[HOWTO] Sared's Ten Steps to making a Better Screenshot

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Sared Kilvan
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[HOWTO] Sared's Ten Steps to making a Better Screenshot

Post by Sared Kilvan »

Hey look, I made another one!

10. Resolution

Take advantage of your monitors native (best) resolution. For instance, my monitor runs at 1440 by 900, which is not a default resolution in-game. To accomplish this, I would set it via console command to:

set r_customWidth 1440
set r_customHeight 900
set r_mode -1 (Custom resolution mode)

After applying changes that seriously change rendering, use the command 'vid_restart' to apply those changes and reload the map/game.



9. Effects

You can change your default VFX commands via the Video menu, but these are the console commands for the important ones (and what they do) in case you want to toy with them manually.

set r_picmip 0 (set maximum texture size (0 - 3, 3=fastest 0=quality))
set r_lodbias 0 (change the geometric level of detail (0 - 2))
set r_detailtextures 1 (toggle the use of detailed textures on and off)
set r_dynamiclight 1 (toggle dynamic lighting, similar to the 'bloom' effect, sometimes best left off if you want to add them yourself)
r_dynamicglow 1 (enables dynamic glow effects to lightsabers and weapon FX, unnecessary if you have dynamiclight turned on globally)
set r_flares 1 (toggle projectile flare and lighting effect)
set r_subdivisions 1 (set maximum level of detail such as curve complexity, example at 1 and at 20)
set r_lodcurveError 250 (range of curve calculation, if set low, will simplify geometry that is further away, if set high, will render all level geometry within that distance to it's best settings)
set r_lodscale 10 (set minimum distance for Level-Of-Detail adjustment, lower=further away)
set cg_shadows 2 (set shadow detail level (0 = OFF, 1 = basic discs underneath objects, 2 = stencil buffered (not reccomended, nice silhouette but shoddy look on character models 3 = simple stencil buffered (heavy silhouette, reccomended for post-effect work))

The following is the settin for the level of color depth used by the game. Sometimes lowering the game to a simpler color depth (8-bit compared to 32-bit) will result in a more 'even' look, allowing you to go back and add depth yourself in post-effect work.

set r_texturebitslm 32
set r_texturebits 32
set r_colorbits 32
set r_depthbits 32



8. Enable Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering

Anti-Aliasing and Anisotrop Filtering reduce the jagged edges of word geometry, however it is a feature that is not supported by the JAMP engine, and instead must be enabled via your video card's control panel. nVidia and ATI (AMD) cards will usually list this feature under 'advanced' in their respective control panels.

Side note: Insofar as I can tell, I can't percieve any difference between regular AA and Morphological AA. (I don't believe the JAMP engine is compatible with it.) If you do, whether it's system preformance or visual quality, let me know!



7. Photography

You don't need to be a trained and accomplished photographer to take good screenshots, however a little casual reading into photography techniques such as the Rule of Thirds or other General Composition can go a long way.



6. Binds

A few important binds that you'll want to have readily avaliable for taking a good screenshot.

"screenshot silent" =Works the same as /screenshot, without displaying "Wrote screenshots/shot0001.jpg"

"cg_draw2d !" =Turns on/off the 2d HUD elements (hp/sp/fp/stance/crosshairs, etc.) to instantly 'un-clutter your view. So long as you include the '!' (toggle modifier) then pressing the same key will re-activate your HUD.

"cg_drawFriend !" =turns on/off the big honkin' Rebel/Imperial symbol in Team games like CTF, TFFA, and Siege.

"rpc_disableChatBubble !" =toggle the chat bubble above people's heads.

"cl_noprint !" =to clear away console text such as "Aslyn connected"

You can also bind many of these functions to one 'pre-screenshot' key using the following code:

Code: Select all

/bind <key> "toggle cg_draw2D;toggle rpc_disableChatBubble;toggle cg_drawFriend;toggle cl_noprint"


5. Camera Commands

This could be a very, very, very long section. I'm going to touch base on a few of the important ones. You might also try downloading a custom script (forum link and external link). At the end of the day, nobody is going to see, know, or care what script you used, as long as the picture came out well!

Note that any value outside those listed will result in a camera error.

cg_thirdpersonangle (Adjusts the rotation of the camera, 0 to 360)
cg_thirdpersonhorzoffset (Adjusts the horizontal camera offset -32 to 32)
cg_thirdpersonvertoffset (Adjusts the vertical camera offset -66 to 86)
cg_thirdpersoncameradamp (Adjusts the speed at which the camera will 'follow' you. Setting to 0 will lock the camera in it's current position, tracking your movements.)



4. Modview "Using the Greenscreen"

ModView is a fantastic tool for easily getting the pose you want, with the model you want. Setting it up can take a little work, but once you have used the process on one or two models, it will become second nature to you. Below is a simple step-by-step on the process.

a: Download and install the JAMP SDK to the directory of your choice.

b: Create a 'base' folder in the root of your working drive. C:\base, not C:\mystuff\JA\base. This is important, as almost all of Raven's tools are dependant on viewing a 'base' work folder.

c: Extract the modes\players\_humanoid folder into your base directory, remember to keep the folder structure intact! Inside you should have the following...

_humanoid.gla
animation.cfg
animevents.cfg

d: Extract the model you wish to pose by opening either assets1.pk3 (for base skins) or the release of your choice and copying over the folders within models\players. For example, if I wanted to pose Aslyn's skin in ModView, I would open aslyn.pk3, navigate through the models\players folders and copy the entire 'aslyn' folder over to my base\models\players directory. Again, keep your file structure intact, or ModView will punish you with read errors and lots of them.

e: Launch ModView and open up the model.glm file inside the directory you just extracted. To the left you'll see several options for you to play with. Right now, the most important ones are 'Skins available' (which variant you want displayed), and 'Sequences ( From .cfg file)'. In that sequence list is every animation frame used in multiplayer, and a scant few that aren't. You can also go to Edit-> Choose Background Colour and do exactly that. I would strongly suggest selecting a color that isn't close to anything viewable on the skin, that way you will have an easier time masking it out later should you desire.



3. Photoshop/GIMP

More generic tip here, but important none the less. Primarily, save a copy of your work at the largest resolution possible. You can always make a big picture smaller without loosing quality, but you can't go in reverse.

There are several techniques you can use once inside to improve your work from here. Just to name one, you can also use separate (but equal!) layers to combine cg_shadows 1/2 to get a much better result. Below is a PSD file that gives you an example of what I'm talking about!

DOWNLOAD LINK

2. Text and Framing

Does the screenshot you've created warrant a frame? Make sure you take the time and care space out your borders evenly, or it will show and detract from the final product. Is there text? Make sure it is big enough to read (usually 12-point or bigger). Illegible text can be useful for effect, but if you're trying to convey something and it isn't readable, you're wasting your time as well as the viewers.



1. Uploading/Sharing

Format is everything. Nine times out of ten, .gif or .png will work fine for using it on a forum or webpage. However if you think you are loosing some of the vibrancy of your picture, a .jpg will work well, with slightly bigger filesize. Speaking of size, it does matter! Some picture hosting services will re-size your picture if it is over a certain filesize or over a certain resolution and adjust it to something far less desireable.
Last edited by Sared Kilvan on Fri Sep 30, 2011 4:29 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Soh Raun
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Post by Soh Raun »

Additional tips that could be added to the "6. Binds" section:
  • "set con_notifyTime -1" to disable the console text in the top-left hand corner, such as "<name> connected" (set to 3 to restore original behavior).
  • "toggle cg_drawFriend" to toggle the team icon that shows up in TFFA games (red/blue).
  • "toggle rpc_disableChatBubble" to toggle the chat bubble above people's heads.
Note that several commands can be bound to the same key with a command such as the following:

Code: Select all

/bind <key> "toggle cg_draw2D;toggle rpc_disableChatBubble;toggle cg_drawFriend"
To set con_notifyTime to -1 and back to 3 with the same key, some more advanced scripting would be necessary (using vstr etc.); as I don't have such a script readily available I leave it up to you to create one and share it here. :)
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Oberon
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Post by Oberon »

Soh Raun wrote:set con_notifyTime -1" to disable the console text in the top-left hand corner, such as "<name> connected" (set to 3 to restore original behavior).
More easily accomplished with cl_noprint 1, to disable and returning it to 0 once finished.
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Sared Kilvan
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Post by Sared Kilvan »

Updated. Thank you both for your contributions!

While I'm thinking about it, wouldn't this go better in the rules and tips forum?

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Voren Fuldor
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Post by Voren Fuldor »

A few more:

cg_hudfiles 1 = change hudstyle
cg_crosshairsize 1/50 = change size crosshair
rpc_chatrange_mode 2 = fade out chat range
rate 25000: pptimal setting for a high speed internet connection. Use 3000 if you're on dial up.
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Sared Kilvan
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Post by Sared Kilvan »

While these are good commands to have knowledge of, they do nothing to improve the visual quality of the game, which is the point of that section.

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Sebastin Creed
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Post by Sebastin Creed »

Not to mention cluttering the thread with tons of commands, I agree it's all useful but let's keep it to the point of the thread as it was intended.

Can we remove most of the replies and lock the thread with only relevent information in place?

Also,

Make a new thread for all the commands if you want to share knowledge and try list them without too much descriptive details - keep it simple and bullet point.

((Delete this reply once read))

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Post by Zeak Dystiny »

I know this counters Seb's post above but it might be informative, unless it's already answered. What are the max settings for:

set r_lodcurveError
set r_lodscale

Or is 250 and 10 the highest you can go, making going to something like... 500 for example, pointless?

The LOD issue has been annoying me for a long time and I always notice the LOD change.

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Sared Kilvan
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Post by Sared Kilvan »

Zeak Dystiny wrote:I know this counters Seb's post above but it might be informative, unless it's already answered. What are the max settings for:

set r_lodcurveError
set r_lodscale

Or is 250 and 10 the highest you can go, making going to something like... 500 for example, pointless?

The LOD issue has been annoying me for a long time and I always notice the LOD change.
r_lodcurveError = 10000 is a good number, anything over that and you will literally be unable to see/notice any change.

r_lodscale = The lower you set this value (ie 0.5) the further away objects will have to be before they lose detail.

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Post by Sared Kilvan »

Added an example PSD under the Photoshop/GIMP section for how to use screenshots taken with cg_shadows 2. Enjoy!

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