Make a video

[FGFG]

I don't know if it is already explained somewhere else, but i can't find how to make a video in Universe Sandbox.

I've already noticed the button in the interface, but when i click it, the simulation starts to go very slow and just a few steps every 2, 3 seconds. It is normal? And what is the number near this button for?



Talking about this....

It would be fun to have an high resolution video capture, not taken istantly, but with more time, as a render (maybe some hours for a few minutes) to, for example, have a great quality galaxy collision, or a simulation of such an impact with many many more stars. In this case you could make every particle having mass and attract all the others (so that the simulation is more detailed and realistic). You can, maybe, have an overview of it with the normal simulation, when you actually look at it, and then launch the "render" during the night, and whatch it the next day...

You can't however control directly the camera, but just set his movements before starting to record (like we can actually make it "orbit" the simulation)

We could even make a so desired planet-planet impact with thousands of little balls.

Thoughts?


EDIT: I thought this whatching a galaxy collision simulation (Andromeda-Milky Way): In those simulations all the partlcles orbit around the 2 centers of mass so that there's never a real fusion of the galaxies because those centers follow their orbits forever, unless when they start from quiet (so that they will accelerate towards each other), and even this way, the result isn't that good. In the real universe, instead, 2 galaxies can collide and merge in 1 big galaxy (with just 1 center of course) because the gravity is distributed along all their stars. I understand that is actually impossible to make such a simulation in real-time (even the programme "Colliding Galxies" works exactly like Universe Sandbox), and this one of the why i suggested what i written before. 

[MonkeyDLuffy]

I don't know if it is already explained somewhere else, but i can't find how to make a video in Universe Sandbox.

I've already noticed the button in the interface, but when i click it, the simulation starts to go very slow and just a few steps every 2, 3 seconds. It is normal? And what is the number near this button for?

Well, it takes screenshots and puts it as a movie. I wish it should be faster 

[hbmp88]

I don't really like the way videos turn out an they are hard to make so i just continue to take screenshots one after the other on a slow basis and just slide through them to watch the video!

An easy way, easy to do, takes up just a tiny bit of space unlike the thousands of photos the video takes. Look at the video folder and just look at how many pictures it takes, and you know how pictures will slow down your computer. I just format a slide show.

[Bla]

I think it would be possible to use the screenshots as a video. Try to use Windows Movie Maker, then put the screenshots in, make them show for a very short time (like 0.1 sec or something), and then you have a fine video I guess.
Not sure if it works, but guess it will.

And then just make them simulation run very slow so it's like speeding it up when it's being put into Movie Maker.

[FGFG]

Well, it takes screenshots and puts it as a movie. I wish it should be faster 

So making a video with the Universe Sandbox tool is slow for everyone? I didn't understand this...

[Bla]

Just make the simulation run slower, then it makes more screenshots.

[Chaotic Cow]

Your best bet is using something like FRAPS.

[monmarfori]

some video recorders like camtasia may run slow. use camstudio

[Dan Dixon]

I've already noticed the button in the interface, but when i click it, the simulation starts to go very slow and just a few steps every 2, 3 seconds. It is normal? And what is the number near this button for?

When you right click in Universe Sandbox it brings up the control panel. In the lower left is the Capture panel. Here's what the buttons do:

Screenshot
"Screenshot" button (F12) takes a screenshot without any UI elements (like the buttons and panels) and it is saved here:
(My) Documents\Universe Sandbox\Images

You can take a screenshot with the UI by pressing Ctrl+F12

High Res
"High Res" (F9) takes 9 screenshots (3x3) and combines them together into a single massive screenshot. (saved in the same folder as above)

Movie
"Movie" (F4) starts saving single images in a subfolder with the date and time that can be found here:
(My) Documents\Universe Sandbox\Movies

You can piece together these images into a single avi file with most video editing software. You can also use a free program called VirtualDub.
http://www.virtualdub.org/

The number to the right of the Movie button is how often Universe Sandbox should save the image. The default (5) saves an image every 5 frames. Setting this to 1 would save every frame. And 10000 would save an image every 10000 drawn frames.

When you're recording Universe Sandbox tells you how many frames have been saved and how long they would play back at 30 fps (frames per second).

When you're recording the interface can feel unresponsive. Try holding down button presses longer so that Universe Sandbox can catch them. (Like when you're trying to stop a recording; hold down the F4 key until Universe Sandbox says that it has stopped).

Camera Orbit
You can have the camera move in movie mode by turning on "Camera Orbit" (at the bottom of the View Controls panel). The two numbers to the right of "Camera Orbit" are the number of degrees to rotate the camera each second, horizontally and vertically. This is how I captured all of the video for the video on the main page.

EDIT: I thought this whatching a galaxy collision simulation (Andromeda-Milky Way): In those simulations all the partlcles orbit around the 2 centers of mass so that there's never a real fusion of the galaxies because those centers follow their orbits forever

Very true and something I will be addressing in a future release (but not the next one).

Your best bet is using something like FRAPS.

Fraps would be good to use for recording the simulation as you use it.
The built in movie commands are designed for high resolution, lossless, non-real time rendering. This is how the Discovery Channel captured galaxy collision for their "Cosmic Collisions" program.

I wish it should be faster 

Me too. I'm sure there are ways to make this faster, but it's not a high priority right now. Fraps records in real time and works really well.

[Bernier77]

I COULD tell you where to get a good video recorder for free.. but it would be wares, and I'm not sure how well it would be taken here.

[Dan Dixon]

but it would be wares, and I'm not sure how well it would be taken here.

Your restraint is wise. Information like that would be deleted.