Renders

[Destructavator]

OK, I now have the first proposed version put together, I used two different existing tracks from the project and added a quick FX at the very beginning to create the feel of looking at a video feed or something in space, and the game title clip at the end with a couple of transition FX.

If people decide they don't like the FX at the very start, just let me know and I will edit it back out.

Don't be afraid to tell me what other parts you do or don't like.

Now it is just going to take some time to upload (a little over an hour from this post) as the rendered video is about 110 MB.  The format is Xvid, 720x480, with the audio in WAV PCM at 16-bits, stereo, 44Kz.

(When converted into the format used by the game, I'd expect it to end up being smaller.)

www.destructavator.com/public/UFOAI_IntroAnim_1a.avi

Please be patient while it uploads...

(Wait an hour from this post!)

[Destructavator]

Almost there, about 5 min...

...done!

Okay, you may now feel free to grab it from the link and blast me with criticism...

[Mattn]

a small note: the video dimensions must be power of two - so 512x512 or 1024x512 - otherwise it would be scaled when converting into roq

[Destructavator]

Not a problem - I should be able to re-render it in such a way easily.

How does it look otherwise?  Before uploading a second version, should I make any other changes?

[Mattn]

i think the time until we reached the moon is too long, we need a 'plopp' sound when the carriers arrive - and the music is not scary enough imo - i like the music when the carriers are moving towards earth. except that i like it

[BTAxis]

Actually, we aren't going to have sound effect in this movie at all.

[Winter]

Not a problem - I should be able to re-render it in such a way easily.

How does it look otherwise?  Before uploading a second version, should I make any other changes?

Comments on the music:

1. Like mattn said, we need a brief musical sting to highlight the Carriers jumping in. Cymbals would be my suggestion, going something like "rat-tat-tat-tat-TAH", with the ending beat just as the Carriers resolve. Of course, if you think of something better than that, I'll be happy to listen to it.

2. The middle section, after the carriers jump in, feels out of place. We've got this lovely atmospheric opening, very electronic, taking us to the mid-clip climax of the Carriers, but then it drops away and actually intersects badly with the middle section opening. There's a second or two when both are running at once, and it doesn't sound good.

The middle section music starts out far too soft and never really gets the volume it needs to be impressive, the fade-in is far too long, and the style is too different to mesh well coming straight from the opening. We need either an interlude to lead us into the middle section or a less clashing middle section track, whichever suits you better. I also think the middle section fade-in should start the moment we see the wormholes opening and come to full volume quite rapidly, as it needs to highlight the drama and action of what's happening on-screen for those few seconds, before fading back down to being menacing as the video takes its time again.

Essentially, right now the middle section is a bit of an anticlimax to the great build-up of the opening track.

3. Not music-related, but there's a single corrupt video frame at the beginning of your logo clip.

4. A musical highlight of the logo's appearance would not go amiss. At least some change in the music would be warranted, as things are now happening on the screen. We shouldn't just let the slow menacing stuff meant for the slow menacing sections continue.

Regards,
Winter

[Destructavator]

OK, these are all good points, thanks for the feedback.

1. Like mattn said, we need a brief musical sting to highlight the Carriers jumping in. Cymbals would be my suggestion, going something like "rat-tat-tat-tat-TAH", with the ending beat just as the Carriers resolve. Of course, if you think of something better than that, I'll be happy to listen to it.

That's a nice idea, I'll try that with my DAW w/ EZ-Drummer and see what I can come up with.

2. The middle section, after the carriers jump in, feels out of place. We've got this lovely atmospheric opening, very electronic, taking us to the mid-clip climax of the Carriers, but then it drops away and actually intersects badly with the middle section opening. There's a second or two when both are running at once, and it doesn't sound good.

This shouldn't be too hard to fix, I'll take care of it...

3. Not music-related, but there's a single corrupt video frame at the beginning of your logo clip.

Now that I look back at it myself, I see this too - I'll take care of that as well.

4. A musical highlight of the logo's appearance would not go amiss. At least some change in the music would be warranted, as things are now happening on the screen. We shouldn't just let the slow menacing stuff meant for the slow menacing sections continue.

Noted, and on my personal TODO list now.

OK, I'll get to work on this today and this weekend, in the meantime, since I'll be adding some original music content, which CC license would fit the best?

[Mattn]

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 or Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0

[Destructavator]

Okay, here is a "rough draft:"

www.destructavator.com/public/UFOAI_IntroAnim_1b.avi

If desired, I can develop it a little further:

- I can add some additional sounds to the track so it isn't quite so monotonous or repetitive

- Some of the fade in/outs of certain parts I'm a little unsure of

- I could add some reverb effects to the toms, it might sound a little better that way, or a delay effect

- I could do something a little different for when the alien ships appear (now that I look back at it, I see I forgot to add a little intro right *before* they appear like Winter suggested, but I've already uploaded the thing)

On the other hand, if people here think that something completely different for a second audio track would work better, I can scrap this one and try something else.

I also tried to render it in 512x512 as Mattn mentioned, although it didn't come out right, it may have to be scaled anyways (The clip I got from what sitters posted was I think in 720x480).  This rough draft is in the same format (audio and video) as the previous version.

So should I develop this further or try something else?

EDIT: I did a little research on ROQ files and found that 512 by 384 is a common format for ROQ, I should be able to render the next version in this format without too many problems.

[Winter]

Okay, here is a "rough draft:"

If desired, I can develop it a little further:

- I can add some additional sounds to the track so it isn't quite so monotonous or repetitive

- Some of the fade in/outs of certain parts I'm a little unsure of

- I could add some reverb effects to the toms, it might sound a little better that way, or a delay effect

- I could do something a little different for when the alien ships appear (now that I look back at it, I see I forgot to add a little intro right *before* they appear like Winter suggested, but I've already uploaded the thing)

I like where this is going. As you said, it still needs a bit of attention, but I'm already quite impressed with it.

The part between the moon and Earth drags a bit, and seems too fast for what's happening on the screen. A slow-down would be nice, and then slowly speed it back up when the Carriers actually reach Earth. It would also be nice if the Carriers actually did something when they reach Earth. Lights firing/blinking on top, launching little green lights (UFOs) at the surface, that sort of thing. I don't know if you can do it or if it's up to sitters, but visually that section is a bit empty.

The aforementioned little lead-up to the Carriers' appearance would be a good addition as well.

The transition to and music on the title clip are great, thumbs up.

Regards,
Winter

[Destructavator]

I might be able to make it look like the carriers are doing something when they reach the Earth, as you said, I'll see what my video software can do.  If not, there is an alternative so that sitters won't have to re-render the whole video that was created:  If I had additional video clips, just short ones that show close-ups of the carriers, or aliens inside the craft cockpit, I can add layers to the video in my non-linear editor and the final result would look like a movie where the camera jumps from different views.

I can also grab and zoom on sections of the existing video to simulate closeups, but it might not look quite as neat.

My video editing software also includes chroma key FX, so I can add small things into the video in layers (like small ships leaving the carriers, and sitters would not have to re-render the entire thing again).

The fine-tuning of the soundtrack as you suggested should be no problem.

I'll work on the soundtrack first, while people here decide about the video content.

[Destructavator]

Okay, I've done some more work on the soundtrack, I think it plays a little better now, and I've made a few changes.

This one's 512x384, so it's a little smaller in size and therefore should take less time to upload - It actually only takes a few minutes for my computer to render video as it's fairly new, but my upload speed from my DSL connection just isn't too great.

It's about 80MB in size, so please be patient for about 45 min while I get it up there...

Okay, done!

www.destructavator.com/public/UFOAI_IntroAnim_1c.avi

Is this one any better?

[sitters]

Okay, I've done some more work on the soundtrack, I think it plays a little better now, and I've made a few changes.

This one's 512x384, so it's a little smaller in size and therefore should take less time to upload - It actually only takes a few minutes for my computer to render video as it's fairly new, but my upload speed from my DSL connection just isn't too great.

It's about 80MB in size, so please be patient for about 45 min while I get it up there...

Okay, done!

www.destructavator.com/public/UFOAI_IntroAnim_1c.avi

Is this one any better?

Very nice, I like it. :-)
Its for me easy to re-render parts of the animation and create more material to work with.
So if you nee some, let me know.

Willem

[Destructavator]

I looked into what my video editing software can do, and unfortunately it is a little limited in creating animations like Blender or other modeling software, so it would be difficult for me to make it look like the carriers are doing more when they reach Earth without additional video content to add in or work with; the software I have is really geared more toward editing movies, cutting and joining video clips, adding transitions and FX, etc.  (I actually have Blender and a few other free progs. like it installed on my Kubuntu partition, I just don't know how to use them.)

Before making any new video clips, I'd wait to see what Winter, Mattn, and the others think of this latest intro video, although I have a few ideas for additional, short clips (no longer than a few seconds) that the intro could jump to and then back to the main video:

- A shot of an alien hand pushing buttons/controls on a console with a display screen showing a picture of the approaching Earth (A view from inside one of the alien ships, in other words)

- A close-up shot of a single carrier opening its doors to deploy some ships toward the Earth

- A brief view of an alien face (mostly just the eyes) as an alien inside one of the ships stares at the instruments and controls in front of them and the Earth on their display screen.

There are, of course, many other possible shots that would look good, these are just off the top of my head - I will say that if the final intro had more than just the same camera view continuously, it would make the intro movie look a lot more interesting.

I would only need such additional short clips by themselves, the software I have could easily insert them intro the main video track and there would be no need to re-create the main video clip.