Best way to take screenshots?

Best way to take screenshots?

Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by [RDC]Twitch on Fri Apr 22nd 2011 at 12:23am
[RDC]Twitch
99 posts
Posted 2011-04-22 12:23am
99 posts 1085 snarkmarks Registered: Jun 6th 2009 Location: USA
I used to have a config file with a script that would take a clean screenshot with no hud, crosshair or weapon but I have since lost that file. Can someone point me in the right direction? I need that script for clean screenshot or a list of commands/cvars to put in the console to take a good screenshot of my maps to include in release.

Thanks!
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Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and Q3 engine mapping
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by Orpheus on Fri Apr 22nd 2011 at 12:36am
Orpheus
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Posted 2011-04-22 12:36am
Orpheus
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13860 posts 2024 snarkmarks Registered: Aug 26th 2001 Occupation: Long Haul Trucking Location: Long Oklahoma - USA
If this is for a map you're workin on, after the map compiles if you do not have a suit, or pick up any weapons isn't that view without all the things you mentioned?

I seem to recall being virtually naked when I was building maps and walking around inside them.

Perhaps if you load map in SP, it will do exactly the same thing.

mumbles
That reminds me, I sure wish I knew where my picture editing tutorial disappeared too. Snarkpit really needs it available again. Riven, can you try to locate it? It seems to not to have made the transition from the old SP. We really need something available.

[EDIT] In fact I am pretty danged sure that if you load any map in singleplayer you start with NADA.

The best things in life, aren't things.
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by [RDC]Twitch on Fri Apr 22nd 2011 at 1:52am
[RDC]Twitch
99 posts
Posted 2011-04-22 1:52am
99 posts 1085 snarkmarks Registered: Jun 6th 2009 Location: USA
Thanks Orpheus. I will give that a try :)
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Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and Q3 engine mapping
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by Orpheus on Fri Apr 22nd 2011 at 10:28am
Orpheus
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Posted 2011-04-22 10:28am
Orpheus
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13860 posts 2024 snarkmarks Registered: Aug 26th 2001 Occupation: Long Haul Trucking Location: Long Oklahoma - USA
[RDC said:
Twitch]Thanks Orpheus. I will give that a try :)
Well, be sure before you mark it correct bud. Its been a really long time and I am not sure TBH.

The best things in life, aren't things.
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by G4MER on Fri Apr 22nd 2011 at 1:52pm
G4MER
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Posted 2011-04-22 1:52pm
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Is this for the Overview of the map?

There are a list of commands that help you do that. I have a tutorial the wife wrote... here ya go.

Level Overview- Radar_tutorial
This is a tutorial on how to make the radar image for your Halflife 2 Source maps also known
as the Level Overview.
A couple of reasons to create the Level Overview for your map are:
1) Makes your map look more professional and finished.
2) Allows the players to know where they are and where the other players on their team are.

I have based my tutorial on the information from the Valve Developers Community Tutorial:
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Level_Overviews
I have made some changes and added a few things to coincide with my experiences working with
my computer and programs.

What you will need: (What I use)
Halflife 2 Source game ( Counterstrike Source)
Image editing program ( Photoshop CS)
VTFEdit
Text editor ( Windows Notepad)
Something to write on
Something to write with

Files you will be creating:
Screenshot.jpg
Your_map.tga
Your_map.vtf
Your_map.vmt
Your_map.txt

Lets get started.
1.Start the game. Click Options and switch to the Video tab. Change Resolution to "1024X768"
pixels and the Aspect Ratio to "Normal". Because I use a widescreen monitor I have to change
to windowed mode, if I stay in full screen mode my screen will be stretched.
2.Create server and choose the map you are working with.
3.Join the Spectator team.
4. Enter your console (~) type the command "sv_cheats 1".
5.Your screenshot should already be bound to (F5) if not bind the screenshot command to a
key "bind p screenshot" using the console.
6.Remove any HUD elements with console commands "cl_drawhud 0" and "hidepanel all".
7.Remove disturbing world effects like skyboxes ("r_skybox 0), fog ("fog_override 1"
and "fog_enable 0"), props (optional: "r_drawstaticprops 0" you don't type this command if
you have large models that make up parts of your map such as a rock wall, you also might
want to leave models in for point of reference ), etc.
8.Move in spectator mode to a position where you can see the whole map from above.
9.Switch to orthographic mode with the console command "cl_leveloverview x", where x
is the scale factor. You may have to type this multiple times till you get the scale right, you
want to scale the image as big as you can, so you can still see the entire map on the
screen. I normally start with 1 and work up from there.
10.Set "cl_leveloverviewmarker 768" to show a red helper line on the right. If you do not
see the red line type "cl_drawhud 1" in console.
You can move around while cl_leveloverview mode, either using the arrow keys or WASD
however your game is set up. Beware the movement in this mode is a little screwy,
(W) zooms out (S) zooms in (A, D) moves around depending on the position of the mouse.
It takes alittle bit of work and you may have to change the scale (use the command
"cl_leveloverview X) so the map fits into the square defined by the red line. The right edge
of your map should be on the left of the red line, anything to the right of the red line will be
chopped off in a later step. Try to leave about 5 pixels between your map and the red line.
I'll explain why later.
11.The current projection data (position and scale) will be updated in the console, eg
"Overview: scale 6.00, pos_x -2651, pos_y 4027".
12.Once everything is perfect, take a screenshot (using the key you bound to "screenshot")
and write down the projection data values. You will need them in a later step.

Create the material-
1.Close the game and open the screenshot in an image editor. You will find it in
<game dir>\screenshots. If you are using Photoshop CS like I am click the image tab and go
down to canvas size. Choose pixels from one of the pull down tabs and make sure your image
is 768x768 and click the left-center arrow from the anchor block then click ok. The red line
should be gone now if it's not press CTRL-Z and try again.
2.Modify the image as you see fit, clean up the image change the background color or add
an alpha channel if you like. What ever you do to the image be sure there is no part of your map
that is touching the edge of the image the game will stretch the end pixels and your image will
look distorted.
3.click the image tab again and go down to image size make the dimensions a power of two.
512x512 is a good choice, if you go 1024x1024 your image might look blurry.
4.Save your image as a .tga. you can close Photoshop CS now.
5.Open your tga image in VTFEdit. On the VTF options screen don't click anything except the
ok button.
6.Click the image tab, under Flags check the Clamp S and Clamp T boxes. If you don't do this
your image will repeat itself in game.(tiled)
7.Now click on the file tab and choose "save as:, name your image the same as your map name in
<game dir> /materials/overviews folder.
8. Click Tools tab, click create VMT File, a little window will pop up again just click the create button.
9. click the File System tab, if you click the pull down button in the Goto section you can click the link
and it will take you straight to your SteamApps folder open <your map>.vmt, copy and paste the
following code into it, replacing what was already there. Include all the quotation marks(") and
change mapname to the name of your map.
"UnlitGeneric"
{
"$translucent" 1
"$basetexture" "overviews/mapname"
"$vertexalpha" 1
"$no_fullbright" 1
"$ignorez" 1
}
10. Now click File and save your .vmt

Create .TXT-
Finally, open Notepad and create a text file called <your map>.txt in <game dir>\resource\overviews\
This file will define the precise numbers needed to align the overview. Copy and paste the following
code into your .txt file
<mapname> //your map name without the arrows (<>)
{
material overviews/mapname //This is the texture file you just created above.
pos_x -2651 //Number you wrote down earlier.
pos_y 4027 //Number you wrote down earlier.
scale 6.0 //Number you wrote down earlier.
rotate 0 //Shouldn't have to change this.
zoom 1.3 //Shouldn't have to change this either.
}
Change pos_x, pos_y, and scale to match the numbers you wrote down earlier. you shouldn't have to
change rotate or zoom. Save your .txt and run your map..

If you followed this tutorial properly then you should now have a nice little Radar in the top left corner
of your screen with a picture of your map in it.

Troubleshooting-
If your image doesn't show up- make sure all the files are in the proper locations and that they are
named exactly the same as your map.
If your icon doesn't look like it is in the right spot- you might have entered the wrong numbers into the
.txt file. Simply open the text file and check to see that the numbers you typed in are what you wrote
down. If you think you wrote down the wrong numbers- I'm sorry but you will have to start over.
If the game is stretching the edge pixels and distorting your image- open your tga in Photoshop CS
and erase 1 or 2 pixels all the way around the edge. Then create the VTF again. You don't have to
make the VMT again.
If your image is tiled (repeating)- you forgot to check the Clamp S and Clamp T in the VTF. Open
your VTF in VTFEdit and try again. Save and run your map.

Thank you for trying my tutorial..I hope it helped.
Reign
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by [RDC]Twitch on Fri Apr 22nd 2011 at 3:24pm
[RDC]Twitch
99 posts
Posted 2011-04-22 3:24pm
99 posts 1085 snarkmarks Registered: Jun 6th 2009 Location: USA
That is an awesome tutorial for HL2 overviews. In the past I have included overviews with some of my source maps... especially the AG2 maps I have made. I always considered myself lucky if it actually worked and I made it correctly! Your tutorial will help me avoid the chance of failure. Thanks
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Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and Q3 engine mapping
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by Orpheus on Sun Apr 24th 2011 at 11:57am
Orpheus
13860 posts
Posted 2011-04-24 11:57am
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Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by [RDC]Twitch on Sun Apr 24th 2011 at 2:03pm
[RDC]Twitch
99 posts
Posted 2011-04-24 2:03pm
99 posts 1085 snarkmarks Registered: Jun 6th 2009 Location: USA
That only puts you into a view of the overview of the map
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Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and Q3 engine mapping
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by Orpheus on Sun Apr 24th 2011 at 4:21pm
Orpheus
13860 posts
Posted 2011-04-24 4:21pm
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13860 posts 2024 snarkmarks Registered: Aug 26th 2001 Occupation: Long Haul Trucking Location: Long Oklahoma - USA
Dunno anything about them. I just stumbled upon t this morning looking at Adams stuff.

The best things in life, aren't things.
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by Crono on Sun Apr 24th 2011 at 6:41pm
Crono
6628 posts
Posted 2011-04-24 6:41pm
Crono
super admin
6628 posts 700 snarkmarks Registered: Dec 19th 2003 Location: Oregon, USA
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/How_To_Take_Artistic_Screenshots

Boom headshot?
Blame it on Microsoft, God does.
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by Orpheus on Sun Apr 24th 2011 at 7:25pm
Orpheus
13860 posts
Posted 2011-04-24 7:25pm
Orpheus
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13860 posts 2024 snarkmarks Registered: Aug 26th 2001 Occupation: Long Haul Trucking Location: Long Oklahoma - USA
Maybe we should save that link somewhere, but I seriously doubt that anyone would use it.
The ones who already post optimized, and/or great quality images of a decent file size don't need it, and the ones who don't know how won't bother.

Still, I think we need something, somewhere to point toward whenever the inconsiderate people post if for no other reason than to slap their wrist with.

That particular link seems a bit heavy just to learn how to post a decent screenshot though. No matter how big or small the file size is, its only gonna look as good or bad as the person viewing its resolution will permit. If you have a gargantuan size, and monitor is set for say 1024x768, its only gonna look that good. Conversely, if you post an 800x600 screenshot, and your monitor is set at 1440x900 its NOT gonna upgrade it to a better quality.

The best things in life, aren't things.
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by Crono on Sun Apr 24th 2011 at 7:43pm
Crono
6628 posts
Posted 2011-04-24 7:43pm
Crono
super admin
6628 posts 700 snarkmarks Registered: Dec 19th 2003 Location: Oregon, USA
How about we don't commander other people's threads for personal campaigns, kay?
Blame it on Microsoft, God does.
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by G4MER on Sun Apr 24th 2011 at 8:58pm
G4MER
2460 posts
Posted 2011-04-24 8:58pm
G4MER
floaty snark rage
member
2460 posts 360 snarkmarks Registered: Sep 6th 2003 Location: USA
Your Welcome TWITCH.

Thats a great TUTORIAL Crono, thanks for posting it.. I may have to give this a try someday soon. BOOM SCREENSHOT!
Re: Best way to take screenshots? Posted by [RDC]Twitch on Mon May 16th 2011 at 10:20pm
[RDC]Twitch
99 posts
Posted 2011-05-16 10:20pm
99 posts 1085 snarkmarks Registered: Jun 6th 2009 Location: USA
Update: I found a menu sysem and redid some of it so it is accessible in game... it has menu selection areas to select removal of hud, crosshairs, weapon model, and more. I will post a link once I finalize.
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Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and Q3 engine mapping