Suggestion: Demo Recording and Playback

I'm an extremely amateur video maker, but like testing different things and dreaming up ideas for videos. FFXIV is a really beautiful game, and it's a shame that the options for video recording are extremely limited. If you want to get a HUDless video, you need to know the fight absolutely perfectly and be able to operate your job without seeing any indicators. It's a nigh-impossible task. Not only that, but if you're not using a controller, you're going to have your mouse cursor somewhere on the screen, a blemish on an otherwise cinematic video.

Before I started playing FFXIV, I played a lot of TF2. A LOT. Most of my small video projects are from there. Here's a quick rundown of how it works there. You start playing your game, and enter a command to begin recording a demo file, which is saved somewhere on your hard drive. The game is then recorded in some fashion (I don't know the specifics, but I'd wager it has an initial state and then stores only information about what's changed from tick to tick), and when you enter a stop command, the recording stops. You can then go back later and replay this demo file, and it will give exact playback of what happened. In addition, it gives users the option to export the demo frame-by-frame, instead of having to use a screen recorder to record video. This means that users can crank the visual settings up to maximum, enter the framerate of the video they want in the end, and then the proper amount of frames will be rendered to do that. Instead of relying on real-time rendering, people who want higher visual quality than their computer can produce can wait longer for the game to render it and still get a target framerate. Not only that, but it ALSO lets the user manipulate the camera in ways not normally possible in game, for the purpose of better cinematography or what have you.

I'm not a professional video maker in any sense, but I know I'm not the only one who wishes for better video creation tools. I feel that this is something that could be by and large implemented clientside, therefore not creating any more server stress. After all, the client is the one recording information that's already being fed to it. I know it wouldn't be an easy system to implement, but I think demo recording and playback would go a long way in increasing the game's publicity, as video makers could make higher-quality videos with many more effects than they have now.

As someone who's made a few videos (and working through writers block for another) I'd love such a tool.

I hope the game will allow us to save replays so we can replay them later without the HUD and with free camera angle.

The main issue is they would need to procure a API to allow record, or exporting of pre-rendered frames. The PS4 has it's own built in API for the job, but the PC client doesn't have the same luxuries, and personally I would think it would be either a cost they can't afford in the budget, or a waste of development time for such a small feature.

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Originally Posted by Lambadelta

The main issue is they would need to procure a API to allow record, or exporting of pre-rendered frames. The PS4 has it's own built in API for the job, but the PC client doesn't have the same luxuries, and personally I would think it would be either a cost they can't afford in the budget, or a waste of development time for such a small feature.

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Well, to be a tad more specific, the Source engine actually exports to TGA files in a lossless format. So what ends up happening is your hard drive fills up with a huge amount of individual frames, which then get stitched together by another program, for example VirtualDub. Taking the individual frames and creating a video file doesn't have to be done in-engine, it's about creating the stills that can become a video instead of the full complete video.

You describe what Shadowplay does.
But you can't simply remove the UI after the recording.

PS4 Master Race.....

Locks all doors and windows*

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Originally Posted by Toguro

PS4 Master Race.....

Locks all doors and windows*

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I think you're misunderstanding. There's a fundamental difference between a PS4's video recording and demo recording. Demo recording lets you go back after the fact, change video/UI/camera settings, and export something that can become a video at a specific framerate, no matter your hardware. The PS4's recording is nothing more than a simple screen capture.

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Originally Posted by Aloise

I think you're misunderstanding. There's a fundamental difference between a PS4's video recording and demo recording. Demo recording lets you go back after the fact, change video/UI/camera settings, and export something that can become a video at a specific framerate, no matter your hardware. The PS4's recording is nothing more than a simple screen capture.

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It was supposed to be bait :(.....

That would be really, really cool! *like

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Additional thought: Something like this probably exists internally in some form or another, because their promotional videos make use of techniques that would be otherwise impossible to do. Unless they're flying around in first person with noclip on, I suspect there's some sort of in-engine video making tools on a dev build.

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Originally Posted by Aloise

Additional thought: Something like this probably exists internally in some form or another, because their promotional videos make use of techniques that would be otherwise impossible to do. Unless they're flying around in first person with noclip on, I suspect there's some sort of in-engine video making tools on a dev build.

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I believe the devs did point that out in regards to fans asking for a photograph/video mode where the devs do use their own tools to make the videos and snapshots as we see them, but it would require time and resources to make the tools not only work properly for the user, but to also make the tools user friendly.

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Originally Posted by Evangela

I hope the game will allow us to save replays so we can replay them later without the HUD and with free camera angle.

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best idea ever!!!!