DreamScene Creation

Judas · May 17, 2007, 01:19 AM

I'm currently testing out making a dreamscene animation, i know it's gotta be short, so i started off with 15 seconds ... and to keep the render time down, 960x600 (half of 1920x1200) to start with just to get a sample to work with, and see if i'm heading in the right direction with this.

But does anyone KNOW what specific codec that dreamscene best works with..... i'm seeing MPEG2 as being the used codec (from what i could tell).... so i'll be rendering to AVI then convert to a generic MPG format.

If this turns out well enough, (i'll post my results)... i'll probably start work on more interesting ones. (atm, i've just got a REALLY REALLY simplified animation going)

Anyone else trying to do the same thing?

Tipstaff · May 17, 2007, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

I'm currently testing out making a dreamscene animation, i know it's gotta be short, so i started off with 15 seconds ... and to keep the render time down, 960x600 (half of 1920x1200) to start with just to get a sample to work with, and see if i'm heading in the right direction with this.

But does anyone KNOW what specific codec that dreamscene best works with..... i'm seeing MPEG2 as being the used codec (from what i could tell).... so i'll be rendering to AVI then convert to a generic MPG format.

If this turns out well enough, (i'll post my results)... i'll probably start work on more interesting ones. (atm, i've just got a REALLY REALLY simplified animation going)

Anyone else trying to do the same thing?

A friend of mine has been working on a few. According to what he was saying Dreamscene will run WMV and MPEG. However,he recommended using WMV scenes only on desktop machines, because for some reason any scene he encoded using WMV kept crashing Dreamscene when he tested them on a laptop. It could be that it has to do with the fact that WMV files tax the CPU a little more when decoding.

One thing he did mention was that you need to be careful of what encoder you use. While there are plenty of WMV encoders out there, and MPEG ones too, files encoded using some of them will not run, or will crash Dreamscene. He's had to, on more than one occassion, try different encoders, and different resolutions/quality. So far the TMPGEnc encoder works the best, or rather is the most compatible encoder... according to him (every system that he's tried the end file on worked perfectly).

Also, he pointed me to a program that Wincustomize has called DreamMaker that will convert the files over to a .Dream file (and one that is recognized by DreamScapes), and he sent me a LINK to a thread that had some basic instructions and suggestions on making your own Dreamscenes. I tried making a few off hand, and it works, but I just didn't have the time to seriously work on it.

Zelig · May 17, 2007, 05:45 AM

mpeg2 and wmv both work. wvm has smaller filesize, but higher cpu usage, mpeg is larger with less cpu usage.

The Stardock site and forums is full of information about making and rendering dreamscenes.

Judas · May 17, 2007, 05:22 PM

Dream files require that you install extra stuff.. perferably not the way i want to go.

I'm trying to use MPEG2 codec.. however within vista, I can't seem to find a codec converter that will actually work on the damn thing (pissing me off)... i've installed Windows Media Encoder, and while WMV is working.... i really don't like it, i'd rather have a larger file then a compressed cpu hogging wmv running in the background all the time.

Anyone point me to a damn good MPEG (i'll look at the TMPGenc tipstaff, looking for other suggestions though).

BTW, The REAL problem i'm running into is getting one end of the file to tie up with the other, now usually this can be easily remedied by making a copy, reversing the playback and then putting the 2 together (that'd give me a 30 second MPEG... erg... but hey, it's my first one)

Another issue i'm running into is because i created a video file @ 960x600, alot of the movie maker or other editing programs are being a complete bitch and forcing 720p or some stupid video specific resolution down my throat...

I'm still playing around with it, i may do up another different type of render, leave it run all night (255 frames @ 960x600 took nearly 13 hours lol)

Judas · May 17, 2007, 05:36 PM

ack.... that tmpgenc isn't free....

Tipstaff · May 18, 2007, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

ack.... that tmpgenc isn't free....

Free for 30 days, but no.. not completely free. I only mentioned that one because my friend has had 100% success with it, and it worked for me as well. In my case I own both TMPGEnc DVD Source Creator 4, and the previous Tsunami DVD EasyPack Suite which uses the TMPGEnc Xpress encoder.

Judas · May 18, 2007, 05:03 PM

i downloaded it and it wo't even let me trial it, it emediately asks for a key.

Tipstaff · May 18, 2007, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

i downloaded it and it wo't even let me trial it, it emediately asks for a key.

?? That's odd. Just to be sure, THIS (TMPGEnc-2.524.63.181-Free.zip) is the one you downloaded, right?

Hmm.. I wonder if it has to do with Vista? I just tried it here and it says I can use it for 30 days, however I'm using XP Pro. I know the editor has Vista support, but I don't know if the encoder does. I mean.. it might install, and run fine, but to be able to use the trial aspect might require XP or below.

Judas · May 19, 2007, 12:01 AM

no..... no it wasn't.....

May 17, 2007, 05:45 AM	#3
Zelig HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 3,187 Rep Power: 71 System Specs	mpeg2 and wmv both work. wvm has smaller filesize, but higher cpu usage, mpeg is larger with less cpu usage. The Stardock site and forums is full of information about making and rendering dreamscenes. __________________ --