n3ighbor's COD4 Modern Movie-Making Guide

Hello guys, my name is John, or n3ighbor on the computer. I was searching around the Tek-9 forums for anything that resembled a modern movie making guide or at least an updated movie making guide. I hadn't found anything, so I decided to make a guide here on Tek-9. This guide will have multiple chapters, so if you're struggling on one specific thing, skip to that chapter.
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CHAPTERS
Where to start
Song choice
Recording Clips/Movie Configs
Color Correction
Flow
Sync
Effects
Transitions
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Chapter One - Where to start
Now, this is probably going to be the most difficult chapter in the entire guide. I got started in movie making about 2 years ago, when I watched my first frag movie (Nine Lives I believe). I was amazed at the skill of Stevy and how the editor pieced the movie together. I then decided to start editing frag movies or clips depending on how I felt. At first, I was recording in game with Fraps, and I had no idea how to use Avidemo or anything that increased quality while being able to play in-game smoothly. At the time though, I was having fun. I didn't care about haters or trolls who just commented on your videos complaining about how the quality sucked or anything like that. After that, I just progressed as an editor, and I feel I am a good, well respected editor in the community. I may only have 387 subscribers on Youtube, but I still enjoy creating clips/movies for my small fan base. Just please, realize that the process of becoming a good editor doesn't happen overnight. I've seen a few of the first movies from editors like Mazarini, or JaysDesigns, and obviously, their old stuff isn't as good as their new. As for clips, there are many different channels on Youtube, such as www.youtube.com/user/Fragtalk that have either weekly editing contests or weeks where they give out clips for you to use. Anyway, thanks for clicking on the guide and I hope you enjoy it.
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Chapter Two - Song Choice
Songs are the biggest thing about a movie/clip. Without music, you don't have flow, or anything along the lines of sensual stimulation. Just remember, your ultimate goal as an editor is to provide a visually and musically stimulating video that the viewer can experience and enjoy. There are so many factors that play into this, such as Flow, Color Correction, and Transitions, but those will be discussed later. Song choice is very important, but before you select a song you want, you need to realize that there are really only two major styles of music with multiple sub-categories that I feel are appropriate for editing- Rock (Post-Hardcore, Punk, Alternative) and Electronic (Dubstep, Glitch, Drum and Bass, Hardstyle, Trance, and many more). Those are (In my opinion) the two main types of music in the editing world. There are the occasional Rap/Slow Pop song editors which I personally really enjoy, however, there isn't enough of these editors to add them to the major styles. I'm mainly a Rock/Rap editor, and I enjoy many types of music. I'm sure that is the same for most of the Youtube editing community, so pick a style of music that you like that you think people will like. And ALWAYS choose a song before starting an edit, it is literally impossible to not start with a song. This will be continued on in the Flow chapter.
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Chapter Three - Movie Configs/Recording Clips
So, I see many threads opened up mainly just asking for a movie config, or asking how to use Avidemo. Well, I made a .rar file with everything you need (including my Movie Config), such as applications, and how to record with Avidemo. This chapter will be focused on making your own movie config and how to personalize it for your editing style. Okay, so basically, a 'movie config' is a .cfg file that changes commands within the game (such as lighting commands, hud commands) to create a completely different atmosphere. It is a MAJOR part of movie making on the COD4 scene and it is very important you create your own or download someone else's.
Creating A Movie Config-
In order to create a movie config, you should first download my movie pack which will be at the end of this guide, and customize it to your liking. Now, before we get into that, I want to explain something. The main commands you will be using are:
r_filmtweakenable
r_filmtweaklighttint
r_filmtweakdarktint
r_filmtweakcontrast
r_filmtweakdesaturation
Now, the most important thing to do before you start making your movie config is make sure that r_filmtweakenable is set to one (/r_filmtweakenable 1 in the console). What I want to explain is how the two 'tint' commands work. The default values of these commands are 1.1 1.05 .85 (light tint) and .7 .85 1 (dark tint). The reason there are 3 numbers like that is because each number stands for a color. Red is the first, Blue is the second, and Green is the third (RGB). The maximum value for each color is 2. Now, if you turn the first number all the way up to 2, the lighting will turn red for which tint you selected. Same goes for Blue and Green. This is a very useful tip and I find it extremely helpful when going for a certain style of clip. Also, try to keep the values within .3 of each other, otherwise it will look ugly and lean towards one color. Now, the rest is for you to do. Try blending colors, maybe you'll find a new color combination that fits your style perfectly. Making movie configs is a trial and error type of project, but once you get the hang of it, then you can make amazing configs.
Recording Clips-
This is already in my .rar file, but i'll explain it here aswell. Basically, the way most movie makers record today is a command called 'cl_avidemo 1-1000'. The command takes screenshots per second depending on the value (500 value=500 fps) In the 'config_mp.cfg' in the .rar file, F3 is the bind to toggle cl_avidemo between 500 and 0. WHen you open a demo with cod4player, and when you get to the frag part, just click F3 to start recording and F3 again to stop recording when the frag is over. Then head to C:/Program Files x86/Activision/Call of Duty 4/Mods/Movie Mod/screenshots and drag the first screenshot (shot0000) into VDUB (Included in the .rar file). Then go to Video>Frame Rate and click 'Change Frame Rate To (FPS):' and type in '500'. This will turn your screenshots into a smooth .avi file. Then go to File>Save as .avi, and chose a location and name. It'll render and that will be your clip.
Anything I missed will be in the readme in the .rar.
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Chapter Four- Color Correction

Color Correction is a MAJOR part of Movie Making. Done correctly, it will make your movie look amazing. Done incorrectly, it will make your movie look like shit. I've seen multiple movies ruined by bad color correction. Anyway, here are a few plugins that can help make your color correction look amazing, or at least give you the tools to do so.
Magic Bullet Looks (Sony Vegas and Adobe After Effects)
NewBlueFX (Sony Vegas)
Sapphire Plugins (After Effects)
I find all of these plugins to be extremely useful, and Sapphire and NewBlue both add a bunch of effects/transitions as well as being powerful color correction tools. Now, the main plugin I use is a mixture of Magic Bullet Looks and the built in plugins in Adobe After Effects. This is just me, so do whichever plugin you perfer. A quick tip that I always do is to use color curves. This is a large help to color correction and I think it is a very major part of any good color correction. Anyway, I'm not really trying to focus on one chapter more than the others, so basically, the way to get a good color correction is to just try different things and see what you get out of it. If you think Curves goes well with Exposure go for it. Editing is one big trial and error game until you get something you like. And don't forget, you have an undo option for a reason.
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Chapter Five - Flow
Flow. What is flow? I believe flow is the way a movie's effects, whether it be slow motion, velocity, visual effects, sync to a song. For example, here is one of my all time favorite Counter Strike Source edits. (For the record, I am in no way trying to compare the COD movie making community to the CSS movie making community) www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_7PnKwg0Kg This has the best flow I've ever seen. The color correction fits perfectly, the effects sync so well, and the glow just sets the mood. I can't even begin to describe how well that editor sets the tone with that edit. That is the style I wish I had, even though COD and CSS movie making are two entirely different things. So, the use of effects, slow mo, cinematics, transitions, create flow. It's something I can't explain, but when you create something with good flow, you'll know.
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Chapter Six - Sync
Syncing is yet another huge part of editing. Now, syncing depends on what kind of song you're using. If you're using a Rock song, try to sync to the guitar riffs or the vocals. (Also, don't use a song that you don't listen to on a daily basis. It's much harder to sync to a song you don't know than a song you actually know) If you're using an Electronic song, sync to the bass or the drum beats. Now, what I do is import the song into Sony Vegas, and play it through, and while I play it through, I click the 'm' key whenever I know there's going to be a good point to sync. What this does is allows you to just edit and not worry about sync, and if you hear something that seems kinda off, you just move the marker around until you find the right spot for it. Sync takes time to learn, but if you just try over and over again (The undo button is your friend!), you'll find something you like.
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Chapter Seven - Effects
Effects are one of the main parts of an edit. A video effect is something that changes the way a video looks, like color correction, except that this has more to do with things like visual appeal. Here are a few plugins that I use for effects.
NewBlueFX (Sony Vegas)
Sapphire Plugins (Adobe After Effects)
These, however, are not the main things I use for effects. I use mainly the built in effects that are in Sony Vegas and After Effects. Those programs have so many possibilities built into them it's not even funny. I've spent countless hours trying to find new effects to use and I found so many. All you have to do is look through the built in effects, try out different things until you find something that you think looks nice.
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Chapter Eight - Transitions
Transitions are something that can add incredible flow to your movie, or ruin the flow completely. Transitions are very important, some people don't enjoy movies if they don't see transitions. Transitions can be hand made (masking etc.) or can be created with plugins. A few of the plugins I find useful for transitions are
Trapcode Form (Adobe After Effects)
NewBlueFX (Sony Vegas)
Sapphire Plugins (Adobe After Effects)
All this is creativity. Be creative, create something new that hasn't been seen before.
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OUTRO
This is the end of my guide. this took a while to make. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and I also hope you learn something new.
Here is the link for the pack for this guide. www.sendspace.com/file/e35g0l
If you have any questions, contact me here-
xfire- envyyyyfx
skype- envyyyyfx
steam- n3ighbor420
Thanks for reading, happy editing!

edited 2011-08-30 17:04:38