Omg, when i convert from avi to pcx i have 154 files!!! In VQA Enc i can use ONLY 1. So what with rest? Or how to convert whole this files to 1 vqa file?
Sry for so many questions but im not so smart for this. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: 3,000,000 years away from Earth
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:31 pm Post subject:
It's not "only 1", you need put the name of the first file, given that your files are named like "file 0000.pcx", "file 0001.pcx" etc., the encoder will recognize this pattern automatically. _________________ I am MrFlibble. Just MrFlibble. From the Potato King to Uncle Arnie to MrFlibble. I am his right hand. FED2k Forums - Westwood Studios' Dune games and more QUICK_EDIT
What program is everyone here using to convert their .AVI file into PCX files?
I used RAD Tools for the C&C95 .avi videos I extracted, but I can't get RAD Tools to convert the TS .avi videos (Note: For the TS avi > pcx conversion through RADTools, I have the 256 color option unchecked). I get the error "Unsupported output file type or color depth".
BTW, ugordan, your program is the only one I have seen anywhere that enables tinkering with the C&C series videos. Thanks again.
If anyone is curious as to my methods and goal, here it is:
STEP I - Extract AVI:
In this example, I am trying to modify the GDI intro video. I load the MOVIES01.MIX and extract file C432F319 as an AVI. Play and check its codec info in VLC media player:
I then use some free video editor I can find online -in this case "Video Pad"- and edit the AVI. I then save the new AVI and check its codec info in VLC media player:
Also, you saved your in-between result with a codec. That's also quality loss; better save it as raw avi when editing.
Yeah. I don't know if the video editor I am using at the moment allows for that. Know of good video editing software that isn't "adobe-style" priced($500-$5000)? The last video editor I remember using that was any good was Premier, and that was back in high-school over a decade ago. I use GIMP and Audacity for graphics and sound.
Nyerguds wrote:
I don't think changing the default settings is a good idea though.
In the VQA Encoder? Agreed. I notice Ugrodon above mentioned that 2000 blocks was a bit low for a TS movie so I wondered what upping the values -and to what point- would do.
Joined: 24 May 2004 Location: Flanders (Be) Posts:300000001
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:52 pm Post subject:
It's usually just a matter of changing the codec to 'RGB'.
As for programs... well, it all depends on what kind of video editing you want to do. But most paid packs nowadays have open source alternatives. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Virtual Dub might be of help to you, but its quite advanced.
Tinkering with it now. Looks really promising. I can even export as an image sequence much faster and easier than in RADTools, and in any file type I desire (currently using BMP format with .pcx extension, although there are a few to choose from -tga, etc.). Any reason why I shouldn't use this program instead of RADTools?
Thanks CCHyper.
Hahaha. There is something very nostalgic and fun about being able to modify an old game like this that I played back in "the day". Were I still in middle-school this would be a dream come true. Maybe just for kicks I'll throw a 2lt Coca-Cola bottle picture on a single frame in one of the movies. lol.
Joined: 24 May 2004 Location: Flanders (Be) Posts:300000001
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:28 am Post subject:
Well, for C&C95 you have to make sure
all frames in one scene have the same palette. Palette switches can only happen at key frames (normally set to 8), so make sure scene switches obey this rule (only switch at multiples of 8) or you get some messed-up frames in between.
the maximum size is 320x200
the first colour is black, especially for videos smaller than the full 320x200 (like, for example, the game's original 320x156 briefing vids) because colour #0 is used to fill the space around the video. You can force this in RAD by reducing to 255 colours and starting from the second palette colour.
I use these settings in RAD tools:
_________________ Last edited by Nyerguds on Sun May 15, 2011 12:53 am; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
Alllright Nyerguds, you brought me into the forums.
Here we go...
Quote:
* all frames in one scene have the same palette. Palette switches can only happen at key frames (normally set to 8 ), so make sure scene switches obey this rule (only switch at multiples of 8 ) or you get some messed-up frames in between.
What do you mean by "scenes"? What are they exactly, and how do I create them or know when/if they are being created?
Here's my current situation:
1.) Let's say I am modifying the first of the C&C95 NOD briefing movies (and I am. lol). I get the extracted AVI file through the XCC Mixer...
3.) Now I have to get the modified movie converted into frames of some kind. VirtualDub and RAD Tools can both do this. VurtualDub has no option for PCX so I would normally use the BMP option, however I think this crashed C&C95 when I tried it so I decided to use RAD Tools exporting as PCX. In this case, I am using your setting you just posted above. I am now left with 316 PCX files ready for encoding.
4.) Encoding done! Now I have the following two files...
nod1.vqa 2.87MB nod1.vqp 32.1KB
5.) I create a SC-00x.MIX file (SC-005 in this case) with the XCC MIX Editor, make sure it is in TD mode, then add the two files. Place the new MIX file in my C&C95 directory.
The end result... (Sorry for the way this looks. The PrtScn key decided it wasn't going to work for taking screenshots of C&C95 so I used my camera)
Joined: 24 May 2004 Location: Flanders (Be) Posts:300000001
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:36 pm Post subject:
Brandon wrote:
What do you mean by "scenes"? What are they exactly, and how do I create them or know when/if they are being created?
What I mean is, usually the whole video is in the same palette, but if your video is comprised of 2 parts with vastly different colours, you can keep better colour quality by converting them separately so all frames of the first part have the same palette, and all frames of the second part have the same palette. But if the key frames are set to 8 (the default for 8-bit in vqa encoder) the game can only switch to diffferent colour palettes at every 8-frame mark.
Brandon wrote:
5.) I create a SC-00x.MIX file (SC-005 in this case) with the XCC MIX Editor, make sure it is in TD mode, then add the two files. Place the new MIX file in my C&C95 directory.
Videos don't need to be in a mix file to work, and the format of addon mixfiles isn't "sc-###.mix". Any mixfile starting with "sc" will be read. "scorpion.mix" would work perfectly. But as I said, not needed for videos.
Brandon wrote:
The end result... (Sorry for the way this looks. The PrtScn key decided it wasn't going to work for taking screenshots of C&C95 so I used my camera)
If you use cnc-ddraw you can use ctrl+s for print screen. That might be more clear than what you got there.
[edit]
I just realized what your problem is. You forgot to add the .vqp files to the game folder. The game uses those to calculate the in-between colours when stretching the videos _________________ QUICK_EDIT
What I mean is, usually the whole video is in the same palette, but if your video is comprised of 2 parts with vastly different colours, you can keep better colour quality by converting them separately so all frames of the first part have the same palette, and all frames of the second part have the same palette. But if the key frames are set to 8 (the default for 8-bit in vqa encoder) the game can only switch to diffferent colour palettes at every 8-frame mark.
Understand it now. Thanks.
Nyerguds wrote:
Videos don't need to be in a mix file to work, and the format of addon mixfiles isn't "sc-###.mix". Any mixfile starting with "sc" will be read. "scorpion.mix" would work perfectly. But as I said, not needed for videos.
Alright. I guess I am thinking in the same way as making a TS mod as explained here: http://www.ppmsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20064 ("expandXX.mix or ecacheXX.mix files"), where the order of the MIX files makes a difference.
It would be nice to have any mod files for C&C95 in one convenient file. Is there a way to do that, or do the video files HAVE TO be placed directly in the C&C95 folder?
Nyerguds wrote:
I just realized what your problem is. You forgot to add the .vqp files to the game folder. The game uses those to calculate the in-between colours when stretching the videos
Placing the VQA and the VQP in the main folder -and using your RAD Tools trick- did it. It works now.
Joined: 24 May 2004 Location: Flanders (Be) Posts:300000001
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:35 pm Post subject:
I didn't say it didn't work in mixfiles, I just said it's not needed. You can use the "SC*.MIX" format, as I explained it there, and for adding/overriding graphics or sounds it's usually needed anyway.
Videos (and music tracks) don't need it, but that doesn't mean you can't put them in there anyway. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Videos (and music tracks) don't need it, but that doesn't mean you can't put them in there anyway.
I'd like to put the vid files (both the VQA and VQP) in a MIX, but when I do that it ends up corrupted in-game. Placing the VQA and VQP directly into the main game folder works, but is undesired. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 24 May 2004 Location: Flanders (Be) Posts:300000001
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:23 pm Post subject:
well, sc*.mix files are supposed to be addon files, but in C&C the rule is simply that anything that's loaded first is given priority.
And in C&C95, the update.mix (all movies' VQP files) and updatec.mix (all UI graphics) were loaded before the sc*.mix files.
This was obviously retarded since it severely restricts modding and adding stuff, so my patch fixes it. Click on my signature to download it. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Lets not go all stalker on the poor guy, would just be nice if he could release the source for the encoder if he isn't wanting to maintain it anymore. QUICK_EDIT
Sorry for reliving such an old thread, we want to translate the nox game videos that use the same format or similar to red alert.
To subtitle the videos we need to extract the video in images add the subtitles to the images and then reinsert them creating a VQA. Extracting the video in images and reinserting them works correctly but when the audio is added, the image of the video is distorted completely, I have tried infinite combinations with different numbers of block and key interval with the same result.
I attach the results, I would appreciate if someone could help us or tell me how to contact the creator of the tool.
Sounds like an issue with muxing the audio if just doing the video on its own works okay. The VQA format itself varies subtley between games, so its possible its one of these subtle variations that is tripping you up though as the tool is only intended to work for C&C and TS style videos.
I actually succeeded in obtaining the source, but ugordan was unhappy with his code quality and asked that i not release it which I intended to respect. My intention was to use it as a reference to either create a new implementation or to add support to something like ffmpeg. Its on the large list of projects I'd like to do, but I'm focusing on recreating the Red Alert and SAGE game engines currently. If we determine that it needs tweaks for NOX however I could look at building a new version of it. QUICK_EDIT
I'm attempting to convert a 84 frames long BMP-sequence to a VQA-file made for TS.
The resolution is 640x400 and the frame rate is set to 15 FPS.
I've also provided a 22050hz WAV-file.
Colors are set to HiColor, number or blocks is 4000 and key interval is 64.
Any time I start the conversion process, I receive the "Buffer overrun detected!" message.
Do you guys have any idea what I'm doing wrong?
I'm using Windows 10 and my GPU is an nVidia Geforce GTX 950M.
I've provided a frame from that sequence so you can have a look.
(A little side-question by the way: Has there ever been a successor to the VQA Encoder?)
------------------------
EDIT:
I found the solution to my VQA problem!
After exporting the video from Premiere Pro as BMP-sequence, I used VirtualDub to save that sequence as uncompressed AVI.
The VQA Encoding ran perfectly.
Important note:
Do not export as uncompressed AVI from Premiere Pro directly, as Adobe's Media Encoder does some encoding, which confuses the VQA Encoder somehow.
As a thank you gift for your help, I'm providing you with the VQA-file. :smiley:
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