From now onwards Tutorials will be updated here.
1. Hacks before we start.
Alright to make a great movie, i suggest you download a few of these hacks. These are a few what i use.
Disclaimer : all these hacks are not mine and belong to the rightful owner.
Jaydee's season EP animation box.
Jaydee's Bon Voyage EP animation box
Jaydee's University EP animation box
Jaydee's Nightlife EP animation box
(not that useful, but it helps with flirty facial expressions.)
Jaydee's open for business EP animation box. (The kick out elevator more, that's brilliant)
Paul's reaction tester (Can be obtained by using the boolproptestingcheats.... Cheat or by Shaklin)
shaklin_model_animation_changer ( it's shaped like a flamingo and allows your sim to walk and have a different facial expression at the same time.)
Aikea's animation painting of chaos and doom (the hack of all> it has everything! I love it.)
Aikea's 'Animation Painting of Bedlam & Catastrophe' (not that great, but still good)
A collection of Decorgirl21572's hacks. ( i don't use them though, since they don't work in my game but feel free to try. She has tons of great hacks.)
GunMond's camera hack (the ultimate best camera hack to me!)
Well, these are the ones that i use. Of course, there are hundreds out there to try but these are the ones that i'm really fond of. Also, there's this dancing hack i used to love but can't seem to find it. I'll post it once I come across it. So start getting your movie rehearsals ready and shoot your sim2 video :)
2. Camera rolling and filming
For sims 2 :
Before you film a scene in sims 2, make sure your video quality is high.
To do this, click F5, which is the setting tab, then go under your camera settings and click video quality high. If filming is too slow for you, then change it to 'medium' sized instead of large but keep the quality to high.
When filming, try to avoid from having an idle camera. Meaning, try moving with your sims like how you see in movies. Idle cameras are a big NO-NO. For example, when wanting to film an action or thriller scene, try to play around with the cameras ( eg. Zoom, shake, move around whil the sims run) to give an effect to the screen. An idle camera for action scenes will just make the viewer bored and far from excitement.
Use buttons such as the 'Z', 'Q' keys for more stable camera movement. I'll post up a table of keys later but for now, I'll give you an example.
The Q key on your keyboard is excellent when it comes to stable zooming. Instead of using your mouse, which usually will get a little shaky, try pressing the Q for a smooth zoom. It gives a great effec. Try it.
When filming, it is VERY IMPORTANT to click the 'tab' key. This is to give you a better view of the scene and video.
You don't always have to make your video perfect in game. For example, my videos usually start with LONG pauses because I pause my game, then click 'on' video, then tab and it take some time to do that. Thus, don't worry if your video has long pauses or isn't perfect. You could always edit them later in your movie editing program.
There is one awesome video filming effect where your camera will automatically follow your sims. The tab mode isn't allowed though. However, by right clicking on your sim's image icon, you will realise that the camera will follow the sims. This effect is great if you want to follow your sim who's running or walking, without going through trouble using your mouse.
3. Movie editing software for sims 2 and regular videos
As a beginner I suggest you start of with Windows Movie Maker. Hey! Don't feel like an outward newbie just because of that. Believe it or not? but all my HSM videos before the Ryella one were made with WMM. Lame, you might say? But WMM is actually great for timeline because it separates the scenes and thus, makes it easier to edit. Other big programs such as Sony Vegas 8, on the other hand, is REMARKABLE with effects but timeline, sorry. :( It doesn't separate clips for you and I find it easier to sort my LONG HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL clips in WMM first then transfer it to Sony Vegas. Though, if you are using short clips ( 30 mins --) then go straight ahead to Sony Vegas 8 or any other high, effective program you're using.
A few programs I reccomend :
Windows Movie Maker 2
Sony Vegas 8
TIP when arranging scenes : Remember to always cut the scenes and don't leave them too long of it will eventually become a bore. Split scenes numerously and join them creatively.
