Play, Capture, Convert, Edit, Repeat - nadasfan's Blog

nadasfan's Blog

Play, Capture, Convert, Edit, Repeat

Posted on April 10, 2009 at 04:01 PM.

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So here I am working on another video with footage from MLB 09 The Show. Well actually I am currently at work, thinking in my head of the next edit to make on the Texas Rangers video. I am a bit past obsessed and addicted to doing these at this point.

The funny thing is that I thought this would get stale pretty fast. Much of the footage is very similar throughout each video. However every time I think I have seen every cut scene and every piece of footage that the game has to offer, a new one pops up and surprises me. Case in point: Last night as i am playing through a few Rangers games, the blue jays pitcher is getting shelled, and here comes a fresh new scene of Cito getting on the phone down tot he bullpen. Might not be new to anyone else, but I had not seen this one before.

Also I often will step away from the game while my team is fielding to do something in between video captures. This of course triggers the scenes of bored players doing anything from practicing golf swings to lying in the outfield grass. I was able to grab video of a couple more rare ones last night, including the rangers outfielders playing a game of touch football with one of their gloves as the ball. also the third baseman and baserunner playing a game of tic tac toe in the dirt with their cleats. good stuff indeed!

So I have had a few people ask about my methods of making these videos, so I guess I could share a little about that. I use the Hauppauge HD-PVR to record my footage in 720P video clips that save to the computer hard drive. I have learned from trial and error that the best way to go about recording is to set up a file folder for each team. When I am recording for a team that I am currently making a video for (in this case the Rangers) I will also save the opposing team's highlights into that teams folder while I am gathering rangers highlights. This method has cut down my time dramatically and has given me a more full and diverse set of clips to choose from for each team. If I know that I am going to work on the BLue Jays next, then I will make sure to have the Rangers play the Blue Jays somewhere in my rangers capture session. This is an extremely nice way to go about things, because when I get to a team to make their video, they already have a set of clips started and I can just fill in what I need to round out the clips. I take into account things like trying to vary home and road shots, getting alt jerseys mixed into the games, varying the starting pitchers, night and day games, different opponents, etc.

This footage then needs to be converted into a file format that I can easily use with my iMac and iMovie (I purchased Final Cut Express software, but have had not time or patience to sit down and learn how to use it yet). I then drop all of the clips into iMovie and things get very fun from there.

I usually try to decide on music first, so that the video clips can either meet the music tempo or mood. I then lay down all the clips I find interesting, and usually end up with too much footage that needs to be either clipped, sped up or slowed down, rearranged, or just plain taken out if repetitive. At this point I watch my video and see if anything is missing that I might need to go back and stage in one last game. Add an into and ending, add a few dramatic effects or transitions, and then it is pretty much ready to go.

At this point I am just counting the hours until I can get back at it. I used to just be obsessed with playing the game, now once I am done playing, I have all of this to take care of. Good thing I am not very fond of sleep, because I have two little ones to look after as well.