VirtualDub

VirtualDub is a basic video creator, available at http://www.virtualdub.org/ . It generates AVI files and is used to create H.264 versions of video to upload to the CoN YouTube channel. It also can work with AVISynth scripts to generate videos on the fly that can then be manipulated and saved out.

CoN's goal is to upload only videos that are of the natural resolution for the game being uploaded, or a factor of that resolution that keeps aspect ratio while keeping the video to a standard size (like 480p).

Video Filters Used

In producing CoN video, we try to be consistent and use the same filters for every video. Those filters are:

• Null Transform (to crop video as needed)
• Logo (to add a CoN logo to a corner of the video)
• Resize (to keep the aspect ratio of a fullscreen video but display it at a more natural resolution as needed)
• FadeFX (external plugin, from http://home.earthlink.net/~tacosalad/video/fadefx.htm - used to fade out the last 1.5 seconds of a video to black).

Other Software Used

• The H.264 codec should be installed so that files can be output using that codec to minimize the pain of loading to YouTube and converting.

How to Develop a Video for YouTube

1. Generate a video using something like Fraps. This video will be an uncompressed AVI, and therefore probably quite large. This is good, as we do not want to compress the file twice (H.264 is a compression codec).
2. Use the null transform video filter to crop out any extraneous letterboxing if possible to match the size of the bumper that you'll use. Ensure that the output after this filter is of a correct video resolution like 480p or 720p.
3. Apply a CoN logo image using the logo filter. (Screenshots needed) The logo should be in a place where it can not be easily cropped out of the video, but also in a place that does not obstruct vital content of the video. Opacity is left to the user to make legible, but typically about 20% is what works.
4. Fade out the final 1.5 seconds of the video using the FadeFX plugin. To determine the 1.5 second threshold, take the final frame number shown in VirtualDub and put that in as the end of the effect, then subtract (1.5*<video frames per second, probably 30) from that number for the beginning of the effect.
5. Save out this result as an uncompressed video AVI. This can be checked from the Video->Compression menu. This needs to be uncompressed for the next step.
6. Create an AVS script that combines the correct bumper with your video from the previous step.
7. Open this script in VirtualDub. The combined video should appear.
8. Save the file out - saving it as an uncompressed AVI is good to create a master copy that can be manipulated more later, but is far too large to want to upload to YouTube. A final video should be saved as H.264 using the Video->Compression menu. In configuring the H.264 output, I have historically used Single Pass Ratefactor Based, with the slider at about 17.0.

Special for FF7 Limit Breaks

This might be useful as a guide for other short videos in the future.

1. Crop the start of the source video so that it starts one and a half seconds before the desired character's menu appears.
2. Apply FadeIn over 0.75 second.
3. End the gameplay video two seconds after the desired attack is finished, or as the battle result screen starts to fade in, depending on the video.
4. Crossfade the bumper onto the end.
5. Volume is too high, drop it by about 28%.
6. Logo should be 2x logo, with alpha, with grey channel of same logo. 25%, top left, 815/10 offsets.