How to make videos

Howdy folks, Cody here with a guide. I consistently get PMs and e-mails asking for tips on how to improve a movie or how to get started. I am creating this guide to give off some movie making methods, tips, tricks, strategies, and a plethora of other issues that are all important when creating a film people will enjoy watching. While most of these tips apply specifically to Flight Simulator X, generally speaking these tips are also important in concept to other games and media forms.

One thing that should be noted is that this guide was made for those with access to a PC, however I have made a small attempt at garnering attention for those who own consoles with video capturing cards. See more below.

One thing this guide doesn't cover is the minute details of editing. This is accomplished by "feel" and "style" and would be best left out to encourage fresh thinking. How you edit your film is up to you. I just provide you the tools to get to that point.

Software 

Let's start with software. One of the most important steps to creating a good movie. The software you use can drastically alter the style, originality, look and feel of the movie in question. I will provide links to versions  the software, and give a quick run down of what we personally use, as well as links to other programs. Feel free to add to this list by posting a remark.

Video Capturing Software / Hardware

This is the bread of the filming process. With the filming software, you will be able to capture what is happening. These programs act as your "camera" and allow you to film, cut and refilm in real time while attempting your actions.

FRAPS - http://www.fraps.com
FRAPS is the program we personally use. If you are unwilling to spend the money to purchase the registered version, you will be limited to 30 second clips that have "fraps.com" overlay on the top. To get good framerates while keeping the file sizes relatively small I recommend the following:

- Film in half speed. Record your simulation at 1/2 speed or lower, then speed it up in the editing process for a smooth FPS.
- Set your FPS to no higher than 50 if you can avoid it. The more frames per a second it films, the larger the file and the higher your system resources must be. If you are only getting 30FPS while filming, why film at 50?
- If you disable "Record Sound" during moments you don't need sound, you can save file size and resources.
- Ideally you can record your simulation on one drive, and save the output to another drive. For example, I run my OS on C:, my flight simulation on D: and record all my files E:. By doing this, the OS has it's own hard drive and will not conflict with the simulation or recording. The Flight Simulator will not have induced stutters by the recording as well.
- Set your hotkey to PRINT SCREEN, so as not to interfere with the simulation commands. Although it will save a copy of what is on the screen to the clipboard, it only keeps a single image at a time. There are other combinations that might work, however this is what I use.
- While filming, use the FPS hotkey to bring up the FPS counter. This will NOT be filmed, so don't worry. This is a useful tool for determining when you are filming, and what kind of framerates you are getting.
- Make sure to hide the cursor when filming. This is embarrassing to find in a video and will require to you to refilm those shots. This can be done in FRAPS itself.

Camstasia Studio - http://www.techsmith.com/ 
Camtasia has turned into a very useful program over the years. Although I feel the software is a bit resource heavy due to the graphical interface, it offers a lot of useful utilities and programs so you can capture, record and even edit. If you are recording for a presentation or need to capture the screen itself versus filming in 3D via DirectX like FRAPS does, this comes highly recommended.

Video Capturing Card 
A video capturing card allows you to film media from a TV or other device through an installed card in your computer.

Advantages
- Allows console owners to create quality films and have access to professional editing software
- Can be used to record other formats of media besides video games

Disadvantages
- Requires installation into your computer
- Chords and other media devices must be used
- May require additional software
- Comes with a price

Other Useful Programs 
GameCam - http://www.planetgamecam.com/ 
Taksi - http://taksi.sourceforge.net/

Camera and Manipulation Software

This software is exclusive to FSX, and is made primarily for recording tracks or for adjusting your camera for that "perfect" shot.

FS Recorder - http://www.fs-recorder.net/
FS Recorder is a program designed to record multiple tracks and play them back inside the simulation. For example, if you wanted to film multiple planes flying in formation, you would record a track of you flying, then go back, play the recording and record yourself flying in formation with your previous track. Confused yet? This is a critical tool for filming in Flight Simulator.

EZdok Camera Addon - http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=ezdockcam
EZdok is the software of choice for Jaggyroad Films when trying to record various camera angles. This is the equivalent to having a "free" camera to film as you wish, but also doubles as a really neat addon that simulations motion effects, among other things. There used to be a free lite version of the software known as EZwalk made by the same developer, however we can no longer find copies of it on the internet.

Other Useful Programs 
DBS Walk and Follow - http://www.dbsim.com/Waf.x/dbs.waf.x.htm
Wheelcam - Available on http://www.avsim.com. I was told that it was "free and provides more possibilities than FSX's standard cameras."

Editing Software

If the video capturing software is the bread, the editing software is the butter. You want to select an editing tool that not only matches your particular skill, but matches your style. Good editing could make or break your video.

Windows Movie Maker - Comes standard with Windows XP
WMM is a great program for entry level video makers, or those who do not with to needlessly complicate their lives with complex video editing software. You can edit, clip, resize, adjust the speed, add music, add effects and do a plethora of other things to the video you have captured.

Advantages:
- Comes free with XP
- VERY easy to use with written guides build in
- Simple and easy effects such as fades, inversions, and other tools that are as simple to use as "clicking and dragging."
- Great conversion tool for adjusting the size of your movies when doing a final render

Disadvantages:
- Limited in scope
- Can't alter the effects
- Can't alter the fades and transitions
- Has some CTD (crash to desktop) issues. While you should save religiously while editing, this is rather annoying. The built in "Crash backup" feature is useful, but I wouldn't rely on it.

As you can see, WMM is a mixed bag when it comes to editing. I highly recommend WMM for people who are fairly new to editing, as it is a platform program to get into more advanced software. With it being free, nobody can beat that price!

Sony Vegas - http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegassoftware
Sony Vegas is the program we often utilize. I am currently using Vegas Pro 10 (64 bit).This software has the ability to take you to that "next step" in video editing, and can be used quite professional for even the largest projects. A natural transition, and easy for the most part to pick up and utilize, with some caveats.

Advantages:
- Simple to use and intuitive
- Extremely powerful
- Great guides online for using it
- Professional look
- Great effects that are simple to manipulate and adjust
- Ability to compile your video into MANY formats, including high definition and widescreen versions.
- Arrange the software windows to your liking
- Can use 3rd party tools for effects, audio, etc.

Disadvantages:
- Some features are limiting
- You may require "plug ins" for certain specific effects. This costs money
- Fairly steep price. The Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 version alone costs $94.95 U.S., while the full version of Vegas PRO costs $599.95 U.S.
- There are no video compression tools, so you are forced to use another program such as WMM to make the file size smaller

Vegas is highly recommended. It accepts most media formats (.jpg, .bmp, .avi, .mpg, .wmv and more) while making all the tools fairly straightforward and simple to use. It doesn't have the ease of use as WMM, but after a while of tinkering with the effects and other features of Vegas, you will get a strong understanding of how the program works.

I particularly enjoy the drag and drop features of the effects and transitions, with the ability to fine tune the timing and properties associated with each of them. You can find a few plug ins on the internet that you can install giving you more effects and tools.

Adobe Premiere - http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/
Adobe Premiere is the Adobe equivelent of Sony Vegas. It offers a basic layout that is gears more towards splicing and putting footage together than truly offering an effects suite such as After Effects. If you are looking more towards editing large clips and crafting longer films/videos, then this may be the suite for you. Fairly reliable and it still offers some basic effects and transitions.

Advantages:
- HIGHLY adaptable and customizable
- Studio professional quality formats and plug ins
- Ability to create basic effects and transitions
- Considered an industry standard, and once learned easier to move into After Effects

Disadvantages:
- Higher learning curve than Vegas, but better quality payout and industry standard.
- Steep price of up to $799 if purchased as stand alone.

Adobe After Effects - http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects.html?promoid=DJDRJ
After Effects is one of the pinnacle pieces of software that is able to create some amazing effects. Able to import most file formats, this program is an industry standard when crafting standard effects. Very powerful, but not necessarily made for splicing large clips together or rendering whole videos. If you want to add effects (smoke, bullets, explosions, etc), create effects from scratch, a new animated logo, etc, this is the software you will likely want to utilize.

Advantages:
- HIGHLY adaptable and customizable
- Studio professional quality formats and plug ins
- Ability to create very advanced effects and transitions
- Considered an industry standard

Disadvantages:
- Much higher learning curve than Vegas, but better quality payout and industry standard.
- Steep price of up to $999 if purchased as stand alone.


Vision/Story & Filming

This is probably one of the most overlooked concepts of making a good film. Often times people get all the software and equipment together and start filming without a specific cause or reason. You as a director need to have a clear vision of what it is you want to accomplish with your film, and what you expect to portray. If you are doing a story, then you need to make that story clear and concise.

Brainstorm


First thing you want to do is think about what it is you want to do with your movie. Here are some questions you should be asking yourself:

- Is my video interesting?
- Am I telling a story, or am I profiling a specific character?
- What kind of music would fit my story/characters?
- How long should my movie be?
- Does it have a particular style?
- Do you have a general idea of how you want the movie to turn out?

This is the initial concept and helps gather what you want to accomplish, and how you want to show it off. This phase is critical because it will become the backbone for your creation. During this phase you should be getting an idea of how you want to stylistically make your film.

During brainstorming, you should be considering some major events for your movie. Your vision of the final project will help determine its success and how easy it is to make. I often spend a lot of time listening to music and gathering ideas from the music during this phase. Often, the music picked helps determine the style of the film itself.

Create a storyboard

You don't have to necessarily create a physical storyboard, but you should have an understanding of how the events in your movie are going to be played out. Here are some important things to consider when making a storyboard or crafting your movie:

- Does the story flow?
- Does it make sense?
- What and where are your major events placed?
- How will the film start?
- How will the film end?
- How will other characters be presented if any?
- Will I have to find other forms of media besides the base game?

I review films for people all the time, and one of the most uninteresting things I see all the time is a character running around killing stuff with nothing linking any of the scenes together... then in the middle of the film they pan around the character a few seconds, take off running and kill more stuff. In Flight Simulator, it's 2 minutes of an approach to a major airport. While perhaps interesting to some, it holds my interest very little, and I suspect there are many like me.

While making a storyboard you want to consider how action is portrayed. I often watch movies where the first minute is great action with an interesting story and or video editing, however the rest of the film doesn't deliver. I have also watched films where nothing interesting happens until the final minute. If this is your intent for storytelling purposes, great, however you must accept that some people will be extremely turned off by this. Generally speaking you have about 30 seconds to capture people's attention in the beginning. This is even more true when it comes to commercial filming.

Piece together how the movie will progress, from the beginning to the end. If you are making a character profile film, make your character do interesting things and go to interesting places. If you are telling a story, spend a lot of time thinking whether or not how you present the story makes sense and will be understood by the audience. You may need a few people to review your storyboard, and I would recommend doing so.

You should keep flexible with your storyboard. If something happens while filming that you didn't expect but works well with your movie, implement it and don't look back!

Lights, Camera, ACTION! 

Alright, you got your stuff together. You are ready to start filming and gathering footage of your story/character. During this stage, you will be the director and the cameraman. Your ability to be a good director and go that extra step will make or break your film.

How Much Should I Film? 


The more the better. You want to catch those things you didn't at first expect. Take a few seconds to start recording before any given action, and stop a few seconds afterwards. You also want to record a particular scene more than once to get that "perfect" look. I often take many takes of a particular scene and easily 90% of the footage I create never makes it into a film. You want to get the cream of the crop here, and unless you have a ton of footage to pick from, you won't have that critical option.

Camera Angles 


When filming you want to have camera angles are are interesting and help portray your movie. You want to consider what is in the background like you are firing a gun. While you may be focusing on the action in that particular scene, others may notice something in the background you didn't.

A tip that was given to me was like a photograph, never put the subject of interest at the direct center of the camera. By offsetting the object slightly in the scene, it ultimately becomes much more powerful and interesting.

The key here is to have fun with it, play around, experiment and keep chugging along.


Post Production 

This is it! You got everything filmed, you edited the film, you are ready to release it! Wait a minute though, not so fast. There is some work that must be done to ensure you successfully get your film out there!

QUALITY ASSURANCE! 

Test test and TEST your film when you are done! Is all the spelling in the credits correct? Did the music track accidently slide off? Did somehow a file go missing while compressing? Did the quality turn out not quite so good? Did the message you wanted to portray come across?

I recommend doing quality assurance before you even start your first compilation. Chances are, even after compiling the film a few times, you may not get what you want... This is a long process at times, while others it is relatively easy and fast. As an example of this, "AerialCowboys" was made in under a day, tested for a few hours, then quickly released. One of the easiest films I have ever done. This is in stark contrast to the weeks I spent on "Twisted Velocity," which had its own set of unique problems and even went through a vigorous testing process.

CHECK, DOUBLE CHECK

Check again before you upload, then check again by downloading your project and watching the downloaded/streamed version!

Where do I put this file?

Getting your film out there is important, and I recommend at least two things... Make sure people have access to a download and streamable version of your film. Here are some sites I recommend:

http://www.savefile.com <--- Free website for which people can download your work. Service can be unreliable at time.

http://www.youtube.com <--- Free stream website with a large community. I could write a whole guide just about YouTube.

http://www.putfile.com <--- Free stream website. I don't use this so I can't provide many details.

http://www.simtube.com <--- Free stream website. Dedicated to "simulation" so you have direct access to this demographic.

http://www.fileplanet.com <--- High quality download site. Requires registration and sometimes membership. May cause issues for people who wish to download your video and has many ads.

http://www.rapidshare.de <--- Free download site, membership and fee required for higher download rates and file access. Not a bad website, and although I don't use it currently, I have used it in the past.

There are just a few websites, I am sure there are others. Feel free to leave comments about other sites.

Communicate

Alright, you are at the final step, but an important one nonetheless. Share your work, whether it be via Facebook, Twitter or various forums. When you make your post, make sure it is clear, has a good topic heading, and leaves nothing to be guessed. Sometimes the topic name alone can ruin how effective a film is. Make sure to include "video" or "movie" in your heading, as it will help differentiate it from other posts.

Make sure after you have posted your movie to communicate with those watching the movie. After a few responses, respond to people who have watched it. This will put your post back on the top of the list while maintaining a good reputation of communication with those who watch your movie. If someone bothers to post that they liked it, then they should be thanked. Only a small percentage of people who watch your film will respond.. remember that.

Stress and Criticism 

This is often not talked about, but I feel it is important to discuss. One thing that most people don't realize is that when they create a movie, they open themselves up for scrutiny from many sources... even if some of those sources are not welcome. I get hate PMs and e-mails daily for my movies, as well as people who rate my films incredibly low. There is even a group of people who have subscribed to my videos via YouTube and rate them down the second they come out.

Take what everyone tells you with a grain of salt, accept constructive criticism, and blow off all the nonsense that really doesn't matter. People WILL try to grief and troll you, and they are not worth your time usually. This can be quite stressful, especially if you worked hard on a film. Lets face it, we are all human. If someone makes a post saying "YOUR MOVIE SUX!" after you spent a week making it, it will make you upset. Learn to let that stuff pass. Perhaps you can contact an admin or report it for inappropriate comments... if not, just leave it be.


Conclusion 

I hope you found this guide helpful in an attempt to help you get started or craft better films. After over 100 films, I decided I should give a bit back to the community. Everyone has the capacity to make great films, however, like anything else, how much talent, effort and ideas you put into something will determine its outcome.

Sub rosa!

-Cody Bergland
Owner, Jaggyroad Films