In Game FMV like in Prodigal

[xenogia]

I've been looking over the commands in the AGS help file trying to figure out how to do in-game Full Motion Video like in Prodigal.  But I can't seem to figure it out, does anyone have any ideas on how to go about this.

[MrColossal]

Why not ask the person that made prodigal?

[scotch]

If it is just simple non interactable fmv, there is the PlayVideo command.  Don't think there are any other options.

[Gilbert]

I think it's mentioned somewhere in that game's thread that the cutscenes were not recorded videos (maybe I'm just dreaming, I hadn't tried that game yet anyway), so they're made using animation features of AGS, just read the manual and tutorials and make yourself more familiar with the engine first.
Since this is obviously not an AGS technical question, I'll move this to the Begginners forum (it's loosely related to scripting, etc. anyway).

[xenogia]

I did, he won't let out his trade secrets.  GOD DAMN IT!

He did it, as all of his FMV's actually in the main game file.  It is like he is updating each background shot quickly.  Is this possible??

[xenogia]

I know how to use the engine quite well, I just didn't see an option other than making a large object the size of 640x480 and making a loop of the animation.

[Gilbert]

Why? Just use animating background frames, and if they're not enough, use large sprites, I don't quite see difficulties in it, apart from the art making part, which depends on one's time and skill (I never saw the animations though).
If the animations are full-screen video, another suggestion is to tile the frames into a large background, then use SetViewPort() to display the desired frame. Though for most people I think the more easy way is PlayVideo()...

Also, don't double post within 3 minutes, you can edit your posts.

[xenogia]

A major problem with the PlayVideo() command is there is a slight flash before the video plays, which gets quite irritating, the game is full FMV in a first person perspective.  And I just render the video out in seperate screen shots usually 40-50 frames.

Explain this tiling command to me and how to use it with viewport()

[Gilbert]

I didn't mean using a tiling command in AGS, I meaned tiling the frames into a large bg using your graphics programme.

For example in a 320x240/640x480 game you tile up your frames like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

So the upper-left corner of the frames are (0,0), (320, 0), (640, 0)...

Just make an animation as simple as like:
int ii=0;
while (ii<12){
Ã,  SetViewPort(320*ii, 0);
  Wait (1);
Ã,  ii++;
}

[xenogia]

I guess this is a much cleaner way of doing it than making one big object?

[Gilbert]

Probably, but then the backgrounds can be HUGE. In my own opinion I'll prefer this way to using objects, since placing huge objects can cause much more slowdowns and sprites are not as well compressed as the bg images.

[xenogia]

Does SetViewPort block gameplay, or can I constantly loop the animation while you can use interaction commands?

[Gilbert]

It doesn't, but Wait() will block. if you still want controls while it's being animated you need to work harder on scripts and update it constantly using the repeatedly_execute*() events. Moreover, since the viewport is constantly changing using this method, if you need to allow the player for interactive commands you need for example to paint the hotspots repeated over all the frames.

[xenogia]

Ouch, I'll probably have to cut parts out of the film, like leaves rustling in the trees and make animation loops from them.  So its not the whole screen animating.  Otherwise the SetViewPort () thing is great for non-interactive full motion video scenes.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

Talking about FMVs: Can you incorporate them actually INTO the game. Like in Myst, 7th Guest, or the Journeyman Project? Maybe as an object?

[xenogia]

I did this recently, and my game works like this ... but beware dont make the game 32-bit with 25 fps fmvs frame by frame in ags it will end up huge.

I ended up doing fmvs in 16-bit colour at only 10 fps, and all my fmvs are around 352x388 resolution too.  But it works great and my game will be released mid April and you can see how I've done it

[ShadeJackrabbit]

So you just make the movies into JPEG or GIF, and use that as an object. You then play sound over that when they talk, right?