Tips and Tricks for the Cinema - The Hive Workshop

PurgeandFire111 · 09-10-2007, 02:01 AM

Tips 'n' Tricks for the Cinema

Hey

Introduction:

Welcome to the Tips 'n' Tricks thread. Here, you can find and post tons of tricks for cinematics. Anything at all as long as it is for cinematics.

Links:

How to make unit's Fly

Simply using "Set Unit's Fly Height" won't do. The thing is, that the unit must have a "flying" movement type, otherwise it won't work. The only way to achieve this is to add the Storm Crow Form.

The Storm Crow Form adds the "flying" movement type to the unit. So that is the key.

This is what to do:

GUI:

Fly

Events

Conditions

Actions

Unit - Add Storm Crow Form to <UNIT>

Animation - Set <UNIT>'s Flying Height to <height> at <rate>

Unit - Remove Storm Crow Form from <UNIT>

----- Note that some of these actions might not be exact -----

This adds the Storm Crow Form, sets the unit's flying height, then it removes the Storm Crow Form, but still has the unit flying.

JASS:

Code:

function Fly takes unit u, real height, real rate returns nothing
//Function
    call UnitAddAbility(u,'Arav')
//Adds the ability
    call SetUnitFlyHeight(u,height,rate)
//Sets the flying height
    call UnitRemoveAbility(u,'Arav')
//Then it removes the ability because it is not needed
endfunction
(The jass tags were screwed up)

I believe 'Arav' is the raw code of the Storm Crow spell. I remember it because it is like 'A raven'

You can either use this code or inline it to fit your needs, which is faster but takes a little more lines of coding.

Black Interface

If you have watched some famous cinematics such as Creatures of the Knight, Cult of the Damned, and The Spirit of Vengeance, you'll realize that they have black borders that are used at least once. The borders make your cinematic look much better and look as if they are an actual cinematic. To do this, go to Advanced | Game Interface

Then click Use Custom Game Interface.

Scroll down and wait until you see at least one of these:

Image - Cinematic Border
Image - Console Background
Image - Game Menu Background

Click on each value, click "Use Custom Path", then type out or copy 'n' paste this text:
UI\Widgets\EscMenu\Human\blank-background.blp

If you don't want a black cinematic border, but instead something else such as the border used in "Shipwrecked 1 Revamped - by Med. Map Maker" (Or number 2, I forgot) you can replace only one of them with it. You can keep messing around with those three to see the effects and choose the one you like.

Cameras

Cameras are extremely important to cinematics. To create a camera, open the camera palette then click "Create Camera". If you do that, it should say something like "Camera 001". If you right-click it then click "Rename Camera", you can modify it to fit your needs. I will tell you what each field means below:

Camera Name:

Simply the name of the camera, try to make it relevant to what it is doing such as "Park Bench Camera 1".

Target X and Target Y:

These are the target location's x and y points. Modifying it can slightly move your camera, but if you set it to a high value, it can move your camera quite far.

Z Offset:

This measures the Z offset of the camera. If you set it to a positive number, the camera target point will rise up. If you set it to something big, it will feel like you are off the ground because the camera target is high upwards.

Z Offset:

Rotation:

This determines the rotation of the camera, it is like the facing. If you set it to 90.00 degrees, the camera will turn and face 90.00 degrees.

Angle of Attack (AoA):

This determines how much the camera is off of the ground, though it is not like the Z offset. The Z offset sets the target point to rise/lower. If you change the AoA, it will change the angle of the camera going up and down.

Distance:

This determines the distance from the camera and the target point. Not much to explain here.

Roll:

This determines the tilt of your camera. If you change it, your camera will tilt sideways in an angle and change the view. If you have ever seen some of the Rulerofiron99's cinematics, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Field of View:

The width the camera can see.

Far Clipping:

The total distance a camera can see. Make sure that you do not set it to a too high value, or else it may cause lag because it can see too many objects from its view. (eg: Doodads, Destructibles, etc.)

Applying Cameras:

You can apply cameras with simple triggers:

Code:

Camera - Apply <Camera> for Player 1 (Red) over 0.00 seconds

This will apply the camera for the player and will take X seconds to apply. Before you apply another camera, you should wait then apply it:

Code:

Camera - Apply Camera 1 for Player 1 (Red) over 3.00 seconds
Wait 2.00 seconds
Camera - Apply Camera 2 for Player 1 (Red) over 2.00 seconds

The reason why I only waited 2.00 seconds was because if I set it to 3.00, the camera will stop then apply. I want it to be much smoother.

For more about cameras, click here

More will be posted soon!

Please feel free to post more tips 'n' tricks as well!

Just a couple of ground rules need to be skimmed first:

Rules:

Do NOT spam.
Do not post stuff unrelated to cinematics. If it is an element of cinematics like terrain, it is alright.
This is not a place to ask questions.
Please post your tips/tricks in an organized way.
Please do not keep posting over and over again for each tip/trick. Just organize it in the way I did so this thread doesn't get flooded with repeated posts.
Feel free to post any tips 'n' tricks for cinematics.
Read through the thread before you post a tip/trick so that you can make sure no one else posted it.

Thanks!

Bob27 · 09-10-2007, 07:06 AM

Stickied :)

PurgeandFire111 · 09-11-2007, 01:47 AM

Thanks Bob. :)

- To everyone: Please, feel free to post more cinematic tips/tricks!

Waldbaer · 10-07-2007, 07:14 PM

I saw you also linked my "exact cinematic timing" thread from wc3campaigns. It is outdated... I'll write a new tutorial describing my current method (also used in my contest cinematic "The Premonition") soon.

Another tip concerning camera movement: If you make bigger sways over more than one camerasetup station, you will notice that everytime you apply a new camera, there will be an edge in movement. I wrote a system to prevent this ugly edges from occuring - here it is: Dragonblood Creations' Camera System.
Its application is basically the same than with the normal "apply camera x over y seconds", but it offers smooth acceleration and braking. Take a look at it, it should be a great help especially for advanced cinematic makers.

HeretoDLstuff · 10-07-2007, 08:16 PM

Wow, pretty nice, goodjob and +rep!

Waldbaer · 10-19-2007, 11:17 AM

I wrote a new tutorial about exact cinematic timing and posted it also on this site. Take a look at it: Exact Cinematic Timing (Trigger Queue and Timers)
I suggest to edit the link in the first post to the one I gave above.