LFS CarFocus v2.6 (Movie tool)

[FireFox]

To create a nice scene for recording a movie can be a pain in the ass if you need to control the camera by mouse. Well, not anymore

I made a prototype to control the camera when LFS is in Shift U mode. The main aspect of this tool is to keep the focus at a driver. You can keep the car in focus at any camera location on the track. This tool is aimed for movie makers out there. You can pick a spot and let the program do the focusing. The program is not ready for public use yet because there are no checks for errors and its user unfriendly.

Because my laptop is from the stone-age, fraps'ing LFS is not really an option, so I used my photo camera to see the program in action: http://vimeo.com/2427371
In the first 2 scenes the calculation for predicting the car location was a bit wrong. Clearly visible because of the nice piece of tarmac without any car. The rest of the video is with the proper prediction. As you can see, you can place the camera anywhere and let the program do the focus.
Another idea was to create some camera path. You can download this clip to see it in practice.
http://lfs.finalgear.com/download/carfocuscircle.avi (4MB, no sound) A camera path where a few cameras are places around the car. The mouse is not used to control the camera!

Another update: http://vimeo.com/2450043 Static camera locations around the track. (The switch to the cameras isn't that great) The possibility to create an automated TV Director would be a tad closer. A smart algorithm is needed to decide at which driver to focus. Close battles, Crashes/Yellow Flags, Blue Flags or pit lane Action.

Another nice feature is kinda the follow or 'moveable' camera. I've placed the camera at a old location of the car. From that location it will keep on focus at a driver (me) http://vimeo.com/2483071 You can control the camera location to any position but moving the camera on the x,y axis is kinda hard to do. Gotta do some calculation with the heading so it will be easier to control it.


ps. Any got a nice name for the program? LFS Car Focus, Auto Camera Focus....

[pdanev]

This is pretty cool, even though I didn't touch LFS for a while I'm sure it will be much appreciated by LFS movie makers.

[FireFox]

Some Updates:
Recorded some camera locations and their settings and try to replicate each camera: http://vimeo.com/2509710
Another nice feature is the automated camera focus It will select the closest custom camera available. You can add your own camera locations of course. http://vimeo.com/2509796

[matt2000]

That looks really good, very smooth motion. I expect this is what a lot of LFS movie makers have been waiting for, I know the camera controls have annoyed me when I've been trying to make videos.

Excellent work, very impressive.

[Smurfen]

Artificial idiot 5, made me giggle.

[FireFox]

Originally Posted by matt2000

Excellent work, very impressive.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Smurfen

Artificial idiot 5, made me giggle.

, Can you think of any other features? I quite like the camera path feature, for the BF1 video: It took me maybe a minute to configure/add the cameras and all I had todo was press the 'play' button.

Also got the focus at the car when the camera is in Shift U and 'follow car' is on. Camera is placed relative to the car, but instead of change the heading of the camera manually..... CarFocus will automatically focus at the center of the car. I can imagine that you don't always wanna focus at dead center, 0,0,0 of the car. So what would be cool to see? or hard to create a scene you had in mind?

[Smurfen]

yeah, looks great and simple to use.

[FireFox]

Fyi, made a public version: http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=51078

[DoriKiN]

Yess, finally, god has heard my wishes. Thank you m8, great work. I'll have to make some space now on my HD and record some clips. How do u come up with that stuff...

Eg vet.
edit: Sugestion: Would it be possible to add a "camera path" to a replay? Lets say maybe you could adjust the speed of the movement between the cameras, and adjust the focus on the cars in race...

[FireFox]

Originally Posted by DoriKiN

Suggestion: Would it be possible to add a "camera path" to a replay? Lets say maybe you could adjust the speed of the movement between the cameras, and adjust the focus on the cars in race...

You can adjust the speed of the cameras between each other by changing the value (time in ms) when you add the camera.
Atm, There isn't any nice GUI which let you delete or edit a camera point. What you need to do when running a replay is: Figure out how long the transition between to camera points is. So position the camera at the right spot. (remember the race time) and go to the next camera location and pause the replay at the right moment. Now you know what the total time is when the cars are from place 1 to place 2. So now when you add the camera to the camerapath you can fill in the total time to switch to the next one.
Haven't tried it, but I think it should work...
But yeah a GUI would be a bit more user orientated.

[FireFox]

FYI, version 2.6 Thread on the LFSforum: http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=51078

Version 2.6 is out (See first post for the attachment, or click here)
- Couple of fixes like Shift U now possible on AU layouts.
- Tweaked the prediction algorithm.
- Added the beta CameraPath timeline, and better implementation of Follow Cam from a 'camera car' seen here: http://vimeo.com/2938286
Have fun :tilt:

Manual: http://lfs.finalgear.com/carfocus/