My first Movie UT2k4
From Moviesandbox
Contents |
Introduction
Hello and Welcome to the very first MovieSandbox Tutorial. In this document, you will learn how to move around in the virtual world, create an Actor and let him walk to a specified location. We suggest you know a little bit about Navigating inside the game environment before working with Moviesandbox, to get a feel for the controls. So if you haven't played the game yet, i suggest you spend some time playing. It's fun!
Installing MovieSandbox
Download MovieSandbox from http://machinimag.com/MovieSandbox.zip. Locate your Unreal Tournament 2004 Base Directory and unzip the contents of the downloaded Package to that folder.
Starting MovieSandbox on Windows
After downloading the MovieSandbox.zip file and unpacking it in your UT2004 directory, a batch file called "MovieSandbox.bat" should show up in your UT2004 directory. You can start UT2004 by executing the .bat file.
Starting MovieSandbox on a Mac
I am working on a simple way to start Moviesandbox without using the terminal. It might take a couple more days until i know how to create the equivalent of a batchfile. If anyone knows how to do this, please write me at fiezi/at/machinimag/dot/com.
Starting MovieSandbox on Linux
see Mac thing. I'll be looking into this.
the MovieSandbox Main Menu
Once MovieSandbox is running, you'll see the Main Menu (pic 01) from which you can choose your Level("Setting") and start several Editors to generate Scenes, Characters or Props.
MovieSandbox lets you create your own Characters and Props and supports a wide Range of different Character styles, including 2-dimensional Characters. More information on how to create your own characters can be found in the Character Editing Tutorials in the Tutorials section of this page.
In this Tutorial, we want to get some quick hands on with the heart of Moviesandbox, the Scene Editor.
For that, we don't need to specify a specific Level to work in and will keep the DM-Antalus default Map from the game as our movie setting. Click on "Scene Editor" to proceed.
the Scene Editor
The Scene editor represents the "director's chair" of MovieSandbox. Here you can insert characters, Props and cameras into your Setting and set up different shots. It's the place where your Movie is actually happening. Let's set up a quick scene to familiarize yourself with the tools and the way MovieSandbox works.
Moving around in MovieSandbox
We're now inside the game's Level DM-Antalus. On the upper left hand corner of the screen you can see the SceneEditor Menu with Buttons for flying around, spawning Actors and Props, the System Button for Saving and Loading and the Node List Button (pic 2.0 and 2.1). You'll find out about the specific functions of the Buttons later on. Let's first familiarize yourself with moving around the map by either clicking on the "fly" Button or pressing the "Alt" key to toggle Fly-Mode.
In Fly-Mode, you can fly around the Level just like in the game's Spectator mode, using the Keys W, A, S, D by default. The Ctrl Button should elevate your view, the C Button should lower it.
After flying around a little, return to your original location so we can create(or spawn) our first Character (or Pawn).
Note that your Mouse Button is locked when flying around.
My first Character
Feeling comfortable flying around the Map, we can now create our first character by clicking on the Spawn Actor Button. A List of different ActorTypes appears, and we'll choose the very first Option, the Standard Unreal Pawn. After clicking on the Spawn Button, the character is following your mouse movements to determine its starting position. Click somewhere near the bridge to set the Characters initial Location (see pic 3).
Not only did you spawn a character, but you also created a so-called Pawn Root Node. A Root Node is the starting point for all of the character's actions. We'll go into more detail about this in the next chapter. For now, let's move the RootNode somewhere convenient. Do this by right-clicking on the purple area of the Node. Notice how the button sticks to your Mouse. Move the Node somewhere on the upper left corner so it is not obstructed by the Main Menu and re-click the right Mouse Button. The Root Node should be detached from your mouse button. You can move all Nodes by right clicking on them, and right clicking on them again to release them.
By clicking on the character, you open up its context menu, where you can move him around, rotate him and do all sorts of interesting things. Let's focus on moving and rotating for now. When clicking on the Move button in the character's context menu, your mouse movement will be translated in the character's movement. Note that you are only setting your character's starting Location by moving him around this way.
Making your character move around your scene is achieved with so called Nodes, small Order Objects that you can assign to your character's root node.
Let's create an Move Node for this Character so we can tell him to go somewhere.
Nodes
To make your character move to a certain Point, you first need to create the Order that tells your Character what to do (called a "Node"). For this, let's open the Node Menu by clicking on the Node-Button in the Scene Editor Main Menu (see pic 4).
A List of available Orders appears. All these Orders can be assigned to your Pawn, but let's focus on making him move. Choose the MoveTo Button. Notice how a new Button appears and sticks to your Mouse. Place it somewhat below the Pawn Root Node and click again (see pic ).
To Link this Node (or Order) to your Character, we have to establish a Link between the Node itself and your Character's Root Node. Remeber? The Root Node represents the starting point for your character's actions!
To Link the two Nodes, Left-click on the small, black area just above the MoveTo Node called the Node-In. Now the Node is waiting for you to specify the Node it should be Linked with. Click on the small grey area just below the PawnRoot Node, called the Node Out.
A small white Line between the two Nodes should appear, indicating the Link between the two Nodes (see pic 5).
Congratulations, you linked your first action to your Character!
Now what exactly did we do? Basically, you can look at your character's Root Node as if it were the starting point of a List of Actions it should perform. When starting the Movie, your character follows the Links to see what he should do next.
Let's create the last missing piece to make your character perform, a Target Marker he can walk to.
Creating a TargetActor
Fly over to the other side of the bridge and turn around, so you can see your Character. Click on the Spawn Props button to open a list of objects you can create. Choose the first object, a TargetActor and put it somewhere close to the bridge so your character can reach it (see pic 6).
We will now assign this TargetActor as a Move Target for your Character. Don't worry, the Object itself will not be visible when the movie is running. When left-clicking on the MoveTo Node (remember, right clicking moves the node itself!), the Node's properties show up. A MoveTo Node, of course, has the MoveTarget as a parameter among others.
By left-clicking on the MoveTarget Property, and left clicking on the TargetActor you just created, you can assign the TargetActor to be the Move Target for this Order. You can check the correct Assignment by moving the mouse over the Property Button again. It should display the TargetActor's name in the Map (see pic 7).
Watching your first movie
Now that your character has an Order, and that order has a Target to walk to, let's take a look at your movie by pressing the SpaceBar key (see pic 8).
If all went well, you can now see your character walking towards the Targetpoint. Once he reached the Targetpoint, he will stand there and wait. You can hit the spacebar again to go back to the Scene Editing Mode. Your character will also return to its initial position.
So what happens underneath the surface? Once you hit the spacebar key, your character looks for a Node that is attached to its Root Node. It will then perform the Task specified in that Node and look for the next Node linked to the one he's currently executing. That way, you can build a List of Nodes, each one Linked to the other and your character will follow the links to execute the next Task.
Obviously, this way you can create loops and other interesting setup that we'll discuss in another Tutorial. But it also let's you rearrange your node setup as you wish. You can create Link sets that you can attach and detach to try out different setups without the need to Undo and redo.
