The intro video should probably be replaced by the Nietzsche quote fading into a dance number featuring Rasaad singing his hit "I Can Show You Justice", heavily Autotuned, of course. In the backdrop Sarevok and Nameless Guard #3 can do their old lines, again heavily Autotuned, as backing vocals.
The intro video should probably be replaced by the Nietzsche quote fading into a dance number featuring Rasaad singing his hit "I Can Show You Justice", heavily Autotuned, of course. In the backdrop Sarevok and Nameless Guard #3 can do their old lines, again heavily Autotuned, as backing vocals.
I'd try a few more font and spacing settings for the opening quote. It's better than the original v2011 version, but it could still be made slightly more comfortable to the eye (I like the old BG1 version best personally). I'd also bring back the quotation marks and check again if the fade-in needs to be cut.
As for the video itself, it's good, but I have a few issues with it. I really don't like the double stutter. One is fine, two sounds.... silly. Having the eye scene repeat itself is also a bit wonky (I prefer the first version you posted), and the choking scene doesn't flow as well as it should. You shouldn't have removed the sound of the neck breaking. It's a key element. There's also a short audio gap during the blackout after the fall which could be smoothed out.
@modestvolta I wish I remembered where I read this, but the video format is actually just a flash video format that any browser can play, renamed *.wbm.
here's a media info dump of the format
General Unique ID : 104693267193113588667322894016268341318 (0x4EC3309874C17E9D70C3A5A7D5D21046) Complete name : G:\games\Baldur's Gate EE\Data\00766\movies\RESTINN.WBM Format : WebM Format version : Version 2 File size : 2.63 MiB Duration : 10s 344ms Overall bit rate mode : Variable Overall bit rate : 2 134 Kbps Writing application : Lavf53.24.2 Writing library : Lavf53.24.2
Video ID : 1 Format : VP8 Codec ID : V_VP8 Bit rate : 1 912 Kbps Width : 1 280 pixels Height : 720 pixels Display aspect ratio : 16:9 Frame rate mode : Variable Compression mode : Lossy Language : English Default : Yes Forced : No
Audio ID : 2 Format : Vorbis Format settings, Floor : 1 Codec ID : A_VORBIS Duration : 10s 344ms Bit rate mode : Variable Bit rate : 128 Kbps Channel(s) : 2 channels Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz Compression mode : Lossy Stream size : 162 KiB (6%) Writing library : libVorbis (Omnipresent) (20120203 (Omnipresent)) Default : Yes Forced : No Writing application : Lavc53.42.4
Pretty sweet. Only thing that irks me in both versions that you've done is hearing Sarevok grunting with exertion while he's standing completely still (that would be when he's tossing the guy off the roof), so if it was me making the video, I'd have a fade to black transition between seeing Sarevok standing on the roof and then the guy falling, having the grunt when the screen is black.
@modestvolta I wish I remembered where I read this, but the video format is actually just a flash video format that any browser can play, renamed *.wbm.[…]
It's actually WebM, Google's stab at a royalty-free open video format in response to the proprietary H.264 (aka MP4 video).
This response was a lot longer and much more technical until I realized nobody cared.
The newly added 'there are others' line is MUCH better, but then the sound-synchronism of the scene goes down hill, since you use the original video's sound, it does not fit in with the graphics at all. Like, we hear Sarevok punching the man's helmet but we see his clawed hand reaching for him, and the choking crushing neck scene lacks his proper sounds too.
My intent is definitely not to embarrass anyone - I appreciate the kind words (towards me), but I just want to make sure my actions aren't misconstrued as an attempt to one-up anyone.
Of course. And it wasn't my intention to say otherwise. But it's, regardless of your good intentions, a slight embarrassment to Overhaul. You managed, without any access to the video source to produce a much more professional intro video. All in the space of a few hours work.
Well, at least I hope it's embarrassing to them. There's nothing wrong in it, mind you. Shows humility and honesty in the face of a much better work by someone with less resources. That said, I do need to point out though that I do harbor the honest feeling that this patch change to the video is just Overhaul joke on us. The requests for both the quote and the speech line have been repetitive and persistant and the resulting video looks so out there, the quote so ugly and disproportional, the speech so sloppy, that it almost certainly a small prank they played on us.
Is it just me? but I really miss the part when Sarevok punches the other dude's helmet off.. I don't know.. the new intro is not that great IMO. Its just missing to much things.. there's actually alot of thought behind the first intro. In the first few seconds there's suspence, because you don't know who is chasing after the dude. And *BAM!* the door breaks and you see Sarevok in his kick-ass-awesome-satan-of-darkness armor. Also the first into put much more weight on how much Sarevok is physically strong. Crashing a man's throat with his had while suspending him in the air for quite a while.
I think that for the intro and outro they should've made a bit more "animated" clips then the rest of the game.
EDIT: I like your vid man! sorry if its sounds like I complain. You did much better then what we have in the game
A generic response to audio: While I can't really disagree with a lot of the comments, at the same... well, in the words of Sarevok: "I'm sorry that you feel that way old man." Basically, without the unmixed original tracks, there's very little I'll be able to do.
@Necroblivion But if they'd fully animated the intro clip, I wouldn't have an ongoing weekend project! (and thanks!)
Sarevok's punching the helmet off was of course in response to the sheer silliness of said (horned) helmet.
Not that Sarevok's one to tal… er, punch. The scene really could've used the Tarrasque showing up behind Sarevok and punching his helmet off before bounding off into the night.
The rain is lagging/slowing a bit in the scene with the headshot of Sarevok. I think the blackout seems a bit out of place. Why have it?
The lag/slowness is from having to slow the shot down long enough to fill up his entire dialog at that point. I would have repeated the clip a few times but the way the camera zooms in changes the focal point of the shot so repeating the clip is a no-go. It's annoying and I'd fix it if I could. The blackout was a happy accident: at first I didn't have any art to put there but after watching it, it became a part I thought really added some suspense to the scene (especially in the absence of more source art). Thanks!
The rain is lagging/slowing a bit in the scene with the headshot of Sarevok.
The lag/slowness is from having to slow the shot down long enough to fill up his entire dialog at that point. I would have repeated the clip a few times but the way the camera zooms in changes the focal point of the shot so repeating the clip is a no-go. It's annoying and I'd fix it if I could.
I actually like the "slowed down" headshot of Sarevok. I know it wasn't your intention, but it gives a sort of "slow-motion" effect, which I feel perfectly highlights Sarevok's presence bearing down on the guy. It portrays the events as they might appear from the guy's perspective, which coincides with the fact that the very next scene we see is of his eye with Sarevok's reflection in it.
I may play around with the quote more (still standing firm on my formatting! ), but I'll look at different fonts. I don't usually use serif fonts, and a sans-serif definitely does not work here. When I have time I'll go through a few font options. And maybe I'll add the quotation marks back - you guys are demanding!
It would be cool if the font could match the one in the BG2 intro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq9N9ddsKg8 looks old and slightly distorted. There are lots of free fonts like that. Also maybe some sound effect /music for the quotation.
@Lamorack I was just thinking about sound effects/music for the quotation today, but I need to wrap this up with the holidays coming around and a end of the year push at work. So unless the perfect (free-use) sound effect falls into my lap, I'll have to skip that addition. Also, I found a font option I like better than the one I first just through on there, but I'm open to other suggestions. Does anyone know any good medieval/gothic fonts (either free or any fonts that come standard with Adobe Production Premium) they'd recommend?
@The_New_Romance If you can give me any noticeable sound synch parts I'll look into them (after listening to it a few times I have a guess where you might have found an issue, so I've tried to take care of that, but I'd like to tighten up any other areas pointed out to me). I'll see if I can synch that up before putting this out as some type of download.
@agris (and anybody else) Any ideas how this should be distributed? Just set up on rapidshare (or whatever people use now) to download? I've never been heavily involved in the BG mod scene (making or really downloading), so I don't know the rules of the modding sites. Would those be an option?
Also, if anyone can give me some pointers on how to install ffmpeg ( @Coriander?), I'd appreciate it. Apparently to run the .exe you also need to know the command lines, which is above what I can/want to do (unless there's a really easy fix that I wasn't able to find after 2 minutes of Googling). I've tried Miro Video Converter and while that file works in VLC player, it crashes BG:EE when I try to run it in the game.
I actually like the "slowed down" headshot of Sarevok. I know it wasn't your intention, but it gives a sort of "slow-motion" effect, which I feel perfectly highlights Sarevok's presence bearing down on the guy. It portrays the events as they might appear from the guy's perspective, which coincides with the fact that the very next scene we see is of his eye with Sarevok's reflection in it.
I'm going to start saying that this is what I intended all along...
@modestvolta Maybe create an account over at SHS (link: http://www.shsforums.net/forum/234-miscellaneous-released-mods/) and post in that forum I just linked that you want help converting the video, it's already been done for another mod in there so someone has the expertise to guide you. As for the actual file hosting, any of that other stuff I listed would get the job done. You don't need to make a weidu mod or anything, just give the file the correct file format and name, upload it and you're good to go.
@modestvolta It was mainly the stuff already pointed out by others, that the sound of Sarevok hitting the guy and crushing his throat seem to happen somewhat unrelated to the scene (it just shows the close-up of the eye at that moment, if I'm not mistaken). I think it would fit better if the scene of Sarevok holding him up would be a little more drawn out, or at least the crushing sound should happen there. The sound of Sarevok's fist doesn't really have a visual analogy in this new intro.
Beamdog should of crowd-sourced the movies for the community to produce; (especially given their small budget) whoever does the best movie gets some prize money ~ probably cheaper than the new movies they've had produced.
They could give the crowd some indication of the style and let them go to it.
I decided to make a topic about this, don't want to derail the thread.
I never saw the BG2 intro movie until I played BGT early this year. Was it removed at one point? I had the BG2 CE... maybe I was just too clicky back then.
Your revision is much better, and hopefully Beamdog will use it. Or revise the movie accordingly using your version as inspiration. Nicely done @modestvolta!
Comments
As for the video itself, it's good, but I have a few issues with it. I really don't like the double stutter. One is fine, two sounds.... silly. Having the eye scene repeat itself is also a bit wonky (I prefer the first version you posted), and the choking scene doesn't flow as well as it should. You shouldn't have removed the sound of the neck breaking. It's a key element. There's also a short audio gap during the blackout after the fall which could be smoothed out.
Just my 2 cp.
here's a media info dump of the format
Other than that, fantastic video.
This response was a lot longer and much more technical until I realized nobody cared.
Two goals: (1) replace BG:EE intro video; (2) become #1 YouTube viral video sensation.
These are achievable goals.
Well, at least I hope it's embarrassing to them. There's nothing wrong in it, mind you. Shows humility and honesty in the face of a much better work by someone with less resources. That said, I do need to point out though that I do harbor the honest feeling that this patch change to the video is just Overhaul joke on us. The requests for both the quote and the speech line have been repetitive and persistant and the resulting video looks so out there, the quote so ugly and disproportional, the speech so sloppy, that it almost certainly a small prank they played on us.
I think that for the intro and outro they should've made a bit more "animated" clips then the rest of the game.
EDIT: I like your vid man! sorry if its sounds like I complain. You did much better then what we have in the game
@Necroblivion But if they'd fully animated the intro clip, I wouldn't have an ongoing weekend project! (and thanks!)
Not that Sarevok's one to tal… er, punch. The scene really could've used the Tarrasque showing up behind Sarevok and punching his helmet off before bounding off into the night.
Good job!
looks old and slightly distorted. There are lots of free fonts like that. Also maybe some sound effect /music for the quotation.
Looks good though! Nice job.
@The_New_Romance If you can give me any noticeable sound synch parts I'll look into them (after listening to it a few times I have a guess where you might have found an issue, so I've tried to take care of that, but I'd like to tighten up any other areas pointed out to me). I'll see if I can synch that up before putting this out as some type of download.
@agris (and anybody else) Any ideas how this should be distributed? Just set up on rapidshare (or whatever people use now) to download? I've never been heavily involved in the BG mod scene (making or really downloading), so I don't know the rules of the modding sites. Would those be an option?
Also, if anyone can give me some pointers on how to install ffmpeg ( @Coriander?), I'd appreciate it. Apparently to run the .exe you also need to know the command lines, which is above what I can/want to do (unless there's a really easy fix that I wasn't able to find after 2 minutes of Googling). I've tried Miro Video Converter and while that file works in VLC player, it crashes BG:EE when I try to run it in the game.
They could give the crowd some indication of the style and let them go to it.
I decided to make a topic about this, don't want to derail the thread.