Author Topic: Cutscenes  (Read 11554 times)

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Doesn't matter now - the new DivX codecs are legal and just as good. Or at least, wide spread enough that nothing will happen to us. I'm gonna start looking into this...

 

Offline EdrickV

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Offline ZylonBane

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From that first link:
"DivXNetworks admits that early versions of the codec did rely in part on Microsoft technology"

*cough* What was that you were saying, Kaz-man?
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Offline Stryke 9

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That you're being a numbskull, badgering people about a potentially important decision over soem technicality that matters not in the least, just so you can feel clever. Argument's dead- DivX is legal now, that's all that matters, it's the one to use, if you have a legitimate beef with it post away, don't just harp on the crap.

 
Quote
Originally posted by ZylonBane
Ditto that. Just link to Windows' built-in AVI-playing functionality, and you're done. And this is the most simple case to implement-- full-screen with no user controls.

Using Divx as a standard codec though... BAD idea. Due to its officially unsupported status as an illegal hack on MS-MPEG4, many people refuse to install it. If the quality is that important for cutscenes, bite the bullet and use ASFs instead of AVIs.  Ehh... if you properly link to the ActiveMovie library (or whatever they call it these days), it'll be equally happy with AVIs, ASFs, and MPGs.


And tie ourselves to M$ thereby preventing any useful porting to other non M$ platforms? No thanks. DIVX is *NOT* an 'illegal hack'. There are *commercial* software companies that make software that writes in the divx format. They have lawyers, and are legally doing this. So this doesn't hold water.

 

Offline ZylonBane

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Quote
Originally posted by Stryke 9
That you're being a numbskull
Are you ever NOT frothing at the mouth? Sheesh.  :rolleyes:
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Yeah, well at any rate let's not get sidetracked because right now I feel like I'm sitting on a moving train and the room is spinning around me.

So the basic decision is, DivX is our new player format?

 

Offline Sandwich

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I think so. Plus, one thing people need to realize is that even someone who refuses to install the DivX codec will be able to play cutscenes in a rebuilt FS2, as the decoding algorithims for DivX playback would be embedded in the EXE or a .DLL, just like the codec for MVE. After all, how many people have a MVE codec installed on their computer - one that can play MVE's in media player? None of you, but that didn't prevent any of us from seeing cutscenes in FS2, did it.

Oh, yeah - MVE sucks as a format - there's no reason to want to stick with it. :D
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Offline Kazan

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from one of the news.com articles "The (new) codecs were built from scratch," said a company spokesman."

eat me zylon - i know people who code for DivX networks.
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Offline Inquisitor

Better question:

Are people sufficiently familiar with the implementation to get a player working in a reasonable time frame? Codecs are codecs, does the DivX sdk have a player implementation that can be integrated?

Anyone done it before? All I have ever done is integrate a quicktime player, and that was just embedded into multimedia apps (the plugin for Director) or java things. It's all well and good to wax about the history, but if nobody has implemented it, there might be a learning curve that nobody has anticipated ;)

For the record, it looks liek the right choice, codec wise, prviding it's not stupid hard to implement.
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Offline ZylonBane

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Quote
Originally posted by Kazan
eat me zylon - i know people who code for DivX networks.
Does this fact make you delicious?
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Quote
Originally posted by Inquisitor
Better question:

Are people sufficiently familiar with the implementation to get a player working in a reasonable time frame? Codecs are codecs, does the DivX sdk have a player implementation that can be integrated?

...

For the record, it looks liek the right choice, codec wise, prviding it's not stupid hard to implement.


Well currently the easiest way would be for us to implement our own special movieplay() function. To get it in as quick as possible I think we should probably just go with the windows specific implementation since most Freespace gamers will be on windows systems. Leave the Linux version up to the Linux people.

 

Offline WMCoolmon

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:nod:
If it is indeed just the movieplay() feature that controls the handling of the movies, then it should be relatively easy to swap out the win code with the Linux code.
Of course, that's "relatively easy" as compared to getting it work on Linux :nervous:
-C

 

Offline EdrickV

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Actually, it's movie_play() as shown below.

int rval = movie_play(full_name);
if ( !rval ) {
   char str[256];
   sprintf(str, XSTR( "Unable to play movie %s.", 204), Cutscenes[which_cutscene].name );
   popup(0, 1, POPUP_OK, str );

In this case, int is used like a boolean to tell if the function succeeded and full_name is a char* with the full file name of the movie to play. This function does not exist in the source code we have so the above code is commented out. The big trick I think is finding some sort of library/headers/whatever that we can use with GCC under Cygwin and, maybe, Linux. Haven't looked at any DIVX libraries or whatever yet so I'm not sure how easy it'd be to drop it in there. And there may be licensing issues for some stuff, if it's GPL, 'cause we aren't in control of the license used for the FS2 source.
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I know the general idea of the function - what I meant in reference to movieplay was a function that played the actual movie. I thought it might be a good idea to differentiate in the unlikely chance that we might actually be able to get it to play mve's.

On a side note, has anybody tried debugging the FS2.exe executable and then ripping the ASM that runs when movies are played?

 

Offline WMCoolmon

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Do remember that we're not[/i][/u] trying to bring the Titus/Interplay lawyers down on us here.
-C

 

Offline an0n

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Quote
Originally posted by ##UnknownPlayer##
On a side note, has anybody tried debugging the FS2.exe executable and then ripping the ASM that runs when movies are played?

I tried but it hurt my computer.
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Quote
Originally posted by WMCoolmon
Do remember that we're not[/i][/u] trying to bring the Titus/Interplay lawyers down on us here.


[jk]pfft! How are they gonna pay for them![/jk]

 

Offline Stryke 9

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Quote
Originally posted by ZylonBane
Are you ever NOT frothing at the mouth? Sheesh.  :rolleyes:


Only when I brush my teeth.

What, don't tell me YOU come online to be sedate. Anyway, you're still just being an annoyance, and I recommend you be an annoyance OUTSIDE the source code forum, like everyone else.

 

Offline Kazan

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Quote
Originally posted by ##UnknownPlayer##
Leave the Linux version up to the Linux people.


but if you have non-compatable formats we have to transcode the data fies for different platforms

[like quicktime *shudder* apple refuses to release a unix codec, not that we really care - the codec is a P.O.S.]
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