Ok, how do you do something like this?

[guit3457]

I just received my capture card and I can record it but I would like to know if someone can explain to me how to make something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9WclmXDx9g

I love the layout but I have no idea how to make it. Any ideas?

[Guest]

That video has been edited with a video editing program like AviSynth or Premiere. Here's a tiny mockup for an AviSynth script:

Code: Select all

video = AviSource("000xy.avi")
top = video.Crop(0, 0, 400, 240)
bottom = video.Crop(0, 240, 400, 240)
background = ImageSource("background.png")

return background.Overlay(top).Overlay(bottom, x=500, y=240)

I can't test it right now, but this should come pretty close.

[triple_lei]

That video has been edited with a video editing program like AviSynth or Premiere. Here's a tiny mockup for an AviSynth script:

Code: Select all

video = AviSource("000xy.avi")
top = video.Crop(0, 0, 400, 240)
bottom = video.Crop(0, 240, 400, 240)
background = ImageSource("background.png")

return background.Overlay(top).Overlay(bottom, x=500, y=240)

I can't test it right now, but this should come pretty close.

Identify yourself, soldier!

I've been working on simplifying my scripts for the "triple screen layout" topic in the Tech Support forum, but I haven't posted them yet. Looks like you could post some scripts yourself...! Meanwhile I'll try to clone that video's layout with my own script and test capture (without that gap between the sides, anyway).


EDIT:

Here's my version. I decided to put the cropping, resizing, and trimming stuff on the bottom part, though. Welp, figuring out the similarities and differences could be an exercise for a complete AviSynth beginner...

Code: Select all

TetrisAxis=AviSource("E:\3ds_capture 2014-04-23 17-27-05-07.avi").DelayAudio(0.055)
background=ImageSource("E:\3DSbackground.jpg")

clip1=background
\.Overlay(TetrisAxis.Crop(0,0,0,-240).Lanczos4Resize(800,480))
\.Overlay(TetrisAxis.Crop(40,240,-40,0).Lanczos4Resize(480,360), x=800, y=360)
\.Trim(583,1397)

clip1

Or for joining multiple clips:

Code: Select all

TetrisAxis=AviSource("E:\3ds_capture 2014-04-23 17-27-05-07.avi").DelayAudio(0.055)
ShinMegamiTenseiIV=AviSource("E:\3ds_capture 2014-04-26 01-09-06-82.avi").DelayAudio(0.055)
background=ImageSource("E:\3DSbackground.jpg")

clip1=background
\.Overlay(TetrisAxis.Crop(0,0,0,-240).Lanczos4Resize(800,480))
\.Overlay(TetrisAxis.Crop(40,240,-40,0).Lanczos4Resize(480,360), x=800, y=360)

clip2=background
\.Overlay(ShinMegamiTenseiIV.Crop(0,0,0,-240).Lanczos4Resize(960,576))
\.Overlay(ShinMegamiTenseiIV.Crop(40,240,-40,0), x=960, y=480)
\.Trim(0,300)

AlignedSplice(clip1,clip2)

[JakeDreamer]

That seems complicated o.o. Wouldn't just be easier editing the video with Sony Vegas or something like that?

[triple_lei]

I don't see how Sony Vegas is any easier. I think the AviSynth wiki said it best:

While this may at first seem tedious and unintuitive, it is remarkably powerful and is a very good way to manage projects in a precise, consistent, and reproducible manner. Because text-based scripts are human readable, projects are inherently self-documenting.

So with my script, all you'd have to do is just swap some names (in my example, TetrisAxis and background to whatever you want -- it doesn't really matter), file names (3ds_capture 2013-03-06 21-47-59-29.avi and 3DSbackground.jpg), and the frames you want to show (Trim(583,1397)).

(Also, your raw captures should be 400x480, and that background picture should be 1280x720...)

[JakeDreamer]

Well, I didn't understand your previous post and I didn't understand this one (about the script and such). I know how to do it in Sony Vegas, I have been using that software for a year and I think it is easy.
Obviously that's for me. For another person it could be another program.

[raphael]

My bad for not logging in for my first reply.

If you are confident with Sony Vegas, then that's fine. But I prefer AviSynth for the reasons triple_lei specified. My scripts are pixel-perfect, and all videos will look exactly the same. I just change the file name, drag the script into VirtualDub and export it into h264. The loading time of Vegas alone is probably enough to make my procedure faster.

I don't have a good layout for 3DS capturing, since my current project involves a DS game. This makes creating a nice layout much easier, since both screens are the same size.

Code: Select all

video = AviSource("00001.avi")
top = video.Crop(72, 48, -72, -240)
bottom = video.Crop(72, 240, -72, -48)

return StackHorizontal(top, bottom.AddBorders(32, 0, 0, 0)) \
    .Trim(..., ...)

The output of this script will look like this:

rgb_raw.png (21.22 KiB) Viewed 3593 times

It's very minimalistic, but I like it that way.

I don't stack the screens vertically because it looks weird to have a tall image on an wide monitor. And in this game it doesn't matter, since the screens are completely independent from each other (i.e. there are no cutscenes that span both screens).

P.S.: If you encode to h264 (but this could be relevant to other YUV-based codecs too): You may notice that after encoding the video and watching it in Windows Media Player/MPC/VirtualDub, the colors will look extremely dull compared to the raw footage. If that happens, it's because media players have the nasty habit of assuming that the video is intended for TV screens, which have a smaller color range.
This annoys me to no end. The picture above was taken from the raw RGB footage.

[BigKlingy]

Sorry, this is an old topic, but:

That avisynth script seems to work for me, but how do I use it to output an avi video? I've heard a lot of places say Virtualdub can do avisynth scripts, but I haven't seen ANYTHING on the basics of just... how you put an avisynth script in Virtualdub. Could someone help me?

[raphael]

Easy:
* Install AviSynth: http://avisynth.nl/
* Install x264: http://sourceforge.net/projects/x264vfw/
* Download and extract VirtualDub: http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualdub/
* Start VirtualDub
* Do "File->Open video file" and open your script
* Do "Video->Compression", select "x264vfw" and click "Configure"

Check the "VirtualDub Hack" checkbox and adjust the "Ratefactor" slider as needed (lower ratefactor = higher quality but larger files; 14 is basically lossless)

x264config

x2654.png (51.68 KiB) Viewed 3195 times

* Click OK until you are back at the main window.
* Do "File->Save as AVI" and select the output file, click OK
* Wait.

Hope this helps!

[GONZOglasses]

Just saying, you guys have no idea how this guy did this. He made the background with Photoshop and then he used that pan tool in Camtasia to make a separate video file for each screen. He then placed the video for each screen respectively according to his photoshop.