Cutscenes tutorial (basic) - Revision history

Aquila7: /* Preplanning */ grammatical correction

2010-04-22T00:23:30Z

‎Preplanning: grammatical correction

TopAce: the link is no longer actual

2010-01-16T11:24:39Z

the link is no longer actual

TopAce: FREDder

2010-01-16T11:22:55Z

FREDder

TopAce: moved Cutscenes Tutorial (Basic) to Cutscenes tutorial (basic): We don't capitalize every single initial on this wiki - recently

2010-01-16T11:20:27Z

moved Cutscenes Tutorial (Basic) to Cutscenes tutorial (basic): We don't capitalize every single initial on this wiki - recently

SypheDMar: moved Making Cutscenes (Basic) to Cutscenes Tutorial (Basic)

2010-01-16T06:07:07Z

moved Making Cutscenes (Basic) to Cutscenes Tutorial (Basic)

SypheDMar at 06:06, 16 January 2010

2010-01-16T06:06:46Z

SypheDMar: moved Making cutscenes (basic) to Making Cutscenes (Basic)

2010-01-16T06:06:19Z

moved Making cutscenes (basic) to Making Cutscenes (Basic)

SypheDMar at 06:05, 16 January 2010

2010-01-16T06:05:16Z

TopAce at 21:08, 8 January 2009

2009-01-08T21:08:50Z

TopAce: /* Notes */

2008-10-01T16:30:14Z

‎Notes

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 ==Making the actual cutscene==
 ===Preplanning===
-Before firing up [[Portal:FRED|FRED]], you must have an outline of what you want to happen in your cutscene. It is up to you how you are doing the planning. Keep in mind, however, that not everything you imagine is possible. A lot of other elements will have to be changed later on, so make your plan flexible and try not to get into too much detail.
+Before firing up [[Portal:FRED|FRED]], you must have an outline of what you want to happen in your cutscene. It is up to you how you do the planning. Keep in mind, however, that not everything you imagine is possible. A lot of other elements will have to be changed later on, so make your plan flexible and try not to get into too much detail.
 The screenplay we are going to use in this tutorial is the following:

@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 *Use [[ship-invulnerable]], Protect Ship, or [[self-destruct]] if needed. The viewer will not notice these tricks, and it will prevent the unexpected from happening. A well-timed self-destruct is more predictable.
 *Even if you think you have finalized the last stage, test the whole cutscene as often as you needed to ensure the outcome being the same.
 [[Category:FRED Examples]]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Making cutscenes is no longer restricted to animators. It is also possible with FRED_Open.
-This article will presuppose a rudimentary understanding of FreeSpace mission making. Beginning [[FREDer]]s might find making cutscenes difficult.
+This article will presuppose a rudimentary understanding of FreeSpace mission making. Beginning [[FREDder]]s might find making cutscenes difficult.
 ==Basics==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{grammar}}
-'''Making cutscenes''' is no longer restricted to animators. It is also possible with FRED_Open.
+Making cutscenes is no longer restricted to animators. It is also possible with FRED_Open.
 This article will presuppose a rudimentary understanding of FreeSpace mission making. Beginning [[FREDer]]s might find making cutscenes difficult.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 '''Making cutscenes''' is no longer restricted to animators. It is also possible with FRED_Open.
-This article will presuppose a rudimentary understanding of FreeSpace mission making. Novice [[FREDder]]s might find making cutscenes difficult.
+This article will presuppose a rudimentary understanding of FreeSpace mission making. Beginning [[FREDer]]s might find making cutscenes difficult.
 ==Basics==
-In-mission cutscenes are real time and not as restricted as the ones made with an animation program. If the FREDder uses the "set-camera position" SEXP, the camera will assume a given position, but it will not protect the player's ship in any way. If the player is killed during the cutscene, the mission will end as normal, ending your cutscene. A recommended way of doing cutscenes is to place the player's start position far away from the battlefield, and practice some other precautions (protect-ship, ship-invulnerable, etc).
+In-mission cutscenes are real-time and not as restricted as the ones made with an animation program. If the FREDder uses the "set-camera position" SEXP, the camera will assume a given position, but it will not protect the player's ship in any way. If the player is killed during the cutscene, the mission will end as normal, ending your cutscene. A recommended way of doing cutscenes is to place the player's start position far away from the battlefield, and practice some other precautions (protect-ship, ship-invulnerable, etc).
-The mission continues as normal, except that the player has no control over it. Now that the player is safe, and you have ensured that the mission will not end prematurely because of the player's death, you have to manipulate the outcome.
+Like normal missions, the player has no control over other ships. When you made sure that the player is safe, ensuring that the mission will not end prematurely because of the player's death, you have to manipulate the outcome.
 You may end the cutscene by ending the mission ([[end-mission]], [[force-jump]]) or resetting the camera ([[reset-camera]]).
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 ==Making the actual cutscene==
 ===Preplanning===
-Before firing up [[Portal:FRED|FRED]], you must have an outline of what you want to happen in your cutscene. It is up to you how you are doing the planning (writing it up in a screenplay format, keeping it all in mind, etc.). Keep in mind, however, that not everything you imagine is possible at all. A lot of other elements will have to be changed later on, so make your plan flexible and try not to get into too much detail.
+Before firing up [[Portal:FRED|FRED]], you must have an outline of what you want to happen in your cutscene. It is up to you how you are doing the planning. Keep in mind, however, that not everything you imagine is possible. A lot of other elements will have to be changed later on, so make your plan flexible and try not to get into too much detail.
 The screenplay we are going to use in this tutorial is the following:
-  Set cutscene bars.
+  Set cutscene bars
   Subtitle: GNG Base is under attack
   A battle is raging around an Arcadia installation. [Camera looks at the Arcadia]
-  A group of hostiles attack an evacuation transport, which is under guard by some Alliance ships. [Camera follows the evacuation transport]
+  A group of hostiles attack an evacuating transport, guarded by some Alliance ships. [Camera follows the evacuation transport]
-  When the evac is destroyed or escapes, a Ravana will jump in and start attacking the station. [Camera looks at the Ravana]
+  When the transport is destroyed or escapes, a Ravana will jump in and start attacking the station. [Camera looks at the Ravana]
   Subtitle: No one was left on board
-  The Ravana destroys the station.
+  The Ravana destroys the station
-  The GTVA survivors are jumping out. [Camera looks at them]
+  The GTVA survivors are jumping out [Camera looks at them]
 Note that this is a rough outline of it. Details like how many ships are attacking, when, and from what direction must not be in such an outline.
 ===Creating the mission===
-The first step is to set up the mission. Make sure that everything you want happens in the mission; that is, there is some dogfight in the mission, a Ravana jumps in and destroys the station, and there are a few survivors who are ordered to jump out. You can be [[Alpha 1]] here and observe the mission closely, but don't interfere and make sure that no one will attack you (Ship Editor -- Misc -- Protect Ship). As soon as you figure how the mission plays out and the outcome is always as intended, you can start making the cutscene.
+The first step is to set up the mission. Make sure that everything you want happens in the mission (dogfights, a Ravana jumps in and destroys the station, and survivors who are ordered to jump out). As soon as you figure how the mission plays out and the outcome is always as intended, you can start making the cutscene.
 You will have to run the mission many times until you get what you want. To speed up your testing time, tick "No Briefing" and "No Debriefing" in the Mission Specs Editor (SHIFT-N).
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 Now is the time to make the cutscene. We will go step by step. As soon as you are satisfied with one stage, proceed to the next. Test frequently. The first three lines of our screenplay read like this:
-  Set cutscene bars.
+  Set cutscene bars
   Subtitle: GNG Base is under attack
   A battle is raging around an Arcadia installation. [Camera looks at the Arcadia]
@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 Setting cutscene bars is done by the set-cutscene-bars SEXP.
-Making subtitles is easy. Use the [[show-subtitle]] SEXP, set the first two values to 50, enter the text you want to display (no more than a few words) and set the duration to be displayed in milliseconds (In the example, it's 6000; see [http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Image:CutTut4.jpg image here]).
+Making subtitles is easy. Use the [[show-subtitle]] SEXP, set the first two values to 50, enter the text you want to display (no more than a few words) and set the duration to be displayed in milliseconds.
-We already have a battle going on around the installation, so setting up the camera in the right position is our only job at the moment. Since FRED does not have a sophisticated and flexible "camera object," you must give coordinates to tell where you want your camera to be placed. There are two ways to do that, but we will only utilize the one that is simpler but less punctual (see images below). The first is to use the numbers in FRED's top-right corner. Those are the coordinates of the "camera" with which you are navigating in FRED. Tell FRED to view ship outlines (View -- Ship Outlines; SHIFT-ALT-O) or ship models (not recommended for performance reasons). Hover it over the Arcadia and as soon as you have set up your camera position, open the Mission Event Edit window and use the [[set-camera-position]] SEXP to set your real camera's position. Use the [[set-camera-facing-object]] SEXP to set the heading of your camera. Make it face the Arcadia. Test. Make sure that the battle that is raging around it is visible.
+We already have a battle going on around the installation, so setting up the camera in the right position is our only job at the moment. Since FRED does not have a sophisticated and flexible "camera object," you must give coordinates to tell where you want your camera to be placed. There are two ways to do that, but we will only utilize the one that is simpler (see images below). The first is to use the numbers in FRED's top-right corner. Those are the coordinates of the "camera" with which you are navigating in FRED. Tell FRED to view ship outlines (View -- Ship Outlines; SHIFT-ALT-O) or ship models (not recommended for performance reasons). Hover it over the Arcadia and as soon as you have set up your camera position, open the Mission Event Edit window and use the [[set-camera-position]] SEXP to set your real camera's position. Use the [[set-camera-facing-object]] SEXP to set the heading of your camera. Make it face the Arcadia, and make sure that the battle that is raging around it is visible.
 [[image:CutTut1.jpg]]
@@ Line 56: / Line 58: @@
   A group of hostiles attack an evacuation transport, which is under guard by some Alliance ships. [Camera follows the evacuation transport]
-It is unimportant if the transport survives or not. Our focus is to show some sort of battle around a transport. Set a camera position in which you can see the transport and set its heading again (it should be facing the transport). This stage is more difficult than the first one because of two reasons: a) the evac transport is moving and b) the camera must follow the transport. You must set up a camera position that is somewhere between the transport's arrival and departure point. Then, command your camera to follow the transport. Doing the latter can be done by using a set-camera-facing with a Repeat Count of 10000 and an Interval time of 0. This will ensure that the camera will continuously be facing the transport. Setting Interval time to 1 or more will stagger the camera (see [http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Image:CutTut3.jpg image] if you are uncertain about something).
+It is not important for the transport to survive. Our focus is to show some sort of battle around a transport. Set a camera position in which you can see the transport and set its heading again (it should be facing the transport). This stage is more difficult than the first one because of two reasons: a) the transport is moving and b) the camera must follow the transport. You must set up a camera position that is somewhere between the transport's arrival and departure point. Then, command your camera to follow the transport. Doing the latter can be done by using a set-camera-facing with a Repeat Count of 10000 and an Interval time of 0. This will ensure that the camera will continuously be facing the transport. Setting Interval time to 1 or more will stagger the camera (see [http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Image:CutTut3.jpg image] if you are uncertain about something).
-  When the evac is destroyed or escapes, a Ravana will jump in and start attacking the station. [Camera looks at the Ravana]
+  When the transport is destroyed or escapes, a Ravana will jump in and start attacking the station. [Camera looks at the Ravana]
   Subtitle: No one was left on board
-  The Ravana destroys the station.
+  The Ravana destroys the station
-The third stage is initiated as soon as the evacuation transport is destroyed or departed. Set up a SEXP tree with (destroyed-or-departed-delay "Evac transport") and assume another camera position. This time, the camera doesn't need to follow the Ravana. The tricky part is that the previous Event that set the previous camera position is set to trigger almost infinitely, so we must use the following SEXP tree to ensure that the third camera position will not be overwritten by the looping second. Open the Event that sets the second camera position and complement it in the following way:
+The third stage is initiated as soon as the transport is destroyed or departed. Set up a SEXP tree with (destroyed-or-departed-delay "transport") and assume another camera position. This time, the camera doesn't need to follow the Ravana. The tricky part is that the previous Event that set the previous camera position is set to trigger almost infinitely, so we must use the following SEXP tree to ensure that the third camera position will not be overwritten by the looping second. Open the Event that sets the second camera position and complement it in the following way:
 [[Image:CutTut3.jpg|thumb|left|This SEXP will follow the evac transport]]
@@ Line 79: / Line 81: @@
 [[Image:CutTut4.jpg|thumb|right|Image 4: Start point]]
-*You can change the screenplay however you want. It is the technical part that is important. You have successfully accomplished this tutorial, if you have learned...
+*You can change the screenplay however you want. It is the technical part that is important. You should have learned how to do the following after completing this tutorial:
 **what kind of cutscenes you can do with FRED.
 **making subtitles
@@ Line 86: / Line 88: @@
 **splitting a cutscene into multiple related stages.
 **creating a fairly enjoyable cutscene.
-*We are using FRED to determine our cameras' positions. If you are after your first test runs, you have noticed that this is not the most precise way of doing it (See images 1 and 2 again). If you want your camera to be placed with extreme precision, run the game using the -pos [[Command-Line Reference|command line]]. The reason why this article's author chose this FRED method is because it is better for a tutorial where our camera positions don't need to be exact.
+*We are using FRED to determine our cameras' positions. If you are after your first test runs, you have noticed that this is not the most precise way of doing it (See images 1 and 2 again). If you want your camera to be placed with extreme precision, run the game using the -pos [[Command-Line Reference|command line]]. The reason why the author chose this FRED method is because it is better for a tutorial where our camera positions don't need to be exact.
 *Connecting stages with [[has-time-elapsed]] is not the most flexible method. If you want to insert a stage, it will delay the other stages. It is better to use is-event-true or is-destroyed-or-departed-delay.
 *Ship names aren't very important for this sort of cutscenes.
 *Use [[ship-invulnerable]], Protect Ship, or [[self-destruct]] if needed. The viewer will not notice these tricks, and it will prevent the unexpected from happening. A well-timed self-destruct is more predictable.
-*Even if you think you have finalized the last stage, test the whole cutscene as many times as you have the patience to. If the outcome is always the same, it's good.
+*Even if you think you have finalized the last stage, test the whole cutscene as often as you needed to ensure the outcome being the same.
 ==External links==

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−	~~:''This article needs some revision for word choice and grammatical correctness''~~	+	{{grammar}}

	'''Making cutscenes''' is no longer restricted to animators. It is also possible with FRED_Open.		'''Making cutscenes''' is no longer restricted to animators. It is also possible with FRED_Open.