Beginners Guide to WoW Video Capturing/Editing

Ever wanted to know how people make the in game movies you see posted around the forums? Ever had a really good idea and wanted to make your own? Then this guide is for you. This will be the first in a series of guides covering the capturing of in game footage, than using that footage and editing it into a movie. By the end of this guide you should have a basic short film that you can then expand upon. The only limitation is your imagination!

Quick Links:

Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Fraps
Section 3: Windows Movie Maker
Section 4: Conclusion

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Section One: Introduction

Before we get started you're going to need a feel tools. For anyone who has seen my "Dual Shadows" series, all 4 videos were created using Fraps and Windows Movie Maker. As such, those are the tools we'll be using in the guide.

Fraps:Video Capturing Software
Download:Fraps Site
Information:Fraps is a retail product. The guide will work just as well with the shareware version, but it has recording limitations among various other options locked out. I'm currently using the retail version 2.0.

Windows Movie Maker:Video Editing Software
Download:WMM 2.0
Information:If you have Windows XP, you have Windows Movie Maker. If for some reason you do not, follow the link above to download the latest version.
You should be able to find it within your drive here:
Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment

Notice:Recording is a very taxing operation for a PC. 1 Minute of uncompressed footage runs around 300 Megs of hard disk space. Make sure you have at least 5 gigs of open hard disk space at any given time while recording/editing. Disk space aside, you will need a PC with upper end spec's in order to record effectively. The only way to find out is simply follow the Fraps section below.


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Section Two: Fraps


Our first task is to first capture footage, but before we can do that we need to configure Fraps.

Step:1 - Open Fraps - Click the "Movies Tab".
Step:2 - Chose a folder in which your recorded footage will be located.
Step:3 - Assign a key that will begin and end the recording process. Make sure this key is unbound within World of Warcraft to avoid in any game conflictions.
Step:4 - Choose the "Half-Size" Option.
Step:5 - Frames Per Second - This setting depends on a few factors. The more Frames Per Second you record while in game the larger the file size you will be recording. This taxes your PC greatly. Test which one is best for your system accordingly. Lower FPS settings result in poor image quality.
Step:6 - Uncheck "Record Sound". Recording sound adds to the file size greatly, so unless you want the sound from within the game, uncheck this option.
Step:7 - Your configuration should look similar to the image below.

Step:8 - Minimize Fraps and load up World of Warcraft.
Step:9 - Click the key that you bound in Step:3 to begin recording. Run around and get a feel for how your PC is handling the recording process and adjust the FPS setting from Step:5. Record for a minute or 2, than click your record key once more to halt the recording process.
Step:10 - Go to the folder where you set Fraps to record your footage to view it. If your PC was able to handle it, you should a nice quality clip recorded. At this point the clip you have recorded is enormous in file size. Worry not, it's now time to take our clip and use our next tool, Windows Movie Maker. Proceed below.


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Section Three: Windows Movie Maker


Now that we have our clip we can begin the editing process. As for the Fraps section, I will use a step by step format to make it painless as possible.


Step:1 - Open Windows Movie Maker - Start > Programs > Accessories >
Step:2 - Go to your folder with your video clip. You're going to drag and drop it into WMM.



Step:3 - Now we'll view our clip within WMM to make sure everything has gone smoothly thus far. Highlight your clip, than click the viewer. You may need to adjust the size of the window to view it effectively, just resize the windows as you would any other windows program.



Step:4 - For the sake of this guide don't worry about the video making sense. We'll be using our clip just to get an understanding of how to edit and include clips so that when you do make a video worth watching, you'll know what to do. Now scroll your clip to the half way mark.



Step:5 - Now we will split our clip into 2 sections. You will use this step to edit off any unneeded footage in your future video clips.



Step:6 - Now that we have our 2 clips we'll create our opening title. Go to .2, "Edit Movie", than click the "Titles and Credits" option.



Step:7 - Click the "Add Title at the Beginning of the movie".
Step:8 - Enter the title "WoW Test Movie", or anything of your choosing. For the first guide I won't go into the specifics on fonts/colors/effects. We'll now add our movie title by click the "Done, add title to movie" option.



Step:9 - Now that we have our title we'll go into the story board section to add transitions and our clips. Click the "Show Storyboard" tab.



Step:10 - Now we'll drag and drop our first clip onto the story board. Click your first clip and hold your left mouse button and drag it into the first empty spot on the story board.



Step:11 - Do the same with your next clip. Your storyboard should now look like the following:



Step:12 - Now we'll add credits to the end of our movie. Click the "Make Titles and Credits" link. This time we'll click the "Add Credits At The End of the Movie." option.



Step:13 - Now type in the credits as you wish. Click the "Done, Add Title to Movie" option when you're finished.



Step:14 - Now we'll add Video Transitions between our clips. Click the "View Video Transitions" tab.



Step:15 - We'll pick the first transition. Drag the "Bars" window down to the box between the clips just like we did for our clips. Do this for each box between our clips.



Step:16 - Your storyboard should now look like the following:



Step:17 - Now click your title on the storyboard, than click play in the viewer. Congratulations, you just made your first WoW Movie!
Step:18 - It's now time for us to encode our video and save it to our hard disk in it's final form.
Step:19 - Under "Finish Movie", click the "Save To My Computer" link.



Step:19 - Choose a file name for your file and click next.
Step:20 - This is where we choose how we encode our movie. The smaller the encode, the more we loose in video quality. For the Dual Shadow series I choose the 1.5MB option under "Other Choices". You can go lower or higher depending on your choice in quality/file size.



Step:21 - Click "Next" and wait for the encode to finish. Once it's done click the "Play Movie When Finished" to view your new movie!




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Section Four: Conclusion

Now you know the basics behind capturing and editing your footage. I encourage you to play around with Windows Movie Maker. It may not be the most advanced program, but it has a lot of utility. In my next guide I will cover a few more advanced pieces of WMM. Such as:

*Adding Music
*Fading Music In/Out
*Video Effects
*Adding New Font Types
*Various Text Effects

If you haven't already seen my Dual Shadow Series you can view the movies below. Each was created using Fraps and WMM.
Dual Shadow Series
DS:2 -Dual Shadows:2
DS:3 -Dual Shadows:3
DS:4 -Dual Shadows:4
http://wowvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Guides.Detail&id=40

Our first task is to first capture footage, but before we can do that we need to configure Fraps.

Step:1 - Open Fraps - Click the "Movies Tab".
Step:2 - Chose a folder in which your recorded footage will be located.
Step:3 - Assign a key that will begin and end the recording process. Make sure this key is unbound within World of Warcraft to avoid in any game conflictions.
Step:4 - Choose the "Half-Size" Option.
Step:5 - Frames Per Second - This setting depends on a few factors. The more Frames Per Second you record while in game the larger the file size you will be recording. This taxes your PC greatly. Test which one is best for your system accordingly. Lower FPS settings result in poor image quality.
Step:6 - Uncheck "Record Sound". Recording sound adds to the file size greatly, so unless you want the sound from within the game, uncheck this option.
Step:7 - Your configuration should look similar to the image below.

Now you know the basics behind capturing and editing your footage. I encourage you to play around with Windows Movie Maker. It may not be the most advanced program, but it has a lot of utility. In my next guide I will cover a few more advanced pieces of WMM.

Click the key that you bound in Step:3 to begin recording. Run around and get a feel for how your PC is handling the recording process and adjust the FPS setting from Step:5. Record for a minute or 2, than click your record key once more to halt the recording process.

This setting depends on a few factors. The more Frames Per Second you record while in game the larger the file size you will be recording. This taxes your PC greatly. Test which one is best for your system accordingly. Lower FPS settings result in poor image quality.

Windows Movie Maker:Video Editing Software
Download:WMM 2.0
Information:If you have Windows XP, you have Windows Movie Maker. If for some reason you do not, follow the link above to download the latest version.
You should be able to find it within your drive here:
Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment

If your PC was able to handle it, you should a nice quality clip recorded. At this point the clip you have recorded is enormous in file size. Worry not, it's now time to take our clip and use our next tool, Windows Movie Maker.