magic with the raw footage directly.

For everyone's convenience, the track Zeality edited to serve as BG music for the preview vid can be found here: http://chronofan.com/Zeality/PGMovie.mp3

I'm going to shave off a lot of the raw footage, obviously, to meet the length requirement. I might do some longer cuts with longer music tracks for my own amusement, but I won't upload those unless one of my weirdo combinations turns out really spectacular. So our target length for the preview vid is 1:34 plus whatever length the intro part will be -- I'll append the sound effects and music from Magus' Castle's battle scene to the front of this MP3, meaning the BG music will actually begin along with the scenes of Magus doing his rounds in Zeal.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2008, 03:28:09 pm by FaustWolf »

FaustWolf

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2008, 02:25:30 am »
Rrrr, getting sleepy. Here's the latest cut. I've decided I'll do a long cut and a short cut -- this is the long one, and I'll use a song from Dead Can Dance with lyrics that I feel are extremely appropriate for Zeal. I'll shave this cut down further (probably only including the scenes Zeality mentioned originally) and that will use the MP3 Zeality posted earlier, a sort of electro guitar remix of Magus' theme, and it will be the official Compendium preview vid.

Here's the rough long cut:
http://rapidshare.com/files/82385691/StageThreeCut.avi.html (ROUGH VERSION; FINAL EXTENDED EDITION BELOW)

It's about 4 minutes in length or so. I haven't done the fade-in / fade-out transitions yet, so everything's nice and choppy. At the end of both cuts I'd like to throw up some frames with a Prophet's Guile logo and a directive to viewers to visit http://www.chronocompendium.com for the patch.

Suggestions are welcome, especially on cuts we should keep, drop, or shorten for the official preview. If newcomers with video editing skillz are reading this, help is also welcome, especially with snazzy transition effects between scenes.

Ooh! And if anyone watches this cut, drop me a line real quick here and let me know if it freezes, skips, or otherwise craps out, as any compatibility problems we experience at this stage will no doubt carry over to Youtube as well.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2008, 11:03:00 pm by FaustWolf »

Chrono'99

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2008, 11:19:27 am »
When there's a transition to a scene which has a textbox, the first textbox sometimes disappear too quickly, but other than that the video looks great.

FaustWolf

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2008, 12:16:38 pm »
Yeah, that problem's due to keyframing. In Virtualdub at least, you're restricted to which frames you can delete depending on where "keyframes" are; I actually didn't mean to include those quickly-disappearing dialogue boxes, only the ones after them. Therefore, I will black out the split-second dialogue boxes and do a fade-in transition so that only the readable ones show. Thanks for the feedback!

EDIT: After watching again, I think I'll slow down the framerate slightly in the long cut to facilitate textbox reading. Plus, that will throw the video more in sync with the song I'm using for the long cut, so that works out better in every way.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2008, 12:22:12 pm by FaustWolf »

Glennleo

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2008, 01:10:47 pm »
Ugh my grandparents only use AOL to web browse so I'll have to watch it when I get back home.
For some reason it said I got an error, and one of the ways to fix it was to not use AOL. But I can't so I'll watch it later.

« Last Edit: January 09, 2008, 01:12:28 pm by Glennleo »

FaustWolf

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2008, 02:59:21 pm »
Thanx for the error report, GlennLeo. Was the error in downloading from Rapidshare (in which case I'll find a different host) or with watching the vid itself?

The long cut is now in post-production. Man, this is fun. :P

I guess I'll leave you all with the lyrics to the kickass (IMHO) song I'm using for the long cut, then I'll be back later this evening with a final long cut:

The Arcane
Here in the garden of the arcane delights,
   dark shadows overwhelm us and we become blind.
Blind to the needs of those who would be free
   from the grip of fear and the prisons of the mind.
Amidst the throes of perplexity
Phobia moves amongst us, in her hand is held the seed.
Extermination angel stood beside the road
   in violent retribution for the seeds that we have sown.

« Last Edit: January 09, 2008, 03:01:24 pm by FaustWolf »

Glennleo

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2008, 04:15:33 pm »
Thanx for the error report, GlennLeo. Was the error in downloading from Rapidshare (in which case I'll find a different host) or with watching the vid itself?

Rapidhsare. I couldn't even download the file. That is why I hate AOL, and am glad I don't have it at home.

Lavodox

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2008, 04:45:08 pm »
Awesome job with the project guys! As soon as school is over I'm coming home, downloading Chrono Trigger, downloading the patch, and applying it! I can't wait! =^w^= :D

FaustWolf

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2008, 05:53:40 pm »
Yes, this hack really kicks serious arse. You won't be disappointed Lavodox!

I've got a polished long cut now, and I hope GlennLeo can nab it at one of these:
(LINKS OBSOLETE; SEE BELOW)

If not, anyone know of file hosting services that AOL can get into? If there are any, perhaps they'd be accessible across most firewalls as well. I've had numerous problems with this sort of thing in the past, and I'm keeping my ears open for a good solution.

I still have to implement some "outtro" things, like the Prophet's Guile logo coming onscreen and afterward a message saying: "Available NOW at the Chrono Compendium! http://www.chronocompendium.com"

Speaking of which, anyone know of a good freeware program that allows the user to take an image and multiply it into 300 frames or so? I could handle fades through virtualdub. I think I've got an old copy of Animation Shop Pro somewhere, but I'm interested in alternatives just in case I discover it's been somehow discombobulated since I last toyed with it.

BTW, some dialogue boxes are still a tad fast, but it's too late for me to re-do those given my schedule. Let me know if you guys find it unbearable.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2008, 11:01:57 pm by FaustWolf »

ZeaLitY

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2008, 05:57:23 pm »
Just FYI, the Magus song is "The Boy Feared by Time" by Sean Stone and OneUp Studios.

FaustWolf

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2008, 06:04:58 pm »
Zeality, is it possible the full version of that song might fit okay with the preview? With an extra 40 seconds, I'd be able to keep some more scenes in for the official short cut.

ZeaLitY

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2008, 06:13:12 pm »
It has its own intro that would fit a little over 40 seconds, so I guess I'll make another version.

FaustWolf

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2008, 08:36:33 pm »
Should I expect the runtime for "The Boy Feared By Time" to be 2:31 or about that long in the final incarnation, Zeality?

Also, does anyone happen to have a plain Prophet's Guile logo handy, or shall I just use the entire logo in Chrono'99's signature?

FaustWolf

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #13 on: January 09, 2008, 11:00:08 pm »
PROPHET'S GUILE PREVIEW VIDEO -- EXTENDED EDITION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmbXuAJtbPQ
http://rapidshare.com/files/82611755/PGPreviewLongCut.avi.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UGLG7VLM
http://www.mediafire.com/?ax7nw90mdyx

Now to work on the regular edition. Mwaha! Feedback welcome -- let's get the official edition just right. For one thing, I need to do something with the outtro that doesn't involve resizing, so Chrono'99 or anyone familiar with the Prophet's Guile logo particulars, could you tell me what fonts were used?

People can distribute this however they like, though it may be best to wait for the regular official edition. It will be shorter, and therefore smaller in file size, so Youtube should be able to process it faster. I had to wait at least half an hour for my upload there.
« Last Edit: January 10, 2008, 12:02:02 am by FaustWolf »

ZeaLitY

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Re: Prophet's Guile Preview Video
« Reply #14 on: January 10, 2008, 12:03:56 am »