Here is a tutorial on how to make a movie sig ..!

I just get it in my friend blog .. hhehe ^^ i think you will like it ..

I get asked by a lot of people how to make these sigs, it is actualy quite straight forward, and once you get the hang of the process it should only take you 20-30mins to do one.

I am aiming this tutorial at people who are already familiar with photoshop and image ready, if you are not familiar with these programmes, there are many great tutorials out there already which can help with the basics of sig creation.  Once you have learnt the basics, this tutorial will help you in capturing the footage you need, getting that footage into image ready, blending and finally optimising it for us as a sig of approximately 200Kb.

What you need


FRAPS - http://www.fraps.com/

VirtualDub - http://www.virtualdub.org

Adobe Photoshop 7.0 or higher

Adobe Image Ready 7.0 or higher

Preperation

This is the most important step of all, the better you can capture you in game footage the better.  The first thing you need to consider is how will you get your sig to loop?  Most of my movie sigs are between 12-30 frames in length.  When it reaches the last frame it will jump back to the first frame and start again, so you have to ensure the transition looks as natural as possible.  This is why filming things like e.g.:

1. The subjects "resting" animation (this is a natural loop commonly found in FPS games)


    2. The subjects "shooting" animation (againa natural loop, best to film short busrts of fire)

3. Flyby  - When something crosses the camera from one side of the screen to the other (e.g. a plane flying acros in battlefield or similar)


In all cases the camera should be STATIC.  If you move the camera it will be impossible to create a natural looking loop!  Unless the subject is moving at the same speed as the camera.

I prefer to film characters close up since it gives a better feel to the sig, so make sure you get in as close as possible.  Also ensure any in-game HUD is either removed, or is not covering the target you are filming.

Capturing

I use FRAPS for capturing all my in game movies.  This is a fantastic peice of software for recording in-game movies and is well worth the cash for the full version.  Even the trial version should allow you to make movie sigs though.


Capturing the film in FRAPS is a simple case of hitting F9 (you'll notice the frame rate counter turns red).  Remember you don't want to capture a huge amount of footage, as you'll only be able to use a few seconds worth in your sig.  I always take 2-3 recordings at a time so I can pick and choose between those I like the best later.

Getting the video into Image Ready

Once you are happy with what you've captured, the next step is to get the video you've shot as an image sequence, which can then be imported into Image Ready.

I use virtual dub for this task.  Find the video you've created in your FRAPS folder, and open with virtual dub. 

You should see something similar to the CoD4 video I filmed below in virtual dubs main window.

Now you need to mark the beginning and the end of the video you want to use with the markers I've circled in pink.
Try and use as short a piece as possible (30-40 frames) as this will look more natural in your sig because you will not need to decimate the number of frames. 


Once you know how many frames you've selected this will help you decide how many frames you need to decimate by when you save it as an image sequence...I use the following rough guide:

Under 30-40 frames - I don't decimate at all unless I plan on re-using frames
Between 40-80 frames - I decimate by 2
Between 80-120 frames - I decimate by 3


120 frames + decimate by 4 (but this is a lot of video to use in a sig and it will start looking unnatural, so be careful)


To choose how much you want to decimate by, go to Video > Frame Rate, then this window should appear:




For my example video above I'm going to decimate it by two, because although I've selected about 30 frames, in my sig, I'm going to loop it by playing it back through from the end e.g. when it reaches frame 15, I'm going to make play it back through the previous frames (14, then 13, then 12 etc....), this will ensure a smooth animation and reduce the overall size of the sig.  So in the Frame Rate Conversion section, I select "Process by every other frame". 

Now your set!  Just go to File > Save Image Sequence and make sure you choose an EMPTY folder. I save as a JPG but you may want a BMP for maximum quality, also ensure the slider bar is at 100.  Hit OK and you'll see it processes the pictures, once it's done, dont close virtual dub straight away, it's best to check how it looks in image ready first, if it doesn't look right it's easy to repeat the process above and do it again if neccessary.

Importing to Image Ready

This is easy, just go to File > Import Folder as Frames and then select the folder your images are stored in.  Now let the real fun commence!

Now you need to prepare for editing and resizing in photoshop. 
With the first frame selected in the layers window link all the layers together and you'll have something like the picture below.  I have highlighted in pink where you link the layers. 



Now its time to go to photoshop, I use the transfer button in the toolbar for this, highlighted in green.

Editing the Sig


Now you are in photoshop, the first step is to resize the image.  Go to Image > Canvas Size and then put your dimensions in here.  My sig is going to be 400 x 100 since that's the size we use on my clan forums.

Now use the move tool to resize and reposition your image.  because the layers are linked it will do the same for ALL layers.

You will now have something like this:




Sig Examples


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