1. To complete this tutorial, you will need to download the following free software. For Virtualdub and the Xvid codec, download the latest stable version. Note that although the free version of Video Mach appears to be a 15-day trial, home users can use it after the trial period expires at no cost.
   
   

   Program	Download URL
   Red Slushie Mod	http://www.pmstone.net/stubert/redslushie/releases/1.2/RedSlushie_1.2.zip
   Quake Video Maker	http://www.swift-tools.net/Quake/QVM/
   Video Mach	http://www.gromada.com/videomach.html
   Virtualdub	http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net
   Xvid Codec	http://www.koepi.org/xvid.shtml
   Lame MP3 Codec	http://www.free-codecs.com/LAME_ACM_Codec_download.htm

   
   
   
2. To make following this tutorial easier, run Jedi Academy at 640x480 in windowed mode (disable the full screen option in your video settings).
   
   
3. Then, to switch from Jedi Academy to you desktop (to read this tutorial as you follow it), simply open the Jedi Academy console by pressing shift + tilde (the key next to the 1 key) and move your cursor to your desktop. Once you switch back to Jedi Academy, you can close the console by pressing Shift + tilde again.
   
   
4. In this tutorial, you will be using the Jedi Academy screenshots folder. For the tutorial to work, remove all files from C:/Program Files/LucasArts/Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy/GameData/base/screenshots.

The first step to making a Jedi Adademy video is to make recordings (demos) when you play in muliplayer servers. To do this, you will need a demo recording script. Here's how to install and use the script.

1. Download the following files by right clicking on them and clicking save target as. Do not change the filenames and save them in C:/Program Files/LucasArts/Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy/GameData/base.
   autoexec.cfg
   recordingdemos.cfg
   
   
2. By default, this sets F1 as your record button and F2 as your stop record button. If you wish to change these, open recordingdemos.cfg with notepad and replace F1 and F2 (located on the second and third lines of the document) with buttons of your choice.
   
   
3. To use the script, simply join a game and press F1 to begin recording. At the end of the round, press F2 to stop recording. Although it is not required, it is recommended that you record a new demo each time the map changes. Otherwise, when you watch the demo and want to fast forward to an event on the 5th map, you have to load all 5 maps, which is time consuming.
   
   
4. Note that this script supports 20 demos. So, when you record your 21st demo, it will be saved as demo01.dm_26, overwriting your first demo. Also note that when you quit Jedi Adademy, start it up again, and record, the script resets and writes demo01.dm_26, overwriting the first demo you made when you last played Jedi Academy.
   
   
5. To fix this problem, always go back an rename your demos after you quit Jedi Academy. To do so, right click on the demo and click rename. Make sure not to change the .dm_26 ending.
   
   
   • If you are playing in a server that isn't running a mod, your demos will be saved in C:/Program Files/LucasArts/Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy/GameData/base/demos.
     
     
   • If you are playing in a server that is running a mod, your demos will be saved in: C:/Program Files/LucasArts/Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy/GameData/(modname)/demos. If this is the case, move them to C:/Program Files/LucasArts/Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy/GameData/base/demos after you rename them.
   
   
   
6. While recording, it is recommended that you open your console by pressing shift + tilde (the key next to the 1 key), type /cg_drawtimer 1, and press enter. This displays a timer, allowing you to write down when events that you find worth recording occur. This makes it easier to fast forward to these events when you watch the demo.

1. Quit and start up Jedi Academy (to make sure it isn't running a mod).
   
   
2. Open the console by pressing shift + tilde (the key next to the 1 key), type /devmap mp/ctf4;disconnect, and press enter. This enables cheats by beginning to load a capture the flag map with cheats and then disconnecting. Without enabling cheats, you can't fast forward demos.
   
   
3. Click play.
   
   
4. Click play demo.
   
   
5. Click on a demo of your choice.
   
   
6. Click play demo. The demo will now load.
   
   
7. Once the demo has loaded, open your console and type /cg_drawtimer 1. Now, to fastforward at 5x, open your console and type /timesacale 5
   
   
   • To play at normal speed again, open your console and type /timesacale 1
     
     
   • For half speed, type /timesacale .5
     
     
   • You can replace the number after timescale with any number of your choice for any speed of your choice. Just make sure not to make it too small (less than .5) because this may result in "connection interruped" being displayed on your screen.
   
   
8. Since you will be using the timescale command frequently, you may bind different timescale commands to certain buttons to make fast forwarding easier. To make x fastforward, open your console and type /bind x timescale 5. Replace the letter x with any key of your choice and the 5 with any speed of your choice.

Before exporting footage to video format, you can change the camera angle for a better view. You will have to enable cheats to use these commands by typing /devmap mp/ctf4;disconnect into your console before you watch your demo.

1. Once you find a spot in a demo that you would like to export to video format, open your console and type /cl_freezedemo 1 and cg_thirdperson 1.
   
   
2. Now you can use these console commands to change the camera angle. To see more of these commands, open your console, type /cg_thirdperson, and press tab.
   
   

   Command	Function
   /cg_thirdpersonhorzoffset	Changes the horizontal positon of the camera. Default: 0
   /cg_thirdpersonvertoffset	Changes the vertical position of the camera. Default: 16
   /cg_thirdpersonpitchoffset	Changes the vertical angle of the camera. Default: 0
   /cg_thirdpersonangle	Changes the horizontal angle of the camera. Default: 0
   /cg_thirdpersonrange	Changes the distance from your character. Default: 80
   /cg_fov	Changes the zoom. Default: 80 min: 0 max: 97

   
   
   
3. You may also add or remove portions of the heads up display by changing these commands to 0 (to remove them) or 1 (to add them) unless noted otherwise. To see more of these commands, open your console, type /cg_draw, and press tab.
   
   

   Command	Function
   /cg_chatbox	display chat 0 = off 10000 = on
   /cg_draw2d	display entire heads up display
   /cg_drawcrosshair	display crosshair
   /cg_drawcrosshairnames	display player names above your crosshair
   /cg_drawenemyinfo	display a portrait of the leader in free for all
   /cg_drawfriend	display team symbols above your teammates' heads
   /cg_drawradar	display radar
   /cg_drawscores	display team scores
   /cg_drawstatus	display health, shields, force, and ammo
   /cg_drawtimer	display timer
   /cg_rendertotexturefx	display the annoying "bubble effect" when you force push or force pull
   /cl_noprint	display text in the upper left corner of the screen 0 = on 1 = off

   
   
   
4. Once you have set up the camera, type /cl_freezedemo 0 and /disconnect. Note that if you quit Jedi Academy, the camera angle will be reset to its default.
   
   
5. Since you will close Jedi Academy in the next step, you will need to save your camera settings. To do so, download camera_settings.cfg (by right clicking on it and clicking save target as), save it to C:/Program Files/LucasArts/Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy/GameData/base, open it with notepad, and edit it according to the changes you made in your camera settings. To check and see what value you set for a certain command, simply type it into the console. For example, if you forgot what you used for cg_thirdpersonangle, simply type cg_thirdpersonangle into your console and press enter. Then, your console will tell you what it is currently set at.

If you just can't get the angle you want with a third person camera angle, you can also try using a still camera. Before Stubert implemented this feature into his Red Slushie modification for Jedi Academy, still cameras weren't available in Jedi Academy. Here's how to set a still camera.

1. Download the Red Slushie mod and install it into your Jedi Academy Gamedata folder (C:/Program Files/LucasArts/Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy/GameData).
   
   
2. Start up Jedi Academy. Then, to load the red slushie mod, from the main menu, select setup, mods, redslushie, and load mod.
   
   
3. Then, create a server or solo game with the map your demo was recorded on, join the spectators, and move to the position that you want the still camera to be in. You may open your console and change /cg_fov to change the zoom. In Red Slushie, you can use any value from 1 to 160. Once you have the camera set up, type /viewpos into your console and write down the values it returns for x, y, z, pitch, yaw, and roll.
   
   
4. Then, open your console and set the following console commands according to the information you wrote down.
   
   

   democam_origin_x

   democam_origin_y

   democam_origin_z

   democam_yaw

   democam_pitch

   democam_roll

   
   
   
5. Now, exit the game (but not Jedi Academy). Then enable cheats by typing /devmap mp/ctf4;disconnect into the console.
   
   
6. Then play the demo and type /democam_active 1 to activate the still camera.
   
   
7. Once you find a spot in a demo that you would like to export to video format, open your console and type /cl_freezedemo 1.
   
   
8. If you find it necessary, you may now adjust the democam commands (see the table above) to tweak the still camera.
   
   
9. Once you are satisfied with the still camera's postion, type /democam_active 0, /cl_freezedemo 0, and /disconnect into your console.
   
   
10. If you're feeling adventurous, you can try using Stubert's camscript. This program generates a .cfg file that smoothly moves the camera from one position to another position of your choice. You execute this .cfg file while exporting footage in step 6.
    

In this step, you will enable anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. What these do is smooth rough edges at the expense of performance, resulting in a higher image quality.

1. Quit Jedi Academy.
   
   
2. If you have an ATI video card, make sure you have the latest driver for your card from www.ati.com and follow the following instructions.
   
   
   • Right click on your desktop and click properties.
     
     
   • Click on the settings tab and then click on the advanced button.
     
     
   • Click on the 3D tab and select OpenGL.
     
     
   • Select Use custom settings and click the custom button.
     
     
   • For both Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering, disable Application Preference and move the slider all the way to the right.
     
     
   • Click OK. Click OK. Click OK.
   
   
3. If you have an Nvidia video card, make sure you have the latest driver for your card from www.nvidia.com and follow the following instructions.
   
   
   • Right click on your desktop and click properties.
     
     
   • Click on the settings tab and then click on the advanced button.
     
     
   • Click on the tab that states the name of your video card (has the word Geforce in it).
     
     
   • A menu will now pop up on the left. On this menu, click Performance and Quality Settings.
     
     
   • In the main window, click Antialiasing settings. At the bottom of the window, disable application controlled and move the slider all the way to the right. Then click apply.
     
     
   • Then click on Anisotropic filtering. At the bottom of the window, disable application controlled and move the slider all the way to the right. Then click apply.
     
     
   • Click OK. Click OK.
   
   

In this step, you will set Jedi Academy run at double the resolution of the final video (640x480). Doing so will result in increased texture depth and more vivid colors. Then you will make Jedi Academy export 30 screenshots for every second of gameplay in your demo. If your computer cannot generate screenshots this fast, the demo will slow down so that you will get a full 30 screenshots for every second of gameplay.

1. Start up Jedi Academy.
   
   
2. If you used a still camera (step 4b), load the red slushie mod.
   
   
3. Set your Jedi Academy video settings to their maximum and set the resolution to 1280x960.
   
   
   • To set your resolution to 1280x960, type all of the following commands into your console (in order!)
     
     

     Command	Function
     /r_mode -1	allows for a custom resolution
     /r_customwidth 1280	sets the width to 1280 pixels
     /r_customheight 960	sets the height to 960 pixels
     /vid_restart	restarts Jedi Academy, allowing the new resolution to take effect

     
     
   • If your monitor does not support this resolution, set your resolution to 640x480.
     
     
   
   
4. Enable cheats by typing /devmap mp/ctf4;disconnect into your console.
   
   
5. Load your demo and then load either your saved third person camera settings by typing /exec camera_settings.cfg into your console or your still camera by typing /democam_active 1 into your console.
   
   
6. Fast forward to the part of the demo that you want to export to video format using the /timescale command.
   
   
7. To start exporting, type /timescale 1 and /cl_avidemo 30. Your game will now appear to lag severely, but don't worry, the exported video will be smooth.
   
   
   • You may also use /cl_avidemo 60 to make your video play back at half speed (slow motion).
     
     
   • cl_avidemo 15 will make your video play back at double speed.
   
   
8. To stop exporting, type /cl_avidemo 0.
   
   
9. If you used a democam, type /democam_active 0 into your console.
   
   
10. Now quit Jedi Academy.

For this portion of the tutorial, pick ONE version of step 7 to complete. Please note that I use the terms high, medium, and low loosely. The three versions of this step really don't differ from each other significantly in video quality.

• If you used a resolution of 1280x960 in step 6 and intend to use Adobe Photoshop (free 30 day trial or approximatly $600 retail), proceed to Step 7a (High Quality).
  
  
• If you used a resolution of 1280x960 in step 6 and intend to use only free software, proceed to Step 7b (Medium Quality).
  
  
• If you used a resolution of 640x480 in step 6, proceed to Step 7c (Low Quality).

In this step, you will use Adobe Photoshop to resize the screenshots to the size of the final video (640x480) and then convert them into video format with Quake Video Maker. Photoshop does a slightly better job than Virtualdub (which is used in step 7b) resizing images because it uses bicubic resampling, which smooths rough edges and results in a cleaner image. After you go through this process once, you may skip parts 1-12 of this step.

1. Create a folder in which to store your resized screenshots.
   
   
2. Either buy Adobe Photoshop (about $600 retail) or download the free 30-day trial of Adobe Photoshop, install it, and open it.
   
   
3. With Photoshop, open the first screenshot from your Jedi Academy screenshots folder ( C:/Program Files/LucasArts/Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy/GameData/base/screenshots ).
   
   
4. Display the actions window in Photoshop by selecting actions from the window menu.
   
   
   
   
5. In the actions window, click the Create new set button and click OK.
   
   
6. In the actions window, click the Create new action button, name the new action resize, and click Record.
   
   
7. Now select Image Size from the Image menu.
   
   
8. In the window that pops up, set the width to 640 pixels and the height to 480 pixels. At the bottom of the window, enable resample image and set it to bicubic. Then click OK.
   
   
9. Now select save as from the file menu save this file as a BMP file in the folder you created in part 1 of this step. In the window that shows up after you save the file, set the file format to windows and the depth to 24-bit. Then click OK.
   
   
10. Then select close from the file menu.
    
    
11. Now click the stop record button in the actions window. Photoshop has now saved the resize process as and action, allowing you to use this action later to resize all of your screenshots at once.
    
    
12. Now minimize Photoshop, navigate to where you saved the .bmp file, and delete the .bmp file.
    
    
13. In Photoshop, from the file menu, select automate and batch.
    
    
14. At the top of the window that pops up, select the set and action that you just created. For the source, select folder. Then click the choose button and navigate to your Jedi Academy screenshots folder. For the destination, select none. Then click OK.
    
    
15. Now wait as photoshop opens your screenshots one by one, resizes them, and saves them into the folder into which you saved the .bmp file in the 9th part of this step.
    
    
16. Once all of the screenshots have been resized, close Photoshop.
    
    
17. Download Quake Video Maker, install it, and open it.
    
    
18. From the file menu, select new. On the right, set the sequence folder to the folder where you saved the .bmp files with Photoshop and the sequence format to shot####.bmp.
    
    
19. Click the scan frames button.
    
    
20. At the bottom, use the slider and the mark start and the mark end buttons to mark the beginning and end of the video clip.
    
    
21. From the movie menu, select settings. Here, set the frames per second to 30, the width to 640, the height to 480 and the resize policy to letterbox. Then click OK.
    
    
22. At the bottom of the window, click apply.
    
    
23. From the movie menu, select generate. Then set the compressor to Full Frames (Uncompressed) and click OK to save the video. Be aware that this file will be roughly 1.8 gigabytes per minute of footage (HUGE).
    
    
24. Now close Quake Video maker and test your video file with a video player (like Windows Media Player). If the video works, you may delete all of the screenshots in the Jedi Academy screenshots folder and those that you created with Photoshop. Do not worry if the video appears laggy when you test it. It is normal for a computer to lag when it has to process 1.8 gigabytes of information per minute.
    
    
25. Proceed to Step 8

In this step, you will convert the screenshots to video format with Quake Video Maker and then resize the video to 640x480 with Virtualdub.

1. Download Quake Video Maker, install it, and open it.
   
   
2. From the file menu, select new. On the right, set the sequence folder to your Jedi Academy screenshots folder and the sequence format to shot####.jpg.
   
   
3. Click the scan frames button.
   
   
4. At the bottom, use the slider and the mark start and the mark end buttons to mark the beginning and end of the video clip.
   
   
5. From the movie menu, select settings. Here, set the frames per second to 30, the width to 1280, the height to 960 and the resize policy to letterbox. Then click OK.
   
   
6. At the bottom of the window, click apply.
   
   
7. From the movie menu, select generate. Then set the compressor to Full Frames (Uncompressed) and click OK to save the video.
   
   
8. Once the video has been saved, close Quake Video Maker.
   
   
9. Download the latest stable version of Virtualdub and open Virtualdub.
   
   
10. From the file menu, select open video file and open the .avi file you just created with Quake Video Maker.
    
    
11. From the video menu, select filters.
    
    
12. Click the add button, select 2:1 reduction (high quality), click ok, and click ok.
    
    
13. From the file menu, select save as AVI and save the file. Be aware that this file will be roughly 1.8 gigabytes per minute of footage (HUGE).
    
    
14. Now close Virtualdub and test your video file with a video player (like Windows Media Player). If the video works, you may delete the screenshots in the Jedi Academy screenshots folder and the video file you created with Quake Video Maker. Do not worry if the video appears laggy when you test it. It is normal for a computer to lag when it has to process 1.8 gigabytes of information per minute.
    
    
15. Proceed to Step 8

In this step, you will convert the screenshots to video format with Quake Video Maker.

1. Download Quake Video Maker, install it, and open it.
   
   
2. From the file menu, select new. On the right, set the sequence folder to the Jedi Academy screenshots folder and the sequence format to shot####.jpg.
   
   
3. Click the scan frames button.
   
   
4. At the bottom, use the slider and the mark start and the mark end buttons to mark the beginning and end of the video clip.
   
   
5. From the movie menu, select settings. Here, set the frames per second to 30, the width to 640, the height to 480 and the resize policy to letterbox. Then click OK.
   
   
6. At the bottom of the window, click apply.
   
   
7. From the movie menu, select generate. Then set the compressor to Full Frames (Uncompressed) and click OK to save the video. Be aware that this file will be roughly 1.8 gigabytes per minute of footage (HUGE).
   
   
8. Now close Quake Video maker and test your video file with a video player (like Windows Media Player). If the video works, you may delete all of the screenshots in the Jedi Academy screenshots folder. Do not worry if the video appears laggy when you test it. It is normal for a computer to lag when it has to process 1.8 gigabytes of information per minute.
   
   
9. Proceed to Step 8

After you create all of your video clips, the fun part begins. Now you can string the clips together, add effects, and add sound (usually music). To do so, you may pick one of the following programs. Make sure that when you save your video file with these programs, you save it in uncompressed format.

• Professional Programs (have lots of features, but require you to buy them or limit yourself to a 30-day trial)
  Adobe Premiere
  Sony Vegas Video
  
  
• Free Programs (have less features, but are free!)
  Video Mach (Although the free version of Video Mach appears to be a 15-day trial, home users can use it after the trial period expires at no cost.)
  
  
• Other Programs (for creating effects to import into your video)
  Adobe After Effects

Now its time to compress your final video from roughly 1.8 gigabytes per minute to a more reasonable 20 megabytes per minute. Make sure only to compress your final video. If you compress the individual clips, you will still have to compress the final video, resulting in two compressions and and two times the quality loss. Although you can compress your video with Xvid and get decent quality in a matter of minutes by following the following instructions, getting maxiumum possible quality takes a sound understanding of Xvid and some time tweaking its settings. For different videos, different settings will yield better results. Here's a good place to get started if you're interested: http://www.doom9.org/xvid-guides.htm.

1. Download the latest stable version of the Xvid codec and install it.
   
   
2. Download the Lame mp3 codec and install it.
   
   
3. If you haven't already done so, download the latest stable version of Virtualdub and install it.
   
   
4. Open Virtualdub.
   
   
5. From the file menu, select open video file and open a the video file you would like to compress.
   
   
6. From the audio menu, select no audio. (Don't worry, your final product will have audio)
   
   
7. From the video menu, select compression.
   
   
8. On the left, select the Xvid codec.
   
   
9. Click the configure button.
   
   
10. Set the target bitrate to 2200. Increasing this number will yield better quality but a larger filesize. When making videos for others to download, you generally want to end up with no more than 20 megabytes per minute. A bitrate of 2200 will give you a filesize just under this limit.
    
    
11. Now set the following settings in the Xvid window:
    
    

    profile@level:

    unrestricted

    
    Click the more button.
    
    

    quantization type:	MPEG
    adaptive quantization:	off
    interlaced encoding:	off
    quarter pixel:	on or off (this can either improve quality, or just waste extra memory - encode with both, to see which gives better results)
    reduced resolution:	off
    BVOPS:	on (keep default number values)
    packed bitstream:	off
    closed GOV:	on

    
    Click OK. Then click on the advanced options button.
    
    

    motion search precision:	6
    VHQ:	4
    use chroma motion:	on
    turbo:	off
    frame drop ratio:	0 - Very important! Nothing higher than 0!
    maximum I-frame interval:	250 /300 (depending on FPS)
    cartoon mode:	off
    quantization:	2 for min, 31 for max, all of them
    trellis Quantization:	on
    debug:	auto

    
    Click OK.
    
    

    encoding type:

    twopass - 1st pass

    
    Click OK. Click OK.
    
    
12. From the file menu, select save as AVI and save the file. Do not close Virtualdub; you are not done!
    
    
13. Now, select compression from the video menu once more.
    
    
14. Select the Xvid codec and and click the configure button.
    
    
15. Set the following:
    
    

    encoding type:	twopass - 2nd pass
    target bitrate:	2200

    
    Click OK. Click OK.
    
    
16. From the audio menu, select full processing mode, source audio, and compression.
    
    
17. On the left, select LAME MP3.
    
    
18. On the right, select 44100 Hz, 128 kbps CBR, Stereo. Then click OK.
    
    
19. From the file menu, select save as AVI. Make sure to save it with a different name than you did in part 11 of this step so that you won't overwrite the previous file. That way, if you're not satisfied with the quality you get, you can tweak settings, and then only need to do the second pass again, without repeating the first pass.

You now have your final product. You're probably wondering why you saved this file twice. The first time you saved it, you let Xvid go over the video file and examine it to determine how to most efficiently compress it. The second time, you and did the actual compressing with Xvid and added the audio.

Now that you have finished you video, you need prepare it for publishing. To do so, put both the Xvid Codec that you downloaded earlier and the compressed video file in a zip folder. You need to do this because, for others to view your video, they must have the Xvid codec. Here's how.

• Right click on your final video and click send to and compressed (zipped) folder. This creates a folder with a picture of a zipper on it. Then, add the Xvid Codec installer to this zip folder by dragging it into the zip folder. The zip folder you just created is the file you will distribute to others.

Now that your video is ready to distribute, you need a place to post it on the internet so that others can download it. If you register a free account at filefront.com, you can upload your video there. You may also upload your video at pcgamemods.com. Once you have your video uploaded, you may post your video along with a description and screenshots at own-age.com to advertise your video.

back to top

I would like to thank Doug for recommending that I use the Xvid codec and giving me the Xvid settings in step 9. He also showed me how to use Quake Video Maker (step 7) and helped me with the final editing of this tutorial. That portion of this tutorial originally came from his tutorial, which you can find here.

• a Jedi Academy video editing tutorial by Doug
• a Quake III video editing tutorial by Orxata
• a Quake III video editing tutorial by Xaez
• a guide to video quality and compression by Own-age
• own-age.com forums: a great place to get all of your gaming video editing questions answered
• The Gimp: A fully featured free image editing program, great for creating anti-aliased text overlays
• sourceforge.net: a great place to find free software for your video editing needs

• Avalon one of the best frag videos available for Jedi Academy
• a full list of Jedi Academy videos on own.age.com