Using Video Game Footage - Part 2

Uncommon PC Formats

RealVideo Files and Real-time Rendering

Good luck, I know of no way to digitally convert a RealVideo file to any other format. About the only solution would be to play it back full screen on one computer and capture it with another. RealVideo is the only format that I dislike more than ASF. I have heard from people who claim that frame capture programs worked for them, where they would play the real video full screen and capture with the program. In all of my attempts, with various settings, and different resolutions, I have yet to get it to work. The resulting video has always come out with artifacts, 3-4 frames per second, and contained the rest of the screen. My advice is to play in one, and capture in another.

(Mechaman: Avid readers may want to check out TINRA, a console-mode program. TINRA basically does the same thing; frame capturing to an AVI, but doesn't involve the video hardware. Due to Real's arbitrary frame-rate control, you may end up with AVIs that run at wildly different speeds, and you almost always lose audio sync. It HAS worked adequately both times I've used it, on a P2/233. If you're that hard up, you can find TINRA at http://evc.to/tinra.)

For games that render their cut scenes in real-time, about your only realistic solution is to hook the game system up to your capture card, and record the cut scenes that way.

These recaptured “files” I guess would be your “original”.

QuickTime and Direct Show Files

If you need to clean the quality of a file that is readable in Premiere (or any editing package), but not in VirtualDub, then simply export that clip as an AVI file using Huffyuv as the CODEC and just make sure all of the settings (resolutions, frame rate) match. Basically, use your head and experiment.